Thinking Bloggers

Jay at Cynical Bastard has graciously nominated me for a Thinking Blogger Award. Please go read Jay's blog. He is consistently one of the funniest bloggers out there and should be earning money for his writing. I am really honored that he would consider me and am nominating him right back (again) because he really is that good.

Other Blogs that make me think:

Lisa - A Clear View to a New Life
I can't come up with a description of Lisa that would adequately do her justice. She is smart, passionate and well on her way to turning me into a Cubs fan.

JD Stein - Global Wandering
I dream about seeing the world. JD actually does it. And brings back pictures.

David Byrne - David Byrne Journal
I know it is trite to nominate someone as famous as Byrne, but to read his journal entries on art, music, politics and the forces of the marketplace is to walk away a wiser person.

Foilwoman - Foilwoman's Diary
I want to be this woman when I finally grow up. Wise, courageous and absolute grace.

The Exercise gods Taketh...

my lock. Thus forcing me to pack all my stuff into my backpack and skip my workout this afternoon, as storing my jewlery and other sundries in an unlocked locker fall under the category of very bad idea.

*Sigh*

More on Language (& Other Things...)

More on Language

In which I tie a letter from Saturday's Pittsburgh-Post Gazette with Harry Potter. Stay with me now. Rowling really does have some great points to make to her young and not-so-young audience.

Reader's of the book know that Voldemort is frequently referred to (in whispers, no less) by other characters as “He Who Must Not be Named” or “You Know Who”, thus giving Voldemort power. “Fear of the name increase fear of the thing” Hermione says in one book, and Rowling emphasizes this fear by having her characters gasp, whimper, wince and chastise anyone brave enough to call “You Know Who” by his name.

Contrast this with Harry, who always calls the villain by his name and Dumbledore who actually addresses Voldemort by his birth name, Tom. By naming him, they take away some of his power. Dumbledore's insistence on calling Voldemort by his birth name is especially powerful because it recognizes Voldemort's abandoned humanity. Perhaps Voldemort's destruction lies in acknowledging the remaining shadows of his human self?

Anyway...

How does this tie in with the letter writer? The recent comments by Don Imus and sidekick, in which they referred to the Rutgers women's basketball as “nappy haired ho's” and subsequent whining over the African-American community's nerve to call the two men out on their behavior when the same words are used with astonishing frequency in rap music*, set off a series of letters in the paper. Now that the media is gorging itself at the trough of Virginia Tech shootings and willfully ignoring the President's continuing march forward to strip prisoners of their civil liberties, women of the right to make medical decisions without the interference of government, and the continuing slaughter of ill-equipped soldiers and innocent Iraqi's, the volume of letters has returned to normal.

Returning to topic...

It is an enormous pet peeve on mine, when reading or discussing language, to have to listen to other people refer to taboo words as “the B-word”, “the N-word” or “the F-word”. If we, as people, are ever to get the point in which such words are not used in a hurtful or hateful manner, then we must begin by actually naming the word we are discussing.

To wit, bitch, nigger and fuck. One I use never (except in the context of this type of conversation), one I use rarely and one I use with enough frequency to have earned the reputation of having a slightly foul mouth.

To read a letter to the editor in which the writer comes our for eliminating the negative usage of such words without actually bringing herself to name the words makes me crazy. How are we to have civility in discourse if we cannot have maturity? How are we ever going to acknowledge the power of context in the usage of such words? Have we really become so illiterate of a society that we assume others are going to be offended by using such language in an editorial? And when are people going to understand that language is a living organism?

*Setting aside the false notion that 100% of modern rap music is performed exclusively by young, African-American men.

& Other Things...

Thing 1:

I think I am going to give up on the New York Times travel section. I don't know what audience they are writing for, but it is certainly not for my little middle-class self. This Sunday has an article on the best steak frites in Paris. Since I am returning to the city this July, I have a vested interest in knowing where one might find such a meal. The writer, Mark Bitteman, lists five places, three of which start at 50 Euros for a full meal, two of the which don't include drinks. Since when did 50-60 Euro per person with moderate alcohol consumption become “not outrageously expensive”? Eighty-one dollars for a three course meal with one glass of wine? Is he serious?

