I spent the week in San Antonio at my company's annual sales meeting. We call it ASM, because we're clever. I got to my house at 12:45 am this morning after flying through Chicago to get to Dulles from Texas. Could be worse, I guess, as the weather was good and my flights were on time - never a given this time of year. Just don't ask me to make any important decisions today.
My company is generally very good at production values across the board, and ASM is no exception. Our kickoff session was held in the very cool Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, and featured Soledad O'Brien telling several very provocative stories about race, class and gender to a mostly white, mostly relatively affluent audience. Check your privilege is an interesting theme for a sales conference, to be sure.
But I'm here today to hip you to the act that played before and after Ms. O'Brien. Black Violin may well be sui generis, in that I'm not aware of any other acts that feature two violins, a drummer, and a DJ.
For a moment in time, we were a hip, hip bunch of salesmen and marketers. Except for the fact that nobody really listened to the band, except for me and a handful of others. Missed opportunity for my colleagues, but I get to pretend that I'm superior. Which is nice.
Re: the Cam Newton article rob linked to in the last post ... I don't understand why so many people hate athletes who celebrate. We expect Cam Newton to play hard, to play with competitive fire, and even to play hurt, in one of the most violent professional endeavors you can imagine, which necessarily means he has to be pumped full of adrenaline for a significant portion of Sunday afternoons, and you almost necessarily have to be young to do this. At the same time, we expect these young, fiery, competitive adrenaline-soaked young men to remain calm and reserved and poised at all times while risking life an limb for our entertainment. They get bonus points when, like Brett Favre, they "look like a kid out there" or "look like they're having fun out there" but they can't be too much of a kid having fun because then they're disrespecting the game--the same game which could rob them of their physical and mental faculties if just one play goes wrong.
ReplyDelete/end rant
damion lee transferred from drexel after graduating with a year of eligibility because the dragons are poop. he wound up at louisville, which tells you a lot about how talented he is (as does the fact that he's averaging 17 points/game for the cardinals) and about how bad drexel truly was/is to not be able to win with a guy like him on their roster.
ReplyDeleteand today, he found out that he won't be playing in the ncaa tourney because louisville self-imposed a postseason ban as a result of the prostitution scandal that rick pitino had no knowledge of, no sir, not me, no way, no how, nosiree.
bummer for lee. scummer for pitino.
relevant to our interests: today is international clash day. as in the only band that matters.
ReplyDeleteself-imposed bans reek of further wrong-doing
ReplyDeleteUm, Mark and Danimal. It's cold here. What gives?
ReplyDeleteRob, in honor of the holiday, you should get all lost in the supermarket. Again.
ReplyDeleteI can tell you what doesn't give, and that's high air pressure.
ReplyDeleteHonk as you go by Exit 329 tomorrow. If you get the gumption to stop, give me an hour head's up and I'll meet you out for a quick taco or something. Otherwise, keep on truckin up to Charlesvegas.
i love how stoned mark ruffalo says that clash cliche in eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. that's some good stoned acting. or is it acting stoned?
ReplyDeletei went to school today semi-stoned on bronchitis medication, only to find my brand new creative writing class-- that i had never met-- hadn't really read the assignment i gave them to do with the substitute, and instead wrote some crap about the first couple paragraphs of the article-- which were boldly refuted in the rest of the article, so we had an unprecedented first day of class.
ReplyDeletegenerally, i'm a fairly easy, occasionally intense fun teacher, but i skipped that person, reamed them out, gave them back their crappy work, read the part in the article they hadn't gotten to, and told them to do it again and type it up for monday, and that they had made a horrible first impression on me. then, while they were reading silently, i slurped down a bowl of soup that i had brought to class (we had a delayed opening bc of snow so the schedule was off, and i needed some soup). so i just sat in my desk slurping soup in silence, while they redid their crappy work. monday is going to be weird.
I for one enjoy the hell out of when Dave gets mad - mad at something that's not an accepted part of society like Daylight Savings. It's as close as he comes to being an actual human.
ReplyDeleteCam is awesome.
ReplyDeleteSally is a jerk.
And no one ever complains about how arrogant Peyton is--and he's been that way every day of his life. The media thinks he's clever and charming.
Unrelated to that--some science for you Gheorghies (not just the lawyers).
And a not-so-subtle hint that you need to start taking better care of yourselves.
I don't want to be the only one left to comment on the blog in 20 years.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/02/05/americas-lawyers-have-a-serious-drinking-problem/?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_wonk
Just came out of my hole and watched some of the shkreli/congress footage from this week. I'd like to replace him with Arnie Palmer on my 2016 Death Watch List. He's definitely dying before the King.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to get home and have a drink.
ReplyDeleteMiddle-aged white guy stops by my office and the following exchange occurs:
Middle-aged guy: You pullin' for Team Bronco on Sunday!!??!!
Me: No. I can't stand Peyton Manning. Every time I turn on my TV he's trying to sell me insurance or Gatorade or DirecTV or whatever.
M-AG: Huh?!??!??! Peyton's great!
Me: And I'm sick of all his Omaha! and arm flailing and the announcers fawning all over him and "chicken parm you taste so good."
M-AG: Know what I'm sick of?!?!?! CAM NEWTON!!!!
[simulates Cam's shirt-ripping Superman motion]
M-AG: And all the dancing and whatnot!!!!! There's no place for that in football!!!
Me: Right.
No place for dancing in football?
ReplyDeleteEver heard of the Ickey Shuffle?
