Does This Strike Anyone Else as Weird?

I understand the Roy/Kansas connections. But If I was an UNC fan , I can't imagine being happy seeing my coach wearing the logo of the team that just sent us home. Of course, UNC fans might try and spin this as an example of how classy Roy is.

But the larger point is that both UNC and Calipari fell. Which makes me happy. Because I'm a State fan and take little joys wherever I can find them.

My Influence Is Not To Be Questioned.

Recently, I pointed out how desperately Tom Waits needs a Pulitzer. Today, the awards came close, giving an honorary award to Bob Dylan, who deserved it even more than Tom. I feel like I can take credit for this, despite what "logic" or "reason" might suggest.

I'm a little worried about tonight's basketball game. I really, really don't want Calipari to win a championship, but I'm concerned that Memphis' athleticism and guard play might be able to overwhelm Kansas. We'll see. But gods, does anyone else hate the 9:00 PM tip-off as much I do?

It doesn't matter which you heard the holy or the broken hallellujah.

There's a Leonard Cohen line, in "First We Take Manhattan", that goes something like, "You loved me as a loser, but now you're worried that I just might win.". I really like that line. I've had a few things I meant to write about this past week, but my mind has mostly been consumed by one big thing that has yet to fully resolve itself. More on that maybe. Or not. There are probably more Leonard Cohen lines that apply here.

What I downloaded from eMusic this month:
-Alex Chilton- "In The Street" (Live version)
-CunninLynguists (It's possible that I didn't misspell that in the correct incorrect way)- Dirty Acres
-Del The Funky Homosapien- Eleventh Hour
-Dinosaur Jr.- Beyond
-Fugazi - 13 Songs
-Mike Ladd- Nostalgialator
-Minor Threat- Out Of Step
-Mission of Burma- Signals, Calls & Marches
-RJD2- "Rollerskating Jam"
-Two tracks of Ursus Minor w/ Brother Ali
-Wilco- "I Must Be High" (Live)
-Matthew Sweet's cover of Big Star's "The Ballad of El Goodo"
-Paul Westerberg- "As Far As I Know"

Keith- I'm listening to "Suzanne" right now. The bit about tea and oranges that come all the way from China is in the first verse.

The post-punk 80s rock I downloaded mainly because I've started reading the book Our Band Could Be Your Life which covers those bands. The Mike Ladd thing I've never really heard of, but I'll grab anything that Def Jux releases. Alex Chilton, of course, was in Big Star, and there should be statues of him in at least three major American cities. One is Memphis, and I don't care where the other two are.

The picture is of Pushkin, because I like Pushkin.

I finally watched The Darjeeling Limited today, in between basketball games. The DVD sat in the Netflix sleeve on my desk for nearly a week before I got around to it. The movie was fine, I guess. I liked it more than the Life Aquatic, but it kind of felt like Anderson was returning to fields he already plowed with Tanenbaums, which I liked a lot more than Darjeeling. Kids, this is why it might be a mistake to begin your career with three films, two of which are nearly perfect and the other a legitimate masterpiece- you'll have a hard time staying on that plateau.

Monday night is the Brother Ali show at the Cradle. I've seen Ali twice before, and both times were special. I expect nothing less for this show. I'll probably scribble down a bunch of words about it, in no small part because at times I think Ali just might be one of the two or three best rappers of the decade.

NCAA Tournament stuff: Thursday was boring, Friday was awesome. The Tampa pod, where two twelve seeds and two thirteen seeds won in the first round is my favorite thing in sports since State beat UNC in football last year. Duke losing to Bob Huggins and West Virginia was just pure gravy. The only way this could get better would have been if Texas A&M could have held on against UCLA, or if Arkansas can somehow knock off UNC tomorrow. Which I can't envision happening. I'm really glad that I didn't fill out a bracket for a serious pool this year- I had Pitt in the Final Four. The only upsets I had were Davidson over Gonzaga and Siena over Vandy. I also might have predicted Duke to go to the Final Four, which in retrospect was a silly thing to believe.

