brainsplotch

The dust has settled on Christmas and it's already New Year's Eve.  I am coming to you via our new Dell Inspiron laptop that my wife bought us (i.e. the two adults in this family) for Christmas.  I have vowed that the children will not get their grubby little hands on this computer as they did our previous laptop, which is only buying time until it's inevitable trip to software heaven. It was a good Christmas.  I have stopped comparing Christmases to previous ones and worrying about whether the current holiday celebration outstrips previous ones.  The older I get, the less important that becomes,  I'm just happy to still be standing upright and be able to be with my family.  As it is, the holiday celebrations are constantly evolving over time as generations get older and/or pass on, while new generations make their appearance on the scene.  And for me, Christmas really is mainly about the children and how excited they become in anticipation of the bi...

While I'm feeling reasonably inspired, and don't currently have a son playing "Minecraft", "Team Fortress 2" or "Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit" on one of our two functioning computers, I will at long last write a blog entry to let my loyal legion of readers (all two or three of you) know what I've been up to and what I've been thinking about. First of all, I'm finally coming down off my seasonal football fever.  If you don't already know (or care) the Michigan State Spartans lost the Big Ten football title game to Wisconsin, so there will be no Rose Bowl trip for Sparty.  Two weeks later, I'm finally over it. Secondly, I actually read a novel written for adults (and not for children).  The first time that has happened in quite some time.  The Sense of an Ending , by Julian Barnes, was quite wonderful and I highly recommend it.   It touches upon the fallibility of our personal memories, and the regrets we may harbor over decisi...

With my beloved alma mater Michigan State playing in the Big Ten football Championship game tonight, I have been in a football frame of mind as of late.  Once this whirlwind of a college football season ends, I'll try and be less neglectful of this blog. Quite often I feel that my life would be so much easier if I wasn't a sports nut, and didn't (quite illogically) feel that the fate of the world rested on the result of an essentially meaningless sporting event, but then I conclude that life would be so much less interesting for me if I WASN'T a sports fanatic. Sports fandom seems anathema to intellectual pursuits.  Then again, people like George Will (baseball nut), Frederick Exley (football nut), and David Halberstam (all-around sports nut) have all managed to balance the two. Anyway, I will be back when my college football fever subsides, which depending on the result of tonight's MSU/Wisconsin tilt, could be either early next week or early January.

It's time for the moment you've all been waiting for: the 4th Annual Brainsplotch Big Ten Football Awards: hereafter renamed the Brainsplotch/TFTSA Big Ten Football Awards (in honor of my new Michigan State Spartans sports-related blog, Treasures from the Spartan Attic).  So, without any further preamble, the winners are... Most Valuable Player: Russell Wilson, Wisconsin.    A case could easily be made for Wilson's backfield teammate, Montee Ball, but Wilson added a dimension to the Badger's offense that made a huge difference for them.  His dual threat capabilities gave Wisconsin the most dynamic offense in the conference, if not the nation.  But beyond his athletic abilities, Wilson has proven to be a great leader and teammate.  Pretty darned good for a player who is essentially a one-year "free agent signee". Best quarterback: Russell Wilson, Wisconsin.    For all the reasons listed above, and his stat line is incredibly impressive, with an...

This Thursday night, my wife and I went to Grand Rapids to see one of my many favorite bands, the Meat Puppets.  The Pups, as they are affectionately called, were playing at a small club in G.R. called the Pyramid Scheme. We were able to make last minute babysitting plans with my in-laws, and after a stop at the kids' Scholastic Book Fair at school, dropped them off with the understanding that, since the show started at 8:00 PM, we should be back into town by about 11:30.  My in-laws were not going to watch the boys any later that 11:30--and it wouldn't have been fair to ask them to do so since the next day was a school day. We arrived at the Pyramid Scheme a little before eight.  The Pyramid Scheme is divided in half: the front half is a standard bar, while the back half is the performance area that is closed until that evening's show is ready to begin.  So for a show that, according to the ticket, was supposed to begin at 8:00 PM, we sat and waited....

