March Madness II

On one hand, we deplore the rearing of all children to believe that each of them is a winner and the trophies for simply showing up.  We have laughed at the National Hockey League for leaving three teams out of the playoffs.  Yet, on the other, the madness continues.  The National College Athletic Association chose sixty-eight -- that's 68 -- men's college basketball teams to compete in this year's men's championship tournament.  Granted, that's only three -- yes, 3 -- more than in the last year's number which was 65.  Many of us thought it would stay sixty-four (which had been since 1985) until the NCAA tried a "play-in" game.  Now, there are four play-in games (cutely called the "First Four") to get to the sixty-four teams that fit in that familiar "bracket" for easy tracking. Are we done with being "fair" yet?  I mean, isn't the whole season supposed to be "play-in games" for the championship tournament?  Tell me, am I being too "tiger mom"?

Another large factor is the money.  That's the way it has been for a very long time, for advertising and viewers and tavern parties, yes, but mainly for the gambling.  There is a book that we have carried, probably since we have opened our doors, but sadly now out of print, Scandal of '51 by Charley Rosen, which tells of how players from powerhouse college basketball programs were caught shaving points.  I imagine these young men believed or were persuaded to believe it was a win-win-win situation.  Technically, their teams would win anyway, so why not only by five points, rather than ten.  However, it must be pointed out how difficult it is to win only by five points, especially if not everyone on the team was in on the deal.  It would be nerve-wracking, I'd imagine.

And then, there is the prestige and the exposure to a large group of people who would never have heard of the college/university.  NPR had a piece about that, featuring Butler.  This year, one of the teams which played into the 64, only to lose in the first round to Brigham Young University was Wofford College.  From what I can see on its website, Wofford looks like a desirable institution to claim as alma mater.  Yet, even I would admit that I would never have heard of it if not for the NCAA basketball tournament.  Vassar probably may not get enough ear- and eye-time from being mentioned by television cartoon star Lisa Simpson or in The Beverly Hillbillies (Miss Jane Hathaway was an alum) or in books by Lauren Weisberger and Jane Haddam or real human actors Meryl Streep or Lisa Kudrow (cross my heart, there really are men at Vassar -- quick, let me think of someone famous... yes!) or former New York Congressman Rick Lazio (R) or CBS Correspondent Chip Reid.  The trouble is I can't really think of a very famous athlete from Vassar, although we have had many good individuals and teams.  Our basketball team has not made the NCAA tournaments, not even the chance to "play in."

Ascent or Descent Into Chaos?

On Wednesday, 16 March, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs presented journalist and author Ahmed Rashid.  The name of the "forum" was "Ascent from Chaos?  Afghanistan's Uncertain Future" while Rashid decided his speech was called "Pakistan in Crisis," fitting since that is his bailiwick -- being from and working in Pakistan.  He did do his best to tie his expertise on the Pakistani Taliban to the Afghan Taliban, emphasizing the differences about them and warning the audience not to lump them together, except to realize that there wouldn't be two factions if it weren't for the fact that there are two countries and one very large ethnic group -- the Pashtun -- straddling the border between them, with some in the Pakistani military or government believing they could use the Taliban or Pashtun to their own ends.  The irony of the Council's forum title versus that of Rashid's book first published in the United States in 2008 Descent Into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia did not escape me and probably did not escape others.  I know I puzzled over whether an "ascent" in 2011 was meant to imply that Afghanistan had hit bottom -- into some miasma even lower than chaos and is now on its way back up into more optimistic circumstances.  Ah, I almost feel I could evoke Kali, the Hindu goddess of Chaos, except we'd really confuse the issues as well as the metaphors (especially since Rashid cites seeking resolution with India over Kashmir was one of Pakistan's missed opportunities in the immediate aftermath of "9-11" while all (or most of) the world was at one against "extremism").

Rashid, looking older and more portly than his publicity photograph, used the word "we" as he spoke of the nation of Pakistan, showing in addition to saying that all Pakistanis must take responsibility for the state of affairs in the state of Pakistan. Every 10 years, someone in the military gets impatient, takes over, starting the odometer on road to democracy back to 000, and makes similar if not the same mistakes.  These military leaders make the mistake of believing they could use the Pakistani Taliban to achieve the results they seek.  They make the mistake of believing the goals of the Pakistani Taliban dovetail their own.

