The city of Braddock, PA has the coolest mayor in America, John Fetterman. I know what it's like to love your city like that. I only wish I had the creativity and the initiative to do the kinds of things he's done for Braddock right here in la ciudad a la Orilla del Rio.
Tuesday is our mayoral election. I'm almost definitely voting for Mayor Loveridge. I've felt sympathetic to the idea that maybe our city needs to go in a different direction. I've tried to gather information and other details that would indicate which direction the challenger Art Gage thinks that we need to take, and I have to admit, I just don't get the logic behind his candidacy. He seems like a good guy, but he also seems to believe that the people of la ciudad are foolish enough to blame our economic crisis (which has hit us particularly hard) on the Mayor. Um...right. I don't think many R-Side residents even know or care who the mayor is, let alone hold him personally responsible for one of the greatest economic crises ever to hit our country.
Besides: I like all the emphasis on Downtown that comes from the Mayor's office. I like the solar panel-laden patio cover on top of City Hall. I appreciate the Mayor's attempts to make this a "City of the Arts". I'm excited about the newly-improved Fox Theater.
Sure, I didn't like the Kawa Market BS that took place just a couple of blocks from my house, but I rarely agree a lot of the things that politicians do. Surveying the list above, it seems that Mayor Loveridge has done plenty to beat the average. Besides, not every city gets to have a mayor like John Fetterman.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Ish is getting crazy here off Brockton Ave. Jenny and I were obstructed by the police action all evening.
I Ain't Mad At Cha
I feel a little disillusioned after the long off-season (and the Doyers' painful exit), but apparently life's too short to get mad at the Lakers.
WTF?!
The Lake Show didn't show up for the Mavs. The shots have to fall, and you've gotta play D.
I hate seeing Mark Cuban smile.
I hate seeing Mark Cuban smile.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Nina Simone
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:
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:
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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