The Markives



22 March 02024: The Meaning Of 80-76 (Other Than 4, That Is)

That would, of course, be the score of yesterday's Oakland-Kentucky NCAA men's March Madness first-round game.

Leaving aside the fact that a lot of coverage has focused on the losing side rather than the winning side, which might self-correct later today as Round Two comes into prominence, once thing worth noting here is that this is strong evidence that the current chatter* about eliminating automatic bids for conference champions is misguided.

Oakland beating Kentucky is getting attention that Florida-Colorado won't get later today, disirregardless** of who wins--to say nothing of a hypothetical Oklahoma-St. John's matchup between two teams that missed the field and snubbed the NIT.  And ultimately, that's a good thing for the NCAA (motto: "We Don't Have All The Money Yet").

Which would be lost if auto-bids went away as some are advocatingZisterous partisanship continues to dazzle.

I will say this: Conference tournaments, however much they might be pitched as a way for any team*** to play their way into the tournament, are farcical.  Maybe there's room for some fixing there, but given that regular-season champions of one-bid leagues who lose in their conference tournaments have lost their automatic bids to the NIT, I am not filled with confidence.

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*--Calling it "discussion" suggests two-way communication that isn't happening.
**--I know that's not a word.
***--Except Chicago State, currently the lone D-I men's basketball independent.  That distinction aside, I'm not 100% sure how that university manages to stay open, except perhaps for the fact that public colleges aren't closing in quite the way that private schools are.



28 February 02024 (Happy birthday!): Speaking Of Not Getting Stuff, Or, $0.02 on Yesterday

I have a very difficult time believing that most of the "Uncommitted" voters from yesterday's Michigan Democratic Presidential primary honestly believe that their interests will be better served if Donald Trump is returned to the Presidency this November.

That may be giving them too much credit, since the ability of people to vote against their own interests is astounding sometimes.  (That said, we've probably all done that from time to time.)

While I respect their point of view, I think that their means are rather on the shortsighted side.

I read something today about some of these resistors* demanding "peace in the Middle East" as a condition for voting for Joe Biden this fall.

Like that's even a remote possibility.

Jon Stewart had it right about that region: "Too many people have too many claims on not enough land.  Jesus, Mohamed, and Moses all went to the same high school."

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*--While my software does not flag "resister" as an error, and "resistor" is more commonly used as a name for a piece of electronics hardware, I think that sentence reads better with the "o" form of the word.



2 February 02024*: On The Current Political Climate

You know the one.

A lot of commentary, reasoned and otherwise, from the citizenry regarding the potential of a rematch of 02020 this November in the Presidential election seems to include ranting about being dissatisfied with both choices.

I'm not sure I've heard that so often expressed in past leap years.  Certainly not with the passion--bordering on anger at not getting something they seem to feel entitled to--coming from some quarters.

Leaving aside the threat to democracy posed by one side, I cannot help but think of Bill Maher's pronouncement from some time in the last century that he's never entered a Presidential election thinking "I don't know which one to vote for; I like them both so much."

That probably describes every election for most voters since...I don't know.  Maybe Eisenhower vs. Stevenson?  Certainly nothing since then.  (Ford vs. Carter may have been a case of two relatively inoffensive [by the standards of the Bicentennial year] major-party candidates, but I don't think "like them both so much" really applied.)  When liking 2 isn't happening, expecting to like 1 seems like a lot to ask of the universe (which, of course, cares not the slightest about all of this).

My instinct when I read about someone issuing this complaint is something along the lines of "Run for office yourself, then."

Not "Run for President"--we have some evidence suggesting that inexperienced folks really shouldn't start at, or even near, the top--but put some actual personal stake into the process.  It's easy to lament your choices when you're not willing to get in there and do something,

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*--I've been writing this in my head for the better part of a month now.  It's time to write it up and move on.  My absentee ballot for the primary election arrived this week, which may have been the final nudge I needed.



19 January 02024 (Or 9): Another Sad Day For Comedy

We have lost another icon (maybe two).  Peter Schickele, a talented musician in his own right but destined to be remembered more for his work on the works of P.D.Q. Bach, has died at 88.  (P.D.Q. himself only made it to -65 or so, living as he did from 01807 to 01742.)

Schickele won a Grammy under his own name for best Classical Crossover Album, and won 4 Best Comedy Recording* Grammy Awards for P.D.Q.'s works.  These were entirely deserved in a way that that particular award hasn't always been.

Here's one of those Grammy winners: WTWP Classical Talkity-Talk Radio.  I am especially a fan of this one because it's set at a radio station.



One track that's fun on multiple levels is #15, the "Safe" Sextet.  The idea of a classical piece written for piccolo, English horn, bass clarinet, contrabassoon, harp, and celesta** is inspired lunacy.  If you don't want to wait for it to come around, you can jump to it here.

RIP, Professor.

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*--For my money, the most important Grammy Award.
**--These were chosen because they are 6 of the "forgotten" instruments of the orchestra.  I find it interesting that 4 of the 6 are woodwinds.  Surely there are some forgotten brass instruments out there.



10 January 02024: For The Record, I Did Enjoy That Last Year Of My 50s

Take that, anonymous well-wisher from 02022.

The fact of the matter is that my 50s were, all in all, a pretty good decade, which is one reason to be less than excited about birthday #LX.  All in all, I'd prefer not to leave that behind.

Of course, that's not an option, and so we move forward in time at the constant rate of 1 day per day.

I'll be back with more age-appropriate ranting in a day or two.

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02023
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02021
02020
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02011 02010 02009 02008
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