More Matter, Less Art

New Years 2010/2011

2011-01-04T00:36:00.002-05:00

Dear Matt in 2011/2011,

I hope you enjoyed 2011. I know I enjoyed 2010.

Every year, you hope to live in the moment. I think that's become the theme of your life at this stage -- live in the moment. There are only so many of them, and you've been blessed with some pretty exceptional ones.

In 2010, here were some of them, in order chronologically... Beating Duke, Greece, New York, Vegas (again) and big plans for the future.

Not a bad year.

Each year, luckily, my letters reflect an appreciation of annual growth. This year, though, puts years past to shame. Traveling with a group of 17 other students, then living alone in the most intimidating city in the world, and thriving in both environments, taught you a lot. College Park seems tiny compared to when we first got there. Lately, when school isn't bogging you down, the aches to be creative burden you constantly, but they're the signs of big things to come. Just have to do a little more living first.

You're 22 years old and have incredible life experience in certain areas and will gain so much in others in the next year. You have nothing, really, to be ashamed of. You have a good GPA, work hard, are honest with yourself, and expect excellence. None of these things are likely to change.

This year was bookended by two pretty good semesters, but Summer of 2010 really changed your life. Remember Greece, its infinite history, its constant reminders to enjoy life, its constant reminders of perspective regarding your place in the world. You only get one life, live well. New York taught you how to be an adult, albeit while you still got to act like a college kid. You experienced true creativity, self-awareness, interpersonal emotions you haven't gotten to feel in a while, and the rare feeling of absolutely falling in love with a city and a lifestyle. New York toughened us up while also making us realize we aren't cut out for normalcy. If you write this letter next year and find yourself in a situation you don't like, unless it has really amazing potential, get the hell out. You'll find something. That goes for the rest of your life.

Right now, your amazing moments are framed in the context of a vivid, complex and multi-faceted past, juxtaposed with an exciting and bold future. I look forward to being you, to looking back at this and saying, "Yes, I remember how wide-eyed and youthful I felt when I was 22, looking down the barrel of a life in New York and a career in creativity." I hope you will say, "I wish I could go back and tell myself not to worry."

Right now, the dream is to start in television, likely in comedy, then move on to movies or high-quality TV or both. Maybe film school, maybe directing, maybe just writing. Let's see where that is in a year.

Find peace in New York, and never stop being curious about what it has to offer. If you feel that stale feeling you usually feel in wintertime, put on a jacket and go exploring a new area. My goal to walk every block in Manhattan feels a little ambitious now, but hopefully by this time next year, that will seem feasible.

More year in review -- as in years past, you made strides in music that are exciting. You played your first rock shows, including one with an audience of about 75 people. Don't forget that part of your skill set. Perhaps you'll be a bit more serious this time next year, perhaps you won't. Just don't let those beautiful instruments ever collect dust.

Remember Shadow. This letter would not be complete without a reminder of him. He is pain free now. But I think of him nearly daily and hope he will wait for me on the other side as he did on this one.

Every year, I've resolved to play tennis. Yet I enter this year, the first since I was probably six years old, without a true pair of tennis shoes. I don't even know where all my rackets are. Take with that what you will, but I do believe that you have reasons to be in good physical condition when moving to New York. Let's be honest, you are about to meet a lot of women. Looking great for them won't be a bad thing.

You wrote for the David Hasselhoff roast, and Jerry Springer said your jokes. We think. He loves you.

You were a VIP in Vegas, a French-speaking American semi-local (remember the bar owner who saw us walking to the museum?) in Athens, a comedy writer for a nationally televised show, a lead guitarist in a band and, above all, I think, a good person.

All great. But 2011 is poised to be the most exciting year of our life this far.

Go Get 'Em.

test

2010-10-06T01:46:00.001-04:00

don dada?

Matt's video clips

2010-01-31T12:33:00.003-05:00

More for my purposes than any of yours (so I can be organized), but these are the clips I've amassed from my internship with BJ Koubaroulis's Synthesis Multimedia, which has given me a lot of great experience already.

Kevin Durant + Jeff Green

JT3 + Larry Hughes

Isaiah Miles recruiting spotlight

Brene Moseley recruiting spotlight

New Years Letter, 2010\

2010-01-03T01:49:00.003-05:00

Dear Matt of 2010/2011,

You made it, kid. 2010. Another decade, the decade of your 20's. Imagine what will happen in the next few years, God willing. First real job, first apartment outside of college, then who knows what else.

Last year, you asked to live in the moment in 2009. You did. 2009 was an unforgettable year. Want to recap?

Started senior year, and finished junior year, of college. Settled on sportswriting for a potential first job. Improved tremendously at guitar, and added two priceless instruments to your collection. Had your first real musical performance at a coffee house with two of your boys. Had your first job. Got an internship that already has you interviewing Kevin Durant. Saw Barack Obama elected. And...

Two trips to Vegas, one in May and one in Halloween. The memories, most of which are not suitable for public knowledge, should last you forever. Never forget those hungover brunches, the time by the pool, the time with Jerry, the Palms, the Halloween Party, O'Sheas, the hotel room, and, most importantly, hanging with your boys and your pops in the most fun place in the universe.

See if you can go back to Vegas this year. (Please!!!) But go elsewhere too. Travel out of the country, see places and experience cultures you never have. This is the best time. Take pictures, take friends, take chances.

Remember your family. They treat you incredibly well. They are crazy, but love them anyway. Spend time with your dog, he's on his way to the next.

Pursue your passions, because you have so many. Write comedy, write blogs, write music and write sports. Do it all and get good at all of them. That is your personality in a nutshell -- too many passions to land on just one.

Be healthy. College is not healthy. Eat well, exercise more, try basketball and tennis when you can. They are as much of a part of you as music, remember. You are not getting younger and getting back on the court is not going to be any easier.

You'll be living somewhere new this year -- don't be afraid to try something new. You never know what that will do for you.

2009, more than any other year so far, you grew up. You evolved as a person in every way possible. Continue that this year, because now we make our habits that last a lifetime. Every day is a choice, choose wisely. Figure out what it is we are going to do for the next few years and let's get really good at it.

Stay away from the people, places and ideas that hold you back. Life is too short for them. You know who they are, and even though some of them change, most of them don't.

Play guitar. Travel the world. Be confident and decisive. Maybe it's time to shed the girlfriends-in-college-are-stupid phobia and meet someone. (Maybe it's not). Don't settle for average in anything, know you deserve the best and go get it.

And be thankful for your friends and family who have helped you become who you are. You are so lucky to have all of them.

Happy new year. Enjoy this time in life, it is as good as it gets.

Black coaches in the BCS

2009-12-08T11:35:00.002-05:00

Say what you will about NFL’s answer to affirmative action – the so-called “Rooney Rule” – but it has done its job.

There are currently seven NFL coaches that are African-American: Mike Tomlin, Lovie Smith, Mike Singletary, Raheem Morris, Marvin Lewis, Jim Caldwell, and Buffalo Bills interim head coach Perry Fewell.

Before the Rooney Rule came into effect in 2003, only 6 minorities in NFL history had ever been head coaches. But because the rule essentially forces owners to interview at least one minority candidate for vacant head coaching positions, owners have thankfully jumped on coaches that may have been stuck in coordinator jobs like their predecessors.

Seven coaches out of 32 are minorities – that’s a pretty remarkable 22 percent.

Meanwhile, in college football, there are 120 Division-I Bowl Conference Series jobs.

After the University of Virginia hired Mike London Monday, there are only ten minority coaches in the entire BCS. That comes out to .08 percent.

On NBC’s Sunday Night Football on Dec. 6, former NFL head coach Tony Dungy called such a lack of diversity “disgraceful.”

"They've got to step up and say, 'We're going to do the right thing,” said Dungy, according to NBCSports.com. “We're going to hire qualified people. We're going to hire the best man for the job regardless of what boosters or anyone else has to say.”

A 2008 report by the NCAA states 46.4 percent of BCS football players are black. It’s not golf or tennis, for goodness sake’s. For many schools, is an African-American’s place still on the field and not patrolling the sidelines?

Dungy implied that racism must be present in college football to have such a massive disparity in black and white coaches.

And he’s right. How else can this be explained?

In the NFL, owners and executives realized they needed to change the system to even the playing field. Now the NCAA must do the same.

Here’s an idea: when an African-American (or anyone of another race) is interviewed for a head coaching job (and they consider the interview to be more than a formality), they report it to the NCAA. That school should be given some sort of financial reward for non-athletic use. This will encourage the whole university to pay attention to the issue, as boosters on both the athletic and academic side will want to raise money for the university.

If a school hires a minority coach, the football team should be presented a few “free” scholarships for the following year – and what coach wouldn’t want to carry two or three extra players for free? While this could change the recruiting landscape, it also empowers minority coaches to get an early leg up as compensation for having been disadvantaged their entire careers.

Tony Dungy is right. Something must happen in college football to diversify the head coaching position. And even though we have an African-American president, we can’t expect diversity just to happen.

If we know anything about the NCAA, there is only one thing that causes any sort of change or carries any sort of weight.

Money.

And until there are financial incentives to diversify BCS head coaching positions, nothing will change. I’d put my money on that.

Written to death already... but still

2009-12-08T11:33:00.002-05:00

Everyone with a laptop has written something about why the BCS needs a playoff. It’s about as original as reporting Peyton Manning is a pretty good quarterback or that Tiger Woods recently had an affair (or eight).

But I’m going to write about it anyway, because when the BCS bowl berths are handed out tonight, there are going to be three undefeated teams that won’t be able to play for the national championship.

Boise State has been undefeated in two straight regular seasons. Florida, Alabama, Texas, Ohio State, USC – you name the powerhouse program, they’ve lost in that time. They beat the same number of top-10 teams as Alabama this season, (the Pac-10 champs, #7 Oregon, by 11 points) but their schedule handicaps them from playing for the national championship year after year.

The only knock on Boise State is they have a weak schedule. Well, maybe someone should play them! Boise State has reportedly offered to travel to big schools’ home stadiums to bolster their schedule without expectation of the big school to complete a home-and-home series in Boise. Imagine Boise State playing the Buckeyes at the Horseshoe; against USC in Pasadena; or Florida in Gainesville. They deserve the chance to prove themselves, but there is no reward for the big programs to play them. And, sadly, those games will never happen as a result.

Texas Christian, which cannot possibly be dismissed as a mid-major team given their success in the last decade, had two wins over top-25 teams this season and got a win against ACC runner-up Clemson on the road. Their four top running backs combined for over 2,000 yards this season, leading the Horned Frogs to a No. 4 overall offense, complementing their defense, which is ranked No. 1 in the entire BCS in yards per game. And you’re telling me they aren’t as good as Texas? Or aren’t good enough to have a shot?

TCU hasn’t lost a game since last November, against the eventual No. 3 team in the nation (Utah). They met Boise State in last year’s Poinsetta Bowl. They will meet Boise State again this year in the Fiesta Bowl – which is admittedly an upgrade as far as BCS standings, but they are not afforded the chance to play Florida, Georgia Tech, or, the other undefeated team, Cincinnati. This is simply not fair.

While both TCU and Boise State are undefeated, Cincinnati can boast being undefeated in a so-called major conference. Their offense is No. 6 in the country, better than Florida, Alabama and Texas, all of whom have realistic Heisman contenders. They posted three top-25 wins, including a defeat over Pittsburgh in a Big East championship game. They too will have to watch the national championship from home.

There is no question the SEC and the Big 12 are the best football conferences in the nation. Alabama and Texas were both the undefeated champions of those conferences, and they too deserve the chance to play for the national championship.

But why do they get an automatic bid to the national championship while three other undefeated teams barely warrant consideration? Put it this way: why not have the Saints and Colts play for the Super Bowl right now? Because even the favored, more talented, higher-profile teams can lose. Just ask Tom Brady.

So why hasn’t the system been changed?

Michael Wilbon, speaking at the University of Maryland’s Shirley Povich Symposium back in early November, said the reason the bowl system in college football has not been changed is because of one reason: money.

“Sports is as close as we get to a meritocracy in this country,” Wilbon said. “College football is getting away from that. The [current bowl system] is printing money for the NCAA, but I’d bet you’d print more money with a playoff.”

Wilbon called the six power conferences a “cartel” that controls all the money, who competes for a championship, and the destinies of Boise State and TCU, who are just not ever going to be on the BCS Championship VIP list.

No other sport could possibly conceive letting an undefeated team not even have a chance at the national championship.

Imagine a four-team playoff. The top four ranked BCS teams get an automatic invite, and if there are undefeated teams outside of the top four, the field can expand to six. No.’s 1 and 2 get a bye, the third seed plays the sixth; the fourth plays the fifth.

Maybe that system isn’t perfect. Surely someone else has a better idea than me, who knows.

But the system, as it stands, is not acceptable. Even President Obama disagrees with it. But until money stops clouding the judgment of the NCAA, nothing will change.

That’s everyone’s loss.

Tiger Woods -- You knew I'd write about it sometime, right?

2009-12-02T22:31:00.002-05:00

“I am Tiger Woods.”

Remember that advertisement?

Several years ago, Nike produced a commercial that had children – male and female and of all races – repeat that simple sentence.

I am Tiger Woods.

The man who is valued at a billion dollars for changing the game of golf more than any athlete has changed his sport – on the course and off – than anyone in American history.

I am Tiger Woods.

The most recognizable athlete on the planet.

I am Tiger Woods.

The man who threw away his marriage and his impeccable public image for an ill-advised affair.

I am Tiger Woods.

The man who has everything, but needed more.

When women throw themselves at you every time you step outside, it must be hard to avoid having a one-night stand. Problems we’d be so lucky to have, Tiger. But a 31-month affair when you have a pregnant wife and another child?

Is this the price of greatness? When your peers and pundits alike name you as the greatest of the generation, does that go too far in a person’s head? Michael Jordan slid into gambling problems and had a messy divorce with his wife. Alex Rodriguez has been publically humiliated after several affairs. Michael Phelps was caught smoking marijuana at a frat party and has a DUI on his record.

To make it to the top of their respective sports, these athletes develop a selfish, never-satisfied complex. They have to, and we respect them for it.

But for Tiger Woods to be a billionaire, he needs the support of the millions of fans around the world who pay money to see him, buy Nike clothes and who gave him the benefit of the doubt when news leaked about his late-night car accident.

In many ways, he is an investment, subsidized by his adoring fans. Only Woods can play golf at such a high level. But his fans chose him to be the face of professional sports in the early 2000’s.

Woods owed the millions of children who wanted their whole lives to say “I am Tiger Woods” better conduct. Did he really think no one would ever find out, after 31 months, that he was cheating on his wife? Do you think someone around the world wouldn’t recognize him?

Tiger Woods is now facing an image crisis. His family life must be in turmoil, and we all hope he and his wife are able to overcome this situation.

But Tiger Woods should know that he owes his fans better.

After all, they are Tiger Woods, too.

Ralph Freidgen Column

2009-11-30T16:38:00.002-05:00

Writer's note: Written a month (and three fewer losses) ago

All good things come to an end: so the saying goes.

Unfortunately for Ralph Friedgen, all good things came to an end in 2003, the last season the Terrapins ended the season in the top 25.

Six mediocre years later, it’s time for Maryland to cut loose its popular coach.

After four seasons out of the last six with a losing record, Friedgen is in hot water after his most disappointing season yet.

The Terrapins’ seven losses already match Friedgen’s worst total for a season, and with a loss on Saturday against #20 Virginia Tech, Friedgen would be guaranteed his worst year yet at Maryland.

With losses against unheralded Duke, Virginia and Middle Tennessee State, an embarrassing blowout loss to California and a tight win over Division I-AA James Madison, the Terrapins have emerged as the latest laughingstock of the ACC.

Maryland’s offense ranks a pathetic 102^ndout of 120 BCS teams, behind powerhouses like Florida International and Ohio. This despite having wide receiver Torrey Smith, Maryland’s most explosive player, who has the third-most yards per game of anyone in the country.

Its defense’s struggles overshadow those of the offense. The unit has given up a stunning 31 points a game, including 52 points to California, 42 points in a contest against Wake Forest, and worst of all, 35 points to James Madison at home.

These struggles are reflections of unacceptable decision-making by Friedgen, who handpicked his highly paid offensive and defensive coordinators, James Franklin and Don Brown.

Friedgen’s many supporters will argue that his early success indicates he will turn around Maryland’s struggling program.

Think again.

The Maryland graduate and former lineman earned high accolades his first year as head coach, including the Home Depot Coach of the Year award, from his peers. The Terrapins went to the Orange Bowl and achieved a #10 ranking by the end of the season.

The next two seasons, Maryland had 11 and 10 wins, both impressive totals. They were ranked in the top 20 by the end of each season, and quietly, Friedgen presided over a new ACC powerhouse.

But one must remember that Friedgen did not build the rosters of those first three teams. The previous coach, Ron Vanderlinden, who now coaches with Joe Paterno at Penn State, deserves credit for those rosters.

When Friedgen arrived at Maryland in 2001, his team was stacked with future NFL players he did not recruit. The list of talent is absolutely mind-boggling.

Shaun Hill, who started several games this season with the San Francisco 49ers, was the senior quarterback. NFL starters Madieu Williams, EJ Henderson, Dennard Wilson, Dominique Foxworth, Randy Starks and Melvin Fowler were already on the team Friedgen inherited. So were Maryland stars Bruce Perry, a running back, and Nick Novak, a placekicker, who remain among the most decorated players in the university’s history.

A majority of those star players would remain for Friedgen’s second season, when Friedgen also inherited tackle Stephon Heyer (now of the Redskins), linebackers Shawne Merriman and D’Qwell Jackson (two of the best linebackers in the NFL), quarterback Sam Hollenbach, and other players of NFL and NCAA prominence.

It is unclear how much Friedgen had to do with these signings, considering many coaches sign players, or certainly begin recruiting them, two years in advance of graduation.

But by the time Friedgen’s first recruiting class were seniors, in 2004, all of Vanderlinden’s players had moved on.

That season, Maryland tellingly went 5-6.

Ever since, Maryland has been just mediocre, with one 9-win season that got them to the less-than-spectacular Champs Sports Bowl. There have been no comparable results since the team was led by the previous coach’s recruits.

Despite having NFL talent year after year – last year, five Terrapins were drafted by professional teams, including receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey seventh overall – these Terrapins don’t look like they’ll be catching the hare anytime soon with Friedgen at the helm.

Friedgen even has several future NFL players on his roster this miserable season, including linebacker Alex Wujciak, receiver/returner Smith and gargantuan tackle Bruce Campbell.

Yet he failed to recruit other offensive linemen, which means that the Terrapins have started two walk-ons this season. The offense’s play-calling is predictable; it also has a knack for turnovers at the worst possible times. The defense folds like a lawn chair on key drives; it remains plagued by missed tackles and bonehead penalties.

The coaching and recruiting errors speak for themselves. And if Maryland wants to start winning again, it needs a new leader of its program.

DHB

2009-10-19T14:33:00.002-04:00

By Matt Ford

The first time I saw Darrius Heyward-Bey run, I barely saw him at all.

From my nearby perch on the tennis courts of McDonogh School in Owings Mills, Md., I saw a 6’3 missile scorch past my eyes, and then, what had to be seconds later, the rest of the competition in the 100-meter dash.

If I recall correctly, he ended up running 100 meters faster than anyone in MIAA conference history that day. He also anchored two relay teams and similarly destroyed the competition in Usain-Bolt-like fashion in the 200 meters.

Going to high school with Heyward-Bey gave me a lifetime of tall tales – some true – to share.

One friend said he once clocked Heyward-Bey running a 4.2 in the 40-yard dash as a junior (that’s Deion Sanders fast). He also was probably our school’s best basketball player for two seasons before he quit to concentrate on football and track. Pretty impressive, especially since another McDonogh classmate, DaJuan Summers, now plays for the Detroit Pistons.

He allegedly nearly matched the best time in the world for the 200-meter dash – as a high-schooler with a football scholarship, no less – when he was an All-American sprinter as a senior. Sometimes, you’d hear whispers about scouts from Alabama or Michigan State watching him play football in our rustic stadium with a Division III lacrosse player who doubled as his quarterback.

In McDonogh’s game against Gilman, our archrival, his senior year, Heyward-Bey eviscerated the opposing secondary. Doubling as a defensive end, he kept us in the game when we threw five interceptions and blew a big first-half lead. He was the most impressive high school football player in McDonogh history; even more impressive than Eric King a few years before, who now starts for the Detroit Lions at cornerback.

I was happy to hear he chose to play football at Maryland in 2005 – which he did to stay close to his mom. Many of us at McDonogh wondered how well he would do as a Terp, because he had really only focused on football for about two years by the time he committed to Maryland as a four-star recruit.

I went to Northwestern for two years, but watched Darrius succeed from afar. He scored a 96-yard touchdown during his redshirt freshman campaign against Miami that was a YouTube hit in minutes. He was the team’s most feared target his sophomore year, and by the time I got to Maryland in his final year in 2008, McDonogh’s own DHB was a nationally respected threat.

Darrius had many great moments left for me in his last year at Maryland. I remember most a game against Wake Forest – and Alphonso Smith, a cornerback chosen in the second round of this year’s draft – when Heyward-Bey had 11 catches for 101 yards. He caught a 41-yard leaping touchdown in the end zone. My best friend and I yelled deliriously that he went to our high school until our voices cracked and our entire section knew.

When my former classmate – yes, I actually had class with him at McDonogh – got drafted seventh overall by the Oakland Raiders last April, I screamed. My phone went crazy with text messages. The track star and football player who fought his guts out for my McDonogh Eagles had made it big. Really, really big.

I, like millions of football fans, saw a great kid’s life change that day. No one has worked harder to become a better football player. No one, I assure you, is more humble about his accomplishments.

But “experts” panned the Raiders’ selection in ways I didn’t think were possible. Todd McShay actually gave the Raiders a draft grade of F- for selecting the fastest player in the draft seventh overall. Cris Carter was even rude enough to laugh on camera during an interview between Heyward-Bey and Suzy Kolber on the best day of my classmate’s life. I’ll never forget that.

I wished with all my heart that he could prove his critics wrong as football Web sites panned his selection universally. Even I thought he was drafted too high, but that is not his fault, after all.

Nor is it his fault that he is stuck with JaMarcus Russell, the league’s worst starting quarterback, who those same experts lauded as a great choice by the Raiders years earlier. The Raiders are the biggest joke in the NFL. Heyward-Bey does not deserve to be the team’s punch line.

But it’s hard to ignore that DHB’s only contribution to the stat sheet Sunday in a win against the Eagles was a rush for -1 yards. He can’t seem to shake injuries – or opposing cornerbacks – long enough to get noticed.

But I have faith. Maybe I’m still stuck on that tennis court four years ago, watching the fastest person I’ve ever seen, unable to believe anyone on this planet could slow him down. Maybe my memory exaggerates the incredible jumping touchdown in front of my eyes.

Or maybe Darrius will turn it around. Maybe he will become one of the league’s best players. Maybe he will prove all his critics wrong.

If he does, I’ll be waiting to say – no, shout -- I told you so.

DeMatha, Coker rally to topple Good Counsel, 24-21

2009-10-10T10:51:00.002-04:00

DeMatha, Coker rally to beat Good Counsel, 24-21

Going into the fourth quarter of Friday night’s game against Good Counsel, the DeMatha Stags were down nearly three touchdowns and on their way to being upset by their archrival.

Enter star senior running back Marcus Coker, who spurred the biggest comeback in DeMatha Coach Bill McGregor’s legendary career.

Behind Coker’s three fourth-quarter rushing touchdowns, DeMatha overcame Good Counsel 24-21 in the final moments of a thrilling game between the two top-ranked teams in the area.

“We had it in our minds the whole game we would come back and win,” said Coker, who committed to play at Iowa next year.

Hard to believe considering Good Counsel had a 21-3 lead going into the fourth quarter.

“We showed the mark of a champion tonight,” McGregor said of the Stags, ranked eighth in the nation by MaxPreps.com. “We had our backs to the wall and we could've folded but we didn't. We did what we had to do.”

Good Counsel’s first-half offense rolled to a fantastic start, eviscerating DeMatha’s secondary in the passing game.

DeMatha opened the game with a 38-yard field goal from Michael Branthover, but Good Counsel quickly answered with an 84-yard touchdown drive, most of which came from a beautiful pass from junior quarterback Zach Dancel to sophomore running back Stefon Diggs for 55 yards. Sophomore runner Wes Brown punched the ball in from the one-yard line to make the score 7-3.

After a long DeMatha drive that resulted in a missed field goal, Good Counsel put together another strong series. Spurred by four Dancel completions, Good Counsel moved 80 yards and scored on Dancel’s throw to a crossing EJ Scott, a Virginia commit.

Dancel had a perfect first half, completing all six attempts, each to a different receiver, for 84 yards and a touchdown. Brown, a 6’0, 185-pound battering ram, punished defenders on his seven carries for 44 yards.

DeMatha, meanwhile, was having trouble getting anything done on offense. Senior quarterback Daniel Tapscott was 6 of 13 for 60 yards, and Coker was held to a relatively pedestrian 59 yards on 16 carries.

“Coach told us at halftime the first half doesn't matter at all," Coker said.

Good Counsel may have been complacent after a truly dominant first half. “I think we went in at halftime and we thought we had the game won,” said Dancel. “We didn’t come out to play in the second half.”

