Poem of the Day XIII

Thanks, Robert Frost
by David Ray from Music of Time: Selected and New Poems

Do you have hope for the future?
someone asked Robert Frost, toward the end.
Yes, and even for the past, he replied,
that it will turn out to have been all right
for what it was, something we can accept,
mistakes made by the selves we had to be,
not able to be, perhaps, what we wished,
or what looking back half the time it seems
we could so easily have been, or ought...
The future, yes, and even for the past,
that it will become something we can bear.
And I too, and my children, so I hope,
will recall as not too heavy the tug
of those albatrosses I sadly placed
upon their tender necks. Hope for the past,
yes, old Frost, your words provide that courage,
and it brings strange peace that itself passes
into past, easier to bear because
you said it, rather casually, as snow
went on falling in Vermont years ago.

© The Backwaters Press

New's in Review II

The Jaywalking Historian

“Tufts University professor, [Felipe Fernandez-Armesto] who was arrested last Thursday and charged with disorderly conduct, contends he was assaulted without provocation for merely jaywalking across Courtland Street. But Officer Kevin Leonpacher insists he is no rogue cop and suggests perhaps the professor is a bit of a scofflaw.” -from 1/10/07 AJC story

As if Atlanta hasn’t gotten enough bad publicity in the past couple of years (courthouse shooter, runaway bride, Cynthia McKinney, et al) now we have Atlanta police taking down a 56 year old history professor in town for the AHA (American Historical Association) conference.

Now, granted, I’m sure Dr. Fernandez wasn’t the little angel he’s claiming to be, but still, the officer should have been able to tell that this guy wasn’t a threat. It just looks bad no matter how you cut it. On the other hand, Dr. Fernandez should have been smart enough to cross at a crosswalk.

After being released from prison Dr. Fernandez described his cell mates, in what is my “Pretentious Professor Quote of the Day” (PPQD), as: "extremely unfortunate members of the underclass."

Scorpions on a Plane!

“A scorpion stung David Sullivan on the back of his right leg, just below the knee, then continued up that leg and down the other, he believes, before getting him again in the shin.

It wasn't what he was expecting on a flight from Chicago to Vermont.” –from a 1/10/07 AP story

Okay, so I just included this so I could say “Scorpions on a Plane!” It is a bit strange, though. I love this quote: “The airlines tell you can't bring water or shampoo on a plane," Helena Sullivan [the wife] said. But the scorpion did make it aboard, she said.

Of course there is absolutely no connection between an insect making its way onboard and keeping passengers from carrying on shampoo, but what else are you going to say to the reporter?


Pillars of Creation Toppled by Stellar Blast

“They helped open the public's eyes to the wonders of space when they were first photographed in 1995, but a new study suggests the famous Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula might have already been toppled long ago, and that what the Hubble Space Telescope actually captured was their ghost image.” -from a 1/10/07 Space.com story

First of all, I love the title of the article (same as my title for this section). It sounds like a chapter title in a discount bin sci-fi novel, doesn’t it?

Second, this really is pretty cool. Most people know that space is so vast that it takes thousands of years for the light from stars to reach us. What this article is saying is that these pillars of dust photographed in this Hubble Telescope picture were actually destroyed by a supernova 6000 years ago. It’ll be another 1000 years before we see what it looked like after the explosion. Kind of boggles the mind, ey?

Best Album of 2006

One year after picking up Picaresque, The Decemberists’ third full length release, my brother gave me The Crane Wife, the band’s fourth release, and first on a major label (Capitol) for Christmas this year. After one listen The Crane Wife won my personal Best Album of 2006 award. I haven’t been as excited about an album since my best album of 2005, Sufjan Stevens’ Illinois. Every track is great, and some are simply amazing.

The Decemberists are known for their archaic storybook lyrics and that doesn’t stop here. The title track (actually 3 songs, the third being the first song on the album and the first two comprising a medley towards the end of the album) is a recreation of a Japanese folk tale. In it, a man finds a wounded crane one day and nurses it back to health. Soon after, a woman shows up at his door and the two are married. Because they are poor, the woman says she can spin beautiful yarn, but the man must never look in on her while she is doing it. The man pushes her harder and harder because of his greed and finally his curiosity overcomes him and he looks in the room. Inside is the crane, pulling out her feathers to spin in the yarn. Upon spotting the man, the crane flies off, never to be seen again.

