A Life For Itself

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  • A Brief Meandering on the Possibility of the Ravens Leaving One Day

    Russell Street Report’s Tony Lombardi posted a commentary that may give some Ravens fans —e.g., older fans who remember 1984— a reason to be relieved. According to him, last June, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti called the idea of the Ravens playing anywhere other than M&T Bank Stadium “preposterous.” It certainly feels better than “I have not any intentions of moving the goddamn team. If I did, I will tell you about it, but I’m staying here,” but that’s mostly because of the person saying the words.

    Still, Lombardi is not subtly hinting that at some point in the near future, The Bank, as it’s known, will undergo some kind of renovation. Again, assuming that the Ravens’ plan isn’t to build another stadium or perhaps move to another city. Whuh?

    To even think this, let alone say it, would be as close to blasphemy as one can get for a Baltimore guy and Ravens fan. A day one Ravens fan. The problem is, before anything gets done between the Ravens and Maryland Stadium Authority, before Bisciotti makes any final decision, the NFL will have its say in the matter.

    #

    I’m sure if the NFL doesn’t know now, they will at some point, that Baltimore City is doling out a lot of development money in the form of TIFs and other public moneys these days. Upwards of $400M is going to Michael Beatty’s Harbor Point development, the new local home for Exelon, the owner of the local electric utility. Actually, it’s probably more, since he bought some of the bonds himself and will benefit from the interest paid on those.

    Then, there’s the 20 year/$535M TIF being debated in public and soon to be voted on by City Council that will go to Sagamore Development, the development arm of Under Armour owner Kevin Plank, to develop their Port Covington project. Part of the project will be a new corporate home for Under Armour, other parts slated to be public parks and other such amenities.

    While I’m sure the NFL won’t be concerned with local laws concerning the running of the electrical utility or the number of jobs Sagamore claims it will bring to Baltimore, they’re seeing big dollar figures being moved. Even in a city known for its striking areas of poverty. Forget the fact that stadiums aren’t even a totally local concern in Baltimore (except for the Baltimore Arena, somehow). When it comes time to discuss the stadium situation in Baltimore, the league is definitely going to inquire about the large sums of money being spent by the City to develop real estate projects.

    #

    Still, other than public statements to the effect that Bisciotti doesn’t want to move the team elsewhere, does Baltimore/Maryland have any leverage to keep the Ravens?

    The growing sentiment around the country may be swinging towards kick rocks when it comes to public financing of sports stadiums. Las Vegas seems willing to say yes to the Raiders as we wait for their current home, but Oakland might not be interested in committing that much money. San Diego may ultimately be willing to part with the Chargers and spend that money on other things. In the event that those teams moved, their cities would be open, but would they have changed their minds about stadium financing?

    What other non-NFL cities are there lining up? The league itself feels public financing is getting harder to get from cities.

    While the situation between the Ravens and Baltimore is different, as they deal directly with the State and its more vast resources than a city and with Las Vegas seemingly ready to come off the map of possible NFL cities, where else could the Ravens go and get as good a deal as they currently have? The stadium deal that Art Modell eventually took was a sweetheart deal he used to get himself out of the financial straits he’d put himself in back in Cleveland. Before L.A. and now Las Vegas, Baltimore was the city the league used as the relocation threat. Most of the TV markets larger than Baltimore are occupied with teams already. In moving to Vegas, the NFL would be moving from the 6th largest TV market to the 42nd. Would they want to stomach that again?

    Having said that, I’m sure that most Ravens fans would rather not tempt fate by asking the question for real and hope that the Ravens and Stadium Authority can work out the future of the Ravens’ tenure in Baltimore, with the least input from the Jerry Jones’ and Stan Kronke’s of the world. Reportedly, the Ravens and Stadium Authority have had a great operating relationship through the years, so there’s no reason now to believe they wouldn’t be able to work out terms of a renovation of the current stadium. Or more.

    Besides, losing the Ravens, if it came to that, would equal political suicide for anybody in charge for letting a 2nd NFL team leave Baltimore on their watch. Baltimoreans have long memories and besides, Ravens fandom in Maryland isn’t confined to any political party or the political boundary lines of Baltimore City (even back in the day, the Baltimore County Executive became involved alongside Baltimore Mayor William Donald Schaefer in the effort to keep the Baltimore Colts. The outcome of this was the impetus for the creation of the Maryland Stadium Authority). Annapolis is as wedded to the Ravens as Baltimore is.