But Good Counsel increased their momentum early in the second half, starting with a perfect ball from Dancel to standout wide receiver/cornerback Louis Young for 31 yards on the third play of the half, quieting the boisterous DeMatha student section. The result was an 80-yard touchdown drive, capped off by Brown’s second rushing touchdown of the contest, making the score 21-3.

Both teams traded punts until the fourth quarter, when Coker turned it on. He broke off a 17-yard-touchdown three plays into the quarter, closing the gap to 21-10.

The turning point of the game came on Good Counsel’s next drive, when a handoff from Dancel to fullback Michael Nittoli fell to the turf and DeMatha recovered.

“That was the break we needed,” McGregor said.

The next play, a determined Coker burst right then back left for a 37-yard touchdown that re-energized DeMatha. With the score 21-17, the game was suddenly up for grabs.

Good Counsel took over with nine minutes remaining and rushed the ball effectively up the field. They drove the ball 64 yards in seven and a half minutes, but on fourth and one from inside DeMatha’s 25, they opted to go for the first down instead of attempting a field goal.

“Hindsight being 20/20,” said Good Counsel coach Bob Milloy, “I should have [attempted a field goal].”

Down four instead of a possible seven, DeMatha surged forward as the clock winded down.

Coker got DeMatha a first down, but with 1:18 to go and facing a third down at their own 35-yard line, the Stags needed a big play.

That’s exactly what they got, as Coker exploited a huge hole on the right side of the field and stunned Good Counsel with a 65-yard touchdown run with 1:07 left to play.

“I was just thinking, we gotta score, we gotta win,” Coker said.

The run was the capstone in a game in which Coker ran for 212 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries.

McGregor gave credit to his star for carrying the team to victory in the final stanza.

“I thought it was a phenomenal performance [by Coker],” he said. “He put the team on his shoulders and he carried us. I think it was the finest effort I've ever seen a DeMatha back have,” he said.

“We just came together in the second half, just went power, didn't do anything different,” Coker said. “We knew they couldn't stop us man-on-man, so we hit 'em in the mouth."

Good Counsel got the ball back at their 20-yard line with a minute and change to go, but by then, victory belonged to DeMatha. After a quick first down, Dancel threw two incomplete passes and then was sacked by Austin Bailey – who spent most of the game at fullback opening up holes for Coker.

"We were preparing for the pass, we knew we only had a short time to get to him,” Bailey said. “I came off the edge and made a nice move and I hit him."

After a last-ditch throw to Young that fell incomplete, DeMatha completed a stunning comeback and surged into first place in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.

“Every time we get together you have no idea how its gonna go,” McGregor said. “In all the years I've been coaching I don't ever remember being down 21-3 in the fourth quarter and coming back to win.”

Despite the stunning loss, Good Counsel’s upperclassmen remained positive.

“We are looking at this game like a scrimmage,” said Young, who committed to Stanford but is now undecided about where to play college ball. “We know we will see them again in the playoffs. It was a tough loss, but we played a respectable game. We will learn from our mistakes,” he said.

“This was a disappointing loss,” said Good Counsel linebacker Troy Gloster, a senior committed to West Virginia. “We were up 21-3 and had them on the ropes. But we missed a couple tackles on long runs and had some mental breakdowns. But despite the loss, we are a better team now,” he said.

DeMatha’s players and coaches were proud of their persistence despite an uphill battle.

"We were in a hole,” said Bailey. “But we have heart."

McGregor agreed. “We always talk to the kids about never, ever giving up. A DeMatha football team is going to play all four quarters,” McGregor said.

Check out...

2009-10-05T19:22:00.001-04:00

My sportswriting class's blog, over at http://talkingterps.blogspot.com/.

Some of my and my classmates' opinions about the goings-on in the sports world.

More to come....

Drug tests in sports take a blow in legal system

2009-09-24T18:13:00.002-04:00

Of all the battles won and lost in the sports world during the last few days, the most significant victory may have taken place in a courtroom.

A U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that Minnesota Vikings defensive linemen Pat and Kevin Williams could not be suspended by the NFL for failing a drug test, said a story in the New York Times.

Last October, the Williamses (who are unrelated), tested positive for a banned diuretic called Star Caps, which violates the NFL’s anti-doping code. The NFL’s policy is to suspend players who fail drug tests for four games – a quarter of the regular season.

But the Circuit Court found that Minnesota’s state laws say employees cannot be penalized for failing one drug test. According to The New York Times, nearly half of all states have similar laws.

As a result, Pat and Kevin Williams, along with members of the New Orleans Saints who tested positive for the same substance, will not be suspended by NFL commissioner Robert Goodell, despite that it is league practice to suspend anyone who violates the drug policy.

“Why should a football player not have the same rights that a person in Minnesota has?” Mark S. Levinstein asked The Times. “The idea that the NFL is more important than the views of state legislators is ridiculous. The NFL is just confronting what most businesses have to deal with, which is different laws in different states. That is just how our country is set up,” he said in the article.

On one hand, Levinstein is right. Professional athletes should obviously be given the same constitutional rights as everyone else.

But in sports, there are performance-enhancing drugs. And when millions of fans’ dollars are at stake, this subject needs more investigation.

In today’s sports landscape, an athlete can go from being a decent player to a multi-millionaire icon just by taking a few drugs and having some talent (Ken Caminiti?). In one quick ruling, the Court may have just changed the American athletic landscape without even knowing it.

The NFL should be commended for how stringent its drug policy is relative to other leagues. Baseball, which all accounts has been lax about performance-enhancing drugs for far too long, only suspends first-time offenders for 15-25 days, according to the MLB Players Web site.

The Olympics are known for their extremely stringent drug testing, and athletes like Marion Jones have had to endure public humiliation after testing positive. In professional tennis, suspensions for first-time violators of the drug policy are often for an entire year (and -- unlike football -- in tennis, no salary is guaranteed).

There is no question these drug policies have acted as deterrents. If you fail a drug test, not only do you get humiliated (Manny Ramirez, Ricky Williams), but you also could lose your ability to pursue your career (Travis Henry, Floyd Landis).

So what will happen in the NFL if players can subvert the drug policy by avoiding suspension for their first offense?

Assume that drug tests happen in the NFL every few weeks, like they do in the NCAA. Then, assume that a player goes on steroids, fails a drug test, and then does not have to serve a suspension until he breaks the rules again.

In a game like football, steroids are not just a danger to the record books like they essentially are in baseball. Imagine the possibility of a linebacker on steroids hitting a quarterback or a defenseless receiver. That could result in unthinkable consequences. We’ve seen players paralyzed from big hits from simply because they were out of position.

Imagine if players can somehow get even bigger – illegally.

In a sport where one good season can make you tens of millions of dollars, there is no question that athletes will jump at the chance to get an advantage over other players.

Or what about track and field? Imagine if someone was to take steroids for a race against Usain Bolt, test positive, destroy his record, and then not face a suspension?

Major League Baseball ended up with egg on its face after its supporters felt exploited and hoodwinked after Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire’s home run chase turned out to be steroid-fueled. Professional baseball hasn’t been able to recover ever since.

Imagine if the invaluable deterrent of drug tests go out the window in other sports. All sports could turn into professional wrestling, where entertainment supersedes legitimate talent. It would be impossible to determine who was legitimate and who wasn’t – and all American sports would suffer a complete loss of credibility.

During the steroids scandal in baseball, we learned how government and sports don’t mix.

Now, we’re seeing government and sports collide head-on once again. And the fate of American sports culture may hang in the balance.

Is it okay for UMD fans to boo during a loss to Middle Tennessee State?

2009-09-23T20:10:00.003-04:00

College sports fans across the country know that University of Maryland’s fans are extremely passionate.

For the short time I’ve been at Maryland, I’ve seen delirious students storm the court after stunning No. 1-ranked North Carolina in men’s basketball, rush the field after beating ranked opponents in football last season, and go out of their way to wish student-athletes encouragement on campus.

But during Maryland football team’s disappointing and puzzling loss to Middle Tennessee State last week, the (unreasonable?) passion of Maryland fans was on display for the whole country to see.

Several times during the home game, students descended upon their classmates and colleagues with loud, vengeful booing.

To be fair, the struggling Terrapins lost to an unheralded team from an unknown conference for the second straight year. But Maryland is a young squad, recovering from losing 30 seniors last season. A remarkable five players from last year’s team were drafted. In fact, the nearby Washington Redskins have two players from last season’s Terps on their roster.

Maryland fans lost their patience with their shaky football team. And it was easy to see the crowd’s effect.

Coach Ralph Freidgen seemed to cringe as the boos came down; more so when they were directed at the poor execution of his players than when they were directed at his coaching staff’s miserable play-calling. Several players, including quarterback Chris Turner, retreated to the sidelines with heads down, defeated, when they heard the discouragement of their classmates.

Freidgen said after the game that he didn’t feel the negative energy that radiated from the student section, which was seated for most of the game.

“I don’t really get involved in [the booing],” Freidgen told Jeff Barker of the Baltimore Sun. “I know that’s [the fans’] prerogative. I don’t know what that does to our players. It doesn’t affect me.”

The dissatisfaction of the students shouldn’t affect Freidgen. He is a well-compensated professional, subject to the scrutiny of outsiders to his job performance. And when a coaching staff makes decisions that flounder – like asking 18-year-old freshman Nick Ferrara to make a 42-yard field goal on a fourth-and-two – students have every right to boo their coaches.

But when junior Da’Rel Scott, an All-ACC running back last season, fumbled for the second time in the third quarter, the crowd booed him. Never mind that he averaged nine yards per carry in the game and scored a 48-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

After several dropped passes or missed opportunities – and there were many on Saturday – the crowd responded with catcalls. Ultimately, after the young Terrapins lost the game as a result of a last-second field goal, the listless crowd booed their team one more time.

What kind of message does that send to our players? Even worse, what does that tell top basketball recruit Terrence Ross, who was seated in the student section on Saturday? Or other future Terps in the stands?

Maryland students booed Greivis Vasquez, their best basketball player, last season. Yes, the same Vasquez who single-handedly carried his team to the NCAA Tournament. Now Freidgen, like men’s basketball coach Gary Williams last season, will lose sleep over his job security, despite elevating his alma mater to unprecedented heights during his tenure as head coach.

But what about the young Terrapins football team, which returns only 10 starters out of a possible 22 from last season? What will keep them motivated for the rest of this season? And what top prospect would want to play for a school that booed its own students at home?

Despite the huge stadium and world-class program, we need to remember that Maryland football players are just college students, not professionals. They sacrifice countless hours out of their schedule in order to represent their classmates on national television for no pay and little recognition.

It simply does not matter how our team played. They deserve better from their home crowd.

Freidgen told the Washington Post after Saturday’s game that he was going to be harder on his players after this week’s devastating loss.

"They need to start worrying about how I feel," Friedgen said.

No, Coach. We, Maryland’s fans, need to start worrying how they feel.

Let's get some content up here, shall we? Part 1

2009-09-23T20:08:00.001-04:00

It's been too long since I posted regularly on here. That's going to change, starting now.

Here is my recap of Barack Obama's speech at UMD last Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009.

Despite being an avid supporter who donated to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign multiple times, I had never seen him speak in person until last week. I was unspeakably excited to see him speak at my university.

I have believed in Obama’s power for change because of his exceptional personality since I saw him speak for the first time in 2004 at the Democratic National Convention. He is at once disarmingly normal but impossibly extraordinary. His power of rhetoric is undeniable, but it is his alluring charisma that makes him so fit to lead a divided nation.

I’m certainly not alone in thinking Obama may end up as one of the most important people in American history. But my confidence in the relevance of presidency stems from more than the enormous import of his groundbreaking election.

Obama seems genuinely determined to change the way the political system works and how it is perceived. He is admirably committed to improving America’s image abroad. He legitimately cares about my generation, who are passed over and neglected by politicians based on misinformation about young adults’ apathy towards politics.

For all those reasons, I woke up around 6:30 last Thursday to see Obama. The line to get into Comcast Center stretched for what must have been over a mile. I overheard someone joking that the line was so visible from space. Weary volunteers, many of whom were students who woke up before the sun, ushered the chaotic, excited masses into their seats hours before Obama even arrived in College Park.

It’s difficult to explain how masses of people react when they see Barack Obama speak in person. A mix of hysteria, adoration and amazement create an atmosphere that is not duplicable in the most high-profile sporting events or rock concerts.

Whenever people thought he would finally come up to speak, they jumped out of their seats and grabbed their cameras. Because he came on about half an hour late, thousands of people did this several times. When he finally did take the podium, he could not complete a sentence without interruption by frantic, spastic, screaming applause.

Seeing him in person confirmed all my beliefs about his capability to be an exceptional president beyond a reasonable doubt. He is convincing and passionate. He spoke eloquently and sympathetically about the necessity to improve financial aid for college students in need, a sensitive issue for many of the 15,000-plus of those same college students in attendance.

But Obama was there to sell his health insurance plan, one that aims to provide affordable health coverage for all Americans. His proposals made complete sense to me, which came as a bit of a surprise. By having the government provide cheap – and good – healthcare, private insurers would be forced to improve their product while lowering their prices in order to stay in business. That is simple economics. I share his belief that there is no reason that healthcare companies should profit from expensive insurance policies while people who cannot afford them get sick.

There are so many problems with having millions of uninsured Americans, Obama explained. First of all, many people don’t go to the doctor often enough, resulting in an unhealthier lifestyle. Then, when they do get sick, they have to go the emergency room, which overloads our hospital systems and could prevent some people who are in life-and-death situations from getting proper attention.

Obama made it clear to me that the government is not stepping into the healthcare system in order to make money. Instead, it is doing so to affect the marketplace of health insurance. People who are happy with their coverage don’t have to change at all; instead, they will likely get better coverage for cheaper prices because the government will offer a lower-priced competitor.

Obama made a comparison between public and private healthcare that really resonated with the University of Maryland crowd – we have public universities and private universities, Obama said. We let people choose among them for their education. If we trust the government to sponsor public education, why can’t we trust it to support public healthcare?

Obama’s message rang loud and clear through Comcast Center to many supportive students. But what became most apparent of all from hearing him speak is how irrational the debate has become. Obama did not take any cheap shots whatsoever – even though there was a protestor who screamed that Obama was interested in killing babies, and in spite of the fact, as Obama said, some fanatics are literally arguing that he should be killed.

From Joe Wilson’s ridiculous “You lie!” in the middle of an address to congress, to the maniacal protestors outside of Comcast Center who repeatedly acted out a scene of Obama’s healthcare plan killing an old man, many counter-arguments about Obama’s proposal are steeped in ignorance and hatred.

Obama stressed that he did not have all the answers – and clearly, he doesn’t. But he said that our representatives – and normal citizens – should try to make his proposal better instead of trying to kill it.

Should Obama’s bill pass, it may be a sign that our nation’s politics have matured. Rather than accusing the bill’s supporters of socialism or of murdering babies, perhaps the country can engage in a constructive and universally beneficial debate about the issues.

After seeing Obama’s optimistic speech, it seems like we may be closing in on the passing of the most transformative healthcare bill since the Great Society in the 1960’s. But after seeing protestors and fanatical, irrational opposition to the healthcare proposal, we may still be far from a country that can intelligently and dispassionately debate relevant issues.

Bill Simmons' Vegas article

2009-09-04T13:20:00.003-04:00

Bill Simmons, ESPN's legendary Page 2 writer, has written an incredible story about going to Vegas with his friends for a fantasy football draft and a weekend of fun. It really resonated with me, as I get older and wonder where I will be and where my best friends will be in a few years.

And, of course, if I will have any time to enjoy myself when I'm older...

Anyway, one quote really struck me. From Sunday morning on the weekend trip:

"The obligatory hungover Vegas breakfast with Bish, Hopper and Grady. We made it. It's been 13 years since our first monster Vegas trip together. Nothing has changed. We are the same guys. The truth is, you have your oldest friends in life, and then you have everyone else. Nothing will trump your oldest friends. Any amount of time can pass without your feeling as if you've grown apart because, really, you can't. It's like a plant. You just have to water it every so often and you're good."

3 days down...

2009-09-02T22:48:00.002-04:00

Wednesday of week one. It's amazing that this little time has gone by, or perhaps, how much time is left in the semester.

I think this is going to be my best semester I ever have, except for the whole class-on-Fridays thing. I just have a good feeling.

I'm taking class with George Solomon and Kevin Blackistone this semester... which is ridiculous. They are extremely well-connected in the sports journalism world, which could come in extremely handy in the next few years if that's the route I decide to go.

Read this part of my syllabus for Blackistone's class:

"Each student may take the opportunity to provide me, a regular panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn, with an opening line to Tony Reali. If Reali gives me at least a point for your line, you get three extra percentage points. If he does not, or makes a deduction, you get nothing and will be happy for it." (Emphasis is written by Blackistone, not me.)

My homework for those two classes, both of which revolve around examining sports journalism, includes a daily perusing of Wash. Post SPORTS section and also ESPN.com. I only do both of those things 20 times a day anyway.

My other classes are okay... I don't know what to think about my copy editing class other than that it looks pretty straightforward. My math class is a joke and I just hope I don't get too lazy. My junior English class is basically a preparation for law school essay writing and writing briefs, so that could come in handy should I choose to go that route.

But other than that, life is good. I'm just feeling good about things. Hopefully it stays that way.

Till next time...

2009-2010?

2009-08-30T22:59:00.003-04:00

The first day of school is tomorrow, reader(s). Can you believe it? I can't. Just a week ago I had finished up my summer class, and just a few months ago I was selling my soul for JOUR320 clips. My, how far we've come.

Here is an open prayer that my semester will be easy. Last semester was terrible. I worked my butt off for 4 out of 5 classes and treaded water in the 5th. I'm hoping I have an easier go of it this time around. However, I have tougher hours (early morning Tu/Thu, class MWF, and night class Tu/Th) to deal with this year. Hopefully I can manage.

My room this year is a lot bigger and better than last year. But that is only the beginning of what I'm excited about for this year. I think this is going to be the best school year I ever have, and I have many of my own reasons for thinking so. I hope that it meets my expectations, but the only person in control of that is me. So it will.

We're running out of time, college friends. Many of my friends are graduating this year, others next year, others the year after. Only so many more times can we get to enjoy our nights and conversations and beautiful campuses as college students. I hope that all of you (if anyone still stays on with this blog) take time to remember that as the year goes on.

This is going to be a great semester. I will keep you all updated as to what happens, because I will be going through some personal renovations. Hopefully I come out on the other side of this year a better man.

Beautiful moment

2009-08-02T14:14:00.003-04:00

I'm sitting upstairs in my beach house, looking out both of the windows on each side where a HUGE storm is about to attack the coast. The ocean is literally gray, like a over-colored horror movie. Clouds are summoning each other to their most menacing formations and readying to go wild. All my lights are off; the only light is the background of my computer screen. In Rainbows is playing in the background. I'm writing an email, writing a song, thinking about life, and writing a blog post all at the same time. For some reason this atmosphere is very inspirational.

Perhaps this is a reminder that even what is scary, menacing, and unpleasant to our senses can be beautiful.

Who knew?

2009-07-21T14:47:00.003-04:00

After weeks, almost a month, of not posting on here, I got a huge post out of my system and had the occasion to re-read and share with you one of my favorite pieces of writing (the Hajdu piece). When I left the computer, I felt cleansed and at peace... and was able to actually write a song, one that I thought up instantly and got on the page without much effort.

I have to do this more often!

Something so good I had to share it

2009-07-20T22:46:00.003-04:00

Friends,

I have been reading this piece by David Hajdu every time I've needed lyrical inspiration in the last few weeks. I want to post the open to this story, called "Wynton's Blues" about Wynton Marsalis, because it is so damn good that everyone who has ever read anything should read it. (Those of you from Doug Foster's class will recognize this.)

For my gigantic philosophical rant from tonight, go ahead and click here. But this is way better.

Wynton's Blues

Manhattan is empty during the last week of August, and the kind of emptiness it achieves is like that of the mind during meditation—a temporary, unnatural purity. On a Tuesday evening in late August of 2001 I was wandering around Greenwich Village and ended up at the Village Vanguard. After sixty-some years of business the illustrious little jazz haunt hasn't changed; it remains one of the inexplicable constants of the Manhattan landscape. Its midtown cousin, Birdland (named for the bebop saxophonist Charlie "Yardbird" Parker), closed down decades ago and was replaced by a strip joint, Flash Dancers, which has been in business longer than Birdland was; a theme nightclub near Times Square now uses the Birdland name. There's still a Cotton Club in Harlem, but not in the original location, and now it's a seedy disco. The Vanguard has somehow survived in its primordial basement and has retained all the bohemian eccentricities that have always helped make it cool: the fence-post marquee, with performers' names handwritten vertically; the treacherously angled stairwell; no food served; no credit cards accepted. Lorraine Gordon, the Vanguard's owner and the widow of the club's founder, is a Medici of the jazz world, a patron and king-maker. Among jazz fans and musicians the Village Vanguard is clearly a paragon of the music's own kind of purity—one that's neither temporary nor unnatural.
I walked in on a set in progress and took the next-to-last seat on the burgundy-leather banquette that runs along the east wall. The end table, Lorraine Gordon's, was vacant, indicating that Gordon was probably in the kitchen, where she does the books and where musicians congregate between sets. (Although foodless, the Vanguard has one of the most venerable kitchens in New York.) A small combo was running through the bebop classic "Blue 'n' Boogie" at a duly vertiginous speed. There was no mistaking the bandleader: Charles McPherson, an alto saxophonist who was a protégé of the late bassist and composer Charles Mingus. McPherson is a venturesome musician who upends the jazz repertoire on the bandstand, and he composes pieces built on surprise, as Mingus did. Although he is a superior talent, he's not a top jazz attraction, which is why he was scheduled for the last week in August. For his second tune after my arrival McPherson, in homage to his mentor, played Mingus's homage to Lester Young, "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat." The performance was languid, and my eyes drifted, settling eventually on the trumpet player, because he was turned away from the audience and even from the rest of the band, staring at the floor. Although I couldn't place him, he looked vaguely familiar, like an older version of Wynton Marsalis.
During the third song, Charlie Parker's "Chasin' the Bird," the trumpeter stepped to the center of the bandstand to take a solo. "Excuse me," I whispered to the fellow next to me (a jazz guitarist, I later learned). "Is that Wynton Marsalis?"
"I very seriously doubt that," he snapped back, as if I had asked if it was Parker himself.
Stylishly dressed in an Italian-cut gray suit, a dark-blue shirt, and a muted blue tie, the soloist had the burnished elegance that Wynton Marsalis and his musician brothers have been bringing to jazz for two decades. If this man was not Wynton, he looked like what "Marsalis" means—but older and heavier, and not just in appearance. There was a weight upon him; he didn't smile, and his eyes were small and affectless. I could barely reconcile the sight before me with the image of youthful élan that Wynton Marsalis has always called to mind.
The fourth song was a solo showcase for the trumpeter, who, I could now see, was indeed Marsalis, but who no more sounded than looked like what I expected. He played a ballad, "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You," unaccompanied. Written by Victor Young, a film-score composer, for a 1930s romance, the piece can bring out the sadness in any scene, and Marsalis appeared deeply attuned to its melancholy. He performed the song in murmurs and sighs, at points nearly talking the words in notes. It was a wrenching act of creative expression. When he reached the climax, Marsalis played the final phrase, the title statement, in declarative tones, allowing each successive note to linger in the air a bit longer. "I don't stand ... a ghost ... of ... a ... chance ..." The room was silent until, at the most dramatic point, someone's cell phone went off, blaring a rapid singsong melody in electronic bleeps. People started giggling and picking up their drinks. The moment—the whole performance—unraveled.
Marsalis paused for a beat, motionless, and his eyebrows arched. I scrawled on a sheet of notepaper, MAGIC, RUINED. The cell-phone offender scooted into the hall as the chatter in the room grew louder. Still frozen at the microphone, Marsalis replayed the silly cell-phone melody note for note. Then he repeated it, and began improvising variations on the tune. The audience slowly came back to him. In a few minutes he resolved the improvisation—which had changed keys once or twice and throttled down to a ballad tempo—and ended up exactly where he had left off: "with ... you ..." The ovation was tremendous.
Lorraine Gordon had come in shortly before the final notes. Leaning over to me, she said, "What did I miss?"

Here comes gigantic philosophical musing

2009-07-20T21:14:00.006-04:00

Hey all,

Sorry I've been so MIA on this thing. For literally about two weeks, I have been thinking about posting something up here because I have felt for so long that I have something important to say. But whatever it is, it eludes me, like I'm throwing darts at an infinitesimal target, getting so agonizingly close that it just frustrates me to even think about it.

I was thinking today that I miss writing using more characters than my new vice, Twitter, allows. But there's something so lackadaisical about summer that makes even the duty of recreational writing, one of the very few things in life I know I actually like to do, seem to be such an uphill battle.

But I think I'm going to try and flesh something out, the latest life philosophies of a post-child, pre-adult alleged intellectual. Disclaimer: this is likely to be uninformed, unfounded, and most of all, uninteresting. Or maybe you agree with me.

The guiding, overhanging feeling that I've been dealing with for the last few months is the odd juxtaposed feeling of both the inevitability and uncertainty of the future. I feel a lot of people my age are going through this -- graduation is coming up, after all. But I've been feeling, for whatever reason, that life sort of tends to unfold in a simple, predictably tragic narrative beyond this point.

