Radical Transparency

I don't truly love the NBA until the playoffs start, but I love the players I love year round.

Chauncey Billups, Steve Nash, and Ray Allen have been favorites for a while.  Shaq has always made me laugh, but he'll soon retire and graduate to my Hall of Fame Team.*  Kevin Garnett won me over last year.  And LeBron James just impressed me once again...



Don't pump fake me now.

Thanks to TNC for the recommendation.

*Charles Barkley, Dennis Rodman, John Starks, Danny Ainge, Hakeem Olajuwon, Vlade Divac, Muggsy Bogues, John Salley, and probably a few more that I can't remember right now.  Unusual group, I realize.  Funny the athletes that attract you as a little kid. 

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My dad asked me to ask the internets if R.I.P. stood for requiescat in pace or requiescat in pacem. 

The results of my Latin-illiterate but highly scientific research were not overwhelmingly conclusive, but I saw enough to feel confident betting on pace.

But now I'm wondering what to make of this line, which I found when I clicked on a link that appeared - thanks to an overaggressive imagination that leapt at an unintentional pump fake from a Google search result metatag - to be a pace vs pacem argument:

A wise friend once explained to me that there are two types of people in this world: those who know Greek and barbarians.

A. I'm pretty sure that's a joke, but I also don't think jokes like that are 100% un-serious.  And, given even the slightest sliver of seriousness, wow is that a bold statement.

2. My dad does know Greek.  Ancient and Modern.  Very well.  Dude came very close to going down a life path toward Ancient Greek Scholar status.  And by life path I mean overgrown rabbit trail that sort of leads in a general direction and might have a fossilized footprint (or skeleton) or two somewhere in the middle of the woods.  The specificity of a pursuit like that blows my mind every time I think about it. 

3. My favorite types of people joke came to me through Chris Abani's first TED Talk.  There are three types of people in the world.  Those that can count.  And those that can't.

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Learned a new poem this morning:
 
If I should die before I wake
Feed Jake
He's been a good dog
 
Apparently that's pulled from the hook of a hillbilly campfire song. I think it works just fine all by its lonesome.

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The stories were plentiful on the drive to North Carolina. One started with one of my favorite opening lines of all time:
 
I outran a cop here once...
 
Sadly (and almost inexplicably, actually), the story went nowhere from there, but man did that line have me drooling.

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I am very late to this party.  This video was posted in 2006, and over 41 million people have already watched it.  I found out about it tonight while watching YouTube Live and waiting for The Spinto Band to come on.



I saw OK Go live in Providence, RI in probably 2001.  They opened for Phantom Planet.  Tiny venue.  We went because Jason Schwartzman was drumming.  We were hoping for a little Max Fischer proximity.  As we walked in, we saw Schwartzman at the t shirt table.  Zeke got excited.  "Hey Schwartzman, take off your shirt!" he screamed.  Schwartzman heard.  He looked up, made eye contact with Zeker, reached for the bottom of his shirt, gave a little up fake, and shook his head.  We laughed, walked through the crowd to the table, and bought totally sweet Phantom Planet armbands.

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