More from Oxford book of Gothic Tales (Chris Baldick, ed.)
It also seems to me, that a lot of these stories have to do with the wealthy. Were the authors trying to tell their readers that the rich have their own problems, and they are paranormal? Or was it simply that the rich were interesting, and to hook the reader, need to have a story about the rich. Much like today, the famous are interesting? Do authors try to change the world with their stories? (I think the question I’m asking is about sub-text…but it has been almost 20 years since I was in an English class.) Or, are they just telling a story? Or maybe these ghost stories are about the wealthy because they aren’t smart enough to leave. Let’s say you have a ghost in your cardboard shack. No problem, just go get some more cardboard and sticks. However, if there is a haunted room, in your castle…well, just wall off that particular room and tell your children to tell their children not to go in there. (I am reminded of the comedian that said something like, “you white folk are stupid. Take for instance ____ (horror movie), if a black family moved into a house, and then heard a voice saying “LEAVE” they would get the [bleep] out.”)
“The Vindictive Monk or the Fatal Ring” (1802) Isaac Crookenden
Lots of passive tense, the hero finds out he was adopted.
Key dialogue “If the had done their duty, and restrained, by due correction, the impetuosity of my natural temper, I should not have been a prey to those destructive passions of my nature, which have since acted as gourds to prick me forward down the slippery path of vice.” Did people actually talk like that? Do we want art to be realistic? Especially with dialogue? Hardly ever do we read the “uh’s” that so often punctuate speech.
And once again with this old style, the author writes, “But we must take leave of Calini a little while to look after the lovely persecuted Alexa.” When I read that I feel as if the writer is an infomerical narrator.
“The Astrologer’s Prediction or the Maniac’s Fate” (1826) anonymous
Boy, raised alone in a mansion, father went insane. Yes, that doesn’t sound like a good start to life. And then he gets told his terrible future. He doesn’t try to change his fate, perhaps he read enough Oedipus Rex to realize you can’t change fate. He just tries to forget about it, and goes on with his life.
Quote: “She was amiable, accomplished, and endowed with every requisite to ensure permanent felicity.” Awwww….sounds like MyBetterHalf. “Reginald was charmed with her beauty, and infatuated with the excelling qualities of her mind.” Awwww…sound like me. “He confessed his attachment, and was informed with a blush that the affection was mutual.” Alright now, the similarity is getting to creepy.
The twist…
Spoilers follow
“Vindictive Monk” the hero is kidnapped by his rival. Actually the rival hires someone to do it. As fate would have it, the hired kidnapper turns out to be his long lost father.
“Astrologer’s Prediction” well, since I wasn’t raised alone in a mansion, I will trust the story isn’t about me & my wife. And that’s a good thing, because when Reginald’s mum dies, he gets sad, and says “Are you not anxious to join my mother, sweet girl? She has gone to the land of the blest – to the land of love and sunshine! If we are happy in this world, what will be our state of happiness in the next?”
The other night I saw Mr. Henry Rollins ranting about gaming. He played a computer games once – and then said, “that was a waste of time.” He never to played again, but instead to “lived life.” He then insinuated insults at those who play Dungeons & Dragons, as using fantasy escapism. We like to call it “collaborative story telling – With MATH!!”
Rollins seems to think that playing games is not living life to the fullest. That instead of pretending to fight monsters, we should be doing something useful. Which brings me to, one man’s garbage is another man’s treasure. I mean, one person’s waste-of-time is another person’s relaxation, is another person’s enjoying life.
A co-worker told me, that when they were expecting their child, he removed all games from his computer, so that he would never say, “wait a minute Junior, Daddy’s playing a game.” I liked that. I removed Age Of Empires and Diablo. There’s plenty of proof that I can be easily distracted, I think Tetris was very helpful in me flunking out of college the first time.
Mr. Rollins seems to be one of the more intelligent members to come out of the punk rock community. I agree with him. One should live life. So I didn’t watch his show.
To his credit…he did end by saying “All things in moderation.”
“Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise – why destroy yourself? Do not be over wicked, and do not be a fool – why die before your time? It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.”
Ecclesiastes 7:16-18 (NIV)
I was very happy that the garbage man took away our trash. I was a bit worried that it was too heavy, still dealing with the garbage from a birthday party and a brother-in-law moving out. So I was singing “The trash, the traaaash, the trash got taken a-waaaay-ay” and the childrens enjoyed that song and smiled big for me. What Miss Squeaky doesn’t like is when I sustain a note for a long time, she got a very worried look, and was about to cry.
