Daily Archives: March 17, 2011

15 posts

A Viewing Guide to Days 1 and 2 of the NCAAs

Assuming that you have access to cable TV destination truTV, the NCAA has made it possible to watch every single game in the first two rounds of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournatment. (Sorry, it’s the first two rounds. That mess the last two nights does NOT count) Great, right? Well, it still doesn’t account for the fact that many of the games run concurrently, and, in the first two days, some of them are out-right dogs. I’m looking at you, Kansas-Boston U. Admittedly, the networks do a decent job of staggering, but some games are a bet to be better than others.

Chances are, you don’t have a legit dog in this fight, as some 280 Division I schools don’t make the tournament. So, what to watch? You’re busy, and probably too lazy to drag a second or even third television into the same room to put them all up together. Let’s take a look at the schedule and highlight the stuff worth watching:

March 17

Early Games

12:15 p.m.: East Region: No. 5 West Virginia vs. Clemson, CBS
12:40 p.m.: Southeast Region: No. 8 Butler vs. No. 9 Old Dominion, truTV
1:40 p.m.: Southwest Region: No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 13 Morehead State, TBS

The pick: Butler v. ODU. Butler went to the title game last year, remember? Some people think they’re better than the 8 seed they received, and others think they’ll be bounced in the first round. 8-9 games are generally closely contested, and I don’t think anyone believes that WVU will have much trouble with a Clemson team that’s probably at least a little gassed from playing late Tuesday and making the trip to Tampa Bay from Dayton.

Mid-Day Games

2:10 p.m.: West Region: No. 7 Temple vs. No. 10 Penn State, TNT

2:40 p.m.: East Region: No. 4 Kentucky vs. No. 13 Princeton, CBS

3:10 p.m.: Southeast Region: No. 1 Pittsburgh vs. UNC-Asheville, truTV

4:10 p.m.: Southwest Region: No. 5 Vanderbilt vs. No. 12 Richmond, TBS

4:40 p.m.: West Region: No. 2 San Diego State vs. No. 15 Northern Colorado

The pick(s): Ugh, is it any surprise that these games are on in the middle of the work day? Nobody outside of Pennsylvania wants to see PSU-Temple, and unless Princeton has some magic, Kentucky might run them off the floor in the first 15 minutes. You’ll have to hope that Morehead State gives Louisville some run in the 1:40 game, at least enough to get you to Vandy-Richmond at 4:10. This one has potential, simply because for as great as the SEC is in football, you can’t trust them in hoops outside the states of Kentucky and Florida most years.

Post-Dinner Games

6:50 p.m: Southeast Region: No. 2 Florida vs. No. 15 UC-Santa Barbara

7:15 p.m.: Southeast Region: No. 3 BYU vs. No. 14 Wofford, CBS

7:20 p.m.: West Region: No. 3 Connecticut vs. No. 14 Bucknell, TNT

7:27 p.m.: Southeast Region: No. 4 Wisconsin vs. No. 13 Belmont, truTV

The pick: Now things get interesting. The Jimmer Show starts at 7:15, and if he gets going early, you might as well stick around. Heck, he tends to score in bursts, so if Wofford sticks around for the first 10 minutes, it could be fun. Otherwise, make your way over to ‘The tru” for Wisconsin-Belmont, which has a lot of folks pick as a trendy upset. Belmont can flat shoot it, and Wisconsin couldn’t break 40 against Penn State in the Big-Ten tournament. In other words, don’t let the seeds fools you.

Night-Time Games

9:25 p.m.: Southeast Region: No. 7 UCLA vs. No. 10 Michigan State, TBS

9:45 p.m.: Southeast Region: No. 6 St. John’s vs. No. 11 Gonzaga, CBS

9:55 p.m.: West Region: No. 6 Cincinnati vs. No. 11 Missouri, TNT

10:05 p.m.: Southeast Region: No. 5 Kansas State vs. No. 12 Utah State, truTV

The Pick: Christ, CBS, thanks for cramming three potentially good games into the last hour. Here, I’d toggle between the first three games until KSU-Utah State tips. Utah State is another situation where I advise you to ignore the seeds. USU was ranked in the top 25 for a while this season, and again, if they get hot, they could make KSU sweat.