    #

    I want to say I know they’re not leaving now or in the foreseeable future. But it’s not that simple. I don’t want to be that naive. Bisciotti may think Baltimore is the best home for the Ravens, but what does the league think? The L.A. decision wasn’t just about one team.

    The Falcons are barely 20 years into the Georgia Dome and they’re moving into a new stadium after this season. The Vikings are moving into a new stadium. The Rams’ move to L.A. was predicated upon their new stadium. Chargers and Raiders will be moving into new homes at some point. Even the Bills are talking about moving into a new stadium. The league is more than willing to take the PR hit from pulling up stakes. That shameless press conference announcing the Rams’ move is proof-positive that they don’t care.

    All I can do as a fan is support my team and if this one decides to go, pack up my jerseys next to my Baltimore Colts pennant and get up the next morning like last time.

  • Five Things – 26 May 2016

    1.

    Another possible staph infection. Thankfully, no hospitalization.

    My first trip to the doctor, she did tell me that if the condition didn’t improve by the first couple days of antibiotics, then she wanted me to go to the emergency room. Not sure if the implication was that they’d give me a stronger antibiotic or a few incisions, but I’m guessing it was the latter.

    I’d pretty much decided I wasn’t going to do that, so I’m glad it didn’t come to me having to say those words. Or, rehearsing saying those words as I likely still went out there.

    Mostly, I’m glad that I didn’t have to lay there as doctors and others funneled into the room, asking me how I felt, perhaps talking some football, and submitting a bill I’d later curse at in the HR office at work.

    Then, there was the whole “getting sicker in the hospital” thing.

    2.

    I did look up some alternative “stuff.” After last time, one of my coworkers gave me some interesting information about staph and antibiotics and alternative treatments, since the antibiotic apocalypse is coming. Phages sounded most interesting. Copper kills MRSA on contact, but I thought better of ordering some 999 copper rounds and touching them to the wound. Maybe next time, if there is one. I found colloidal copper online, but I wasn’t feeling that, either.

    I did settle on some antiseptic cream and some extra probiotics. Last time, I waited until after I’d finished my course of antibiotics to begin taking probiotics. Not this time. I feel much better.

    3.

    Ironically, I haven’t written as much this week that I’ve been fighting this infection. When I was in the hospital and didn’t have notebook, pens, paper, Chromebook, anything, I couldn’t wait to get out and write again.

    This time around, I’m right with all of my writing tools and utensils and I’m not writing as much. Maybe I should have packed some clothes and notebooks and gone to the hospital. Had I gone, I wouldn’t have had to take the call that like half the staff at work couldn’t get into the terminal server.

    4.

    It was bound to happen eventually. Not sure how it happened, but not everyone is ready to share the road. However, the train always wins. Remember. The train always wins.

    I’m glad their streetcar is doing so well. If Baltimore can’t get a new light rail, because … buses … then I’m glad KC can have one and that it can be a success.

    I’d love to go out there and take a ride, just not on a day like today.

    5.

    Ravens:

    Big fine for breaking offseason rules. Perhaps they should put in for a TIF to redevelop some land around the stadium and help pay for fines for stuff like that.

    Ray Rice was back at the Castle. They did say he’d be welcome back after he was done playing to help guide rookies.

    Perhaps the NFL or even MLB should bring him in.

    O’s:

    They’re attracting more orioles.

    But the players are strking out alot. The extra-inning game the other day was pretty brutal.

    We’ll always have those 2012 and 2014 playoffs. Those were magical.

    Mets:

    Hope this doesn’t get any messier.

  • Five Things – 19 May 2016

    1.

    Liking Gotham alot right now. In Hugo Strange, they’ve created a character whose next action, I always want to see. He embodies a very Gotham-esque ethos, a mix of science and junk science and odd religion that they’ve toyed with in different characters like Mr. Freeze, Ed Nygma, and Theo Galavan.

    Plus, I just flat out enjoy B.D. Wong and Tonya Pinkins’ performances. They play really well off of each other. But they’re both damn good veteran actors. What else would I expect? Besides, the show in general has featured some great acting. Don’t forget Robin Lord Taylor’s Penguin.