On the plus side, I wasn’t holding a baby, I didn’t scream profanity, and I didn’t step in a super-poopy diaper. On the minus side, only the childrens were witness my stepping in the trash can, ripping off a toe-nail, tripping and falling.
Hey, the mobiles that Kelita got for the childrens really work. They were fussy. On a lark I cranked the mobiles, and my childrens were relaxing to rotating bears & Brahm’s Lullaby.
They didn’t like Tummy Time today.
We went for a walk to the store. That was relaxing for them. They got lots of complements.
Worst part of day…was changing diapers…thought I heard Sophie-kitty, whom I hadn’t seen in a while and was worried she got locked in a closet. Went looking for Sophie. Couldn’t find her. Checked work email…you know, just in case Sophie went to my work to shuffle some paperwork for me. Heard Miss Squeaky cough and went to go check on her. Went into the bedroom. There was Mr. Grunty. Where was Miss Squeaky?!??!!! OMG did she fall on the floor? But she wasn’t on the floor or under the bed. OMG Sophie took Miss Squeaky!!!! Wait a minute…then I ran to living room. Yes, Miss Squeaky was in the swing where I put her before looking for Sophie. [slap forehead] I suspect this lesson is best learned now, than before they learn how to roll over, or move with any speed.
Time flies when you’re having fun. The first week is almost over. Sad.
Mr. Grunty ate breakfast while his mommy was pumping; good they got to hang out before she left.
Early this morning, we me, Mr. Grunty & Miss Squeaky took a nap. Miss Squeaky didn’t let me sleep for too long.
I should really learn. Do not lie underneath a baby, especially one that likes to drool, especially without a burp-towel. Yes, I got slimed. By a super-viscous, runny warm slime that seemed to be dropping on me in slow motion. That is until it hit my neck, and then it was very fluid and covered my chest in goo. Yup…happened twice this morning.
I wrapped up Miss Squeaky in a Velcro-powered baby wrap for her mid-day nap. And she slept for almost 2 hours. Usually she will take catnaps during the day. We’ll see how she does tonight.
I wonder if I am talking to them enough. My mom, when she’s here will constantly talk to them, describing everything that they can see, repeating why we do certain things, non-stop verbal stimulation. I’ve heard that babies need to hear 3 million words by their third year so they will be ready to learn the language. I forget my source. But I don’t talk to them nearly enough, I feel. Sometimes I do read journal articles to them. But I fall out of reading it like a children’s book, and kind of drone on.
I do sing to them a lot. I want my childrens to be musical. And by starting early with singing, I hope that they sing, and are comfortable with their voices, because I think half the battle of singing is having confidence. I make up silly songs with horrible melodies, or I’ll even leave out the words and sing bass-lines. The other day I was “singing” a drumbeat, and Miss Squeaky was very amused. (Oliver-kitty was not. We were disturbing his rest.)
Grammar Question:
I feel that “We will feed you” is way better than “we won’t let you starve.”
Why?
I think it’s because it’s shorter, and because affirmative is a better way to communicate. Also, I think some sort of psychologist type says that if you say a negative statement, they might not hear the “won’t” and will only focus on the action “starve.”
For some reason this has been bothering me, so, all you SportsFans that know a thing or two about communication…
Which is better:
“I’ll be faithful” or “I won’t cheat on you”?
“We won’t let them score” or “We will stop them”?
“Don’t hit your sibling” or “play nice”?
Yay! US Women's Basketball destroyed Jamaica by 58 points in their second game of FIBA Americas Women's Championship. What? Sue Bird had only two assists, and three turnovers! I had to find something to complain about...well besides I have to have stoopid NBATV to watch the game.
Finally...we are sorry to say that US Women's Soccer has been booted from the world cup the Team Brazil.
Hey sports fans! Hats off to USA women’s basketball for defeating Cuba in the first game of the FIBA Women’s Americas Championship. Sorry, I didn’t watch it, because it wasn’t broadcast on a channel I get!!! I can just see the market geniuses now…we can’t put it on our station, no one will watch it, and since it’s not on any station….ugh. Is it impossible to break a new sport into television? Wait…it’s not. NASCAR now makes money on TV. Grassroots campaign, networks see fans, smell the money…oh no, does this mean I’ll have to actually go to WNBA games? I don’t like to go out. I’m to curmudgeonly…crowds, costs, cars.
