Pig on the Wall

Several years ago, Marls told me I was too dumb to make a podcast. He was probably right, but I proceeded anyway. I made 82 episodes of a rambling, disorganized, sometimes compelling, sometimes tangential show called We Defy Augury. 

I'm glad I did it-- but I didn't really know what I was doing, and the audio quality is inconsistent. 

I also felt like I had unconsciously duplicated my one complaint about Gheorghe: The Blog . . . I gave my project a name that is challenging to convey. 

We all know the drill: by the time you explain George the Magazine, Gheorghe Muresan, and how many "h"s are in the title of this blog, most people's eyes have glazed over. I had the same problem with We Defy Augury-- by the time I explained the Shakespearean context, the meaning of the word "augury," and the connection to my theme, people were either snoring or annoyed with my intellectual pretensions.

So my new project is going to be more organized, purposeful, and focused (but not THAT organized, purposeful, and focused-- let's be real here). 

It also has a much simpler name: Pig on the Wall. 

I made an introductory episode explaining the meaning of the title and how it connects to my theme.

Essentially, I want to tell the story of great works of art and most excellent human achievements-- and my thesis is that these accomplishments are most often in some way, shape, or form collaborative: the work of many minds from many times. So it is a podcast that celebrates cooperation, influence, human interaction, intellectual borrowing, and-- sometimes-- outright plagiarism, 

I'm also really trying to do the audio correctly-- you're supposed to use compression and normalization to get to a certain volume level (Marls could have told me this initially).

Pig on the Wall is going to be less like the typical podcast and more like Andrew Hickey's A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs. The typical podcast features two or three people talking, often intelligently or eloquently, about some topic. Hickey's podcast is painstakingly researched and contains a plethora of musical clips, woven into the narrative. He takes. along time to make each episode. This is the route I'm selecting. There are enough "smart people talking" podcasts out there. 

I wanted to start ambitiously, so right now I am in the midst of Shakespeare's Hamlet-- which is an incredibly messy collaboration between Shakespeare and a number of other authors, stretching back to a tenth-century Norse legend. If you're interested in the context and history of the play, listen to the first couple of episodes-- but they do get a bit technical. 

But my most recent episode: "Hamlet: Act Three . . . To Be or Not to Be?" is intended for general audiences. 

I do some analysis of the most famous monologue in literature, and then present a sample of the many interpretations of both the soliloquy and the following (disastrous) scene. 

Hamlet is the most produced dramatic performance in the history of film and theater. It's been enacted countless times, and there are dozens and dozens of films based on the play (including The Lion King). 

I collected a slew of my favorite productions, put them all in Logic, and then pulled out the best and most interesting moments.

I then wove these moments into my analysis. It was a pain-in-the-ass, but it was worth it. I don't think there's anything like it.

I also prompted AI to make me a logo. It was very difficult to get AI to collaborate with me-- I should have just drawn it myself. 

The logo is based on an ancient painting of a pig on a cave wall. 

This is where we started . . .

There were a lot of ugly iterations along the way-- and a bunch of five-legged pigs!-- but we eventually arrived at this:

Perhaps this is the future of collaboration?

I know my premise (and Hamlet) sounds daunting, but give it a shot. I hope you enjoy it, and I promise, there will be lighter, less literary episodes in the future! 

But first, I need to finish Hamlet. Three more episodes to go . . .

This Post Has All the Coolest Stuff!

A lawyer, who runs a bar, in OKC, that features tasteful living room areas, where people spin vinyl on vintage hifi equipment and perseverate on liner notes.  This video has all the coolest stuff!

We're No. 69! Golden Bears Edition

The Atlantic Coast Conference is in the midst of a bounce-back season in the national hoops landscape. After landing only four teams in last year’s NCAA Tournament, the lowest percentage of league representation since the tournament expanded in 1985, the conference is forecast to get eight or nine teams into this year’s 68-team field. 

Top-ranked Duke leads the way, followed by tournament “locks” Virginia, North Carolina and Louisville, as well as Clemson, N.C. State and Miami. SMU is close to solidifying an invite, which leaves Virginia Tech and Cal-Berkeley battling for a possible eighth at-large berth – or both left out, depending on results in other tournaments. 

