From a Brooklyn Basement

My Completely Uninformative, Nonsensical World Cup Knockout Round Preview

Posted on June 27, 2014 by fromabrooklynbasement

I don’t know anything about soccer, but I freakin’ love the World Cup. The games are exciting, with thrilling shifts in momentum (see: USA-Portugal), and the fans at the stadiums and the players on the fields both act completely insane at all times. I’ve been wanting to write something about it, and now that we’re through this strange, tiebreaker-laden part of the contest known as the Group Stage, we’ve reached something that my uncultured American brain can understand: a sixteen-team single-elimination tournament! I have no choice but to look at this bracket and make some picks, right? Except, because, again, I know nothing about this sport (wait, you can’t use your hands?) I’ll have to make my picks for what is apparently known as the Knockout Round using what I know about the nations involved. Unfortunately, I don’t know much about the nations involved, either. So this won’t be edifying for anyone. I hope it’s at least amusing for someone other than me. Whatever. Onward!

ROUND OF 16

Brazil vs. Chile

¿El Rio Amazonas contra el Desierto Atacama? Take me to the river, baby.

Brazil 3-1

Colombia vs. Uruguay

Ah, the battle of the sniffers vs. biters. Since no Colombian has been sent home for illegal substances, and Uruguay’s best player got booted from the tournament for reacquainting himself with the delicious, delicious flavor of manflesh, it’s Colombia 2-0

Can’t talk … eating

France vs. Nigeria

I was going to make all sorts of references to uprisings and colonial overlords and such, but then I went and looked it up and Nigeria was a British colony. Thanks a lot, Wikipedia. So let’s go a different route: film! French New Wave vs. Nollywood! Except shit, I’ve never actually seen a Nollywood movie. To be honest, I didn’t know Nollywood was a thing until two weeks ago. Jesus, a Godard film makes more sense than this entry. I give up. France 2-1

Germany vs. Algeria

Unlike a lot of my fellow Americans, I’m going to resist the urge to make a Nazi joke. One thing I will say is that the Germans do efficiency better than anybody else, and that extends to their soccer team: Those players work together like the parts of a Porsche engine. They’ve been the most impressive team I’ve watched so far. Algeria? Fuck if I know. Germany 3-0

Netherlands vs. Mexico

I’ve been stoned basically every moment of my life I’ve spent in Holland. I’ve been drunk basically every moment of my life I’ve been in Mexico. Now, normally I side with the drinkers, but in a contest that involves running around and attempting to be coordinated, I actually think I’ll go with the stoners. Netherlands 2-1

Costa Rica vs. Greece

I’ve never been to Greece, so I’ll have to go to a secondary source to form an opinion. What do you say, Detective Bunk Moreland?

On the other hand, who doesn’t love Costa Rica? ¡Pura vida! Costa Rica 1-0

Argentina vs. Switzerland

Who harbored the most Nazi fugitives after WWII? Argentina 3-2 (Not directed at Germany! Totally a clean Nazi joke!)

Belgium vs. USA

You know what, fuck it. I’ll say it: Belgium, your beer is overrated. The best beers in the world are American microbrews, baby. USA 2-2 (advance on penalty kicks) USA! USA!

QUARTERFINALS

Brazil vs. Colombia

These are two of the five best countries in the world when it comes to producing ridiculously hot women. I’d post pictures, but I fear the search would melt my laptop. But if you went out with one of these absurdly beautiful women, what drink would you rather buy her—a caipirinha or a cup of coffee? That’s what I thought. Brazil 2-1

France vs. Germany

We’ve all seen this movie before.

When you Google search “France Germany surrender” you get a lot of pics of Hitler under the Eiffel Tower. Again, I resisted

Germany 6-0

Netherlands vs. Costa Rica

I already used my weed joke. Shit. Let’s just go with the team that has the guy who is apparently the Dutch version of Superman.

Netherlands 2-0

Argentina vs. USA

I knew an American guy who was married to an Argentinian chick. You can probably guess how that ended. Latin bitches be crazy, yo. Argentina 4-1

SEMIFINALS

Brazil vs. Germany

One of the world’s most fun-loving, beautiful, troubled countries vs. the grim, ruthless, authoritarian European power. My heart says Brazil, a million times. My head says Germany. A trend that I’ve noticed in my life is that I know I really should make decisions with my head, but no matter how many bad choices it leads me to make, I always go with my heart. Brazil 2-1

Netherlands vs. Argentina

God, I don’t know. Both these teams are freaking awesome. Both these countries seem awesome. This game would be so awesome. Let’s decide based on a totally arbitrary metric. Who has the better jersey? De Oranje?

That’s … a lot of orange

Or La Albiceleste?

Aw yeah

Prettiest unis in sports right there. Argentina 2-2 (advance on penalty kicks)

FINAL

Brazil vs. Argentina

I mean, really, this is the final every impartial fan wants to see, right? The South American blood rivals playing in front of 100,000-plus murderous maniacs with the whole world watching? I knew this was my pick before I even started writing this column. And the home team has to win, setting off perhaps the greatest party in the history of the world, right? Well, as much as I’m a man who doesn’t mind running up the word count, sometimes all you need is a picture.

The best player in the world

Argentina 3-2

*If anyone reading this is an Argentina fan, I sincerely apologize for cursing your team with the From a Brooklyn Basement jinx.

**I’ll be back next week to write about one of the sports I actually know about.

Posted in Humor, Sports | Tagged soccer, world cup 2014 | Leave a comment

The Best Show on Television

Posted on June 19, 2014 by fromabrooklynbasement

As anyone who follows me on social media knows, I’m pretty obsessed with Game of Thrones. Since I’ve never written about the show on this blog, and since its epic fourth season just ended, I figured now’s the time.

I discovered Thrones near the end of its first season. I was house-sitting for my friends Dan and Gen, who in addition to having a ridiculously awesome apartment in North Beach, are the only people I know who actually have an HBO subscription instead of stealing it with someone else’s HBO GO password. I spent the first few nights of my week at their house going to my favorite North Beach bars (Hello Vesuvio! Pleased to see ya, Kennedy’s!), but eventually I needed a night in, and I said, what the hell, I’ll give this show people have been talking about a shot. I went through a phase in my youth where I was really into sci-fi and fantasy stuff (loved Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings and various other lesser-known things), but I’d never gone down the George R.R. Martin rabbit hole.

I spent most of the first few episodes alternating between saying “What the fuck is going on?” and “Woah, nice cans,” but the show did just enough to keep my semi-binge going. And then they went and killed what had seemed to be the show’s main character, and certainly its most famous actor.

But … wait … they killed him? Awesome!

I was hooked. I’ve binge-watched the show every chance I got ever since (I watched Season 3, after the fact, in two days). Despite my persistent struggle in trying to keep characters and events straight, I loved everything about it (well, except maybe the Theon subplot—does anyone care about Theon, or Reek, or whatever the hell his name is now?): the quiet dignity and ultimate suckerhood of the Starks; the epic Blackwater battle; the demon smoke baby; the boobs; the dragons; and the deliciously hateful Lannisters; most of all, I love Tyrion, that drunken, whoring, hilarious dwarf, who I like to think I would behave identically to if I were a noble-born, three-foot-tall fantasy novel character (uh, let’s just move on).