Maybe it started on my 21st birthday, when I realized that there is no major birthday to look forward to beyond this one. Your whole youth, you look forward to something. When you're young, it's being older. When you're in high school, it's college. When you're in college, it's being an upperclassman so you can go out more, experience more sophisticated relationships and have some idea of who you are. When you turn 21 and finally are considered a responsible adult, don't you wonder what to look forward to?

What is next, after all? Some people in college get a sense of what it is they REALLY want to do. Some of you reading this fall into this category. Some of you will be writers, architects, businessmen, doctors, politicians, musicians, and know it already.

To be honest, most of those people had those ideas back in high school and are just further down the path. I'm not one of those. There was a point in time when I thought I did know that I was going to be a sportswriter, then a magazine writer, then a lawyer. Now it's all in the air. Is that good or bad, I wonder?

Anyway, I turned 21 and realized that I'm graduating soon, and most of my friends are too. This may indeed be the last truly youthful summer I experience, as most of my friends will soon be dispersed into the world pursuing their own lives. Soon, my nostalgic, sacred, quaint, Reisterstown/Glyndon/Owings Mills will be a callous, black-and-white ghost town, a place too small to hold my professional friends.

What is next? It repeats saliently to all of us, buzzing at a frequency we all hear individually, all the time. I have two more years of college to experience -- I'm graduating late, and the 2nd year is sort of a half-student, half-get-a-job year to transition into real life but also be able to attend basketball games for free. It's coming.

I see myself wondering, then, what my next move is. What happens after this? Do we all get married, and settle down, transitioning from focusing on ourselves to another person? Do we all get a job, in order to start that process of paying bills, seeking promotions, and going to bed at 10 every night?

For some reason, there is this feeling of impending doom that is associated with growing older in our culture, isn't there? To someone my age, I'll be honest, the idea of marriage sounds literally like prison. Not being able to do what you want without running it by someone else, including even flirting with other people, is just terrifying. Combine that with a job, one that you likely keep for a decade or more, and it seems like life is over.

It sounds almost ridiculous to think this about "adult life in America," but don't you feel that way, too? I used to think that sounded ideal -- stability, success, and love. Then I thought that the ideas of marriage/kids/jobs as the "end" was completely overblown by bitter bachelors and 1990's sitcoms. Then I started to agree a little.

Meanwhile, our relationships are changing. I'm starting to see new things about old friends, and old things about new friends. Even my favorite companion, my loving, perfect, 13-year-old panting yellow Lab, is aging and seeing the world through graying eyes. The world is changing around us so fast, our lives accelerating even faster than they had before -- towards what???

I guess the feeling I have is equivalent to the feeling I have when I listen to complex jazz. You know the one, where as soon as you have an idea about what key the song is in, what meter the song is in, or what the thematic/tonal gist of a song is... BOOM! it totally changes. Our ears and brains, and usually, our lives, have evolved to adjust as necessary.

I've been looking for something to grab on to in this time of transition. Because, after all, all this uncertainty and fear and anxiety -- what does that amount to? Goodness, I'm so done talking about it I can't even finish this post.

I stumbled upon the life philosophy of Woody Allen and Larry David, in the movie Whatever Works (and it certainly repeats itself in Seinfeld, in a odd, sort of dark way... that's another post) at an opportune time.

Basically, you should see this movie and think about the philosophy for yourself, but here's what I got out of it. Our life is short. In Annie Hall, Allen's character tells this joke about a restaurant where the food is terrible and the portions are too small -- and that is how he views his life.

I, for one, don't agree with this. Life's way better than that. But it does perpetuate his next opinion, one that he incidentally wrote in the 1970's but actually produced in 2009, which is that you have to take whatever you can get out of life, find whatever makes you really happy -- and do it.

That's it. It's just like Anna Karenina. The wisdom of one of the world's great geniuses, Leo Tolstoy, per Levin's character in the last part of the novel:

"And I watched for miracles, complained that I did not see a miracle that would convince me. A material miracle would have persuaded me. And here is a miracle, the sole miracle possible, surrounding me on all sides, and I never noticed it."

We all seem to be waiting for something, the perfect something, the "miracle" that Tolstoy (and Dostoevsky, incidentally) discuss. We see the forest, and don't see the trees. We see Lebron drain that last-second three-pointer against the Magic, but not the millions of times he practiced shooting when he was growing up. We hear Jimmy Page scorch through a solo in two different keys and with all 12 tones of the scale, but not the billions of repetitions. We see the results, the miracles, the grand, but not the simple.

Somehow, the theory of finding what it is that makes you happy -- whatever can get you through this crazy life, affected more by cruel, unfeeling chance than almost any other variable -- and the theory of realizing how amazing and important our LIFE -- the day-by-day stuff -- really is, makes sense to me.

It's because it's too simple to be true. We live our lives with great uncertainty, when the answers are right around us. Do what makes you happy, and do it with all your heart. Allen's movie tells us not to worry about other people -- in his movie, there are gay characters, relationships between old and young, even a functional menage-a-trois. Avoid prejudice, towards both others and your own self. You never know what it is going to be that makes you happy. Everyone is so wildly different. And we can't judge them for that (within reason).

We don't know what's coming. We could all drop dead tomorrow -- let's be honest here, I had the highest possible survivable heart rate for a human being when I was 18 years old and in good health. Somehow, I'm still here. Who knows.

All we can do is find what makes us happy, work hard, take joy in any way we can. Cut out what makes you upset, and find what's right.

It's simple, right? Or is it?

Where have I been?

2009-06-17T01:22:00.004-04:00

I keep feeling like I've missed so much of my life that it's not even worth trying to catch up and put it on here.

I went to Las Vegas for 5 days. That was outrageous. Went to Chicago. Came home, took a week of class, got a severe sickness, and here I stand... or sit... wondering if it's even worth attacking.

At some point I wanted to write something about what Las Vegas is, because it is a place which has no counterpoint. It has no equal in the universe in terms of its attitude, energy, and freedom. Its heartbeat is the techno hi-hat/bass drum combo; its blood is money. Women walk around in their absolute slutty best, for there, they are a commodity. The hotter you are, the better chance you have of 1) getting in wherever you want for free 2) getting a job 3) finding a rich man 4) getting attention 5) automatically having worth in a city that spits people out faster than any other. Vegas was built on the premise that alcohol, money, naked chicks, and a complete avoidance of what is socially acceptable can make a dinky spot in the desert into one of the world's premier adult destinations.

The city is so small it's almost laughable. The "Strip," is the famous area where you'll find the enormous Caesar's Palace; the majestic, regal Bellagio (and its famous fountains); The Venetian, with paralyzingly beautiful frescoes and fountains just feet away from slot machines; the MGM Grand (with live lions inside the casino!); the massive, classic, reserved Mirage; charming "Paris" -- complete with Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe; and the pulsing, vibrant, limitless Planet Hollywood (where we stayed). These are all just a few blocks from each other, if that. The whole strip, the whole fuss, is made over about a mile of land in the middle of the desert. Granted, there are a few casinos like the Rio and the Palms that are off the strip, but the action is all right there. It's so centrally located, you can't believe it. All this fuss over such a small area? (It's worth it.)

Meanwhile, the people you see there are just so interesting. Vegas is a new land of opportunity. Beautiful women can go out there and become dancers, waitresses, card dealers... or escorts, strippers, etc. And the women there are absurd. The outfits these women get away with are almost offensive. You know the cute girls who you see in real life? The wife types? They don't exist there. The "cute girls" in Vegas are just as slutty as the rest of them. The ugly ones are even sluttier.

Meanwhile, so many guys go out there dreaming of being a poker player -- and spend hours at the casinos toiling for that goal. Many end up doing shitty jobs, but for some, just being in Vegas is enough, like New York, Hawaii, etc.

The city is the fastest-growing in America, and people are understandably attracted to what it can offer. It offers a lifetime of society turning its eyes from what you're doing. That city must create more addictions per capita than any in the world, between drinking, gambling, drugs, sex, prostitution, the world's most famous "sins." And the only thing stopping you from getting hooked is your own conscience, which takes a hike in that town. Vegas has a 24-hour siren song, pulling you in, making you forget your responsibilities. And to be honest, that's not always a bad thing.

Where else is deviancy so encouraged? Imagine: "What happens in Philadelphia stays in Philadelphia." No way! You go to Vegas to MAKE MISTAKES. To sleep with the wrong girl, to lose money (or to win money!), to drink for free at casinos, to stay out too late, to eat well, and to enhance your image. Everyone in Vegas acts richer, smarter, sexier, and more relaxed than they really are. Only one city can change peoples' character so much. I mean, this city has a bar with a volcano in it (Margaritaville). It has casinos with strippers inside. It has a hotel that imitates Venice to the point that you can take a gondola ride in the middle of the strip. You can play poker until 6 in the morning, and then go to O'Shea's, a casino right in the center of the strip, and gamble on beer pong.

In New York, you can stay up all night for weeks and never run out of bars to check out. In Chicago, you can spend an entire evening in one neighborhood and have the time of your life. But in Vegas, you essentially can live out any fantasy you want. You can go get a lap dance or play roulette or party with total strangers. But many fantasies lived in Vegas are the ones about who YOU are. Where else can a college kid walk around a casino with hundreds of dollars worth of chips? Where else can you sit by the pool with some of the world's hottest women -- and talk to them knowing that they're in Vegas for the same reason you are? Where else can you just become someone else?

As the saying goes, only in Vegas, baby. Only in Vegas.

And God, do I want to go back.

Rethinking

2009-05-16T20:06:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago, I was conflicted with the idea that I wanted school to end in order for it to be summer, but also that I want to stay at Maryland forever because it's so damn fun.

Rethought.

PLEASE GOD END IMMEDIATELY!!

So far, I got a freaking A+ on my final project for the hardest journalism class probably in the undergraduate world and I have an A for that class. Felt great about my lower-level history midterm too. Looking at 2 A's there, most likely.

Still standing:

-- Journalism Ethics (2 re-writes and one paper. All have been started and should be finished tonight).
-- Civil War Final Monday -- this is my most nerve-wracking final. Incredibly difficult teacher. She had to curve the essays on the midterm b/c everyone totally botched them.
-- Journalism 175 final -- easiest class ever. Hoping not to blow that final.

If all goes well, I could be looking at a pretty satisfactory GPA. And then after that, I enter dream-world as I go to the beach, Vegas, Dillo Day for about 2 weeks.

A few other notes --

Twitter ROCKS. I think people are underestimating its potential. It is so useful and it is amazing how you can interact with literally anyone... not just people you know. It's insane.

For the first time in a couple months, I really hear myself improving at guitar. My improvement, since I became competent, has been a series of insane sprints upwards and then plateaus. This is one of those sprints upwards. It helps that I have a Taylor now... but I feel it on the electric more than anything else.

Pretty tired of a few things at school, but it's a product of the end of the year. Happens every time. Need some recharge time and some good bro time. Both will happen soon.

Good luck to everyone else struggling through school. Northwestern kids who still have a month to go... yikes. God, am I glad I left.

Triumph.

2009-05-11T20:27:00.004-04:00

Journalism 320 is no more.

Handed in a final article today and eagerly await my final grade. Fingers crossed.

I think, honestly, I wrote over 30 stories for that class this semester. Counting in-class assignments, maybe over 40. That is a lot.

Eagerly awaiting next episode of 24 in t-30 minutes.

Want to laugh? Here you go. UMD alum Larry David, the awkward and insightful brains behind Seinfeld, starring in a movie written and directed by his clone, Woody Allen. Can't wait.

1 class down -- my hardest one -- out of 5. The end is near. 2 weeks from now, I'll be in Vegas.

Excitement.

Library

2009-05-07T22:40:00.004-04:00

In my first of what is sure to be many library posts, I just want to say Coldplay is saving me. Viva La Vida -- incredible. Surely, I will be posting other albums that save me as this miserable process of studying and stuff drags on.

Working on my Civil War paper, just stockpiling sources and thinking of some kind of argument. The end is near. In only 2.5 weeks I will be in Las Vegas losing all kinds of money and drinking all kinds of shit. This sustains me.

Every library is the same. You can't help but hate them. Even when you're productive.

Wish me luck.

21!

2009-05-03T16:31:00.002-04:00

Hey guys --

Thanks to those of you who took the time out to wish me a happy b-day. I appreciate it, and it was a very happy one.

Last night, we went to Adams-Morgan and hit a bar called 18th and Red per someone's recommendation. It was a pretty cool place, and I was really surprised to see my cousin James show up and buy me a ton of drinks. I had a fantastic night and won't soon forget it.

One highlight of the night was the absolutely preposterous pizza slices that we got around 11:30 (for dinner). There is a place that sells pizza slices the size of a human torso -- no exaggeration -- for 5 bucks. We were all so hungry that I think 3 of those slices were fully crushed in like less than 5 minutes.

Yesterday, my parents surprised me with one of these beauties and I can hardly believe it exists.

Life is good.

Best news story headline of all time

2009-04-24T01:12:00.002-04:00

From the world of glorious Associated Press journalism.

The headline: Man pretending to fall off bridge actually falls off bridge

Oh man. Made my day.

Enjoy yourselves

Random thoughts for today

2009-04-22T00:09:00.003-04:00

1) I am considering getting Twitter. I don't know why, exactly. I just think it's kind of cool and I am doing everything else on the Internet. I have some sort of opposition to it engrained in me first that I can't shake.

2) I spent much of the day in the district (see below) and really enjoyed myself. The pleasant weather, great neighborhoods and interesting people I met with for a set of interviews really made it seem like a cool place. The difference between D.C. and other cities is that D.C. doesn't need big skyscrapers, crowded areas, or even a real cityscape in order to distinguish itself as a power center. D.C. is a city of overgrown neighborhoods, filled with young people who are really ambitious, creative, and, increasingly, powerful. I still think I would really like to live there out of college. Maybe I can weasel my way into GW or Georgetown for law school.

3) Being a journalist is really fun. It's a ton of work -- is this the only job/major where you take pages and pages of notes per hour and realize you won't use almost any of it? -- but the small rewards that you get from being credible, being honest, and telling a story to an imagined reader is very fulfilling. Being a journalist means you have earned trust -- from your subjects not to distort who they are, and from your readers that what you present is accurate. It's a real responsibility, and I fear that many of the journalists out there ignore it or are simply not competent enough to manage it.

4) I need to get my camera working and start taking more pictures. Storytelling is frustratingly incomplete without visual reproductions. Besides, no one wants to read text these days anymore.

5) Kings of Leon on the cover of Rolling Stone -- I just don't get it. Rolling Stone's music reviews are bothersome. Giving the new U2 5 stars, the new Bruce Springsteen 5 stars, calling Kings of Leon a real band, and their preposterous ratings of all-time great guitar players and rock albums just bother me. Rolling Stone includes some absolutely masterful writing -- whether a piece is 20 words long or 2,000 words long -- but the music reviewers are a more mainstream version of Pitchfork, deciding what is culturally relevant. Too often, they go with the mainstream and don't think for themselves. U2's new album is, I think, by far their worst. In Rainbows gets five stars -- Bruce Springsteen, for all his glory, cannot even fathom what Radiohead is capable of. They are not equal albums. But I digress.

6) 8 clips submitted out of ten. One more assigned by Friday, two more floating around College Magazine, hoping that one more gets published!

7) If the Redskins trade up to draft Mark Sanchez, they are idiots. Hope that Brian Orakpo falls to 13, or that the Redskins trade down!!!

8) Speaking of the NFL Draft, best of luck to Darrius Heyward-Bey, McDonogh Class of 2005. He was indeed in a class with this humbled blogger during his senior year. Let me tell you something -- this man is FAST. I see him drafted in the top 20, even if that means the Ravens move up to take their hometown boy. And in the NBA, best of luck to DaJuan Summers, McDonogh Class of 2006.

Lastly, a writing sample (unedited... it may change...) from my reporting today. This is just a paragraph or two about a really cool office I went into.

She’s speaking from the EchoDitto offices in Washington, which have the fingerprints of Mele’s eclectic personality all over it.

        In the sedated, tired apartment building where the office is located, you take a dreary elevator ride to the fourth floor. As you exit the elevator, and you can’t help but feel as though you opened a secret door.

            The reception area’s walls are covered in a golden yellow, immediately an exciting contrast to the fading white-colored walls in the rest of the building. Flat-panel monitors display sleek logos, and an inflated penguin in a tuxedo gleams down on all visitors from atop a bookcase, which includes books in which Mele has been written about.

A silver foosball table, with a sticker of the iconic white Apple Computers logo splattered on top, sits eagerly to the side of the room. Looking around, there seem to be more varieties of M&M’s action figures than possible.

            It’s only fitting that the office is light-hearted. Mele, in many ways, is a child at heart. On his blog, he refers to his relationship with his Xbox as “rapturous,” for example.

Stay tuned for more of that story -- I love profile writing, and this one is about a particularly interesting guy.

FMatt'sL

2009-04-14T14:36:00.003-04:00

Great day today.

Wake up tired as hell because of that damn "Night Guy" and trekked over to Journalism Ethics class.

Got a lucky break because my incompetent teacher didn't mind that I presented my little mini-presentation a week late. No big deal.

But then, at the end of class, someone asked about an alleged paper that I had no idea about. Turns out I have a 10 page paper due Thursday night via email.

FML.

Then, I return home (skipping class in order to get some work done) and get a lovely email from my former bank in Evanston. ESPN billed me without my knowledge, bringing me an overdraft fee of 50 dollars to my account that I NEVER USE. Spend an hour on the phone with US Bank and ESPN, transfer 75 dollars from my rapidly-vanishing savings account, and realize I have been paying for ESPN the Magazine subscriptions for a YEAR, but they're getting shipped to Illinois and no one ever told me this.

FML.

Quote of the century

2009-04-09T15:29:00.002-04:00

From a member of The Bloodhound Gang, whom I just interviewed:

"We're not really talented. But people forget about all that when you throw a few dick jokes in your lyrics."

Refreshing perspective from the band that accelerated the process of puberty for an entire generation.

Updates

2009-04-06T22:59:00.002-04:00

First of all: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ktj7Fi8nHQ

I am going to do a small countdown.

Four days until the drop deadline, when I will have to decide if I'm keeping all my classes for this semester.

I have four clips that physically exist out of the ten I need to pass the class. I have been assigned, as of right now, eight, and wrote another that is hoping to be published. In theory, I have nine stories that could be ready to go in a few days. That would be the most crucial thing of all time.

So, clips countdown -- 6 to go. Remaining stories assigned -- 4. (Note -- one will be the Bloodhound Gang). Stories waiting to be published -- 1.

Meanwhile -- 26 days till 21st birthday.

Just get me through this semester please!!

My schedule next semester rocks. Class Monday 4:00-5:15 (that's it). Tuesday/Thursday I have a 9:30 class but it's with a professor from ESPN (Kevin Blackistone). Then I have two other classes on those days, and nothing on Fridays. Nice!

Oh yeah, and here is my article about The Bridge. I'm proud of this one, it's not half bad.

Life lessons

2009-03-29T18:59:00.002-04:00

Today, I thought hard about what my life was like this year and last year.

Last year, I was in a very different place than I am today -- in every sense of the word. Geographically, emotionally, maturation-ly, academically. I feel a lot older this year, with better perspective and more clarity. And most of all I just feel completely better about everything.

I am so much happier here it's ridiculous. If I learned one thing about Northwestern and my experience there, it's that if you're unhappy with something, you have to change it. Do not settle! My life is a 180 since leaving there. I was miserable there. Every day here, even the bad ones, is happier and more fulfilling as a result of the positive energy I get here.

Don't settle!

By the way, the countdown is on. Last night was Wil's 21st (yay) and mine is coming up in 34 days. Get excited reader(s).

Quick stories of my life

2009-03-26T13:36:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, in my History 110 class, I got a paper back that I thought I did pretty well on. Before class, the girl sitting next to me said, "Oh yeah, I didn't really read the book it was on, it was really boring, whatever."

To myself, I said, "Wow. I spent hours of my way busier schedule than hers (she's a freshman I think) reading this crappy book. And I'm a History major,(which basically gives you a B.A. degree in how to write a lot of B.S.) who knows how to write History papers. I got this."

I was actually nervous getting my paper back because this girl was nice and cute and I didn't want to be that douche that does a lot better than her on the paper. But, my TA -- this is the psycho military guy from my epic blog post about my crazy TA's -- called my name and up I went to retrieve my paper about the shortcomings of archaeology in Biblical History. YAYAYAY.

I got my paper back ... and got a B-. You know what the problem was?

Ready? I guarantee you've never heard this one.

I USED QUOTES FROM THE BOOK TO SUPPORT MY CLAIMS. AND MY TA TOOK POINTS OFF.

That's right. Have you ever read anything -- for instance, a research paper, any journalism articles (not that I'M FUCKING REALLY AWARE OF HOW TO WRITE THOSE OR ANYTHING as a HISTORY and JOURNALISM major) -- that doesn't include QUOTES? How can anyone believe what you're saying if you don't quote your source?

Apparently, on a 2-page list of tips for how to write this paper, which I largely disregarded because I'm a fucking history major, on the second page there is a thing that says "every word of this paper has to be your own." Well... everything not my own I cited and gave credit to the authors, as per fucking common sense.

I got an 81. The girl next to me from the beginning of class? She got an 82.

-------

Meanwhile, my other classes are seriously killing me. Last night, I was at my Journalism 320 class. For those of my reader(s) who are not Journalism majors at Maryland, Journalism 320 is absolutely insane. (Yes, it is harder than Medill classes. All of the ones I took.) You have to spend most (all?) of your free time writing stories for this class. In fact, that's the reason I haven't been blogging much this semester.

I swear to God, when I get grades back in this class, it feels like I'm having a heart attack (which is so lame since I already did that freshman year, right?). Last night I must have been obviously nervous because I was fucking Fidgets McGee in my seat and my professor called me out on it. "Did I keep you in enough suspense?" he said with that maniacal, life-ruining grin he has as he handed my paper back. He's actually a fucking doll of a professor, but his class is stressing me out so bad I sometimes have trouble sleeping.

I actually got an A+ on that assignment. I put it on my fridge and harass my roommates consistently that I got an A+ in the hardest class ever. You know what did it? I think I had some really good quotes in it. ...

---

I miss writing on here. I'm gonna try and update more often. I can't go a whole post without talking about music, though. So let me talk a little about this band called The Bridge who is playing Santa Fe about a hundred times ... every Wednesday for the next month or so. Please go see them. Below is a little bit of my own writing about this band for a future article.

As a velvety saxophone solo wraps its way through the dark club, bolstered by a booming rock drumbeat and a bouncing bass line, the roving stage lights happen upon two very different concertgoers.

It’s a Friday night in Annapolis, and the six-man Baltimore band called The Bridge is grooving in a jazzy key, getting everyone off their feet and into the sound. A stoned hippy in a tie-dye shirt is dancing – more like flailing – across the front of the dance floor, and he bumps clumsily into a girl that looks more Lynyrd Skynrd than Grateful Dead – think lots of denim and cowboy boots. The best part is when they look at each other, confused, but just keep on dancing afterwards.

This moment is a small but telling encapsulation of the Bridge’s appeal.

“We think our music crosses over,” said guitarist and lead singer Cris Jacobs, eating wings and burgers with his band before the show starts. “We get the jam-band hippie crowd, and we get the blues, roots rock crowd.”

“One great thing about our shows,” he continues, “is when you look into the audience, you see people from 16 to 60. Some people told us we’re the only band them and their parents agree on.”

It is easy to see why their music appeals to all generations and all types of listeners. The Bridge is able to cover many different genres of music based on their lineup. The band uses a mandolin player, saxophonist, and keyboardist in addition to a guitarist, bassist and drummer.

“It’s definitely our instrumentation that differentiates us from other groups,” said Patrick Rainey, the saxophonist.

“We all kind of influence each other,” bassist Dave Markowitz continued. “We all have a good idea of what the band is and what we’re trying to do.”

But despite their versatility and unique instrumentation, there is something just a bit familiar about The Bridge. The narratives of the lyrics often echo traditional Southern blues – drinking, women, and even the Devil are all song topics. At times, they channel a little Led Zeppelin with rugged drumbeats, strutting bass lines and testosterone-driven guitar solos.

But just as soon as they seem to let loose in calloused, muddy rock music, The Bridge pivots to funky, multi-textured grooves with gentle, uncoiling mandolin solos and jazzy saxophone bursts. They build these moments (what Rainey calls “points of exploration”) into their setlists at their live shows. During these explorations, The Bridge sounds more like a jam band – with a few shots of whiskey.

Hope my reader(s) enjoyed that. Go see this band.

Also, please come back and visit soon.

A new one

2009-03-17T22:37:00.003-04:00

Today, my mom got Facebook. (Insert 3 magical letters here)

This new development reminds me of this scene feat. the immortal Costanza.

The key words are: "Killing," "Independent" and "George."

We have agreed on a Facebook non-friendship in order to make sure I can still be a college student.

What is the ~~ettiquete~~ ~~ettiquette~~ etiquette on Facebook friendship with parents? I wish Seinfeld were still on the air to guide me through situations like these.

Matt attempts to win a car

2009-03-03T23:41:00.004-05:00

At the Maryland vs Wake Forest game, which ended in a tragic, ill-fated loss for my poor Terrapins, I was approached before the game to shoot four shots at halftime to have a chance at winning a Toyota Matrix or something. (It strikes me that all I can do now is write newspaper leads after reading that sentence. Horrible)

I was told I had 25 seconds to make a layup, free throw, three pointer, and half-court shot. I had to go over to a designated area with four minutes left in the first half and wait for halftime. I was approached by a Gatorade Rep, got a sweet "G" shirt, mugged for the cameras, and then was handed a game ball to play with at halftime. God was I nervous.