    David Mazouz’s performances have also been better. Since he’s grown up a little bit, he embodies more the ongoing grief and bitterness that pushes Bruce Wayne. I’m enjoying it.

    How much longer until Harvey dies and Jim Gordon has to take over GCPD because there’s literally nobody left who can run the department?

    2.

    I still think Elizabeth Keen faked her death and she’s going to show up on the season finale. I think she faked it and Mr. Kaplan helped. Outside of that, I don’t know what to think. Tom’s headed into another show.

    3.

    Preakness Weekend. Sun reporting that horse racing is doing better financially in Maryland, but I’m not sure if that means anything for keeping the race in Baltimore. I’ll believe any talk of a Pimlico renovation when I see dirt on West Belvedere Ave. (there was once something else horse related that they claimed to not to want to move before. Can’t remember what that was. Oh well).

    Regardless of what may happen in the distant future, it’s supposed to rain all Saturday, so the race should look like last year’s. And there should be plenty of alcohol and partying, as usual. I’m expecting there to be a rain slip and slide in the infield or something.

    4.

    I need to go to Barnes and Noble. Haven’t been in a long time. I’m going to take my Chromebook up there and write one of these days. Perhaps I’ll take a day off for this instead of waiting for a weekend.

    5.

    Disastrous West Coast trip for the Mets. Nats series hasn’t been any better. I’m also happy to forget the O’s series vs. Seattle.

  • Five Things (About Google I/O) – 19 May 2016

    1.

    Google Home

    Won’t be running out to get one of these. I didn’t rush out to get an Amazon Echo and I’ll probably sit this one out, too. With all Google’s Assistant functions presumably also coming to the app I can interact with on my phone, I don’t have any real reason to buy one of these, should I decide to start talking to my phone (I don’t talk to Google or to Siri on my iPad.)

    Besides, I enjoy interacting with my Chromecast the way I do now. I just queue up a bunch of videos and watch. Lots of train videos. And water slide videos.

    2.

    Google Daydream VR

    Didn’t care at first, but when they showed just the logo of MLB.tv in the demo, I became interested. I’ll want more reason to shell out money when this is released in the fall, but being able to watch baseball games in a VR environment is definitely a strong enticement for me. Your mileage may vary.

    3.

    Android N Updates

    I decided against cobbling up some pennies to buy a Galaxy Gear S2 and that decision may hold up even as the next generation of watches come out (I’m definitely not buying an Apple Watch.)

    I did like the security and performance updates coming to Android N. But I do have Samsung hardware, so I might see these improvements. And I might not.

    4.

    Allo and Duo

    So exactly how many Google messaging apps do I need? I’ve been using GChat/Hangouts since it first came out. I got Google Voice when it first came out. I survived the aborted marriage of the two, thankfully unscathed.

    Now, Google has two more chat apps coming out. The only feature from Allo that I can say I like is the encryption. I really don’t care about the other stuff, even the search. Plus, it’s tied to mobile and I use my Chromebook a lot.

    Duo is the Facetime-for-Android app that I never wanted because I never wanted Facetime on Android. I was perfectly happy with Hangouts and its ability to handle both one-on-one and group video calls. In fact, I still am. Again, best feature is the encryption.

    I do admit that some folks will be happier using these new apps instead of their predecessors as these apps will be tied to telephone numbers, making them easier for some to use than the friend-list/invite based Hangouts.

    However, some folks brought up a good point about Duo’s screening feature being possibly abused.

    5.

    Android and ChromeOS convergence

    Google Play and Android apps are coming to Chromebooks. Just not my Chromebook. My HP Chromebook 14 isn’t on the list of supported hardware. It is an older machine, but I already do run the previously supported Android versions of Evernote and one or two other apps. So while the announcement is really cool, it’s personally disappointing. My book runs really well and I don’t have much interest in upgrading right now, the new functionality notwithstanding.

    I did flirt with the idea of upgrading, but that was because the screen wasn’t working properly. Well, the third one. Once I fixed that, the idea of going to a different Chromebook went completely away. They may be forcing the hands of those who may really want Android functionality on their Chromebooks, but they’re not necessarily forcing mine. As of now, it’s a want, but not a must have.

    The irony, though, is I may wait until fall and get a Chromebox that run Android apps, if this functionality ends up being too appealing. In the meantime, I’m not going anywhere unless something happens to my current machine.