As great as the show was up to this point, Season 4 took it to ridiculous new heights. From the moment of Joffrey’s death richly deserved death in episode 2, the screws kept gettting wound tighter. (Aside: I really need a copy editor for this post, because I’m probably going to spell every single character’s name wrong.) There was the fantastic sham trial of Tyrion for regicide, which ends with a scene that will surely get Peter Dinklage an Emmy nomination. (How the hell do voters choose between him and Matthew McConaughey in “True Detective”!?!? Wait, it’s the Emmys, they’ll find a way to screw it up.) It’s so good you should just watch it.

Then there was the thrilling scene when Prince Oberyn, who was newly introduced this season and quickly became everyone’s co-favorite character (with Tyrion) for his wit, verve, and licentiousness, agreed to fight for Tyrion in his trial by combat. It’s so good you should watch it as well.

Of course, we know how that ended: with one of the most disturbing onscreen deaths in memory, as Oberyn, so near victory, spiked the ball on the one-yard-line, taunting the Mountain and Tywin Lannister and getting his head popped like a zit. I will not make you watch that scene. To be honest, I walked away from the TV that night feeling less invested in the show. If they’re just gonna kill all the likable characters, I thought, what’s the point of watching?

The last two episodes, though, redeemed it for me. First there was the epic “The Watchers on the Wall,” an hour which Vulture guesstimated to cost around $12 million to film and which saw Jon Snow lead his men to victory—at the cost of the woman he loved.

Oh, so heroic!

And then in the final episode, we got the comeuppance we’d all been set up to hope for: Tyrion’s revenge against his father, and Tywin shot dead with a crossbow on the shitter (on Father’s Day, no less!).

I’ve only touched on the major plot points. There was so much other awesomeness going on, it’d take forever to write about. The point is, Game of Thrones is incredible, and it just finished it’s best season yet. Yep, the best show on television had its season finale this week.

Only, the best show on television isn’t Game of Thrones.

Aw yeah, I flipped the script on y’all right there

Look, I know. You can’t compare a fantasy series that costs a gazillion dollars and is on such an epic scale that it has no equivalent in the history of television with the meandering mind of a schlubby New York City comic making a show that isn’t even a comedy. They have nothing in common.

But if you want to talk about a truly affecting show, a show that touches on the way we live our lives, a show that is just so fucking well-written it hurts, well, that conversation begins and ends with Louie.

This season (also the fourth, and doesn’t that seem to be when most shows peak?) began as many Louie seasons have before, with quick, funny vignettes like a hilarious poker game conversation about masturbation (thank God for Sarah Silverman) and a gag about garbagemen in the morning that I guarantee killed everyone who’s ever lived in New York.

But Louis C.K. quickly headed for much more poignant material. There was the now-famous episode in which Louie goes on a kinda-sorta-not-really-a-date outing with a bigger girl, played by Sarah Baker, who delivers a devastating, one-shot monologue about what dating is like for a fat girl.

Louis C.K. got a lot of shit from people for writing this, which I just don’t understand at all. I thought it was the single most brutally honest, emotionally devastating scene I’ve ever seen on television. While I was watching it, I was horrified, but I couldn’t stop thinking holy fucking shit this is amazing. I’ll be honest, the line about how good-looking guys will flirt with fat girls, but less-attractive guys won’t because it threatens their status really fucked with me. As I said to a friend after watching the episode, that’s what good writing does: It makes you empathize with a character, and at the same time it makes you take a hard look at how you act in your own life.

Not that Louie was done. What followed were several different series of linked episodes in which Louie took a show that had been a flash fiction collection and turned it into an epic Russian novel. It began with a six-part episode (basically a full-length movie) in which Louie dates a Hungarian woman who doesn’t speak a word of English. There are so many beautiful moments in these episodes: her strange yet somehow sexy drug store pantomime of taking a shower to tell Louie she needs a hair dryer; the moment with the violins:

And then of course, there’s the breakup scene, when Amia takes Louie to a Hungarian restaurant, where she convinces a waiter to read her goodbye letter to him (she returns to her life in Hungary, where she has a son). And throughout these episodes there is also woven Louie’s quarrels with his ex-wife (including a flashback when we see why they didn’t get divorced much sooner) and his struggles with his younger daughter, Jane.

After this came a two-part episode (also basically a full-length movie) in which Louie catches his older daughter, Lilly, smoking a joint, sending him into an extended flashback about his own past with drugs: In the eighth grade he started smoking weed, which led him into a sinister relationship with a suburban basement drug dealer (played brilliantly by Jeremy Renner), led him to curse out his absentee father (a scene that explains in part a previous episode in which he had panic attacks about seeing his dad), and led him to betray the kind science teacher who saved his ass and was the closest thing he had to a father figure. Louie’s confession to that teacher (for stealing metric scales) reads pretty clearly to me as the character’s first act of manhood (hence the “say goodbye to your childhood” line he delivers to Lilly). The most haunting moment, and the most relevant to the theme of this season, though, is when Louie’s mother screams at him for being a drugged-out zombie, for not speaking to her in months, and Louie walks out, unable to respond.

And then, finally, there’s the return of Pamela. Played by the wonderful Pamela Adlon (who is also hilarious as Marcie, aka “Cokey Smurf” on Californication), Pamela is Louie’s first true love on the show, the one who inspired perhaps the show’s first transcendent moment, way back in Season 1, when Louie confessed his unrequited love for her.

Pamela returns toward the end of this season to tell Louie she might actually want him back; she might consider a “boy-girl” sort of thing. He balks at first, then pursues it in an awkward way (I’m still uncomfortable with the “you can’t even rape well” scene, which got glossed over as the plotline moved along—Louie‘s not perfect), then finally gets her to go on a date with him—a date that he absolutely fucking kills it on. This eventually leads to the final scene of the season, when Louie again tells her he loves her. She can’t return the words, and he storms out, only to have her coax him back upstairs, where she’s sitting in a bathtub (a reference to a hilarious blown-opportunity scene in season 1). We see Louie at his most vulnerable here—he’s scared to take off his shirt in front of her, something I can relate to as a one-time fat kid—and in the bathtub they exchange remembrances of their childhood first kisses: Louie was punked by a popular girl; Pamela never actually kissed anyone, and instead kicked a kid’s ass in the lunch line.

Who says there are no second chances in life?

That scene, in which Pamela tells Louie that she can’t give him the mushy stuff he necessarily wants, but that she wants to be with him anyway, is what Louis C.K. spent the whole fourth season building toward. In each episode, Louie struggles to communicate with women: he can barely talk to his ex-wife, he can’t talk to Amia at all, he struggles with his kids, he becomes a zombie to his mother, he punches a model for tickling him. And yet here, in the final episode, he’s able to have a heart-to-heart with Pamela. He never actually says yes to her question of if what she’s offering is enough, but I think it’s implied that he will.

During the “Watchers on the Wall” episode of Game of Thrones, (which came immediately after Oberyn was so brutally dispatched) I commented that the battle scenes on the show are so tense because you really don’t know if the characters you’re rooting for (in this case Jon Snow) are going to survive. I experienced that same sort of dread, but much more powerfully, during the last episode of Louie. He’s had the rug pulled out from under him so many times, and I was terrified that he would have his heart broken again.

When Tyrion kills Tywin and escapes at the end of the final Thrones episode, it gave us something to cheer for—a bad guy got his comeuppance, and a good guy got to live. But for me, the level of gratification was nowhere near what I felt watching Louie sit in a bathtub and stare into Pamela’s eyes. Very few of us want to shoot our father with a crossbow. All of us hope for that bathtub moment, whether we admit it or not. Thrones is a great show, but it’s not real. Nothing on TV is more real than Louie. And nothing is better.