When I dribbled the ball on the floor, it was such a crazy feeling. I just thought to myself not to look up and see the 19,000 people watching me play a sport I am relatively dreadful at.

I was to go first, ahead of a girl who had just totaled her car ... so she really wanted one.

I stepped on the court, heard the announcer say "Junior Matt Ford is our first contestant" and saw a TV camera about 2 feet from where I was standing. I was very nervous. I tried to ham it up and get the crowd to cheer for me, but no one was at all interested. Except my loyal and hideously jealous friends.

I thank God for some pressure situations I faced in my earlier athletic career, because I knew that if I missed that layup, I was on the verge of taking a ghastly, hellacious public dump and embarrassing myself. But, I made it, thank God, and then went to the free throw line.

The first one went in and out, and as I chased for the rebound, I realized how amazing it is that anyone can play basketball when so many people are screaming. It is so loud, and I was playing meaningless basketball at halftime. When I missed the free throw, I heard people heckling me! Ridiculous. Someone yelled, "You suck!" I wanted to say back, "I know!"

I missed the second one and knew I was done when I had to chase for a long rebound. I made the third free throw, which I was happy about, got the rebound, sprinted to the three point line, got my feet set, and then the buzzer went off. I did shoot the three and just miss when I hit the inside of the rim, and my time on the floor of Comcast was over.

But what an experience. Here are two just awful, terrible facts.

First, the Terrapins must have missed 5 layups tonight. I made 100% of mine.

Second, our starting power forward, Landon Millbourne, who averages 15 or so a game (at least till tonight) had one basket tonight at Comcast. I had two. Sad, but true.

An interesting new chronicle in my life. And with those stats, maybe Gary will give me a call next year to fill the lovable oafish white boy role soon to be vacated by Maryland's favorite senior, Dave Neal.

... not.

New adventures!

2009-02-05T15:17:00.006-05:00

Matt's life the Shitshow continues.

Before this semester at Maryland, I had never had a discussion section here. High-level History classes tend to avoid having sections, and last semester I didn't take too many Humanities or anything, so I didn't know what to expect when I walked into my first of two discussion sections.

One of the girls I tutor told me that for my Ancient History class, there were two really easy TA's and one really big douche. Her TA's weekly quizzes asked five multiple choice/true or false questions about things that you could probably guess even if you didn't do the reading.

So, of course, I got the hard TA. He walks in the class and makes someone go to the bathroom for -- ready? -- two paper towels "folded into squares, one wet, but not sopping wet, just pretty damp, and one totally dry."

The kid goes, "seriously?" and the guy makes him go. He comes back with a damp towel and a dry one.

"Are you kidding?" the TA says. "It's gotta be wetter than this. Go back and do it again."

The kid is flummoxed. He comes back, and when class time starts, the TA goes, "Is that everyone? I don't care. It's enough." And shuts the door.

(Note, these are not embellished quotes. I didn't record them, but this is 99% exact).

He does some intros and then comes out with a few gems. "You want the good news or the bad news?" he asks.

"Bad news first, because I'm a negatively charged person. I am the hardest TA in this class. But the good news is, I'm a better teacher than your professor. I'm better than the other two TA's. I am the best person you could have for this class." At this point my jaw has dropped.

Next, he made us fill out index cards with our basic info on it, but with a twist.

"Put down an interesting fact about yourself," he says. Okay, fairly typical right? Wrong.

"Make it interesting," he demands. "If anyone else in the class shares this interesting fact, you will get points taken on your final exam." He actually wrote down two people whose facts were not interesting enough, and told them they were losing points on the final.

"I guarantee you," he promised, "when people walk out of this classroom, six out of seven days a week, someone says under his breath, 'That guy is a real dick.' That's how it is."

It gets better. "I am a real stickler for grammar. I will hold your grades back if your writing sucks or if you make mistakes in grammar. I'm a dick about it... I will say things that will offend you this semester because of how you were raised. I apologize in advance."

THIS IS A HISTORY 110 CLASS! I'm not intimidated by him at all, I actually think he's kind of a joke. I'm curious to see how I react when he calls me out on something, because I don't really put up with shit.

Reader(s), that's not even my crazy TA.

In my first discussion section today for another class, my TA is explaining some ground rules. "I don't like cell phones. Don't have them go off, blah blah blah." He's a normal guy to this point.

Someone's goes off. He goes, "was that your phone?" to the kid. Yeah, he says.

He looks at him with a mixture of sternness and sadness. "Let me see it," he says.

He puts it on his desk, looking like he's going to confiscate it for the class, which is kind of a douche move anyway at our age.

But then he says, "I hate when it comes to this." He fucking puts on a pair of GOGGLES, like chemistry-class style, and withdraws a WOODEN MALLET out of his bag, and SMASHES the phone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've never seen a group of people react in such a way as my classmates at that moment. Everyone was some mix of terrified, amazed, and outraged.

Some girl raised her hand and said the equivalent of "OMFGWTFMAN," and then he explained that it was "theatre."

But I don't know how it happened, because it was a real cell phone, and a real mallet. Was it staged? I will never know.

------------

But everyone has crazy TA's, right? How about professors?

For my Journalism Ethics class (repeat, ethics), we did an exercise today about whether or not a photographer was performing her job at adequate ethical standards when she was photographing a girl grabbing desperately onto a tree, freezing to death in a overflowing river because of a flood while rescue workers tried to save her life.

The girl, 16, screamed at the photographer stop taking pictures while she suffered, seconds or a slip away from her death.

The professor asked the class, "What would you do?"

For some reason, almost everyone said they would continue to take pictures of the girl. I said I wouldn't and he confronted me (and the other girl who said no) about it for the sake of argument.

Begin role play.

Prof (as editor of news org.) -- Why did you stop taking pictures?
Girl (as reporter in said news org.) -- Because she was dying. And she said not to.
Prof. -- You're fired.
Girl -- "OMFGWTFMAN?"

The prof then proceeded to explain that it would be tough to explain yourself out of this situation (what editor would say, oh, no you should have kept snapping away while a 16-year-old girl died in a heroic rescue effort right in front of you???). One solution, he said, was to say your camera stopped working.

"So," the girl in the role play said, "we should lie?"
"Well," the prof stuttered, "you shouldn't ... lie..."
Me: "What kind of Ethics class is this?"

Matt's life, the shitshow, ladies and gentlemen.

Quick outs

2009-02-02T01:41:00.003-05:00

1) This semester hasn't even gotten hard yet and I'm already behind and wondering how I'm going to survive.

2) I love History. Even boring stuff can be exciting sometimes. Journalism, not so much. Double majoring is a retarded idea.

3) Larry Fitzgerald is the next Jerry Rice. He is so exciting to watch. But the Steelers are the class of the NFL, and Santonio Holmes is pretty good himself.

4) Illmatic is the best hip-hop album of all time, bar none, no exceptions, no questions.

5) No class on Fridays. 2 Histories and 3 Journalisms this semester. Get it done.

6) I'm hoping to write a high-profile sports story this semester.

7) How am I ever going to have time to a) play guitar b) have a life c) pass classes d) play tennis as per my NY Resolutions this semester?

8) I'm addicted to Seinfeld. If I don't watch it before bed, I feel like something's missing. Here's how bad it is: I watched it after watching tennis last night to help me sleep. But when I stopped watching tennis, it was 6 in the morning! I must find the remainder of my DVD's... as I have all of the seasons on DVD but only rotate about 10-12 of the same ones over and over.

9) Speaking of tennis, Rafael Nadal just owns Roger Federer. Federer beats everyone except him. Federer is the most consistent and all-around great player of all-time, but Nadal may be the most dangerous and best pure competitor in the sport. If he can sustain his momentum for as long as Federer has, it will be Nadal with more Grand Slams at the end of the day than Federer (and than Sampras). Nadal already has a Gold Medal and 6 Grand Slams, only two less than Andre Agassi and one less than John McEnroe, unquestionably two of the best ever.

10) The new Office episode was hilarious. And this website, where you can watch the new Office, is legit.

That's 10 for you. Enjoy them.

Back with Testudo and the gang

2009-01-27T15:46:00.002-05:00

So back to life as a college student...

I'm writing this post feeling very strange. Part of it is because of the incredibly fucked up new ten minute Sufjan Stevens song I'm treading through. The other part of the weirdness is that we have a snow day today, which pretty much never happens in college, right? And we don't even have like one inch of snow on the ground. It's wild.

Wheew. That song ended. I can think straight.

Alright, so if you're reading this blog and haven't seen me in a while, I'm gonna warn you that this prolly is my last semester alive. So you should probably get in your face time pretty soon. This Journalism class that is going to kill me, the infamous "320" class here at Maryland, officially takes a dump on every class at Medill. I'm going to be writing as many stories in a semester as I did in my entire career at Medill, most likely. And 10 of them have to be published, or I'm guaranteed a bad grade in the class. So you're writing a ton of stories for class, (of course, if there is any error at all in any of them, that is an INSTA-F -- so the so-called Medill F? It extends to Maryland too.. and at Maryland you don't get rewrites like you do in Medill!) and then ten on top of that to be published.

Just kill me.

Merrill at Maryland has been harder than Medill. The three classes I am taking/have taken at Maryland are way harder and way better. That's right. Eat shit, Medill. "The best Journalism school in the country." SIKE!

I learned more last semester than any Medill class ever taught me about the basics. (Medill taught me well about Magazine Writing, thanks to Doug Foster's transcendent brilliance, but Maryland will have me about 20x more prepared to be a real reporter than Medill would have. That said, Foster made me a better writer and person.. his class is worth it!) I hate to say I was right when I was bitching all over the place the last two years, but I was. Students at Medill who read this, fight back against Lavine. He's an idiot. You can read my mag story last year if you want more proof.

But meanwhile, my classes here at Maryland are going to rock my socks this semester. And now with a part-time job, a 400-level History class sure to punch me in the face repeatedly, a band that I am committed to getting off the ground, and some other classes, it'll be an interesting time. But you know, we'll get through it somehow...

Big things

2009-01-22T11:39:00.004-05:00

Updates:

So, I guess Barack is president. That's wild. I hope you saw the Daily Show on the night of the 20th. Hilarious. Dick Cheney in the wheelchair? Jon Stewart said they may as well have given him a white cat (Dr. No) and marched him out the Imperial March from Star Wars (Emperor). Bahaha.

Checked in with my journalism advisor yesterday as an official journalism student... Will officially be a double major, and have 12 credits to take for non-journalism requirements, along with 25 journalism credits left. For my history major, 15 credits to go, 12 of which have to come in my final year. Whatever that means.

So roughly 37+15 = 52 credits left and after summer study abroad that = 49 credits left... So about 3 semesters. May have to take some other random class next winter semester. hmm.

In other news, Maryland plays Duke Saturday in Durham. I will be in New York, having watched this glorious and hilarious show the night before with my parents and Stephen. Both are exciting prospects.

School finally starts on Monday, after five weeks of doing relatively nothing. It's good, because my summer was short and my semester was long. I'm ready to get back to school, take some tough classes, have some fun nights and make some more memories. The idea that college is ending sometime in the near future (probably Fall 2010 for this guy) is simply amazing. Must enjoy as much of it as I can in my remaining time. And I really plan to.

In other news, the band is coming together. We have four pieces and are hoping to have a fifth in the near future. The goal is to play Santa Fe sometime this semester. You'll come if I play there, right?

Thanks for reading. I'll review Will Ferrell on Broadway next time I post.

My life, the Shitshow. Volume 5000.

2009-01-16T14:19:00.004-05:00

In the latest installment of Matt's life, the shitshow, I will begin my tale in Rollins Hall Room 12, sometime in May of 2006.

Matt receives an email from the Medill School of Journalism, at Northwestern, that he was accepted. His reaction was, "No Fucking Way." He asked his computer screen: "Really?" (Ask anyone who lived with me for validation.) Improbably, the weakest Editor-in-Chief in the history of the oldest high school newspaper in Maryland was off to the premier journalism school in the country. Pack your fucking bags.

The strange tale continued with two years at the Medill School of Journalism where he grew strong resisting the bullshit of the John Lavine-led insurgency. The maniac raged against good reporting with an assailment of asanine curricula and processes designed to churn out flashy web doofuses and self-interested monotonic parasites and inject them into popular culture. Because Lord knows, we don't have enough of them sticking their clumsy fingers in our ears and eyes with their jumbled and untrained sense of reporting 30 hours a day.

As soon as he mustered up the courage to transfer, Matt fell for his Magazine Writing class, which elevated his game from a babbling, pointless sophomore to a writer that, apparently, is great at writing sarcastic and enraged blog posts. He wrote a story about Medill that shamed it.

"[Medill's new initiative] has been met with a fairly widespread outcry," he wrote in a magazine story for a Medill class. "Both faculty and students have expressed their objection to the initiative. Students’ disgust is barely suppressed in classes, when they steam over assigned busywork that teaches nothing of value. I see it in the way students don’t pay attention in class, disheartened by what they’re learning. I feel it when teachers can’t explain why their students have to write audience reports instead of writing print or broadcast stories.

"A Medill graduate and faculty member, Charles Whitaker, is a bit of a Medill historian after being affiliated with the school for decades. During our interview, he leans over his cluttered wooden desk and sneaks in a few bites of lunch, white plastic fork dwarfed in enormous mocha-colored hands. His strikingly tall and lean frame is too big for his laptop and small office. He leans back, philosophizing about Medill’s predicament. “We’ve gone from a school that taught some things really well,” he explains. “We taught writing, editing, and reporting across platforms really well. Now we’re trying to a do a lot of other things. We’re now just doing a lot of things really mediocre. We don’t know what we do well anymore.”

The end of the article, after a ten-page hate-fest, was this.

"I was accepted into the University of Maryland in late May 2008, and I decided, after much emotional self-questioning, to transfer there in the fall. The University is the home of the reputed Merrill School of Journalism. I found that many of the things that Medill claims exclusive ownership of – real-world reporting, a relationship with a big city (University of Maryland is located just outside of Washington, D.C.), and renowned faculty – can also be found at Merrill. But what appealed to me most about Merrill was exactly what Medill didn’t deliver. At Merrill, those démodé, naïve educators – multiple Pulitzer Prize winners among them – still focus on those allegedly obsolete and boring writing skills to which I cling.

In July, I was told I needed to take a proficiency test at Maryland in order to determine whether or not I could be exempt from their basic journalism class. The assignment was basic – write a news story based on a chunk of information. I was assured by the administration that students transferring from Medill or other high-caliber journalism programs tend to do well on the exam. To my dismay, I failed it. I’ll be taking an introductory-level journalism class with a group of mostly sophomores this fall at Maryland after two years at Medill.

It’s too bad they didn’t want me to put together an audio slideshow or photo essay – I know how to make those. Because at Medill, teaching basic newswriting and reporting skills is obsolete. Now that I’m out of Medill, I’ll finally get what I’m looking for – a real journalism education."

How proud, vindictive, and movingly douchebaggy, right? On with the journalism. Meanwhile, he decides he wants to go to law school, fuck journalism. Besides the point.

Enter fall of 2008. The noble undertaking is over and Matt is sweating through a bullshit 201 class at Maryland, where the journalism professor -- who touts her experience at the Frederick God Damn News-Post as the be-all, end-all (my magazine prof., on the other hand, wrote for Rolling Stone and was an editor-in-chief at Mother Jones) -- tells me I need to work harder. I have the talent but am too lazy. Clearly, this woman does not know me at all. I fart through that class just to piss her off (it worked) and get the B I need to get, despite my thinking I deserve an A considering all my stories were better than almost everyone else's.

Fair enough. There goes my 4.0. But the tale, rest assured, goes on.

You would not believe the hoops I jumped through, reader(s). I wasn't able to have an ADVISOR because I wasn't technically in the college until I passed 201. A TRANSFER STUDENT WITH NO ADVISOR?! At a state school the size of fucking Alaska? Swallowed my pride, moved on. Was told I had to take a grammar exam. In fact, I was told I had to take a class on grammar. Got a 100 on the placement test, got that waived (F*** you, Merrill College).

Was finally able to finagle my way into some upper-level journalism classes for this coming semester. Battle over, right? Now all I had to do was get my decision -- which essentially is just semantics letting me into the Journalism Program. Requirements? Math class over level 110 -- check. GPA over 2.7 -- check. Pass Journalism 201? Check. Math/English SAT scores -- check. There's no essay, anything. Just -- do you have the requirements? If so, you're in.

So now, after 3.5 years as a journalism major by way of the "best" program in the United States, I get this gem in my Mountain-themed Gmail inbox.

Ready? Strap yourself in. This is a good one. It's a laugher. A real fucking bucket of laughs.

"Thank you for your interest in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. After a thorough review of your credentials by the journalism review committee, we regret to inform you that you have not met the requirements to change your major to journalism."

You should have SEEN my reaction. I almost crapped my pants. I started spitting fire. I thought I was going to burn my house down and put every employee's head at the Merrill College of Journalism on a fucking pike and ride around in a artillery vehicle shooting cops like I'm James Bond in Goldeneye or Ice-T in Compton.

I ran upstairs to get my mom to join me in my quest for vengence. She can go from 0-60 like a fucking Ferrari, okay? I was ready to have a co-conspirator in this bloodthirsty plot.

I open my inbox on my mom's computer and see an email that I neglected to see previously in my Benjamin-Martin-esque fit of rage (although perhaps not as patriotic). The douchebags over at the Limited Enrollment Programs office send me an email with the subject: "Reconsideration of your Internal Application to Journalism."

Fucking YES.

They said a new decision is coming shortly. Then, another email. Get your smiles out.

"Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you that after completing the review of your application to the Philip Merrill College of Journalism, you are eligible to have your major changed. The Philip Merrill College has been named one of the nation's best journalism programs by The Washington Post and includes no less than 6 Pulitzer Prize winning faculty. We are pleased you have chosen to continue your coursework in our college and look forward to welcoming you."

So now, after 3.5 years, 2 highly selective journalism colleges, two time zones, 6 journalism classes, hundreds of interviews, no casualties to date and 3 very interesting emails, I am am able to pursue my intended major at the university I intend to graduate from.

Thank you for reading Matt's life, the shitshow. There are sure to be more great adventures ahead.

New Years. What does one do?

2009-01-01T23:06:00.002-05:00

So here we are, 2009. This is the year I turn 21 (finally), become a senior in college, complete my third year at my second college, witness the inauguration of the first black president, and make millions of new memories.

But what is the best way to advance into a new year?

Here's one idea, inspired by a friend of mine.

Dear Matt of 2009/2010,

People always told me that you should "live in the moment" and enjoy things as they come to you. I never really believed that it was possible to live in the moment, because time either passes too fast or too slow for you to really appreciate how extraordinary something is.

This year, I'm proud to say I have lived in the moment. Much of that comes from my transition to a new college, one with a completely different community and people with completely different values. Lollapalooza, the election of Obama, a semester with two of my best friends in the world living down the hall, a class that changed my life and my perspective on journalism, and a decision to transfer that taught me more about myself all showed me the value of grabbing hold and taking a look at what's going on around me in this insane life.

I made several big moves this year, both geographically and personally. I decided to go to Maryland, which was the best decision of my life since choosing to go to McDonogh. Hopefully that stands into next year.

I became a much more musical person this year, playing guitar a lot and taking music theory. I hope that you have remained dedicated to pursuing a life of music.

I hope you've found your way back to a tennis court. I hope you've maintained a relationship with your friends at Northwestern and met more friends at Maryland. I hope you have more extracurriculars to your name at UMD.

I hope you continue to have fun and grow. This year, I learned that in college, you can do both. Maybe even aim to do them in that order. And have a kick-ass 21st birthday.

Remember most of all to take inventory of how lucky you are to have friends from home that you love so much, whether they are in Texas, New York, Chicago, Italy, Connecticut, Florida, or Maryland.

Remember your family. And remember what you had to learn the hard way at Northwestern -- life is short. Forget the drama. Do what makes you happy, and the rest will fall into place.

(And remember Lollapalooza and your first semester at Maryland as much as you can).

Best,
Matt of 2008/2009

Mid-week update

2008-12-16T16:58:00.004-05:00

Coldplay has a new LP out. First impressions -- a lot of recycled stuff, but worth a listen. Jay-z and Coldplay on a new version of Lost! ? 6 bucks on iTunes.

For those of you who care about the Redskins, Michael Wilbon has it all mapped out.

Speaking of Wilbon, Northwestern has a new university president.

Despite a good conference record and beating almost everyone in the ACC with our same record, Maryland is playing a bowl game in the country's randomest, least interesting semi-famous city.

I'm intrigued by this, the latest from Gibson, a company that seems to be ahead of the curve in guitar innovation.

Better than Dick in a Box... I said it.

Music:
Late albums of 2008 --

Common's new album, which is a big departure from his earlier stuff. Only one listen... a good time, but not his best. I like it though.

Kanye's new album -- which should be getting more buzz for how straight-up weird it is. Few (if any) club bangers. This is a cry for help if I've ever heard one. Sad hip-hop can be done -- see Lupe Fiasco's "The Cool" for Exhibit A. Kanye resorts to that damned satanic Auto-Tune which just makes me want to puke. I'm about Kanye-d out here. Can't we go back to Touch the Sky and All Falls Down and forget the last 2-3 years of Kanye's over-played existence?

Then again, he's so sensitive, he's probably scouring the internet for chatter about him, so I should probably keep my mouth shut lest he give me the Colbert treatment.

(Colbert's response to Kanye's assertion he's the voice of this generation: "Sir, you are not the voice of this generation of this decade. In fact, with all the auto-tuning on your records, you’re barely the voice of your own albums." Classic.)

Great albums of 2008 --

Oracular Spectacular, MGMT. Shame I didn't see more of these guys at Lolla.
The Carter 3 -- man... Lil' Wayne has skills. Still overrated, but definitely the best new pop-rapper.
Attack and Release -- Black Keys. Bangin' blues-rock Zeppelin-style album.
John Mayer's live album (Where the Light Is) really rocks.
Consolers of the Lonely, the Raconteurs' album, came out with little fanfare but is definitely worth a bunch of listens.
And obviously, Viva La Vida by Coldplay.

Question marks?
Nas's new album never really swayed me either way. Impressed, but not blown away, Illmatic-style.
N.E.R.D.'s album was kind of a fizzle to me as well... they need to step it up. They have so much talent.
Still can't get into TV on the Radio... everyone went nuts over their album released this year (Dear Science)
Beck's new album was good too... but I don't know if he's my style.

Miss anything? No one freaking comments on here. I know you're reading, jerks.

Finals death

2008-12-09T00:34:00.011-05:00

Here is my list of what must be done before Dec. 18th. This is more for my convenience than yours, probably.

This week:
~~History paper (current length- 20 pages)~~ DONE!
~~Physics problem set~~
~~Attend concert~~
~~Write ~~two~~ one concert review~~
~~Journalism final Thursday~~ (12-2)
~~Random video I'm making for family~~

Next week:
~~Math Final Monday (1:30)~~
~~Physics Final Tuesday (8 am yay!)~~
~~Music Final Wendesday (also at 8 am, kill me)~~
~~History Final Thursday (1:30)~~

DONE!

Politics + music

2008-12-02T17:09:00.005-05:00

Hey readers -- sorry I've been so boring the last few weeks. I think I have like one post since the election. Maybe it's because I now have so little to be unhappy about??

Let's talk some politics, shall we? Obama's Cabinet is in the process of being formed. You read my last post about Hillary (why can I still not always remember she has 2 l's in her name...), and about her qualifications to be Obama's most trusted diplomat and representative abroad. Let's talk about the rest.

Here's a cool graphic to play along. Thanks to CNN.

So we've got Hillary at Sec. of State (ok, I'll talk about her some more). I like the choice in the end, but think she is less qualified than Kerry or Richardson. But then again, Obama is less qualified to be president than McCain. So, I'll take this one, and am more than intrigued to see how it works out. Still unsure, but we will see. If anyone can adjust quickly, it's Clinton. Seeing as she knows everyone around the world (and so does Bill) that has any importance, that could be a valuable asset to a relative foreign-policy rookie as president.

We've got Robert Gates continuing as the Secretary of Defense, which ultimately is for the best considering he's been in charge of the two wars and will maintain a realistic perspective on what we can do in them. I think this is a wise holdover, and also believe he will probably step down when (if? oy) the war in Iraq ends.

Next, we've got another young guy in a key position: Timothy Geithner at Secretary of Treasury. I can't claim to be an expert about the man or his accomplishments, but I do know that his qualifications are exceptional and he's only 47 (Obama's age). He was already President of the New York branch of the Federal Reserve, a major responsibility, and he has respect around the financial world. Excellent (and easy) choice. Better to usher in a new era than bring back Larry Summers, a Clinton vet, in my opinion.

Janet Napolitano (Homeland Security) is a renowned Governor (of John McCain's home state, Arizona) who has risen fast in the Democratic party and in the eye of politicians around the nation. She's another high-profile woman in the Cabinet, as well, which, for diversity's sake, is a good thing. I don't know much about what she's done other than be an advisor to the Obama transition team, but she's been successful enough elsewhere that she checks out.

