A Poison Tree

I've done five pages of writing tonight on William Blake's "A Poison Tree" from Songs of Experience. Almost all of those five pages have focused on meter. Never again will I forget what a trochee is.

I find it scary just how much a great writer can fit into a handful of lines. The images and metrical devices in "A Poison Tree" are not too terribly packed in. Yet, I've had no problem throwing down five solid pages about one aspect of the poem's 16 lines. Nothing is so deceptively simple as a well-written poem. I shudder to think how much one could pull out of sixteen lines of Milton, an author who really condensed a lot into each line. I'm sure whole books have been written about four quatrains of Milton. The more and more I read, the more I realize why Milton is considered the best ever. I was skeptical at first, but now I don't doubt it. I think it is so funny to read through everything that happened for the two or three centuries to follow John Milton, and find where all the great writers cherry-picked ideas from him. Except for A.E. Houseman. He wrote some great poems, but Houseman was a strange bird if there ever was one. Sad one too.

Highly Refined Pride

First off - the first video for the new Mountain Goats album, Heretic Pride, was posted today. Looks like "Sax Rohmer #1" is the first single. The video is similar to the Bob Dylan video for "Subterranean Homesick Blues" but I definitely got more of a kick out of this one. The Mountain Goats' vid is much more "wow" than the "haha" that goes along with Dylan's. Watch it:

Next on the docket - I've been ordering vinyl to frame and put on the walls of my apartment. I've been getting records that really meant a lot to me growing up. The flat will feel more like home that way. A packaged arrived for me today with Minus the Bear's Highly Refined Pirates in it. Even better, the vinyl is clear and orange, which I am told is special. So of the albums I plan on mounting, here is what I have in:


A new one should come in soon too.

Guabi Guabi

I've been listening to an African folk song called "Guabi Guabi" all day. The version I've been working is Ramblin' Jack Elliott's version, but the only full one I can find online is this video of Arlo Guthrie from a 1978 live show. It is good, but I recommend dropping a dollar somewhere online and buying the Ramblin' Jack version. Or go get the Essential Ramblin' Jack Elliott. Well worth it.

Guabi Guabi kuzwan le toum diome
Ize les gambi shooey entana
Guabi Guabi kuzwan le toum diome
Ize les gambi shooey entana

Ni izome tingy la ma bonza
Ize widgy le ba na na
Ni izome tingy la ma bonza
Ize widgy le ba na na

Arlo and his band playing Guabi Guabi

Baseball Lying and Skybus Flying

For fans of baseball, the middle of January is a lonely time of year. It's been months since the World Series, there still a couple months till opening day, and most of the trading's happened. Spring Training, that time of false optimism for about 90% of teams is still a month or so away. You know it is the low times for baseball when the writers over at MLB.com have their top story about how a player who wasn't named in the Mitchell Report just got around to addressing false statements that he was named in the Mitchell Report. MLB.com has never had the greatest writers in the world, and when a story doesn't fly over a fence for the 756th time, they have trouble stringing together words worth reading. So please, baseball writers, quit writing meaningless articles about Jeff Francoeur's film choices and brush up on your Sabermetrics. You're going to have to learn what OPS+ means some day.

Somewhat baseball related: I was looking at what Spring Training and trying to see if I could fly down to Lake Buena Vista, FL to see the Braves play on the world's cheapest airline, Skybus. Unfortunately, Skybus does not fly anywhere nearby, but it does fly to the city where the Orioles play their warm up games. No thanks. Skybus interests me to no end. I am amazed at the fact you can fly on the East coast for somewhere around 40 dollars usually, with some tickets going as cheap as $25. The catch upfront is that the plane has no actual service for passengers, and the hidden catch is that they don't actually fly you to the cities they list. Want to fly to New York? Well, they fly you to New York - Newburgh, NY to be exact, about 75 miles outside of New York City. New Orleans, right? You land somewhere in the middle of nowhere Mississippi and are expected to have a way to the Big Easy. That makes me shudder. LA is a bit easier - you land just fifteen miles outside in Burbank. I think this Spring I'll still try to fly Skybus, maybe to New Orleans in March. Maybe to Florida, where their destinations are a little closer to recognizable civilization. Backwoods Mississippi scares me.

UNC vs. Maryland

After Georgetown beat UConn last week on a last second three-pointer from 7'2" Roy Hibbert, many people talked about how great a win it was. However, there was a minority who thought that it signified what kind of trouble Georgetown might be in - getting a last second three from a big guy who does not shoot three pointers comes in right behind the full court baseball heave that somehow goes in on the scale of luck. And before anyone says, "Hibbert has gone two for two on 3's this year," I will direct you towards his free-throw percentage: .571 on 70 attempts. I say this because if a team has to have the big guy make the desperation three, they are in trouble. Yesterday, Carolina confirmed they didn't deserve their number one ranking. Tyler Hansbrough is a god among gods here on Without Music, but he shouldn't have been the one to take that last second three. Maryland defended the inbounds well all game yesterday. Except for a couple of short runs, UM just outplayed the Tar Heels on their own floor. It was the first UNC loss I've seen in person, and hopefully it will be the last. The Dean E. Smith Center was as loud as I've ever heard it, which was exciting, but in the end most of us left with a bad taste in our mouths. Unlike Clemson and Georgia Tech, Maryland actually hit their free throws. I felt that the most impressive player on the floor yesterday afternoon was James Gist. The guy scored in every way imaginable, against almost anyone Carolina paired him with. Gist's performance was not one of domination - he wasn't making shots while falling down or dribbling through the entire team for a dunk - but he did hit all different types of shots. The best compliment I can give James Gist is that he looked completely efficient while shooting. Textbook.