March 18

Early Games

12:15 p.m.: West Region: No. 4 Texas vs. No. 13 Oakland, CBS

12:40 p.m.: West Region: No. 8 Michigan vs. No. 9 Tennessee, truTV

1:40 p.m.: Southwest Region: No. 2 Notre Dame vs. No. 15 Akron, TBS

The pick: Happy Friday! These games suck. MI-TN is the only one with any potential here, I think, and Michigan is awful. Want to see an 8 seed who probably should have been forced to play a play-in game? Watch Michigan. Go out to lunch instead.

Mid-Day Games

2:10 p.m.: East Region: No. 8 George Mason vs. No. 9 Villanova, TNT

2:40 p.m.: West Region: No. 5 Arizona vs. No. 12 Memphis, CBS

3:10 p.m.: West Region: No. 1 Duke vs. No. 16 Hampton, truTV

4:10 p.m.: Southwest Region: No. 7 Texas A&M vs. No. 10 Florida State, TBS

4:40 p.m.: East Region: No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 16 UTSA/Alabama State

The pick: Arizona has probably one of the more exciting athletes in the tournament in Derrick Williams. Memphis will run with them though, so it will probably be the most entertaining game of this bunch. Texas A&M-FSU will be interesting only in that someone has to win.

Post-Dinner Games

6:50 p.m.: Southwest Region: No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 16 Boston University, TBS

7:15 p.m.: East Region: No. 2 UNC vs. No. 15 Long Island, CBS

7:20 p.m.: Southwest Region: No. 3 Purdue vs. No. 14 St. Peter’s, TNT

7:27 p.m.: East Region: No. 6 Xavier vs. No. 11 Marquette, truTV

The pick: Xavier-Marquette. Really, the other three games will probably be blowouts, and Marquette is probably better than an 11 seed, but not quite good enough, if I was picking (and I did).

Late Night Games

9:20 p.m.: Southwest Region: No. 8 UNLV vs. No. 9 Illinois, TBS

9:40 p.m.: East Region: No. 7 Washington vs. No. 10 Georgia, CBS

9:55 p.m.: Southwest Region: No. 6 Georgetown vs. No. 11 VCU, TNT

10:05 p.m. East Region: No. 3 Syracuse vs. No. 14 Indiana State, truTV

The pick: Illinois is not a 9 seed. Seriously, the Big-Ten is not that good at basketball. Go UW-UGA here. Washington’s Isiah Thomas is cold-blooded, and they just knocked off Arizona, so this will likely be the most entertaining of this bunch.

As always, though, keep an eye on the scores. CBS, as a rule, has always done a good job of keeping viewers informed of when something special is happening or about to happen.

And lastly, if you haven’t done so yet, you still have a short amount of time to sign up for the Crasstalk March Madness Bracket on CBS. The password is honeybadger.

Update (4:50PM)-Congrats to A Piece of the Continent, for being the only person in the Crassballin’ Bracket to get each of the first 4 games correct. Jerk.

Aunty Milk’s Guide to St Patrick’s Day Etiquette

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St Paddy’s Day is a funny thing. I won’t even tackle what ‘being Irish’ means because it is an impossible subject. However – suffice to say – on March 17th, being Irish means wearing green, saying ‘yee’ instead of ‘you’, ‘tis’ instead of ‘this’, drinking copious amounts of (green) alcohol and asking people to kiss you. Apparently. Just look at Kittay O’Noes here. Authenticity is out the window. This is okay I suppose and kinda nice in a way – because everyone celebrates Irish culture all over the world.

I know a lot of this article will be super-obvious to polite, cosmopolitan people (which I assume make up the majority of Crasstalkers) – but I speak from experience. These issues crop up. People can be very generous to the native Celts but it can be overwhelming. So let’s make things easy for both sides …

Don’t call it ST PATTY’S DAY. Patty is a girl’s name. She is a character in Peanuts. Paddy is the abbreviation for Patrick.