For years, I've lamented that this blog had turned into my "MSU sports" blog, to the detriment of other subjects.  I think I was giving the false impression that Spartan sports was my entire life, rather than just a hobby.  Okay, who am I kidding, I'm fairly passionate about MSU sports, but I really never intended for this blog to be consumed by it. That's why I have decided to create a second blog called "Treasures from the Spartan Attic" which will focus on my Michigan State University sports fandom, leaving Brainsplotch to focus on other aspects of life.  So if you're dying to keep reading my thoughts about Spartan sports, simply google Treasures from the Spartan Attic.

On Saturday, I returned home from a wonderful trip to Charleston, South Carolina, having tagged along with my wife Lynda, who had to go there for a fairly swank insurance conference at the Doubletree Inn and Suites in downtown Charleston.  (The photo above is St. Philip's Church at 142 Church Street, taken by me with my junky old Verizon LG phone camera. This church is located only a few blocks south of the Doubletree). We flew in from Flint on Wednesday, October 12 and arrived in Charleston in the late afternoon.  My wife registered for her conference at the hotel and then attended an informal reception.  I called my old grad school classmate/friend/native Charlestonian Rick R. to see if he was still interested in getting together at some point during our stay.  I hadn't seen Rick since I finished Eastern Michigan University's historic preservation program in '04, but through the miracle of social media we had reconnected through Facebook and had gott...

It was 3 plus hours of heart-stopping tension on Thursday night, when the Tigers took on the Yankees.  I had to watch most of the game in the Magic Basement, because I was so nervous that I had to alternately pace or lift my free weights to burn off a little steam.  Outside of a Michigan State game in (name your sport), I have never wanted a team (i.e. the Tigers) to win a game so badly. The Tigers must have been reading my previous blog post, because they jumped off to an early 2-0 lead when supersub Don Kelly and valuable newcomer Delvon Young hit back-to-back home runs.  And thus began the almost unbearable tension as the Tigers hung on to that lead and eventually won, 3-2.  Doug Fister, Max Scherzer, Joaquin Benoit, and Jose Valverde pitched wonderfully to contain the powerful Yankee hitting.  Sure, the Yankees managed to threaten a few times, but the Tigers' pitching bore down to get out of these jams as they did for most of the regular season.  Outs...

By now, you've all read every conceivable salute, requiem, remembrance, and obituary of Steve Jobs, so I don't know that I have that much to add.  The man was truly a visionary, and shaped our modern world (for better or worse) in a way that no other single person has. Today, I heard for the first time his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford.  It is quite stirring  and a great way for even us regular mortals to try and live our lives.  Check it out if you are so inclined:

...I guess we'll find out at the conclusion of tonight's game. Doug Fister takes the mound against the Yankees in the Bronx.  After his lackluster appearance in the rain-delayed first game of this American League divisional series, I fully expect the tall lanky one to pitch a good game.  After pitching in Yankee Stadium last week, he should have the butterflies out of his system now. The key for the Tigers is this: Get the bats going early and often and hope that Fister pitches the way he did down the stretch in the regular season.  Detroit has to somehow get guys like Avila, Peralta, and Jackson going, and hope that the big guns like Cabrera, Martinez, and Young can keep it going--and get it done before the eighth inning because if the Yankees bullpen gets involved, it'll be lights out for the good guys from Detroit.  I still give the edge to the Evil Empire tonight, but am definitely not counting out the Tigers. So in conclusion, let me just say:

Tough loss for the Tigers last night.  Curtis Granderson always seems to save a little extra for when he plays his old team the Tigers--and he was a one man wrecking crew last night.  It almost seemed as if Granderson could have played all nine positions for the Yankees and they still would have won. More from me later (I hope--we'll see if I can make it back on the computer tonight!).

Remember me writing that I was going to try and cut down on the number of sports posts in this blog?  Well, it remains true--I'm going to try hard and branch out into my other interests besides sports, but the level of excitement in Michigan regarding our local athletic teams will probably prevent me from maintaining this promise at least for the foreseeable future. For the first time in eons (okay, maybe not eons, but it sure feels that way) both the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Lions are good at the same time.  The Tigers will attempt to eliminate the Evil Empire (i.e. the New York Yankees) tonight and advance to play the Texas Rangers for the American League championship.  And for the first time in 31 years, the Detroit Lions are undefeated at 4-0 with their stunning win over the NFL's evil empire, the Dallas Cowboys. To top things off, on Saturday all the major college football teams in the state of Michigan won their respective games.  For those keeping s...