The Golden Bears have by far the sketchier resume’, so unless they win their final two regular season games and make a deep run in the ACC Tournament, they’re likely to be among the “First Four Out” on Selection Sunday – a worthy/unworthy No. 69. Cal and Stanford and SMU came aboard the ACC two years ago in a marriage of inconvenience following the implosion of the Pac-12 and raids by the Big Ten Conference and later the Big 12. Cal and Stanford were basically set adrift, coincidentally, at the same time the ACC’s viability was in question amid realignment. Rather than see what might arise from the ashes of the Pac-12, Stanford and Cal chose a more stable, major conference path with the ACC, albeit 2,500 miles away. The new arrangement has made for some hellacious travel and challenging schedules, but everyone is copacetic – for now. 

Recent history: Cal made the NCAAs nine times in the early part of this century but hasn’t been to the tournament since 2016 and hasn’t played in postseason since 2017. The Golden Bears endured eight consecutive years of losing records until this season. Third-year coach Mark Madsen, a former Stanford star and NBA champ with the Lakers, rebuilt the program through the transfer portal and guided the Bears to their first 20-win season since 2017. Former coaches Ben Braun and Mike Montgomery regularly had the Bears in the NCAAs from the 1990s through the early 2010s. Legendary coach Pete Newell took Cal to the 1959 NCAA championship. 

Mascot/nickname profile: Golden Bears originated in 1895, when the school’s successful track team toured Midwestern and Eastern colleges. The team hung a blue banner with a golden grizzly bear, the state symbol, at meets, and the school’s teams came to be known as Golden Bears. The practice of using live bear cubs as mascots was discontinued in the 1940s, and a stuffed bear mascot named Oski was introduced. Oski the mascot was suspended for two weeks in 1990 after he threw cake at Oregon State fans, inadvertently hitting the father of Oregon State guard Gary Payton. 

Home arena: Haas Pavilion (cap. 11,858) is an on-campus arena originally opened in 1939 that underwent several renovations, most recently in the late ‘90s. It’s named for Walter Haas Jr., former president and CEO of Levi Strauss who donated $11 million toward the upgrade. 

Notable hoops alumni: Jason Kidd, Kevin Johnson, Jaylen Brown, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Leon Powe, Lamond Murray, Tony Gonzalez (the Hall of Fame tight end played hoops at Cal in the early ‘90s). 

Current season: The Golden Bears (20-9, 8-8 ACC) are tied for eighth in the league with SMU and Florida State. Their four top scorers are all new to the program through the transfer portal, led by 6-2 junior Dai Dai Ames (16.4 ppg) from Virginia, 6-3 sophomore Justin Pippen (14.7 ppg) from Michigan, 6-8 junior John Camden (14.2 ppg) from Delaware and 6-7 senior Chris Bell (13.6 ppg) from Syracuse. They’re middle of the pack in the ACC on offense and defense and near the bottom in rebound margin. 

Reasons to believe: Limited. Twenty wins in a marquee league are notable. Respectable 6-8 record against Quad 1 and 2 opponents. Madsen has done a nice job assimilating a transfer-heavy roster. Cal is third in the conference in 3-point shooting and fourth in defending the 3. 

Reasons to fade them: Numerous. As of early March, the Bears were No. 64 in NET rankings, generally well outside the consideration zone. SMU, with whom they’re tied and recently beat head-to-head, is No. 35. Even Virginia Tech, a game back in the conference race, is No. 55. Part of the ratings discrepancy is the Bears’ dreadful non-conference strength of schedule, rated No. 328 by analytics guru Ken Pomeroy. Cal also did itself no favors last weekend with a gruesome, barely competitive loss at home to low-rated Pittsburgh. At the very least, Cal must beat Georgia Tech and Wake Forest this week to close out the regular season and find some mojo in the ACC Tournament.

Beware the Second of March, Redux

“You have to be odd to be number one.” -- Theodore Seuss Geisel

I don't know if Dave's number one, but he's got one of the prerequisites. Somehow, we managed to skip our annual celebration of the good Doctor and the good Dave the past few years. Won't happen again, not on my watch. Happy Birthday to the Davest of the Daves.

A Line in the Sand

Less than four months until the world soccer audience descends on the U.S. to celebrate the sport and crown a champion while dodging immigration police, and not everyone is thrilled. 

