Devra & the wife took her to the hot springs a few days ago.
After initial trepidation (hot springs stink) she enthusiastically embraced the experience.
At one point when Devra didn't step lively enough for her she put her tiny fist on one hip and declared
"C'mon, lady! What are you waiting for, a hotdog and ketchup?"
Four years old.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
aaaaand something for Adrian
Welcome to Nerd Vegas!
I don't really 'do' comics any more, except in a professional capacity, but as a lifelong fan I was entertained and amused by this very thorough guide.
It was also surprising to see a shout-out to Stuart Ng about 3/4ths of the way through, under 'Shopping Tips'.
He swings by the store a couple of times a year and always goes over our graphic arts & alt culture sections with a fine tooth comb- now I know what he does with the yeild.
I don't really 'do' comics any more, except in a professional capacity, but as a lifelong fan I was entertained and amused by this very thorough guide.
It was also surprising to see a shout-out to Stuart Ng about 3/4ths of the way through, under 'Shopping Tips'.
He swings by the store a couple of times a year and always goes over our graphic arts & alt culture sections with a fine tooth comb- now I know what he does with the yeild.
Hairy Legs
Possibly in answer to DT's Prayer, the girls sent me a link to their European vacation blog.
Now we have a futuristic way to track their irrepressible hi-jinks!
Now we have a futuristic way to track their irrepressible hi-jinks!
Full Service Blog
I'm fresh off the phone with Tina & Devra, who experienced their first bump on the road to Europe.
first bump,artist's conception
Happily, they recently renewed their subscription to the word of mouth only Baxblog Tech Support Line.
For future reference, here's how you restart a confused iPod.
first bump,artist's conception
Happily, they recently renewed their subscription to the word of mouth only Baxblog Tech Support Line.
For future reference, here's how you restart a confused iPod.
attn TERI
This is a link to my pal Teri's store so she will see it and be able to find my blog.
I lack confidence in the effectiveness of last night's drunken instructions:
=(
I lack confidence in the effectiveness of last night's drunken instructions:
Okay, you just need to google 'Shark Boner' to find Ivan's blog and click on his link to mine.
=(
Saturday, May 26, 2007
my favorite middleweight
Arthur Abraham ascended to that particular throne a while back on the strength of a series of epically surreal Smurf-inspired ringwalks.
Unfortunately for us all a lawsuit by some tight-assed copywrite obsessives forced him to shelve the Smurfettes.
But his dedication to giving fans a mind-bending prefight show remains undimmed by corporate wet blankets, as witness his latest title fight stroll.
In today's bout with Canadian Sebastien 'Double Trouble' Demers he strode to the ring accompanied by the dulcet tones of Farewell, Humanity, essayed live in the arena by 80's Krautrock hair metal gods The Scorpions*.
No clip available, but it was pretty awesome.
Not a bad fight, either.
*the Scorpions are notable for what is generally regarded as one of the most egregiously awful album cover of all time, as well as one of the most offensive lyric refrains to ever grace the American top 40:
from Rock You Like a Hurricane
Unfortunately for us all a lawsuit by some tight-assed copywrite obsessives forced him to shelve the Smurfettes.
But his dedication to giving fans a mind-bending prefight show remains undimmed by corporate wet blankets, as witness his latest title fight stroll.
In today's bout with Canadian Sebastien 'Double Trouble' Demers he strode to the ring accompanied by the dulcet tones of Farewell, Humanity, essayed live in the arena by 80's Krautrock hair metal gods The Scorpions*.
No clip available, but it was pretty awesome.
Not a bad fight, either.
*the Scorpions are notable for what is generally regarded as one of the most egregiously awful album cover of all time, as well as one of the most offensive lyric refrains to ever grace the American top 40:
The Bitch is Hungry
She needs to tell
So give her inches
and feed her well
from Rock You Like a Hurricane
Bon Voyage, Devra & Tina!
The gals are off for six weeks in Europe in a few days.
Have fun, and watch your cameras like hawks!
/edit
photo by IVAN, based on the philosophies of DT
The Last Superfight pt 2: the letdown
After my lengthy explanation of why DLH vs PBF was a compelling event comes this much shorter post-mortem of the fight itself.