Perhaps you've noticed, dear reader, that unlike years past I have neglected to weigh in on my views of MSU football.  I'm sure you're desperate to know why.  Well, the quick answer is that I just haven't felt like it.  So far, the season hasn't seemed all that compelling.  After all, who gives a damn about the Youngstown State, Florida Atlantic, and Central Michigan games?  Booorrrriiiinnnnggg!  I almost wrote about the Notre Dame loss, but just never got around to it.  Today, the Big Ten season begins with the Spartans taking on Ohio State in Columbus.  Maybe the result of that game will inpire me to write about MSU football. I have a feeling that this is going to be "one of those years".  By that I mean...a disappointment.  I just have little confidence in this MSU football team this season.  The offensive line has been weak thus far, and Kirk Cousins' confidence has looked shaky.  And anyone with any knowledge of MSU...

I love coffee.  Okay, I don't just "love" coffee, I'm obsessed with coffee.  I would walk several miles uphill both ways for the perfect brew.  I have to have coffee every morning and just about ever evening.  I don't know when this began, in fact I can't pinpoint a specific time in my past where I said to myself, "From this moment forward, I will want to drink coffee each and every day until I die." I didn't begin drinking coffee until I was in college at Michigan State, and back then it was only for the caffeine and not for any real enjoyment.  At the time, I had no taste in coffee, and I thought that the powdered flavored crap was actually rather fancy and classy.  I can still remember late nights boiling water in an electric water pot and mixing in that dreadful caffeinated powder. My most intense memory of drinking coffee in college took place in March 1989: Winter term finals week.  That term, I took a political science class that deal...

Friday night I watched the first MSU football game while putting together the foosball table my eldest son received for his birthday. (Above is a picture of yours truly, Captain Cueball, and the son taking a break during a heated foosball battle).  This continues a longstanding tradition of mine of watching the first weekend of the college football season whilst assembling a birthday present--since my son's birthday is on September 2.  For the rest of my life, the beginning of football and my son's birthday will be inextricably linked. That's not a bad thing, since this is my favorite time of the year.  I love the end of summer and the beginning of fall.  The overlap of football and baseball seasons is also wonderful, and especially this year with the promise of my team, the Detroit Tigers, making the postseason. I can recall how much I hated the Labor Day weekend when I was a kid.  For me, Labor Day only meant that the next day I'd have to go to school....

I don't have anything pithy, remarkable, or original to say about the 9/11 anniversary.  It was a sad, strange, surreal, and scary day.  I remember that my oldest son was nine days old and I was on a "paternity leave" and staying at home with my wife.  We had a small TV in our bedroom and I groggily awoke to her watching it and saying that a plane had hit the World Trade Center.  The rest of the day is a bit of a blur to me.  I do recall driving to Ypsilanti with the thought that classes somehow hadn't been canceled at Eastern Michigan.  (I'd called in the morning and someone, probably a clueless undergrad, had said that classes were still on.  Instead of calling again in the afternoon, I simply got in the car and drove to Ypsilanti.  I think deep down I knew that classes were cancelled, I just needed the catharsis of a long drive).  I'll never forget that drive to EMU (and discovering the empty commuter parking lot and that, yes--of cou...

Yesterday, R.E.M quietly announced, via their website, that they were officially breaking up.  I feel a bit wistful about this:  I know it's time (and maybe has BEEN time for several years) but it feels like a part of my youth and young adulthood has "died".  I'm feeling a little bit melancholy, though I'm happy that they can at least call it quits on a creative and critical upswing.  Their last two albums ( Accelerate and Collapse Into Now ) were quite good.  Anyway, R.E.M left the scene the same way they spent their time in the scene: with grace and understatement.  Godspeed, R.E.M. You were part of the soundtrack of my life. Also yesterday, in news that is quite a bit more important than R.E.M.'s breakup, Troy Davis was executed in Georgia.  I have to admit that I had no idea who he was until recently, when the controversy over his murder conviction and impending execution became front page news.  After reading about this case, it seems...