    On a less personal note, I think this is a win for Google. They may not have been totally right about the web browser being all one needed outside of the phone and tablet form factor spaces, but I think they’re still right that you don’t necessarily need a full-blown operating system, (i.e. Windows or MacOS) all the time, for every case. Today’s announcement feels like a compromise and a step forward for ChromeOS.

    Time will tell, but if once Android Instant Apps reach circulation, and Chromebooks have the ability to run said apps the way phones and tablets can, well, and in ways that satisfy enough use cases, Google will still have been ultimately right overall. In 5-10 years, we may think that the Chromebook was ahead of its time now, and for a world with a mix of fully downloadable and on-demand apps, the right tech for those times when you really need a keyboard and mouse. We’ll see.

    #

    In the more now space, I was excited by the announcement of the nComputing Chromebook CX100. As my employer has used nComputing devices to deliver (oh, God, I’m getting into tech marketing babble) a full Windows desktop for students at the alternative high school it operates, I’m familiar with nComputing’s thin clients and software, which have been pretty rock solid. That they were putting out a Chromebook was really exciting because one of the complaints that has been raised in recent times is students being tethered to the thin clients in the computer labs to get work done.

    My employer had tried Windows laptops, which ended up being a disaster for reasons I won’t go into now. Since then, they’ve thrown around the idea of using iPads or other laptops to fill this need of mobility around the school, but haven’t settled on anything.

    But when I saw the CX100, I thought all their problems had been solved — the school could have the mobility they wanted along with access to Windows without all the extra maintenance (blood pressure rising) a set of Windows laptops would require. (And yes, I know there are a ton of tools out there for managing Windows machines and if you’d like to donate to my employer to pay for that, I may make a link available).

    And when I saw the nComputing app that makes it all possible in the Chrome store and compatible with my own Chromebook, I got happy (blood pressure lowering). The school might not have to specifically use the nComputing hardware, but could probably get any Chromebook (serotonin release).

    Now with the announcement of Google Play and Android apps coming to ChromeOS, I’m fighting to think of any reason why, for use in the school environment that I have to support, a Windows laptop or an iPad would be necessarily better than a Chromebook with access to both Android and Windows apps via nComputing software. I just can’t. And that’s what the future could be.

    It may take some time for Android app developers to standardize their work for Chromebooks, but with a combination of Chrome web apps, Android apps, and Windows apps available at the expense of only lower-cost Chromebooks, I can’t think of a better situation to be in. My employer could continue to leverage the investment (more tech marketing babble, oh no) it’s made in Windows and still get mobility (I promise to write a poem to make up for all this talk) and a wider selection of apps with Chrome and Android.

    A few years ago, my employer purchased a good number of HP thin clients for employees to use to connect to remote Windows virtual machines. I’m struggling to come up with a reason why, as those need to be replaced, they can’t be with Chromeboxes, should they decide to use nComputing software on the corporate remote end like it’s done for the school.

    It’s a very interesting time for tech, especially on the educational side.

  • Where in the Marvel Universe is Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.?

    (If you haven’t seen the season 3 finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and don’t want spoilers, go read my thoughts on the Ravens or something. You’ve been warned)

    Another fun season of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ended last night with a fantastic season finale that I’m sure if they’re submitting anything to the Emmy’s, it’ll be the submission.

    The episode had Chloe Bennet playing several different phases of Daisy Johnson’s guilt over her time under the control of Hive — self loathing when telling Coulson she didn’t deserve his forgiveness; sadness when Mac comes to console her; regret and the beginning of grief when Lincoln takes over the Quinjet to fly Hive and the Terrigen-laced warhead into space to be destroyed.

    However, Chloe didn’t just provide the most emotional episode of her tenure on the show. It came out yesterday that she’s not exactly happy with the show’s position in the MCU.

    Specifically, she says the events of AoS tend to be ignored in the movies. And she’s totally right.

    One of my favorite aspects of season one of AoS was the fact that the show literally turns on a dime based on the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. From a storytelling perspective, the world of AoS had been set up and then a huge event changes everything and the characters are forced to deal with a massively different and more difficult world than the one they had been in before. That was satisfying on its own, but the clear connection to the movies made you feel like you were really partaking of a universe of stories, crossing media. You got to be part of this every week, not just when the movies come out.

