"Michael Jordan Has Not Left The Building" by Wright Thompson

"Do You Still Want To Be Like Mike?" by Matt Smethurst

"Sometimes"

A Short Story by Ben McNutt

Sometimes a man drinks entirely too much tequila and finds himself in a dive bar in Pasadena singing Hotel California with a one-armed trucker named Pete Ravenski. And sometimes a one-armed trucker named Pete Ravenski turns out to be a real son-of-a-bitch.

Tequila. It’s a coy flirt on the way down and a real ball buster the morning after. You got hustled, asshole. And now your 1972 R75/5 BMW is in the back of a semi-trailer headed to Albuquerque. 

Whoever said you need two arms to drive a motorcycle lacked imagination.

Why Smart People Are Stupid

A friend shared a recent New Yorker article discussing the propensity of intelligent people to make mental mistakes.  It seems that smart people (aka people who perform well on standardized tests) are more vulnerable to thinking errors, because they are more likely to take mental shortcuts and less likely to rely on deliberate evaluation.  Alternately phrased, pride comes before the fall.  Research shows that intelligent people are more likely to recognize the cognitive mistakes made by others but less likely to recognize their own mental mistakes.  As a result, they slightly are more prone to common mental mistakes.  Though the article doesn't offer a solution, I wonder if cultivating an attitude of humility is the answer.  You can read the article at the link below.

- Joel

Jonah Lehrer - "Why Smart People Are Stupid"

Malice at The Palace

Jonathan Abrams of Grantland.com put together a compelling oral history the 2004 brawl between the Indiana Paces, the Detroit Pistons, and Pistons fans. I can still vividly remember this fight; it was horrifying. It will go down as the most disappointing event in NBA history. The article is long but a fascinating read. If you don't remember the fight, you can watch the video below.

- Joel

Jonathan Abrams - "The Malice at The Palace"

Kansas vs. Missouri

If yesterday's basketball game between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Missouri Tigers is the last for awhile, the teams picked a great note to end on. I'm a Jayhawk. I was born in Kansas. My parents are from Kansas. My grandparents are from Kansas. Kansas is in my blood. So naturally, I blame Missouri for wrecking the rivalry and bolting to the SEC. I support Kansas' decision to decline Missouri's invitation to continue to play each year. Still, I would be lying if I said I won't miss the rivalry. The games are great. The gloating when the Jayhawks win is fun. But more than anything, I'll miss what these games mean to my family.

I realized it more than ever as I sat on my couch (more like paced around my living room) in Austin, Texas watching a game being played 700 miles to the north. My dad and I kept a running text conversation as the game progressed. My brother and I, who both suffered as Jayhawk fans attending high school in Missouri, did the same towards the end of the game. I used more "!!!!!!" in texts to him than ever before in my life. I thought of my uncle who was flying back to Kansas City from Orlando and would miss the entire game. I read a tweet from my cousin, studying abroad in Spain, who had watched the game on a pirated feed from a McDonald's in Portugal. I read tweets from my cousin-in-law in Oklahoma City who, though already a Kansas fan before entering the family, has caught the same Jayhawk fever the rest of my family enjoys. Literally, from across the country and around the globe my family was tuned into this game. And that is what I will miss - the connection to my family over a silly basketball game. Watching KU overcome a 19 point deficit to win yesterday, knowing my family was tuned in as well, made the geography that separates us seem not quite so vast. I'm blessed with a tight knit family, but KU-MU makes us tighter. And now that I live in Texas, I'll miss that extra bit of connection more than ever.

- Joel

PS - Here's a good article about the rivalry written by Sports Illustrated's Joe Posnanski.

Lin-sanity

My dad and I watched the Lakers-Knicks game last night. What we witnessed was the validation of Lin-sanity, aka Jeremy Lin. Lin, an undrafted guard from Harvard, dropped 38 points and dished out 7 assists as led the Knicks to their fourth straight win. Lin's rags-to-riches story, combined with his persistent humility, have made him the toast of New York and the entire NBA.

I read a great article today in the New York Times exploring Lin's newfound fame from the perspective of an Asian-American. Check it out at the link below.

- Joel

Michael Luo - "Lin's Appeal: Faith, Pride, and Points"

Pitchfork

I first heard about Pitchfork.com from my friend Daniel back in 2005. My musical tastes had begun to expand in 2002 when my brother Kyle compelled me to listen to Radiohead's "Amenesiac" and Beck's "Sea Change." By 2005, a large part of my identity came from the music I listed to and, more importantly, the fact that not a lot of other people listened to the same music. Thus, Pitchfork was the perfect website for someone like me who used music to feel cooler than other people. It told me what to listen to. It told me what was cool. And the music it recommended was not what everyone else was listening to.

