Thought for the Day: No New Tale to Tell
February 28, 2007

First things first:
Today's theme is "Confuzzi"

Michigan beating Michigan State, confusing.
Wings trade for Todd Bertuzzi, very confuzzi.

But...a new DeadOn post, yet another installment of Tied to the 90s.

That's all for today, until the next time,
I am Craig Barker, down with it.

Thought for the Day: Throwing It Out There
February 26, 2007

First things first:
Today's theme is "Debate"

As this may be my last free mid-afternoon this week, I thought I would throw two topics that have been up for debate today out there for you, my loyal 19 readers, to discuss.

1). The Booing of Ben Wallace by Detroit fans yesterday.

There seems to be zero consensus in the Detroit media about this one. On the one hand, Ben Wallace was the centerpiece of an NBA title team, two Eastern Conference champions, and the emergence of the Pistons as a perennial contender, albeit in the NBA's Leastern Conference. On the other hand, he did leave the Pistons for more money to go play for the hated Bulls. A lot of the issue seems to be people thinking "working class, blue collar" Ben was a hypocrite for going for more money, but I think Ben knew his days were numbered here in Detroit and left for the best offer. Truth be told, I think a lot of us would do the same thing. Some say the booing is because he joined the hated Bulls, and I don't buy that as much as I think it's this. Detroit has a "Chicago" complex. People in Detroit see their friends go off and leave for "greener pastures" in Chicago all the time, and a lot of us who are still here resent it, because we, perhaps rightly, perhaps wrongly, wonder what is so great about Chicago or what Chicago has that Detroit does not. Ben Wallace leaving for the Bulls is just the Chicago complex writ large.

Your thoughts?

2). The importance of Nirvana vs. the quality of Nirvana.

I had the beginnings of this conversation with De Stijl on Friday, but it sprang back up today on Deadspin (yes, it makes sense. RTFA.) I don't think that there is any question that Nirvana is important and holds an important place in the history of rock music. I think that "Come As You Are" is one of my favorite songs of the 1990s. But Nirvana does not rank highly on my list of favorite bands, or even of favorite 1990s bands. I think part of this is limited output (you only had the three full albums, the Unplugged album, and various bits and pieces.) and I think part of it is that I never bought into the notion of "what might have been." It's perversely like Nirvana gets credit for what could have happened had Kurt Cobain not killed himself, and yet, history shows us how often that runs counter to the case. So I don't know what to think, and so I'll leave it to you, the readers.

That's all for today, until the next time,
I am Craig Barker, letting the debate begin.

Thought for the Day: Errands
February 21, 2007

First things first:
Today's theme is "Out and About"

So basically my week off exists largely to do the crap I wouldn't normally have the time to do during the day. Well, at least I figured that out. I'd also like to point out that anytime you hear the word "audit", even if it isn't coming from the Internal Revenue Service, run. Run fast, run hard, but run away. It will kill you.

But...a new DeadOn post, another installment of Tied to the 90s.

That's all for today, until the next time,
I am Craig Barker, switching the cable box.

Thought for the Day: Breathing
February 19, 2007

First things first:
Today's theme is "Head Cold"

I'm been rocked by a wicked head cold over here since last Thursday night, so I haven't had anything really good to write about. The Michigan/Lake State hockey game was good for all 4,700 odd of us who were there yesterday, and the NBA All-Star festivities were a fun diversion, but mostly it was me, a great deal of Sudafed, Vicks Vaporub, and constant checking of my temperature. So, no new content here...

But...a new DeadOn post on one of my favorite pop culture guilty pleasures.

That's all for today, until the next time,
I am Craig Barker, feeling a little better honestly.

Thought for the Day: Spreading My Wings
February 14, 2007

First things first:
Today's theme is "Don't Come Around Much Anymore"

So, here's the story: A couple of nights ago, I was posting comments on "the Late Shift" at Deadspin, when the idea came to many of the commenters that we should start a blog devoted solely to pop culture. Because, you know, none existed before we had this idea.

Thus DeadOn was born.

I am one of the contributors, I have declared myself the blog's "Resident Pop Culture Historian" and will be writing a weekly column entitled "Tied to the '90s", which is designed to be a loving look back at the decade in which I grew up. My first column, 10 underappreciated 1990s songs by 10 major 1990s bands, is already posted. Anyway, if you get a chance, please check it out. And if you feel like mocking us, good, our job is done. Oh and if you have ideas for future columns, you know where to find me.

I also should mention that to save Greg's eyes and the rest of you who prefer not to be bored with my opinions on UMich sports, GZ and I are still posting new material at The Hoover Street Rag. I just did an extended post about last weekend's Michigan hockey games, in fact.

Also, since I promised I will no longer argue about quiz bowl in any public forum, you won't see any of that here anymore either. Six weeks in, SCTs included, and I still am keeping my word. This also noticeably lessens the content count.

Now, does this mean that I am abandoning TFTD? Absolutely not. This will still be home to this summer's as yet undetermined pop culture tournament. (Ideas people, I need ideas!) It will still be where I post the cut-throat info every fall. It will still be where I post stuff that doesn't fit in anywhere else. I just won't be doing it as frequently. I hope you can understand that. I say that as if I have fans, but I hope that you can understand that never the less.

