~ Mark

Saying Good-bye As the Braves Leave Atlanta for ‘Atlanta’ – Grantland.

Nothing in this message is a lie, or even exaggerated, once you realize who the audience is. This message isn’t directed toward the Atlanta city-dweller. The “you, our fans” is not targeted at a person who lives in the city of Atlanta. It’s targeted at everyone in that dark-red blot that lives in the city’s northern suburbs. If you’re a fan who lives in these suburban areas, today is a great day. It has long been a hassle to get to Turner Field — because it involves going all the way to Atlanta to see the Atlanta Braves.

~ Mark

ecantwell:

I have become a big fan of sunrises lately. Sunsets get all the credit, all the social media likes, all the romance. Sure, okay, more people are awake when the sun sets (especially these post-daylight-savings days), but I think there is also something lingering about a sunset that allows it to be mused over and loved and savored by its admirers. Sunrises, as I have come to observe, are often over very fast. The gorgeous part doesn’t hang around. It is there and then it is not.

It is there and then it is not and then it’s time to eat breakfast, to answer emails, to fight traffic, to stare at the clock, to spend money, to feel tired, to wish you were somewhere else. You can’t settle into a sunrise with a glass of wine and a nice book. You can’t use it as a chance to reflect on things. 

Sunrises are capricious and selfish. They are not interested in rewarding you. They are the kind of lover who leaves when the act is over. This is brave of them. They don’t want to cater to your needs. They don’t want to perform for you on cue. They take care of themselves, they are gorgeous when they want to be, they are not ashamed to become mundane again very quickly. 

And yet how can you wake up to this and not feel somehow more whole, more alive, more determined? Walk into it, walk through it. It will be gone too soon not to dive in like some holy Olympian. Take it by its stupid reins and ride it into the ground. You’re only awake like this for a minute.

Don’t waste it. 

~ Mark

gotemcoach:

LOOK AWAY: Steph Curry had a 3-on-1 break against the Clippers, so naturally he pulled up and shot a 3-pointer (and got fouled = 4-point play).  That’s not why I posted this GIF though.

Just look at the faces of the crushed Clippers fans in the stands who can do nothing but look away.

My Power Rankings:

  1. Brunette lady in blue Clippers jersey
  2. Guy who exhales, grabs Dodgers cap
  3. Older white guy shaking his head

#GotEmCoach

~ Mark

Alright, gotta get this out of my system. I took this photo a few weeks ago when I went back up to Dahlonega, the small town in north Georgia where I was born and spent the first half of my life. This is the first house we lived in. And, take my word for it, this is a flattering photo. The place has… seen better days. I keep pulling up this picture so I can hate-look at it. I hope that one day, if I ever buy a house, I will remember that it might have been where someone else grew up. My memories are still in pristine condition, so no harm there. And I have no idea of the circumstances of the people who live there now. But part of me is like… come on. Ah well. Gotta let it go.

The New Canon – The LARB Blog

~ Mark

Through this reliance on Netflix, I’ve seen a new television pantheon begin to take form: there’s what’s streaming on Netflix, and then there’s everything else.

When I ask a student what they’re watching, the answers are varied: Friday Night Lights, Scandal, It’s Always Sunny, The League, Breaking Bad, Luther, Downton Abbey, Sherlock, Arrested Development, The Walking Dead, Pretty Little Liars, Weeds, Freaks & Geeks, The L Word, Twin Peaks, Archer, Louie, Portlandia. What all these shows have in common, however, is that they’re all available, in full, on Netflix.

Things that they haven’t watched? The Wire. Deadwood. Veronica Mars, Rome, Six Feet Under, The Sopranos. Even Sex in the City.

It’s not that they don’t want to watch these shows — it’s that with so much out there, including so much so-called “quality” programs, such as Twin Peaks and Freaks & Geeks, to catch up on, why watch something that’s not on Netflix? Why work that hard when there’s something this easy — and arguably just as good or important — right in front of you?

Markets influence taste.

The New Canon – The LARB Blog

Ninja

~ Mark

Ninja. I overreacted, but that doesn’t mean my opinion was wrong. I was inspired to watch this after the AV Club article on direct-to-video action movies. You will find nothing surprising in plot or writing, and now that I think about it, a lot of the actual ass-kicking isn’t that amazing. But – huge but – this movie is pure gold when it comes to the art of moving cameras around moving bodies doing cool things. Really dynamic fight scenes that are still completely comprehensible in time and geography? Sold. E.g., the subway scene. Ultimately, it gets down to a one-on-one battle like you’d expect, which isn’t as cinematically fun. Plenty of good stuff, though.

Captain Phillips

~ Mark

Captain Phillips. I really dug it. Hanks is great, so is Abdi. And what makes this worthwhile is that both of them get fair treatment in how the story is structured (despite the one-sided title). Pretty strong similarities to Zero Dark Thirty in tone and tension, and how they’re not quite really about the obvious thematic baggage they might have easily tended toward. The scale of the stuff – real gigantic boats and aircraft – made me think of 80s/90s action movies. Very refreshing. Also, having captain on the bridge talking to engineering down with the engines reminded me of Star Trek. I really liked Noah Millman’s write-up.

The Arts – €”Agents of Change and Source of Enchantment | Catholic World Report

~ Mark

Dana Gioia:

The modern assumption that writers and artists are dreamy, impractical people is both odd and quite insulting to creative people. Sophocles was a general, Goethe a scientist and statesman. Shakespeare was the most successful entertainment entrepreneur of Renaissance England. I had no particular interest in business, but I had to make a living, and I realized that I had a talent for managing enterprises such as literary magazines and films series. So I took the plunge and went to business school. I found the business world very demanding but also a good place for hard-working and talented people—better, I think, than the university.

I let absolutely no one at General Foods know that I was a poet. I kept my two lives entirely separate. It wasn’t until years later when Esquire featured me in a special issue of “Men and Women Under Forty Who Are Changing America” that my secret life was revealed to my colleagues. I didn’t enjoy the sudden celebrity. It only complicated my life. Never underestimate the advantages of anonymity.

Dana’s brother Ted Gioia:

If you asked me to sum up my view of music in one sentence, I could do it: music is a change agent and a source of enchantment. When people start understanding the arts in those terms, you don’t need to sell them on culture. They come out of curiosity, desire, and self-interest. Teachers can help spur this process, but it’s a different kind of teaching than you find in most classrooms

The Arts – €”Agents of Change and Source of Enchantment | Catholic World Report

~ Mark

ecantwell:

Things That Wake Up My Baby:

  • the sound of me pouring milk on my cereal
  • sneezing
  • the door closing
  • the dog barking at invisible squirrels
  • a spoon stirring cream into coffee
  • his own arms moving involuntarily

Things That Do Not Wake Up My Baby:

  • the microwave
  • the screams of people getting brutally murdered on television
  • books falling on the floor
  • the dog barking at actual men outside our house
  • loud laughter
  • power drills being used in the next room 
~ Mark

Any time you’re trying to explain something based on what broad categories of people do, it’s time to stop, back up, stick to the facts at hand, and ask yourself why you’re reaching so far to get a more appealing answer.

Carolyn Hax. My Hax tag is the best.