I still read Pitchfork on a daily basis, but these days it makes me tired. I'm disenchanted with the idea of using music, or books, or clothes to be cool - because you aren't really cool unless you are cooler than someone else, are you? I struggle with the pride that I see at the core of a lot of self-expression. I don't know if I feel that way because I'm growing older and more mature. Or maybe I feel that way because I'm growing older and more out of touch; maybe it's a self-serving perspective for someone out of touch to discount as immature and vain those who live on the pulse of popular culture. Either way, I'm growing tired of the effort it takes to be cool, and Pitchfork reminds me of my fatigue.

I say all this because this afternoon I read an insightful, yet extremely long, article on the history of Pitchfork.com. Buried within the article is a subtle, and at times not-so-subtle, critique of a website that prides itself, though not openly, on establishing "cultural capital" - aka what is/isn't cool. Richard Beck writes, "Pitchfork and indie rock are currently run by people who behave as though the endless effort to perfect the habits of cultural consumption is the whole experience of life." Maybe I'm old and mature, or maybe I'm just not cool anymore, but "perfecting [my] habits of cultural consumption" just doesn't seem worth it anymore. I'm tired of being what I should be, when it comes to culture/art/fashion. I am what I am.

- Joel

Read the article "Pitchfork, 1995-Present" here.

The Joy of Quiet

© Joel Nigel Coleman

This article from the New York Times scratches me where I itch. The author, Pico Iyer, explores our need for quiet and rest and the difficult task it is to find that in today's world. I have been contemplating quiet time lately, craving time away from the hustle and bustle of every day life. I'm not even busy, but this break from school makes me realize how much I need to make time to rest.

- Joel

Pico Iyer - "The Joy of Quiet"

Klosterman on Tebow

As usual, Chuck Klosterman brings intellect and nuance to a popular culture phenomenon. Tim Tebow is 6-1 as a starting quarterback this season and has led the Denver Broncos to five straight wins. He is also the most polarizing figure in professional sports, even more polarizing than LeBron James. The issue here, and the subject of Klosterman's most recent piece, is why Tebow is so polarizing. He seems to be a genuinely nice guy who rubs a lot of people the wrong way. If I'm honest, it's only been in the last month that I've given up my skepticism of Tebow and taken him at face value. On what grounds do I have to question him? I know nothing about him. What I appreciate about Klosterman's article is his ability to decipher the root of the issue. Klosterman writes:

The crux here, the issue driving this whole "Tebow Thing," is the matter of faith. It's the ongoing choice between embracing a warm feeling that makes no sense or a cold pragmatism that's probably true. And with Tebow, that illogical warm feeling keeps working out. It pays off. The upside to secular thinking is that — in theory — your skepticism will prove correct. Your rightness might be emotionally unsatisfying, but it confirms a stable understanding of the universe.

Though I sincerely disagree with his ultimate conclusion about secularism, I sincerely agree that Tebow is the personification of the battle between faith and reason. (I'd still argue that faith and reason are not antonyms) Check out the article at the link below.

- Joel

Chuck Klosterman - "The People Who Hate Tim Tebow"

Failure

For most of my life, I've been driven by the fear of failure. I created unrealistic expectations for myself and was terrified at the idea of falling short. I most motivated not by the opportunity to succeed but from the terror of failure. What a terrible thing, I used to think, for everyone to realize I was anything less than perfect? How ridiculous that sounds now. Failure is such a fundamental part of the human experience.

I read an op-ed in the Washington Post today that discussed the benefits of failure. The author pointed to Steve Jobs as a prime example. Before the MacBook and the iPhone became worldwide successes, Jobs bounced from couch to couch in an effort to make ends meet financially. At one point he was even fired from Apple, the company he co-founded. How humiliating.

It got me thinking about how many other influential figures have failed miserably. Abraham Lincoln's run to public offic began with a nervous breakdown and one election defeat after another. Reigning Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers began his college football career in junior college. He was invited to the NFL Draft festivities in Madison Square Garden only to sit alone in the waiting room hours after every other player had been drafted. Walt Disney had difficulty finding work as a newspaper artist and was even fired once because he "lacked imagination and had no good ideas."

