Sunday Hangover: A-Day Game

The A-Day Game was televised on ESPN2 Saturday. 

If you were looking for good play from safeties, you had to be happy with the spectacle yesterday. Six interceptions from Clinton-Dix, Sunseri, Collins, and Perry. From my amateur perspective, cornerback Belue had a good game, and linebacker Mosley was in the middle of the action most of the time. 

But strong play from the defense, namely the DBs, means the play of the quarterbacks was suspect, which it was. Returning starter and field general of two straight national championships, A. J. McCarron had a so-so day. I wish the network wouldn't have cut off the broadcast early ~ for some reason they thought the showing of drag racing was more important ~ because viewers missed the last part of the fourth quarter when starters were still playing. 

On the offensive side of the ball though, sophomore running back T. J. Yeldon was the star of the day, amassing 129 all-purpose yards and scoring the game-winning touchdown that I missed because of flippin' drag racing. 

One of battles to watch has been who will be the second-string quarterback. Based on practice reports, returning second-team QB Blake Sims has had a good spring. However, he didn't have a good A-Day. Alec Morris had a decent day, and even Coach Saban made this luke-warm comment: "Alec probably played as well as any of [the back-up quarterbacks]." 

As for the running backs behind Yeldon, with uber-talented Derrick Henry sidelined with a broken fibula, the men who got featured yesterday were Kenyan Drake and Dee Hart. And I don't remember seeing Jalston "The Beast" Fowler play. He's recovering from a knee injury from last season. Both Drake and Hart were okay Saturday.

The receiving corps looked outstanding. Cooper didn't have a lot of balls thrown his way, but both DeAndrew White and Kenny Bell, two guys coming back from injuries, had solid games. True freshman Raheem Falkins was impressive. The tall, rangy fellow from New Orleans looked good. 

I'm excited about the potential of another true freshman, O. J. Howard. He's a tall, pass-catching tight end, who could create all kinds of match-up problems when defensive backs are having to worry about Cooper, Jones, Bell, White, Norwood, Black, Falkins, et al. He played in an offense in high school that never had him play with his hand down, so he's going to have to learn how to block, but he has serious potential.   

The biggest questions for this team is replacing three starters on the offensive line. From what I saw, it looked like Arie Kouandjio started on the first o-line at left guard right beside his brother Cyrus, who plays left tackle. At least I saw them playing together from time to time, but that position still sounds like it's competitive. The other two positions to get worked out are Center and Right Tackle. I'm pretty sure Ryan Kelly will start at Center, but we'll see who nails down the right tackle job.

Music Friday: "Harp and Drums"

One of my favorite musicians/bands of the past decade is Mofro, which now goes by JJ Grey & Mofro. 

Grey's new album, This River, came out Tuesday. 

Below is an extended version of "Harp and Drums" from the album. And by extended, I mean over a twenty-minute jam with introductions of the band and all that. Be sure to check out the fourteen-year old guitar phenom who plays later in the video. 

Have a funky and soulful weekend, folks. 

A Different Map of the US

Via a NPR FB post, I learned about different maps of our great country. 

In "A 'Whom Do You Hang With' Map of America," the author provides one map that uses the circulation of currency to show population mobility. The article is a fascinating read because the maps show us the parochialism of our movements. 

Here are my observations on the blue-border bill-circulatin' map:

• The eastern dark blue border of the Missouri region, which includes southwestern Illinois, puts where I live right on the edge of psychologically siding with St. Louis or Chicago. This also can be seen by what baseball teams people root for. Where I live in East Central Illinois, Cardinals fans generally outnumber Cubs and White Sox fans (among the "locals"). 
• Indiana is all kinds of cut up by borders.
• I found it interesting that there is such a strong blue border down the middle of Wisconsin. Don't know what to think about that. 
• There's a strong dividing line between Oklahoma and Texas. I've heard of this divide. 
• In some respects, the blue borders among the original thirteen colonies indicate the traditional demarcations of the New England states, the Mid-Atlantic states, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia. 

The second map shows viewers what cell phone data has to say about who we hang with. Interestingly enough, the call data confirms much of what the dollar data lays out for us: that Oklahoma vs. Texas thing, the Missouri region, and the colonial parochial hangover. The cell phone data provides finer detail about the Deep South, however. Mississippi and Louisiana get aligned, and so do Alabama and Georgia. That makes sense to me. I've always considered Alabama more like Georgia than Mississippi. 

Music Friday: "From a Window Seat"

A CD I've been playing a lot since I got it this week has been Stories Don't End by Dawes.

This band has been featured on this blog a number of times before now.

Today I'm providing their video (yes, people still make music videos) for "From a Window Seat" below.





I'm a fan of the band. I have their two previous albums, which I like quite a bit. Of the band's three albums, I think my favorite is Nothing Is Wrong.

The new album seems to have more ballads than previous releases, but Stories Don't End is a solid offering.

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Sesame Cole Slaw

I made a vinegar and oil cole slaw a couple of weeks ago. It turned out pretty good. Somewhere along the line, Mrs. Nasty provided this comment, "Why don't you use that Asian sesame dressing instead next time?"

