I always thought I liked Nina Simone. The quarter of college that I took "Black Women and Feminism" was around the time that she died, and my professor, Dr. Teixeira, made a point of telling us to go out and listen to her music. So, I went and checked out a CD from the library. At 18, I thought it was cool in ways that I could understand at the time.
Black Power? "Great."
Women's liberation? "Got it, good."
But then...love songs? standards? "Oh, um, her voice sounds nice."
The point being: Although I am a musician to some degree, at 18, I just couldn't appreciate the musical prowess of Ms. Nina Simone.
This morning I know what I was missing out on. Jenny gave me "Nina: The Essential Nina Simone" for Christmas and I can see, she is the kind of artist who can profoundly change your perspective of their medium. Let me rephrase. My perspective on music has been woefully lacking the influence of Nina Simone until this morning. It is comparable to never having heard Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, or the Beatles. Have a listen/viewing:
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
College Football is screwed up
With the impending, near-certain Lakers loss on Christmas day (see earlier post), I'm trying to get myself to look forward to several of the college football Bowl Games coming up. I mean, the Rose Bowl is always fun--and after spending a few days in frigid, icy New York this week, I can see why the rest of the nation is fascinated with Pasadena's weather on New Year's Day every year.
But honestly, I have always had a hard time really getting excited to watch a bunch of games that don't matter. At all. That's right, I said it. Other than the BCS championship game, and other than guys taking one last stab to boost their draft position in the other games, none of the Bowl games actually matter for anything other than pride. Pride is a big motivator for the atheletes, and for truly committed fans. But when it comes to college football, I am neither. Like most people in this NFL-crazed country. So, I have always worked hard to get excited about this series of games that just don't really matter.
None of this sort of criticism is new, I know. The BCS system has taken a beating from all angles the past few years, including from my favorite President-Elect. But, after reading Dan Wetzel's post today at Yahoo!, I have newfound disregard for the system and for the ESPN-ABC-hype that tries to make me think I'm going to miss something significant if I don't watch. I'll watch the Championship game (go Sooners!), and I'll probabaly watch the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day, only to catch what I think is a great match-up (thankfully). But, I probably won't bother with the rest of it until there's some serious reform in college football.
But honestly, I have always had a hard time really getting excited to watch a bunch of games that don't matter. At all. That's right, I said it. Other than the BCS championship game, and other than guys taking one last stab to boost their draft position in the other games, none of the Bowl games actually matter for anything other than pride. Pride is a big motivator for the atheletes, and for truly committed fans. But when it comes to college football, I am neither. Like most people in this NFL-crazed country. So, I have always worked hard to get excited about this series of games that just don't really matter.
None of this sort of criticism is new, I know. The BCS system has taken a beating from all angles the past few years, including from my favorite President-Elect. But, after reading Dan Wetzel's post today at Yahoo!, I have newfound disregard for the system and for the ESPN-ABC-hype that tries to make me think I'm going to miss something significant if I don't watch. I'll watch the Championship game (go Sooners!), and I'll probabaly watch the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day, only to catch what I think is a great match-up (thankfully). But, I probably won't bother with the rest of it until there's some serious reform in college football.
Okay, so maybe the season's not "over"
At 22-5, and with some of those 22 wins feeling a little like losses, we Lakers fans were starting to get pretty pessimistic looking ahead to tomorrow's game against the Celtics and the rest of the year. I have to admit, I was ready to just write off any championship hopes for this season---"Maybe they get out of the West, but there's no way they''ll beat whoever comes out of the East", was something I repeated in conversations over the weekend.
And then, last night, they beat an awfully good New Orleans team--on the road--to further confuse us all. But really, this shouldn't be confusing at all. The fact is, the Lakers are now 23-5--they still have just 5 losses! Yeah, so the Celtics and the Cavs both have even more impressive records at this point, and generally, their wins of late haven't all seemed like near-misses. I wouldn't think to argue that they're not great teams. But I think it's a bit premature for us to count out a team that can go out and dominate a game against a great (really good?) team like the Hornets.
Take the example of last season. In December, very few people were expecting something like what happened where the Lakers made it to the Finals after blowing through the West as the 1st seed. Remember, they were strong favorites going into the series with Boston (which is fodder for a different post). Point being: one third of the way through the season is just too early to predict how things will end up in June.
But as for tomorrow, a win over the Chris Paul-led Hornets, doesn't bolster my faith going up against the Kevin Garnett-Ray Allen-Paul Pierce-(and now Rajon Rondo, too)-led Celtics.
And then, last night, they beat an awfully good New Orleans team--on the road--to further confuse us all. But really, this shouldn't be confusing at all. The fact is, the Lakers are now 23-5--they still have just 5 losses! Yeah, so the Celtics and the Cavs both have even more impressive records at this point, and generally, their wins of late haven't all seemed like near-misses. I wouldn't think to argue that they're not great teams. But I think it's a bit premature for us to count out a team that can go out and dominate a game against a great (really good?) team like the Hornets.
Take the example of last season. In December, very few people were expecting something like what happened where the Lakers made it to the Finals after blowing through the West as the 1st seed. Remember, they were strong favorites going into the series with Boston (which is fodder for a different post). Point being: one third of the way through the season is just too early to predict how things will end up in June.
But as for tomorrow, a win over the Chris Paul-led Hornets, doesn't bolster my faith going up against the Kevin Garnett-Ray Allen-Paul Pierce-(and now Rajon Rondo, too)-led Celtics.
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