Random Notes from a Crank

I discovered today that Bob Mould has a new album coming out next week. I'm looking forward to it. From what I have gathered, Mould has been touring recently to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his highly regarded solo album, Workbook, that was his first solo album after he left Husker Du. 

I've gotten into this new series Fargo, especially Malvo, who is Billy Bob Thornton's character in the series. It's a series full of darkness, duplicity, and dark humor. 

Yes, I just rolled with alliteration via three d-words. Deal with it.

The other day, my son's rookie league baseball team destroyed the opposing team 15 to 1. It was nice to watch some offensive production. I haven't gotten to watch a lot of that this season with the current Cubs squad. The team is more interesting than last season's train wreck though. 

If you're a parent, Hanna Rosin's "Hey! Parents, Leave Those Kids Alone" in The Atlantic is worth a read. 

Music Friday: "Left of the Dial" & "Asking Me Lies" + Interview w/ Craig Finn

This morning I was listening to one of my favorite bands, The Replacements. 

They've been playing some gigs lately, and below is one song from when they played in Chicago last year. The other is just a shot of the album cover of Don't Tell a Soul and the song "Asking Me Lies." 







What follows is an unedited interview with Craig Finn of The Hold Steady. Finn was interviewed for the documentary, Color Me Obsessed, which is a film I need to get.

Music Friday: "I'm Torn Up" & "Call Me"

One of the bands the blogosphere is talking about is St. Paul and the Broken Bones, an R&B, soul band out of Birmingham, Alabama. 

The band's album, Half The City, is a solid offering. 

The lead singer's voice reminds me a lot of Otis Redding. That's high praise from me because Redding is my favorite R&B singer. Ever. 

Check out the two songs below if you want to get your old-time soul on. 

Stay Positive: Three Books about Bourbon

From time to time, I get into a reading habit about a certain topic or in a certain genre. A while back, I read three different biographies in a row about Woody Guthrie, Thomas Jefferson, and American Emperor, which is part biography-part history about Aaron Burr and what his plans might have been. 

Recently, I've gone through a trivium of books about whiskey, specifically bourbon. 

As hard liquor goes, bourbon has always been my favorite with gin a solid second behind it. As some of my readers might recall, I worked in my dad's liquor store during the summers when I came home from college and during holiday breaks. When it was a slow night at Independence Avenue Liquors, I sometimes did research about liquor. My dad had a bartending book in the store, and I learned a lot about the libations we sold. 

Mrs. Nasty bought me a book about whiskey a long time ago, but that one covered all manner of whiskies. 

In my recent academic tour de bourbon, I started with Clay Risen's American Whiskey, Bourbon, and Rye: A Guide to the Nation's Favorite Spirit. Risen does a solid job of relating the history of bourbon at the start of the book. 

However, the bulk of the tome features histories of brands and his descriptions and ratings of them. He turned his love of bourbon into a helpful guide to what whiskey a person should buy and why. Risen provides descriptions of each whiskey's "nose," "color," "body," and "palate" along with a general description. 

For example, here's how he describes Four Roses Small Batch, one of my favorites. It's a "medium" bodied spirit that is "russet/tawny" with nose of "hibiscus, grape jam, eucalyptus, honey, roasted nuts, and Now and Later candy." It garners three stars out of four possible and is described as a " truly great session bourbon; not too heavy and full of captivating notes." 

Some of the descriptions are hilarious. And it's also surprising how many NR (not recommended) ratings many whiskies get that are high-dollar investments. Caveat emptor.

In the section for recommended books in Risen's book, I learned about Chuck Cowdery's Bourbon, Straight: The Uncet and Unfiltered Story of American Whiskey. Cowdery, I found out later, worked in the bourbon industry for quite some time, and his book shows it. He drops all kinds of knowledge. 

Many of the chapters take readers through the specific histories of bourbon-making families, but others exemplify the "straight" used in the title. He's a no nonsense kind of writer. He's willing to call people on their lies, bullshit, subterfuge, especially the marketing side of the bourbon game. Lots of good stories out there, folks. His chapter on George Washington's distillery at Mount Vernon and Abe Lincoln's booze-selling occupation is interesting stuff, and the "Why Ratings are Bull" chapter gives you an idea of his direct approach to the subject. 

