Last weekend, I watched most of the NCAA Div I basketball tournament games on the normal, over-the-air (VHF) broadcast. It was unusual for me, as I haven’t paid much attention to the tournament over the years. But the eruption of George Mason, last year, reawakened my interest.
In fact, I borrowed a new library book on basic basketball techniques and tactics. This is a book aimed at kids (teens) developing their skills. It’s been useful to compare terms and tactics with the televised game play. Quite often, I’ve tried to watch the play away from the ball, and see what develops.
Unfortunately, the commentary and video replays aren’t that instructive. The broadcasts tend to emphasize the emotional aspects of the game, and not the tactical, strategic, and intellectual aspects. And even with a focus on emotions and action (individual, team, fans, etc.), there’s no discussion on how a coach and team can ensure that their motivation doesn’t lag. Or how to overcome a cold streak of shooting.
The commentary is the same o - same o (sp?). Perhaps I shouldn’t care, since I don’t want to get too addicted. There are too many things I need to get done, and never enough time to do ‘em.
I had plenty of opportunity to become addicted in the past. I went to a school that won many championships, but I only went to 1 game during my four years, there. I remember that it was a close one that went down to the wire. Interestingly enough, the visiting team happened to be Maryland. Fortunately, they missed a shot at the buzzer.
Once again, my alma mater is in the Sweet Sixteen, but I don’t know if they’ll make it to the Final Four.
Of late, I've been trying to plan a trip to attend AAS-con in NY. That's my nickname for the nat'l. Asian American studies conference. I like to shorten it to something that sounds like a science fiction or anime convention, because my first convention experiences were science fiction ones.
To get there, I was thinking of taking a Chinese bus. Not always reliable, but you can't beat the price. The problem is in getting to the bus depot. I wonder if a cab ride to the that bus stop would cost as much as a one-way ticket (on that bus line) to NY.
I don't know anyone well enough to get a ride to the depot (a.k.a. Baltimore Travel Plaza). Of course, I thought about taking a public bus to the plaza. I'd have to take 2 buses to get to the place. Moreover, the closest public bus stops to me are not that near and the schedules are geared toward commuters (i.e., mostly early morning departures on weekdays). And if I wanted to return on a Sunday, forget about it. (The bus route, that I'd take, doesn't extend on Sundays to my general area.)
So what'll I do? My solution is to drive. I'll take I-95 and then the NJ Turnpike up towards New York and park before I get there. I'll probably try long-term parking at Newark airport and then ride the Airtrain (looks like a monorail), NJ Transit (state-wide rail), and PATH (commuter rail).
In researching this, I'm getting to know a little bit about NJ mass transit. The rail lines seem pretty extensive.
Makes me think about gathering up all my pictures, transfers, and passes of mass transit systems I've ridden around the country (totals to about a dozen or so). And then organizing the material for display on this blog or elsewhere. Of course, having ridden that many systems (and more outside the US), I've a few stories to tell...
Saturday night I checked out the local open mike, a monthly folk night at the Perry Hall United Methodist Church. I wanted to see what the local music scene might be like.
I sat through 36 songs. I gotta tell you, I was falling asleep during the last third.
I was already pretty tired from not having gotten much sleep during the week, but the relentless 4/4 time or meter of the folk music was not helping, either.
I didn't know what to expect. Although, I guess I thought there'd be some decent singer/songwriters doing original material.
I'm not sure where people came from. How many lived in Perry Hall, or neighboring communities? One performer was introduced as coming from Anne Arundel county, probably an hour's drive away.
Turned out most folks did covers and standards and the like. A lot of old time country music. I recognized a lot of stuff. (I guess listening to WAMU on Sundays prepared me.)
When I think about the participants, I'd say the enthusiasm was pretty strong, but their inabilities (like faltering instrumental skills or off-key singing or predictable music selection) made for a dissatisfying experience.
There wasn't a single person who was talentless. It's just that a weakness of a performer would trump a strength. For example, an older gent played old time country music on a steel guitar. The pieces were nice to hear, but the fellow couldn't play that great. A woman followed him, who had a strong voice, but all her songs seemed to be Irish traditional melodies in a minor key of a religious bent. Some folks could strum the guitar quite well, but had weak vocals.
And getting back to the predictability factor, the similar characteristics of many songs made me start thinking about music that was more melodically sophisticated and rhythmically complex. Like Brazilian popular music -- genres like bossa nova and tropicalia.
(In fact, when I got back home, I had to play various Brazilian cd's to reinvigorate myself.)
A word on race.
All the performers were white. In fact, everybody there was white except me. I hadn't thought of that until now.
One old fella sang some blues. He was fine when it came to singin' and storytellin', but when it came to playing his guitar, it didn't resonate. The strings didn't resonate.
I sorta wish I could perform and bring something different to the mix. But to do that, I'd have to play a portable chordal instrument. (I have a very heavy Fender Rhodes electric piano (which I've not touched in a decade or two), and an erhu (a chinese violin, that I'm equally rusty on)).
I suspect I won't be going back to next month's show.