Fun Bunch?
Dirty Bird?
Come on.
Black Violin is dope. I discovered them when they showed up on my Roots pandora station a few years back.
ReplyDeleteRob- Check out Lindsey Stirling. This is a particular favorite of mine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHjpOzsQ9YI
I finally got around to reading the comments. Here goes:
ReplyDeleteWhit- It was in the low 80s here all week until you showed up. Thanks, jerk.
I had no idea it was Clash day but I am wearing my London Calling t shirt while I sit here waiting for sushi.
The Cam hate has a racial aspect to it, no doubt. But also generational. The only thing I ever disliked Cam for is that he couldn't keep his shit together while at Florida. This robbing me of the opportunity of rooting full throatingly for his immense talents. He's something we've never seen before at the QB position, he plays hard as hell and he's not afraid to let us know that he knows he's damn good. I'm all in for that. Peyton, on the other hand, has somehow convinced most sports fans that he's an Everyman when he's about as far from that as possible. But he's goofy and white so...
Pitino is a hypocrite and borderline scum. Fuck that guy. Damion Lee deserves way better.
I'm going to drink one bourbon too many tonight. Sorry, Shlara. But I'm not a lawyer so don't worry.
Beginning to wonder if there isn't something to the Peyton/hgh story.
ReplyDeleteAnyone watch the horrible written, horribly acted Madoff movie on abc?
Mark, sorry for the bad weather. I'll take it with me.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna be in Winter Park and Sarasota next weekend, so I really want good weather then. This weekend is more utilitarian.
Do you know that Teej and Mrs. Teej will be here visiting next weekend, Whitney? Only about an hour from Winter Park. You should come over.
ReplyDeleteI haven't watched the Madoff series but I did watch the first episode of The People Comfort vs. OJ Simpson and I am all in. Especially on Travolta's over the top portrayal of Robert Shapiro.
New Michael Jackson documentary on Showtime tonight. From Motown to Off The Wall. Full of great concert footage from what I can tell.
ReplyDeleteOK...the last half of Madoff is ok.
ReplyDeletewatching grease live with my girls. they saved it for me so we could watch when i got back from my trip. they're swell.
ReplyDeleteboyz ii men on grease!
ReplyDeletethe monkees are releasing a new album, with songs written by rivers cuomo, ben gibbard, and noel gallagher, among others. oh, boy.
ReplyDeleteI just finished the first OJ episode. I second Mark's enthusiasm. The combination of knowing the story and seeing so many B-list and C-list "stars" in the role make for totally enjoyable TV.
ReplyDeleteWe are slogging through the end of Making a Murderer. Kinda loses steam the last two episodes.
the future of american soccer is on display this evening. i'll be asleep in 15 minutes.
ReplyDeleteI struggled to finish the last couple episodes of Making a Murderer too. They didn't have enough for 10 episodes and shouldn't have pushed it to that. Otherwise I really liked the series.
ReplyDeleteDo the Mavs really only have 28 total points in the 3rd quarter?
ReplyDeleteYikes
Worked through a number of glasses of basil Hayden whilst watching Trainwreck with zwoman, hoping to reenact the Brooklyn bridge scene--I had garlic at dinner.
ReplyDeleteA friend opined that Cam is evolutionary Duante Culpeper and I think that's right. Huge guy, huge arm, but better footwork and much better pocket passer.
I misread that last comment as "huge gay" and didn't really know what to think.
ReplyDeletePinapple Sculpin on tap at Leesburg Public House, delicious.
Like in Trainwreck! Hyooooodge gay.
ReplyDeleteHey gheorghies.
Taped Grease 2 for the wife. Saw maybe the first 50 minutes. Seemed very well done. I agree with the consensus on the OJ show, especially on the actors. Everyone is pretty solid with the exception of Travilta, who, between the garish makeup and the Chili Palmer in slow motion speech delivery, is downright disquieting as Shapiro.
ReplyDeletethanks for the call, ken
ReplyDeleteKnew you were going to say that! Impromptu stop on way back from tubing at Whitetail with daughters. Catch ya next time mate.
ReplyDeleteApparently this Man City match means something? Also, opening weekend of 6 Nations - I v W down the pub in the marnin!
chat shit. get banged.
ReplyDeleteDanimal, i'm at exit 220. Could be at 329 around 1130 if you want to grab an early lunch taco. If you are busy with kids and mutt cuts, no sweat.
ReplyDeleteDave and Rob, I am passing the exit for Daytona. Pity I have no memories of ridiculousness there to amuse me on this boring drive.
ReplyDeletepip in jail. get him out.
ReplyDeleteI tried but can't function
ReplyDeleteWhitney- if Danimal doesn't get back to you, let me suggest the Flagler Fish House for lunch. You won't regret it.
ReplyDeleteIn other news, I'm way more excited for Warriors-Thunder tonight than I am for the Super Bowl.
Flagler Fish Company.
ReplyDeletekevin blackistone doesn't mention his wapo colleague sally jenkins by name, but this is s pretty excellent rebuttal to her cam newton screed:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/cam-newton-and-the-long-history-of-double-standards-for-black-athletes/2016/02/04/03050162-cb5a-11e5-88ff-e2d1b4289c2f_story.html
Dang it, Mark, I'm too far past. Sorry to have missed it. If you or anyone knows of a good stop off right off the interstate for good grub, please hit me.
ReplyDeletegeorgia pig!
ReplyDeleteNew post up. Thanks, Dave
ReplyDelete