Today started at 4:45 AM, Mr. Grunty was hungry. He slept for a good while last night. Rumor has his mommy went to get him at 3AM, but I don’t remember it. After he was fed, and put back to sleep. Miss Squeaky woke up. After she was fed and put back to sleep, me & the Mrs had a nice 30 seconds of quality quiet time together before she left for work.
I contemplated going back to sleep, but didn’t know when my mom was gonna arrive, so instead I did dishes. It has been very great for my mom visiting on Wednesdays.
Today, on the mat, I saw Mr Grunty have a long conversation with a giraffe toy that was hanging above him. Miss Squeaky was playing catch and release with some plastic rings, and talking with a stuffed rhino. Once, she got the rhino in her mouth, but was not what she expected and screamed. Poor girl.
I got a chance to see them smile at each other. J
We went for a walk through the park.
I came home and fixed dinner.
I am currently, very sleepy.
When my wife left, Mr. Grunty was crying “Mommm!!”
At 6:45, no sleeping in for us, we started the food, diaper, burping…. except papa didn’t prep enough food. The childrens yelled at me for that mistake.
These days, Mr. Grunty is fascinated by his right fist. He’ll stare at it for a while, rotating it around. Then if he gets to excited, he forgets that he actually can control it and the fist goes flailing around. Another thing he does is he’ll rub his hands together, as if he has a cunning plan.
These days, Miss Squeaky chews on her hand. Sometimes she’ll try to chew on both hands at the same time. If a burp towel or blanket is handy, she’ll shove that in her mouth.
Mr. Grunty took more naptime today than Miss Squeaky.
We hardly had any tummy time.
Miss Squeaky was making strange screechy noises, I rushed over to see. She was having conversation with the dangling butterfly on the swing.
A friend from last year’s chemistry class visited.
I didn’t have dinner on the table when my better half showed up.
We all took a short walk (it is getting cold, and the parents were hungry), carrying the babies in “Bjorns”.
Warning…gross stuff follows.
Why is there such variation in baby poo color and consistency?
They don’t have much variation in their diet.
My babies have close to identical diets…yet today they had very different coloration of diaper surprises.
We woke up about 8:15…mommy had already left, and we went back to sleep. Mr. Grunty had a big smile on his face. Miss Squeaky was not happy and very fussy. Mr. Grunty didn’t even seem to mind when a flailing hand of Miss Squeaky smacked him in the face.
8:30 we got out of bed and went to play on the play mats. They were lying on their back for a while. Later I flipped them over for tummy-time. As some of you may know, there is a huge “back-to-sleep” campaign. Put babies on their backs for sleeping, and it has cut the incidence of SIDS in half. However, with such a reduction in SIDS – which is a fantastic thing – there have been a few other issues. There is more incidence of back of babies’ head being flat – thus more babies are wearing helmets to round out their skulls. And the babies are having a tougher time learning to crawl, because their shoulder & arm muscles aren’t getting the normal work out. Thus “Tummy Time” a supervised playtime when children are on their tummies, and hopefully lifting up their heads, and working out their arms. Well, Mr. Grunty was not happy with Tummy Time. And after a bit, he had convinced Miss Squeaky that Tummy Time wasn’t fun and she was fussing too. After a few minutes of fussing, Sophie-kitty went over to ‘vestigate, and see what all the ruckus was about. She sniffed their feet, deduced they were OK and left.
I am using a crock-pot today for some verde-pork concoction. Bitterkat suggests that slow cooking is good when you are very bu
9:30 I asked the childrens if they wanted (second) breakfast. Miss Squeaky raised an eyebrow and looked at her brother…. after I fed them, and burped them, and cleaned up spit-up, and changed diapers and put them down for a nap…I got some breakfast. Then I did the dishes, which I should have done last night.
Around 11 am they woke up. I asked which they would prefer, “the play-mat, the bouncy seat, the swing…” Miss Squeaky smiled at the swing. She likes the swing, because there is an orange plastic fish on there she likes to chat with. Mr. Grunty picked the mat.
About this time Sophie-kitty was following me around, meowing…I pet her a couple of times, but that wasn’t enough. Finally when she got my attention she plopped on her back so I could rub her tummy. (The kitties aren’t getting enough attention these days.)
