Friday, September 12, 2003
Pretty satisfactory open mic last night. I went out for a beer afterwards with Curtis who is a regular at the open mic. An authentic southern gent and particle physicist who also happens to play a mean blues guitar. Over a Yeungling at Pete's Cayuga Bar Curtis explained to me how accelerator physics is like trying to discover how a wristwatch works by smashing two of them together and seeing what flies off. I told him it sounds similar to the English game of conkers, a game which, in a similar way, combines serious science with mindless violence. I think that my miserable record at conkers as a kid was probably somehow correlated with my lack of aptitude in Physics class. Not sure how helpful this revelation is, but it's maybe worth thinking about.
It's surprising to me that conkers is not popular here with American children. It seems to me that it has many of the qualities of a classic American sport. There's the unforgiving physicality of the game. A round of conkers inevitably ends with bloody knuckles all round, and the specifics of the game: smashing the opponent's conker to pieces, stamping on it when it falls on the ground, seems very much to fit the American paradigm. (The Darwinian aspect of the game should be noted, as the weaker conkers are destroyed and the winners take on the scores of the vanquished.)
Conkers also features that other irony of American sports, the fact that, despite the punishingly physical nature of the game, it's not all that athletic. Being good at conkers doesn't demand that you be in shape. It's all about having a sharp eye, a good snap, and a strong elbow with which to block your opponent while you crush his helpless conker into the dirt with your foot.
Most importantly, conkers shares with baseball, football, hockey the fact that cheating and gamesmanship are pretty much a given. If you want to be the king of conkers you have to know how to fix your chestnut. Just soaking it in vinegar and hard-roasting it in the oven isn't going to cut the mustard if you really, really want to be the champion. You have to be ready to fill your conker with concrete, glue or cork, which is totally against the rules, but hell, it's not like everyone else isn't doing it also. The notion of the corked bat in baseball can probably be traced back directly to the game of conkers, no doubt sometime in the sixteen hundreds.
Not convinced? Then how about the game's total dependency on specialized equipment? I'm talking about the string of course. Just like every American sport you've got to invest before you can play. You can't just crush a soda can and start a game. You've got to go out and buy expensive twine from the sporting goods dealer. No string, no conker match!
Okay, okay, the string thing is a bit tenuous, but I felt I needed a clincher.
It's surprising to me that conkers is not popular here with American children. It seems to me that it has many of the qualities of a classic American sport. There's the unforgiving physicality of the game. A round of conkers inevitably ends with bloody knuckles all round, and the specifics of the game: smashing the opponent's conker to pieces, stamping on it when it falls on the ground, seems very much to fit the American paradigm. (The Darwinian aspect of the game should be noted, as the weaker conkers are destroyed and the winners take on the scores of the vanquished.)
Conkers also features that other irony of American sports, the fact that, despite the punishingly physical nature of the game, it's not all that athletic. Being good at conkers doesn't demand that you be in shape. It's all about having a sharp eye, a good snap, and a strong elbow with which to block your opponent while you crush his helpless conker into the dirt with your foot.
Most importantly, conkers shares with baseball, football, hockey the fact that cheating and gamesmanship are pretty much a given. If you want to be the king of conkers you have to know how to fix your chestnut. Just soaking it in vinegar and hard-roasting it in the oven isn't going to cut the mustard if you really, really want to be the champion. You have to be ready to fill your conker with concrete, glue or cork, which is totally against the rules, but hell, it's not like everyone else isn't doing it also. The notion of the corked bat in baseball can probably be traced back directly to the game of conkers, no doubt sometime in the sixteen hundreds.
Not convinced? Then how about the game's total dependency on specialized equipment? I'm talking about the string of course. Just like every American sport you've got to invest before you can play. You can't just crush a soda can and start a game. You've got to go out and buy expensive twine from the sporting goods dealer. No string, no conker match!
Okay, okay, the string thing is a bit tenuous, but I felt I needed a clincher.
Johnny Cash is dead.
Thanks for everything Sir.
If you haven't yet seen the incredible "Hurt" video, check it out here.
Thursday, September 11, 2003
Ahh the narcotic effects of Iron & Wine. It only takes a short hit of this music to send me into a reverie. Something about this guy Sam Beam. He's the real thing, he really is. I stayed up too late last night listening to the new EP and trying (unsuccessfully - thanks a bunch Kazaa) to download unreleased stuff, - although I did find a link that streams his cover of the Flaming Lips song "Waiting for Superman". Apparently he also does a cover of "Peng" by Stereolab, but Googling for that proved fruitless.
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
Just got home from the second Tarkovsky movie, "Andrei Rublev" to find the new Iron and Wine EP in the mailbox. I'm listening to it right now. Can't remember the last time I was excited enough about a new release to buy it the day it came out.
Sounds pretty good so far...
Sounds pretty good so far...
Saw a great movie over the weekend - "My Name is Ivan" showing as part of a Tarkovsky season at Cornell Cinema. It's about a twelve-year-old boy who becomes a scout for the Russian army during World War II. Don't know what to say other than I thought it was terrific: beautiful and poetic with some unforgettable images. Great moviemaking all round. The compositions are flawless and the camera movements describe the action with serene poignancy. Also great acting, particularly by the young boy.
Would make a perfect double feature with "Come and See", although you would leave with a heavy heart.
Would make a perfect double feature with "Come and See", although you would leave with a heavy heart.
Monday, September 08, 2003
Our downstairs neighbors recently got a wireless router for their cable internet connection and the signal comes up into our apartment. At their suggestion I bought a wireless card for the laptop and now we get high-speed wireless access in every room. It's a fantastic thing! Not only can I now download dozens of mp3s in a matter of minutes, but I also get to listen to John Peel, Just a Minute, the chart show, the shipping forcast... all that great stuff from back home. Over the weekend I was able to tune in live to Test Match Special and listen to England as they accomplished that rarest of feats: winning a game of cricket. Great to hear the familiar voices of the announcers once again, discussing cake and Concord, and just once in a while cricket.
It's a treat to hear John Peel again. It's actually better now than it was back home because the shows are archived so I can tune in whenever I like. No need to stay up till the wee hours.
I've also subscribed to KaZaA, the file sharing program, although downloading songs from there is a lot more labor intensive than it seems like it should be. It's hit and miss, and when it does work it can take all day to download a song. I do find it somewhat useful for finding obscure things that aren't available easily on the web. I'm sorta getting into Tim Buckley right now and I've been using KaZaA to find his songs.
It's a treat to hear John Peel again. It's actually better now than it was back home because the shows are archived so I can tune in whenever I like. No need to stay up till the wee hours.
I've also subscribed to KaZaA, the file sharing program, although downloading songs from there is a lot more labor intensive than it seems like it should be. It's hit and miss, and when it does work it can take all day to download a song. I do find it somewhat useful for finding obscure things that aren't available easily on the web. I'm sorta getting into Tim Buckley right now and I've been using KaZaA to find his songs.