In addition to the literary feel of the lyrics they are often dark. Colin Meloy, the lead singer and lyrist, has a penchant for writing about abused children, thieves, murderer’s, and star crossed lovers tales ending in death. The topics are handled so expertly, though, and woven into such beautiful stories, that you could hardly be offended and in fact end up appreciating the rawness of the stories. The song “Shankhill Butchers”, based on the actual murderers in Ireland, reads like a Grimm’s fairy tale. The story was used to warn children into good behavior. The chorus goes:

“‘Cause everybody knows
If you don’t mind your mother’s words
A wicked wind will blow
Your ribbons from you curls
Everybody moan, everybody shake
The Shankhill Butchers want to catch you awake”

Good lyrics need good music to hold them up, and the music on this album is excellent. The Decemberists are typically described as “indie-folk” or perhaps even “indie-pop”, but it really is hard to classify the music. There are hints of rock through the ages from the Led Zeppelin-esque “When the War Came” to the 1970’s prog rock-ish 3 song opus “The Island” (especially the excellent middle track), and speckles of 80’s and 90’s rock throughout. The band certainly makes good use of its musical predecessors. The songs are upbeat when they need to be and down trodden at the right moments. Every track alternates between acoustic guitars, distorted electrics, drums, and bass guitar, all perfectly holding up the story book lyrics.

There’s no such thing as a perfect album, but this one is darn near close. The best part is that this prolific 5 piece from Oregon (they’ve already put out 4 full length albums in 4 years) is a long way from finished. It will be hard to top The Crane Wife, but even a near miss would still be an excellent album.

Another BCS Rant

It’s been said before, but I’ll say it again: college football has got to get rid of the current BCS system. Every year at least one team gets shafted, sometimes worse than others: remember a couple years ago when Auburn went undefeated, won the SEC, and their bowl game and finished second? Yea, I know there are other more prominent ones, but this is the one I remember. Most fans will be quick to share their favorite sob story before you can even finish the question. The problem, though, does more than just tick off a few fans every year; it dampens the excitement of a great sport. Sportswriters can talk all day about who they think will win on paper, but as it’s been said, the game isn’t played on paper. That’s the reason all that time and money is spent actually going out to the field and playing the game. You never know what can happen, which is precisely what makes it so exciting.

For example, take Boise State’s thrilling win in the Fiesta Bowl over Oklahoma on Monday. You’ve probably heard about this by now even if you aren’t a sports fan because it’s been everywhere. Yesterday I heard mention of it in discussion groups I’m a part of, on NPR, Sports Center, the evening news, the newspaper, heck they were still talking about it today in the news. For those that don’t know the story, it goes something like this: Boise State came into the game as an underdog and no one gave them a chance to win outside of the Boise State campus. As Terry Bowden put it in his column today:

I couldn't find one college football analyst or expert who picked them. Who possibly could have predicted that Boise State, which moved to Division I-A just a decade ago, could beat Oklahoma, the team with the highest paid coach in college football (well, as of Jan. 2), the best facilities, the best athletes, seven national championships and arguably the best winning tradition anywhere?

But they did win and they did it with more excitement than has been seen in awhile. In case you didn’t catch the two trick plays that tied and won the game, you can find the hook and ladder play here and the statue of liberty play here. The amazing thing is that these plays, especially the latter, are a part of football folklore and haven’t worked in a game in years. But they did on Monday.

And that’s just it. Depriving 13-0 Boise State of a shot at the title, as well as all the other teams with good records, is depriving the country of a really great story. Of course there are far more important issues in our world, but sometimes the only way to deal with the day to day difficulties is to get your mind off things. That’s why we like sports, they let us act out our frustrations and emotions in a controlled environment. Games like Monday’s Fiesta Bowl unite and inspire and I guess I’d just like to see more chances for those kinds of moments.

Start the New Year with Music

I recently discovered a really cool web-site. Fair warning: you may want to wait until you get home from work before clicking on the link for this site, as it will certainly consume a bit of your time, and I'd hate to see you get fired because of me.

The site is called Pandora, and it's an internet radio site. What makes it different from other internet radio sites is that you pick a band or a song that you like and the Music Genome Project matches the style of the artist or song you picked with others. It's a great way to not only listen to good music, but to learn about new artists. Plus they have a cool blog add on...scroll down on my page here and you'll see it.

Enjoy! And if you create an account let me know and I'll bookmark you as a friend and we can share stations.