Remember that "glass is half empty" comment that I made about the Detroit Tigers last week? Wow, was I wrong!  What this team has accomplished the last few weeks, and particularly during this 12-game winning streak they just added to moments ago, is nothing short of amazing. I wrote in a Facebook post that I haven't had this much fun watching baseball since 1984 (although the Tigers' charge to the division title in 1987 was fun, as was their improbable American League pennant win in '06). This team doesn't quit.  Today's win over Chicago was a perfect case in point.  Down the entire game, they calmly tied it up in the ninth on Ryan Raburn's solo homer and Alex Avila's clutch 2-run blast.  When the Sox threatened in the bottom of the ninth with the mercury-quick Juan Pierre dancing off third base with only one out, naturally these magical Tigers got A.J. Pierzynski to ground into an inning ending double play.  Not even Ramon Santiago momentaril...

I have tried twice to post an entry about the Fall football season, only to notice that Blogger had updated its interface and wasn't allowing me to post anything the old way.  AAAARRRRGGGHHH!!!!! Okay, here's an even more brief overview of what I was going to write.  Fall is upon us and its time for college football and baseball pennant races.  I remain glass is half empty regarding the chances of the MSU Spartan football team, the Detroit Lions, and the Detroit Tigers. Post script: Could I have possibly been any more WRONG about the Tigers.  Wow, what a finish to the regular season!  And the Detroit Lions--they are off to a great start in the regular season and may yet make a believer out of me.  As for the MSU Spartan football team--the jury is still out.

Hello, I'm still alive and checking in. I can't give a legitimate reason for my absence. I suppose it has to do, mainly, with the fact that it's summer and there is not too much going on that interest me enough to write about it. Oh, and when I am on the computer, I'm wasting most of my time on Facebook. Damned Facebook, it should change its name to "internet crack". So what's been going on since May, you ask? Well, on June 26 I saw U2 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. The concert was originally scheduled for May 2010, but the band was forced to postpone the show due to Bono severely injuring his back. (Yeah, all that "saving the world" stuff takes a physical toll). Anyway, U2 were amazing, brilliant, fantastic. I saw them back in April '87 at the Pontiac Silverdome and it was the most mesmerizing concert experience I'd ever had. I thought there was no way it could ever be topped, but I think U2 actually were better this time around. ...

Don "Pedro" Pratt (or is it Walter Pratt?), kneeling (3rd from right), ca. 1890. Six years ago, I wrote a book, through Arcadia Publishing's Images of America series, entitled The Portland Area 1868-1939 . It’s a photographic history of Portland, Michigan. (Amazingly, it is still in print and available where all fine books are sold). I’m not mentioning this to toot my own horn (well, maybe just a little), but merely to set the scene for what’s to follow here. In my research, I came across a huge cast of characters that shaped Portland’s history in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, (and lots of information that never made it into the book). None of these characters were more interesting or enigmatic than a local baseball star named Don "Pedro" Pratt. Through the whole process of writing the book, his existence proved to be shadowy and fascinating: a guy who flitted in and out of the picture with a legend that reminds me of the blues singer Robert Joh...

I'm always a little disappointed when I see a great idea that someone else has thought of and wish that I had thought of it first. Of course, when that idea is done better than I could ever imagine myself doing it, I don't mind nearly as much. That's the case with a book called Cardboard Gods by Josh Wilker, which is an offshoot and extension of his wonderful website of the same name, cardboardgods.net. Wilker posts images of old baseball cards (ca. 1974-1981) from his childhood collection and uses them as a springboard for deeper, and quite often hilarious, meditations on his own childhood and life. He's an excellent writer, and has an extraordinary eye and ear for nuance and detail. What could be painful-to-read naval-gazing in less skillful hands comes off as humorous and moving portraits of a 40-something guy trying to make sense of his life, past and present. Wilker is about my age--from what I gather in the book I'd guess he was born in 1968 (same year as your...

The funniest speech I’ve heard in quite awhile. Ron Swanson’s "Visions of Nature" art show grand opening speech from Parks and Recreation. Worth quoting in its entirety: "Ok, everyone, shut up and look at me. Welcome to Visions of Nature. This room has several paintings in it. Some are big and some are small. People did them and they are here now. I believe that after this is over they will be hung in government buildings. Why the government is involved in an art show is beyond me. I also think it's pointless for a human to paint scenes of nature when they could just go outside and stand in it. Anyway, please do not misinterpret the fact that I am talking right now as genuine interest in art and attempt to discuss it with me further. End of speech."

