Thursday, December 18, 2008
A Bit of News
Our esteemed colleague, the pravdakid, has recently undergone a change of academic status. Congratulations, David.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Something I just have to get off my chest
Went to see Synecdoche, New York this past week. I was pretty stoked, given what I'd read about the movie and the reputations of almost everyone involved. Which made the narcissistic, jejune piece of crap that I sat through for two hours all the more infuriating.
If I ever see Charlie Kaufman in person I'm going to punch him in the nose.
If I ever see Charlie Kaufman in person I'm going to punch him in the nose.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Football and Chabon
This next comment is for loyal PF reader Al C., who has been following the fortunes of the University of Tulsa football team this fall. Al will no doubt be wondering how it was that a highly favored Hurricane squad lost, at home, to East Carolina this weekend.
Here's the answer. They just weren't all that good. Many non-BCS teams are undeservedly ignored by the national media and other coaches: Utah and Boise State would be examples here. Tulsa was deservedly ignored: their defense was not great and their offense built up the big numbers by doing well against very weak teams. I say this with no great sadness in my heart, since I am not a big fan of Div-1 sports, and certainly not at a school as small as Tulsa (we have only about 3,000 undergraduates, 4,000 students total). I suspect that there is probably some non-crazy explanation for why we have a Div-1 football team, but for the life of me I can't figure out what that would be.
At any rate, I was not at the game. I was at the public library Saturday morning, listening to Michael Chabon, who received our city's big literary prize, The Peggy Helmerich Award. He was charming, if a bit disorganized. I had read one of his Details columns a few days before at the gym. It was about an old writing teacher who had passed away, and it was a lot more compelling than the talk, by and large. The best line from the library discussion was when he said that his relationship to plot was analogous to Bob Dylan's relationship to singing.
Here's the answer. They just weren't all that good. Many non-BCS teams are undeservedly ignored by the national media and other coaches: Utah and Boise State would be examples here. Tulsa was deservedly ignored: their defense was not great and their offense built up the big numbers by doing well against very weak teams. I say this with no great sadness in my heart, since I am not a big fan of Div-1 sports, and certainly not at a school as small as Tulsa (we have only about 3,000 undergraduates, 4,000 students total). I suspect that there is probably some non-crazy explanation for why we have a Div-1 football team, but for the life of me I can't figure out what that would be.
At any rate, I was not at the game. I was at the public library Saturday morning, listening to Michael Chabon, who received our city's big literary prize, The Peggy Helmerich Award. He was charming, if a bit disorganized. I had read one of his Details columns a few days before at the gym. It was about an old writing teacher who had passed away, and it was a lot more compelling than the talk, by and large. The best line from the library discussion was when he said that his relationship to plot was analogous to Bob Dylan's relationship to singing.
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