Nick Wright

For those who live in Kansas City and listen to sports talk radio, this feature on Nick Wright, afternoon host on 610AM, may be of interest. It ran a week and a half ago in InkKC. I've never been a fan of Wright's brash, arrogant, over-the-top style and this article reinforced all of my preconceived notions about Mr. Wright. I don't find him to know much more than any other dedicated fan, yet he speaks as if he is the Nostradamus to all things sports. Some may disagree with my opinion, but the ratings seem to ratify my support for Wright's opponent Kevin Keitzman.

Beyond the subject of sports talk radio, this article provides a picture for what it looks like to be a slave to your career.

- Joel

Link to Article - "What's wrong with Nick Wright?"

Photographer of the Day

Bob Bonis. Bonis was tour manager for The Beatles and took thousands of photographs during their travels. Until now these images have been unpublished, but Bonis' son has decided to release them in a book out this month entitled The Lost Beatles Photgraphs: The Bob Bonis Archive 1964-1966.

- Joel

I Love You

© Zach Graham

One thing I appreciate about my family (but don't always think about) is that we tell each other, "I love you." Designer Zach Graham created a Tumblr page dedicated to creative illustrations communicating that sentiment. I've picked out a few of my favorites on this post. Go here to see them all.

- Joel

© Zach Graham

© Zach Graham

Grimes

I don't know much about Grimes - aka Claire Boucher - beyond the fact that she is from Canada. I hear that she played a great set at SXSW a few weeks ago. Check out the track below.

- Joel

Grimes - "Vanessa"

I found these clever notes on Share Some Candy. I hope you find them as funny as I did.

- Joel

Emancipator

© Curtis Jinkins

I've been going through the portfolios of some of the artists involved in Fifty and Fifty, the state motto project I posted a few days ago. I've always found Abraham Lincoln to be a fascinating character in American history and thus enjoyed Curtis Jinkins' piece above. It also made me think about the Sufjan Steven's song "Decatur" ("Stephen A. Douglas was a great debater, but Abraham Lincoln was The Great Emancipator!").

- Joel

Cults - "You Know What I Mean"

Last year Cults generated a bit of buzz with their out-of-the-blue single "Go Outside". Here's a new one from them. I think I like it even better.

- Joel

Cults - You Know What I Mean by cultscultscults

The Weeknd

© Joel Thomason

I will be biking across the great state of Kansas in June, which demands training hours in the saddle during March, April, and May. The weather in Kansas City has finally turned pleasant (for awhile at least) so I hopped on the bike this evening after work. The Weeknd provided the soundtrack for this evening's ride. I don't know much about The Weeknd other than that he (or them?) hails from Canada and makes laid back R&B with a twist. Check out a track or download the entire House of Balloons mixtape below. Just an FYI - the cover art for the mixtape is risqué and some the songs contain typical Hip Hop/R&B lyrics.

- Joel

The Weeknd - "Wicked Games"

The Weeknd - House of Balloons

State Mottos

Kansas © Luke Bott

Fifty and Fifty is a design project dedicated to state mottos. They tagged a different designer to showcase each state. You can see the motto of my home state, the great state of Kansas above, as well as some of my other favorites below. I found the Missouri illustration to be a clever take on the "Show Me State" idea (though that isn't its motto but its nickname). I also think Texas has a great motto - "Friendship".

Go here to check out all of the states, although not every state is posted yet. They roll out a new state each day. Enjoy!

- Joel

Missouri © Tad Carpenter

Texas © Curtis Jinkins

New Mexico © Jon Ashcroft

The Fab Five

Sunday night ESPN ran an incredibly interesting and culturally enlightening documentary highlighting "The Fab Five". If you were a basketball-minded youth growing up in the early-90's, The Fab Five needs no introduction. For the rest of you, The Fab Five was Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson, and Jimmy King - five basketball players for the University of Michigan, who made history as the first (and only to my knowledge) all-freshman starting lineup in NCAA history. They led the University of Michigan to the NCAA Championship game in 1992 and 1993, losing both times. The documentary did an excellent job at capturing the cultural phenomenon that these five young men became. They were more than basketball players; they were superstars.

However, in the making of the documentary, each member of the group who was interviewed made disparaging comments aimed at Grant Hill, a player for Duke University at the time, and Duke in general. Their general critique, in kinder words, accused Grant Hill and his fellow African-American Duke players of being a lesser grade of African-American man, primarily because of their stable upbringing and traditional family. This week Grant Hill issued this essay in The New York Times in rebuttal to those claims made by The Fab Five. I found his words to be powerful, both as an insight to the struggle within the African-American community as well as the proper way to respond to nasty criticism. I found it worthy of the read. Maybe you will too (link below).