Posted in TV | Tagged Game of Thrones, Louie, Louis C.K. | Leave a comment

An Artist I Love: Hurray for the Riff Raff

Posted on June 10, 2014 by fromabrooklynbasement

Meet Alynda Lee Segarra:

Hi!

Segarra is a 26-year-old Puerto Rican girl who was born and raised in the Bronx. At the age of 17, though, she skipped out on the Big Apple and spent some time riding trains around the U.S., eventually settling in New Orleans, in a neighborhood that had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina. In the Big Easy, that most musical of American cities, she found a community of musicians and travelers she fit in with, and she learned to play guitar and started writing folk songs. It turned out she had a booming voice and an easy touch on the guitar, and she started a band.

If you think I’m writing this because I basically just described my dream girl, well, you’re kind of right. Except, I’m probably never gonna meet her, and I’m under the impression she’s not into dudes anyway. Oh well.

But I’m not here to write about my chances with Segarra. I’m here to write about her music. Hurray for the Riff Raff has been putting albums out for around five years, although the first one to get widespread attention was 2012’s Look Out Mama, the album cover of which featured a photo of Segarra’s father as a soldier (probably in Vietnam, although I’m not sure about that).

Dear old Dad

I hadn’t heard of Hurray for the Riff Raff, though, until this year, when they released their latest album, Small Town Heroes, to rave reviews. I kept hearing about this great folk band, and since y’all know I’m a devoted a folkie, I had to check them out. The first song I listened to was the album’s opening track, Blue Ridge Mountain, which Segarra says was inspired by the Carter family, perhaps America’s first family of folk music.

Needless to say, I was blown away. Soulful vocals, a rad fiddle solo, a sense of place in the American canon—it’s basically everything I want out of a song. And then I listened to the rest of the album, and found so many other similarly intelligent, lovely songs. There’s Crash on the Highway, about being stuck in a traffic jam far from home and just wishing you could be back in your neighborhood bar “sitting in the corner strumming my guitar.” Then there’s her take on the standard San Francisco Bay Blues:

You probably recognize that tune, written by Jesse Fuller in 1954, and you probably know it from this somewhat notable concert recording:

What Hurray for the Riff Raff does here is what folk music does best: She takes a familiar song, one that’s been passed down through generations, one that everyone knows, and yet she puts her own twist on it, makes it her own.

She does a similar thing with The Body Electric, her take on a murder ballad. Murder ballads make up some of our best folk and rock songs—Where Did You Sleep Last Night, Down by the River, Banks of the Ohio—but of course they always involve a man killing a woman who has wronged him. Segarra isn’t the first woman to flip the script on a murder ballad—Gillian Welch’s incendiary Caleb Meyer, about a woman fighting off a would-be rapist, is one of the best songs recorded in the last 20 years—but there’s something unique about the way she does it, something so sad and poignant in the lyrics, in particular the final line: “Tell me what’s a man with a rifle in his hand gonna do for his daughter when it’s her turn to go?” Such intelligent songwriting.

And if that wasn’t enough, I went back and listened to Hurray for the Riff Raff’s previous albums. In particular, I’m obsessed with My Dearest Darkest Neighbor, a cover album that features Segarra’s takes on tunes by Gillian Welch, John Lennon, Townes Van Zandt, and a bunch of my other favorite songwriters. The highlight for me, among many, is perhaps the most haunting version of Hank Williams’ I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry that I’ve ever heard (and that’s a tune that Elvis said was the saddest song he’d ever heard).

The only question that I really have about Hurray for the Riff Raff is, Why can’t more people do shit like this? I know, I’m being a grouchy old guy complaining about “kids these days,” but then I took a look at the band’s website, and I came across this quote from Segarra:

“We really feel at home with a lot of worlds of people that don’t really seem to fit together, and we find a way to make them all hang out with our music. Whether it’s the queer community or some freight train–riding kids or some older guys who love classic country, a lot of folks feel like mainstream culture isn’t directed at them. We’re for those people.”

And I saw myself in those words, and many of my other friends as well. And I just want to say thanks to Alynda Lee Segarra for being an intelligent, beautiful voice for us. Fuck mainstream culture. Hurray for the Riff Raff.

Posted in Music | Tagged folk music, Hurray for the Riff Raff, music | Leave a comment

Dubs 2013-2014 Season (and Mark Jackson) Postmortem

Posted on May 7, 2014 by fromabrooklynbasement

Here we are, a few days after the Dubs’ season sadly ended after a hard-fought Game 7 loss to the L.A. Clippers. Last year, after the Spurs ended Steph Curry & Co.’s Cinderella playoff run, I wrote a series of questions that I had about the team. A year later, I thought I’d revisit some of those questions and see how the team has developed and how much progress it has made.

Is this the core of a championship contender?

At this point, I would say no. Not yet. Let’s answer a bunch of smaller questions to explain why.

Can Bogut and Curry stay healthy?

Curry made it through this season relatively unscathed, and that effort ended with him sixth in MVP voting. Bogut … that’s a different matter. Bogut likes to say that you can’t call him injury prone, because his injuries have been unrelated to each other and have largely been freak occurrences, like the broken wrist that he sustained falling following a dirty Amar’e Stoudemire foul.

Ugh

The broken rib that caused him to miss the playoffs fits into that narrative, but here’s my rebuttal: How is a guy who plays as physically as Bogut, who’s basically a rugby player constantly crashing into 250-plus pound men, going to stay healthy through 100 basketball games every year? This is an issue for several reasons: a) they gave Bogut a contract extension; b) if Bogut had been available, I’m sure the Dubs beat the Clips; and c) this next one…

Whither David Lee?

Ugh. Lee’s a nice offensive player, but a terrible defender, and he was completely abused by Blake Griffin in the Clippers series. None of this is news. But this year reinforced that this team plays better with one big (preferably Bogut) surrounded by shooters, using either Draymond Green or Harrison Barnes as a stretch four. The biggest problem has always been Lee’s contract, which now has two years and about $30 million left on it. Is it movable yet? If not, will it be movable come midseason? Certainly, you’d think he’d become a trade asset when that deal is an expiring contract, but that doesn’t help the Dubs next season.

How much will the young players continue to improve?

Curry continued his ascension to superstardom. Draymond Green showed that he’s a building block, and I think he should be the starting power forward (also, he is the official spirit animal of this blog).

If Draymond Green fought a grizzly bear, I would bet on Draymond Green

Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes … not so much. Klay seemed to stagnate, and Barnes completely fell apart. The big issue is that

Is Mark Jackson a championship-caliber coach?

Jackson wore a black suit to Game 7 because he was expecting to “get whacked”

Doesn’t matter anymore, since Jackson got fired while I was writing this post. Here’s what I wrote about him at the end of last season:

“He’s respected around the league. The team clearly loves him and plays hard for him. I’m not personally a fan of the whole reverend schtick, but if it works, whatever. He’s helped given the team league-wide credibility, and he out-witted George Karl in the first round of the playoffs. But it bothers me when I see him spending a timeout before a final possession of a playoff game giving the team a sermon rather than drawing up a play, and then on the ensuing series the “play” ends up being Jarrett Jack doing an iso and chucking a 22-foot fall away. Between that and some of the weird lineups he threw out during the playoffs, not to mention running Steph into the ground (He played 58 minutes in Game 1 against the Spurs. I need to repeat this: He played 58 minutes in Game 1 against the Spurs! He never came out of the game! He has fucking papier-mache ankles!), I think Jackson, while he’s shown strengths as an NBA coach, has also shown that he has to continue to improve as much as his young team does.”