Do you know the part of "Downtown Train" where Tom Waits rasps "I'm shining like a new dime"? He should have won a Pulitzer Prize for that moment. Doesn't matter what category. Hell, he should have won all of them. The Pulitzers are usually wasted, anyway.

Last Thoughts on Bob Knight (maybe)

I was listening to the podcast of Tony Kornheiser's radio show, something I do five times a week because it's generally really interesting and worthwhile. Kornheiser was talking to John Feinstein, who wrote A Season On The Brink. A Season on the Brink is a very good book about one season of Indiana basketball under the Knight regime (the 1985-86 season, if I recall correctly, which I'm pretty sure I do.). It is the starting point for any reasoned conversation about Knight, both his good qualities (brilliant mind for basketball, scrupulous honesty, high graduation rates) and his disgusting qualities (assaulting Puerto Rican police officers, hurling chairs onto the court during games against Purdue, making insensitive remarks about rape, a pattern of bullying that occasionally passed from merely verbally humiliating anyone who he didn't like the look of and became actual physical violence, particularly when asked "What's Up Knight?", being responsible for the inhuman presence currently coaching in Durham). During the conversation, Feinstein mentions, almost in passing, that Jim Valvano did not like Bob Knight. And at the moment, I felt that all of my negative feelings toward Knight were and are completely justified. And I wonder if I hadn't spent the entire Superbowl (with the exception of a pretty good Tom Petty show) reading Tim Peeler's very interesting, if poorly written, book about the 1983 National Championship team, would I have decided that Jim Valvano's opinion was basically gospel in this case.

More to the point- does anyone think that Memphis has a chance to be the first team to copy the success of Knight's 1975-76 Indiana team (the one that had Sean May's dad) and go completely undefeated? If so, would the novelty of this accomplishment balance the disparity between achieving a perfect season in the Big 10 (albeit with an easier NCAA tournament- less parity, fewer teams invited) as opposed to doing it in a Conference USA ranked 11th in conference RPI by Ken Pom's computers?

I know the picture isn't really appropriate. But wikipedia only had two pictures on the page about Knight, and I'm feeling far too lazy to even type "Bobby Knight" into google images.

Talking Pat Sajak Union Blues

The picture is the only photograph of Thomas Pynchon I've ever seen. He doesn't really look like an enigmatic literary genius who only breaks his reclusive tendencies to appear on The Simpsons, does he? At any rate, it has nothing to do with anything, just something I grabbed off of Wikipedia months ago when I was looking for random pictures to illustrate this humble blog.

Okay. So, I'm reading Chuck Klosterman's Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs and listening to My Bloody Valentine's Loveless album. I have the television muted and on ABC, because I don't want to forget that I'm planning on watching the new episode of Lost at 9:00. (I know there' a State game on, but I don't think I want to watch it. I'm not overly pessmistic, but Duke is Duke. They get more tv time than Leave it to Beaver re-runs [Gods, don't we all miss Pete Gillen on some subatomic level?]. And although State's bigs should be able to dominate Duke in the paint, Duke's ability to force turnovers and run up the score with their Phoenix Suns offense manages to exploit almost all of State's weaknesses at the same time.) I also realize that the fact that I have to set the channel a good two hours before the episode begins doesn't exactly imply that I really want to watch the episode. But I don't watch much network television, so I have a hard time remembering exactly when shows are on. This is what happens when the majority of television you watch is actually on DVD (which is a much more satisfying way of watching most television series, it just means that you can't talk about the show until months after most people have seen them. But this is alright, since most of my friends don't watch that much television either.)

Anyway, Wheel of Fortune is on the television, but I don't really notice it until I reach the end of the essay where Klosterman argues that Empire Strikes Back set the tone for Gen-X. When I look up at the end of the chapter, they're doing the final puzzle on Wheel of Fortune. The category is something like "Fictional Characters" or whatever, and even after Pat Sajak spotted the contestant the letters, it was completely unclear what the answer was. And it turned out that the answer was "Happy and Grumpy". And this is fucking bullshit. I haven't watched an episode of Wheel of Fortune since I was in middle school, at the most recent, but everyone understands that the answers have to be idiomatic if they are multiple words. If the answer had been "Batman & Robin", that would be fine. Everyone associates the two. And if the answer had been "The Seven Dwarfs", that would be fine too. But who the hell would ever guess "Happy and Grumpy"? I thought that I didn't watch Wheel of Fortune because it was too easy. Now I know that I don't watch it because it doesn't play fair.