A governor from Arizona's next-door neighbor, Bill Richardson, is one of the nation's most experienced and skilled public servants. He has been nominated for Secretary of Commerce. This will be a crucial role in the next administration considering the collapsing economy. I would rather have seen him in a foreign policy role given his history in that field, but I'd like him in the Cabinet no matter what.

These are the headliners in the Cabinet and, along with Joe Biden, going to be the voices in Obama's (big) ears for the next four to eight years. All of them are more than deserving (along with Eric Holder, Tom Daschle, Jim Jones, Larry Summers, and others) and will serve Obama admirably.

Regardless of your feelings of their politics, none are ideologues. Most are moderates -- there are no Cheneys, Wolfowitzes, Ashcrofts, or Rumsfelds... at least that I can see at this point. No matter what, that is good news.

I would have liked to have seen John Kerry in there, and maybe Chuck Hagel too, but I assume Barack Obama knows a wee bit more about appointing Cabinet members than I do.

And this is the most diverse Cabinet, I presume, in history. This doesn't surprise me, because even our president is multicultural. We've got at least two women (Susan Rice also is the Ambassador to the UN, so you could count her as well), Eric Holder is African-American (so is Rahm Emmanuel), Bill Richardson is Hispanic. A good mix. Hopefully, they work well together.

-----------------------

Switch gears! Music!

So after this repulsive article/list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists (Jack White at #17, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, maybe the best soloist this side of Hendrix and Page, at #82), (this one is a little different, maybe better, if you're curious) Rolling Stone comes out with a new gem.

The 100 "Greatest Singers" of "all-time." You can look at the list yourself and make your own judgements before you read mine.

Rolling Stone likes to do this thing where they presume themselves the experts of all music, of all time. Fuck Pavarotti, of course. They have the 100 Greatest Singers.

Now, to name them is one thing. But to rank them in an arbitrary order is quite another.

We've got Aretha Franklin at #1. Ray Charles, Elvis, Sam Cooke, John Lennon, Marvin Gaye, Bob Dylan, Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, and James Brown make up the rest of the top 10. By any standards, a remarkable list. Comparing, though, John Lennon to James Brown is completely ludicrous. So the premise, of course, is ridiculous.

To compare Aretha Franklin to, say, Robert Plant of Zep (#15), is comparing Chuck Berry to John Frusciante. One precedes the other and influences the other's style. There is simply no comparing their techniques... in the case of Franklin and Plant, one is singing soul and the other inventing how to sing hard rock.

Of course, Rolling Stone mixes up its perceptions when it does this thing where it tries to take into account talent, relevance, and technique. By any qualitative standards, Bob Dylan as a top 10 singer is puke-worthy. But his relevance and lyrics make him one of the most important singers of the 20th century. To put John Lennon over fellow Beatle Paul McCartney (#11), who was the lead singer for the Beatles and by far the better singer technically, is a show of bias due to the fact that Lennon was assassinated and far more of a cultural icon than McCartney was. Right?

So maybe the fact that someone died makes them go farther up the list, right? Well.. maybe. Freddie Mercury of Queen, who I would immediately declare my favorite rock singer of all time, is at #18 (behind Tina Turner and Mick Jagger, both more idolized and culturally recognized). Technically speaking, he's the best. His range is preposterous and his ability to write songs is nearly unparalleled (turn on "Prophet's Song" if you don't believe me). Bob Marley makes it to #19, which seems a bit high too me -- but see, he had this huge influence on popular music and gave a voice, as Dave Matthews writes, "of oppressed people all over the world." So do you put him over Elton John? Rolling Stone does (Sir EJ is #38).

So then, you have Michael Jackson at #25. How can you compare him to the man two spots before him, David Bowie? They are both absolutely amazing singers. Hank Williams, the country singer, is in the top 30, and only 7 spots later, Whitney Houston clocks in. Could they be more different?

By the way, Hank Williams makes the list. Sting? NOPE. (The biggest oversight by far).

The angelic Jeff Buckley makes an appearance at #39 (yay!) but Brian Wilson, the voice of the Beach Boys, is mired in the 50's. Jimi Hendrix doesn't make the list despite his deep-reaching vocals, but Kurt Cobain, the most overrated instrumentalist of all time, does. Christina Aguilera makes the list (the chick can sing, but come on), and Steve Perry of Journey does too, but neither Chris Cornell nor Eddie Vedder do, two key voices of the 1990's.

How 'bout some legends. Art Garfunkel? 86. Frankie Valli? 80. Roger Waters of Floyd? Nah. Apparently they couldn't overlook his lack of technical skill ... despite Pink Floyd being a top 5 rock band.

To repeat: Sting does not make this list!

Thom Yorke (66) makes it simply because of the importance of his band, I suspect, but there are few truly contemporary singers on this list. I'll say Brandon Boyd deserves a spot over Mariah Carey (#79) and Mary J. Blige (#100), but only because I love him. But see, Mariah Carey has absolutely no cultural influence -- only the ability to churn out millions of hits. At least Boyd's band (Incubus) makes statements. Maybe if he had, God forbid, had some sort of life-threatening accident, Rolling Stone would listen to him.

Where are guys/gals like Brian McKnight (R+B), Chris Martin, Alicia Keys, Boyd? Are rappers not included? If Willie Nelson is included (#88), a guy who is awesome but doesn't exactly "sing", shouldn't someone who writes poetry as brilliantly as Tupac make the list?

That's a bit of a stretch, but my long-winded point is that this article should never have been written. It is knee-jerk and completely ridiculous. Who can compare Dolly Parton (73) to Gregg Allman (70)? Luther Vandross (54) to Jim Morrison (47)?

Enough of my rant. Let me know what you think about either of the two parts of this mega-post.

more politics!

2008-11-19T01:03:00.005-05:00

Hey guys -- sorry it's been so long. I guess after the election, I didn't have a whole lot to say.

Barack has done a great job since his win, hasn't he? I think it's really impressive how he's jump-started his presidency with some cooperative efforts, meeting with McCain and Bush in what appear to be more than formalities (less so in Bush's case), and leading the party away from conflict with Joe Lieberman, Gore's potential VP who broke rank and endorsed McCain -- and spoke at the Republican National Convention dissing Obama.

He has talked about bailing out the automakers -- but the way he's proposed it has been most impressive to me. This isn't your father's bailout, folks. Of course, the main logic behind this particular form of bailout would be that a huge portion of the workforce is employed by the so-called "Big 3" automakers, almost 3 million jobs worth.

But what Obama really wants to do with that money is force automakers to make so-called "green" cars, whether they are hybrid, electric, or what have you. As this unbiased (yeah, right) source says, (it's called hybridcars.com...)

An Obama bailout would most likely force auto companies into compliance on labor, fuel efficiency, and the development of advanced auto technologies (like hybrids). Some politicians and pundits are also calling for a boardroom massacre—the replacement of current executives with new leadership chosen by the government to ensure that the auto companies comply.

Now, several economists don't like this idea. They say that Americans would have bought hybrid/fuel-efficient cars if they wanted them.

First problem -- no one has any freaking credit, thanks to the current economy, let alone disposable income to buy a new car (because how many used hybrid/Smart/what-have-you cars are on the market right now? They are pretty much brand-new and not in their first wave of replacement).

Second problem, consumers' favorite models aren't being switched to hybrid as the standard. If you are forced to only make more fuel efficient cars, people will buy them. Because there is no alternative. So there is no reason why the automakers shouldn't be spending capital trying to go ahead of the curve in auto design.

Many say that the auto business is so done for it's not worth investing taxpayers' money into. Well, to start this argument, let's go to Nixon and say that in times of crises like these, we're all Keynseians, so let's just get that out of the way. If you don't get it, just move on.

Second, we have every reason to believe that a radical hybridization or modification in the development of cars -- American cars -- would be a huge step for our economy and a huge step in our engineering/designing community. We would basically start the trend in the United States for hybrid/more fuel efficient cars, cornering the largest market for automobiles with ahead-of-the curve technology. In Europe, they're already much further ahead in fuel standards, but they don't design it in America because there's no demand. If our automakers make good, solid, sweet cars that are more fuel-efficient, they will be bought. And dammit, our environment will thank us. There is no reason why we shouldn't seek to bail these automakers out, especially under the precondition that they HAVE to be innovative -- not to mention protect the environment. I love this idea, flat-out.

After all, Obama has promised to lead the global way on climate change. Thank goodness.

My last thing to address tonight is the Secretary of State talk. Hillary Clinton's lawyers are checking her out in case she is given/accepts the Sec. of State nomination in the Obama administration.

Since the beginning, I've quietly been pushing for John Kerry, who has made himself into one of the elder statesmen of the Democratic Party in the Senate and a worthy ally for Obama. I also think that there are better choices than Hillary, who is a great Senator. Bill Richardson, maybe, or Chuck Hagel, the Republican anti-war Senator from Nebraska. Hell, even Colin Powell deserves a look.

Mainly, we don't need Bill Clinton anywhere near Barack Obama. Let's make that clear.

But those who believe that Hillary was given the short end of the stick by Obama (in some ways, they're right), should remember that if he actually offered this office to her, it is probably a bigger compliment than being Vice President. Secretary of State was once the most prestigious non-Presidential office in the land, held by Madison, William Jennings Bryan, John Jay, John Marshall, and recently Madeline Albright and Colin Powell (hell, even Condi hasn't done a bad job). The Sec of State has tremendous global responsibility and is the top diplomat, the first person besides the president, that we roll out to every other nation. In many ways, they are the biggest representative of our country abroad.

Hillary should be honored by this innuendo, as this office has perhaps unmatched influence (traditionally) on the president. In many ways, it's more risky than appointing her VP as a result. But I think that she will end up not accepting, and Kerry will take it.

Imagine this combination: Obama, Biden, Kerry, Hagel and Richardson (along with Eric Holder, who has experience in the Clinton White House). That is my dream. Biden (VP) and Kerry (Sec of State, maybe) are two of the best senators from this generation of legislators, and Richardson has experience negotiating with everyone, from Hussein to Kim Jong-Il. Chuck Hagel is an anti-war moderate who has every business being in the White House, maybe as Sec. of Def (he was a vet in Vietnam).

Clinton is a great Senate ally, and she has done absolutely everything for Obama -- talk about losing graciously. She has been magnificent, and personally responsible, I would think, for significant gains in Pa. and Ohio. She deserves rewarding in some capacity, and if she becomes Sec. of State I can't complain. But I don't think she'll take it. I think it's too important to her to be in the Senate, and her ego is still in the way of a daily relationship with Obama, but she should definitely consider it.

Lastly, go Terps Football -- which is really about a game away from the ACC Championship, and Terps Basketball (2-0). Redskins -- get it together.

A lot of stuff out there

2008-11-05T21:25:00.007-05:00

So for organizational purposes, here's some key/sweet stuff going on out there.

UPDATE: This is the best series of articles on the election I've seen. Newsweek's "How He Did It" series and the various articles scattered on the website from deep inside campaigns during the election are riveting and inspirationally well-reported.

Kenyan children being named Barack, Obama and Michelle

A discussion of the massive youth turnout...

NBN photos of Grant Park Tuesday

Rahm Emmanuel, long-time Congressman from Chicago, with a reputation for being a real hard-ass but big-time political veteran, is Obama's chief of staff. Other than Biden, this is the first key position filled in who surrounds Obama. Approved by MattervsArt.

Turns out I was wrong about turnout, but I was right about conservatives not coming out....

"Obama victory sparks cheers around the globe" : enough said

A BBC report on this topic. Just a terrific video.

Who will be Sec. of State?

A gem from The Onion about what the hell us Obama supporters are doing (or not doing) with their time now that Obama won.

A journalist's recap

2008-11-05T18:46:00.003-05:00

This note is from my all-time favorite professor, my Magazine Writing teacher back at Medill at Northwestern, who was at Grant Park last night.

Enjoy.

5 November 2008

Dear Friends:

So, here was one of the striking things about being in Grant Park, in the midst of hundreds of thousands of people, as it was announced that Barack Obama will be the new president -- the current of disbelief that one experienced even as it happened. From the black woman behind me who wept and cheered and wept again to the older white man in front of me who'd voted for Republicans all his life until this election, each announcement of a state won by Obama was followed by a brief hush before the cheers.

It reminded me of so many conversations I had with South Africans last year. At the beginning of many interviews about the dynamics of post-transition politics in South Africa, the tables would turn and the person I'd arranged to question would cross-examine me about whether it was even marginally conceivable that this highly unlikely candidate could prevail.

I thought he could, but only because I'd seen, close-up, how his Quixote-like run for the U.S. Senate had unfolded in 2004 from audacious upstart to oddball triumph. The persistence of the doubt, though, fed for me on disappointments that stretched back 40 years, to my activism as a teenager in another presidential campaign I'd made calls for, gone door-to-door with, and volunteered in -- the race of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in 1968. He was shot to death the night after I'd seen him address a crowd that looked as diverse and as hungry for change as the crowd that gathered in Chicago last night.

Perhaps this turning point in U.S. history, among other things, marks an end to the sort of apocalyptic thinking that understandably rolled out from the end of the 1960s (Medgar Evers, JFK, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and RFK all assassinated). It could only have been led by a post-Baby Boomer, and I think it has profound implications for post-post-modern politics.

In 1988, during his primary run for president, Jesse Jackson told me, "Maybe it's my job to bang on the door so one day someone else can walk through it." Maybe now we actually get a chance to take up the real-deal gritty details of genuine social change because the easy, cynical excuses -- that, for example, my effort doesn't matter, OF COURSE a mixed race man can't be elected to the presidency, or the rug will be pulled out from under us at the last minute anyway (as it was in 2000) so why make the effort? -- have been stripped away. It's potentially liberating, but of
course the rest depends on us.

In itself, this seems a profound step -- the end of apocalyptic thinking -- that probably has utility both in this old, creaky, hidebound democracy here and in the newer, more dynamic and currently-troubled democracy there.

On Tuesday night, I was surrounded by people who'd worked their hearts out for a victory that, at the moment of its announcement, still seemed nearly impossible to believe. To his credit, president-elect Obama didn't take long after exulting in the victory to spell out how much there is, now, to be done.

A new era, a new America

2008-11-05T17:21:00.013-05:00

Readers:

Last night, we witnessed a tremendous event in the history of this country. Only forty years after blacks were finally able to vote, we have a black president. Only forty-some years after blacks had to drink out of different water fountains, feared public and unpunished lynching, and lived as second-class citizens, we have a black president.

And folks, this was not a squeaker.

In the age of the 50-50 split, the age where the once-"purple" nation contrasts in colors more than it mixes, both in Congress and in the United States, Barack Obama earned 349 electoral votes, with North Carolina and Missouri still in play as posting. If he wins NC, which it looks like he will, that gives Obama a total of 364 votes, which is scores more than George W. Bush earned in either election. No Democrat since Jimmy Carter, riding the wake of the Nixon/Ford debacle, earned over 50% of the popular vote without a term in office beforehand.

Obama's total electoral delegates is the largest amount of electoral votes won by a non-incumbent Democrat other than Clinton (who only got 370, six more than Obama) since FDR.

It is tough to compare this election to any other for many reasons. The first of which is the obvious -- Obama is a remarkable candidate in many ways, due to his race and his specific journey. Also, the political climate of the 2000's is the most divisive (in the long-term) that we've seen in over a half-century. To now think that we could be ushering a more post-partisan era, along with a post-racial and post-gender era given the success of Palin and Clinton, is truly inspiring.

But back to my previous point: Obama won this election by a landslide. He earned nearly 53% of the popular vote in addition to closing the deal in several key states. As McCain said very graciously, "The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly."

The American people not only repudiated the Republican party, once gleefully dominant but now reeling, but they mandated the idea of change and a credible change agent over, to use a hackneyed term, "politics as usual."

The reason the results exploded into the landslide they became are several.

First: we were offered a once-in-a-lifetime human being to represent us. Political "experts" always seem to bring this point up at the beginning of the election and then avoid it later -- but Americans have a built-in smell test that determines to a large extent who they vote for. It's why Reagan was so popular, why Clinton was so popular, why Bush beat Gore and Kerry, and why Nixon had to use incredible political manuevering to ever hold any office. Americans tend to pick who they like. Not who they admire -- Kerry would be coming off of re-election if that was true-- but who they LIKE.

In fact, Obama's sheer personability brought many new voters to the polls. There are many reasons WHY people like him, including his race and his consequential symbolism, but he is just an outstanding person. He is smart, funny, and charming. McCain is a bit rougher around the edges, despite universal admiration for his service to the United States.

More on likeability: Gov. Palin seems to have excited a lot of people who like her, but turned off a lot of people from the McCain ticket when she didn't pass the American smell-test. It was damning right away. You saw in polls how at first, a majority Americans believed she was a great pick for VP, despite not knowing anything about her. People liked her. She "Joe-Six-Packed" her way into the red-states' hearts, before her clear lack of preparation ultimately deflated her, and probably the McCain ticket.

The next reason that Obama won, I think, was the changing of the electorate. In what I find a really fascinating development, the turnout for this election is lower than last election.

Clearly, this is not because there were not enough people excited about the candidates. No. I believe that a lot of the country was not represented in this election, and the faces of the voters changed.

Young voters, like you, readers, came out in record numbers. Blacks who had been disengaged from the electoral process came out of the woodwork in this election. How, then, can turnout be down? Who didn't show up?

I think what we saw in this election was a lack of involvement from Christian Conservatives and a lot of conservatives who did not feel McCain represented their interests. The party of Palin and the party of McCain seemed very different in this election, and even the two candidates seemed to bristle. McCain chose to run to the center-right, without pandering too much to the far right. He fought Obama for independent voters, an area where he has always had tremendous success, while Obama enlisted an army of left-leaning, change-hungry, sorely-misrepresented liberals, and awoke new voters to bolster his totals. Obama connected with new people, while McCain's targets either overlapped with Obama's or were party faithful. There is more to this topic, and we will know more as the results continue to come down.

And simply, Barack Obama won this election because he out-manuevered, out-campaigned, out-spent, out-lasted, and out-classed John McCain in every way possible. Remember, this guy was on TV for 21 months straight. He had to run through Hillary Clinton, one of the best Democratic presidential candidates ever, in the closest primary since 1980. McCain, as Obama joked at the Alfred Smith Memorial Dinner, didn't have much of a primary contest comparatively. Obama weathered a nearly impossible storm, only to come against someone outside his own party.

Then, Obama, who had already spent more money than any candidate in history on a primary election, and had dealt with more exposure than any primary winner, fought on with unprecedented grace and lack of mistakes. Other than this once-famous gaffe about guns and God and Small-Town, USA, Obama made no mistakes. He kept in touch with his base, continued to electrify them with his public speaking ability, and managed to assemble the best political operation in US history. This is the new model for campaigns, where the internet rules the smoke-filled-room fundraisers, and the voters push the candidate, not the other way around.

Obama ran a longer, better, and smarter campaign, one for the 21st century -- one with 24-hour news, a new electorate, and impassioned young voters -- while McCain stumped with Joe the Plumber (thank God he's gone) and relied on taxpayers to fund his campaign.

--------

But who cares about HOW or WHY he won. You can watch CNN for that.

What matters is what this means for this country and, since it's my party here, and for some reason you're still reading, for me.

I spoke above about what this shows about America. Ohio, Florida, Indiana, Virginia, Nevada -- all red states for years, some longer than others -- voted for Obama. It is not coincidence that these states were needed to win -- it is Americans in those parts of the country, the fairly moderate, but also nearly uniformly conservative, who Obama needed to win over. And he did.

He was mandated in states that Sarah Palin labelled as the "real America," the place where the small town and conservative rights were ubiquitous. Frankly, I'm still shocked. Having driven through Ohio and Indiana three times in the last year, I'm enchanted and in disbelief that any white, rural, uneducated voters could possibly vote for Obama in those states. The fact that the economy, which was overwhelmingly an edge for Obama in the election, could be a bigger issue than race in this battle may show that Americans have moved forward in their thinking.

-----

As Sarah Silverman said, this election was probably America's last opportunity to show we really are not the "assholes of the universe."

Look at these reactions, courtesy of huffingtonpost.com from around the world.

Below is Jerusalem, Indonesia, and Kenya. People around the world are celebrating. We elected a man they all love. <-- Read that article just linked, it's from the BBC.

But what does it mean to African-Americans here at home, decades after Jim Crow laws still were legal in the South? Mere years after Rodney King and OJ Simpson, in a society where racism still, at this very moment, exists?

Sometimes, a picture speaks more than words.

-----

To me, this is a ecstatic, immensely fulfilling moment. I don't think I could have hand-selected a person, no matter how many I met, that I could be more confident in or inspired by to lead the United States than Barack Obama. I feel he legitimately cares about me, my age group, our interests, and our well-being. If I went to him with a problem, he'd listen. If he came to me with a proposal, and told me it was right, I'd sacrifice.

I will always remember the moment, at the top of the 11:00 hour, when CNN projected Obama would win the presidency of the United States. The feeling was joy, pride, renewed after eight years of political and cultural embarassment and a feeling of disconnection. The feeling is that it finally is my generation's time to step up -- and we delivered. It's too good to be true -- but it is.

This is the right man for this country. We are blessed to have elected someone both capable and transcendent to the highest office of our land. Imagine, a mixed-race Hawaiian man, of humble beginnings, of unprecedented grace and presence, to represent this great country.

We are lucky. Hope, it seems, prevailed in spite of the odds. We have made the world a better place.

Yes, we can.

America's proudest day.

2008-11-05T01:35:00.002-05:00

This is the most memorable day of my life.

Americans, we are participants in the election mandating the most change since the change of power from Federalists to Republicans in 1800.

What we accomplished tonight, and I don't care who you vote for, was tremendously meaningful. We broke down racial divisions and redefined the American electorate, a task that even the staunchest McCain supporter must acknowledge as quite a feat for both parties.

There is an unprecedented global voice for African-Americans, who have long suffered the burden of political slight. There is an unprecedented awareness and allegiance to the young people of this country, forced to bear the economic burden of their frivolous and wasteful predecessors. Furthermore, there is a wise, determined, outstanding human being to lead us back to America's true potential.

This is the day where I am most proud to be an American since 9/11.

Let us unite, regardless of political affiliation, if for no other reason than we are all components of a society more tolerant, more enlightened, and more brave than we were just a few years ago.

Congratulations, Barack. You have made a lot of people around the world very happy. Me included.

Full results here. Expect full bleeding-heart liberalism and disbelieving jubilation disguised as a blog post tomorrow.

Congratulations, U.S.A. Yes we can. Yes we did. And yes, we will.

Arizona? A toss up?

2008-10-29T18:06:00.001-04:00

Really, John?

Just when it was looking bleak for McCain... what if he didn't carry his home state?!

Stop all presses. The biggest news ever.

2008-10-27T21:07:00.004-04:00

LED ZEPPELIN IS GOING BACK ON TOUR!!!!!!!!

This is EASILY the most exciting piece of news I've seen in quite some time. Absolutely unreal.

The catch? Robert Plant (vocals) isn't on board. He's tired of touring, and, according to John Paul Jones (bass) --

"Jones admitted that the group weren't sure about what Plant's plans were. “He really doesn't want to make loud music anymore. We do. I mean, I love acoustic music, but it doesn't stop me from turning something up,” Jones added."

Unbelievable. And, even better, Jones said in the BBC article: "There would be a record and a tour, but everyone has to be on board."

A NEW LED ZEPPELIN ALBUM!?!? This is tremendous news.

If you're asking whether I think it's legit to see Led Zeppelin or not despite both John Bonham (untimely death) and Robert Plant not being present, I give you two words.

Jimmy Page. So, yes.

If you want my prediction for who will sing, and I do have an idea, here's my guess.

So if I'm right, you heard it here first, right?

My speculation is also fueled by this recent incident, in which Led Zeppelin showed up at his band's performance.

Whoa! Led Zeppelin!!!!!

Election prediction!

2008-10-26T20:08:00.011-04:00

Hey guys --

So we've got a week to go before the election, a week before the moment we have been waiting for, to reshape -- or reaffirm, if you're somehow pleased with how it's going -- the American political situation.

Now, everyone who's talked to me for more than 10 minutes or has read any other post on this blog besides this one understands that I'm supporting Obama in this election. I have many reasons to do so, but the purpose of this post is to explain to all you nervous nellies out there how exactly this election is going to break down. And, in short, how the chances of Obama losing seems to be getting smaller by the day.

This map can be a pretty good source for you if you want to follow along with what I'm saying here. (If you want to do a little less work, but go off of the RCP polls, this will work too).

So here's my hypothesis for this election. If Barack wins Virginia, (which no Democrat has done since LBJ in '64!) it's over. You can turn off your TV's as soon as they call it. His totals will almost certainly surpass the amount needed to win the election (that number being 270). If he doesn't win Virginia, he's within striking distance in enough of the swing states that the chances are still pretty high... But I think he wins Virginia and then is as good as done by the time it's called.

Here's how it works.

Every year there are some states that candidates don't even try for because it's pretty apparent from early on how they'll vote. I'll tally it up for you:

McCain will safely win in the following states:
His home state of Arizona, Palin's home state of Alaska, Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, (although Barack is making it a lot closer there than people could ever expect), Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, South Carolina, Lousiana, Kentucky, Idaho, Utah, the Dakotas, Tennessee, and Wyoming.

That's 18 states with an electoral delegate count of 151. (You need 270 to win). The map is to the right for McCain's solid wins.

Now, Obama's turn for his safety states.