Basically all of that stuff was the same this year. Jackson’s rotations were questionable, and his offense depends way too much on isos that, frankly, remind me of how Jackson himself played with the Pacers (and I always thought those Pacers teams played better with Travis Best on the floor).

What’s worse, Jackson clashed with the front office (which sounds like it was at least partially on Joe Lacob), is rumored to have been unhappy when Jerry West (Jerry freaking West!) attended practices, and had his coaching staff implode this offseason. A lot of people in the media seemed to like Jackson, but everything I’ve read in the last few weeks just makes it seem like he has a toxic personality. For details, I recommend you peruse Tim Kawakami’s archive.

There were two factors in Jackson’s favor: 1) He had brought a defensive-minded culture and higher expectations, and had brought the once floundering to the playoffs two years in a row, winning a series last year and winning 51 games this year; 2) The bond he had with his players, Steph Curry in particular.

Where does the team go from here?

The Western Conference isn’t getting easier next year, unless the Spurs retire en masse or OKC foolishly trades Westbrook. Memphis will be back. Portland and Dame Lillard are for real. Houston has the real potential to add another superstar in the next couple of years.

As much as I thought, before the season, that the team could be a Conference Finals contender, ultimately the six seed was about the place they deserved to be (in part because of the home losses to mediocre home teams, which I put largely on Jackson). So…

How does the team take the next step, to true contender?

The biggest decision is the new coach. This has the potential to fall apart, Nellie-and-C-Webb-style, if they don’t hit a home run with the next coach. Van Gundy? Kerr? Thibodeau? Someone else? I don’t know. I like those guys, but I don’t know who’s the best fit, nor do I know who’s going to want to step into the vortex of a roster that loved its previous coach and a franchise that reportedly has a meddling owner?

And once the coaching situation gets resolved, I think the team is one big roster move away from being a true contender. As far as the contracts go, they’re committed to Steph, Iggy, and Bogut for the next three years. Draymond Green has proven to be a keeper. I have been against the idea of trading Harrison Barnes, but I think now is the time to look around and figure out what value he has, along with Thompson and, of course, Lee. Would a package of Lee, Barnes, and Thompson be too much for Kevin Love? Or not enough?

Clearly I’m not the first person to think of this

What about a sign and trade of Lee and Barnes for Carmelo Anthony? I don’t know if either of these things are possible, but it’s the kind of move the Dubs need to make if they want to be a true contender.

Posted in Basketball, Sports | Tagged basketball, golden state warriors, mark jackson, nba playoffs, Sports, Steph Curry | Leave a comment

May 6

Posted on May 6, 2014 by fromabrooklynbasement

On May 6, 2011, I was in the Intensive Care Unit at Stanford Hospital when Lara Borowski died. She was surrounded by friends. Tom Petty was playing on the radio.

I drove back to my Mom’s house, about an hour from Palo Alto to Walnut Creek, cracked a bottle of bourbon and wrote the following:

“The most unfailingly generous, kind, and compassionate person I have ever known passed away tonight at the age of 31. Lolly was the kind of person who made the people around her feel lucky to be alive, because it meant they got to have her in their lives. She was born with Cystic Fibrosis, a terrible disease that sent her into the hospital countless times and made it a struggle to enjoy her favorite things: running, hiking, the outdoors. She had more right than anyone to be bitter, but instead she climbed mountains, won medals at the Transplant Olympics, got a Masters Degree, and filled her life and the lives of those around her with joy. She was the only person I’ve met who had no enemies.

Beneath her slight figure and almost childish cuteness lay a reservoir of strength and bravery no one in the world could match. She fought CF and diabetes and the many complications of the lung transplant she received nearly five years ago, but every time she faced off with death she kicked that bastard right in the teeth. Even when doctors told her family and her many, many friends that she had only hours to live, she fought on for weeks longer. She never gave up.

She was the brightest light in our lives, brilliant and warm like the colors of the sunsets she loved so much, and the world is a darker, colder place without her. We love you, Lolly. Always.”

Lara Borowski: December 31, 1979–May 6, 2011

On May 6, 2012, I woke up on a friend’s couch in San Francisco, following a long Cinco de Mayo night that ended with us drinking tequila straight from the bottle at the top of Bernal Heights Park. I dragged my hangover to the job I hated and spent the afternoon—it was a Sunday, I remember—staring at the wall, reeking of tequila and misery. I barely knew my co-workers, and I didn’t talk about what May 6 means to me with any of them.

On May 6, 2013, I went to my first day at a new job, this one in New York. I could tell in the first few minutes of that Monday morning that I was going to hate the job even more than I’d hated my last one. I didn’t know any of my co-workers, and I didn’t talk about what May 6 means to me with any of them.

Today is May 6, 2014. I actually kind of like the job I have, and I get along with my co-workers, and some of them even know about Lolly. Three years later, things have gotten better in my life, but missing her doesn’t get easier. Today’s always the hardest one. But I’ve made it through every May 6 so far, and I’ll make it through this one, too. I’ll try to appreciate a few of the things that she enjoyed. I’ll go to the park and get a little sun. I’ll pet a happy dog. I’ll eat some oreos. I’ll play a few Tom Petty songs on the guitar.

It’ll hurt. I’ll cry. And I’ll get through it. That’s all any of us can do.

Posted in Grief | 1 Comment

NBA Playoffs Round One Review

Posted on May 5, 2014 by fromabrooklynbasement

Holy shit, you guys.

I mean, seriously, the last two weeks have basically just melted my brain with the awesomeness that has been the 2014 NBA Playoffs. We’ve had back-and-forth games, buzzer-beating shots, a racist owner getting booted out of the league, and just game after game of incredibly tight, well-played basketball. The stat that sums it up best, I think, is this: The record for Game 7s in one season is five. This year there were five in the first round alone.

With the first round coming to a close yesterday in San Antonio, and my beloved Dubs losing a heartbreaker in L.A. last night, I thought I’d share some of my thoughts on the amazing last two weeks. Let’s go series by series.

Indiana over Atlanta: The Pacers survived this series with solid efforts from Paul George and Lance Stephenson in Game 7, but what matters is that they got pushed to the brink by a bad Atlanta team that only made the playoffs because the Knicks self-immolated this year. I’ll be surprised if Indy makes it out of Round Two.

Miami over Charlotte: My big fear for the rest of these playoffs is that Miami is going to nuke the rest of the Eastern Conference while the West teams beat the shit out of each other, meaning whoever survives the West won’t have the juice to prevent a Heat-peat. I hope I’m wrong.

Brooklyn over Toronto: While not as good as any of the series in the West, this was a gritty, exciting contest between two evenly matched teams. A great effort from Joe Johnson and a big defensive play by Paul Pierce—both of whom clearly hate Canada—on the road in Game 7 won out for the Nets.

In the house

Washington over Chicago: I thought the tough and canny Bulls would be able to outwork and outsmart the athletic, inexperienced Wiz. Boy, was I wrong. John Wall and Bradley Beal were both huge, and Nene and Gortat gave Washington the toughness they needed against Joakim Noah. Washington looks primed for a deep playoff run.

San Antonio over Dallas: The general consensus was that this would be a blowout, but I predicted this series would be close, and I was right—these two teams have just fought too many battles. Dallas really could have won this series with a couple more breaks, but once it went to Game 7 in San Antonio, you kinda had a feeling the Spurs would take care of business. At least we’ll always have the Vince Carter shot.