The article (link below) I read discusses how the American obsession with success, and fear of failure, has trickled down to affect people of all ages. Yet, in reality, so much of the world's greatest successes were products of profound failure. Failure isn't something to be afraid of but to embrace. It's a lesson I'm learning ever so slowly.

- Joel

Kathleen Parker - "How We Succeed By Failing"

The Visible Man

I've never pre-ordered a book...until now. Today I'll receive my copy of Chuck Klosterman's The Visible Man. Apparently the novel is set in Austin, Texas, which is a fun coincidence. Klosterman will be in Austin for a book discussion in two weeks. I'm going to do my best to finish the book and attend the discussion. This will be the first book I've read since starting law school - other than my case books - which is a sad fact.

If you're interested in a preview of the book, go here to read one of the chapters. Also, making book trailers is apparently the new thing to do. You can check out the trailer for the book below. Watching it actually makes the book seem a little creepy. But Klosterman always makes me think, so I'm betting there's more to the book than the trailer lets on.

- Joel

Jerry West

Yesterday my co-ed flag football team lost 6-0. We had the ball on the 2 yard line with one play remaining and couldn't score. I hate losing. I have the annoying tendency to wrap my identity into the task presently at hand - even if that task is co-ed flag football. Thus losing is more than losing; it is a mini-identity crisis. It took some some heartbreak a few years ago to realize just how crippling this tendency can be. Slowly I'm learning a better way to live, and I think I'm finally becoming an enjoyable person to be around.

Yet it's good to know that I'm not alone. I just read this article on Jerry West, and we seem to have a lot in common. I wish we shared the same athletic prowess, but alas we share the same dysfunction - perfectionism. In spite of unparalleled respect in NBA circles, West says, "Self-esteem is something I still battle. People look at me and say you've got fame, you've got admiration, you've done this, you've done that. As far as I'm concerned, I haven't done anything." In spite of 14 All-Star appearances, 7 appearances in the NBA Finals, and 1 NBA Championship, West says, "All I did was learn how to lose... Go in that other locker room and see what it's like. It's the worst feeling in the world. You feel like you're lost. You hate yourself. You can't stand yourself, and we praise the winners."

The article is a fascinating, surprisingly honest take on one of the NBA's greatest stars. It reminded me of the pitfalls of defining myself by my performance. But beyond the psychology, it's a great read.

- Joel

Jonathan Abrams - "The Winter of Jerry West"

Gladwell on the Nets

I'm always excited to read new articles by Malcolm Gladwell. He's written two articles for Grantland.com, the second of which landed yesterday. I must say that I completely disagree with his assertion that NBA franchises are not businesses but works of art. I also generally disagree with his take on NBA owners. Still, Gladwell always makes me think, and that's one of my favorite things to do, nerd that I am. Check out the article on the Brooklyn Nets at the link below.

- Joel

Malcolm Gladwell - "The Nets and NBA Economics"

Franklin Barbecue

I spent two and half hours waiting in line for Austin's Franklin Barbecue yesterday. After debating with classmates over the past few days about who possesses the superior barbeque (Texas or Kansas City), I was persuaded to give Franklin a try. Bon Appetit magazine ran this article making the claim, "Today, his bricks-and-mortar restaurant serves what we're calling the best BBQ in Texas, if not America. Let the debates begin." My Texas friends quickly jumped on the bandwagon saying, "Bon Appetit called Franklin the best barbeque in America!" Unfortunately, that statement is false. Bon Appetit wrote, "the best BBQ in Texas, if not America." The phrase "if not America" means that they claim it might be the best barbeque in America. They were not confident enough to claim that it is actually the best barbeque in America.

With all that being said, here are some thoughts about Franklin Barbeque.

1. It was good barbeque.

2. It's not worth waiting over two hours to eat it.

3. I spoke with the owner, Aaron Franklin, and he claimed, "Kansas City overcooks it's barbeque." I sincerely disagree.

4. Franklin spells barbeque wrong. It's not spelled with a "c", it's spelled with a "q". Since when did you ever see barbeque abbreviated "BBC"? It's abbreviated "BBQ" because it's spelled with a "q".

5. Texas barbeque is very different from Kansas City barbeque. They hardly use seasoning on the meat which makes it taste more like what you'd find at a church potluck. They do an excellent job cooking the meat to the right tenderness, but it lacks the flavor that you'd find in Kansas City.

