How Did I Miss This?

This Is Fun



The Randell Cunningham play is my favorite.  You watch these plays - and Berman makes the note that the Eagles don't win the game - and it is a reminder of one of the great elements of sports -- that sports are not entirely about winning, sports are about glory.

The Power of Narrative

Talking about Matt Ryan and sports narratives.  This is an astute article.

The opposite of that is true, too; once we've defined a player to possess something special in terms of his ability to win in the playoffs, he can do virtually nothing to erase those claims. The thought experiment I always pose in arguing that one is simple: Take Tom Brady's playoff career and flip it, so that he begins his career with the 2011 season and ends it with the 2001 campaign. Brady's a totally different player with a totally different career story line. He's the guy who can't win the big game, the quarterback who has the Giants stuck in his head from the start. He loses to them in the 2011 regular season and then in the Super Bowl when Manning finds Manningham. Given a second crack a few years later, he finally beats them in Week 17 to extend New England's perfect season, but the Giants come up in the clutch in the Super Bowl in a way that Brady just can't match, as the "greatest offense in league history" implodes and scores just 14 points in an embarrassing loss. You can feel the invective spewing through the Boston papers as Brady gets blown out by the Ravens in 2009 and is trampled by the Broncos in Denver in 2005. Finally, he gets his ring after seven disappointing playoff runs at the helm, but only by blowing a playoff lead to Jake Delhomme before getting bailed out when the opposing kicker boots the final kickoff of the game out of bounds. Brady goes on a nine-game playoff winning streak and shakes his playoff blues. In the real world, Brady's playoff career is pretty similar to Derek Jeter's, a guy who repeatedly won at the beginning of his career before a long stretch of mostly coming up just short. Flip it, and he's more like Jordan, a guy who had the playoff choker label slapped on him before making the whole thing look silly. Winning in the playoffs matters, but a win in the 10th year of a guy's career means just as much as one in his second year.

Kobe and Brett Farve are my two biggest beefs in sports narratives. These guys are totally overrated for their clutch performances, which are average at best. The impressive thing is their longevity, not their playoff mettle.

And All That Said

This might be the best stand alone scene (or shot) I've seen all year in the movies:



The shipwreck sequence in Life of Pi is close - but I need to see it again to understand what I saw.

Logging

Film:  Holy Motors

By far my favorite sequence was the accordion musical bit.  It was exciting and joyous.  It takes one a moment to get oriented into the mindset to watch a film like this, a true art film, and challenges the viewer to accept it on different terms than a conventional film.  I guess the only way to evaluate is one's enjoyment of the movie, and although there were parts to enjoy, I felt a distance from the movie while watching it.  There is a feeling that anything can happen and this can be a double edged sword - exciting and annoying.  In the movies, there are all sorts of references to other movie genres and even ways of making movies (I'm thinking of the motion capture bits), but it leaves me thinking - don't I just prefer an actual gangster film to an art film which references gangster films?  And so forth.  I've been thinking about this lately as there was a New York Times article about hipsters and the possible social problems with ironically enjoying things...dressing ironically...listening to music ironically.  I guess I think about it this way - does it make a difference if you are being an asshole ironically or just being an asshole?  If you are being an ironic racist, is that different from just being racist?

All said, I could see this film being a great hit at Cannes and it was worth seeing.

Hmmm...

Fast food workers trying to unionize.

Cheap fast food and their cheap workers impose a cost on the country in the form of food stamps, welfare through the tax code, and social safety net programs. This is a place for government to intervene -- and for corporations to sacrifice some of their profits -- by raising wages to a livable level.

It's pretty hard to be unsympathetic to people trying to earn a living wage given the state of the economy and the trends of globalization, if you have any sense of fairness or equality of opportunity.

That Time of Year

Niners suffer two somewhat worrying injuries:  Kendall Hunter and Kyle Williams are both gone for the season.

Both play important roles.  Williams is our "quick" receiver, in the mold of Welker.  Not nearly as good, he gets a few tosses a game.  He also returns kicks and is our back up punt returner.

