Sports Streaks in context (Part I of III)

It all started with the Patriots, winners of 18 in a row this past season. And then there were the uppity little Rockets who tore off an impressive 22 game win streak that included a win over the Mighty Lakers and The Best Player on the Planet. And of course, the indomitable Tiger. Impressive streaks that in the most simple of terms speak to the harmonious perfection that in life is thought to be unattainable but in the fairy tale world that is professional athletics.

 

It is interesting how compelling perfection is to sports fans, and yet how averse we as people can be to the idea in the terms of our own lives. A ridiculous streak like that enjoyed by the Pats and Rockets make people blind to the flaws of the teams and the context they achieved their perfection. The Patriots survived close games where they were outplayed and/or benefited from questionable calls. The Rockets beat up on a bunch of second tier teams and caught the top ones on the second legs of back to back or with key members injured.

 

During these types of streaks its hard to move beyond the hyberpole, when in the end a perfect season is the one that ends with a fat diamond encrusted ring that only cost some people their lives and possibly appendages. The Pats didn’t get it, the Rockets probably won’t and in the end the memory of their streaks will be just that, side notes during a mid season game for some announcer to regurgitate.

 

Of course then comes Tiger, a slightly different animal indeed. His accomplishments will take another column so we will deal with him closer to what looks like it will be his 6^th strait win this weekend.

Talent Show

Indeed the President of the United States of America is the “leader of the free world”. In the way that America is still the predominant military force and cultural demagogue in the world I believe that statement to be factually correct. Though what I have come to recently realize is that the true talent in America has migrated form public service and political office to the financial fields. Though in many ways this particular election is slightly different in the Democrats have two remarkable individuals on their ticket, the telling stat is that more young people and more gifted young people are moving into the financial fields than say the political realm. Just compare the Political Science departments to the Business or Economics departments at ANY university. Where is the talent going? I think its pretty obvious.

 

The aspect thought hat interests me the most is the egalitarian way that the financial industry is able to handle issues. In the end a dollar is a dollar, regardless of where that dollar comes from, and all dollars CAN beget other dollars. Talented finance people can literally fund educations and research. Just look at Yale. Amazing.

 

Unfortunately there is a dark side to all of this and that is the Business Interests. Business interests use principles of economics and finance to shirk their responsibilities as members of society. In America corporations are essentially treated by the law as individuals, but if another PERSON polluted all your water you would hold them responsible. Yet Business Interests are spun to be our countries Financial Interests and all the elected people who should be watching our countries SOCIAL interests aren’t smart enough to tell the difference and believe that Business Interests are worth selling out for, which is the least egalitarian thing ever.

 

But again, those in politics just aren’t that talented.

 

Top Ten Shows that I have been to

There are very few things in this life that I enjoy more than seeing a good live show. The truth is, I even enjoy not such good acts because I love live music so much, but there is something truly special about being at a really good show. Last night I was at a really good show. Midnite came to town and played am amazing 3 hour set at the Shattuck DownLow in downtown Berkeley. The music was amazing, and the DownLow was my type of venue. Small in size with low ceilings and a stage that is more like a step than a stage all combine to give the club an incredibly intimate feeling. Throw in the fact that there are TWO bars, one on each side of the central dance floor and you have the perfect environment for a really good show, and Midnite delivered.

 

So feeling pretty spiffy on shows and reminiscing in a hangover induced lethargy today I came up with a list of my favorite shows. The order is based on how I remember them. The Against Me! show got the nod because I have never been at a show with more energy, the set was amazing and I think the entire crowd left feeling satisfied that we got the best the band could give, and they got the best we could give them. An absolutely amazing show.

 

1- Against Me! @ the Glasshouse

2- Radiohead @ the Santa Barbara Bowl

3- All Tomorrows Party’s feat. Modest Mouse, Lou Reed and Black Heart Procession @ The Queen Mary

4- Damage plan, Shadows Fall & the Haunted @ House of Blues Hollywood

5- Expendable & Eek-A-Mouse @ Slim’s

6- Bad Religion & Rise Against @ the Palladium

7- Strike Anywhere & Anti-Flag @ the Henry Fonda Theater

8- Killswitch Engage @ the Warfield

9- Against Me!, Rise Against & Anti-Flag @ Slim’s

10- Black Heart Procession @ the Lava Lounge

The Sound of My Fury

I hate William Faulkner. Though I never knew the man, I know OF him, and of course of his work. I know that he is hailed as one of the great American authors. His books frequent “best of” lists and are studied by students from high school honors classes to doctoral candidates. He is almost universally lauded, even by the great Hunter S. Thompson who was said to have based his brilliant “Gonzo Journalism” on Faulkners’ stance that “The best kind of fiction is truer than any kind of journalism.”

 

I hate him, and even more so, I hate the book “The Sound and the Fury.”