Completely objectively, Obama can count on the following states. Obama's home state of Illinois, his other home state of Hawaii, Biden's home state of Delaware, my home state of Maryland!, California, New York, New Jersey, DC, Massachussets, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Vermont, Oregon, Michigan (where McCain stopped campaigning).

That's 15 states for an electoral count of 196 for Obama. Map is to the right.

Now, there are some states that aren't comfortable for either candidate, but will almost certainly fall to them.

For McCain, that's Montana, Indiana, and West Virginia -- although Obama has made significant headway in those three usually very safe Republican states. That's 3 more pretty good bets for McCain, giving him a total of 171 votes and 21 states.

Obama is feeling pretty good about a few more states himself. He'll probably win all the delegates in Washington (state), Wisconsin, and Minnesota. He's probably got to like his chances, honestly, in New Hampshire and Iowa, where he's up pretty safely.

That is the most optimistic projection McCain's people could have -- I'll explain why in a minute. So that map -- with both candidates, looks like this.

Obama has 20 states in the bag at this point. From last election, only one state switched sides to this point: Iowa. So those 7 points go in Obama's column. I've got 234 for Obama now.

So there are 133 delegates up for grabs at this point, assuming there are no surprises. If there could be any surprises in that group, it's Iowa or Indiana or Montana switching sides.

Now, the reason McCain's people would be okay with this is because I didn't give the state of Pennsylvania to Obama. The fact is, Obama is going to win Pennsylvania. Most polls have him up in the double-digits leading, but McCain refuses to concede there (wisely). So I'm going to give Obama Pennsylvania, giving him a stellar 259 votes.

So that leaves the following states which are in the toss-up range, from West to East: Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Missouri, Ohio, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina.

So out of those eight states, Obama needs 11 electoral votes in order to win the election, assuming he holds all the probable states from earlier, including Pennsylvania.

With me still?

So at that estimate, if he wins any one of the following states, the election is over. Ready? North Carolina (15 votes), Virginia (13), Ohio (20), Florida (27), or Missouri (11).

If you can believe it, Obama has a chance at winning any of those states... in order of probability, Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Missouri, NC. Real Clear Politics has him leading in every single one (and Indiana, interestingly... The RCP map if the polls hold true is here) Also, he is leading in Colorado and New Mexico, two swing states whose electoral counts combine for 14 delegates, which would put Obama over the top.

So that's right, Obama could lose Ohio, Florida, Missouri, and North Carolina and still win the election -- by the exact same fairly comfortable margin that Bush did in '04, actually. Here's how ->

With me? So McCain has to stop Obama in almost all of those states. It's not going to happen. Obama has outspent and out-campaigned McCain in every single one of them.

I think Obama will carry this election by a map very similar to the one above. If he wins in Virginia, you see, you will only need to wait to hear the Midwest region's results -- because he will hold the West Coast and not even need Colorado and New Mexico.

He will carry Virginia, and I think he may win in Ohio or Florida. Hopefully enough people made the Great Schlep to Florida to switch that to the Democratic side for this election, but Obama doesn't even need it. It was a national campaign that gave Obama such a big advantage in this contest -- by competing in Iowa and Virginia, places Hillary may not have even touched had she won the nomination, Obama will win the election and become the 44th President.

Music -- concerts and my plans

2008-10-15T01:21:00.007-04:00

So by chance -- a million thank yous to Ashley -- I'm seeing Coldplay in 2 weeks for FREE at the Verizon Center. It got me thinking who I've seen this year, and how lucky I've been to see the amazing bands I've gotten to see. Their influence on me musically is incalculable.

This is a list of bands I've seen and stuff -- if nothing else, a reminder that blogging is the most selfish activity in existence. Many of them I've seen multiple times, somehow.

Radiohead (Lolla), The Police (Live Earth, V-Fest), Incubus (Philadelphia, V-Fest, Chicago), Roger Waters of Pink Floyd (Live Earth), Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, Common, The Roots, Wilco, Black Keys, Smashing Pumpkins, 311, Snoop Dogg, The Raconteurs, Umphreys, Third Eye Blind, Cake, John Mayer, DMB, Alicia Keys, Ludacris, Bloc Party, Ben Harper, Girl Talk, Interpol... literally hundreds of others and Coldplay to come.

Places I’ve been because of shows:

Grant Park/Lolla, Pimlico/V-fest, Festival Pier (Philly), Pier 6, Sonar, (Bmore), Riviera, Aragon, Vic, Allstate Arena, Dillo Day/Northwestern (all Chicago/Evanston), Giants Stadium (NYC)... etc

Bands I must see if opportunity arises:
Zeppelin (please God) OutKast, Muse, Ben Folds, Tribe, Nas

What a phenomenon -- seeing music played live. Anyone who's been to a crazy concert knows how sweet that is -- and hopefully inspires you to greater musical heights, be it through listening or playing. I think that's the purpose of concerts -- to see manifestations of these sounds that come through your computer or car speakers. It's why music is the best. The emotions, observations, and feelings of connectedness that you access when listening to something you love are unmatched.

I'm so lucky to have seen basically every actively touring band that I love in existence. I can't imagine seeing that list in front of me only a few years ago. Seeing Sting/Copeland, Frusciante/Flea, Radiohead, Mike Einziger, Roger Waters, John Mayer?? Some of the premier musical geniuses of the last 20 (or more) years? God, how lucky can a music nerd be?

Speaking of concerts, my roommate Zak and I have entered a big endeavor to get a band off the ground. We're figuring out who's going to be in it and stuff, but we're slowly cultivating originals. I wrote my first set of song lyrics today, a truly interesting experience. Like when you write about anything, the first thing that you do is imitate. When you write something when you feel like don't know your ass from your face, you think of what worked with somebody else. For the first time, I was kind of able to distance myself from that. I think. I'm scared to look back on them, fearing they suck ass. We will see.

My writing style is a shitty attempt to be Jeff Buckley, for now, I think. If you don't know Jeff Buckley, stop what you're doing and listen. He's a true poet, a master of emotions that guides his singing to new heights. His images are vivid, raw, and captivating. His truly angelic voice doesn't hurt either. I suppose Brandon Boyd from Incubus is another inspiration of mine, because his lyrics are both very accessible and meaningful. Take Drive -- a simple metaphor that he takes down an interesting path to express a simple question -- how do I take the wheel, how do I gain the confidence and control over myself that I need to "steer" myself?

I can't imagine myself aspiring to write much deeper than those cats -- I don't have the brain power. Thom Yorke does. Nor do I see myself aspiring to be a Sting (funny/goofy/often with a dark side) Matthew Bellamy of Muse (think like self-deprecating over-the-top seriousness), Robert Plant (every Zeppelin song is about sex. Or, once in a while, a dog), or certainly an Anthony Keidis. But I suppose that so many great songwriters start with something silly and develop their styles once they have a better control over what's being thrown at them in life. From the silliness of How Many More Times ("Now I got 10 children of my own"??) to Stairway to Heaven, or from Funky Monks to Wet Sand -- it takes practice. And maturity/perspective, none of which I have.

Because I love writing so much, the lyrics of my own songs potentially are very important to me -- and I can't really settle for stuff that sucks... I hope. Lyrics are often my first jumping point into thematic understanding of a band, album, or song. I expect that if someone wants to take that leap with my eventual tunes, that I or whoever else writes lyrics can reward them.

However, this is easier said than done. The first tip I have for myself/anyone else is to write what you know. I wrote about a particular feeling that was elicited about a particular young lady and a particular incident that I reacted to when I saw a picture on Facebook. It's amazing that something so simple can trigger such a complex emotional response. But once I saw a particular arrangement of pixels showing me something that pissed me off, I literally knew I had to write about it instantly. I felt better, pretty fast. And I was able to pinpoint a complex set of emotions into one theme. Again, hopefully it doesn't suck.

Well, that's my self-indulgence for the day. See ya around. Hope you're enjoying this place -- I'm just trying to keep it real.

Remembering that I'm not a serious blogger

2008-10-13T16:04:00.006-04:00

If you want my borderline-erudite post about McCain and his terribleness, scroll on down or punch it right here.

But for now, I really want to talk about this contest that took place on Vibe.com and what it shows about hip-hop and its culture.

The internet public really, really whiffed on this one. They named Detroit's finest rapper, Marshall Mathers, the greatest rapper alive.

Eminem's skillz (yup, I did it) on the mic are well-known. His raps are often engaging stories -- Stan and Guilty Conscience are among others as great examples. His freestyles -- who's heard the real ones, I wonder, and not the pre-written ones in 8 Mile? -- are ridiculous. He's got a lot of talent, and I'd definitely put him in the top echelon of rappers today.

But what this voting indicates is that the majority of people who voted in this are probably just like me. They are old enough to remember how sweet Em was when he debuted in the late 90's, and they're white.

You've got to be kidding me -- a white boy winning this competition? A black person familiar with hip-hop is more likely to vote for John McCain over Barack than vote for Eminem as the best rapper over the likes of Nas, Jay-z, Dr. Dre, Snoop, Q-Tip of Tribe, or Andre 3000 (of Outkast). Not because they are interested solely in black rappers -- not at all. But because their introduction to rap wasn't through "My Name Is" on TRL.

Eminem's biggest influence to hip-hop was the influx of white listeners -- not something to be overlooked. White people had a niche upon which to enter hip-hop, and that is something very valuable. It commercialized rap and made hip-hop mainstream -- which arguably gave guys like the Roots, Common, Outkast, and even Kayne and Lupe, all rappers much easier to digest in white culture (and rock culture) -- a chance to succeed.

He also introduced his daughter and wife into his raps to the point that people began to really connect with him. I think people started to identify with him, even though he was crazy. He was the Stephen Colbert of rap -- someone so obviously painting themselves as a caricature that interest grew. And he definitely has interesting stuff to say.

But there is no way that anyone who grew up listening to Illmatic or Chronic is voting for Eminem. And a lot of people who are Eminem fans aren't necessarily hip-hop "historians" -- they are probably the same ones that would vote for T.I. or Kanye West into the finals of the "Best Rapper" competition, and vote against Q-Tip in the first round because they never listened to Midnight Marauders.

The next problem is that Eminem's last good album came out in 2000. That was the Marshall Mathers LP, which contained Stan, Kill You, Marshall Mathers, and, of course, the Real Slim Shady. Encore was more of a joke album, I thought, and it came out in 2002. So he hasn't come out with anything new in 6 years -- when guys like Nas, Jay, and Andre had classic albums before (Illmatic, RD, Southernplayamuzik) and after (Untitled/Hip hop Is Dead, Black Album/American Gangster, Love Below) Eminem's 3 albums -- one of which sucked.

Anyone who's heard Illmatic, Reasonable Doubt, The Chronic (either), Stankonia, Blueprint, Love Below, and plenty of others, knows that Eminem's albums did not impact hip-hop like these albums. Eminem definitely inspired many rappers to change to less serious and more off-the-wall. But by naming Eminem the world's best rapper is ignorant of the great ones -- ignorant of the urban soundtracks of the 1990's and even 2000's, forgotten in the age of synthesizers, uber-famous, mainstream, money-saturated rappers trying to sell records because they don't need the stories anymore to get people to listen to them.

It's why there's a counter-culture in hip-hop right now -- it's why Common and Lupe have found so much success. They keep it real -- they tell stories. Lil' Wayne? TI? These guys are the products of catchy rhymes, addicting beats, and personality. Even Eminem fits into that category -- but he is, at least, one of the best rappers ever.

As usual, a hip-hop contest came down to superficiality and not substance. Eminem is a great, great rapper. But the fact that he won the contest of best rapper alive is almost laughable -- and a huge indicator how many white people consume hip-hop now.

Tim Dickinson in Rolling Stone

2008-10-07T15:41:00.003-04:00

This article is the most profound and, frankly, revolting assessment of any major American politician I have ever read. Tim Dickinson is my new hero. I have extracted portions of the story below.

Unfortunately for the United States, the man around whom the piece is centered is John McCain.

Now, if you really want to vote for this wheelchair-bound-woman abuser, excessive womanizer, guiltless boozehound, excessively conservative, self-serving psychopath, I beg you to read this article. It's hard to imagine anyone writing an article describing Barack Obama, or certainly not even George W. Bush, in such a despicable manner.

One excerpt about his hot temper that will make you want to read on:

During his 1992 campaign, at the end of a long day, McCain's wife, Cindy, mussed his receding hair and needled him playfully that he was "getting a little thin up there." McCain reportedly blew his top, cutting his wife down with the kind of language that had gotten him hauled into court as a high schooler: "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt." Even though the incident was witnessed by three reporters, the McCain campaign denies it took place.

Several years later, during another debate over servicemen missing in action, an elderly mother of an MIA soldier rolled up to McCain in her wheelchair to speak to him about her son's case. According to witnesses, McCain grew enraged, raising his hand as if to strike her before pushing her wheelchair away.

Some excerpts from the story, because no one wants to read 10 pages online:

The open of the story (which is simply awesome writing and reporting), describing an encounter b/w McCain and another POW

"There's a distance between the two men that belies their shared experience in North Vietnam — call it an honor gap. Like many American POWs, McCain broke down under torture and offered a "confession" to his North Vietnamese captors. Dramesi, in contrast, attempted two daring escapes. For the second he was brutalized for a month with daily torture sessions that nearly killed him. His partner in the escape, Lt. Col. Ed Atterberry, didn't survive the mistreatment. But Dramesi never said a disloyal word, and for his heroism was awarded two Air Force Crosses, one of the service's highest distinctions. McCain would later hail him as "one of the toughest guys I've ever met."

On the grounds between the two brick colleges, the chitchat between the scion of four-star admirals and the son of a prizefighter turns to their academic travels; both colleges sponsor a trip abroad for young officers to network with military and political leaders in a distant corner of the globe.

"I'm going to the Middle East," Dramesi says. "Turkey, Kuwait, Lebanon, Iran."

"Why are you going to the Middle East?" McCain asks, dismissively.

"It's a place we're probably going to have some problems," Dramesi says.

"Why? Where are you going to, John?"

"Oh, I'm going to Rio."

"What the hell are you going to Rio for?"

McCain, a married father of three, shrugs.

"I got a better chance of getting laid."

Dramesi, who went on to serve as chief war planner for U.S. Air Forces in Europe and commander of a wing of the Strategic Air Command, was not surprised. "McCain says his life changed while he was in Vietnam, and he is now a different man," Dramesi says today. "But he's still the undisciplined, spoiled brat that he was when he went in."

----

A ringing GOP endorsement:

"John has made a pact with the devil," says Lincoln Chafee, the former GOP senator, who has been appalled at his one-time colleague's readiness to sacrifice principle for power.

-----

At the Navy:

"He was a huge screw-off," recalls Butler. "He was always on probation. The only reason he graduated was because of his father and his grandfather — they couldn't exactly get rid of him."

McCain's self-described "four-year course of insubordination" ended with him graduating fifth from the bottom — 894th out of a class of 899. It was a record of mediocrity he would continue as a pilot.

------

As a pilot:

"In the Navy, if you crashed one airplane, nine times out of 10 you would lose your wings, [Matt's note from the article: McCain crashed three while in the Navy, including one leading to his capture in Vietnam]" says Butler, who, like his former classmate, was shot down and taken prisoner in North Vietnam. Spark "a small international incident" like McCain had? Any other pilot would have "found themselves as the deck officer on a destroyer someplace in a hurry," says Butler.

(His father, of course, and his grandfather, were both 4-star navy men. As someone in the article says, "But, God, he had family pull. He was directly related to the CEO — you know?)

-----

About his many affairs, including one which led to his current marriage:

If heroism is defined by physical suffering, Carol McCain is every bit her ex-husband's equal. Driving alone on Christmas Eve 1969, she skidded out on a patch of ice and crashed into a telephone pole. She would spend six months in the hospital and undergo 23 surgeries. The former model McCain bragged of to his buddies in the POW camp as his "long tall Sally" was now five inches shorter and walked with crutches.

By any standard, McCain treated her contemptibly. Whatever his dreams of getting laid in Rio, he got plenty of ass during his command post in Jacksonville. According to biographer Robert Timberg, McCain seduced his conquests on off-duty cross-country flights — even though adultery is a court-martial offense. He was also rumored to be romantically involved with a number of his subordinates...

In the spring of 1979, while conducting official business for the Navy, the still-married McCain encountered Cindy Lou Hensley, a willowy former cheerleader for USC. Mutually smitten, the two lied to each other about their ages. The 24-year-old Hensley became 27; the 42-year-old McCain became 38. For nearly a year the two carried on a cross-country romance while McCain was still living with Carol: Court documents filed with their divorce proceeding indicate that they "cohabitated as husband and wife" for the first nine months of the affair.

Although McCain stresses in his memoir that he married Cindy three months after divorcing Carol, he was still legally married to his first wife when he and Cindy were issued a marriage license from the state of Arizona. The divorce was finalized on April 2nd, 1980. McCain's second marriage — rung in at the Arizona Biltmore with Gary Hart as a groomsman — was consummated only six weeks later, on May 17th. The union gave McCain access to great wealth: Cindy, whose father was the exclusive distributor for Budweiser in the Phoenix area, is now worth an estimated $100 million.

-----

About his hot temper:

McCain is sensitive about his physical appearance, especially his height. The candidate is only five-feet-nine, making him the shortest party nominee since Michael Dukakis. On the night he was elected senator in 1986, McCain exploded after discovering that the stage setup for his victory speech was too low; television viewers saw his head bobbing at the bottom of the screen, his chin frequently cropped from view. Enraged, McCain tracked down the young Republican who had set up the podium, prodding the volunteer in the chest while screaming that he was an "incompetent little shit." Jon Hinz, the director of the Arizona GOP, separated the senator from the young man, promising to get him a milk crate to stand on for his next public appearance.

In the Senate — where, according to former GOP Sen. Bob Smith, McCain has "very few friends" — his volcanic temper has repeatedly led to explosive altercations with colleagues and constituents alike. In 1992, McCain got into a heated exchange with Sen. Chuck Grassley over the fate of missing American servicemen in Vietnam. "Are you calling me stupid?" Grassley demanded. "No, I'm calling you a fucking jerk!" yelled McCain. Sen. Bob Kerrey later told reporters that he feared McCain was "going to head-butt Grassley and drive the cartilage in his nose into his brain." The two were separated before they came to blows. Several years later, during another debate over servicemen missing in action, an elderly mother of an MIA soldier rolled up to McCain in her wheelchair to speak to him about her son's case. According to witnesses, McCain grew enraged, raising his hand as if to strike her before pushing her wheelchair away.

Most importantly, his policy sell-out bullshit flip-flops

In fact, his own statements show that he has been on both sides of a host of vital issues: the Bush tax cuts, the estate tax, waterboarding, hunting down terrorists in Pakistan, kicking Russia out of the G-8, a surge of troops into Afghanistan, the GI Bill, storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, teaching intelligent design, fully funding No Child Left Behind, offshore drilling, his own immigration policy and withdrawal timelines for Iraq.

In March, McCain insisted to The Wall Street Journal that he is "always for less regulation." In September, with the government forced to bail out the nation's largest insurance companies and brokerage houses, McCain declared that he would regulate the financial industry and end the "casino culture on Wall Street." He did a similar about-face on Bush's tax cuts, opposing them when he planned to run against Bush in 2001, then declaring that he wants to make them larger — and permanent — when he needed to win the support of anti-tax conservatives this year. "It's a big flip-flop," conceded tax abolitionist Grover Norquist. "But I'm happy he's flopped."

In June of this year, McCain reversed his decades-long opposition to coastal drilling — shortly before cashing $28,500 from 13 donors linked to Hess Oil. And the senator, who only a decade ago tried to ban registered lobbyists from working on political campaigns, now deploys 170 lobbyists in key positions as fundraisers and advisers.

This man is completely full of shit.

From the print edition of Rolling Stone nearly verbatim:

2001: "I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us at the exepnse of middle-class Americans.

2007: "I will not let the Democrats roll back the Bush tax cuts."

2007: [On waterboarding] "It is torture"

2008: Voted against a bill that would prevent waterboarding [note, this guy got tortured in Vietnam].

2000: Favored "normalization of relations" with Cuba. 2003: Called U.S. talks with Syrai "appropriate." 2006: Approved of U.S. talking to Palestinian authority.

2008: Said Obama's willingness to meet with enemy regimes shows his "naivete and inexperience and lack of judgement." OOOOKkkk...

Please Do Not Vote for this man. Vote for Barack Obama.

Lyrical endorsement of Obama

2008-10-04T17:30:00.001-04:00

"At a moment of economic calamity, international perplexity, political failure, and battered morale, America needs both uplift and realism, both change and steadiness. It needs a leader temperamentally, intellectually, and emotionally attuned to the complexities of our troubled globe. That leader’s name is Barack Obama."

-- The New Yorker

Word up.

Best YouTube Video ever

2008-09-26T15:29:00.005-04:00

Proof that God hates the Cowboys and loves the Redskins

Update: Here is my blog post at Hogs Haven, a Redskins site (run by the same guys as this mega-blog), if you want to read me going Redskins wild, go for it.

Second update: Apparently, my last blog post got picked up by CNNSI. So much for asking permission, I suppose, but pretty sweet. There's an image above for posterity -- chances are that will never happen again. Haha.

The easy-to-read breakdown of the financial crisis

2008-09-25T22:10:00.008-04:00

Hey y'all. How's it going?

Hope everyone's had a good week or so since I last updated. I always want to post more, sometimes even begin a new post, but can't always find something worthwhile enough to talk about. I have a few ideas about how to get my post level high, so stay tuned. Think of a Matt-centered Digg, that's what I'm going to aim for... maybe.

I want to talk about a few things tonight. First -- The Office is AWESOME. I know I'm like 5 years late, but I really like this show. I think it could join my highly selective list of shows I watch (I'm ridiculously selective, by the way. 24 and Entourage are the only current shows that I would actually go out of my way to watch -- Seinfeld, of course, is #1 though). Pretty solid.

But what I really want to talk about is something that I feel like people our age don't understand so much -- and that's the fact that we're literally a few bad moves away from a long and dreadful economic cycle called a depression. Yes, we're literally that close. When Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers -- two firms that survived the 1929 depression -- collapse, it's worth looking up from our college lives and seeing what is going on here.

I'm not by any means the right person to explain the entire situation to someone who doesn't really understand what's going on. But here goes. Feel free to comment on why I'm wrong or if I've missed anything -- I definitely have.

There are many reasons to why this problem started, particularly the "credit crisis" aspect of the collapse of this economy. That problem, say some people way smarter than me, started back in the 1990's, when everyone was buying up real estate because it was so cheap, a great investment (high returns on a useful, safe purchase), and everyone was rich from the stock market boom, etc. That's when real estate costs started to skyrocket after a bit of time -- demand was so high. People were buying second homes at unprecedented levels, and the price bubbled at an uncomfortable high. Then, suddenly, people couldn't afford to pay for these homes. So they took out loans from banks and gathered their assets from other things. Eventually, people couldn't afford their mortgages as prices for them got too high, and homes started getting foreclosed at record pace. Since people defaulted on their loans, companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two biggest loaners in the nation, got wrecked. Check my articles for more info, or you can just read the wiki too. It looks pretty comprehensive...

Eventually, the simple version of what happened then is that there were ripples throughout the entire economy. Merrill's and Stearn's and Lehman's across the board were impacted, as basically most banks and brokerage houses were suddenly on the hook for a bunch of unaccounted for money.

So that is the microcosm of the disaster facing us. Now we are faced with the decision of how to fix it.

From what I can tell, most Democrats seem to be fairly keen on the plan that Bush presented last night. Bush proposed that taxpayers spend money to inject money into the financial system. A few key points they are looking for -- lower executive compensation (meaning CEO's shouldn't need to take big money out of the taxpayers' pockets), and for some money to go to restoring the housing sector. I don't see how anyone can disagree with these points.

The Republicans in dissent with Bush are arguing -- and this is kind of interesting -- that taxpayers shouldn't be paying for this, but that private capital should be put into the financial system in order to restore it. Interesting they would want to put corporations on the hook here, instead of taxpayers. But that makes sense, given that conservatives believe government shouldn't interfere with the marketplace. Generally, I agree with that. However, as FDR showed in the Great Depression, sometimes the government simply has to step in and intervene. Frankly, as long as the taxpayers aren't paying for CEO's to get their money back, and that we can restore a little faith in the housing sector, I think we have to get this bailout plan through Congress and into action immediately.

Meanwhile, it seems like John McCain is hurting, rather than helping as lawmakers debate how to figure out a means to get some solution passed. From the article linked last sentence:

"John McCain did nothing to help," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who attended the meeting. "He only hurt the process."

Later in the article:

Democrats were scornful. Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the chief House Democrat on the bill, said late Wednesday, "all of a sudden, now that we are on the verge of making a deal, John McCain airdrops himself to help us make the deal."

Analysis:

In truth, McCain has faced a no-win situation for days. To support the bailout or a similar plan could put him at odds with millions of voters and many House Republicans at a time his campaign is sliding in the polls. Also, McCain has struggled to distance himself from the unpopular Bush, and embracing the administration's plan clearly would not help.

Obama has an easier path. No one will accuse him of being a Bush clone even if he ends up siding with the administration. And Democrats in general are more receptive to government regulation of powerful institutions.

McCain's other option was worse. Opposing some version of a financial rescue plan would open him to fierce accusations of walking away from a national crisis. And if a congressional impasse triggers more Wall Street catastrophes, as the administration says it would, the criticism would be still worse.