The five-member select board for the town of Foxboro, Mass., which must sign off on the use of Gillette Stadium for the World Cup’s Boston venue, would like answers from event organizers or world soccer’s governing body, FIFA, or anyone, really, about who’s going to foot the bill and when they might see the money. 

Gillette Stadium, home to the New England Patriots, is scheduled to host seven games during the World Cup – group stage games that will include England, France, Norway and Scotland, a round-of-32 game and a quarterfinal. Foxboro officials calculated that it will cost at least $7.8 million to cover police security and public safety costs during the tournament, a significant expense for a town of 18,000 people located 30 miles from Boston that just happens to have a professional stadium. 

A recent meeting between Foxboro officials and the CEO of the Boston host committee and FIFA’s venue operator for Boston got a little testy when board members sought answers about financial commitments and received none, according to a piece in The Athletic. As the board must grant a license for stadium events that aren’t Patriots games, vice-chair Stephanie McGowan said, “It’s going to be a flat ‘no,’ unless we know the money is there.” 

Frustration is rooted in the fact that FIFA is a multi-billion-dollar organization, as is the Kraft Group, headed by Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft, which essentially sublet the stadium to FIFA for the Cup. The Trump administration allocated $625 million to host cities for the Cup, including $46 million for Boston. Yet Foxboro board members can’t even get a straight answer about who’s covering costs, never mind a promise about when the money will hit the coffers. 

There’s no reason to think an agreement won’t be reached, but Foxboro officials’ skepticism is justified. FIFA is a Michelin star-rated extortionist that operates under the premise that cities and countries should be grateful for the association and be willing to pony up for the privilege. Under hosting contracts, FIFA typically takes all income from tickets, broadcast deals, in-stadium sponsorships and even parking fees, The Athletic reports. Host cities are responsible for public safety and security, as well as medical services and fire protection and transportation and police escorts for teams and referees and FIFA prez Gianni Infantino and his entourage. In return, FIFA touts the alleged economic benefits that accrue from fans and visitors flooding an area as more than offsetting costs – a dubious proposition for a small town with limited amenities in which many people will drive in for the game and leave immediately thereafter. 

As for Federal money covering costs, the Foxboro board is rightly suspicious, as well. That money is being administered through a depleted Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Homeland Security, with everything running through Toxic Barbie Kristi Noem. Ask residents of western North Carolina how efficiently FEMA distributes funds, as many of them are still waiting for relief after Hurricane Helene hit there in the fall of 2024. 

Granted, money might be more readily available for a world stage event in major cities than for suffering small town folks, but if you’re Foxboro, should you assume such things? “We’re not prepared to issue this license unless everything is in place,” McGowan said in the Athletic piece. “I’ve seen people say, ‘Oh, there’s no way they won’t.’ But I am going to tell you: this board will not issue this license. I don’t feel like we’re getting the answers.” 

The board set a March 17 deadline for issuing the license, saying they need the lead-in time to set schedules and secure personnel. FIFA requires that venues be secured for all 39 days of the tournament, not just the seven game days, so costs add up and small town resources are stretched thin unless they receive outside assistance. “How does anybody expect that we would (front the money) for someone (FIFA) who’s coming into our town for 39 days, making all these demands, and then you guys go away?” McGowan said. “We cannot do that to our taxpayers. We would not be responsible.” Responsibility. Holding people accountable. Not automatically caving to moneyed interests. Novel concepts in this day and age.

We're No. 69! San Diego State Edition

A college basketball program with a rich, recent postseason history that currently sits among the top three in a respected league normally wouldn’t have to worry about its NCAA Tournament status. That is, if the team was a member of a Power Four conference or the Big East. Leagues outside the Favored Five, however, often find themselves scrambling to get extra teams into the 68-team field. 

Which brings us to San Diego State. The Aztecs have been regular NCAA participants over the past two decades, even making the 2023 national championship game, where they lost to UConn. Depending on whose prospective bracket you look at, SDS is either just in or just out of the field, and the consensus is that they “have work to do.” 