Oklahoma City over Memphis: My God, what a series. These teams were so evenly matched, they played four straight overtime games. Memphis’ defense and toughness made life difficult for Durant and Westbrook, to the point where an Oklahoma newspaper ridiculously called Durant, who is going to win MVP this year, “Mr. Unreliable.” If Reggie Jackson hadn’t gone off in Game 5, Memphis probably would have won the series 4-1, OKC would have fired Scott Brooks and maybe even traded Westbrook. But in a series this close, the tiniest things can make a difference: Jackson stepping up, Z-Bo getting suspended, and ultimately Russ and KD taking over in Games 6 and 7. The team with the best player usually wins a playoff series, and as close as it was, OKC had the two best players in this series.

Seriously? I mean, seriously?

L.A. Clippers over Golden State: I’ve been a harsh critic of Mark Jackson, but you can’t hang this loss on him. It was an incredibly tough, close, heated series, broken up in the middle with the Donald Sterling drama, which seemed to effect the teams most in Games 4 and 5 (the Clippers sleepwalked through a Game 4 blowout loss, then rallied to an emotional Game 5 win at home). I’ll always believe that the Dubs would have won this series if Bogut hadn’t gotten hurt, but even with a borderline heroic effort from Draymond Green (clearly the series MVP for the Dubs), without their center they just didn’t have enough big bodies to handle Blake and DeAndre Jordan down the stretch in Game 7.

This was an all-too-familiar sight over the last two weeks

Portland over Houston: This was the only series in the West that didn’t go the distance, but it was actually my favorite. Between the 89-point LaMarcus Aldridge detonation in Games 1 and 2, the Troy Daniels shot in Game 3, Dwight Howard being Dwight Howard, James Harden morphing into an insufferable, whiny, no-defense mope (actually, that part sucks), all the overtimes … this one had everything. But all that stuff is ultimately secondary, because this series will be remembered for Damian Lilliard’s incredible walk-off shot. Between my affection for Rip City and my official mancrush on the Blazers’ Oakland-born assassin of a point guard, Portland is my favorite team left in these playoffs.

Man, these playoffs have been great. How long can this continue for? By way of answer, here are my quick picks for Round Two:

Washington over Indiana in 6: I shouldn’t need to explain this one at this point.

Miami over Brooklyn in 6: The Nets have the perimeter size to bother the Heat, and we know Pierce and Garnett like playing against LeBron. I think this series will be tight early and after four games it’ll be tied 2-2, and then Miami will win Games 5 and 6 comfortably to head to the Eastern Conference Finals.

San Antonio over Portland in 6: Because if there’s one thing that we know about the NBA Playoffs, it’s that when a cool young team goes on an exciting run, the Spurs will ruin the fun.

Oklahoma City over L.A. Clippers in 7: This is gonna be a great series. OKC has the big bodies to throw at the Clippers that the Dubs didn’t, and the Clips don’t have the athleticism on the perimeter to check Durant and Westbrook. Plus, OKC will have homecourt in Game 7.

If this isn’t enough basketball content for you, check back later this week for my Warriors Season Postmortem.

Posted in Basketball, Sports | Tagged basketball, nba playoffs, Sports | Leave a comment

2014 NBA Playoff Preview

Posted on April 18, 2014 by fromabrooklynbasement

It is sometimes said that April is the cruelest month, but the guy who coined that phrase obviously wasn’t a sports fan. The fourth month of the year is one of my favorites, because it brings an awesome confluence in the sports world: the beginning of baseball season, and the onset of the NBA playoffs. I covered my love of the national pastime here, but my love of basketball is nearly as fierce, and basketball is at its absolute best when the NBA playoffs start. This is the time of year when the best athletes in the world have a chance to cement their legacies. (Keep your soccer and your Olympics and whatever else you have, by the way, because I refuse to believe anyone in the world is a better pure athlete than LeBron James. See below.)

What’s at stake this time around? Only questions like: Who is the best player in the world—LeBron or Durant? Can the Spurs ride their eternal deal with the devil to another championship before Satan comes to collect? Can Dwight Howard be more than just a clueless, candy-guzzling prima donna who farts a lot? Can Indiana recover from their second half slump to eclipse the Heat? Can Doc Rivers push CP3 to his first deep playoff run? How nuclear will Steph “Ghost Pepper” Curry go? Will anyone be maimed or killed in the Dubs-Clippers series? Read on for my answers to these questions and more.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

First Round

San Antonio over Dallas 4-2: This series is going to be so much fun! Dirk vs. Duncan! Popovich vs. Carlisle! Monta vs. Parker! Ginobili vs. male pattern baldness! The battle for Texas! I want there to be as many games as possible in this series. I don’t think it’s impossible that the Mavs could win this series, but I have to go with the Spurs’ precision offense against the shaky Mavs D.

This is a real treat for basketball fans

Oklahoma City over Memphis 4-3: This will be the third time in recent years these teams have met in the playoffs: Three years ago, OKC took down Memphis in a memorable seven game series, while last year the Grizz devoured a Thunder team that had been crippled by injury. The Grizz are stronger than their seven seed, which they fell to because of Marc Gasol’s knee injury, and they will push the Thunder, but KD is playing too well to fall in the first round.

L.A. Clippers over Golden State 4-3: Two weeks ago I was really excited about the prospect of this series. The Dubs match up pretty well with the Clips, and this was measuring up to be an old school, ’80s-style NBA playoff hatefest. But the Dubs are struggling with injuries—the loss of Bogut to a broken rib is especially devastating—and turmoil on the coaching staff. Plus, the way the Dubs have played so inconsistently at home his year, you know they’ll blow at least one game at the Roaracle that they should win. Watching Curry and Paul go head to head is going to be fantastic, but unless Klay Thompson really steps it up, I don’t see how the Dubs can pull it off. Will a first round loss cost Mark Jackson his job? I’ll save my thoughts on that for my Dubs season post-mortem.

Can Ghost Pepper save his coach’s job? I have my doubts

Houston over Portland 4-2: I can’t believe how awesome the Western Conference playoffs are. This is the least interesting of the four series, and it’s a great series! I really want to pick the Blazers for a number of reasons: my abiding affection for the city of Portland (just wait until you read my Three Perfect Days: Portland story in July); my man-crush on Oakland’s own Damian Lillard; my intense dislike of Dwight Howard and Texas in general. But I just don’t see it. Houston has too many horses.

I’m rooting for you, Rip City

Second Round

San Antonio over Houston 4-1: There’s no fucking way Tim Duncan is losing a playoff series to Dwight Howard.

Oklahoma City over L.A. 4-2: Man, this is gonna be a fun one. So many marquee names: Durant, Westbrook, Paul, Griffin. And both teams play a fun brand of basketball. But I think OKC will ride Durant’s shoulders into the next round.

Conference Finals

Oklahoma City over San Antonio 4-2: What we’ve seen over the last three years is that the Spurs can carve up any team in the West—except the hyperathletic Thunder. OKC is the one team the San Antonio can’t match up with, and that’ll hold true again this year.

Durant will rise over Duncan again

EASTERN CONFERENCE

First Round

Indiana over Atlanta 4-1: Even with Indiana’s struggles, this isn’t going to be much of a series. Losing Al Horford crippled this Hawks team, which only made the playoffs because of the Chernobyl-level meltdown that was the New York Knicks’ season.

Miami over Charlotte 4-1: The Hornets, er, Bobcats, er, whatever have been a nice story this year, and they might win one game while Miami fumbles around looking for their “on” switch and Al Jefferson drops buckets in from the block, but in the end this won’t be a series.

