This is the game that John Madden has been gerly awaiting. A matchup of two classically built, smashmouth NFL franchises in a cold weather playoff game.

Pound the rock. Control the line. Stick 'em on D.

This is a football game for the NFL purist. Can't wait.

Photo via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

-- the Jesus Lizard, "And Then The Rain"

* Washington vs Seattle
Saturday, January 5, 2008. 1:30 PM, PST.
Wild Card 2008
Battle Of The Wounded

Washington is still riding the emotional wave of FS Sean Taylor's untimely death, and gashed their way into the playoffs by beating (an admittedly resting-for-the-postseason) archrival Dallas by 21 points. 21 was Sean's jersey number. Now this ragtag just-good-enough emotionally-charged franchise heads northwest to Seattle.

Photo via the Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The cold-fish Seahawks have the unenviable task of trying to defeat a team that has become a memorial wake on-the-field. The Hawks are unwillingly become the opposing force in Washington's storyline. No fun.

And no run game. Seattle still misses former LG Steve Hutchison (long gone; poached by the Vikings), and their run game has sucked so hard that it's been given up. The Seahawks have become one-dimensional, dragging their dead run game behind them like a wolf that'd chewed off its leg to get out of a trap. The crazy part? It's worked. Shaven-headed QB Matt Hasslebeck has had a fantastic season executing Head Coach Holmgren's pure form of the West Coast Offense, and it may provide enough firepower to get Seattle through.

Both teams are hurt, but in different ways. Who will survive?

-- Cinema Soundscapes: This evening of "voice, music and cinematic exploration" features mezzo-soprano vocalist Silvie Jensen and woodwind musician Bodhan Hilas headlining a night of sound oddities and Stephen Parr film such as "A Dream of Wild Horses," (1971) and "“Symphonies in Stone" (1942). Starts at 8:30 p.m. at Oddball Films; $10 (RSVP)

-- Ingmar Bergman Tribute Night: The Castro Theatre seems to have an Ingmar Tribute Night every week. And we love it! Tonight catch The Silence (1963) and The Rite (1969). The former is about two sisters and their complicated relationship, the latter about the (wait for it...) complicated relationship between three actors investigating "pornographic performance for which they may face a fine." Oh my. The Silence screens at 7 p.m., The Rite screens at 8:55 at the Castro Theatre; $6-9.

-- DJ Deezel and Another Jerk: Come to the TL, get wasted, dance your ass off, and wake up the next morning without realizing how you got back home. A perfect evening. Goes from 9 p.m. -2 a.m. at Aunt Charlie's Lounge; free.

SFist Mihi, contributing.

Exploring San Francisco through the lens of city blocks, Blocker is a weekly series by Charles Hodgkins. Look for it on SFist each Wednesday, around the lunching hour.

View the map of all published Blocker episodes.

Blocker, No. 18: Cortland Ave. in Bernal Heights

Aspiring painters of urban village scenes would do well to get themselves to Bernal Heights at once. From the armada of sandwich boards and the pony-tailed guy enjoying a pensive cup of coffee at Progressive Grounds, to the verdant street trees and the pair of rowdy sidewalk philosophers holding court near the eastern end of the block, it’s quite the bustling display along Cortland Ave. Private lives seem a low priority here, as even the back yards of local bars, cafés, and restaurants are open for business.

Sidewalk rest stops are a big calling card on Cortland between Andover and Bennington, the heart of Bernal Heights’ vibrant commercial district. There are benches in front of restaurants (Valentina Ristorante), benches in front of salons (Bernal Heights Nail Care), benches in front of markets (The Good Life Grocery), benches in front of saloons (Wild Side West). The result: A remarkable feeling of community, evinced by how it appears as if everyone might actually know everyone else’s name. It’s like a West Coast version of Andy Griffith’s Mayberry...only on Cortland, there’s no Barney Fife. Auditions may or may not be held regularly at Skip’s Tavern and Wild Side West for the role of Otis the Harmless Town Drunk.

-- The Arcade Fire: LCD Soundsystem and Wild Light open for this white-hot -- that's right, white-hot, or so we hear -- Canadian indie-rock band. Music starts tonight at 7 p.m. at Shoreline Amphitheatre, 1 Amphitheatre Pkwy, Mountain View; $19-40.

-- High School Musical: You know what? We watched this on Disney and it sucked us in. Sad, yes. Absorbing, for sure. Ray of Light Theatre and School of the Arts (SOTA) put on a stage version of this phenomenon starting tonight at 8 p.m. at School of the Arts, 555 Portola Drive (at O'Shaughnessy & Woodside); $15-30.

-- Kevin Pollak: He's been in A Few Good Men (ick) and Casino (wonderful), but this SF-born actor shines even brighter via his stand-up comedy. Reno: 911's Carlos Alazraqui also performs. Two shows tonight at 8 p.m. and 10:15 at Cobb's Comedy Club, 915 Columbus ; $22.

-- Sugar & Gold: Funk, electro, and soul sounds sound perfect for dancing a tipsy jig or two. Come check out this dance band along with Strength, Omar, and Squaretape tonight at 9:30 p.m. at Elbo Room, 647 Valencia; $10.

Arcade Fire image: Anders Jensen-Urstad

It seemed like everyone in the beer-geek world was at the Toronado for their 20th Anniversary party on Saturday night. The place was packed to the absolute gills with locals, brewmasters, and beer fans who'd flown in for the occasion (we met a guy who'd come from Vancouver). Several brewers of note had made special beers for the occasion, and we were lucky enough to score a table and sample a few. We loved the Bear Republic Wild Turkey Rye Rocket Booster, the Russian River Damnation 23 and 20th Anniversary Ale, and the Sierra Nevada Wood-Aged Stout, to name a few. The anniversary beers are on tap until they run dry, so do yourself a favor and swing on over for a taste or four.

Cubs 3 Giants 2- The Enchanter enchanted but whatever fireballs he threw weren't enough to win the game as once again, the Giants offense failed to show up and the bullpen burped up another lead, this time in the eighth. Speaking of no offense, we did a little number crunching (based on hearsay and conjecture and our high school level mathematical skills) and figured out that the Giants have played in forty-two games in which they haven't scored more than three runs. For those scoring at home, that's a about 47% of their games. Not too surprisingly, their record is horrible in those games: 5-37. The team, however, is fourteen games under .500 which means the team isn't too bad when they score runs. In fact, we called up one of our accountant friends who told us that all of this means that the Giants have a record over .500 when they score over three runs. What we're saying here is one has to wonder what this team would be like if it they had another decent bat. Or two. In fact, one has to wonder what would have happened if they took all the money they threw at Barry Zito and instead gave it to Soriano (guessing, of course, that any lackey pitcher from AAA could have the same stats as Zito does). You can also sort of get a glimpse into the drunken game of Jenga Sabaen tried to play on a very rickety table this season in that if a bunch of hitters (Roberts, Vizquel, Aurillia, Durham) hit close to their career averages, this team isn’t that bad. Not great, but not bad. Well, maybe a little bad.

Rangers 4 A's 1- And speaking of not scoring more than three runs, there's the A's who haven't scored more than three runs in eleven games and now find themselves closer to the cellar dwelling Rangers than the division leading Angels. In fact, one has to wonder if this team is pretty much donezo. The Angels are a pretty, pretty good team and unlikely to choke up a 12 game lead. As for the wild card, there's way too many teams in front of the A's and it's pretty much conventional wisdom that the Wild Card team will be whomever loses that big ole dog fight in the AL Central between the Tigers and the Tribe. In other A’s news, the A's traded barely hitting catcher Jason Kendall to the Cubs for a bunch of minor leaguers