I fixed myself a lunch, and finally got out of my PJs. By noon we were back to the feed-change diaper-burp routine.
Then they took a 90-minute nap. Well, Mr. Grunty could have gone a bit more, but I moved him to a bouncy seat to slowly wake him up. (Hey, it’s not as bad as it sounds; it only bounces when he bounces.) And I played guitar for them. They liked Blub’s “Not Picasso” and AC/DC “Thunderstruck”.
Here’s why I woke up my boy. These days, Miss Squeaky is usually sleeping through the night, around 10 hours. Mr. Grunty is waking up once or twice. Maybe it’s because he wakes himself up because he’s not swaddled. (We got this new Velcro wrap thing that seriously turns them into a mummy.) Maybe because he takes too long of naps during the day. Maybe because he’s not eating big enough before bed. Maybe he just not ready to sleep through the night. We don’t want to go through the Ferber method at this juncture, but maybe explore some options to encourage him to sleep for 8 hours at night. Ferber method, I think it is something like you train your child to sooth themselves back to sleep. Which entails a lot of agony for parents as the child screams during the first week of trying to get the parents attention. I think Ferber also believes “12 hours at 12 weeks”.
Which reminds me of a funny story. Last week, our boy was screaming, he was hungry and wanted food. This was 30 minutes before my alarm. Slowly I got up, fixed the boy a bottle, and by the time I got back, Mr. Grunty was peacefully asleep.
Well, by 3:15 they were back on the mat. We even had a bit of tummy time.
3:30 diapers & feeding.
Short naps for them, while I fixed dinner for my better half.
They were happy to see her, and told her all about the fun we had. And how slow papa was at getting food ready.
From the Oxford Book of Gothic Tales
The early gothic tales seem to have been like ghost stories, but a specific type as they seem to occur within castles, deal with sex, and evil clergy. A few of the early ones the author would write, as if he had heard the story from someone else. This I found annoying. It might have been a technique to let the reader know, that the author didn’t make up this outlandish tale, but he is only recording what the witnesses saw.
“Sir Betrand: A fragment” (1773) Anna Laetitia Aikin
Yes, a fragment…how about an incomplete story!
“The Poisoner of Montremos” (1791) Richard Cumberland
A tale of incest and murder.
“The Friar’s Tale” (1792) Anonymous
The author tells story, that he heard from a monk, that the monk heard at his abbey. Complete with “at this point, the monk had to attend to his duties” just to remind you that you are reading a story.
“Raymond: A fragment” (1799) ‘Juvenis’
Finally, a story in the third person.
“Parricide Punished” (1799) Anonymous
An eyewitness account of the confession form someone in chains that he saw in a castle.
Quote: “How, my friend, is it possible that humanity can produce wickedness so intolerable and unnatural.”
“The Ruins of the Abbey of Fritz-Marin” (1801) Anonymous
The first half of the story is guy gets creepy haunted castle. His servants are afraid. A while later his wife is wandering around, and finds this letter in a crypt…and the reading of the letter (complete with “Here many lines became defaced, as the ink had rotted through the vellum, and all traces of writing were totally lost in mildew and obscurity.” Or “Here again the papers were totally useless” Yup…they don’t write stories like they used to. Wow, that gimmick bothers me.)
Story about girl raised alone by father, with little contact with others.
Good quote, “Despair and horror now seized the suffering victim of bigotry and paternal tyranny.”
The twist.
It seems that short stories either a) paint a scene, b) hero learns something, or c) there is a twist. What follows are the twists. These could probably be guessed by an astute 21st century reader, which I’m not. I like to get caught up in the story, not figure out what is going to happen next. (Remember how grumpy I got when I correctly predicted what was going to happen on V-Mars?) I suspect these were all shockers when the came out.
Any way…spoilers follow.
“Raymond”
Hero was left by lover, dejected, heard screams, was slow to investigate, finally when investigates, finds the victim was his lover.
“Parricide”
Old man was chained in castle by his son, because the old man had killed his own father.
“Abbey of Fitz-Martin”
Girl falls for stranger, gets pregnant. Girl’s father pledges her to another man. Girl refuses, runs away to abbey for protection. Stranger never shows. Girl, pregnant & unwed is locked in dungeon of abbey to die. Then she haunts the stranger.