Do be glad you aren’t alone. The Irish historically sowed their oats. Colin Farrell continues this trend as we speak. Therefore every other person across the planet appears to have an Irish ancestor or friend. Heal the world. Michael would have wanted that.

Do be aware that to most of the world – Irish people come from Ireland. This is whom I mean when I say “Irish”. I know American cultural dialogue about heritages is mostly internal. It is easy to omit the clarifying “Irish-suffix”. But when speaking to someone from Ireland; include it as a courtesy

Don’t spend too much time talking about dead people from 150 years ago. Yes I’m looking at you – Conan O’Brien. Same goes for all those old ‘granny proverbs’ that are apparently ‘Irish’ but are mostly found on tea towels or t-shirts. They are probably all made up bollocks anyway.

Do show an interest in modern Ireland. Family lore is interesting but only takes you so far with strangers. Ireland is a very pragmatic country and only really foreigners are sentimental about it. The weather keeps you down to earth anyway. Ask questions. Be honest if you don’t know enough. It will help break the ice and take you a lot further than nostalgia.

Don’t go on about personal traits you consider “Irish” (e.g. looks, physical features or personality traits). People from Ireland and elsewhere may not see it the same. You may look like something completely different to them. And what is ‘Irish looking’ anyway? Julianna Margulies could pass very easily for a local in Dublin or Galway but she isn’t at all. Irish-Americans come in many forms too – and often don’t look remotely ‘Irish’. It just doesn’t matter anymore.

Do be complimentary about accents in a subtle fashion. You want to hear some? Try some Fassbender. But gushing and asking people to say things for your amusement is too much. Just sit back and listen. People will talk more if they think they aren’t on show. Nobody wants to be a performing monkey. You may think they have lovely hair too – but would you mention it every 5 minutes?

Don’t for the love of St Bono –mimic a person’s voice or do your own impression without specific prompting. This is only funny if you know the person well! Most people will smile nicely and nod – others may tell you to fuck off. You don’t want that. But it happens to people with accents all the time. Dylan explains – although he seems to confuse “English” with “Ray Winstone” or some weird drunk person from London whom I don’t recognize. Believe me – it isn’t just the English.

Don’t approach native people with the saying “Top O’ The Morning”, “Begorrah” and any other stupid phrases nobody uses. It is like going up to Salma Hayek and saying ‘ay ay ay arrrrrrrriba’ whilst making gun noises. We will resign these words to the box marked ARSEBISCUITS.

Don’t bear grudges on St Paddy’s Day. The holiday is not about that. This includes having a swipe at other ethnicities within your country. Being positive about Irish identity is not the same as being negative about anyone else. Remember the 19th century was shitty for many people – not just in the Irish diaspora. And none of us were actually there to remember these hard times.

Don’t get your cultural and historical knowledge from stupid stereotypes or slushy ballads. Know your stuff or other people will call you on it. Particularly with politics. Relations between both UK and Ireland are probably more cordial now than ever before. Northern Ireland has had it’s own assembly for some time and is basically self-governed in a lot of ways. The terrorist ceasefire holds. Nobody wants the violence back.

Do be aware of recent historic upsets and developments. Unfortunately, bombs don’t recognise nationalities and many innocent people were killed, maimed or scarred for life during the last forty years. Remember most of the money for terrorism came from misguided or hateful people – and a lot from overseas like Mr Libya. Maybe even from your country – victims are still waiting for apologies from many quarters. Something to think about if anyone asks you do you to drink a hilarious cocktail called an ‘Irish car bomb’. The Omagh bomb was only in 1998. It’s not a fucking joke to many. ‘Black and Tan’ is another one. If you think that is being over-sensitive, then you are probably very far away from the reality. Lucky you.