2026 Pac 12 Tournament bracket

The Aztecs are a member of the Mountain West Conference, which has been well represented in the tournament in recent years – at least three at-large bids in each of the last four tournaments. Though bracketology gerbils seem to think league presence will be light when the field is announced next month in its last lap before a realignment exodus (more on that in a moment). San Diego State doesn’t have a gaudy record, owing to a challenging schedule and an underclass-heavy roster, though veteran coach Brian Dutcher has a deep and athletic group that defends typically well and can score at a high level. NCAA Net rankings and advanced analytics have SDS in the mid-40s, squarely on the bubble. 

The Aztecs head into the home stretch seeking their 17th Mountain West title before they and four other MW schools bolt for the Pac-12 this summer. The Pac-12 imploded a couple years ago after raids and exits for the Big Ten and Big 12 and was left with only Washington State and Oregon State. The reconstituted Pac-12 will include five former Mountain West schools and national hoops power Gonzaga from the West Coast Conference. 

Recent history: Fourteen NCAA Tournament appearances since 2002, with four trips to the Sweet 16 and the ’23 national title game. Their best team might have been 2019-20, when they went 30-2 but the pandemic scuttled the NCAA Tournament. 

Mascot/nickname profile: Students chose the Aztec nickname in 1925, and its mascot is an Aztec warrior formerly known as “Monty Montezuma,” whose name was retired because it was deemed racist and culturally insensitive. Puzzlement is understandable in wondering how and why a school in southern California chose a nickname from an indigenous society located 1,440 miles away in central Mexico conquered by the Spanish some 400 years earlier, when plenty of other, closer options were available. The Aztec nickname and representation have been debated on campus throughout the 21st century, but faculty and student groups ultimately chose to retain it with various tweaks and education programs. 

Home arena: Viejas Arena (cap. 12,414) is located on campus and opened in 1997. A couple years after its opening, the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians entered into a naming rights agreement with the school, and it’s been known as Viejas Arena ever since. The Aztecs are particularly stout at home, going 103-12 in their last 115 home games and are 147-24 at home (.860) since the start of the 2015-16 season. 

Notable hoops alumni: Kawhi Leonard, Tony Gwynn (yep, *that* Tony Gwynn; baseball HoF’er was an all-conference hoops player at SDS and still holds single-season and career records for assists), Michael Cage, Keshad Johnson (Miami), Malachi Flynn (3 NBA teams, Turkey), Jalen McDaniel (4 NBA teams), Jamaal Franklin (2 NBA teams, China). 

Aztec on the left, Buff on the
right. They grew up doing
gymnastics together. And now
a blog post brings them
together. Small world.

Current season: Aztecs (18-8, 12-4 Mountain West) are tied for second in the league with New Mexico, a game behind Utah State. Ten players average between five and 12.6 points per game, led by 6-5 senior Reese Dixon-Waters (12.6 ppg) and 6-6 junior Miles Byrd (10.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg), and eleven players average double-figure minutes. Through mid-February, the Aztecs were third in the nation in bench scoring at 36.6 ppg. Stats guru Ken Pomeroy has SDS leading the Mountain West in defensive efficiency, two-point FG defense, turnover percentage, steal and block percentage, and No. 2 in effective field goal percentage defense, and among the top 35 in the country in all those categories. 

Reasons to believe: Among the best strength-of-schedule ratings in the nation outside the Bigfoot conferences. A respectable 6-7 record against Quad 1 and 2 opponents. No bad losses, though a November loss to Troy (No. 142) is a blemish. Chances to bolster their argument against Utah State Wednesday at home and fellow bubble resident New Mexico on Saturday. Dutcher (216-76 in nine years) is excellent. 

Reasons to fade them: Not enough wins and dwindling opportunities – only four more regular season games and at most three conference tournament games. An untimely dip that’s seen them lose their last two, though Dutcher’s teams have lost three straight only once, in his first season. The Mountain West is only eighth in conference RPI, and bracket types believe they’ll get two teams at most. Utah State is likely safely in because of its profile, and New Mexico has a slightly better statistical case than the Aztecs. It would behoove the Aztecs to close at least 3-1 and make the conference semis.