As usual with boxing, the anticipation of the best case senario quickly gave way to the inevitability of the fight playing out almost exactly as most knowlegable observers thought it would. Aside from a flurry of bodyshots from DLH in round one that got a rise out of the Oscarcentric crowd, the fight spooled out as anticipated.
DLH was a bit long in the tooth to maintain the kind of studied agression necessary to overcome the genuinely brilliant defense of the undersized Mayweather over 12 rounds.
Contrary to many of my boxing compadres I actually had Oscar winning enough rounds through the midpoint of the fight to make it competitive. The forula was simple- when he jabbed, he upset Floyd's offensive rythm enough for his ineffective flurries to carry the round. When he didn't jab, Floyd nailed him at will with shockingly fast right hand leads and hooks.
I had Floyd up a round going into I think the 9th, at which point DLH completely abandoned the jab and got handed his ass for the rest of the fight.
I'm not a fan of Mayweather's offensive approach to the higher weight classes. At 130 and 35 he was a dynamo, a terrifying combination puncher with power who backed it up with brilliant defense. I can't blame him for adopting the Roy Jones Jr gameplan for dealing with the higher weights (defense first, use your incredible handspeed to out-point your opponent with single shots) because big guys hit hard. But it doesn't make for scintillating drama inside the ring.
I'm hoping DLH retires after a 'gimme' farewell fight.
Floyd I'd like to go back down to 140, where he looked good and still threw combos.
Unfortunately boxing is boxing and the money tends to be at the higher weights.
A possibility that would have been laughably unthinkable a few months back: Floyd Mayweather Jr vs Jermain Taylor for the legitimate linear middleweight championship of the world.
Taylor is a big middle, but in his last two fights he was chased around the ring by little Kassim Ouma and basically embarassed by former welterweight champ Corey Spinks, who can be charitably described as the poor man's Mayweather.
Floyd is one of those once a generation talents who can be effective (if not brilliantly entertaining) fighting at weights that would land most men his size in the hospital. Why not make a run at Taylor?
Going from legit champ at 130 to legit champ at 160 would be one of the seminal feats in boxing history.
(note to DT: I greatly enjoyed your contribution to the 'posting style' thread)
As usual with boxing, the anticipation of the best case senario quickly gave way to the inevitability of the fight playing out almost exactly as most knowlegable observers thought it would. Aside from a flurry of bodyshots from DLH in round one that got a rise out of the Oscarcentric crowd, the fight spooled out as anticipated.
DLH was a bit long in the tooth to maintain the kind of studied agression necessary to overcome the genuinely brilliant defense of the undersized Mayweather over 12 rounds.
Contrary to many of my boxing compadres I actually had Oscar winning enough rounds through the midpoint of the fight to make it competitive. The forula was simple- when he jabbed, he upset Floyd's offensive rythm enough for his ineffective flurries to carry the round. When he didn't jab, Floyd nailed him at will with shockingly fast right hand leads and hooks.
I had Floyd up a round going into I think the 9th, at which point DLH completely abandoned the jab and got handed his ass for the rest of the fight.
I'm not a fan of Mayweather's offensive approach to the higher weight classes. At 130 and 35 he was a dynamo, a terrifying combination puncher with power who backed it up with brilliant defense. I can't blame him for adopting the Roy Jones Jr gameplan for dealing with the higher weights (defense first, use your incredible handspeed to out-point your opponent with single shots) because big guys hit hard. But it doesn't make for scintillating drama inside the ring.
I'm hoping DLH retires after a 'gimme' farewell fight.
Floyd I'd like to go back down to 140, where he looked good and still threw combos.
Unfortunately boxing is boxing and the money tends to be at the higher weights.
A possibility that would have been laughably unthinkable a few months back: Floyd Mayweather Jr vs Jermain Taylor for the legitimate linear middleweight championship of the world.
Taylor is a big middle, but in his last two fights he was chased around the ring by little Kassim Ouma and basically embarassed by former welterweight champ Corey Spinks, who can be charitably described as the poor man's Mayweather.