    (A smaller reference in Daredevil season 1 does the same, which worked really well grounding you in a place and time in the MCU, while managing expectations because the events of Daredevil are confined to Hell’s Kitchen, with the show’s stakes not having to do with anything outside of that area)

    The appearance of a Helicarrier in Avengers: Age of Ultron courtesy of Phil Coulson, along with the allusions to the planning of that event in AoS, were a nice treat too.

    Admittedly, I went to see Captain America: Civil War not just for itself (or for the introductions of Black Panther and the new Spider-Man), but for some reference or happenstance that would show up on the following Tuesday’s episode of AoS. Nothing much in the movie stood out, but I figured that the show would handle that, taking something we’d seen in the movie and making it bigger in hindsight, despite being pretty close to its season finale. Again, events in Winter Soldier had driven events on AoS, so there was precedent to justify my expectation.

    All we ended up receiving was General Talbot using the Sokovia Accords as a justification to get Coulson to be more open about the operation at S.H.I.E.L.D. (possibly setting up Talbot to be the next Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. If you’ve seen the season finale and the epilogue/season 4 jump, then you’ve seen Coulson order someone to “call the Director” when Daisy escapes. So he’s not Director anymore. And, Daisy becomes an outlaw of some kind and Coulson and Mac are hunting her. That’s a spoiler, too.) Nothing much beyond that.

    The problem is, given the magnitude of the story on AoS –and the events of Civil War notwithstanding– it’s hard to imagine nobody from the Avengers intervening. Anyone. Vision? Black Widow, maybe? Hive is about to disperse a gas that will turn a huge segment of the human population into inhuman drones and nobody thinks some help from the Avengers is even an idea that merits discussion?

    Yes, Coulson says during the meeting with Talbot about Sokovia that the Avengers work in the light, but S.H.I.E.L.D. works in the shadows, but with a very real threat looming, wouldn’t they have perhaps wanted Iron Man to help blow the Terrigen-laced warhead out of the sky if it were launched? No Falcon?

    (I was reading where someone mentioned that the Avengers haven’t been told on screen that Coulson is still alive. True. But if he was named the head of the ATCU, how could his being alive have been kept a secret? Especially from William Hurt’s Secretary of State Ross?)

    Here is where Bennet’s comments ring true. The show is indeed about the members of S.H.I.E.L.D.–and they did manage to eliminate the Hive threat– but with the Avengers willing to go fight each other over Sokovia (or to protect Bucky), then wouldn’t it have made sense for at least someone to show up to protect the world as a whole?

    Tony Stark can find Spider-Man swinging around New York on YouTube, but the fact that Hive buys a whole town goes completely unnoticed? A warhead is stolen and the government doesn’t at least ask the Avengers to help find it and sign the accords after? Talbot has to fight red tape to get help to go after Hive, but couldn’t he have just said “Hey, powered person with a warhead wants to cause massive damage,” wouldn’t the government have sprung to action, given how concerned they were about powered people?

    I get that there are logistical issues and such that would need to be worked out, but there do seem to be holes in both when there isn’t more crossover, such as they did in season 1 of AoS. If they can tie-in movies they’re years from releasing, why can’t they tie-in more with the TV show they’ll be producing another season for, by fall?

    #

    On a related, but different note, I really enjoyed the scene between Lincoln and Hive at the end of the AoS season finale.

    Once the Quinjet makes it into space, Lincoln tells Hive he can sway him, but it doesn’t matter, since they’re going to die anyway. Hive, who had been using his evil pixie spore dust to compel people to connect with him informs Lincoln that they’ll have a connection. They will still share something that Hive hasn’t experienced before: death.

    And unlike a million other villains in a million other stories, who choose to go down fighting until the very, bitter end, Hive decides to simply float with Lincoln and they have a conversation.

    About Earth. About Hive’s reasons for what he’d done. Lincoln’s reasons for opposing him, despite not ultimately wanting to be an agent. And then they brace for the inevitable. Then they go. Compelling resolution for their characters.

    And like all good resolutions, it was the start of a major change — this one in Daisy (which, I guess, triggers a huge change in Coulson) that will carry us into the beginning of season four.

    Good stuff. I’m just glad I have baseball and all the episodes of Daredevil season 2 to keep the anxiousness at bay until fall.

  • Five Things – 12 May 2016

    1.

    Ahhh yes. O’s are on a 5-game winning streak with a nice come-from-behind win at home vs. the Tigers. Those games vs. the Twins were really fun to watch.

