Muddy

Chris Pilon of Houston mentioned this yesterday in a short note.  I agree with Chris, who thinks it is one of the many stellar moments in "Last Waltz."

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MLK

Happy birthday to MLK.


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Goodbye Charlie

If you want "terrorism defenses" like that to be criminally prosecuted (as opposed to societally shunned), how about those who justify, cheer for and glorify the invasion and destruction of Iraq, with its “Shock and Awe” slogan signifying an intent to terrorize the civilian population into submission and its monstrous tactics in Fallujah? Or how about the psychotic calls from a Fox News host, when discussing Muslims radicals, to “kill them ALL.” Why is one view permissible and the other criminally barred – other than because the force of law is being used to control political discourse and one form of terrorism (violence in the Muslim world) is done by, rather than to, the west?--Glenn Greenwald

You knew it would come to this, and if you didn't you haven't been paying attention.

And if that isn't enough, here's another sensible view.


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Post-Season

As happens with every football season, I'm glad this one is over.

Maybe I can get down with something else in the coming days.  I'm a casual pro football fan and enjoy watching Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson play, so Sunday's game in Seattle ought to be fun.

Rodgers is gimpy, though.  So I doubt if he can beat the Seagulls.

Nice thing is I have no emotional ties to the game and could not care less who wins, which will be a relief after watching my Ducks struggle last night.

I didn't sleep very well, dreaming of dropped passes and missed tackles.  OSU's big guys handled both lines of scrimmage, left me wondering if TCU could have given the Buckeyes a better game.

I think I'll publish another book next month.

For the hell of it, because I've got nothing better slated.


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tOSU

Fuck it.

This guy dominated the game unfortunately, abetted by an offensive line that Oregon couldn't stop.

Nice season for the Ducks though.

One more year, Mariota!

I kid.



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24 Hours

The College Football Playoff championship game is 24 hours away.

Luckily, I live alone, because I'm about to start bouncing off the walls and when that happens somebody innocent could get hurt.

May the best team win, and I'm pulling for Ory-gone, as Lou Holtz would say.


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A Real Champ

The just concluded FCS championship game featuring North Dakota State and Illinois State was superb.

Went to the wire, with both teams leading inside a minute to play before NDSU scored last and put away its fourth consecutive FCS championship--a first in playoff history.

This game was everything you hope the FBS championship will be; an entertainment of the highest order and truly indicative of the best team winning the title--no questions asked.

The FCS playoff began, as is customary every year, with 16 teams and winnowed down to today's final game in Frisco, Texas.

It was the culmination in other words of a true championship playoff, unlike the College Football Playoff, which was decided when Condi Rice threatened to have the playoff committee members tortured if they did not abide by her desire to leave TCU out of consideration this year.

Thanks to CD for pointing out this New Republic piece by Chuck Thompson.  The writer eloquently explains why the new so-called national championship format--the College Football Playoff--isn't a playoff at all, and is far from an improvement over the late, unlamented BCS system.


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Football and Pot

A second player, not as big of a star as Darren Carrington but still a valuable member of the team, was left home when Oregon traveled to Dallas yesterday for Monday night's NCG.

The team's many injuries have not been a distraction because they are a part of the game, unfortunate but accepted to a degree. Bad luck happens.

Losing players to the NCAA's drug screening program is another story. This has to be affecting the players' mentality and preparation for the game.

I would guess they're all over the map on this in terms of their feelings.  It can't help but diminish their focus.

Pot on any campus is not a surprise any more, if it ever was. Particularly at Oregon, a bastion of liberalism if one ever existed.


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Busted

Man, it is taking way too long for the NCG to arrive.  Bad shit is happening.

Another Duck goes down.  This one for smoking pot, and he happens to be Oregon's best receiver of late.

The NCAA can test athletes any time it sees fit.

Now the team's receiving corps is ultra-thin.

Not good.  Not good at all.

This one might be too much to overcome.


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One Year Later

What a difference a year makes.

This is what I wrote December 30, 2013 on the eve of the Alamo Bowl, which Oregon would go on to win while capping a two-loss season that disappointed many delusional Oregon fans.

As many fans petitioned to get rid of first-year coach Mark Helfrich and his able assistants, I grew depressed.  So much nonsense, stupidity and self-righteousness made me angry and I wanted to give up on the college game.

Not because I had lost interest in the game, but because ignorance disappoints me.  Obstinate and irrational people disappoint me.

Now Oregon sits ready to play Ohio State in the first-ever College Football Playoff,  and the town criers have disappeared.

Thank the football gods for small favors--for now.

I have no idea who will win Monday night as the game and Oregon's season finishes up in Arlington, Texas.

But what a great pleasure to not be suffering the loud crowd of armchair experts bashing Helfrich's team at this moment.


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Response

I am feeling sick and shaky. I have been writing all day with tears running down my face. I don’t suppose I’m alone in reacting like this to the massacre at Charlie Hebdo, which is an assault on journalists and free speech. Like many people, I am trying to react to both aspects of the attack, thinking about the victims – human beings capable of feeling pain and terror – and the principle of free speech, which has to be defended at all costs.

It does not feel right now as though the pen is mightier than the sword, but I have to believe that the ideas of the Enlightenment will defeat hooded men with guns.--Joan Smith

The Guardian has this human disaster covered like nobody else.

In a parallel universe.


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Witness

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PKD

A documentary about Philip K. Dick produced by the BBC (1994).

A thematic example of Dick's focus.


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Walker/Alex Cox

Most of the reviewers at Amazon enjoyed Walker, the 1987 film by Alex Cox, as much as I did during my first viewing tonight of the 2008 Criterion Collection DVD.

I hadn't seen it before now, and wonder how I missed this excellent. though loathed-by-the mainstream, political satire.

Actually, I do know.  As with everything, one need pay attention.

About as brisk of a rebuttal to the Reagan years as was made in the old B-movie actor's deluded lifetime, the film is unfiltered history, a homage to several directors at once, and a pure sendup of everything powerful people held dear in the 1980s, and still hold dear in the good old American mythos of today.

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Perhaps you've seen it.  If not I highly recommend it


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Santa's Book at Amazon, and a Title Shot

(Sonny Rollins, by Lee Santa)

Hey, all of you wonderful people out there who want a copy of Lee Santa's A Journey into Jazz, published in Feb. by Round Bend Press Books, note that it is now available at Amazon.

It's a great account of his life in jazz as a fan and photog.  It's pretty dang impressive, as Lee crowded in right amid the notes and sweat and created some fantastic pictures over several decades.

Then Lee and I worked on a manuscript that reads a little autobiographical, a little critical, and a lot like a love affair with the music.

No need to worry about creating a Lulu account if you'd rather not, just use your regular workaday Amazon account and you'll be pleased as a singer with a good drummer.

I've been on vacation, in case you've missed my magnificence at this engaging site.  I had to get away to watch a lot of college football, partially.

I also became very depressed by everything awhile back, and I thought it best to simply step away, take a break from all the stupidity in the world.

Look, I'm as aware as you are that that never works...but...

Hey now, I know I've contributed my share to the milieu and likely will continue to do so...but...

Looking forward to the NCG, of course.

Go Ducks!


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