When asked what he suggested we do about the Taliban in Afghanistan, he said, they are ready to talk, they are ready to share power if Karzai is.  Afghan Taliban, he points out, are Afghans first, nationalists.  They have more in common with other Afghans, regardless of tribe, than they do with Pakistani Taliban, which now reach beyond the Pashtun.  Unlike Pakistani Taliban, Afghan Taliban have never agitated for global jihad.  Afghans are a proud people from a harsh land which has never colonized.  This is a lesson from the past that must be learned -- regardless of what the policies of United States or Britain or Russia or Pakistan or India may truly be, actions speak louder than words and to the Afghans, foreigners are continuing to fight over sweet Afghan soil as they have for centuries, and Afghans will respond the same way: get them out.  Rashid believes the Afghan Taliban members who used to rule with an iron fist are older and wiser now, and know they cannot do so again, that the Afghan people will not tolerate a return, basically to the Dark Ages.  The younger recruits just want the foreigners to leave and leave good-paying jobs.  A startling statistic:  Despite all the resources poured into Afghanistan, we still have not recreated the government nor the economy of 1970.  So much for "nation-building."

Larry, who has read both these books and has recommended his book on Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia since it was first published in the United States in 2000, thought that much of what Rashid presented is in his books.  However, he still would have liked to hear more presentation and less answering of questions from those with their own agendas.  I agree that the Q&A process could have been improved, maybe having members of the audience write questions on cards to be sorted and maybe summarized by the moderator.  The newer edition of Rashid's Taliban actually has been on backorder at the warehouse.  I think there is a renewed interest, as the United States and other peacekeeping troops attempt to leave Afghanistan to stand on its own foundation of 250 years of existence, while we struggle with many other threatening factors in this increasingly smaller world, including the Pakistani Taliban.

Spring Break

It takes a certain reader to appreciate Tim Dorsey's Sergio A. Storms and his best bud Coleman.  It needs be a real hate-love relationship with a figurative fugitive from a Rand Corporation observation tank, who gets really sexually excited by women who can tell him who each USA president's vice president was, has a relentless sense of justice and practices a naively twisted sense of how to even the books.
 
In Gator a-go-go, Serge shows his love and knowledge for his home state and certainly wants to keep it safe for Spring Break visitors who pour into Florida each year.  And why should out-of-state college students be the only ones to enjoy Spring Break?  Serge and Coleman go on the ultimate Floridian Spring Break road trip from Fort Myers to Tampa to Palm Beach to Miami to Bird Creek to Orlando, but keep circling back to Panama City Beach.  The story bounces also from "Fifteen Years Ago" to "The Present," strewing dead bodies and building up tension all the while.  And alcohol-soaked, drug-driven and junk-food-fueled Coleman is not just along for the ride, but is necessary to witness Serge's delight in finding the most elaborately fatal Rube Goldberg set-ups as part of his dispensing of justice.  A friend of Serge could trust Serge with his life, but be sure always to be on Serge's side of the fight. The reader gets drawn into the non-stop violence with a sense of fascination.

This personal phenomenon of me as fascinated reader (which others might share) reminds me of the time I dragged a certain someone to the Art Institute of Chicago one Sunday afternoon to see The Bride with White Hair, which I had called a "classic" and Larry had described afterwards as "a Texas Chainsaw Massacre with sub-titles." The film was full of blood, gore and an accepted lifestyle of violence.  It didn't faze me one bit, I who would not even consider going to any slasher or horror film featuring chainsaws, knives, swords, axes, broken bottles or baseball bats.  There is a certain fitting relentlessness of plot fueling action and action fueling plot which just seemed to make sense. 

Contrast that to when persuaded to view Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (which was based on the book of the same title by Robert Bloch -- now out of print, so we have one copy left to sell you), I had to steel myself to watch the famous shower scene, even while my roommate had said it reminded her of a Dial Soap commercial.

So, when I analyse how easily I read every word of this book, I would have to say it's because Sergio (and Tim Dorsey) made it all so mesmerizingly academic.  Again, there is a plot fueling action and action fueling plot, even as one attempts to make sense of the plot, because Dorsey (and Serge) don't like to give that away.  That may not be what one would like to hear when looking for a fun Spring Break book, but entertaining and enlightening work for fans.  You too could become one.

P.S.  Given how good this book is (as well as other Dorsey/Serge books like Atomic Lobster), I was highly disappointed in the immediate sequel Electric Barracuda. It is literally "immediate," as the timeframe for Electric Barracuda is almost immediately after Gator a-go-go and references the previous events (revealing to us if not to Serge and Coleman that they are on the lam). The sequel has the same elements of Floridian history (trivial or otherwise), friends in all places and elaborately or at least cunningly devised killings while Serge and Coleman lead law enforcement and others on a wild chase down to the very tip of the State of Florida. However, this sequel, echoing most sequels of the world, is but a shadow of the clever, crisp writing and spirals into the ridiculous.