Learning Res., Inc. v. Trump is Like a BET Cypher, Alternatively Titled "If you rely on IEEPA I feel bad for you son, it provides 99 delegations but tariffs ain't one"

On Friday, in Learning Res., Inc. v. Trump, the Supreme Court held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.  The gist of it all is the IEEPA lets the President "regulate imports" which isn't the same thing as taxing or tariffing.  Six justices agreed on this outcome, but there were two different rationales and lots of shade thrown across three concurrences and two dissents.  It was all very hiphop, as if they were in a Federalist cypher.

The cypher started with Chief Justice Roberts writing for himself and Justices Kagan, Sotomator, Jackson, Barrett and Gorsuch, applying the "major questions doctrine" (some newfangled coproma passed off as conservative jurisprudence) which says that "Congress would not have delegated 'highly consequential power' through ambiguous language. These considerations apply with particular force where, as here, the purported delegation involves the core congressional power of the purse."  This means that the party asserting that they were delegated the Congressional power at issue must "point to clear congressional authorization” in the relevant statute.  You may recall that six Justices relied on this doctrine to overrule Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan in Biden v. Nebraska.

Justice Kagan then got on the mic to represent herself, Sotomayor and Jackson.  They concurred, but they felt there was no need to invoke the major questions doctrine because "the ordinary tools of statutory interpretation amply support [this] result."  I am an ordinary tool and I agree with them.

Justice Gorsuch, ever the philodox, took it upon himself to get on the mic and write 46 pages (the main opinion was only 21!) bemuting upon everyone else's analysis except the Chief Justice's.  First he essentially accused Justices Kagan and Sotomayor of outcome-based reasoning, picking the winner based on their personal preference rather than a rigorous application of the law.  I'll channel the underpants gnomes and go to third, where he also essentially accused Justices Kavanaugh, Alito and Thomas of outcome-based reasoning but in a slightly nicer way (although he does linger a bit to highlight, albeit politely, the preposterousness of Thomas's dissent).

But second, and remarkably, this quibberdick spilled ink across nine pages to desticate over Justice Barrett's application of the major question doctrine in Biden v. Nebraska!  He's so irked about an opinion from three years ago that he had to drag it into this one.  We all have a guy like this at work.

Justice Barrett did not appreciate having her name on the streets.  Naturally, she channeled her inner Mad Cobra and wrote a concurrence directly addressing Gorsuch, saying "I would not treat this evidence as precedent for a judicial flex."

If you were young and alive in northern New Jersey in the summer of 1992 you undoubtedly are familiar with Mad Cobra's song "Flex."  It's more likely than not that you spent time in a car with a number of other young, alive people with the windows down and this song playing loudly.

Parenthetically, Wikipedia says "Mad Cobra stated that he was on a flight returning from New York, and was watching an exercise video on the in-flight entertainment system, and the lyrics 'How this lady flex like she want to have sex?' came to him. He wrote the lyrics for the song on an air sickness bag in his plane seat and took them to the studio when he arrived in Jamaica."

Perhaps Justice Barrett wrote the opening draft of her concurrence on an air sickness bag too.  Or maybe she's a Rich Homie Quan fan.

The mic then passed to Justice Kagan who explained her reasoning admirably but fumbled a major opportunity to flex (see what I did there?) her New York City credentials.  In explaining the various actions delegated by Congress to the President under the IEEPA, she noted there are "9 verbs listed in IEEPA's delegation provision" and "[t]hose verbs are followed by 11 objects, each describing a distinct sort of transaction involving foreign property."  She then did some fancy math and concluded "Combine the verbs and objects in all possible ways, and the statute authorizes 99 actions a President can take to address a foreign threat.  And exactly none of the other 98 involves raising revenues."  This passage clearly screams for the conclusion "If you rely on IEEPA I feel bad for you son, it provides 99 delegations but tariffs ain't one."  

Justice Jackson took to the mic to spit eight bars (just four full pages) saying that all this sniping is unnecessary because Congress's intent is clear from the legislative record.  Conservatives refuse to look at the legislative record when interpreting statutes, instead favoring dictionaries and other historical references.  That's how we wind up with "history and tradition" tests like this bunkum.  I would've said something like "Our forefathers wrote IEEPA for foreign property, the Prez can take it in wartime but not impose duties. Come here, young blood, and take a look.  Acknowledge your legislative history!"

When SCOTUS finally invites me to one of their cyphers I'll get them straightened out.