I've noticed this trend in a lot of the travel articles recently. The writers attempt to show readers how they too, can have a great time on a smaller budget, then proceed to recommend hotels that start at $150.00 a night and restaurants in which the only meal you can get for under $20.00 is an appetizer. I question what reality these writers are living in, because it is certainly NOT MINE.

Thing 2:
I'm alone this weekend. J has scampered off to Niagara Falls NY/ONT to attend a bachelor party, the first of two such trips he will be taking during the wedding season.

I took full advantage of this fact by taking myself to the movies yesterday to see “Fauteuils d'orchestre” (Avenue Montaigne), a sweet, fluffy little French film. I loved it. The movie was completely pointless, its only purpose was to entertain an audience for two hours. An audience made up of senior citizen couples and me, the lone single and youngest person in the theater. And I am almost thirty-four years old.

Thing 3:
I shall never ignore the exercise gods again. I tried to after the several weeks of insomina I suffered over the winter after I injured my shoulder and had to cut back on my workouts. I almost suceeded. Until yesterday, when I tried on some clothes and discovered that I could fit comfortably into a pair of shorts a size smaller then I usually wear.

Query

Am I the only person who thinks that this:


Bears a striking resemblance to this...

Blue Skies

In spite of the Penguins failure to make it out of the first round of the playoffs, life is good in Pittsburgh these days. Three straight days of sun, blue skies and warmth will do that to a person.

Naturally I spent one of those three days inside.

I am not a very tidy person. I'll do dishes and scrub the toilet and my things are put away because otherwise I would never remember where I put anything down. Other household chores such as vacuuming and dusting I allow to slide until the dust bunnies are the size of actual bunnies and the cats are chasing them down for their own amusement. Such was the condition of my study when I decided to clean yesterday.

It took five hours. In five hours I sent the colony of giant dust bunnies to a dignified death, cleared and dusted all my bookshelves, wiped the books down and managed to create a pile of discarded volumes for Goodwill. There is an actual space at my first-apartment-kitchen-table for my laptop and ample room to set up my easel if I feel like painting. There is even a placeholder for the final Harry Potter novel on the shelves.

Unfortunately, as part of the project I also shelved all the books I have not read yet, so I had to go back through and mark them so I would not forget. And the printer is sitting in the bedroom until I can find a place for it elsewhere.

And my ever increasing collection of funky little guidebooks of Paris is living on the table I just managed to clear off. The latest addition to the collection is the Moleskin City Notebook Paris, which I picked up in Barnes and Noble on Friday night before attending the late showing of Hot Fuzz.

Dear Ryan Malone

While your playing improved significantly this year, I still think your attitude could use some adjustment and that it is a little bit sad that Sidney Crosby is a better representative of this city then you, a "hometown boy".

That being said, OH MY GOD, you are the cutest man in street clothes.

So, did you enjoy checking out all the college girls walking through Market Square this afternoon?

Post Season Play – Part II

Penguins 1 2 – Senators 4 (at the end of Period 2)
Series: 1 - 2 ( I think)