Brooklyn over Toronto 4-2: Both these teams played very well in the second half of the season after losing guys who were nominally their best players—the Nets, Brook Lopez to injury; the Raptors, Rudy Gay to a trade. The Raptors are young, and certainly have the edge in athleticism, but I think Brooklyn’s cagey vets Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett have a lesson to impart to the new kids on the block.

This is probably a dumb pick, but screw it: BROOKLYN!!!

Chicago over Washington 4-2: The Wizards have way more talent than the Bulls do, but they can be schizo, and no playoff team is better suited to a matchup with an inexperienced, inconsistent roster than the gritty, experienced Bulls of Tom Thibodeau and Joakim Noah.

Second Round

Indiana over Chicago 4-3: If this series comes to pass, there will probably be some sentiment for picking the Bulls. But as much as Indiana has been a terrible offensive team for the last two months, the Bulls struggle to score themselves. This will be an ugly, low-scoring series, but Paul George and home court in Game 7 will make the difference for the Pacers.

Miami over Brooklyn 4-2: I really want to pick an upset and scream BROOKLYN!!! all over this blog … but I can’t. The Nets played the Heat very well this year, but I’m not buying that they can actually take down Miami.

Conference Finals

Miami over Indiana 4-2: I re-wrote this pick three times; First I picked Miami because of Indiana’s second half swoon. Then I went back over to the Pacers, figuring that they still match up well with the Heat, and because I thought I should pick with my preseason prediction that Indy would win a series between these two teams in seven. But goddammit, this is the year of LeBron and Durant. We need these two guys to play in the finals. So Miami it is.

NBA FINALS

Oklahoma City over Miami 4-2: The Heat beat the Thunder two years ago for LeBron’s first title, and this year OKC takes revenge, giving Kevin Durant his first Larry O’Brien trophy. I hope we get to see this series. Either way, this is going to be a great spring for basketball.

Durant will drive past LeBron on the way to the title

Posted in Basketball, Sports | Tagged basketball, nba playoffs | Leave a comment

My Off the Cuff, Completely Uninformed MLB 2014 Season Preview

Posted on March 31, 2014 by fromabrooklynbasement

BASEBALL IS BACK!!! SPRING IS FINALLY HERE!!!

Well, that last part might be a bit of an exaggeration, given that it was still in the 30s and snowing last week in NYC (God, this winter has been awful). But Opening Day always gives me and millions of other baseball fans across America and the world a taste of optimism, a reason to rejoice. I’ve long had two traditions for Opening Day: The first was to take the day off of work and spend nine hours in a sports bar watching ballgames. I probably won’t be able to pull that off this year, but be warned, co-workers, I might take a VERY long lunch today. Why is Opening Day not a national holiday?

BASEBALL. AMERICA.
C’mon, Congress, do the right thing (yeah, right).

My other Opening Day tradition is, of course, my Season Preview column. I used to follow baseball completely obsessively, even during the offseason, reading everything I could about every Hot Stove trade and signing, even the ones made by teams I didn’t care about. But over the last couple of years, as I’ve found myself working at increasingly “adult” jobs (in the “I’m a grown up” sense, not the “adult movie” sense), I’ve lost the bandwidth to follow offseason maneuvering. I don’t have much idea who switched teams this year, and I completely checked out after the Giants re-signed Tim Lincecum.

Given that there are so many baseball websites out there using detailed statistical forecasting systems, why would anyone read my preview, which I’m writing without doing any research, not even a cursory glance at PECOTA or ZiPS? Beats the hell out of me. I am not kidding—I just had to look up how many Wild Card playoff teams there are now. I’m reasonably sure Barry Bonds is going to win the home run title this year. Honestly, I’m only writing this because I’ve been doing it for like 10 years, and my buddy Matt will disown me if I quit now. I’ll try to be pithy, at least. On to my off-the-cuff, completely uninformed predictions that will surely be wrong!

REGULAR SEASON:

AL EAST:

Tampa Bay 95-67 – The Rays have been beating the system for years, and with this probably being their last year with David Price, I think they’re going big. They’ve got a great young rotation, a cornerstone in his prime in Evan Longoria, maybe the game’s best manager, and I could see Wil Myers exploding. I think the Rays are the AL favorites.

Boston 91-71 (Wild Card) – God I hate this team. Everything went right for the Sawx last year, and they won the World Series. They won’t get as many breaks this year, but they’ve got enough young talent replacing their key losses that I can’t see them falling off too much. Fuck you, Boston.

Yeah!

New York Yankees 85-77 – Fuck you too, Yankees. All that money you threw at Ellsbury and the Japanese pitcher whose name I’m not going to bother to Google won’t fix all the dead money you’re paying to your 40-year-old shortstop, your limp-wristed first baseman, and your disgraced, suspended third baseman. You get the same record you finished with last year.

Baltimore 81-81 – I’d like to say I think the O’s will do better than this, but the injuries to Manny Machado and Dylan Bundy just make me feel like there’s a black cloud over this team. Plus, Buck Showalter’s teams always get sick of him after awhile—that’s what happens when you’re an anal-retentive maniac.

Toronto 75-87 – I’m not falling for the Blue Jays’ act anymore.

AL CENTRAL

Detroit 91-71 – Loved the Kinsler-Fielder trade for Detroit. As long as they have Cabrera and Verlander in their primes, this team will be the AL Central favorite.

Kansas City 88-74 (Wild Card) – I thought Cleveland would surprise last year (though I didn’t actually pick them to make the playoffs), and I’m getting the same good vibe from the Royals this year. I hope we get to see a playoff game or two at beautiful Kauffman Stadium (or whatever corporate succubus they’ve sold the naming rights of their ballpark to).

Cleveland 86-76 – I think the Tribe will be strong again this year. I just think it’s KC’s turn for some good luck. What, you came here for analysis, Nate Silver?

Minnesota 69-93 – The Twinkies have some very exciting prospects on the way, but Miguel Angel Sano got hurt and is going to miss the year, and consensus best-prospect-in-baseball Byron Buxton probably won’t make it to the Show until September. Til then, there are gonna be a lot of L’s in the Twin City.

Chicago White Sox 66-96 – I didn’t realize until I looked just now that the Pale Hose lost 99 games last year. (Isn’t ‘Pale Hose’ a great name? It’s like what a pimp would call a bunch of hookers who hadn’t gotten enough sun.) Feels like there’s a long rebuilding project ahead on the South Side of the Windy City.

AL WEST

Oakland 90-72 – Losing Jarrod Parker to Tommy John surgery hurts, but the A’s are built on depth, and I think that, while they may be slightly diminished, they’re still going to take their third straight AL West title. Besides, how could I pick against the team that employs my doppelganger/Face-of-MLB candidate Eric Sogard?

This is exactly how I would look if I were in the bog leagues; wearing my glasses, sitting on the bench, holding a bat, saying 'put me in , coach'

This is exactly how I would look if I were in the big leagues: wearing my glasses, sitting on the bench, holding a bat, saying ‘put me in , coach’

Texas 87-75 – The Rangers will score a lot of runs with the additions of Prince Fielder (who is going to hit a ton of homers in that ballpark) and Shin-Soo Choo, but I think they missed their window, and they’ll get sniped by KC for a playoff spot on the last day of the season. Also, since the Rangers were once owned by George W. Bush, fuck this team forever.

Seattle 86-76 – I think Robinson Cano is going to disappoint Seattle fans somewhat (there has to be a reason he’s the one guy the Yanks DIDN’T sign). But I love the Mariners’ young pitching staff, led by the great King Felix.