Don’t fall for the ‘Greenface’ – meaning leprechaun jokes and imagery. Same for hilarious mascots and stereotypes you see at sports games or elsewhere like on TV shows. The view that Irish women are flame-haired temptress ‘colleens’ (ugh – like ‘Jewess’ that term seriously has to go away) has more to do with Maureen O’Hara than anyone else. People from Scotland and some parts of Scandinavia are just as likely to be redheads. These negative images of Irish people derive from nasty 19th century pro-Eugenics propaganda that ridiculed the Irish as the “white negro”. They were meant to be degrading. So keep the shamrock-tattoo fakery silly hats to a minimum. Or you must then to go to the max – like yer man here. Work it – or leave it.

Do become familiar with Irish comedy and TV and films and music. Know that faux-Celtic rock bands like Dropkick Murphys (who aren’t even Irish-Americans) and Flogging Molly are basically a joke in Ireland. Nothing wrong with liking such music – just don’t assume Irish people do. Modern Ireland has a greater reverence for American music, in fact. Hip-hop, soul, R&B and rockabilly (see Imelda-May) are very popular. The film The Commitments summed up this feeling very much. And of course there is – Van the man.

Do make some new friends! Because Irish passport holders are universal – especially in these times of economic heartbreak – there is a strong chance that you might bump into an actual home-world Celt during celebrations. Hopefully, it will be someone cute with an accent that turns you to jelly. Or even something more! Just relax and enjoy the craic.

Recipe Sunday Thursday: Irish Soda Bread

On this day of binge-drinking and misguided attempts to show off your jigging skills, here’s an easy-to-make and delicious recipe for Irish Soda Bread. Soda breads use baking soda instead of yeast as a leavening agent, and as far as we know, were first introduced to Ireland in the 1840s. Irish soda bread traditionally has a cross cut into the top before baking, which may help it to rise and/or keep away the devil. You can do other designs though; whatever tilts your tea kettle!

The somewhat surprisingly irate people over at The Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread contend that there is only one “true” form of Irish soda bread, and any additional ingredients are an abomination to the bread and humanity (actually only a slight exaggeration). Nevertheless, if you want to add raisins, nuts, gummi bears, or even some green food dye to your soda bread, I say go for it.

The following recipe is from The Joy of Vegan Baking, by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. The milk and butter in the recipe can obviously be either vegan or not.

Ingredients

2 cups (470 ml) milk
2 teaspoons white distilled vinegar
4 cups (500g) flour (can be whole wheat, white, or a mixture of both)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 425ºF (220ºC). Lightly grease a round 9- or 10-inch cake pan [I just used a cookie sheet and it worked out fine]. In a small bowl, combine the milk and vinegar. Let stand for 5-10 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the milk and vinegar mixture and the butter, and combine until you have a sticky dough. Knead the dough in the bowl or on a floured surface for 10 to 12 strokes [Err on the side of handling the dough less].

Place the dough in the pan, and cut a cross [or smiley face] in the top. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the bottom has a hollow sound when thumped. Cool slightly before smoothing.

Soda bread is delicious when toasted lightly and buttered, or dunked in some soup or sauce. Enjoy!

Koch Sucker: How Greed is Eroding Democracy

The Koch brothers are some extremely wealthy brothers whom inherited all their money from their father, Freddy Koch. They control Koch Industries, America’s second biggest company (it also sounds like the company a super-villain would own). The Kochs’ are some of the most callous, indifferent kinds of capitalists that you can find on the planet earth. They founded a political advocacy group in 2004 to lobby their political causes, American’s for Prosperity. Since its formation AFP was a major supporter of Republican candidates in the 2010 election cycle and is heavily involved in political activities aimed at reducing regulation of the oil and gas industry. During the summer of 2008, AFP funded a radio ad critical of a North Carolina U.S. Senatorial challenger, Democrat Kay Hagan, for her position on taxes and offshore oil drilling. During the 2010 election cycle, Americans for Prosperity claims to have spent $40 million dollars on rallies, phone banks, and canvassing, mostly for Republican candidates.