Floyd is one of those once a generation talents who can be effective (if not brilliantly entertaining) fighting at weights that would land most men his size in the hospital. Why not make a run at Taylor?
Going from legit champ at 130 to legit champ at 160 would be one of the seminal feats in boxing history.
(note to DT: I greatly enjoyed your contribution to the 'posting style' thread)
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
copywrong
intersting post.
The wife is a big Proust fan and I'd been wondering why the flow of volumes from the excellent new Viking translation had dried up.
The wife is a big Proust fan and I'd been wondering why the flow of volumes from the excellent new Viking translation had dried up.
Cover Blurb of the Week
from The Lynching of Orin Newfield by Gerald Jay Goldberg:
Sassy!
The cover art bears a freakishly eerie similarity with the famous Nick Nolte mugshot.
It was published in 1970, maybe Nick was a fan or something.
I'll try and remember to scan and post it when I get home.
A full-blown portrait of an unrepentant bastard and the town that tried to destroy him.
Sassy!
The cover art bears a freakishly eerie similarity with the famous Nick Nolte mugshot.
It was published in 1970, maybe Nick was a fan or something.
I'll try and remember to scan and post it when I get home.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
cover blurb complaints
I've got a rule of thumb- never read a book a reviewer describes as "luminous".
It's got to be the single most overused, meaningless word in the entire cover blurb industry.
It is epidemic in contemporary literary fiction, the stuff you won't find on the pocket book rack at the drugstore. Books that actually got a hardcover print run (even if 9/10ths of it ended up being remaindered) and that are only in print in that expensive trade paperback format, like they're trying to make up for a lack of popular appeal by holding admirers up for an extra seven bucks a copy (hmm, maybe literary fiction and boxing have more in common than I thought. Although not even unceremoniously retired broadcasterLarry Merchant had the stones to describe a fight at 'luminous').
On the opposite side of the blurb spectrum, yesterday I came across an excellent phrase on the back of a book by Primo Levi.
One reviewer described him as exhibiting "great moral stamina" in the creation of the work.
As wonderfully descriptive as it is, it doesn't serve the commercial intent of the cover blurb all that well. That must be why our modern blurb writers all draw from the same pot of blandly complimentary euphemisms.
It's got to be the single most overused, meaningless word in the entire cover blurb industry.
It is epidemic in contemporary literary fiction, the stuff you won't find on the pocket book rack at the drugstore. Books that actually got a hardcover print run (even if 9/10ths of it ended up being remaindered) and that are only in print in that expensive trade paperback format, like they're trying to make up for a lack of popular appeal by holding admirers up for an extra seven bucks a copy (hmm, maybe literary fiction and boxing have more in common than I thought. Although not even unceremoniously retired broadcasterLarry Merchant had the stones to describe a fight at 'luminous').
On the opposite side of the blurb spectrum, yesterday I came across an excellent phrase on the back of a book by Primo Levi.
One reviewer described him as exhibiting "great moral stamina" in the creation of the work.
As wonderfully descriptive as it is, it doesn't serve the commercial intent of the cover blurb all that well. That must be why our modern blurb writers all draw from the same pot of blandly complimentary euphemisms.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Pelf back on-line
Myspace, but better than nothing.
I firmly believe their interface was designed by monkeys flinging crap at a keyboard.
I firmly believe their interface was designed by monkeys flinging crap at a keyboard.
lame infrequent updates
an explanation.
The wife's folks are noisily drowning in a lake of bile it took them 60 years to fill. And like drowning swimmers they tear and grab at potential rescuers, endangering all within arm's reach.
My estranged mother is seemingly dying of cancer. Our relationship in the palm of one hand- she sent my cousin to the wife's work to have her relay the news to me, and I've been debating whether or not I want to see her.
Not fertile ground for lighthearted posting, and I'm not the sort who usually enjoys public wallowing in private upheaval.
I'll try to get something up at least every few days- I have a backlog of pictures to flickr if nothing else.
The wife's folks are noisily drowning in a lake of bile it took them 60 years to fill. And like drowning swimmers they tear and grab at potential rescuers, endangering all within arm's reach.