Here's an update: I'm currently slaving away on a blog entry regarding R.E.M.'s new album, and their relevency (or lack thereof, depending on your point of view) in today's music world. I'm probably spending more time on the post than is necessary, since only about two or three people will read it, but I want it to be well thought out and coherent (unlike some of the stuff I foist on you people). Anyway, by the time I publish the darned thing, R.E.M. will have released their NEXT album. It was a ridiculously warm day in mid-Michigan today, with temperatures reaching the 80s. I, however, spent the afternoon working at the library, though I was able to take a walk this evening. Our house is just down the street from a Biggby Coffee shop (though my wife and I insist on referring to them as "Beaners'", their old name that was deemed politically incorrect a few years ago--I had no idea it was a derogatory name for Mexicans), and got some iced coffees (...

Back in the summer of 1986, I saw a strange little music video on MTV (back when MTV still played music videos--remember those days?). The entire clip was comprised of a black & white overhead shot of some sort of industrial site, perhaps a disused railyard or rock quarry. The song lyrics were superimposed in giant block letters in the middle of the screen. Prior to the lyrics' appearance were these cryptic lines, "Bury magnets, swallow the rapture, let's gather feathers," which undoubtedly left me scratching my young head The song, entitled "Fall on Me" was a somber, yet oddly catchy tune with a ringing Rickenbacker guitar sound. I was instantly hooked and haven't looked back since. (Okay, 2004's   Around the Sun was an awful album, but I digress). For the most part, I've been on R.E.M.'s side for 25 years. Back in 1986, I never would have thought that 25 years later I'd be talking about a new R.E.M. album. But the "boys"...

It started innocently enough: I was watching television one day when a Honda Accord car commercial came on. The background music was of a song I knew very well, a song I had first heard when I was about 13 years old and had grown to love more and more over the ensuing 30 years. The ad only featured the last part of the song: the vocalists’ multi-tracked voices singing, “Aaaaaaahhhh-aaahhh-aaahhh-aaahhhhhhh, heeeeere, I ammmm.” The song is “The Only Living Boy in New York” and the singers in question are Simon & Garfunkel, and hearing that song in that commercial soon led me to dig out my old Bridge Over Troubled Water CD, an album I hadn’t listened to in…well, I can’t remember how long. It has been a few years at least. Not too long after digging out BOTW, I learned of a soon-to-be-released 40th anniversary edition of the album, containing the remastered music (actually, probably just a repackaged version of the 2001 remaster) plus a bonus DVD with S&G's infamous and ver...

The Spartans bowed out in the first round of the NCAA tournament with a performance that was befitting of their entire season. They started off incredibly sluggish and throughout the first half and most of the second half were getting blown off the court by the UCLA Bruins. Then, when it appeared they were completely dead--down by 23 with a little more than eight minutes left--MSU made a furious comeback and and made us all dare to dream that maybe, just maybe, they could walk off the court with a most improbable victory. But, much like the season, they dug too big a hole to successfully climb out--and lost by two points. Thus ends one of the most disappointing MSU basketball seasons in many years. I can tell you that most MSU fans don't quite know how to take it. We've gotten just a wee bit spoiled around here and aren't accustomed to disappointment. We're certainly not used to losing to our archrivals in Ann Arbor not just once, but TWICE, in the same season. (I...

I’ve gone the entire season without commenting whatsoever on the subject of Michigan State basketball. It’s been a disappointing year for our hoops team: after starting the season ranked as high as #2 in the nation, the Spartans limped to a 9-9 Big Ten record (17-13 overall), while enduring every conceivable bad thing that could have happened to them along the way. I suppose the harbinger of bad tidings came in the off-season when Chris Allen was kicked off the team. Then, early in the conference season, Korie Lucious was removed from the squad. Other difficulties hampered the Spartans. Already thin after losing Allen and Lucious, Delvon Roe continued to fight through pain and injuries, Kalin Lucas slowly recovered from last year’s Achilles injury and only recently has played with the explosiveness of his first three seasons. The bigs never quite developed: Derrick Nix had disciplinary issues but has looked better as of late, Adrian Payne more often than not looked like a little lost o...

My son Devon wants a dog. He wanted to create his own website about hypoallergenic dogs, but I convinced him to create a post on my blog. So this is the cute picture of a poodle that he and I found on Google. By the way, poodles are hypoallergenic. Devon would like everyone to know that if they want a hypoallergenic dog, they can type "hypoallergenic dog" in Google.