- Joel

The New York Times - "Grant Hill's Response to Jalen Rose"

Family Portrait

I like the drums in these songs. Family Portrait hails from New Jersey and drops their debut album in April.

- Joel

Family Portrait - "Other Side"

Family Portrait - "Mega Secrets"

Jim Houser

Rumors © Jim Houser

Jim Houser.

Family Tree © Jim Houser

Help Japan

© James White

I saw this image created by James White this morning. The videos I've seen of the devastation in Japan are difficult to comprehend.

- Joel

Photographer of the Day

© Michael Muller

Michael Muller. He's also in a band called Balmorhea which you may already know. Muller lives in Austin, which is reason number 52 to go to UT's law school.

- Joel

© Michael Muller

© Michael Muller

Travis Klunick

Tigie's Horses. Feb 2009 Marfa, Texas © Allison V. Smith

I decided the Travis Klunick short story from the last post deserved its own post. The story is titled "Yegus Y Caballos". It's a sad story, but then many of the saddest stories also impart the most truth. I think it's worth your time. Klunick is a West Texan currently residing in Alpine, Texas, not far from where I was in Big Bend a few weeks ago. I've added my favorite paragraph from the story below. Go here to read it.

- Joel

He went outside and drank half a bottle of cheap whiskey, letting the brown liquid burn his throat and flutter his eyelids. The charred oak taste of it and the alcohol fumes floating into his lungs when he breathed. He stood out there on the plains looking up at the stars. God, the great welder. His torch spattering the sky with the blazing bodies of the heavens illumined. He wondered at the strangeness that man should be the metal that the Lord chose to be his craft. How the divine torch must never stop working and repairing what the world does to people. How the heat of His gun is set to the limit of what men might bear and must be so and that that limit is a thing far beyond where most men believe it could be. He thought maybe the Lord needed to learn to work faster, though, that too many spirits became unbonded to the bodies they were meant to inhabit. End up with too much cold metal and not enough fire. A train’s whistle blew far distant and the darkness parted for the sound of it and then closed again as it passed. He went inside and stripped off his pants and his shirt and he got into his bed. Sarah Beth’s ring was on her bedside table with her pearl earrings and there was a note that said to give the ring to Isabelle and the earrings to Abby. He slept though he didn’t think he could.

Photographer of the Day

© Travis Klunick

Travis Klunick. He's actually a writer. Check out a critically-acclaimed short story of his here.

- Joel

© Travis Klunick

jj

A new track from the Swedish duo. I'm a sucker for auto-tune.

- Joel

jj - "untitled"

Robin Pecknold

© Matthew Fry

A nice gift from Robin Pecknold, lead singer of Fleet Foxes, on this Monday. He shared three new songs on the Fleet Foxes' Twitter today. What a nice guy. Enjoy them below.

- Joel

Robin Pecknold feat. Ed Droste - "I'm Losing Myself"
Robin Pecknold - "Derwentwater Stones"
Robin Pecknold - "Where Is My Wild Rose"

Winter's Bone

Watching the Oscars inspired me to check out a few of this year's nominees for Best Picture that I hadn't yet seen. Winter's Bone, set and filmed in the Forsyth, Missouri, follows Ree as she journeys to find her father, a "meth cooker" whose absence in court, and subsequent bond payment, would ultimately forfeit the family's house. Having spent five summers working in the Ozarks, not far from Forsyth, as a college student, of course I had to watch it. The film lived up to its nomination but left me uneasy about the area that was my home away from home for so many summers. I highly recommend Winter's Bone. I've added an a cappella track from the soundtrack below.

- Joel

Marideth Sisco - "Missouri Waltz"

Photographer of the Day

© Jeff Bridges

Jeff Bridges. One thing I discovered watching the PBS documentary about Jeff Bridges was his love for photography. Apparently he takes photographs throughout the making of each of his movies and turns the prints into a book. Here are a few from True Grit, my favorite movie from last year (though I do think The King's Speech deserved Best Picture). Check out the entire book here.

- Joel

© Jeff Bridges

© Jeff Bridges

© Jeff Bridges

Quote of the Day

"That is my principal objection to life, I think: It's too easy, when alive, to make perfectly horrible mistakes."
- Kurt Vonnegut