Maybe he should just do what's best for the country and not worry about presidential politics? This article also doesn't seem to credit Obama for "reaching across the aisle," which McCain recently accused Obama of not doing enough. Obviously, Obama will never be seen as a Bush clone. But perhaps this should cast him in a bi-partisan light?

Just a thought.

Happy commenting... hopefully... Enjoy yourselves. Go Terps and Skins this weekend!

Is there anybody out there?

2008-09-16T22:51:00.004-04:00

I just want to write a quick memo to the entire world:

The world is literally ending right now. Let's take a quick look at the Yahoo front page, shall we?

As of 10:51 pm Tuesday, here's what we've got.

1) McCain, Obama trying to figure out how to deal with Wall Street, which is doing about as well as water in a pasta strainer these days. Distressing that the demise of our financial sector and the credit crisis is going to be solved through politics and not economics.

2) Barclays is bailing out Lehman Brothers, which saves a lot of people's lives and finances. I guess that's good, except it means that Lehman Brothers is still bankrupt.

3) Pakistan is firing on US troops and operations that enter their country ... as in, trying to kill soldiers, as in, they won't let us in to look for Osama bin Laden. As in, in the olden days, this would be enough to go to war with Pakistan.

4) Death toll in Ike-ravaged Texas is rising.

5) House approves drilling domestically -- THE DEMOCRATIC HOUSE, no less.

6) Taxpayers are AGAIN bailing out a large corporation, this time AIG. (I agree with this more than Bear Stearns, because at least AIG provides insurance, not just investment banking for people presumably well-off).

So let's see here. Energy crisis? Check. Natural disaster? Check. Collapse of economy? Check. Potential additional war and loss of more American lives in Pakistan? Check.

No matter who the next president is, he will have too much to do to bail us out of this absolute mess that GWB has left us in. This is arguably the worst economy since the 70's, and the laundry list of problems this country is facing grows daily. It's not all Bush's fault, no way. But a lot of it is, and I think a lot of the damage we face is relatively long-term.

Maybe it's just because I'm more aware now of what's going on in the world than ever before, but does anyone else feel like we're just headed to hell in a handbasket right now? The world seems to be ripping itself at the seams right in front of us while we watch cluelessly, getting our feet stepped on by the next disaster or worry on the horizon. What is going on?!?

-------------

Meanwhile, speaking of terrible news, Richard Wright died. Pink Floyd, though, lives on for another generation.

Pink Floyd combines, if you will, matter and art; their content and message is vast and philosophical while their pure musicality is unparalleled. From song architecture to rhythmic structure to voicing, Pink Floyd is of a different breed than other rock bands. Richard Wright was a key influence in the Pink Floyd sound (one of the founding members of the band), including big credits on Time and Great Gig in the Sky, as well as several cuts off of Wish You Were Here. I argue he sets the tone for most of Dark Side, as his progressions dictate a lot of the turns in the album -- for instance, the key changes from Time to Great Gig are his doing. And his work (including some on the organ) on Us and Them is pretty phenomenal. He was a great musician and I mourn his passing.

So if you want, throw on Dark Side of the Moon (or Dark Side of Oz -- we did last night!) and just let PF blow your mind. If you haven't in a while, try it again. You never know what you'll find.

"Far away across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spells."

Wright, "Time"

It's my blog, I can rant if I want to

2008-09-10T00:38:00.003-04:00

Hey guys -- It's been a few days since I've gotten a chance to holler at you all, so I figured I'd do a quick post before I went to bed. How's everybody doing?

First of all -- I've now been told by a couple of people that I would never have expected to read this blog that they liked it. If you aren't scared or feel like making my day, either way, send me a quick Facebook message or leave a comment or something and let me know you're reading. I'd really like to know who's running around on this place. It's flattering that any of you think I'm interesting enough to check in on. Please keep coming by -- hopefully I give you something to think about once in a while.

So I'm gonna go off on a few tangents and hopefully you'll dig a few of them. Here goes.

First of all, I'm starting to realize the impending doom of being an adult pretty soon. At 20, you've still got a few years of true, unadulterated youth ahead of you. You've got through college, basically, to get your shit together. But from my own experience, and mirror experiences from friends, there's a lot of major shit going down. There are boy/girlfriends in our lives that could very well end up as husbands/wives. There are career choices being made by my peers at this second that will impact the next several years of all of our lives. People's life philosophies, choices of how to interact with others, and basic habits are being formed every single second of every day. We don't even notice them happening!

After switching colleges this year, I've gotten the positive, but absolutely terrifying, reaffirmation that I have another opportunity to reinvent myself. So far, I've tried. After kind of a messy sophomore year, it's all been about being positive philosophically. Lately, I've sort of plunged into the musical deep end, taking music classes, attempting to start a band, tried out for a cappella (and got flat-out rejected.. yay!!) even taking a Physics of Music class here at College Park. But at what point will I get real? Or do I have time to groom this passion, fuck the doubt and consequences?

Or is that whole idea of "getting real" a complete piece of shit? For instance: If you are a college student who loves, I don't know, studying the dumbest shit ever (Math? just kidding, kind of) -- should you not take it so that you can take business classes or be in the pre-med cult? That's a bit more, I don't know, real, steady, normal than studying something that a common person would laugh at or raise their eyebrows at. Is staying true to a relationship at a young age denying the fact that most relationships our age don't work, or is it legit because you're sticking out something you care about?

What about this example -- I was a good tennis player and then I lost interest after knee surgery/end of high school tennis/burnout. I ended up picking up a guitar and now I'm obsessed with music, as per earlier in the post. I didn't start studying music or playing anything until I was 19, and now I'm giving it all I've got. Is that admirable, like I hope, or is it just a waste of time? Should I go back to playing tennis again because I'm at least decent at it?

For about a year, I've been into this whole philosophy of, "Do what you love." That's led to some pretty wild decisions -- digging music, switching schools, going deeper into journalism than I ever thought, and essentially reinventing my intellectual self into a much more creative and, arguably, crazy person. I'm hoping it works. Is this conflict present in any of your lives?

My answer for now is to follow your heart. Screw your head, you can deal with that later. Your heart is what is telling you what's right for you for the time being, because that's purer. Right? That's my temporary -- and irrefutably precocious, naive answer. LIKE IT. (Or hate it and comment!)

Now to more politics -- sorry philosophizers.

John McCain is a big fucking copycat. He is now pitching Sarah Palin (and therefore, somehow, himself) as a change-minded candidate. He is justifying her pick as legitimate because she is exciting, regardless of her lack of experience. She is a Washington outsider hoping to change things. Right?

Sound familiar??? I mean, this guy seems to have pulled that off pretty well. Wasn't McCain all about experience until, I don't know, a few days ago? Obama was the intimidating, scary (and *gasp* black) candidate that McCain represented the opposite of for the sake of petrified white voters. But then he totally switched gears, because he realized the American people aren't idiots and want something different.

I can't believe the American voters are buying this. If you really want change, you obviously won't vote McCain. Doesn't the Republican Party deserve a thorough ousting, an absolute rebuking of their policies and ideals based on the feet-deep pile of shit we have been unduly placed in as a result of their short-sightendness? Why not Barack Obama, a man who will do nothing if not change the current state of affairs in DC and in the USA as a whole. Some change, scary as it may be, is better than no change at this point in our country's progress.

You want to vote for McCain? A vote for McCain entails:

Your desire for the environment to be assuredly worse off
Your acceptance that the war in Iraq would be longer than it would last under Obama
Your awareness that Sarah Palin could be the president of the United States if John McCain is incapacitated (four bouts of cancer, years as a POW, old age, legit concerns)
Your agreement that the Bush tax cuts, or at least similar ones, are the way to go for the economy
Your argument that we should drill for oil in Alaska before investing in alternative energy
Your belief that the Supreme Court should be packed with conservative justices, possibly overturning Roe v. Wade -- going against all legal tradition for precedent
A mandate for more conservatism, which has gotten more than its fair share of opportunity in the last 20-some years, and produced, at best, mixed results (how's that economy doing?)

Think about it!

One more post about Palin

2008-08-29T18:11:00.003-04:00

Sarah Palin on the VP job--

Palin replied: “As for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day? I’m used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. We want to make sure that that VP slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we’re trying to accomplish up here for the rest of the U.S., before I can even start addressing that question.”

So she doesn't even know what the VP does?

Surely that means she's the best pick for the job. Even better, it definitely means that she's the best choice to be the #2 and the just-in-case president.

As that article states:

Her evident distaste for the office would be part of her appeal: It would show McCain is running an anti-Washington, reformist campaign.

But it also points to a huge negative for her: It robs Republicans of their most effective argument against Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) — that he lacks experience. (emphasis added)

Before Palin’s election in December 2006 as the state’s first woman governor, she served two terms on the city council of Wasilla, Alaska (population 6,700), and two terms as the mayor/manager of Wasilla.

They don't even call it the mayor! It's the mayor/manager!! This pick is such a ridiculous joke I can't even stand it. McCain has no arguments for Barack's inexperience anymore. This was such a bad choice it makes me laugh.

Huffington Post:

None of my pro-Hillary female friends are falling for this obvious GOP pander. To the contrary, McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his VP is drawing hoots of derision.

Once they learn that Sarah Palin opposes rape and incest exceptions for women seeking abortion, they completely write her off.

One female friend said: "Sarah Palin is to the movement for women's equality what Clarence Thomas is to civil rights. She's an extremist and an enemy to the cause that has been fought on her behalf.... Someone should stand up and say: 'I know Senator Clinton. Senator Clinton is a friend of mine. And Sarah Palin is no Hillary Rodham Clinton.'"

Patrick Buchanan:
Conservative commentator Pat Buchanan on MSNBC called it "the biggest political gamble, I think, just about in American political history."

Mark Halperin:

John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate will either turn out to be a brilliant way for the Republican to scramble the race in his favor — or a disastrous pick that is cast as a desperate act.

On the face of it, McCain has failed the ultimate test that any presidential candidate must face in picking a running mate: selecting someone who is unambiguously qualified to be president.

Paul Begala (<3):

For months, the McCainiacs have said they will run on his judgment and experience. In his first presidential decision, John McCain has shown that he is willing to endanger his country, potentially leaving it in the hands of someone who simply has no business being a heartbeat away from the most powerful, complicated, difficult job in human history.
In choosing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate, he is not thinking "outside the box," as some have said. More like out of his mind.
Palin a first-term governor of a state with more reindeer than people, will have to put on a few pounds just to be a lightweight. Her personal story is impressive: former fisherman, mother of five. But that hardly qualifies her to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.
For a man who is 72 years old and has had four bouts with cancer to have chosen someone so completely unqualified to become president is shockingly irresponsible. Suddenly, McCain's age and health become central issues in the campaign, as does his judgment.

WHAT IS HE DOING?!?!?!

Obama, Sarah Palin, and some great you-tubing

2008-08-29T16:02:00.009-04:00

Just a few days ago, the Obama camp was losing traction against John McCain. McCain actually took a lead in some polls, for the first time since Clinton was bowing out of the Democratic contest. My guess is the country suffered from Obama fatigue. Let's face it, the man has been on TV every single day for 19 months -- of course we're tired of him! You can only sustain excitement about a political movement for so long -- especially after a series of gritty, bloody primaries that took a lot of the wind out of Barack's sails. Now he's on top of the world after a memorable and exciting convention, highlighted by the Clintons' speeches and the biggest political pep rally in history at Invesco Field.

Barack's message is effective. It's working. He's rolling so well with this change stuff, that now even John McCain is getting into it. His pick of Sarah Palin for VP concedes that the country needs change, and that leadership and political acumen are more prized than experience when the day ends. Even with an old fart like McCain.

Let's take this one step at a time.

First: the Democratic convention.

More than ever, the Democratic party is excited. We are ready to take responsibility and make a difference with our candidate. Barack Obama said it best himself -- this election is not about him. It's about us. He is the charismatic, charming, eloquent vehicle for an idea shared by a group of us. He summarized the idea perfectly early in his speech yesterday: We know that America is a better country than this. We know that our standing in the world, our foreign policy, our economy -- they can be better. We know we can elect a black president, or a female president. We know that we are better than what we show right now.

We know that all of these problems in our contry can be -- no, need to be -- better. John McCain would be a decent president. I don't believe he's a clone of Bush, nor do I believe he's a good pick for president based on what he's accomplished. I think he's mediocre -- but more importantly, I think he's not what this country needs. We need a refresher, a man who pushes us as a nation to be different -- younger, savvier, more multicultural. That's what Barack Obama does.

I think his speech yesterday was exactly what it needed to be. It wasn't sensationalist or populist. It was a clear and thorough litany of exactly what Barack wants to do as president. It showed substance and creativity. It showed a vibrant man in addition to a frenzied, dedicated, and proud crowd. The result was magnificent and re-energizing after this long and hellish campaign sequence.

Now I want to address the choice of Sarah Palin for John McCain's Vice President.

Sarah Palin is, from what little I can tell about her, an interesting character. She's been given credit for bipartisanship and anti-bullshit ideas of how government works (ending the Bridge to Nowhere project, for instance). But she is literally a conservative, less impressive, and Alaskan attempt to match Barack Obama.

Talk about inexperience? This is a quote from an AP article.

She is younger and less experienced than the first-term Illinois senator, and brings an ethical shadow to the ticket. A governor for just 20 months, she was two-term mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a town of 6,500 where the biggest issue is controlling growth and the biggest civic worry is whether there will be enough snow for the Iditarod dog-mushing race.

Barack doesn't have a tremendously deep resume in national politics. But this woman is the 20-month governor of a state less populous than Delaware and Montana. This would be like if Martin O'Malley, Maryland's governor of equal length, became VP. (Of course, Maryland is the 19th most populous state; Alaska is the 47th). Except at least O'Malley ran the city of Baltimore for 8 years, not a town less populous than Northwestern's college campus.

This is clearly a pick that is reaching for three things.

1) Youth. John McCain is, frankly, old as FUCK. Picking a young person to make his ideas seem less ancient is what he was going for first.

2) Women. He's obviously making a play for female voters here, especially ones floating around in the midst of the Hillary Clinton loss.

3) Excitement. This is a flashy pick, sort of like Obama was. Bloggers and young people should love this pick.

Apart from catering to women directly, is this a complete attempt to carbon-copy the Barack Obama effect? Obama relates to young people and excites his base. McCain does neither, and this pick is an acknowledgement of the fact that this country needs to get younger, to trust upstarts over ancient statesmen. He's playing to the independents he used to attract because he's not catching on with them anymore. HE'S SCARED!!

More AP analysis:

"On his 72nd birthday, is this really the one-heartbeat-away he wants to put in the White House?" said Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the No. 3 Democrat in the House. "What does this say about his judgment?"

It says that McCain wanted to add a reform-minded politician to his ticket, and an abortion opponent to boot. It says he needs more women to back him over Obama, who just welcomed a passel of Hillary Clinton voters into his fold but remains shaky with white males. And, finally, it's a recognition of how vulnerable McCain is despite polls showing it's close. (my boldface font). PS -- This is an AP article, not a blogger or editorial!

First of all, this pick is, quite seriously, an ethical question. John McCain is old. He is not in the best of health -- he can't be. No one can be after this rigorous campaign. If he gets sick, can Sarah Palin lead the nation? Can her experience in bum-fuck Alaska translate to being the leader of the Western world?

Second, it really does show he's running scared. He's vulnerable. He picked Palin so quickly after the convention because he needed a boost after Obama's weekend. He picked someone young and exciting to counter his young and exciting opponent. Unfortunately, he picked a symbol rather than a real candidate. I guess it's a bad pick if you were counting on Democrats to win Alaska so that we could win this election.

Sure, Joe Biden is of Delaware, but he has run for president (twice) and is one of the nation's leading statesmen. He's spent 30-plus years in the Senate and in Washington. Democrats and Republicans alike have spoken about his noble service in the Senate and his capability to be the #2 man. Should Obama be unable to serve as president, Biden would be a more than capable temporary fill-in. And he will absolutely rock Sarah Palin in debates.

McCain gets no boost in foreign policy, economics, homeland security, etc from Palin. He gets a boost in youth and upstart-ness. If you're looking for youth and excitement, you're voting Obama in this election. What a shambles of a choice. John McCain is Dr. Evil, trying to relate to Scott Evil by doing the Macarena. At least he has good music taste. Psyche! (Another hilarious source)

Now look at Barack. Who's gonna vote for McCain after that?

The choice is simple. Get ready, Obama fans. This election is ours. Go on, brush your shoulders off.

Who likes a good story about a bridge?

2008-08-19T02:19:00.006-04:00

Alright, here comes a classic late-night, late-summer, pre-school-relapse babble of bullshit. There's no stopping it.

I have a heady agenda for this post: First, a discussion about the future of journalism based wholly on my intuitions and studies, with nothing else. Second, a bit about my feelings about this summer. Third, a life lesson.

1. The Future of Journalism.

Boys and girls, the industry of journalism is changing. Newspapers are suffering deep losses of profit (while remaining highly profitable, in most cases), magazines are struggling to find their voice and their audiences, and TV news is worse than anything I've ever seen -- comparable to Perry Farrell on stage. Unless you've been living under a rock, or don't go on the internet (like John McCain -- SERIOUSLY), you know that the internet is taking over the journalism world by storm. No medium of journalism has taken over so fast, and never have so many people participated in it at once.

So here's what's going to happen, in my opinion.

The internet and CNN-ish types will be the "breaking news" outlets. You can receive news instantly, and begin to formulate a knowledge of the topic or incident. Then, a few hours later, you will rely on TV and internet for more analysis (box scores of sports, obituaries, election results).

And this is what newspapers need to realize -- the next step is theirs. People no longer read newspapers for breaking news. They read Wash Post, NYT, etc for the following reasons.

1) They're old (seriously)
2) They want more comprehensive daily news coverage (there will always be a market for this)
3) They want a bit more analysis of an event, particularly local (follow-up sports stories, analysis of a speech, pictures from a campaign, cool and compelling graphics and thought-provoking angles).

Newspapers have to see their role as a reflector on the news hours after it occurs, after the dust settles and cool heads prevail. Their role is to get the most depth about their stories that they can in a night's time. This is what newspapers will need to do -- be deep, don't just provide coverage. Everyone knows by the time they get the papers in the morning that Russia invades Georgia or Phelps won 8 golds. We know. Tell us more.

Online, newspapers have the capacity to be multi-sensory. You can pick your own stories, watch video, hear audio, play with interactive graphics. The NYT is ahead of the curve here and the Post is catching up. They need to be a supplement -- not a replacement -- to the print product. They are different animals capable of different things. People need to be unafraid of the internet and stop assuming it's imposing on the "right" kind of journalism. Use it -- it's so powerful.

Then, magazines (<3 style="font-style: italic;">why he left Green Bay, why the Jets took the gamble, what the Jets' and Packers' players think. You'll walk in his shoes, throw to his receivers, and hear from his wife. That's what a magazine is for. That niche should never die. Analysis is less valuable in magazines in the world of idiot bloggers -- like me. Get deep into stories -- that's what people want.

Right? Comment!

2) Summer

Summer is far too short. Like talking to a pretty girl, it happens so fast, occupies the forefront of your life temporarily, and is so pleasing -- but then it ends when you part ways. It's the eternal paradox -- we wait for it all year, and then it comes, and before you know it, it's gone. It's not like Christmas, which is one day where you don't accomplish anything -- it's this 3 month change-of-pace and attitude, which blows away like sand into the seriousness and rigidness of fall, followed by brooding winter. I don't know how to deal with it ending, as it gets harder every summer. At least I have no Chicago winter looming over my head.

3) A life lesson

I looked through my notes of Anna Karenina today, and remembered Leo Tolstoy's most important philosophy to come out of that book.

99.99% of life is occupied by the ordinary moments. Don't save your energy for the next big thing: the big date, the big game, the big concert. Life is lived in the anticipation, the pastimes, the simple -- time driving a car by yourself listening to your favorite album; watching the Olympics; reading a good book; talking with good friends.

Also from Tolstoy: don't get caught up in theory. Live life the best you can, and that's all you can ask. The miracle we seek is all around us. Take notice.

Note: those lessons were more for myself than anyone. I hope you can get something out of them too.

Till next time.

Politics? VP for Bro-bama -- the Best Candidate

2008-08-14T22:27:00.009-04:00

Just when I thought this blog was turning into a place just for music, let's change the topic a little bit. In discussing last night with my mom who Barack Obama should pick for his vice-president, we ran through our options. Here's my/our analysis.

(Photo courtesy of NYT)

Joe Biden -- The well-qualified senator from Delaware has a lot on his side. He's a foreign-policy champ, has a lot of experience in the Senate, and for a Senator, has about as much respect as you can have as a legislator. However, his personality is very volatile. He once said that he wished Delaware had seceded from the Union (looked for the quote, can't find it...), and also once said this gem:

“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” he said [of Obama.] “I mean, that’s a storybook, man.” (source)

Yikes. Imagine him being Obama's VP... I don't think so.

Evan Bayh -- If Evan Bayh were an ice cream flavor, he'd be pralines & boring. He's got the following on his side: His dad was a presidential candidate back in the day, and he was a governor and is a senator. But he has no foreign policy experience and is so bland and uninspiring that it doesn't seem to fit the Obama profile. He's a clean-cut guy and everything, and will probably deliver Indiana (which is a swing-state that went Republican last election), but is he really exciting enough to be Obama's 2nd-in-Command? I don't really see this happening either.

There's also been buzz about Tim Kaine, Virginia's governor. Alright, so here's what I know about him. He's 50, from the South, and one of the first high-profile public servants to endorse Obama (first governor, I believe). His record there since 2006 (when he became governor) is solid -- good economically, good in education. But he's only been governor for 2 years, after a stint as lieutenant governor prior to that (with beast Mark Warner). What he would add to the ticket besides *maybe* carrying Virginia is a mystery to me. He's a lot more mainstream and less worrisome than Biden, but he seems pretty vanilla to me.

So those are the top 3 candidates being presented in the news media at this point. None of them do it for me. All seem to be too logical, too easy, and too boring (or too dangerous in the case of Biden). Obviously, the VP will not be Hilary at this point. My first choice was/is Ed Rendell, (PA Governor), but he's not up for the job. So here's my pick.

Ready?

John Kerry.

That's right. Let's think about what he adds to the ticket. First of all -- the country knows exactly what they're getting out of him. Legislative experience, combat experience (Swift Boat can't work again), a guy who's already been vetted to death, a guy who passes smell tests, has plenty of alliances across the Democratic party, and carried almost half the country on his own in 2004. What hole is there? He's qualified enough to be president, according to about 48% of the USA in 2004. He's a good guy, who did not lose disgracefully or comport himself badly.

He's a rock for Obama -- an advisor who the American people would at least trust, if they aren't inspired by him. But when did George HW, Dan Quayle, Al Gore (at least when he was VP), or Dick Cheney (or Ford or Mondale ... the list goes on) inspire anyone? The VP is the rock of the modern administration -- the guy without the personality to be president but the qualifications and the steady hand to be an executive aid. John Kerry, frankly, is the perfect fit there.

He adds so much to this ticket it's ridiculous. What Democrat -- or Republican -- could say that Kerry is a bad choice? He's risk-free -- and he's off-the-radar enough (somehow) to make the pick unpredictable. He's old enough to shore up the mystery of youthful Obama, Catholic, and close enough in ideology to Obama that the two will be coherent (no LBJ/Kennedy mess or, arguably, Cheney/Bush mess).

Pick John Kerry, Barack. He's by far -- by far -- the best choice.

Let's talk about Radiohead, shall we?

2008-08-11T10:28:00.006-04:00

Radiohead at Lollapalooza

What is it about Radiohead that is so awesome? What is it about them that appeals to everyone? Hardcore music-heads appreciate their skill, but any casual listener can vibe to their sound. It's very apparent when you watch them that they are on a different level than everyone else active right now.

(That's Johnny (Satan) and Thommy boy playing Faust Arp, an amazing song, thanks to AA again)

What Radiohead was able to pull off in Chicago was nothing short of phenomenal. Despite their Floyd/Beatles-esque use of so many textures and sounds in their recordings, they were able to reproduce every emotion and even adding a few new ones to what every audience member already knew by heart. Their performance at Lollapalooza was the cleanest and most moving performance I've ever been to.

They played every single song off of In Rainbows, no small feat. The complexities and beauty of the album is seemingly impossible to reproduce -- how can you get that lush sound from Reckoner, that electronic skipping heartbeat from the future in 15 Step, or the solemn and dark death knell in Videotape without a bunch of sound engineers? I don't know how they did it, and as every measure passed, I wished harder that I could pay attention to exactly what was hitting me. But, sometimes the music is just too good -- and you have to live in the moment. The entire weekend at Lollapalooza, my curiosity drove me to watch every guitar player for technique and ideas -- from Tom Morello to the guitarist for Nicole Atkins. But at this show, where the most cutting-edge ideas in music were taking shape, you can't help but just love the music. Who else can provide such gorgeous experimental music?

On top of it all, Yorke's humility was endearing. He wondered aloud if the gig was a dream, and asked why everyone was so quiet. I thought at the time that everyone was just so mesmerized by what was taking place in front of them that they couldn't cheer, couldn't yell, and couldn't sing. It was too good to do anything except listen. I remember seeing people just smiling at the show -- some with eyes closed, not even dancing or moving. I've seen my share of legendary bands -- Police, Roger Waters, Red Hot Chilis, etc -- but none have produced the rapt attention and awe that Radiohead inspired.