My estranged mother is seemingly dying of cancer. Our relationship in the palm of one hand- she sent my cousin to the wife's work to have her relay the news to me, and I've been debating whether or not I want to see her.
Not fertile ground for lighthearted posting, and I'm not the sort who usually enjoys public wallowing in private upheaval.
I'll try to get something up at least every few days- I have a backlog of pictures to flickr if nothing else.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
throbbing, pulsing cover blurb of the day
from an old British paperback of Jack London's Burning Daylight:
I think they missed a trick by not liberally sprinkling the paragraph with italics and exclamation points.
The surging novel of the men who gambled their lives and opened the vast Canadian north in their lust for gold
I think they missed a trick by not liberally sprinkling the paragraph with italics and exclamation points.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
The Last Superfight pt 1: the setup
By request from Dango, here's more than you probably wanted to know about the Cinco De Mayo Superfight between Oscar De La Hoya & Floyd Mayweather Jr.
I call it the last because boxing, fractured mess that it is, has backed itself into a financial corner with its increasing reliance on Pay Per View. PPV walls off the most appealing high profile matchups from the general public, drastically limiting the ability of 'big' fights to attract new fans. There are reasons PPV is the ascendant promotional model right now, but it's no boon for the long term health of boxing as a major spectator sport.
That said, this card never deserved narrative the media spun that it would "save" boxing (assuming a classic battle for the ages) or "destroy" it (courtesy of any one of boxing's nearly infinite mechanisms for self-destruction). Oscar is boxing's last superstar, in part because he fought his early career on free television and built a reputation and a fan base.
That star-making mechanism doesn't exist any more- network TV abandoned boxing years ago after a wave of (wholly predictable) scandals involving fixed ranking and bribery on the part of one Don King, and televised dates on basic cable are relegated to ESPN 2.
HBO and Showtime, the premium channels, have historically been more interested in building up their house fighters for future PPV cash-outs than in making good fights with an eye to building the sport. Showtime has recently bucked this trend, to their credit, but even so their cards feature 'name' fighters who have already achieved a certain level of fame.
Against this backdrop I don't see how DLH vs PBF was supposed to 'save' anything, even if the fight delivered action and drama on par with Hagler/Hearns (vanishingly unlikely given the participants).
Floyd is the greatest defensive fighter currently active, with lightning quick reflexes, fast, nimble feet & possessing ring wisdom & tactical savvy on par with the all-time greats. Oscar in his prime was a splendid combination of power and offensive technique, with enough movement and defense mixed in to befuddle less skilled opponents (as when he exposed Tito Trinidad's limitations over the first 7 rounds of their clash back in 1999).
But Oscar's prime is in the rear view mirror. His last great performance was the first fight with Shane Mosley back in 2000, a fight he lost. And boxing punishes seemingly insignificant losses of reflexes and timing like no other sport. In any other venue your employment is in jeopardy when you start to slip...in boxing, slippage is ambrosia to the promotional vultures circling overhead who see a 'name' to pad the resume of their rising stars with.
So, I didn't expect much from the actual fight.
The build up, though. That's something else entirely- the anticipation of a truly huge, important fight is unique.
The lead time to an 'event' fight can be staggering.
In this case, it was literally 7 years in the making.
Floyd started calling out DLH when he was still champion at 130 pounds, and at the time everyone laughed about it. DLH was fighting two divisions north, at 147, and he was a BIG welterweight. Floyd was having trouble making 130, but when he moved up to 135 you got the sense he could have stayed there for the rest of his career if he chose. He's slightly built and not naturally big.
But Floyd recognized then that Oscar was the last huge draw in the sport and by far the biggest potential payday within 20 pounds of his own weight, so he started moving up. And up. And up.
His journey greatly annoyed many fans, myself included, because what you got was a transcendent fighter in the prime of his career leaving a weight that was absolutely perfect for him for uncharted waters. And every step of the way he would take one fight against a relatively nonthreatening opponent to see how he carried the weight. Then a 'title eliminator' against a gatekeeper-type fighter to set him up for a 'title shot' against some nondescript holder of a minor belt, so he could claim to be a 'champion' at the weight.