I honestly don't believe any Texas restaurant can beat the Z-Man Sandwich or the burnt ends at LC's, but I'm willing to try out the best restaurants in Texas. My next stop on the Tour de Texas BBQ will take me to Snow's BBQ in Lexington, Texas. Hopefully it will live up to the hype.

- Joel

Lessons From Friday Night Lights

I've been waiting to read the Grantland article, written by Carles of HipsterRunoff.com, on the lessons taught by the TV series Friday Night Lights. I actually began the article a month ago only to stumble upon spoilers and postpone reading. Having finished Season 5 of FNL last night, I was finally able to finish the article. The author Carles gleaned surprisingly insightful lessons from watching the show (though I don't know Carles, so maybe his insight is not surprising at all). Among the many lessons he describes, these stuck out to me as most powerful - sacrifice defines a family; and a successful marriage depends on mutual submission (he uses different language in the article to describe the second lesson). This will be the lasting impression of Friday Night Lights for me: beyond entertainment, the show made an authentic examination of life in America and ultimately provided lessons for how life is best lived. At the core it's a show about the fallibility of humans and the need for grace, love, and sacrifice to make relationships work. If I'm honest, I shed some tears after watching the finale last night - tears for the end of an excellent show and for the many unexpected ways I grew from watching.

- Joel

Carles - "Friday Night Lights -- 'Better Person' -- Becoming a Man"

Zeitoun

I'm reading a very interesting book by Dave Eggers entitled Zeitoun. In this nonfiction narrative, Eggers tells the story of Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a successful Syrian-born painter in New Orleans who remains in the city through Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent chaos. I'm actually reading this book as part of my law school orientation. Zeitoun's experience post-Katrina raises the issue of the value of law and order and it's fragility in times of crisis. Though only halfway through Zeitoun at the moment, I would highly recommend the book thus far. My one criticism is way in which this account grossly misunderstands Christianity as "same God, different book" as it relates to the Muslim faith. In Egger's attempt to relate the "Americanness" of this Muslim family, I believe he inaccurately unifies the two distinctly different faiths. Nevertheless, this on-the-ground account of the mayhem surrounding Hurricane Katrina is both fascinating and heartbreaking.

- Joel

The Sisters Brothers

With six weeks off before law school, I've had plenty of time to read. Monday I finished Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five". Yesterday I dove into a new novel released this past April, "The Sisters Brothers" by Patrick deWitt. deWitt's style reminds me of Charles Portis and his masterpiece "True Grit". Though the novel is technically a western, its wit and dark humor can be appreciated by those who don't normally indulge the western genre. I'm one third of the way through the book and can already highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. If you'd like a brief plot overview, check out the book trailer below. Since when did they start creating video trailers for books?

- Joel

Friday Night Lights

One of my roommates in grad school got hooked on Friday Night Lights during its inaugural season on NBC. The show recently ended its six season run, having established a small but fiercely loyal following. I sparsely watched the first season with my roommate and caught bits and pieces as my sister caught up on the entire series over the past year. However, I am now hooked, (halfway through Season 2 at the moment) streaming episodes on Netflix.

If you are a fan of the show, you'll love this retrospective article, an oral history of the show in the words of the actors/directors/producers. Casual fans beware: the article does give away a few plot turns in the later seasons. As I am only on Season 2, the article spoiled a few things that await me in future seasons. Still, I think this oral history reveals the authenticity at the heart of one of the best shows in recent television history. For those fans-to-be, FNL is more than just a show about high school football; it explores traditional values in a small town setting, the wellspring of life that marriage can be, and our American infatuation with competition and winning. You'll like it, I promise.

- Joel

"Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Couldn't Lose: An oral history of Friday Night Lights" - Robert Mays

Vacation Reading

A week on the beach gave me plenty of time to do some reading. I actually finished three books during the week. A big thanks to Sundog Books in Seaside, Florida for their unorganized layout (have they ever heard of alphabetical order?) and exorbitantly priced selection. I'd recommend all three books I finished.

Wyatt Earp: The Life Behind The Legend by Casey Tefertiller - As someone who loves the Old West and also enjoys history, I was fascinated by this biography. The tendency to exaggerate tales of the Wild West, combined with Hollywood taking liberties in Western films, has pumped quite a bit of hot air into the legend of Wyatt Earp. However, this painstakingly researched biography shows that the actual events of Wyatt Earp's life are in many ways stranger than fiction.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett - I was the butt of a few jokes on vacation for reading this "girl's book". The Help is a powerful narrative that directly addresses the racist climate of Mississippi in the 1950's. The novel follows the lives of three women, one white and two black servants for white households, in their struggle to redefine the relationship between white homemakers and their black "help". The movie adaptation of this book will be released on August 10.