In a perfect concert, it's hard to identify highlights or favorites. I'll say that All I Need, Paranoid Android, Fake Plastic, Reckoner, and Idioteque were probably my 5 favorites, but I'm angry at myself for denying any tracks. Each song was a piece of art. 2+2=5 and Idioteque were pretty amazing choices to end the concert -- making sure the listener was paying attention to what Radiohead had to say. Like any great artist, Radiohead invites those who interact with their productions to think, reflect, and grow. I am grateful to have seen them and inspired by their performance.

Go see them.

Rating: 11 out of 10

Setlist: 15 Step, Airbag, There There, All I Need, Nude, Weird Fishes, The Gloaming, The National Anthem, Faust Arp, No Surprises, Jigsaw Falling into Place, Reckoner, Lucky, The Bends, Everything in Its Right Place, Fake Plastic Trees, Bodysnatchers, Videotape / Paranoid Android, Dollars & Cents, House of Cards / Optimistic, 2+2=5, Idioteque

Concert Reviews: Rage, Lupe, Black Keys

2008-08-10T10:14:00.010-04:00

Right: Tom and Zach being militant, and then our Rage faces
Left: Patrick Carney of Black Keys

(band pictures from other websites)

Alright, so here are my first batch of straight-up concert reviews from Lolla.

Let's start with the craziest: Rage.

Alright, so I missed the beginning of Rage's set when I was at Wilco (who was awesome). But I came to Rage by the 4th song, which was "Bullet in Your Head." It was wild. Zack De la Rocha (singer/rapper) plead, "Brothers and sisters, take care of yourselves," right before the screaming breakdown at the end. Apparently, before we got there, the mosh pits and crowd in general were so wild that security had to tell the crowd (via the band) to take 5-10 steps back and to chill out. I've never heard of any other show like that...

So we heard most of the staples from Rage, despite missing "Bombtrack," "Bulls on Parade," "Know Your Enemy" and "Testify". They played a few classics: Wake Up, Sleep Now in the Fire, Guerilla Radio, and the encore was Killing in the Name Of. In addition, we got some interesting ones: Born of A Broken Man (an absolutely insane song, which Tom Morello made sound even crazier live), Ashes in the Fall (where Tom does some things with the pickups that no person before him ever thought of), Calm Like A Bomb, and Freedom. Wake Up was the most memorable at the end, because Zack basically threatened to burn down the White House if Obama/whoever doesn't pull the troops out of Iraq. This is a band that is so radical they don't agree with anyone. It's kind of amazing that Morello/Commerford/Wilk can go from Rage to Audioslave, a militant socialist band to a Christ-loving band. I wonder what they really believe -- because I don't think Jesus would condone burning down the White House, no matter how good their cause is...

The thing that was so amazing about Rage, though, was that absolutely everything they play in their songs was reproduced on stage. Every effect is a guitar/bass/drum effect that is duplicable. It is very obvious Rage does no sampling -- they changed the tempo of every song, usually to slow it down so that Brad Wilk (drums) didn't have to kill himself. The rhythm section of this band is unbelievable. Sleeve-tattoo Commerford (bass) is a monster, and him and Wilk have some pretty menacing combinations. However, the majesty of seeing this band live is all in Morello. He seemed to me to be a bit like Jimmy Page -- the acknowledged supreme talent of an amazing band, capable of doing whatever he wants in the live show and therefore stealing it. Morello is a contained yet explosive force on guitar -- and his band needs the menacing and rebellious screech of his guitar to make sense. He is very impressive.

The reaction of the crowd to the Rage show was something I've never seen before. After the show ended, it was like everyone there had seen a miracle. People were walking down Michigan Avenue in the middle of the night screaming, high-fiving, and running into each other like old friends. The loud and impossible-to-contain yell coming from everyone who saw Rage was loud enough to shake windows and certainly make police nervous. De La Rocha said in the Rage show, "This ain't just music." It definitely isn't. No one can inspire the violent -- yet brotherly -- reaction that Rage does. Their music is a weapon against the establishment, and although I disagree with their ideas, it makes you listen. And they have some merit.

Overall: 9 out of 10

Lupe Fiasco:

I had seen Lupe before at Northwestern, where he had a DJ, his boy Gemini, and his enthusiasm to pull him through for a great concert. At this show at Lolla, he had an entire band of brass, drums, guitar, bass, and another rapper as enthusiastic as he was. Lupe's crew was amazing. The band was great, and Lupe was so exciting to watch, despite a lackluster crowd. He ran through every song that I wanted: Daydream, Kick Push, Paris Tokyo, I Gotcha, Streets on Fire, Superstar (his closer). He was so enthusiastic that it was impossible not to like him. He is such a great performer and entertainer that his career will be long. He was a joy to watch and I would see him a third time. He played a short set because of his scheduling, and he didn't freestyle (grr) but other than that, it was pretty sweet.

Overall: 8.5/10

Black Keys:

The reason I like the Black Keys' recordings so much is because of their raw, bare, straightforward power. They don't putz around with effects, fancy riffs, or crazy sounds. They are basically the opposite of Radiohead -- only two guys, guitar and drums; blues riffs galore; and nothing that makes you wonder, "How are they doing that?"

They both are phenomenally skilled. Dan (guitar) fingerpicks most of his riffs, which is surprising given the amount of power he produces. It does make sense though, because he provides bass + rhythm concurrently in the live shows. Pretty impressive. Patrick (drums) is a wild man that can play with any of the greats in rock right now, no question. These two guys are as fun to watch as anyone out there. They have absolutely no pretension about them, and a ridiculous amount of skill. It's impossible not to want to dance to their simply-constructed, wonderfully-executed blues riffs.

They played a lot of songs I didn't recognize -- although I did recognize 10 a.m. Automatic, Your Touch, and Strange Times. Strange Times without Danger Mouse was probably better than the recorded version -- much more straightforward. I think the Black Keys' enemy is overthinking -- and they should stick to their guns and continue to produce the addictive rhythms and riffs that have put them so far up my list. For a day show with a small crowd (a lot of people were just waiting on Radiohead), this was a pretty perfect show.

Overall: 9/10

More to come.

LOLLA -- Sunday with Kanye review (Part 2)

2008-08-06T19:22:00.010-04:00

Whew, that last one was a doozie. If you stuck with me, here's Sunday's review and Kanye's review.

<-- Nicole Atkins and the Sea

Above: The entrance to Lolla and Kanye West (when he wasn't sitting down on stage)

Photos courtesy of Alex Ariff

Sunday, Aug 3 Schedule

Bands we saw/heard: Nicole Atkins (amazing), Amadou and Miriam (different, decent), Iron & Wine (chill and nice), Saul Williams/Blues Traveler (yikes), Girl Talk (a blast), Gnarls (surprisingly good), and Kanye. More on Kanye at the end of the post.

Check out Nicole Atkins. She's going places with that voice. I bought her album today and it's pretty cool, but I think they were a bit better live. Regardless, worth checking out.

Anyway, so Sunday we got up completely dead after the night before and had a dilemma -- how were we going to spend our last night in Evanston? We decided we had to do our job, so we committed to buying alcohol and then drinking that night. We even made a video during the day telling our future selves to drink, no matter how tired we were. I wondered to myself if it would work.

We got there fairly early and planned to stop by Nicole's set before heading to John Butler Trio, who we were all excited about. However, Nicole was so good that we didn't leave. Great performance. Sunday was a day for sitting and chilling out after the epic performance of Radiohead and the exhausting/riotous performance of Rage ; and the music fit that mood perfectly.

Eventually, the night ended with us skipping around through Girl Talk and Gnarls Barkley. For some reason, the crowd at Gnarls was tiny, and we decided to walk really close. They left and a tremendous opening presented itself for the Kanye show. We ended up getting about 15 rows back, right behind the security barrier. I was impressed, but a little nervous about being so packed together for over an hour before the show started. Somehow, we found ourselves standing next to the same people Jonas and I had stood with for Radiohead (bizarre)! They were cool (but very drunk). We hung in there for an hour plus, and then the egomaniac entertainer came on. We rushed forward even more and were about 10 feet from the front row. Amazing.

Kanye started really strong. He played a lot of new stuff, but included a bunch of key throwbacks -- Through the Wire, Touch the Sky, Gold Digger, Get Em High etc. The crew up front was totally vibing to it and it was an absolute blast. The light show was incredible, and his backup band was stronger than I expected. The effects on his microphone were pretty interesting, and he performed with a ton of energy. He even said something to the effect of, "I always talk about how I'm the shit. You say it with me -- you [his fans are] the shit."For the first 3/4 of the show, my boys and I were in heaven. One of them was even dancing with a new acquaintance...

But the show turned very wrong very fast. Kanye went on a rant about how he's the greatest, etc, and we lost interest. The show ended with him literally seated on the stage while most of his band sampled "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey -- with the piano loop sampled. It was garbage. His sentimentality towards his mom was genuine and endearing, but he negated it instantly with his ego and lack of sense about who he is. We were not there to watch him nod his head and SIT while his band played everything bud the melody of a cheeseball '80's song. It was an obvious crowd-grab, and it worked for a lot of people. I was not happy about it.

Overall, I'd give Kanye a lot of credit. Everyone knows his music is awesome -- it's fun, and he's ridiculously talented on the mic. I was disappointed with some of his song selections -- no All Falls Down and too much Graduation-- and the fact that he didn't freestyle (every rapper should freestyle at their concerts, man). Most of all I was put off by his attitude and ego. It's not "Oh, it's just Kanye being Kanye," anymore. It's a problem. He's literally obsessed with himself, and it's all based on how insecure he is. I wish him the best and will continue to enjoy his music -- it's banging -- but I do not respect his attitude or concert demeanor.

Kanye's show can't get a rating out of ten, because the beginning was so good and the end was woeful. I'd give him a 7.5 or so for the entire show, which is saying something because I hated him personally. If he had ended the show at the 3/4 mark, it would have probably been a 9.5. Pretty amazing how his attitude can just deflate the party.

After the night ended at Grant Park, we did decide to follow up on our plans to imbibe. It took another eternity to get back on the L, but we got back to Evanston and stayed up till about 4 am or so. There were some terrible freestyles involved, and many memories made (and some lost to history, sigh). The best night post-Lolla, by far.

Once again, leaving the festival was quite an experience. Like on Saturday, people were hugging, high-fiving, and screaming with random other concert-goers. Entire city blocks were shaking with roars from the pedestrian concert-goers, who had entire reign of a few blocks of Michigan Avenue. Imagine, say,(a much more legit) Times Square being overrun with 18-30 year olds screaming their heads off in the middle of the night. People were jumping on medians, yelling, and celebrating a fun festival. It was a bit toned-down from Rage's after-effects, but still a memorable experience all the same.

All in all, Lolla was about so much more than the music. The camaraderie you experience with not only the friends you go with but also with the people you meet and even the bands you watch is unparalleled. When I recapped the weekend to my parents, they said it best: "Concerts are a part of growing up." You see things you never think you'd see, whether it's someone doing drugs, a band that sounds like nothing you've ever heard, a crazy fashion statement (or a thousand) or the near-anarchic rule of the concert-goer. Concerts are the ultimate equalizer -- all you have to do is care about the music and you'll get accepted. You will trust, care about, and essentially live with the people you watch shows with for a few days, and then you part forever with common memories in tow. It's quite a cultural sensation that everyone, music lovers or not, should experience.

One last set of crazy stats:
As of Sunday night, guys in the house: Over 15
Guys I never met throughout the weekend: at least 4
Bands seen/heard in total over 3 days: 26

Reviews of the big bands coming. Thanks for reading!

LOLLA, part 1

2008-08-05T13:41:00.008-04:00

I don't think I've ever appreciated the overwhelming feeling of tiredness so much. 6 days after leaving for Chi-city, I have returned to Baltimore after being immersed into the best music festival in the nation with my best friends in the world. Quite an experience.

I have so much to say about Lollapalooza (Aug. 1- Aug. 3) that I can't possibly do it all in one post. So, I'll do it in a few.

Since this is partly/mostly for my benefit as well as yours, I'm going to recap the trip and do some basic concert reviews in this post. In the next few posts, I'm going to review the best shows, talk about the state of rock/whatever music, ramble about how fantastic Chicago is, and more. Hopefully these words will be accompanied by some fantastic pictures/videos sometime soon.

So here's the recap. Turn on some good music. If you're reading these words, the pictures and videos aren't up yet. Check back, for they are glorious.

Wednesday, 7/30.

Songs I will remember from this day: Chicago by Sufjan Stevens, tons of Dream Theater, My Name is Jonas by Weezer (car ride).

What happened:
Alex, Stephen, Wil and I left at 9 am on Wednesday, 700+ miles from our destination. We made great time -- it took only (only?) 12 hours to reach Wrigleyville in the heart of the North Side of Chicago. We ate at a pizza place (Purgatory Pizza) and burned our asses off with a pizza called "Humility." It was the spiciest food I've ever had the privilege of comprehending with my senses. Ridiculous.

We swung by Midway to pick up our last companion, Jonas at around 9:45 and got back to Evanston to see my NU friends at around 11 pm. We chilled a little and then hit the sack for an intense day of sightseeing the following day.

Hours of commuting: 14
Quotes of the day: "I drink your milkshake," "Where we're going, we don't need roads."

Thursday, 7/31

What happened:

We woke up later than expected and got down to Chicago at around 1 pm. We got off the L at the Chicago stop and walked down Michigan Avenue, hitting all the 20-year-old-guy sites necessary: Apple Store, Nike, etc. We cruised down to Millennium Park, where the men were introduced to the Bean and the beautiful gardens of Chicago's parks.

We then stopped in the Chicago Symphony Hall and considered going to the Art Institute. Instead, we took a tour of NBC Studios and got more incredibly silly pictures there, along with some even sillier t-shirts. Sillier still was the ridiculous nature and people in the office. Eventually, we weaseled a free dinner at the House of Blues from our friend Linda at NBC. Our free meal included 3 salads, 3 filets, a pork chop meal, a one seafood dish, and 3 different desserts for 5 hungry and zombied-out dudes.

We returned to Evanston for an fun night, ignoring our dearly needed rest. An amazing day.

Again, check back for pictures and videos.

Money spent from "Jerry Dollars" at House of Blues: $200
Toilets clogged by anonymous person on this day: 2
Number of people in our house at the end of the night: circa 11

Quotes of the day: "You want an Armani tie? Give it to your dad," A ridiculously long laugh, "Bros," "What is your offense"

Friday, Aug. 1
Lolla schedule
The map (why not?)

I remember this about waking up in the morning: first, my ridiculous techno alarm on my cell phone which I laughed about the night before. Next, the feeling of being very tired. Then one word came into my brain, popping out of nowhere, blindsiding
me with primal excitement.

Radiohead.

This was the day where we got to see our generation's Pink Floyd. We were excited.

The crew of roughly 11 of us headed downtown a little later than planned after a good meal and a long-ass L ride. Almost all of us were forced to wait in a massive line that stretched all the way from the entrance of Lolla to Roosevelt. Eventually, we got in (after me bitching an incredible amount about how much I wanted to skip the line and sneak in). The first bands we saw were a blur, because this day was about Radiohead. We did, though, stop at one of my favorite new bands' set (the Black Keys). They were great -- review coming.

Jonas and I had to make a decision about Radiohead, because we wanted desperately to see the Raconteurs, who had a set that ended 45 minutes before Yorke & Co. We ended up seeing a few songs of theirs and pushing up far to see Radiohead.

Then, it all happened. The stage transformed to accommodate Radiohead's light show and amazing camera work, and they went up just after 8:00. I'll include their setlist in the reviews post, but I'll try and explain how fantastic they were here.

Their music was perfect. The sound was mixed flawlessly, and the band played so well together that you thought they all had the same brain. Perhaps more amazing was the fact that few sounds from the studio recordings were omitted from their show. Miraculously, the band was able to pull off exact replicas of what I and the other 120,000+ people there had been listening to for years. They played songs from Hail to the Thief, OK Computer, Kid A, Amnesiac, in addition to literally every song off of In Rainbows.

The crowd was so in awe they didn't speak. Many of them didn't even sing, despite most people knowing the words to most of the songs. At one point, I had to whisper to Jonas to tell him something. WHISPERING AT A ROCK CONCERT?! The crowd was spellbound. You could hear every note crystal-clearly, a stark contrast from the muddy sound of many bands (no matter how great they are) at their live shows. The entire time, almost, I smiled. The music was just so great. In addition, the light show was mesmerizing and the band was funny -- Colin danced, Thom said some silly things, and they seemed awed by the crowd that was packed together, uncomfortably occupying every inch for about a quarter of a mile. At one point, Thom wondered aloud if he was dreaming. The riveted and grateful crowd assured him he wasn't.

The shining cityscape of Chicago to our north (behind us) gleamed brightly, changing colors in the sunset and early dusk/night. Then, to top it all off, fireworks over Lake Michigan and Navy Pier went off in the middle of Radiohead's set. It was an absolute marvel to all senses.

I remember wishing to myself that everyone in the world could experience the sheer happiness that I held, and now will forever hold, basking in that two-hour slice of heaven. Thank you, Radiohead. You are brilliant.

Songs I will remember from this day: See future post of Radiohead's setlist. Also, Consolers of the Lonely and a few of the Black Keys' jams.

Bands I saw (all us guys were on a different schedule) at least one song's worth this day: Yeasayer, The Kills, Bloc Party, The Raconteurs, Radiohead.

One-word reminders to myself and other guys -- Jason & Co, Slurpees, long lines, heat, Holy F*ck
Guys in the house at the end of the night: Between 11-13
Guys I never met in 5 days in the house: At least 1

Saturday, Aug. 2
Schedule

After an amazing -- no, perfect -- day before, this day had a tough job in being the sequel. Turns out it was just as memorable.

Quick recap of the bands we saw that day:

Ting Tings -- extremely fun.
Dr. Dog -- Think "The Shitty Beatles." Bland.
MGMT -- underwhelming. Too bad, because they're a great band.
Sharon Jones -- Sounded great from a distance. Same with The Foals, who I will check out.
Wilco -- Unfortunately, we bolted from Wilco to get to Rage's set (more later), but they were absolutely amazing.

Here's the best story of the day. And yes, we saw many more bands than those.

So Perry Farrell [sp?] runs Lollapalooza. He used to be the lead singer of Jane's Addiction, so he's obviously legit. About an hour or so before his set, when we're figuring out how we can see MGMT, DeVotchKa and Perry at the same time, I get an text from Lolla's system telling me that Slash from Guns and Roses is playing with Perry. We consider skipping MGMT altogether (I'm glad we didn't). So Billy and I leave MGMT early and get decent spots to Perry with Alex and Stephen.

We're baffled by his shittiness right away. He sucked. He starts 20 minutes late -- the only late set at Lolla. His voice is gone and the sound is literally not working at all. You almost can't hear him and the only thing you can hear is the boring and obnoxious and loud pre-recorded techno shit he's playing as his background.

It gets better.

So Slash comes on, and get this: his guitar doesn't amplify. There's one little tiny amp on stage that you can hear (barely). He plays a few pentatonic minor scales and then walks off. About a half-hour before the set ends.

Perry and Co. come back to an angry crowd that is begging for a soundcheck. They think that Perry doesn't even notice because he's so drugged out (they were right). Slash plays another couple minutes (essentially silently) and finally they realize it. Slash leaves the stage and Perry leads a mortified crowd in the singing of "Jane Says." In short, the worst concert in history. Absolutely woeful.

Then I saw Lupe, scooted on over to Wilco to meet Stephen and Alex, met some really fun and cute girls there, and then watched four great songs at Wilco. Great, great songs. We then literally sprinted the half-or-so mile to Rage's show, which blew my mind. More to come on that in another post.

We took a ridiculously longgg L ride back to Evanston that night, after which we had another early-ass night.

More to come.

Can't get enough of me? (Yeah, right)

2008-07-28T11:12:00.007-04:00

Read more:

PressBox:
Chris Tillman and minor league Orioles.
Beach Volleyball in Baltimore.
Getting crapped on by Aubrey Huff.
Wimbledon Rant.
Around the Horn.

Northwestern:
Lacrosse National Champions
Final Four Preview
Hell, why not even an album review (Nas) and a concert review (Interpol)?

Redskins Related Rants:
My page

Welcome, plus lengthy discussion of culture

2008-07-22T02:06:00.006-04:00

Polonius:
Your noble son is mad:
Mad call I it, for to define true madness,
What is't but to be nothing else but mad?
But let that go.

Queen:
More matter with less art.

Hamlet, 2.2 (Don't believe me?)

Less junk, more substance, says Gertrude to the eloquent (read: long-winded) Polonius. In layman's terms, Queen Gerty is asking Polonius to keep it real. Who really keeps it real these days? That's what I hope to do here. Thanks for trying me out.

Fittingly, I suppose, my first entry is about art. I just saw the new Batman movie, which has officially created a new movie genre. Not quite a crime flick, not a societal commentary, nor least of all a superhero movie. It is a bold and glowingly post-modern amalgam of all three, which sheds light on our culture in ways that may not seem apparent at first.

I want to go into a discussion of what this movie, and several others, indicate about American post 9-11 culture. A professor of mine called our era "Memorial Culture" -- one aware of its vulnerability more evidently than any era (WW2 included -- the Japanese bombed a military base with fighter jets, not the economic center of the United States via civilian transportation). I would agree that this generation is extremely aware of its vulnerability -- so much so that it seems to grasp for control. Control -- in this definition, a way to decrease the chance of bad shit happening and ruining everything that matters.

What do Batman, Iron Man, Spiderman and Superman have in common?

They are all a failsafe, a last and resolute hurdle for impending doomsday. They are ordinary enough people that they could be around us -- Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Bruce Wayne, even Jack Bauer -- but they are so extraordinary they can only live in our greedy and perhaps desperate fantasies. They bleed, feel love, and undergo the process of human moral struggle. It's not good versus evil in the films these characters star in. It's about not fate versus human agency. These movies show an enormous burden, an almost Christ-like burden in a world spinning out of control.

Think about No Country for Old Men or There Will Be Blood -- basically the two best movies made in 2007. Each shows a desolate, bleak world whose characters are faced with unanswered questions. In No Country, why do people die? Coin flips. In Blood, a comfortable and wealthy man is left estranged from society, a hopeless millionaire murderer. Imagine T. Boone Pickens meets Norman Bates. That ain't happening in a 1940's film, boy(s) and/or girl(s) who are reading this.

The best example of chance controlling our society may be The Big Lebowski. Consider the plot: Jeff Lebowski is forced into paying debts and buying new rugs and finding Bunny simply because he has the same name as a rich guy. Donny dies in a shooting scene that is out of nowhere (random fact: that scene showcased Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers). Walter screams the line that explains my entire philosophy about our generation in a nutshell. At the bowling alley when someone has broken a minor bowling rule, Walter memorably howls, "Doesn't anyone give a shit about the rules anymore?" Then, of course, he pulls a gun out in a bowling alley and threatens to kill the offender. Talk about disregarding the rules... It's all nonsense.

There are no rules anymore (indeed, the Joker says that line in Dark Knight). Evidence in DK? The beginning of the movie, Joker's men (all on Team Evil) kill each other. Holistically, the movie itself cannot be categorized in a certain genre. It has multiple climaxes and involves the superhero being chased by dogs and cops at the end of the film. Commissioner Gordon revives from the dead and then proceeds to smash the hell out of the Batman spotlight on top of an imaginary Chicago building in order to give the image that the police hate Batman. Where's the Disney ending? Where is Batman to save his reputation?

What about real life being out of control? Planes go into buildings. Black men run for president based on donations of less than $10 from nerdy college kids. People like me can sit in their basements listening to Coldplay at 2:30 in the morning and write whatever they want about whatever they want and post it for others to read. Our culture needs films about Batman. We need that 2-3 hour escape, that belief that something is holding us together, stopping us from careening downwards into oblivion without us having a chance for us to save ourselves -- or someone to save us -- first.

A thought that came to mind in writing this may be too off the deep end, but I'm going to flesh it out anyway, for my own sake.

Batman is extremely Christ-like in this film. He cannot kill Joker, no matter what. He leaves the movie being chased and hated by the very people he saves, taking the blame for people who cannot appreciate what he's doing. Obviously, he can fly, has perfect timing and aim, and fights battles with fists instead of guns. He fights for good against evil, etc.

He's not alone. Neo in the Matrix is a very obvious Christ figure. Leonidas of 300 is a Christ-like figure (dying for the country, accepting death on behalf of others). Hell, he even dies in a cross figure -- check it out. What about Billy Costigan? He dies defending what's right (justice) in The Departed. Are we fearful/ignorant of (or, perhaps just as tellingly, is Hollywood) God in exchange for reverence of the extraordinary person? Are we so desperate as a culture that we cling to what we can see (Bruce Wayne), what we can physically imagine, rather than the abstract and divine (JC)? Or are we becoming less religious for other reasons? Do we not have faith that God or whomever can save us, and that only an extraordinary miracle worker can save us? Because we certainly don't believe we can save ourselves, according to our movies.

Or am I just crazy?

Big ups to this man to opening up sought-after doors for me think like this. If you go to Northwestern, be sure to take a class with him.

One last thought on this night -- Listen to Viva La Vida. And think about this stuff -- I guarantee you'll feel smarter. At least that's what it did for me.

Until next time.