First Period

• I never noticed how really old Mellon Arena is on television until tonight. It seems so small and dinky. The fan noise is unbelievable. I can't imagine how loud it is going to be on Tuesday night, especially if the Penguins take a lead in the series.
• Jeff Jimerson sang both anthems. Jimerson's claim to fame, aside from being the go-to singer for Penguins, Pirates and Steelers games, is his role as “Anthem Singer” in the 1995 film Sudden Death. I have heard him sing many times and have never heard him as flat as he was tonight. It sounded like a combination of bad sound and a bad cold.
• Gary Roberts scores less than a minute into the first period, off a missed shot on the post. Ray Emery is getting pounded by shots, but not enough of them are coming off of rebounds. The team is putting a lot of pressure by collapsing around Emery whenever they get the puck near the Senators net, but I'm not sure that is the most effective way to get Emery off his game. Two of the Penguins goals last night came by distracting Emery, having one of our more high-profile players basically camp right next to the net.
• Is is a good sign or a bad one when the opposing team pulls their goalie with eight and half minutes remaining in the first period? Senators are only down by 1 and a lot can happen in the 2.5 periods remaining.
• Have the Penguins noticed that the referees are not going to call anything against the Senators yet? A two minutes cross-checking penalty on Dany Heatley is nice, but the Penguins are definitely being held to a higher standard.
• Crap, the phone is ringing. Do people not know that there is a playoff game on tonight? Whoever it was did not leave a message.
• Another penalty on the Senators. Penalty count now even, each team with 2 called. Senators penalty killing is very tight. The Penguins are not going getting to much out of them unless they increase the intensity, which does not seem possible.
• Senators score. Marc-Andre caught the puck in his pads, but did not freeze it. Since the play was not whistled dead, the Senators scored by jamming it through. They also knocked the net loose.

Score at the end of first period: Penguins 1 - Senators 1.

Second Period

• Why do I find Dan Potash so annoying? Possibly because I find any sport analyst sent to interview players in between periods annoying. The only interview I ever enjoyed was last year's with Darius Kasparaitis, in which Kaspar walked back into the shot at the completion of the interview, yelled “Go Steelers” and walked back out towards the locker room.*
• Therrien scratched Georges Laraque again and is playing Ronald Petrovicky. A friend joked during yesterday's game that Therrien must be hoping that Petrovicky will take out a Senator by accident. Petrovicky has sat out the majority of games and gave an opposing player a concussion during one of his rare regular season appearances.
• Both teams a bit sluggish at the beginning of the second period. Arena a bit quieter also.
• Senators score at 17:47 due to a defensive breakdown. Penguins left Mike Comrie wide open to score on a deflection.
• Gary Roberts gets into a punching match with Jason Spezza. Jarrko Rutuu helps it along by opening the door and pushing Spezza back towards the ice.
• Penguins get called for another penalty, hooking on Malkin. Current count Penguins 4 – Senators 3.
• Daniel Alfredsson scores the Senators third goal on the subsequent Power Play. The Penguins have to get back into this game. Defense is incredibly weak and the Senators are getting off far too many shots on goal.
• Colby Armstrong legally hits Patrick Eaves and almost knocks him out. A fight ensues between Maxime Talbot and Dean McAmmond when members of the Senators attempt to jump Colby from behind. Unfortunately, Talbot loses the fight. Patrick Eaves is escorted from the ice on a stretcher. Bryan Murray** will be apoplectic tomorrow morning.
• Mario Lemieux in the arena tonight.
• Therrien needs to explain to the boys the concept of rebound – not just for basketball any more.
• Mike Comrie called for Holding. Current count Penguins 5 – Senators 5. I'm not sure which penalties I missed.
• Dan Potash announces that Patrick Eaves has a concussion.
• Daniel Alfredsson scores again. The crowd goes quiet.

Score at the end of the second period: Penguins 1 – Senators 4.

*Kaspar played for the Penguins from 1996 – 2002.
**Bryan Murray is the Senators head coach and known for sniping at and about Penguins players. Earlier this season he exchanged words with Crosby about his foul mouth, provoking an exchange between himself and Therrien.

Third Period

I can't watch period three. Here is the official score sheet. How I went this long as a fan without knowing that they publish the score sheets online, I'll never know.

Post Season Play, Part I

Series Tied 1-1

Recap:
Game 1: Penguins 3 – Senators 6

I did not watch most of Game 1. Three minutes into the first period the Senators scored twice, a telling indication that the rest of the evening was going to be an unmitigated disaster for the Penguins. Which, from all news accounts, is what happened as defense, offense and goal tending fell apart. I spent the evening reading instead, with J bringing me occasional updates.

Game 2: Penguins 4 – Senators 3

I did not plan on watching Game 2 either. Friends called and asked us to join them at the Carson Street Saloon for a collective playoff viewing experience. It turned out to be enormous fun and I won a t-shirt from one of the local radio stations.