 

I think TS&TF is terrible gibberish that metaphorically forces a reader to bash their head into a wall of unassailable words to find any semblance of a story hidden deep within. Faulkner’s hackneyed attempt at “stream of consciousness” writing pales in comparison to Salinger’s “Catcher in the Rye” where the literary technique is used to build both the characters and the storyline into an almost tangible reality. Faulkner’s technique does neither these things. I feel this book is poor solely on its literary merits, of which it has very few.

 

Of course I have a personal, reason to hate this book and this author. The one the eats at me is that The Sound and The Fury was the last book I couldn’t finish. Often people will attempt to criticize me with blather about “how can you not like it if you haven’t even read the whole thing.” Of course, they miss the point, the book sucks BECAUSE I couldn’t finish it. It was so painfully and spectacularly bad I simply could not read any more.

How could a piece of literature that bad be considered good? It can’t be of course.

Championship Round we go again

Back in a hazy memory, there was a time when boxing mattered and boxers were heroes. They were modern day gladiators representing more than themselves, but also the pride and honor of their cultures. In this hazy memory the greats were made late in brutal fights where champions outlasted their opponents through what were called the Championship Rounds. Eventually, tragedy struck in the form of the Mancini-Duk Koo Kim fight where sadly, Duk Koo Kim died of trauma sustained in the ring. This eventually led to shortened boxing matches of 12 rounds.

As this primary season rages on, I feel like this Obama-Clinton match is approaching their own Championship Rounds. Both candidates have battled back from the brink and stand once again toe-to-toe for the privilege of representing the Democrats in the General Election. Tragically, Championship Rounds were brutal for all involved. Muhammad Ali is a shell of his former self many believe because of the the beatings he took in late rounds. Mancini has fought depression as he has dealt with his victory over Kim at the expense of Kim’s life. Even winners get hurt, and the winner of this election has to come out of it neither mangled or depressed. America can’t have a beaten and battered democratic candidate again for obvious reasons.

 

Unfortunately, any fighter will tell you its better to finish the fight with a KO, than let it go to the judges decision. In the no holds barred world of boxing and elections there can be no mercy until the fight is called, either by spectacular knockout, or the ding of the bell.

 

They will battle.

 

So get ready for the final slug-fest and hope for the best, because chance are this fight will have no real winner.

Diamonds are whose best friend?

I can’t watch a days worth of ESPN without hearing the latest Lupe Fiasco single. He was the official crooner of the Winter X games and has appeared on the “Ultimate Hi-lite” at least one time that then was aired numerous times over and over and over again.

 

Interestingly, Lupe has found mainstream success mixing intelligent lyrics covering broad issues of concern in today’s society with supremely produced beats form some of the hip hop industry’s heaviest hitters like Jay-Z and Kanye West. One of my favorite songs of his is called “Conflict Diamonds” where he lays out his own inner monologue on the role of diamonds as both fashion and status symbol in America and the violent realities of the dimaond trade.

 

Some people protest Nike for their exploitation of third world labor, others Wal-Mart for their blatantly unfair and, at times, cruel business labor practices. Yet, from Thanksgiving until Valentines Day, us Americans are barraged with a flood of jewelry commercial.. “Diamonds are a womans best friend!” they tell us. Which matters not, except that, in that time frame diamond pendants, necklaces, earrings, tennis bracelets, rings, and blah, blah, blah and all of it directly contributes to both the rape of natural resources, the thievery by large western corporations and corrupt third world governments. Nations such as Angola and Sierra Leone have been torn apart by civil wars that are funded by the sale of “blood diamonds” or “conflict diamonds.” In the worst cases that are all too common, children are forced to shoot their parents or civilians are dismembered as a warning to others.

 

Takes the sparkle out of that ring now doesn’t it?

 

Or as Lupe says “there’s another side of this thing called bling.”

Raining on the Hope Parade

Come November there are only two conceivable ways I can cast my vote for president of this great country. It’s gotta either be Obama, or of course, Myself. Though in many ways it would seem that I would make the better president; such as my no nonsense way of relating to others through subtle sarcasm, my military experience with the Weeblos, and of course my excellent relations with the larger spirit and beer distilleries throughout the world, instead I will cast my vote for Obama. Despite my public pseudo-endorsement of the candidate from Illinois, I feel as the second most qualified person to be president that I should rain a bit on the Hope parade.

 

 

Obama and his campaign have framed this election as a question between Hope and Experience. As a general rule of thumb, or stump for those sans thumbs, Hope is better than Experience. Experience means status quo. Or in simpler terms, if things are fucked up, do you want someone whose Experienced in fucking those things up? I would Hope not.

 

 

Unfortunately the only thing worse than fucked up Experience is false Hope. What happens when all that Hope you bought turns into nothing more than magic beans? A better America is indeed something to Hope for, but it is also something that has to be $$$paid$$$ for. For all the Hope-full rhetoric that is both inspiring and most definitely needed in a society that has lived under a reign of fear and ignorance, there has to be both a message of responsibility and shared sacrifice as well as an acceptance of the necessary belt tightening.

 

 

And that’s the rub. Who in America is ready to sacrifice? I Hope we all are, but my Experience says otherwise. I Hope that doesn’t make you as sad as me.