Hunter is our 2nd back and gets a lot of playing time.  He averages over 5 yards a carry and with Gore makes the Niners one of the best backfields in the league.

So these losses will matter.  Hopefully, however, we'll get to see the Niners two top draft picks from last year get some playing time:  AJ Jenkins and LaMichael James.

Will James return some kicks?  I hope so.  Our kick return game has been pretty bad this year, with Ginn being out and then fumbling a horrible ball last game.  Maybe James can spice it up and become a Sproles like player.  Will Brandon Jacobs get some more runs?  He looked good in the two hand offs he got last week.  I still like a platoon running situation to keep Gore rested for the playoffs.  Hopefully James and Jacobs can step in and be effective.  It will be nice to see what these guys can contribute.  Last year, Williams started playing around midseason and looked pretty effective out there.

Facebook = Stress

The Atlantic makes an obvious point about facebook.

Facebook's power, and its curse, is this holistic treatment of personhood. All the careful tailoring we do to ourselves (and to our selves) -- to be, say, professional in one context and whimsical in the other -- dissolves in the simmering singularity of the Facebook timeline.

This idea of personhood is what a college sophomores thinks is "authentic." I say the folks who experience stress deserve it. No one forced them to sign up for facebook.

Monday Night Football

Oy Vey - what an ugly game.  I'm just watching the end now - Carolina vs. the Eagles.  Just this sequence alone - Eagles go for it on 4th and inches down by 2 points with about 7 minutes left.  They call a slow developing run play and Carolina stuffs it.  Carolina gets the ball back and starts driving down the field.  During this sequence, the Eagles commit 3 offsides penalties in the red zone giving Carolina about 10 chances to score a TD, which they finally do.  So now Carolina goes up 8 and misses the extra point.  How impossibly stupid - they can put the game out of reach and can't convert an extra point.  But never fear, the Eagles fumble the ball on the kick off and the Panthers get it back.  They smartly run the ball on 1st down, but do two more stupid things - 1) commit a holding penalty and 2) the running back runs out of bounds.  This is with about 4 minutes left, up by a score and they are just trying to run out the clock.  This is a battle of dumb teams to see who will blow the game.

Watching Cam Newton play and I'm reminded of Kaepernick.  They bring the same type of strengths - running and downfield passing - and explosive play.  They bring the same type of excitement in their first two games.  But remember this:  Cam Newton has had a huge drop off since the first half of last season and doesn't win close games.  The NFL figured him out.  Granted, the Niners have a much stronger supporting cast and a better coach.  But would I trade Alex Smith for Cam Newton?  I wouldn't.  Would I take them on the same team?  Yeah, I would.

The most effective quarterback in this mold is Big Ben Roethlisberger.  I think the Kaepernick - Newton comparison is better, however, because Big Ben isn't as fleet a foot - he doesn't run like the other guys - he more uses his size to stay alive in the pocket and make plays downfield.  The big difference between Big Ben and Cam is his late game performance and knack for winning big games.

I guess all I'm saying is the folks who are excited about Kaepernick are the same type of folks who were excited for Cam.  Those type of folks overestimated Cam's value.

Note:  Finally, someone makes a smart play - Mike Tolbert goes down after securing a first down by staying in bounds.  Now the Panthers can run out the clock.

Niners - Saints

All the national media can talk about is Colin Kaepernick.  His stats were about the same as Alex Smith.  He brings some stuff to the table - the run option - more downfield passing - and more confidence on 3rd and longs.  I feel like the Niners are more "explosive" offensively with Kaepernack, but also higher risk.  In either case, the Niners have the best back up QB in football now and will be effective with either one.  If Drew Brees doesn't throw that pick 6 at the very end of the 1st half yesterday, the game goes totally differently and this QB controversy is heated.  I'm wondering if Smith supporters will come out of the woodwork the first time Kaepernick loses, which I imagine he will at some point.