Anaheim 74-88 – The Angels are the Yankees of the West Coast—they’ve thrown way too much money at past-their-prime players and are doomed to also-ran status. I’d say Mike Trout deserves better, but I enjoy watching people from Orange County suffer.

Houston 62-100 – Yuck. (For the record, this is exactly what I wrote in last year’s preview.)

NL EAST

Washington 96-66 – The Nats disappointed last year, but I think they’ll step it back up this year. There’s just too much talent on hand, especially if Bryce Harper can stay on the field.

Atlanta 86-76 – It seems like the Braves make the playoffs every year, but I think, because of all their injuries, this is the year that trend breaks apart.

New York Mets 76-86 – The Matt Harvey injury was such a bummer. At least the Mets have some prospects coming. I went to a Mets-Giants game in September last year, and the Giants fans had the Mets fans outnumbered at CitiField. I’m expecting the same kind of scene in Flushing this year.

Philadelphia 74-88 – Man, the bottom of this division is a total grease fire.

Miami 67-95 – Even with Jose Fernandez and Giancarlo Stanton, this franchise is still an abomination

NL CENTRAL

St. Louis 95-77 – I’ve referred to the Cards, like the Braves, as a “Hydra team” in the past. That remains true this year, as a team that went to the World Series can add dynamic pitching and hitting prospects in Carlos Martinez and Oscar Taveras, respectively. Dammit. I hate this team.

Pittsburgh 88-74 (Wild Card) – Love this team, love McCutchen, love the ballpark, even have a soft spot for this city. A full year of Gerrit Cole will help, and I think that, even with a bit of a backslide from last year, they’ve got a shot to return to the playoffs.

Cincinnati 86-76 – Cincy stays in the hunt for the Wild Card, but losing Choo really hurts them. Their pitching looks shaky to me as well. And Mat Latos is ugly. If you want to smile for an hour straight, just sit there and watch him get owned by Buster Posey on repeat.

Milwaukee 81-81 – I think Ryan Braun has a big bounceback year. Personally, I don’t care about the roids—I can’t help but love a player nicknamed “The Hebrew Hammer.” The Brewers probably missed their shot, though, and I could see them deciding to tear down and do a full rebuild.

Chicago Cubs 69-93 – Building smartly, but still a ways off. (This is also the exact same thing I wrote last year. Rough times for baseball fans in Chi-town.)

NL WEST

Los Angeles 93-69 – The Dodgers look like another juggernaut at the top of the NL. Goddammit.

San Francisco 90-72 (Wild Card) – On the other hand, I’m feeling a bounceback for the Giants. A return to normal Matt Cain, the replacement of a bad ex-Oakland A’s ace (Barry Zito) with a good one (Tim Hudson), and the continued awesomeness of MadBum augur good things for the rotation. And in the lineup you’ve got a ready-to-breakout Brandon Belt, Pablo Sandoval hungry for a massive new contract (instead of arepas), and Captain America (Posey). The Giants might be a tick behind the Dodgers, but I think they return to the playoffs. You know what happens in even years.

San Diego 82-80 – This Padres team has some sleeper potential. Don’t ask me why I think that. I just do. Truthiness.

Arizona 75-87 – It’s possible that the D’Backs front office has been drunk for two consecutive years.

Colorado 72-90 – I have nothing to say about this team, except that, five years later, I still can’t believe the A’s traded Carlos Gonzalez.

(Note: Once again, I did not try to make these records come out to .500. I’m not even going to add them up. They’re just rough benchmarks for where I see these teams ending up.)

On to the Playoffs

AL Wild Card Game

Boston over Kansas City – I don’t believe in the Royals THAT much.

ALDS

-Tampa Bay over Boston in 5 – I really believe the Rays would have beat the Sawx last year if Wil Myers hadn’t thought he was getting called off that David Ortiz fly ball. David Price makes the difference in this short series.

-Detroit over Oakland in 5 – If this feels familiar, it should. It’s just destiny at this point. A’s fans will go to their graves cursing Justin Verlander

ALCS

Tampa Bay over Detroit in 7 – This would be a great, great, great series that could totally go either way. I’m taking the Rays, by a hair (Scale? What kind of skin do sting rays have?) over the Tigers..

NL Wild Card Game

San Francisco over Pittsburgh – The curse of Barry Bonds continues for the Pirates.

NLDS

-Washington over San Francisco in 4 – The Nats have more high-end talent than the Giants, and it’ll show in this series.

-Los Angeles over St. Louis in 5 – In a rematch of last year’s NLCS, the Dodgers get revenge.

NLCS

Washington over Los Angeles in 6 – You don’t think I’m picking the Dodgers to go to the World Series, do you?

World Series

Washington over Tampa Bay in 7: I picked the Nats to win it all and for Bryce Harper to be World Series MVP last year, and I’m going right back to the well. Sorry fans of the Artists-Formerly-Known-as–Les Expos, but for the second year in a row I’ve skunked you with the From a Brooklyn Basement jinx.

And, for just a little more fun, here are my Regular Season Awards

AL MVP: Mike Trout (He easily could be going for his third MVP in a row right now.)

AL Cy Young: Felix Hernandez (I always pick Verlander, so let’s switch this up.)

AL ROY: Uh … Xander Bogaerts (Just because I wanted to type Xander)

NL MVP: Yadier Molina (He had a shot to win it before he got hurt last year.)

NL Cy Young: Steven Strasburg (Seems too easy to pick Kershaw)

NL ROY: Oscar Taveras (Because I mentioned him earlier and don’t want to Google anybody else.)

There you have it. My only guarantee is that today is my favorite day of the year. Happy Opening Day, everyone!

Posted in Baseball, Sports | Tagged Baseball, MLB season preview | 6 Comments

SXSW: Echoes of Attias

Posted on March 17, 2014 by fromabrooklynbasement

South by Southwest made national headlines last week, but not because of the unveiling of a new tech gadget or the sudden rise to fame of an indie band. Rather, SXSW became the backdrop for tragedy, as 21-year-old Rashad Charjuan Owens evaded a DUI checkpoint and drove a car onto a street that had been closed to traffic for pedestrians. He crashed into a crowd of festivalgoers, killing two and injuring 23 more.

The tragic scene in Austin

The national media reacted with shock, appropriately so, but to anyone who was in Santa Barbara in the early 2000s, this was something we’d seen before.

The UC Santa Barbara campus, while technically a part of Santa Barbara, is actually about 10 miles north of the city’s downtown. The majority of UCSB students live in a small, unincorporated, densely-populated town called Isla Vista—or IV, as students creatively call it—adjacent to the campus and hovering over the Pacific Ocean on an eroding cliff. IV is a strange place. The location is idyllic, almost paradisical, crammed chockfull with seriously beautiful young people who live in mostly rundown, overpriced apartment buildings owned by slumlords. IV, and in particular the cliffside Del Playa Drive—or DP, as those ever creative students call it—is the place that gives UCSB its party school reputation. On weekend nights, students fill the streets, roaming from house party to house party, mostly on foot, often walking right down the middle of the street (woe be to the poor fool who tries to drive a car down a jam-packed DP on a Saturday night).

DP on Halloween, the biggest party night of the year. It’s not unusual for the street to approach this level of crowding on a busy Saturday

Late on the night of February 23, 2001, a UCSB freshman named David Attias drove a car down the 6500 block of Sabado Tarde Road at 60 miles an hour. It was Friday night, and there was heavy foot traffic on Sabado, just one block over from DP, and Attias indiscriminately side-swiped parked cars before crashing into a group of pedestrians, killing four people and seriously injuring a fifth. Attias, who was high on several drugs, jumped out of his car and began calling himself “the Angel of Death,” and he probably would have gotten beaten to death by an angry crowd of students had the police not quickly shown up and arrested him.