    2.

    So much for the DH. Mets pitchers are mashing.

    3.

    Disappointed that Agent Carter got cancelled.

    As much as I enjoy the MCU movies and TV shows that take place in the current day, I enjoyed seeing Carter take on the bad guys without helicarriers, Quinjets, teams of super smart scientists, and powered people around to help.

    Plus I very much enjoyed the Dr. Wilkes character.

    ABC didn’t pick up the Bobbi and Hunter spinoff, either. Hopefully, they’ll show back up on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

    Fortunately, Supergirl got picked up for CW. It should have been there from the beginning.

    4.

    Shocking development: Scrivener for iOS has moved into beta testing. They first announced this app a few years ago and writers –myself included– have been waiting. The wait might be over by the summer.

    I still use Scrivener for Windows for this blog and my other writing projects. That and Google Drive, since there isn’t any Scrivener for ChromeOS.

    However, they are talking about an Android version in the future …

    … and with Android and ChromeOS possibly converging soon, who knows what the future holds with writing on my Chromebook.

    5.

    And people are still driving up to it towards the end of the video.

    Before they took Weather Channel off the cable, Storm Chasers was a major guilty pleasure. If you’re into big storms and tech porn, that’s the show for you. They’d load up in these vehicles –sometimes specially fortified vehicles– with cameras, laptops, sometimes tablets, and head out.

    They’d use GPS to go find tornadoes, sometimes going between states to get the shot to sell to Weather Channel and whoever else buys those pictures. One episode, they got too close and were debating hanging out in a fast food restaurant freezer.

    And that’s one of the reasons why I couldn’t ever do that. As much as I’d love to drive around with a laptop (and probably also a tablet) mounted in the car and maybe get pictures from a mile or so away, what’s depicted in that video is way too intense. It takes a different breed of person to get that close to a killer storm on purpose. Same for the storm chasing scientists who work the same way. And for the pilots and meteorologists who fly into tropical cyclones on purpose.

  • Five Things – 5 May 2016

    1.

    O’s won the series with the Yankees, but I was really hoping for the sweep. The further under .500 the Yankees are, the more comical their fans are when they call in on the radio.

    Plus, with the back of their bullpen being what it is, the more losses they take early, the better. Seasons are never decided in April or early May, but if they do hit that hot streak in June or July, it’s better the further they have to go to catch up.

    Especially with that back of the bullpen. It’s like that 2014 Royals bullpen.

    2.

    What is up with Matt Harvey? I’m sure he’ll snap out of it, but he doesn’t seem to be all there in some way.

    What is up with the Mets hitting all these home runs? Certainly a pleasant surprise.

    What is up with the Royals? I thought they’d do us a solid by at least taking 2/3 from the Nats. Guess not. They can redeem themselves in my eyes by putting it down on the Yankees next week.

    3.

    To answer the popular question from the beginning of the week: yes, I was pleased with the Ravens’ draft. Oz is usually right more often than not, it seems, so I never sweat it. Some folks like to go back and look at picks like Matt Elam and Courtney Upshaw (I enjoyed his tenure in Baltimore, but he ended up not being enough of a pass rusher I guess), but look at the last few drafts and who’s contributed along the defensive line and who stepped up last season on offense with all the injuries. At this point, I’m expecting nothing less than the same, especially on defense.

    4.

    I wasn’t surprised the Ravens pulled Laremy Tunsil off their board immediately after the video and pictures hit social media. This is the same team that cut Bernard Pierce mere hours after a DUI arrest in Baltimore County. Arrest. Not conviction. They cut Terrence Cody after his animal cruelty charges (but in their defense, he had one foot out the door based on performance as it was) came out, too.

    Since the fallout from the Ray Rice situation, the Castle has been highly sensitive to the team’s public image. If they were willing to cut one of their own as quickly as they did Pierce, there was no way they were going to take Tunsil, since they were about to pick and had no time to dig deeper into the story and find out the video was old and someone was releasing all of this on draft day, seemingly to destroy the kid.

    They say they had Stanley rated higher than Tunsil and only they know for sure. But I’m pretty sure that if there had been a chance they would take him while they were on the clock, as soon as the picture came out of him in the gas mask bong, that chance evaporated.