This weekend, I intend to go see either Juno or There Will Be Blood, depending on whether or not I feel like going to Cary (and, I suppose, on whether or not the theaters don't change the movies they are showing too drastically.) I have a stack of new music books to get through, which have pushed the Nabokov book that I put on top of my bookshelf a few weeks ago in order to motivate myself to go ahead and read it. But a monograph about the first Velvet Underground album or Johnny Cash's second autobiography seem more immediately interesting, even if they are less fulfilling for me as a person.

When History Was Written The Final Page Will Say

It's weird, but I actually have been much more diligent in watching Jon Stewart every night since his return than I was before the strike. The show is certainly not better without writers, but maybe I just find it to be much more impressive now. On the other hand, I've lost most of my interest in Colbert without writers. This probably isn't surprising or noteworthy, and yet I feel the need to record it.

I've been trying to think of the upside of what happened tonight in South Carolina, and what I came up with is this. Things can only get a little worse for NCSU basketball at this point. That's the new optimism.

The only other (slightly) interesting thing in my life is that the Feds keep on fucking around with me. Since I got the summons for jury duty, I've had to call this telephone number four or five different times, each time being told to call back the next day/next week/whatever. I got a letter from them over the weekend telling me to call tonight, and tonight I was told to call back on Friday night. Next week is the last week of the three week span I was summoned for, and after they spent so long trying to get me, it would kind of be a shame if they wasted their moment. That, and I want some of that sweet jury duty pay.

I like the George Bush quote I stole for my title from the daily show, mainly because it feels so much like a line from a song. Once I figure out who's song it sounds like it could be from, I'll be really pleased with myself.

The Most Wanted Man In Apex

So, yesterday I was summoned for jury duty. Again. Since I registered to vote seven years ago, I must have been summoned for jury duty four or five times. This time, it's the feds again. It seems that, unlike the more local court establishments, when the feds give you permission to duck out of one's civil obligations they don't forget that shit. And now I can't beg off because of class. So, on or about the seventh of January I'll be headed downtown to send somebody to jail. (Because the statistics that I've seen on federal indictments strongly suggest that the odds of the poor bastard/evil son of a bitch being acquitted ain't good.) On the plus side, jurors get paid more than I currently do. It's really too bad that I can't make a career out of it.

I went Christmas shopping tonight. At least, on a fairly small scale. I patronized the Best Buy and the Barnes and Nobel at Crabtree, and it was nowhere near as unpleasant as it might have been. (I expect that this weekend the malls will resemble nothing so much as outtakes from Dawn of the Dead). I kept my headphones on the whole time, and rode out the crowds with Atmosphere's You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having album, which is one of my absolute favorite albums of the last five or ten years). I think I'm done with the shopping for this year, (although statements like that invariably bite one in the ass) which makes me happy.

Tomorrow night is the Slick Rick show at the Cradle. If Doug E. Fresh were to show up, it would be like the third coolest thing to happen at a show this year, but I don't expect that to happen. At the very worst, at least it will distract me from NCSU losing to Davidson. Gods, do I hope that they don't show that game on the television near the bar at the show. Kenpom.com's computers predict that State will win, but I'm pretty sure that the computers haven't been watching this team play. This is what happens to State fans when we get optimistic.

While I was making dinner tonight, the news was on. They were talking about the alleged cross in the Mike "We isn't evolved from no monkeys" Huckabee's Christmas ad, and I missed the Daily Show more than ever. With this presidential election so much of a clusterfuck, you'd think that the writers could have given Comedy Central a special dispensation. It's not that I need Jon Stewart right now. America needs Jon Stewart right now. And by America I mean me.