I Curse The River of Time by Per Petterson - I'd heard about this book a few months ago but could never track it down at the library. In the fading Norwegian autumn (Petterson's native land) Arvid, the main character, laments the inevitable march of time away from the days when his life had hope and purpose. Time, it seems, gets away from us when we aren't looking. It's a sad novel, but one that is beautifully written and which addresses themes common to all of us: aging, love, and our search for acceptance and approval.

Pioneers! Oh Pioneers!

Pioneers! O Pioneers!

Come my tan-faced children,
Follow well in order, get your weapons ready,
Have you your pistols? have you your sharp-edged axes?
Pioneers! O pioneers!

For we cannot tarry here,
We must march my darlings, we must bear the brunt of danger,
We the youthful sinewy races, all the rest on us depend,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

O you youths, Western youths,
So impatient, full of action, full of manly pride and friendship,
Plain I see you Western youths, see you tramping with the foremost,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Have the elder races halted?
Do they droop and end their lesson, wearied over there beyond the seas?
We take up the task eternal, and the burden and the lesson,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the past we leave behind,
We debouch upon a newer mightier world, varied world,
Fresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the march,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

We detachments steady throwing,
Down the edges, through the passes, up the mountains steep,
Conquering, holding, daring, venturing as we go the unknown ways,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

We primeval forests felling,
We the rivers stemming, vexing we and piercing deep the mines within,
We the surface broad surveying, we the virgin soil upheaving,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Colorado men are we,
From the peaks gigantic, from the great sierras and the high plateaus,
From the mine and from the gully, from the hunting trail we come,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

From Nebraska, from Arkansas,
Central inland race are we, from Missouri, with the continental
blood intervein’d,
All the hands of comrades clasping, all the Southern, all the Northern,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

O resistless restless race!
O beloved race in all! O my breast aches with tender love for all!
O I mourn and yet exult, I am rapt with love for all,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Raise the mighty mother mistress,
Waving high the delicate mistress, over all the starry mistress,
(bend your heads all,)
Raise the fang’d and warlike mistress, stern, impassive, weapon’d mistress,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

See my children, resolute children,
By those swarms upon our rear we must never yield or falter,
Ages back in ghostly millions frowning there behind us urging,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

On and on the compact ranks,
With accessions ever waiting, with the places of the dead quickly fill’d,
Through the battle, through defeat, moving yet and never stopping,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

O to die advancing on!
Are there some of us to droop and die? has the hour come?
Then upon the march we fittest die, soon and sure the gap is fill’d.
Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the pulses of the world,
Falling in they beat for us, with the Western movement beat,
Holding single or together, steady moving to the front, all for us,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Life’s involv’d and varied pageants,
All the forms and shows, all the workmen at their work,
All the seamen and the landsmen, all the masters with their slaves,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the hapless silent lovers,
All the prisoners in the prisons, all the righteous and the wicked,
All the joyous, all the sorrowing, all the living, all the dying,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

I too with my soul and body,
We, a curious trio, picking, wandering on our way,
Through these shores amid the shadows, with the apparitions pressing,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Lo, the darting bowling orb!
Lo, the brother orbs around, all the clustering suns and planets,
All the dazzling days, all the mystic nights with dreams,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

These are of us, they are with us,
All for primal needed work, while the followers there in embryo wait behind,
We to-day’s procession heading, we the route for travel clearing,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

O you daughters of the West!
O you young and elder daughters! O you mothers and you wives!
Never must you be divided, in our ranks you move united,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Minstrels latent on the prairies!
(Shrouded bards of other lands, you may rest, you have done your work,)
Soon I hear you coming warbling, soon you rise and tramp amid us,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Not for delectations sweet,
Not the cushion and the slipper, not the peaceful and the studious,
Not the riches safe and palling, not for us the tame enjoyment,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Do the feasters gluttonous feast?
Do the corpulent sleepers sleep? have they lock’d and bolted doors?
Still be ours the diet hard, and the blanket on the ground,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Has the night descended?
Was the road of late so toilsome? did we stop discouraged nodding
on our way?
Yet a passing hour I yield you in your tracks to pause oblivious,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Till with sound of trumpet,
Far, far off the daybreak call—hark! how loud and clear I hear it wind,
Swift! to the head of the army!—swift! spring to your places,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

—Walt Whitman