The most noticeable element of the game, by the end, was the sheer physical intensity the Niners brought to the Saints.  They were done at the end.  Brees didn't want to be on the field and that guy is normally a warrior.  The Niners KO'd two receivers on big passes over the field.  Donte Whitner hit Lance Moore so hard, I couldn't believe it.  His arms went limp and the ball fell out.  That poor bastard probably had a tough time getting out of bed this morning.  Where did the Niners find these safeties?  They are dangerous, man.  I was seriously worried about the Saints yesterday.  I'm not kidding.  There was a play where it looked like Patrick Willis grabbed Brees by the neck and threw him to the ground.  It was brutal.

Great

Data shows the 401(k) doesn't work.  People use it, but they don't save any more money.  At least in Denmark, where the study was conducted.  It doesn't surprise me.  The 401(k) was never truly designed to help people - it was meant to shift investment risk from employers to employees.  And people ate it up because the stock market did well.  Until it didn't.

Logging

Film:  Life of Pi

I still don't get 3D.  I look at it through the lens of the audience experience, as opposed to being wowed by technological accomplishment.  It does not make the movie any more immersive or special to me.  It gives some depth - but for all these directors who talk about 3D being more life-like, etc, this is a complete joke and a borderline hoax.  In no way is the theatrical 3D experience even close to life-like conditions of experience.  First of the, the depth feels to me like about 6-7 feet of screen depth.  You get maybe one or two "layers" of space.  In real space, I can see from inches in front of my face to miles away with innumerable space in between and all around me.  This 6-7 feet of space illusion with glasses is nothing.  It still feels like a gimmick to me.  I don't get any more emotional or narrative satisfaction from the experience - it does not enhance performance or writing or visual wonder.  It is more artifice and less dream.  If anything, the whole set up feels less realistic.

James Cameron has talked about people watching 3D and how it activates more receptors in the brain and ends up triggering all these different things to make it a higher level experience.  Maybe he is scientifically correct - but I'm not going into movies to maximize my brain triggering mechanisms.  I'm going into movies for a variety of reasons - to relax and enjoy a community storytelling experience, to enter a dream world, to get told a nice story, to see a wonderful performance, to laugh, to cry -- and none of these things are much enhanced by 3D.  3D is a businessman's gimmick to get people into the theater and to pay a premium price.  It is also a technical accomplishment of what seems to me, astonishing complexity.  But that is not why I see movies - maybe some do - but I do not.

Pictures - photography - have a special power.  They capture moments to the exclusion of others that clarify and identity an emotional state.  They summarize what it feels like to be alive.  I don't think we are getting tired of looking at photographs - nor will ever tire of looking at photographs.  After all, facebook is really just one big photo album.  Movies are extensions of this fundamental technology and power - photographs plus movement plus sound, which creates an emotional experience of looking at a 2D representation of 3 dimensional space and time.

But yes, Life of Pi is wowing.  Watching the shipwreck all I can think about is - how the hell did he do this?  Watching the Tiger and the animation or whatever you want to call it - is amazing.  But ask yourself this - what would a similar movie look like if they used an actual tiger?  It would probably be impossible to make - but what would that experience feel like watching?

As to the story - bleh.  Didn't care for the framing device of the author interviewing the guy.  I've seen survival stories before, done better.  Not a great movie, but not a terrible movie.  Will not be in my tops for the year.

Logging

TV:  Homeland, S.2 e.7

Ugh.  This show is becoming a real bore.

Taxes Going Up

Megan McArdle corrects the correctors.

To be sure, there are a bunch of people who confuse marginal with effective tax rates, and their error should be gently pointed out. But it is hard to correct the errors of others while simultaneously making a fairly sizeable error of your own. So I've put together a handy graphic showing you what income levels trigger deduction phaseouts or surtaxes.

Burn.