(P.S.: Yet another snow day. Because it's not like the AP kids needed to learn about the 1920s or anything. That never comes up on the AP test.)

That's all for today, until the next time,
I am Craig Barker, covering all bases.

Thought for the Day: Welcome Back to the Jungle...
February 13, 2007

First things first:
Today's theme is "Old Home Week"
So, when my former journalism teacher Ms. Bedell needed a guest columnist for the February edition of the Stevenson Spotlight, guess who got the call? No, not Dave...

Just a piece of free advice
by Craig Barker, '96

At the end of each year, the Spotlight asks the SHS teaching staff to provide some "words of wisdom" for the senior issue. It's a great chance to share some thoughts with the "departin' Spartans," but it also gave me pause: If I can do this for the seniors, why can't I do the same for those students who are at Stevenson to hopefully make their lives easier now and going forward? So when the chance to pen a guest column for the Spotlight arose, I wanted to seize the opportunity to share some thoughts I've had rattling around in my head.

The worst part about advice is that people are generally disinclined to listen to it because we're confident that we know better, and it is only when things fall apart that we understand that the advice that was given to us came from experience, from the wisdom of someone who sought only to protect us from a harsh experience that they had been through. So I will end up penning this whole column in the hope that some of you will take the advice to heart, but I also do it knowing that most of you will not even give this a first thought, let alone a second. With that in mind, here's to futility!

The reality of life is that no matter how well prepared we are for it, we can never see anything coming. But worse, we see things coming, don't think they're coming for us and then act surprised when they do. The one thing that I have learned in that regard is that a smart person is one who can make the best choice in reaction to how life works. You can't be paralyzed by the fear of making the wrong choice, or of how it will play out, because sometimes there is just no way of knowing how it's going to play out. To paraphrase General George S. Patton, you have to do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

More than this, you must to be willing to take responsibility for your own actions. You must realize that while things happen to you, you're not stuck with the hand that fate has dealt you. You can take action to improve your own life, but the hardest part of that is taking up that mantle of responsibility. Once you do that, the rest falls into place.

Spartans, simply put, life isn't about what happens to us; it's about how we react. With that in mind, good luck.

Craig Barker is a 1996 graduate of Stevenson High School. While at SHS, he served as a Spotlight editor and columnist on Ms. Bedell-Sheffey's first staff. A 2000 graduate of the University of Michigan, he has been a member of Stevenson's social studies department since 2001.

That's all for today, until next time,
I am Craig Barker, reliving the dream.

Thought for the Day: Super? Really?
February 5, 2007

First things first:
Today's theme is "Super, thanks for asking."

I watched all of the Super Bowl, some of the pre-game, and I think I saw Criminal Minds at the end of that, so here are some random thoughts in no particular order about last night's Hullabaloo in the Hurricane...

* I think the rule that we have learned in 2007 is this: Don't return the opening kickoff for a touchdown in an important game. No good can come of it.

* Everyone is complaining how lame the ads were last night, but I think the bigger issue is this: I can't even remember which companies were being lame. How sad is it that the best ad of the night was the NFL's "SuperAd" (which makes sense now that I think about it, it very much feels like a fan, even if he didn't write the tongue in cheek ending.)



The other was "Chad Johnson's Super Bowl Party" which featured as strange a mix of characters we have seen in an ad since Lil Penny's Super Bowl party from back in the day "Master Lock is the bomb! Ain't nobody bustin' that lock." And the Get your Story Straight guy talking to David Beckham was great, though I wonder if the joke was lost on people.

(added: 2/5/07, 7:00 pm)
* I didn't realize Jay-Z and Coach Shula were starring in the remake of Never Say Never Again


* For our younger readers, this is why the Letterman/Oprah ad was funny:


* As GZ suggested, does Sheryl Crow hate classic rock? Would that explain her choices in cover songs? Is Buddy Holly spinning in his grave?

* Say what you will about it being frozen here in the D yesterday, Ford Field was 68 degrees and dry.

* I'll still argue that if you couldn't make Rex Grossman the MVP for the Colts, I think Prince had to have earned it. Dude, Watchtower, are you kidding me?

* If the NFL had known it was going to pour like that, would they have decided to assign Mike Carey to ref the game?

* Someone on Deadspin, in reference to my calling Indianapolis' victory the closest the Lions are going to get to a Super Bowl win, well, until the Browns take it home, referred to the possibility of the Browns/Lions Super Bowl as the "No Way in Hell" Bowl. I think this is only because the Lions would have had to upset the Cardinals to get there.

Anyway, that's it, another NFL season in the books (even the NFL fans don't acknowledge the Pro Bowl! But who will root for Homer's beloved Blue Shirts!?!) I can go back on focusing on hockey...speaking of which...

Michigan's hockey team has been playing really well lately, but I think the true test will come this weekend when they play Michigan State at the Joe.

That's all for today, until the next time,
I am Craig Barker, bowled over again.