Oh, and finally- Stacey, do you watch Lost? Because I was watching the second disc of the third season, and there was a copy of Nabokov's Laughter in the Dark in Sawyer's tent, and that has been messing with my head all day. Of all the books Vladimir wrote, why the hell did they choose that one? Nothing against the book, but you'd think that they would have chosen one that people who aren't taking seminars on Nabokov might have read. Granted, I could only tell that it was Laughter in the Dark because I froze the frame when I recognized the book design (you know how all of those Vintage published Nabokov paperbacks look the same) and studied the shot like the Zapruder film, but still. It's so weird. Even for Lost.

(Words that blogspot's spell check does not recognize in this post: NCSU, Kenpom.com, Huckabee's, clusterfuck, Zapruder, Crabtree, blogspot's)

Stop the Planet of the Apes I Want to Get Off

Oh. My. Gods. I was just flipping through the chanels, and on MSNBC I was subjected to something called a "News Pop", a little infographic on the bottom of the screen, above the crawl, informing me that "Al Gore won the 2000 popular vote but lost the election. That's it. I give up. My discomfort with the news/entertainment matrix has just slid into outright disdain. I hate everything. And everything keeps begging for me to do so. You all deserve whatever is coming.

So, tonight the Braves, fresh from being embarrased by the Nationals, of all teams, have to go into Fenway park to play the sickeningly good Red Sox. I'm not particularily optimistic. However, I do have to admit that I'm intrigued if Saturday's matchup is Dice-K against John Smolz (assuming Smoltz is healthy after that tagging injury.) Granted, the Sox' huge lead in the AL East owes something to how godawful the division has suddenly become, but the Sox are probably the best team in the game right now, whatever division you might put them in. Unless they get hit with a real plague of injuries, it's hard to see them not playing in the Series (and winning, in all likelihood). Unless they remember that they are the Sox.

So I've pretty much decided to visit the Big Apple in June. Yankees v. Diamondbacks- I really hope that the Unit pitches, cause I'd love to see his return to the Bronx. Anyone reading this who wants to join me is welcome. (Yeah, like anyone is reading this...Or wants to spend that much uninterrupted time with me).

I'm into the closing stretch of Pynchon's V. I still am not entirely sure what it means, but it's an amazing achievement, particularily for a first novel. If you have the free time and an agile mind, you should probably read it soon. I'm not positive what I'll read next. I have put the Billy Martin biography on the back burner, and I'll probably get back into that, but I'm not sure what novel is next. Maybe Nabokov's Pnin.

I feel bad for the NBA. First, it fucks up the only interesting series going on due to David Stern's raging narcissism and lack of imagination, and what do we have to look forward to? Spurs/Jazz in the Western finals and Pistons/Cavs, probably, in the East. Wake me up when it's over. The best outcome in the West would have been Warriors/Suns, and the East is so bad that I doubt a really intriguing matchup was possible.

Napoleon in Rags, and the Xanax That He Took

Well, Florida just repeated as National Champs, and I'm having a hard time caring that much. I mean, it was pretty clear once the final game was set who would win, and this year's tournament has been about as boring and conventional as any I can remember. The fact that the Gators now hold back-to-back hoops hardware plus the football crown is pretty insane though. I guess there's something to that Gatorade after all.

The Braves won their opener today, and except for Smoltz getting a no-decision I couldn't be happier. Renteria homered twice, the bullpen seems to have done well, and things look bright again in Atlanta after a year best forgotten in 06. The new streak starts this year- I can feel it.

24 tonight wasn't particularily great. I have no idea where they are going now that Fayed and the Russian guy who sold Tom Cruise his costume in Eyes Wide Shut are down, and Palmer seems to have lost his fucking mind. I can't quite figure out why this season, after never watching a single second of it before, I'm so captivated by it- especially since veterans of the show tell me that this year's not great. At any rate, with House back every week and Sopranos about to start its end run, I'm gonna be watching way more tv than usual.

Wow, this must be so boring to all of you reading this, by which I mean no one. I think I'm just posting in order to make a habit out of it.