Cowdery also has an informative blog that you should check out if all this bourbon talk interests you.

I finished up my book tour about bourbon this week by finishing Dane Huckelbridge's Bourbon: A History of the American Spirit. The author has fun writing style. He uses an informative tone with sprinkles of humorous diction in the chapters. 

Also, he likes a good footnote, and many of them are quite interesting. Who knew that dentist-turned-gunfighter Doc Holliday enjoyed Old Overholt rye, a whiskey that you can still get nowadays? And I believe that's the same distillery Andrew Mellon acquired during Prohibition that was briefly played with on Boardwalk Empire. 

Regardless of all those interesting asides, Huckelbridge supports his thesis effectively. He presents bourbon as the true American spirit backed by lots of historical evidence, and he's right. You get to learn about Captain George Thorpe in Jamestown and the details, as much as one can piece together, about Washington's distillery. Then it's on to the influence of the Scots-Irish, the effect of the Gilded Age on bourbon, the dangerous experiment of Prohibition that is also tied to xenophobic tendencies in the republic, and so on and so forth. And there are some pretty fun pictures along the way. 

So if you like bourbon, you can feel good about a true American product via these three books. 

Buy American and all that. 

Music Friday: "Synchronicity I" and "Synchronicity II"

When I was a kid, I listened the hell out of my cassette tapes of The Police. 

I dug the band's post-punk, pop-rocky sound, Stewart Copeland's impeccable drumming, and Sting's lyrics. I still enjoy the band's work, in fact. It doesn't get old.

The first video is circa 1983, and the second video is the band playing in 2008. "II" was the more popular song, but I always liked "Synchronicity I" better. 

Stay Positive: Shady Characters

I just finished Keith Houston's Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, & Other Typographical Marks. For a word and writing enthusiast like me, it's a great book.

Houston takes readers through the interesting histories of a number of typographical marks. Below are the ones he covers by chapter:

1. The Pilcrow (¶)
2. The Interrobang
3. The Octothorpe (#)
4. The Ampersand (&)
5. The @ Symbol
6. The Asterisk and Dagger
7. The Hyphen
8. The Dash
9. The Manicule
10. Quotation Marks
11. Irony and Sarcasm

Along the way you learn about the history of texts -- how people wrote and read them and how editorial conventions changed and became regularized even though people are still trying to work in new typographical marks in this chaotic age of the InterWebs. ;-)

In a number of chapters, the pilcrow, the octothorpe and the ampersand (the ampersand in this typeface [see above] gives the meaning away if you know some Latin) in particular, it clearly all started with the Greeks and Romans. Then you have folks who are hocking their typographical wares by promoting the interrrobang (Martin K. Speckter), the snark mark (Choz Cunningham), and the SarcMark (Paul and Douglas J. Sak). 

And I really dig the manicule. We need to start using those more often. 

In the chapter about the ampersand, I picked up an acronym or Latin saying I can use in my emails: SVBEV, which stands for si vales, bene est, valeo, translated as "If you are well, all is right; I am well." 

Also, in the chapter about quotation marks, Houston informs readers about these notations used at the ancient Library of Alexandria: "the diple, or 'double' (>) was placed alongside a line to indicate some noteworthy text, while its dolled up sibling, the diple periestigmene (>:), or 'dotted diple,' was used to mark passages where the scholar differed with the reading of other critics."  

When I read books, I write in them and often underline important passages and note really important ones with asterisks (*) of varying degrees. For example, if a passage gets underlined or bracketed and noted with three asterisks (***), that means I need to put it into my commonplace book. Now because I know about the diple and double diple, I have new tools in my reading arsenal. I need to incorporate the dagger too. 

If you get geeked up about the history of text-related practices like I've described above, you need to buy Shady Characters.  

Music Friday: "Laughing With"

I'm not a religious person although I once was. 

I'm an agnostic, but the best way to describe my approach to religious/mythological matters is disorganized spirituality. 

Still, I really dig this song by Regina Spektor. 