    However, NFL Network had the time to let the story unfold before allowing their talking heads like Mike Mayock pass judgment on the kid without knowing the whole story. At least Mayock backtracked on his comments later in the night.

    The rest of them sure didn’t. I wonder if they’ll all be cheering for the more famous and local Baltimore weed connoisseur, Michael Phelps, as he represents the whole country in the Olympics in a few weeks, though.

    Oh, and according to Kevin Byrne, Ozzie reads tweets from college players. Kids, if you think you have a shot at playing pro football, watch what you say on the Tweeter, okay?

    5.

    What a mess.

  • Writing Bootcamp: Postmortem

    And then, it was done. No more prompts. No more classmates’ writing to read and critique. No more 1000 word assignment to turn in on Saturday. Even as I know the time flew by really quickly and I wish I’d signed up for the 10 week bootcamp, it feels like I’ve been at this routine a lot longer. I could go on doing this for much longer. I imagine this what somewhat like an MFA program feels like, from what I’ve always heard or read about them.

    I had an inkling that responding to prompts and letting the writing produced from those exercises lead me to new story ideas, memories I had forgotten that might fit with *something* I’d written and I was right. I produced a lot more writing than I thought I would and leave the experience with many more ideas for projects, both large and small. Since we’ve been invited to, I’ll be downloading the prompts and revisiting them, as I feel like I need another boost or a different alleyway to take my writing down.

    The next step is to work and bring pieces I worked on in the class and that I started outside of it, to conclusion and send them out. I have a huge bout of impostor syndrome to get over, but at this point, if I keep doing any more of these classes (or any other classes, for that matter) without trying for publication at all, I’ll be still hiding. Someone whose opinion I trust asked me when I was going to stop going into these classes looking for validation for my writing and permission to put it out in the world. I learned it’s okay and I don’t completely suck and I should go for publication. The hiding isn’t working.

    So I’ll go back to the lab, throw some things out here on this site, some things out elsewhere, and we’ll see where it goes.

    Since the names of the members of the class weren’t published, I won’t put any of their names here, but I would like to thank them for sharing their work and their opinions about everyone’s work. As I said before, it was great to see work written about subjects that I care about, but from different slants. The class was worth it for that alone.

    Forget about the bravery the writers must have had to produce the work they did. Exploring lifestyles out of the mainstream. Stories about living with cancer. One writer talked about one way their mother’s death from cancer was a relief. She stood on her truth and never wavered.

    I’d also like to especially thank the instructor, Meghan O’Gieblyn, since her name was listed on the site. She gave me wonderful feedback on my work, especially the longer pieces. I am truly grateful for her discussion of an issue I’ve struggled with for a long time: the use of second person in my writing. It’s one of those things that I’ve just “felt” for at times, but she gave me a larger way of looking at that perspective and when to employ it.

    More than that, she offered encouragement and even talked with us about things like publishing with us that weren’t officially covered in the course. Generous, helpful, and supportive — everything you want in a writing teacher.

    Read some of her work.

    And that’s it. Tomorrow, I’ll jump back behind my Chromebook screen and we’ll see where I go.

  • Five Things – 27 April 2016

    1.

    Catherine Pugh won the Democratic primary for Mayor of Baltimore. So, it’s very likely she’s going to be the next mayor. Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is already pledging to work with her to make the transition go well.

    Deray didn’t get many votes, but hopefully the long-term effect of his candidacy is the involvement of more of Baltimore’s youth in the political process as well as other means of change and empowerment. Baltimore must find ways to include more people in its growth and prosperity. It can’t just be concentrated in Southeast Baltimore without the same sort of unrest we saw last year happening again.

    I was happy to see my old classmate, Elizabeth Embry, polled at 12%. Given that this was her first time running and that she didn’t have the same recognition coming in as Ms. Pugh and Ms. Dixon, she did really well. I think she could win in a future run at the office if she stays visible. 12% might not seem like much, but Ms. Dixon had people waiting to vote for again at the time she left office the last time. To do well against that kind of support is really impressive, especially in Baltimore.

    2.

    On the anniversary of last year’s unrest/uprising, Baltimore police shoot a 13-year old with a BB gun.

    3.

    Tomorrow night is round 1 of the NFL Draft 2016. I’m still unsure who the Ravens will pick, but I’m fairly certain the first pick will be made in current slot and it will be a defensive player.