Mrs. Nasty got what she wanted.

The next time I made cole slaw I used the store-bought "Asian toasted sesame" dressing. If I were to really turn it up a notch, I would also use some sesame oil and sesame seeds, but I didn't have any of that stuff on hand. Long ago I gave up on trying to make my own Chinese food. I figured I'd leave it to the experts, Chinese-Americans. 

Anyway, here a simple cole slaw.

Ingredients:
Half of a head of cabbage, cut into fine shards
Half of a green bell pepper, chopped finely
2 green onions, chopped finely
2 carrots, shredded
2 healthy drizzlings of soy sauce
Smidge of Sriracha
Enough sesame dressing to cover the slaw but not make it all gloppy
cracked black pepper to taste

Mix everything in a large bowl, transfer to a container, and refrigerate. 

Music Friday: "Evil Things," "Holland," & "I Hear Colors (Chromaesthesia)"

One of the new albums this week was Indigo Meadow by Black Angels. It's a good one. All trippy, psychedelic, groovy music and stuff...

The first video features the album cover, but the other two are fan-made videos. 

Random Notes from a Crank

Sunday morning I checked out FB to find a number of people informing that "He is risen." My internal dialogue was this: "Why yes, I have." 

On Saturday the Nasty family did the annual rite of spring by going to our local Rural King and checking out the ducks, chicks, and bunnies. 

Today was Opening Day, one of my favorite days of the year. And the Cubs won. True to form, Marmol almost screwed up the game, but Russel and Fujikawa bailed him out. On a day when a guy named Jeff Samardzija got the win and a guy named Kyuji Fujikawa got the save, I would have enjoyed Harry Caray butchering those names during the broadcast. 

Cubs win!

Music Friday: "Southern Livin'" promo & Unknown Song

Here's an album that came out this month that you might want to check out. It's Easy Livin' from a new band called Southern Hospitality. 

It you like the blues with a Southern twang, this outfit should provide what you need. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, here are some titles of songs on the album: "Kind Lies & Whiskey," "Fried Neck Bones and Home Fries," "Shoestring Budget," "Powered For the Mountain," and "Don't Boogie Woogie." 

Below is a video that features the song "Southern Livin'" while introducing the band, and the second video has 'em playing a slow jam at a music festival. 

Band Names Gratis Again

As I wrote about a little over a year ago, possible band names float through my head from time to time, so I thought I'd share some new ones since that post:

• Spring Snow
• Zones of Proximal Development
• Manscapes
• Validity Inquiry
• That Vs. Which
• Rain Kings
• Rotten Bananas
• Chumps by Another Mother
• Running Scissors
• Splendor
• Gerunds On Alert
• The Maestros
• Reflective Letters
• The Artifacts
• Frizzle Fries
• Candles of Knowledge
• Engfish
• And Then There Was Us
• Driver 8s
• Mellocups
• Complexity Theories
• Medicine Hats
• Four Good Reasons
• Welfare Music
• Party Anchors
• Zen Pigs
• Erratic Drivers
• Interdepartmentals
• Cousin Oliver

Evaluating the Design of the Wrigley Field Turns 100 Logos

I remember reading an article years ago, probably back in the 90s, when some big document design expert evaluated all of the MLB teams' logos at the time. The team that got the highest honor was the Milwaukee Brewers because of its logo below.

If I remember correctly, the expert lauded the Brewers' simple design that worked in a glove for its logo while succinctly representing M for Milwaukee and B for Brewers. It's always been one of my favorite sports team logos, but then again, I like the Brewers. If I weren't a Cubs fan, the Brew Crew would be my number one National League team. 

But speaking of the Cubs, and design, the Northside ball club recently revealed the top four designs for the "Wrigley Field Turns 100 Contest." You can vote for your favorite on the site, but I thought I'd provide my so-called thoughts about these designs. 

Design 1

For me, I see this logo as a strong contender. It used the signature dark green of the Friendly Confines, integrates the famous red sign, and provides a simple message, "Celebrating 100 Years." 

Design 2

This design is similar to Design 1, but there's the obvious switch to Cubs blue. It's the same concept of having the ball park on top, the name in the middle, and the Cubs logo at the bottom. It is a nice touch to provide the dates here, "1914-2014," but the V-like structure of the design is the structural difference between Design 1. I don't like the funnel-shaped structure though because, for me, it doesn't provide a strong foundation -- the logo is top-heavy to me, like it's going to fall over.

Design 3

This design is a solid curveball in the competition. Unlike the other offerings, the structure has a 20/30s feel with the type face used and jagged edges at the top coupled with a jagged scroll featuring a  simple message, "100 Years." The dates are there, but they aren't a major part of the message, and this is the only logo that incorporates the famous "The Friendly Confines" name. The only one. Opposed to the other designs, we get Wrigley from the side and not presented in full. For me, a presentation of Wrigley in full is simplistic. Also, the red scroll also pops off of the Cubbie blue background whereas the red of the Wrigley sign seems faded when contrasting to the forest green in Design 1.  