Random Notes from a Crank

Last night the good fellows on MLB Tonight went over the stupidity of hitters not taking advantage of the extreme shifting that defenses are doing in baseball. Defenses are basically giving hitters probable base hits and doubles just shifting infielders to one side of the diamond. It's bizarre that more hitters are not taking advantage of the shifting. I'm sure hitters could work on hitting the other way in batting practice. It's just so silly that very few hitters aren't adjusting. It's just intellectual lollygagging, which reminds me of a classic scene from Bull Durham. I shared it a couple of years ago, but here it is again.  




Lately I've been thinking of getting a vasectomy. Mrs. Nasty and I don't plan to have any more kids, and from what I'm told, it's not a big deal as surgeries go. The doctor does it right in the office. But I wonder, after a person has the procedure, what happens down there after one orgasms? I mean, does no jizz come out at all? When an orgasm happens, is there just a pathetic whoosh of air? Sort of like the penis saying, "meh." If it is a faint whoosh of air, is that the real sound of one hand clapping? I bet it is. These are things I think about. 

Well, I did some research after writing that paragraph above, research meaning that I searched the InterWebs. The answer is yes, baby-gravy  ball juice  courting-cream  cum  Cupid's toothpaste  Cyclop's tears  ejaculant  gonad-glue  happy-juice  jism  love butter  man-juice  minkus  people-paste  sledge  soul-sauce  spence  spooge  spudwater  spunk  semen still happens, but, as one site describes it, men after vasectomies are "all juice and no seeds." 

This report by Climate Progress about the drought in California is troubling. This article from Triple Pundit about the recent IPCC Report is disturbing. 

There's debate about whether there is a black dog bias, but this article (with photos) about Fred Levy's Black Dog Project is interesting. 

I enjoyed Lodro Rinzler's The Buddha Walks into a Bar…, and he also writes for The Huffington Post. His recent article tackles how mindfulness is not a trend. 

Music Friday: "Welcome to the Jungle"

Early this week I received good news about a major writing project. Yesterday I received annoying news about a different writing project. 

As much as the good news is really good and that writing project is much bigger than the other one, the annoying news has given me a grumpy attitude.

So I look to music, as usual, for help.

In commemoration of my fraternity's chapter's annual founding-day celebration this weekend, I offer "Welcome to the Jungle" because the song is fun and it makes me happy.

Why you might ask? 

None of your business. Just enjoy some classic GnR.

Music Friday: "Matamoros"

Back when I was seriously into "alternative" music (the 80s and 90s), I'm sure someone told me about The Afghan Wigs at a party or something. Maybe it was a stoned Phi Sig at a mixer, or maybe it was some young lady I hooked up with. I don't remember. Regardless, I'm sure the band garnered its share of critical acclaim in the 90s, but it was never a band I got into, and I don't really know why. Based on some perfunctory research, it looks like they broke up in the early aughts.

Now it's 2014, and the band has a new album, Do To The Beast.  

I got the album recently, and it's a good one. Below is second tune on the album.

Stay Positive: I Never Heard a Story I Didn't Like

If you're looking for an excellent read, I highly recommend Todd Snider's I Never Met a Story I Didn't Like: Mostly True Tall Tales. 

The folk singer is known for his concerts where he tells insightful, entertaining stories in between songs. From what I can gather, many of the chapters are versions of his stories, his creative non-fiction, that he recounts before he plays certain tunes. He's a witty dude. 

Some of my favorite chapters are the where he talks about his friend Moondawg (of the song "Moondawg's Tavern"), his encounter with Slash of Gun-n-Roses in a hotel bar, the chapter about his friend Skip (who inspired "Play a Train Song"), and the chapter about Kris Kristofferson.

Snider's a raconteur. And the book has all kinds of playful moments where he calls attention to the fact that he's writing a book and that sometimes the stories he says onstage are not exactly what happened.  

To give you a taste of his wit and wisdom, here are some selected passages from the book:

• There's always a loophole. All you have to do is stare at the loop long enough and you'll find the hole.
• There they were, the football team. And I don't mean to disparage any of the other kids. I'm just saying that it could be argued that they looked like a bunch of dirty sheep standing around in a field, waiting to push a grown, screaming man on a padded sled. 
• He [Skip] said, "Never go straight, always go forward." He said, "Don't apologize, I don't care enough." And when he answered the phone, he said, "I'll play your silly little game." 
• …when it comes to slogans and fashions and bands, I like to be what I call "post-hip, pre-retro." That sweet spot, right when something isn't cool anymore and before it becomes cool in an ironic way. The cutting edge of uncool.
• Contentment, not rejection, is the enemy.
• …if someone asks you what a song is about and you don't have an answer, you might be in possession of a song that's not really about anything. 
• You may occasionally have gotten the ideas from these pages that I am a little hard on sports. But baseball's not a sport. It's an art. I will not argue this point. If you try to argue with me, I will reply with a fart. 
• Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a night. Set a man on fire, he'll be warm of the rest of his life. 