At least we had a nice helping of snow here in Chapel Hill last night. I know the novelty of snow in a place that doesn't usually get Winter weather helped take my mind off the loss.

Party's Over For Nodatta

I hate writing these posts.

In the past hour, nodatta.blogspot.com shut down for good. In the past few years, there hasn't been another blog that could rival the services provided by nodatta. I doubt anyone upped as many albums in the past few years as the guys who ran the site. Just about anything you couldn't find anywhere else could be found at nodatta. It is quite a shame. What's worse, I heard that the reason they shut down might be because they upped the new Mars Volta album that had leaked. Not sure if that is true, but if it is, Mars Volta is a bad reason to have to shut down.

No more OiNK.
No more Albumbase.
No more nodatta.

The big guys are falling hard.

Bear v. Yak

That's Bear Grylls. Apparently, Bear had an encounter with a yak in Siberia. No one knows any more of this, and won't until the show airs. Is that his blood? Or the beast's? Can't say for sure. Can we be sure that Bear is just really badass though? Yes.

Also badass and British? William Blake. Songs of Experience must have been like the 1790's version of Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden. If Iron Maiden had mirrored Milton's Paradise Lost. That is the first and last Maiden reference you will ever see from me. Enjoy it.

Reunion Tour

The Weakerthans are coming to Carrboro on the 9th of April. Am I pumped? Considering how much I liked their release from the Fall of 2007, yes!

However, before the Canadians get down to the Southern Part of Heaven, I plan on seeing Jose Gonzalez on campus at UNC on March 3rd, and then the everybodyfields and Chatham County Line in Carrboro on March 7th. Good times.

See you there.

Loch Ness Kotsay

The Braves recently announced the acquisition of Mark Kotsay from the Oakland A's to fill Andruw Jones' space in centerfield for 2008. Kotsay is about as mediocre as it gets, his OPS+ is at 100 exactly for his career. I'm not exactly sure what Kotsay's wife Jamie's OPS+ is, but is she mediocre? Not so much.

In Search of the Elusive Jamie Kotsay
Kotsay Going to Atlanta. Husband Going With Her.

Both articles come from Ump Bump.

Western Digital

Western Digital can die a horrible death. They make money by building seemingly-sturdy external hard drives, offering a joke of a warranty, and then when the device quits working altogether after five months of light use, Western Digital's support staff gives you the run around.

If I am ever faced with an anarchic situation where I have to loot and pillage to stay alive, I will make sure to stop by Best Buy and take a shelf full of WD products. Then, I will punt them like footballs into the burning buildings and flooded streets.

Kenny George is larger than any human being I've ever seen in person. Listed at 7'7" & 360 lbs., the UNC-Asheville center dwarfs everyone, hands down. Reyshawn Terry, in the above picture? He's 6'8". Tonight, Tyler Hansbrough, in all his bulk, looked like a twig for most of the first half. And then this happened.




Tyler Hansbrough turned into Pshyco T, and went on for 23 points and 8 rebounds. This wasn't the most impressive showing for the Tar Heels this season, but if I get to witness a UNC win in person, I won't complain. The thing I will think of down the line about this game, even more than getting to watch my team win, is how I wish Kenny George would get a good break sometime. Last year, his appearance in Chapel Hill was largely a novelty, and this year he was able to move away from some of that with 14 points and 11 rebounds. ESPN's box score gives him 4 blocks, but I would have given him at least 6, and note that George positively altered another 10-15 shots in 24 minutes of play. The guys over at Storming The Floor are pretty smitten with the big guy, and I can see why. All accounts describe George as a soft-spoken, good natured guy. I think many people around the basketball world would love to see the big man from UNCA lose some pounds, get into a bit better shape, and get a chance to play ball for money some day. Right now, the excitement of seeing Kenny George come in the game isn't sustained for long. After three or four possessions, it is painful to watch him make his way down the court, and watching him dunk becomes more and more unimpressive - like watching someone drop clothes in a hamper. I really hope to see George next year, his senior year, looking healthy. Watching him play, it is easy to see that if he had the stamina to play at top condition for 29 or 3o minutes, he could seriously be a 20 points, 20 rebounds, 10 blocks kind of guy. That would make me happy.

On another basketball note, Charlotte and Clemson need to figure out what kind of ball clubs they are going to be. Maybe UNCC is truly an up and down team, and Clemson is still stunned from Wayne Ellington's shot the other night. Also, NC State needs to quit playing games with box scores that look like high school JV games.

Everynight Fire Works

I signed the lease for an apartment recently that I'm rather excited about - the people I'll live with are good ones, the proximity to campus is desirable, rent is reasonable, and it is literally behind Cat's Cradle. In anticipation of needing to fill wall space, I hunted around the internet and bought a vinyl copy of Hey Mercedes' 2001 full length, Everynight Fire Works.

I would go to battle defending EFW - it could easily be called my favorite album of all time. The amount and quality of rocking that goes on in the 11 tracks astounds me. Everything the band put out after Everynight Fire Works pales in comparison. I'll be so excited when the LP arrives in the mail, and I have no doubt I will be a happier man from looking at that beautiful cover every day.

Tomahawk Chop

The spring semester is still a few days from starting, but I've already set aside a reward for a hopeful strong finish. I'm getting tickets for the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets series in May. I've always been a Braves fan, but never seen them play, so the three games against their biggest rival should be a treat.

Other tickets I picked up/plan to pick up recently:

1/9 - UNC vs. UNC Asheville basketball
1/18 - the everbodyfields in Winston-Salem
3/7 - Chatham County Line CD release with the everybodyfields in Carrboro

I hope everyone had good and safe time on New Year's Eve. I hope your night was as good as mine, just without the shouting match over which suburb of Winston-Salem was better, Walnut Cove or Clemmons, at two in the morning in a crowded diner.