He wasted years this way, battling the adequate (Chop Chop Corley, Victoriano Sosa) the outmatched (poor Aurturo Gatti) and the excrable (Henry Bruseles, who shouldn't have been in the same arena as Floyd, let alone the same ring).
Basically fighting seven years of "stay busy" fights in a sport where one loss can derail your entire career. A Floyd with one loss isn't nearly as appealing to a monument like De La Hoya as a Floyd with an unblemished record and a reputation as the best pound for pound fighter in the sport.
It made good business sense, however competitively underwhelming it was. Floyd was more than happy to trade the regard of hardcore fans for the chance to bask in the warmth of the brightest spotlight left in the sport.
(note to DT: I'm not forgetting the Castillo fights, but they don't fit my narrative so I'm ignoring them. =P)
So, that journey to within striking distance of Oscar took five-ish years.
Then there's year or so when everyone noticed that Floyd was only a few pounds below Oscar and was still looking good. Oscar stopped laughing the fight off. Then rumors circulated that they were 'in talks'.
And at last we round the final corner of the long road to this fight, the 9 months or so after they sign the fight and both men enter training.
This convoluted, lengthy buildup to major bouts is the primary cause of what Pelf calls "big fight fever".
The other contributor is that boxing is indisputably the Theater of the Unexpected.
It is the one sport where you never think you've seen it all, because you KNOW that the next fight you watch, however humble it may appear on the surface, carries in its heart the seeds of unparalleled drama, even greatness. And also the seeds of desperate tragedy, or comedy, or surreality.
I've seen fights that result in fatalities. I've seen a fight where a guy got knocked out cold, and as he lay on the canvas staring blindly at the lights he was still throwing punches. I've seen a fight interrupted by a paraglider with a fan strapped to his back crashing into the ring...and this being boxing, triggering a riot. Most people have seen a fight where a desperate bully deliberately bit a chunk out of his opponent's ear.
And, with specific relevance, I've seen several fights where a seemingly invincible fighter in the prime of their career stepped in against an aging veteran and got KNOCKED THE FUCK OUT by one perfectly placed blow.
You just never know.
So even with a fight where I'm 99% certain of the outcome....I know in my bones that anything can happen. And there is no greater aphrodisiac than the unknown.
(coming soon- the actual fight =P)
I call it the last because boxing, fractured mess that it is, has backed itself into a financial corner with its increasing reliance on Pay Per View. PPV walls off the most appealing high profile matchups from the general public, drastically limiting the ability of 'big' fights to attract new fans. There are reasons PPV is the ascendant promotional model right now, but it's no boon for the long term health of boxing as a major spectator sport.
That said, this card never deserved narrative the media spun that it would "save" boxing (assuming a classic battle for the ages) or "destroy" it (courtesy of any one of boxing's nearly infinite mechanisms for self-destruction). Oscar is boxing's last superstar, in part because he fought his early career on free television and built a reputation and a fan base.
That star-making mechanism doesn't exist any more- network TV abandoned boxing years ago after a wave of (wholly predictable) scandals involving fixed ranking and bribery on the part of one Don King, and televised dates on basic cable are relegated to ESPN 2.
HBO and Showtime, the premium channels, have historically been more interested in building up their house fighters for future PPV cash-outs than in making good fights with an eye to building the sport. Showtime has recently bucked this trend, to their credit, but even so their cards feature 'name' fighters who have already achieved a certain level of fame.
Against this backdrop I don't see how DLH vs PBF was supposed to 'save' anything, even if the fight delivered action and drama on par with Hagler/Hearns (vanishingly unlikely given the participants).
Floyd is the greatest defensive fighter currently active, with lightning quick reflexes, fast, nimble feet & possessing ring wisdom & tactical savvy on par with the all-time greats. Oscar in his prime was a splendid combination of power and offensive technique, with enough movement and defense mixed in to befuddle less skilled opponents (as when he exposed Tito Trinidad's limitations over the first 7 rounds of their clash back in 1999).