Calling All (Non-Epic) Writers for Phidian Art Club Literary Competition

I just opened my personal invitation to submit to the Phidian Art Club's 23rd Annual Literary Competition for poetry, short fiction and non-fiction works.  However, it is open to everyone within a 35-mile radius of Dixon.  What is difficult to pinpoint is exactly where Dixon is.  There is the city of Dixon, Township of Dixon, Dixon Rural (as the firefighting unit is called)...  Dennis Considine is running for Committeeman of the City of Dixon, but eligible voters are only those who live within the city limits of Dixon, which are fairly limiting.  So, a small portion of BoF's constituency can actually elect Dennis (and re-elect Mayor Jim Burke).  However, those outside the city limits can vote for Margaret Tyne as Sauk Valley Community College Trustee.  Don't ask me where the geographical limits for eligibility to decide the future of SVCC are.  More writers can submit to Phidian's literary contest than can vote in the 5 April 2011 election.

Well, back to business:  Books on First will, as it has done for nearly our entire existence, sponsor the short fiction category.

In the past, when I still had a knack for writing poetry, I have submitted, winning second place twice -- always the bridesmaid, never the bride, eh?

One submission for each category allowed, winners will receive a critical commentary from the judge of that category, a small monetary prize with certificate and the winning piece reproduced in a bound volume available for viewing and borrowing in the Dixon Public Library.

The deadline is 15 March 2011 and you can get the requirements from the Dixon Public Library, The Next Picture Show, City of Dixon and Sauk Valley Newspapers.

March Madness Week One

March came in not like a lion nor like a lamb, maybe like a goat, a kid goat almost a year old, smart, sassy, but somehow thinks she can plant her front hooves on your chest like a dog does paws.  Yes, if you're thinking I'm thinking of a specific kid, I am.  Her name is Mary, as she has been growing up with 5 lambs.  And, she follows Larry (and you if you'd like to come visit the farmette) all around.

For the second year, I am volunteering with LadderUp, an organization in Chicago, which assists those needing a little view over the shoulder or handholding with straight-forward financial issues, like filing tax returns and FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) for post-secondary education.  I thought such great experience might be useful in helping my own grandchildren, but apparently, Jack's mother has all that well in hand.  Financial aid is available not just for college (although that's one good place to be going, whether to a 2-year or 4-year school), but for beauty school, cooking school, electrical wiring programs, and more, because college is not for everyone, and colleges should go back to educating young people to think critically, not have expectations of graduating and earning more than their parents and disdaining blue collar work. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart spoke at LadderUp's third annual Leader's Breakfast this past November and thinks LadderUp should work in the jails, too, where he daily sees people who need some guidance to get back on their feet financially.  Hmm...    

On the storefront, we have an incredible line-up of live music on Saturday nights, including Couch Coins making its BoF debut on 5 March, and then,  Dan Hagemann returning on Downtown Dixon's Second Saturday.  Dan is the son of a local (Chana, IL) resident, although he himself now resides in Nashville, TN, and we are happy to have him come play when he is visiting home.  We have his newest album, "Before We Fade" for sale along with those of other local artists.  While a recording might be crystal clear, exciting and wonderfully reflective of what the artist wants to give to the listener, there is nothing like hearing music live, because the sense of community, the spontaneity and energy of the performer, the unique context of time and space, and more are just lost in translation upon recording.Second Saturday is officially from 6pm to 8pm, so be sure to take a stroll up and around to check out all the visual and performing artists and end up with us as Dan will be performing LIVE! until closing at 9pm.

Check out all our scheduled live events at our website: www.booksonfirst.com.

Mark Twain Comes Alive

Forget about Jim Post or Hal Holbrook or Val Kilmer.  Stuart Corsa is chomping at the bit to show us that he too can portray Mark Twain to perfection. And, at Books on First, he will have two opportunities to show us his stuff (courtesy of Midway Village Museum where he volunteers).

On Saturday, 12 March, 4pm, Corsa will present his "adult" show, not XXX-rated, but in his own words, "Politically sensitive need not show."  Mark Twain (nom de plume of Samuel Clemens) had some caustically pithy comments on politics and the world at large.

 And, on Saturday, 2 April, Mark Twain returns for kids of all ages with a reading of The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.  The copy for sale on our shelves is barely still in print, with fifteen wonderful original woodcuts by Alan J Robinson.  This is an entirely delightful package.

Hope to see you then.