    One thing I am 100% sure of: I’m glad I’m not a Browns fan. Or an Eagles fan. Two things.

    4.

    Lifting again. It’s fun and I feel good after, but I miss the old days, lifting in Mr. Scott’s back yard. Lifting in the weight room at school. I’m going to write more about this one of these days.

    5.

    The writing is going really well in the class, still. Unfortunately, this is the last week. I’m going to miss being in such an environment, but the class has given me lots of material to build on and means to develop more and keep myself going. I’m going to do another bootcamp when I can.

  • A Genius of Prince

    I didn’t understand Prince when I was 7-8 years old when Purple Rain came out. All I knew was most of the talk I heard surrounding Prince was that with all the frilly, purple clothes, blouses, and such, he was too effeminate to be straight. Too effeminate for the real men I’d hear talking about him. Same for the boys talking about it at school and other places.

    Didn’t matter how many women around adored him and wanted to be with him and whether or not he got the girl in the movie and whether that was his girl in real life –because the rumors were always there– Prince had to be gay and gay == bad.

    Even if you liked the music, which by the way, wasn’t necessarily for us, it was said around me a lot, because it was laden with rock guitar.

    Let’s go crazy. Let’s get nuts.

    I didn’t know enough not to join in.

    #

    I wasn’t quite there in my teenage years, either.

    Even if songs like “Adore” and “Diamonds and Pearls” weren’t just fun to sing, they told the stories of my growing infatuations with the girls I’d have feelings for or outright fell in love with.

    Love is to weak to define
    Just what you mean to me

    Even if “Scandalous” and “Insatiable” and often mirrored the puberty-driven thoughts I would have in the later hours.

    I got a jones, Martha.

    Prince was still supposed to be too weird. And that weirdness, with the dress and the symbol and all of that, was still supposed to be too much. Especially with all the other reasons added in. Especially with a more religious-based homophobia that I’d added..

    I still wouldn’t listen to my own conscience about the man.

    #

    At some point, once I became interested in my own art; and quite frankly, when I developed enough confidence in myself to not follow the pack and try to fit into what others did or thought, is when I discovered what I think is one of his greatest geniuses.

    It wasn’t the fact of his musical virtuosity. Playing 27 instruments on an album says enough, but it wasn’t that.

    It wasn’t even the blend of sexuality and sensuality and spirituality in his music. Historians and musical historians will probably write volumes about the introspection and investigation of sexual identity in all the various forms that it manifested in his music and where it crosses with his notions of spirituality and love. Prince is one of the only artists who could merge the vulgar and the sacred to the point where you had to question for yourself where, if anywhere, the line of demarcation was.

    But that’s not even, for me, his greatest genius.

    As I think back to all of us talking about him, making jokes about him, mocking him and what we thought about his sexuality, there he was, not just making great music, not just beginning to change the world, but he was doing something that none of those people back then, I think can say they were doing — Prince was living life on his own terms.

    As folks went back to their crap jobs and their crap coworkers and hated the whole thing, Prince was living his life by his own rules.

    Yeah, look at the frilly blouses. Where was Prince’s supervisor or employee handbook that told him he could or couldn’t dress that way? Where was his compliance officer or HR director to ensure his pants were tight or purple enough?

    Nowhere. That was just him. No bullshit. Sure, in a sense, he performed off-stage as well as on, but that was how he decided to live. Prince wasn’t being told when he could get off or go on vacation. How to dress. How to keep his hair. None of the same bullshit people had to do to get by. Looking back, that looks like it was always his plan.

    Hell, he changed his name to a symbol to be able to continue to do his work the way he wanted to. Up until he died, he was working to get control of his masters.

    He even redecorated Carlos Boozer’s house to suit himself and when he was finished renting it, he changed it all back the way it was. Regular people might ask why Prince would spend the money to do something like that, but he had a vision for himself and his life and compromise wasn’t part of it. How many compromises do many of us make before noon on any given weekday?

    I wish I could go back and tell my child self to look closely — there was someone who knew who he was, knew his worth and value to the world, and lived that. He didn’t follow others and he didn’t try to fit in. He was who he was and anybody that didn’t like it, too bad. My child self could have used that lesson. Many of us now could use that same lesson.

    Do I believe in god? Do I believe in me?
    Some people want to die so they can be free
    I said life is just a game, we’re all just the same, do you want to play?
    Yeah, oh yeah