Miss Squeaky got me nervous the other day. I was in the other room and I swear I heard her say “uh-oh.” Mr. Grunty has learned how to cry out “mommmm” when he is angry/sad/crying/fussy/HUNGRY. It makes my better half so sad to hear him cry out for her by name.
Tomorrow is the first day of my paternity leave. I’ll be at home with the childrens until November 1st. I am excited about it, but as always, please remember us in your prayers. My boss asked if finances weren’t an issue if I would stay home with them, yes, probably would.
Today, while watching the football game, Mr G was leaning against me while I was slouching on the couch. He burped. He thought that was funny and giggled. Oh my goodness his laugh was so cute, that I laughed. That elicited more laughter from him, which in turn…his laugh is so wonderful sounding, it brought tears to my eyes.
A co-worker said it is important to listen to your children when they talk. He said that when his daughter first started school, the teacher pointed out that the girl expected adults to listen to her, as opposed to most children that either have to make a big scene for attention, or they don’t even try to talk to adults. The co-worker said as an example, once, when getting into the car, his daughter pointed out it wasn’t fair for her to sit in the back all alone. From that point on, either he or his wife would sit in the back with the daughter.
I suspect that most parents would say that they listen to their children, but, according to the teacher, most don’t. I wonder which camp I’ll fall into. Currently, it is fascinating and fantastic when they are talking. But, when they ask “why?” for the hundredth time…will I be so enthused?
That’s the advice someone from work told me. Unfortunately, I think he also told the children this advice. Why else were they both screaming at us from 3 AM – 5 AM Monday morning? Oh man, the next day at work was rough.
Maybe it was the day before we had a party, and that threw off their schedule. They didn’t get their normal afternoon nap, and then when the finally went to bed at bed time, they thought it was only a nap, and then when they woke up, they were ready to start the day.
OK, I’ve learned my lesson. Serves me right for making fun of parents that are sticklers for their children’s schedules.
Tonight, we have started the process of moving them to their own bedroom. They are quickly approaching the weight limit for the co-sleeper. Thirty pounds gives you plenty of time for one baby. But two, not so much. They’re out of the 4th trimester, so time for them to grow up and act their age.
The other day at work, found out someone is expecting twins. I hope that my response is always, “That’s fantastic, children are wonderful. One piece of advice, lift weights.” The advice of get sleep now, is not helpful for sleep cannot be stored. The comments of ‘your life is really gonna change’ and ‘you have no idea what you’re in for’, are kinda obvious and tainted with mean. I hope that my comments are uplifting. (If not, please tell me. ‘cuz I’m getting the feeling these days that I’m a poor communicator.)
This guitarist I found on YouTube.
I really like this solo.
AND congrats to US Women’s Soccer Team for winning group B and advancing to Quarterfinals of the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup. (No, I didn’t watch it.)
Only 8 days until the FIBA Women's America's Championship. Yay! more basketball!
Tonight, little Miss Squeaky was very fussy, and I calmed her down and she took a two-minute catnap, then she was smiling and talking. Mr. Grunty is starting to speak in sentences now. I am very proud of both of them. And they are very proud of themselves too when they talk and see my smile, and smile big in return.
Yes, we have wonderful conversations.
It still seems a bit surreal that I have two babies.
I have been a papa for thirteen weeks. Yup, it is still fantastic. I love my babies more and more each day. I am so proud of them; they are doing so well, learning and growing. Good job babies!!
Sunday was bath night. Mr Grunty learned that it is fun to splash his hand in the water. Miss Squeaky freaked out when we tried to put her in, arching her back & screaming, when she realized that it was a bath, and not a wet diaper, then she was all smiles.
We go for walks. Here’s the process, put them in car seats. They cry or scream. Take them outside, the calm down to fussy. Put in stroller, they are calm. 20 yards later, and Mr. G is fast asleep. Miss S is all kinds of amazed at what she sees around her. It’s like she’s a little kid in a candy store going “oh wow!” Usually on the way back Mr. G wakes up and looks around, and Miss S takes a nap.
When they see their mommy & papa, they are very excited and smile. Well, except when they are screaming for food, or fussy because they are sleepy. But, it is wonderful to see their big smiles. They still pretty much ignore each other.
Would you believe it, there are still people that I haven’t told yet! Bad me!!
I got some catching up to do. Every now and then, me & MyBetterHalf get a couple of people to watch Mr Grunty and Miss Squeaky and we sneak out for a movie.