The Koch family has also donated vast sums of money to various other political think-tanks and institutions including the Cato Institute, the Federalist Society, the Mercatus Center, the Institute for Humane Studies, the Institute for Justice, the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, the Institute for Energy Research, the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment, Heritage Foundation, the Manhattan Institute, the George C. Marshall Institute, the Reason Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute. The Kochs’ are, of course, extremely “pro-business” and significant supporters of “free-markets.” In June 2010 they held a large seminar entitled “Understanding and Addressing Threats to American Free Enterprise and Prosperity”. The invitation stated that “[our] prosperity is under attack by the current Administration and many of our elected officials” and “we cannot rely on politicians to [defend our free society], so it is up to us to combat what is now the greatest assault on American freedom and prosperity in our lifetimes”.

It becomes clear in the picture painted of the Koch family that they are simply industrial-capitalists with little or no concern for the welfare of, not even the most vulnerable and impoverished people, but all people who aren’t obscenely wealthy. Nothing is more indicative of this than the Kochs’ involvement with Scott Walker and his crusade to disenfranchise labour. Walker’s capitulation to Koch Industries was thrown into embarrassing relief when the satirical website, Buffalo Beast, successively had a prank caller call Walker and convince him that he was David Koch. The phone rings. The line is transferred to Walker’s office.

“Scott! David Koch. How are you?”

“Hey, David! I’m good. And yourself?”

Walker is super excited to hear from David Koch and proceeds to give him a detailed run-down of what’s going on, including some petty scheming to lock Democrats pay checks in their desk drawers. Walker mentions that Democrat Tim Cullens had often voted with him on pieces of legislation and “Koch” replies that he was going to give Cullens a call. However, Walker isn’t too sure this is a good idea because Cullens isn’t “one of us.”

What are we to take from that little turn of phrase, “one of us?” It’s a question of who Scott Walker thinks he is and who he is in office to represent. Enlightenment philosophy will tell us that the State raises humanity out of that horrible state of nature, of perpetual war. That the people of the state invest their personal sovereignty into a representative body and through their representative the people are present at the seat of government. But is it not more accurate to say that States only formalize this so-called “natural” warfare? Is it not more truthful to say that the war of person upon person isn’t natural at all but only comes into being through the Enlightenment ideology of Liberty, an ideology that pits everyone against everyone else in an eternal pursuit of liberty? The only difference is that his state of natural war can now be quantified, measured in precise dollar amounts, in the precise amount of the “have” and the “have-not.” To have is a right but to have is also to war because resources are finite.

This kind of attitude obviously doesn’t Jive with the free-market, corporate outlook on life which advocates the right to unrestrained acquisition of wealth. What is becoming increasingly obvious now is that politicians, by and large, only have their own self-interests at heart as well. When Walker quips that Cullens isn’t “one of us” he really means that Cullens doesn’t subscribe to the notion of perpetual warfare being waged on the have-nots by the haves and this is class warfare, let us make no mistake about it. Why else would it be necessary for corporate interests to spend so much money on politicking? It can only be because the logic of their politics is transparently “anti-person” in its “pro-business” stance.

Koch: You’re the first domino.

Walker: Yep. This is our moment.

What is most disturbing about the recorded conversation between Scott Walker and the fake David Koch is the way in which they know it is war. This is a coordinated effort to erode the ability of a majority to feed themselves, clothe themselves and house themselves and their families. It is a coordinated effort to disenfranchise labor, to steal the voice of people who actually work for a living. The end goal can only be to render the have-nots immobile, to trap them in a power relationship which exploits their needs for the very necessities of life. It is no longer about the working poor, or the lower classes; it is no longer about the “middle class” or the “upper-middle class,” it is about a desire to drive as many people into “have-not” status in order to become the fullest “haves” they can be. Fools like Walker think that he too can become part of the “have” club but the very logic of having implies that wealth will always be directed toward an increasingly smaller and smaller amount of hands at the exclusion of everyone else. Soon even the governorship will only pay minimum wage. The pro-business, neo-liberal agenda is hard at work all over the world so this is a concern to people of all nations, religions or whatever other affiliation you choose. Ultimately, democracy can only be rejuvenated if we demand that our politicians end their rampant collusion with corporate interests.

Buffalo Beast – Buffalo News – Koch Family – Body Politic Image – Hobbes Image