Design 4

  
I get the home plate concept. But that's about all I can say positive this logo. The blue is bland. I do like the little Cub log right below "100 Years," but this design is uninspiring. 


Which One Should Win?

From my perspective, the choice comes down to Design 1 vs. Design 3. I like the use of the famous red sign in 1 and the green color scheme harkens to reality, but Design 3 is the one that should garner the most acclaim for the reasons I detailed above. 

If I had to bet on which one wins in the voting, I'd wager on Design 1. 

Music Friday: "Solitude" & "Strange Fruit"

The CD that is currently in my car's player is a compilation of the most popular songs from Billie Holiday. It's been a while since I listened to Lady Day.

So today I offer "Solitude" and "Strange Fruit."  

Random Notes from a Crank

On Tuesday morning I received an email that the meeting I had that morning was cancelled. I felt like I just received a Get Out of Jail Free card.

Recently I was talking with someone, and the name of Henry Rollins came up. Later that morning a FB friend shared this blog post by Rollins about the Steubenville rape case. Synchronicity and a helpful perspective on it all. 

Music Friday: "I'll Be You"

This week was our spring break, and today was the only day where I actually took a break. 

I know. Big deal, huh? Quit your whining, Mr. Nasty, right? 

But bitching is relative, folks. 

I lack no clear transition to the video below from one of my favorite bands ever, The Replacements, but here I go again posting a tune from that classic "alternative" band. 





A dream too tired to come true
left a rebel without a clue,
and I'm searching for something to do. 

Stay Positive: Every Seed of the Pomegranate by David Allen Sullivan

I was introduced to the collection of poetry above via Sandy Longhorn's blog Myself the Only Kangaroo Among the Beauty. 

Every Seed of the Pomegranate by David Allen Sullivan is a book of poems I've revisited over the past couple of months because the verse is powerful stuff. 

Sullivan chose to write all of the poems with the haiku form functioning as the poems' stanzas. The book is about the Iraq War.

As noted in the final paragraph of the preface, Sullivan gives the impetus for the collection: "I wrote these poems to help myself see beyond the simplistic labels of PTSD and jihadism, xenophobia and patriotism, and to imagine looking through others' eyes. I hope they become part of the ongoing dialogue that is the only way to begin healing the wounds--physical, psychological, social, and cultural--we suffer from in both countries. Poetry can create opportunities for empathy and understanding; it is one way to re-see ourselves, and the ones we too often see as the other." 

Below are some snippets from selected poems to pique your interest. The ones with an omniscient narrator or from an American are left-justified. The ones from an Iraqi are right-justified.

Released

The day the prisons
opened all over Iraq
the eyes of the dead

rolled back. The living
massed at the gates...


Kurdish House on Fire

No tears mark these days.
After Saddam's soldiers left
she burned the bedsheets.

Ahmed Abu All, Shopkeeper

The imam and I

clasped hands and advanced. He said

We must speak with these

misled Americans.

As we stepped close, the turrets

and guns turned on us.

Born on the Fourth of July, in Honduras

He remembered that boy
he'd been, as he dove into
the swimming pool where

Saddam's portrait grinned,
chipped mosaic rippling.
He was American

now, proud to join up...


Lieutenant Colby Buzzel, Sniper, Stryker Brigade

... I felt nothin' but glad
when I stood over

his body, crumpled
like he was hugging his rifle.
Take a picture, dick.

Omar Yousef Hussein, Historian

We unspooled the wire,

filled in the thin ditch, 

waited for the Americans.

It took half the day.

Afternoon was done

when someone spied the Humvee--

back then they didn't

travel in packs but

alone. When the wires touched...

Time Stands Still

For a Casio
that set the Marines jabbering;
it was the first thing

confiscated, first
reason suspicions were raised.
It remains, plastic wrapped,

labeled evidence,
in a Guantanamo desk,
while Kabir hunkers

in detention's night,


Baggage Claim

Today we can't stomach
what we made others do
to others we know less. 

Random Notes from a Crank

What you see above is Darby and her arch-nemesis, the chunky squirrel who lives in our maple tree in the backyard. Somehow the rodent thought it was a good idea to take refuge on the swing set, which drove the dog crazy. Chunky has some cojones because I watched her climb down the near side of the a-frame and outrun Darby back to the tree -- just toying with poor Darby. It was a morning and early afternoon packed with plenty of barking. Great times. 

If you've been to the Nasty homestead, you might have noticed the fence. It's new. A couple of months ago when we had some high winds here in east central Illinois, a section of the old rickety fence blew down. So we purchased a new one. Well, we bought part of the fence because our neighbor who shares the property line went halfsies with us. That set us back some money, but it looks a lot nicer and more stable than the previous one that was erected when the house was built in the mid-70s. I have a number of mounds of dirt along the fenceline where the guys dug post holes, but I've got places to put all that dirt. If the weather is decent this week, I plan to fix a drainage problem in the front yard. I'll be digging fourteen feet worth of a drainage ditch for tiling purposes. Maybe I'll put in a French drain. 

What a name though  ...  French drain. It sounds like something that happens in a vampire novel/film or some technique in porn. You decide.