UCSB is a big school, with more than 20,000 students, but IV is a small place, and shock rippled through the community. I personally didn’t see the carnage—I walked by the intersection of Sabado and El Embarcadero 10 or 15 minutes later, and by then it had already been taped off by the police and there was a news truck on hand—but several of my friends reported walking by immediately afterward and seeing the bloody, battered bodies in the street. And it turned out that the pedestrians Attias hit were a group from the Bay Area. One of them, Nick Bourdakis, had been a high school friend of my roommate, and had been a high school boyfriend of another friend of mine. (I had met Bourdakis, but wouldn’t say that I knew him.)

Attias’ trial dominated the news in Santa Barbara for more than a year (the UCSB Daily Nexus reporter who lucked into that beat got herself a job at the San Francisco Chronicle after she graduated), in part because of a seriously depressing development: the driver’s father was Daniel Attias, a Hollywood director who has directed numerous television shows, including several episodes of my favorite show, The Wire. Naturally, David Attias had the best legal defense that money could buy, and while he was convicted of four counts of second-degree murder, the jury ruled that he was legally insane, and sent him to a state mental hospital for treatment. In 2012, Attias was released to an outpatient program.

David Attias during his trial

I didn’t know that Attias had been released until after the SXSW accident, when I was reminded of what is now called the Isla Vista Massacre and did some Googling. My first reaction upon reading he was out was, I can’t believe that motherfucker is free. My second reaction, which followed almost instantaneously, was The black guy in Texas ain’t gonna get that lucky.

Rashad Charjuan Owens’ mugshot

And truly, the thing I’ve thought of the most in the wake of these tragedies is the crime-and-punishment aspect—because I’m not sure how to feel about it. It makes me so mad that Attias got off so lightly for what he did. I think federal mandatory minimum sentences are fucking bullshit, and that our country is way too eager to throw people in jail and write them off (America incarcerates a far greater percentage of its population than any other developed nation), but on the other hand, Attias killed four completely innocent people and didn’t have to do a day in a real prison; he got what my aforementioned college roommate called a “Rich Kid Pardon.” Meanwhile, the authorities in Texas immediately said they would be pursuing capital murder charges against Owens, raising at least the possibility of the death penalty. (Texas executes almost as many prisoners as the 49 other states COMBINED.)

Does Owens deserve to die for what he did? I don’t really buy into the validity of the death penalty, so I’m inclined to say, No, though I do believe, if he’s found guilty, that he should pay a heavy price for his crime. He should certainly pay more of a price than Attias did. But isn’t it a problem that he almost certainly will pay more of a price than Attias did?

There’s not a lot that we can do to prevent these kinds of tragedies from happening. But the way we react to them says a lot about us as a people, as a society. And to me, these two cases show that, once again, race and social class play far too large a role in who pays for what in this country.

Posted in Current Events | Tagged David Attias, Rashad Charjuan Owens, SXSW, USCB | Leave a comment

The Best of From a Brooklyn Basement

Posted on March 4, 2014 by fromabrooklynbasement

Today marks the one year anniversary of my first post on From a Brooklyn Basement. I’m not writing as much as I was at this site’s storied conception, but I’m still weirdly proud of the content I’ve produced in the last year: 119 posts (this is number 120) that have gotten more than 9,500 page views. I thought I’d celebrate the anniversary today with—what else—a Top 10 list. In no particular order, here are my favorite posts from the last year, with a few words about why each made the cut.

1. Gone to Look for America: An Epic Road Trip (Part 4)

I got beads

I thought it appropriate to start with this one, seeing as how today is Fat Tuesday, and I am sadly not in New Orleans to say “laissez le bon temps rouler.” I started this blog with an eight-part travelogue detailing my cross-country road trip from San Francisco to New York, and what could possible be my favorite piece from that series but this colorful look at my debauched first Mardi Gras. I’m going back next year, Goddammit.

2. The Definitive Tale of the Tape: The Wire Vs. Breaking Bad

I often say that The Wire is my favorite thing (hell, I think I said it in the “about” section of this blog). So, when I found myself wondering if Breaking Bad was so great that it had actually surpassed The Wire to become the greatest show of all time, there was only one thing for me to do: Write an insane, 3,500-word Tale of the Tape comparing the two shows. I had a lot of fun with this one.

3. Desert Island Albums #2: Heartbreaker

Probably my favorite series of posts I’ve done has been my all-time top 10 Desert Island Albums. I’m a big music nut, obviously, and I enjoyed writing all of these, particularly my pieces on Neutral Milk Hotel, Warren Zevon, and Elliott Smith. But my favorite is probably my take on Ryan Adams’ Heartbreaker, a gorgeous alt-country album about being broken up, strung out, and lonely in the big city, an album that includes one of my all-time favorite songs, Oh My Sweet Carolina.

4. Niners Wild Card Round Awards

My most popular series has certainly been my “Niners Awards” column; when I was back in the Bay for the holidays, I had numerous friends tell me they preferred reading my posts to the recaps from actual news organizations. My favorite of the recaps was probably the Wild Card Round one, because the Niners beat the Packers at Lambeau Field, and because I had correctly predicted the final score of the game the week before. If only Colin Kaepernick and Co. could have done the same against Seattle…

5. On Fruitvale Station, Oscar Grant, and Trayvon Martin

On a rather more serious topic, I was deeply moved when I saw Fruitvale Station last year, and when it happened that George Zimmerman was acquitted of murdering Trayvon Martin the same weekend that film came out, I felt I had to write about it. I think this is my best current events post, and it got me a pingback from David Simon, the creator of The Wire. Also, zero Oscar nominations for Fruitvale Station and Michael B. Jordan? What a rip off.

6. I Love You More

Another sad post, this is a piece I wrote about Lara, my ex-girlfriend, on the two-year anniversary of her death. I ended up reading this at Brooklyn LitCrawl last year.

7. He’s on Fire

Okay, time for a fun post. 20 years after the NBA Jam arcade game was released, I wrote something fun about the time one of my college buddies went on the hottest shooting streak I’ve ever seen in my life. Almost 15 years later, thinking about that game on the Anacapa basketball court still cracks me up.

8. Dear Vice Magazine: What the Fuck?

I was cruising the internet at work one day, and I came across a Vice magazine fashion shoot that put models in the poses that evoked the suicides of famous authors (one example was a model kneeling in front of an open oven, a la Sylvia Plath). Outraged, I immediately dashed off post, taking only 20 minutes or so, calling it reprehensible and exploitative. It ended up being my first post that broke triple digits in page views in a single day. I wasn’t the only one to write about—numerous bigger name writers than I also called out Vice—and the magazine pulled the shoot. I know I personally didn’t have all that much to do with that final result, but it was nice to feel like I was a part of something.

9. The Soundtrack of My Life

Can’t have just one music post on here, and I really liked this one, a look back at the twists and turns in my life and the songs that I imagine playing along with the big moments. I got a lot of good response from people on this one, and it also bears mentioning that it’s one of several posts that my good buddy Juan and I wrote in tandem. Check out his awesome response here.

10. Ein Name Macht Frei

The story of my visit to Auschwitz. This is pretty much the best thing I’ve ever written, on a blog or anywhere else.

Well, that’s it for the one year anniversary. I hope you enjoyed re-living these posts. And I hope to come up with some more good stuff for you over the next year.

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