The rat movie. I can’t give this one a review. It is about a rat in a kitchen. Sorry, there is too much prejudice built up in me from my years in the kitchen. Rat in kitchen = vile. I did like the descriptions of the kitchen, very accurate, especially with all the different crazy characters.
Harry Potter 5 …I liked it. It was very enjoyable. I was happy that there was no quiditch, and that the broom flying was only a few moments. I enjoyed the new character Luna Lovegood (the anti-Hermionne). The wizard fight at the end was spectacular. It showed that the kids, as important as they are, are no real match for real wizards. The battle scene has been criticized for having too much going on, can’t follow the action. I think that’s good. Just like the opening battle in “Saving Private Ryan”.
Stardust….well, as you know I liked it. I rate it up there with
Willow
Princess Bride
Hero
Pirates of the Caribbean
& Star Wars
Well, first it is the best sport on the planet. The sound of the ball on the court, the swish of the net, the squeak of the shoes…all very nice sounds.
Football (Soccer)
It’s too hard. When I say I don’t like to watch it, many a soccer fan exclaim, “do you know how difficult it is!” I respond, “Yes, farming is difficult too, but that doesn’t mean I want to watch it.” Why so hard? Because they can’t use their hands! Talk about a self imposed handicap. Our hands is one of the few anatomical advantages we have over most animals, and you design a sport around not using them. So for most of a game, you watch people kick a ball from one side of a field to another. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think it is fun to play. But not fun to watch.
Hocky…kinda like soccer. But on ice, with sticks. And you know you just watch it in hopes of a fight starting. Why not just go see a fight?
Cricket, Rugby…?
Huh?
Baseball
Too boring. The Tiki Lodge likes to point out that one of the greatest things in baseball is the “no-hitter”, which is essentially two guys playing catch. No time limit? Watching the highlights is great, but most games can have the interesting plays summed up in less than a minute. People say there is the psychological thriller of the showdown between the pitcher and the hitter. Hey, if I want to watch a psychological thriller, I will watch Hitchcock. The game is very difficult to play, because you stand around a lot, and then, at a split seconds notice you need to sprint. (Which is why it is a horrible exercise.) And it seems to me, that most of the game is tied up in how well the pitcher does. If you have an excellent shortstop, but mediocre pitching. You won’t go far.
American Football
Need brute strength and a good quarterback. The game plan is set, like two cars to crash test into each other, and then they go, crashing into each other. My hat goes off to the offensive lineman, they have a very tough job, no glory, and they only get press when they make a mistake.
Basketball
The positions are egalitarian. I know I said that you need a center to win the championship. But each position can have a super-star. And the centers have needed help. When Miami Heat won, yes they had Shaq, but Dwane Wade was the one who made it happen. No one position is dominantly most important.
Because of the way NBA commissioner David Stern has marketed it, he may do more to help diffuse USA – China international tensions more than our president. He is activly grooming the Chinese market, having exhibition games there, recruiting from there. Rumor has he’s looking into India.
Good things about basketball…
Brings together Croatian, Serbian & Bosnian kids.
Promotes AIDS awareness in Europe, Africa, China.
Nike has another add campaign...Nike-women.
A bunch of female athletes step up to a horn, and state who they are, and what they sport they play.
I swear that Bill Resler has a part, saying that female athletes have to fight the prejudice that their game is not as good as the male's game.
Quote "It's not a guy thing. It's not a girl thing. It's a skill thing."
Why aren't female athletes given respect?
Even in the liberal town that I live in, with a championship caliber women's basketball team, they do not have sold out games. Why? I say, a vote for woman's equality is going to a WNBA game.
How about me? Why do I watch the NBA, but not the WNBA. I mean, first of all, the WNBA has ALOT cuter players. (Maybe that's it. I don't wanna get in trouble for oggling.) I don't know them, but I didn't used to know the NBA players. It is alot easier to watch an NBA game.
Alright...next season, I will watch some WNBA games with my son & daughter. (On the TV, of course...we're too poor to go to a game.)
Well, they were on a mission.
It appears that the biggest foe Team USA has is itself - complacency & arrogance.
I remember Sir Charles Barkley saying, “those that live by the three, die by the three.” I sure saw Team USA hoist up a lot of shots from downtown, fortunately they had the best shooting percent for the tournament. (Maybe because they are the best athletes there?)