Gotta Love SF

Driving home to SF yesterday, I love hearing the local radio.  All the sports people can talk about is Colin Kaepernick.  On the news channel, the big issue yesterday was the San Francisco city council voted 6-5 to ban public nudity except on certain events like Bay to Breakers, etc.  I love this story.  First of all, that there is a problem with public nudity is hilarious unto itself.  Apparently, in the Castro, there are lots of dudes - and they made the point it is mostly dudes - who just sit around nude all day.  People complain.  So somehow it gets to the city council and the vote is narrow - 6-5 - in the favor of banning public nudity.

And this ban has prompted nude protests, of course.

What's not to love?

Who's Hiring

$100,000 per year jobs people don't want.

Logging

It is somewhat embarrassing to list the number of books I am in some stage of reading.  Why don't I finish one before starting another?  I don't know.

2666, part 2, 3, and 4 by Roberto Bolano:  I was loving this book and then got to The Part About the Crimes.  I stopped reading.  I just got tired.  And in a 900 page book, it is tough to start slogging through only to get to another 300 page section.  I hope I will pick it up again and finish.  I like the idea of reading hard things as well as easy things, although I imagine you could easily waste your entire life this way.

From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming:  I once read Dr. No and thought it was terrible.  I figured the Bond movies were better than the Bond books.  But I enjoyed the recent Bond film and decided I wanted to check out some new spy books and Fleming's name kept popping up.  I can't believe how good this book is.  I'm going to read at least two more Bond novels afterward:  Moonraker for sure (which is acclaimed as the best one) and possibly the short stories or Goldfinger, we'll see.

This book is strangely dark and hard boiled.  It is racist and misogynistic -- one of the characters talks about how women have fantasies of being taken off into caves and being raped.  Foreign characters are often portrayed negatively with exaggerated racial features.  And I think these elements are why Bond books are pooh-poohed by critics and academics and just generally not read much anymore.  But the writing and storytelling is wonderful.  And Fleming's descriptions of the world are born out of experience -- the man interacted with the types of people he writes about.  It isn't politically correct, but I prefer this kind of candor to the mealy mouthed politically correct "opinions" that are not born out of experience living in the world, but rather experienced by hiding within the walls of academia and suburbia, taking cues of the way the world is by Benetton ads as opposed to seeing it for oneself.

Apparently, the Bond books are of mixed quality.  From Russia with Love and Moonraker are supposedly the best two.  Fleming would write one a summer while he vacationed in Jamaica.

Suspects by David Thomson:  Going to read this one slowly.  You could call it noir fan fiction.  Thomson imagines the lives of famous movie characters from Jake Gittes to George Bailey from beginning to end, outside the lines of the films.

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain:  Pretty fun and easy read so far.  Kind of a must read for those of us interested in the behind-the-scenes element of the food world.  I generally don't like reading memoirs very much and this will suffer from being one of those.

Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl:  See above.  I may have already logged this one before.  Can't remember.

Tiger Trap by David Wise:  How America does battle with Chinese spies.  Really strong, grounded book thus far.

This Movie Sounds Terrible

I can't barely read this glowing review of The Comedy. Try reading this paragraph:

People who hate The Comedy (and possibly Girls) will argue (with good reason) that the indie exceptionalism it eviscerates is also what makes a film with such a narrow scope possible. The Comedy won't play to audiences in Bismarck or Sheboygan, and this is obviously by design. As off-putting as The Comedy is, it feeds into the vanity of those most like the characters on-screen. If this is true, what does that say about the audience? That, at best, they accept the premise that their lives are cinematic shorthand for soullessness? Or, at worst, that they inhabit an impeccably curated hellscape filled with bitchin' stuff but no substance? What have they done to believe that they deserve to be subjected to a film like The Comedy?

This is the world Facebook hath brought us.  Everyone an opinion, everyone the star of a movie.  If anyone thinks internet comments are what the people in the future will read, then I suppose these folks are onto something.  I imagine people of the future will be smarter than the folks in the present and not waste their time with them, or these kind of movies, or the reviews, that address such small, unimportant things.

Secession Fever

Well, I'd hardly call it a fever, but yeah, this is a good reminder of why a Federalist system is a good model of government.

Living Without Irony

Interesting article.  Hat tip, Viner.