Senators fans take on our fine tradition of booing players (well, one specific player) and “respectfully” boo Sidney Crosby every time he touches the puck. Minor whining ensues, but most admit that we bought it on ourselves and that booing is inevitable during a playoff run.

Emerick and Edzo interpret Armstrong's collision with Ray Emery as “accidental” and “unavoidable”. Penguins fans everywhere laugh as the collision was neither. It was classic Armstrong, repeatedly tweak on a more “sensitive” opponent until he snaps. This is not the first time he has knocked Emery around and will not be the last in this series or either player's career.

Not that I condone crashing a goalie, I don't. But Ray Emery is not above throwing down when he feels violated and Colby is well known, at least in Pittsburgh, for exploiting any kind of vulnerability that will push the player and his team off balance mentally. This, coupled with his willingness to actually throw a punch instead of hiding behind referees, is the reason why he is a popular player in Pittsburgh. He may not always win the fight, but he is always 100% in the game.

It was a completely different team on the ice last night. Although the Senators out shot the Penguins by a a significant margin, a tight defense and premier goal tending carried the team from behind into a win.

There is something magical about being a Penguins fan right now. Since I never expected the team to make it into the playoffs so soon, every additional game is a gift. I still think Ottawa will take the series in seven games, but I am excited nonetheless to have the opportunity to see such a high level of play from my team and expect them to do some damage to the Senators.

A Week Late But...

Still incredibly interesting.

Joshua Bell plays (for free) in a D.C. Metro Station.

God Help Us (Especially Penguins Fans)

Because the deranged leprechaun, Don Cherry, will be commenting for NBC during the Stanley Cup finals

And Maggie the Monkey has chosen the Penguins to make it into Round 2.

Ugh

I have resisted writing about Don Imus as it would be breaking my rule of not giving attention to such media figures. Additionally, he is right up there on the list of “pundits”-I-would-only-listen-to-in-hell with other “personalities” that I shall not name and it is inconsistent of me to criticize him based on news reports, rather then personal, first-hand knowledge.

But his comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team have been eating at me for almost a week. Until today, when I skimmed through Pittsburgh's Rants and Raves section of Craigslist and Salon's letters on the subject, I was unable to determine the “what” that was disturbing me. Additionally, I am conscious of the fact that anything I have to say is colored by the fact that I do occupy a more privileged position in society then the targets of Imus' comments.

The Craigslist postings were unsurprisingly unsympathetic towards the Rutgers team and their defenders and very pro Don Imus. The general tone seemed to be that Imus had said nothing wrong and those who called him out on his racist, sexist and degrading statements were trying to censor him. Many of the letters to Salon were the same, albeit in a more coherent, highbrow vein. One letter writer called it a “petty issue”, another whined that it was simply a joke that got out of hand.

But in the middle of that was some sanity (Thank You Salon!) Letter writers who pointed out that Imus and McGuirk's comments devalued the hard work and athletic talent of eight women who weren't even public figures.

Which leads me to what bothered me the most about the exchange between Imus and McGuirk. They did not target public figures*. They targeted a group of college-aged women playing in a basketball tournament. They critiqued those women, not on their ability to play ball, but on their physical appearance and presumed sexual activity. And they thought it was funny.

Coach C. Vivian Stringer responds.

*While equally reprehensible, I'm assuming that those in the public sphere are equipped to respond to such comments.

FYI

David Byrne has an interesting post up about the Copyright Royalty Board's attempt to increase rates for “non-interactive streaming services”, i.e. web, cable and satellite radio.

Apparently he is also a fellow fugitive from the law of averages.

I Have Nothing

To contribute, except that I developed a case of food poisioning from Easter dinner yesterday. I'm not quite sure what I ate to make me sick, but I'm pretty certain the "mashed" potatoes contributed. I say "mashed" as they were made with potato flakes. A fact that I was unaware of until after I had taken the first bite. Good citizen that I am, I ate them anyway.

Alas, the food posioning was too mild to keep me home from work.

In lieu of actual writing, I present:

Wigford, the Clown


Axel with Attitude