Good things I saw…third quarter, up by 30 points, and the team was still hustling, harrying the dribbler for the steal, running to block the shot, scrimmaging for the ball.
Another good thing, Billups helped up Scola. Yeah, we’ll beat you, but we’ll help you up too.
From 20 Grand Short Stories
“Rope” by Katherine Anne Porter
About how crazy married people can be. You know the story; you’ve lived it if you’ve been married. Woman sends man to store. He forgets the thing that she really wanted and also brings back something else for him.
“A tooth for Paul Revere” by Stephen Vincent Benet
Best line: “…it took all sorts to make a country – and that meant the dumb ones too.”
“Fumble” Katharine Brush
Boy loses the big football game, doesn’t forgive himself, and starts life with lack of confidence. Redeemed at end.
“Prelude” Albert Halper
To be a Jewish kid in NYC right before WW2.
“One with Shakespeare” Martha Foley
The story of why you shouldn’t tell a child they have a gift. She blows off her other responsibilities, and loses respect for others, because she has “the spark of divine fire.”
“The Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck
sad
“Young man Axelbrod” by Sinclair Lewis
After retirement from farming, he goes to Yale.
“He had to be content – and generously content he was – with the second-hand glory of his children’s success and, for himself, with pilfered hours of reading, that reading of big, thick, dismal volumes of history and economics which the lone, mature learner chooses.”
He discovers at Yale, that what he used to slowly read in a month, they now expect in a week.
“Strawberry Ice Cream Soda” by Irwin Shaw
A summer’s day for two brothers…naturally includes, not enough money, date with a girl, dreams for the future, trespassing and a fist-fight.
“I Can’t Breathe” by Ring Lardner
I couldn’t stand the main character. Her voice was grating.
Well sports fans, I was wrong. I predicted a 20-point victory for team USA. Remember, Puerto Rico has beaten the US before, back in 2004 Olympic debacle. Which, is kind of amazing, do they grow athletes on that island? They have a strong basketball program, they seem to have a large number of players in major league baseball. Interesting. I wonder which is the “most athletic” nation in the world?
Before the game, Bill Walton said that it is difficult to come back and play a team you have demolished, because you are a bit relaxed, and they are looking for payback.
Well…it was a good game. Jason Kidd, decided to keep the defense honest and hoisted up 8 quick points. Considering he had only scored 10 points in the previous eight games, it was like the defense forgot that he knows how to score. I’ve always liked Kidd’s attitude as a point guard, get the rest of the team involved, play tough, push the ball, get the rebounds, and maybe score a point or two.
Bill Walton said the 2004 team (which got “only” a bronze) was micromanaged, and that the team seems to be having more fun with Coach K, and letting them play.
Remember I asked if you help up your opponents? We got to see Stoudemire help up Ayuso. That makes me happy. Had a nice LeBron to Carmello lob for a dunk.
It seems that PR was playing a bit further away from the USA when they were on defense, this led to Kidd’s easy 8 points, and Carmello’s 6 for 7 from three point land.
When USA was on defense, they would keep a lot closer to their man.
Final score USA 135 – Puerto Rico 91
Next up the gold medal game vs Argentina.
I predict USA wins by 20.
So…back to the Nike add campaign. There are five guys, each performing a different type of basketball move, all super-imposed on each other.
I like the juxposition. Beautiful, which probably not many teenage boys would like to be described as, yet, when the sport is played well, it is beautiful.
(Personally, I think that beautiful should not be gender specific, which it seems to be considered in our society. I would say beauty has more to do with the Platonic ideal that how pretty a female is. Yes, beauty is truth. There, that sums up why a math theorem can be considered beautiful.)
A Monster is something terrible to have to face and over come. And when five players are a team, they think as one, and all of the sudden, one mind controls 10 arms, 10 eyes, and 10 hands. You can’t sneak around and flank the monster. It is always watching you. You can’t run past the monster, because as soon as you move past 2 of the hands, there is another of pair of hands in your way. And then you are trapped, surrounded by parts of the monster and it takes what it wants from you.
I’ve heard that Coach K is afraid of arrogance of his team. That the other teams are good, and that is possible for Team USA to be beaten on any given night.
Well, sports fans, let’s hope tonight Team USA is a beautiful monster.
I predict USA by 20 over Puerto Rico.