But Oscar's prime is in the rear view mirror. His last great performance was the first fight with Shane Mosley back in 2000, a fight he lost. And boxing punishes seemingly insignificant losses of reflexes and timing like no other sport. In any other venue your employment is in jeopardy when you start to slip...in boxing, slippage is ambrosia to the promotional vultures circling overhead who see a 'name' to pad the resume of their rising stars with.
So, I didn't expect much from the actual fight.
The build up, though. That's something else entirely- the anticipation of a truly huge, important fight is unique.
The lead time to an 'event' fight can be staggering.
In this case, it was literally 7 years in the making.
Floyd started calling out DLH when he was still champion at 130 pounds, and at the time everyone laughed about it. DLH was fighting two divisions north, at 147, and he was a BIG welterweight. Floyd was having trouble making 130, but when he moved up to 135 you got the sense he could have stayed there for the rest of his career if he chose. He's slightly built and not naturally big.
But Floyd recognized then that Oscar was the last huge draw in the sport and by far the biggest potential payday within 20 pounds of his own weight, so he started moving up. And up. And up.
His journey greatly annoyed many fans, myself included, because what you got was a transcendent fighter in the prime of his career leaving a weight that was absolutely perfect for him for uncharted waters. And every step of the way he would take one fight against a relatively nonthreatening opponent to see how he carried the weight. Then a 'title eliminator' against a gatekeeper-type fighter to set him up for a 'title shot' against some nondescript holder of a minor belt, so he could claim to be a 'champion' at the weight.
He wasted years this way, battling the adequate (Chop Chop Corley, Victoriano Sosa) the outmatched (poor Aurturo Gatti) and the excrable (Henry Bruseles, who shouldn't have been in the same arena as Floyd, let alone the same ring).
Basically fighting seven years of "stay busy" fights in a sport where one loss can derail your entire career. A Floyd with one loss isn't nearly as appealing to a monument like De La Hoya as a Floyd with an unblemished record and a reputation as the best pound for pound fighter in the sport.
It made good business sense, however competitively underwhelming it was. Floyd was more than happy to trade the regard of hardcore fans for the chance to bask in the warmth of the brightest spotlight left in the sport.
(note to DT: I'm not forgetting the Castillo fights, but they don't fit my narrative so I'm ignoring them. =P)
So, that journey to within striking distance of Oscar took five-ish years.
Then there's year or so when everyone noticed that Floyd was only a few pounds below Oscar and was still looking good. Oscar stopped laughing the fight off. Then rumors circulated that they were 'in talks'.
And at last we round the final corner of the long road to this fight, the 9 months or so after they sign the fight and both men enter training.
This convoluted, lengthy buildup to major bouts is the primary cause of what Pelf calls "big fight fever".
The other contributor is that boxing is indisputably the Theater of the Unexpected.
It is the one sport where you never think you've seen it all, because you KNOW that the next fight you watch, however humble it may appear on the surface, carries in its heart the seeds of unparalleled drama, even greatness. And also the seeds of desperate tragedy, or comedy, or surreality.
I've seen fights that result in fatalities. I've seen a fight where a guy got knocked out cold, and as he lay on the canvas staring blindly at the lights he was still throwing punches. I've seen a fight interrupted by a paraglider with a fan strapped to his back crashing into the ring...and this being boxing, triggering a riot. Most people have seen a fight where a desperate bully deliberately bit a chunk out of his opponent's ear.
And, with specific relevance, I've seen several fights where a seemingly invincible fighter in the prime of their career stepped in against an aging veteran and got KNOCKED THE FUCK OUT by one perfectly placed blow.
You just never know.
So even with a fight where I'm 99% certain of the outcome....I know in my bones that anything can happen. And there is no greater aphrodisiac than the unknown.
(coming soon- the actual fight =P)
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Sweet Fancy Moses
WoW just jumped the shark.
Can you imagine the sort of person who proudly slaps their WoW branded credit card on the counter to pick up their asthma medication?
*shudder*
Can you imagine the sort of person who proudly slaps their WoW branded credit card on the counter to pick up their asthma medication?
*shudder*
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