Music Friday: "21st of May" & "The Lighthouse's Tale"

Nickel Creek got back to together to make a new album, A Dotted Line. 

It's good. I'm more of a Punch Brothers listener, but the album is solid work. 

Today I feature one song from the new album. On YouTube the band describes the song this way: "Sean wrote this song on May 20th, 2011, the day before the supposed rapture as predicted and advertised by Bay Area pastor Harold Camping (whose point of view he sings it from). It was a close call but we made it."



I'm glad we dodged the rapture, folks.

WHEW.

Here's an old tune, "The Lighthouse's Tale," from the band's self-titiled album circa 2000.  

Stay Positive: Decent Stand-Up

I'm not a huge fan of Louis C.K., but I liked his opening monologue when he hosted Saturday Night Live. Usually the opening monologues of SNL aren't that good, but this one is. 

For me, here are the highlights:

• I don't have real hunger. I have first-world hunger.
• I do think men are worse than women. 
• 21 and you're a lock for heaven already? 
• "I don't know who's telling people that."
• That's a weird thing that you think you can know.
• Where's our mother? What happened to our mom? What did he do to our mom?
• God's a single dad. 
• This is our weekend with dad. 
• And for some reason this is offensive to nobody?

Random Notes from a Crank

For major writing projects in my courses, I provide the criteria I use when I evaluate their work. For larger projects, I sometimes create what I call "alternate criteria" just for kicks. I thought I'd share the alt criteria for a recent project:

A Successful Teaching Portfolio (Alt Criteria)

• Provides quality writing
•  Lights a candle of pedagogical knowledge
•  Instills pistis in the reader
•  Has rhetorical kung fu
•  Puts the critical in critical thinking
•  Is enjoyable to read
•  Exemplifies phronesis—practical wisdom
• Assures the reader that you know what you’re doing
•  Makes the mind step lively
•  Seduces the reader with smart ideas, policies, assignments, and lesson plans
•  Shows that the Teaching Force is strong in you
•  Offers prose free of hokum, claptrap, “Engfish,” gobbledygook, administrative-speak, and logical boondoggles
•  Is a hooey-free zone
•  Seeks vengeance on anyone who ever doubted your ability as an instructor
• Creates the sound of one hand clapping 

That's me quoting my professional self, something I rarely do on this blog. Don't get used to it. Those hyperlinks above might take you to some places though. 

With the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington, I wonder if anyone has approached Cheech and Chong about doing a movie? 

Regardless, I'm curious about how much tax revenue those states will generate from pot sales this year. 

Typical of HBO's adaptation of Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series, this season's first episode of Game of Thrones sexxed up the storyline. If I remember right from A Storm of Swords, when Tyrion and Oberyn Martell meet for the first time, they do so on the road to King's Landing. Instead, HBO has Tyrion Lannister going to a whorehouse to meet the Red Viper, and the first scene that introduces Oberyn and Ellaria Sand plays with the backstory that they're both bisexual. Classic move, HBO. 

And if you're a fan of the series, here's "Death Never in Games of Thrones Never Looked So Beautiful" from Mashable. 

Music Friday: "I Stay Away" & "No Excuses"

Last night before class some students were talking about music. They mainly were talking about Smashing Pumpkins and Billy Corgan's poetry, but one person's comment made feel so damn old. 

I don't recall it exactly, but the gentleman said something to the effect of "I like listening to 90s music." 

As I said, the comment and the exploratory tone in his voice, as if he was going back into the archives, made me feel like a geezer. But when I think about it, I probably made similar comments about music from the 60s when I was his age. 

In tribute to excellent 90s music, I give you two songs from Jar of Flies by Alice in Chains, which I'm listening to as I write this post. It's one of the best EPs ever.