The new band I'm obsessed with (and I'm using "new" in a sense that has nothing whatsoever to do with reality, since the music is from 30 years ago) is called Big Star. It's really good power pop from the early 70s- these guys learned every last good lesson from the Beatles and The Kinks and The Byrds except for how to sell records. Tomorrow (hopefully) Amazon will deliver a book about them that I ordered while I was drunk off my ass and only barely recall ordering. If anyone was actually reading this I would demand that all of you go out and buy their first two albums- you can get them from eMusic (except for one track- undoubtedly some weird copyright thing- that I had to buy from iTunes) or on one CD. This album will improve your live. I've had it for a week and I'm entranced. The only song I had heard from the first album was in the form of the theme to That 70s Show (which was a better show than it had any right whatsoever being, and I found myself somewhat addicted to in syndication) the first verse, covered by Cheap fucking Trick of all bands, was the opening credits song. Life is unfair, art is more unfair, and the music industry is the most unfair.

Speaking of which, Amazon is preselling a "new" Elliot Smith album. For those of you keeping score this is the second album he's put out since he fell on his knife. I saw Elliot play in 2000 at the club that's now called Disco Rodeo (I can't remember what it was called then). I was a senior in high school and I had three AP exams in three days with the concert in the middle of it, but it was fucking worth it, especially since it turns out I wouldn't have had another chance. I have no idea if this new album will be any good at all, but I know deep down inside I'll buy it the day it comes out, I guess as a way of saying something to his memory. I'll let y'all know (all none of you) if it's any good.

The only other songs from my earlier eMusic downloads that I've digested are the songs for the comic V for Vendetta that David J did, and I liked them, although I would only recommend them to people who've read the comic and love the comic (which I would hope to be the same thing). The only new album I've bought recently is the new one from El-P, and it's damn fine, although I need to listen to it some more before I work out its place in the highly esteemed Def Jux pantheon. El-P is coming to the Cradle in May, I think, in a period of about two or three weeks that will also include Brother Ali (who I saw opening for Rakim and liked, especially since his DJ's gear was busted and he brought a beat boxer out to perform with) Buck 65, who is a legitimate genius, Sage Francis, who I really like and the Blastmaster himself, the Teacher, KRS-One. KRS is someone I've wanted to see ever since I really got into hip-hop- the others are just gravy. Kid Koala is also coming to the area pretty soon, and I wouldn't be surprised if I wind up at that show too, provided money works out. My dear friend Keith, who will one day be both a PHD and the next underground rap sensation as MC Lease Def, is a huge fan of Kid Koala, and I know he wants to see the man spin.

A different kind of DJ, the original kind, Kelly, has updated her blog, which I highly recommend to all none of you who are reading this. Once again, mzkelly.blogspot.com. Read it and give her the love she so richly deserves. And if you love baseball, which is another way of saying, if you love life, you should be reading firejoemorgan.com, which is both funny and brilliant.

I think I've got most of my paper on V for Vendetta written out in my head, which is a relief, since I need to really get to work on my paer about Nabokov's Bend Sinister and the movie Stranger Than Ficition. If, by any chance one of you nonexistant bastards are familiar with either work, I'd love to hear some insights.

Well, I've got to go to work tomorrow morning, and I'm sure that I have something Dantean in store in PE tomorrow, so I'm going to try to go to bed now.

Later.

Did they let the fans spellcheck?

That's just too great. Serves them right for beating State twice.



Full Disclosure: I stole the pictures from Deadpsin.com, which all of you should read (but since you don't exist, it's a moot point).

I actually kind of like WV basketball- I saw Kevin Pittsnoggle and the team that went to the Elite 8 slaughter a Jules-less Wolfpack team in 2004 at the RBC Center, ane I have a grudging respect for teams that can really succeed with the Princeton/Motion offense (I mean REAL success, not just Herb Sendek almost success). In the same vein, I dig this Georgetown team (I didn't dig them enough to pick them to make the Final 4, but that's because I'm an idiot) and not just because they humiliated UNC.