Something New

If you've seen this site before, you might notice that there is now music playing. That is courtesy of an outfit called Skyblue Radio. This is an internet radio station catering mostly to Flight Simulator folk who can download a little applet that will allow them to listen to the station through the simulated radio in their simulated aeroplane.

I've been a DJ on this station for a little over a year now. I go by the on-air name "Matt Lee," and I'm on Friday evenings at 7:00PM central if you ever want to listen in. I play mostly classic rock (though my musical tastes are turning more toward Jazz, the older I get), and occasionally what I like to call "Stank." This could be anything from Pat Boone's attempt at heavy metal (some of which actually isn't bad) to that song from The Poseidon Adventure.

I'm probably the least famous DJ in all of history, but I like doing it.

Anyway, I do hope the music doesn't annoy anyone who happens to stop by. I just put it there to test out the embedding process for a Myspace page I'm working on for the show. Apparently, Myspace doesn't allow such embedding, though, making me wonder just what the hell it IS useful for.

Now it turns out that I like having the music here, so it's staying.

Thanks!

Ah, Fame...Nice Work if You Can Get It

Emailed to me this day, March 18, 2007....

Noah knows the real Madness in New Orleans isn't basketball

Published March 18, 2007 NEW ORLEANS -- As he and his team toured the Lower Ninth Ward here this past week, Joakim Noah was sad and mad at the same time. He saw the perpetual poverty and the enduring hopelessness left by Hurricane Katrina. He saw an inner city where crime has gone up and power lines are still down. He heard stories of people trapped in their houses as floodwaters rose to the roofs. And he saw the rotted remnants of those same houses, now abandoned and marked with 'Xs' by the national guard -- a deathly code for how many corpses were found inside.

"It was an experience I'll never forget," says Noah, the star and social conscience of a University of Florida basketball team that will take on Purdue today in the second round of the NCAA Midwest Region at New Orleans Arena. "It's been a year-and-a-half since Katrina, but in some areas, it looks like the hurricane hit just last week."

He shakes his head. "It makes you wonder, 'Do we really care?' " T

his is what I love about Joakim Noah: He's not just a student of the game; he's a student of the world. He's doesn't spout cliches; he talks issues. With his 1960s ponytail and anti-establishment mentality, Noah is a flower child a half-century too late. If he weren't a famous college basketball player, he'd probably be carrying a protest sign: "More trees, less Bush!" "

One of the most beautiful things about this country is that you get to speak your mind," Noah says. "Sometimes, I think people forget that."

Noah might not be the best player in college basketball, but he's certainly the most interesting. You can agree or disagree with his political viewpoint, but at least he has a political viewpoint. Half of the college basketball players today couldn't tell you who the vice president is; Noah likely can name President Bush's entire cabinet and then tell you why they are all so wrong about the war in Iraq.

After Florida won the national championship last season, Noah nearly refused to make the ceremonial visit to the White House to meet President Bush. Only after UF Coach Billy Donovan had a conference with his star player did Noah finally acquiesce. However, he did not wear a tie to the White House and left his shirt untucked -- perhaps a silent protest to Bush's politics.

"I didn't want to go because I don't agree with the president's views and what he stands for," says Noah, who has dual citizenship in the United States and France. "But after talking with Coach Donovan, I didn't want to put that negative publicity on the team."

Donovan and Noah are polar political opposites. Donovan is a conservative Republican, Noah a liberal Democrat. Donovan is a devout Catholic; Noah doesn't adhere to organized religion.

There have been times past when Noah has engaged Donovan in political debates. He even tried to get Donovan to go see Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore's politically charged anti-Bush documentary.

"Jo is just an advocate for peace," Donovan says. "With all that's going on in the world, he's always looking at how events affect people's lives. On the day Katrina hit New Orleans, I saw Jo, and the first thing he said to me was, 'We have to do something to help those people.' "

Why is it then that Noah is reviled instead of revered? He's been cursed by the coach at Vanderbilt. The Georgia pep band mocked him with chants of "Ugly." LSU fans chided him by calling him "Caveman."

We say we want our athletes to play with passion. How much more passionate can you get than Noah pounding his chest and pumping his fist?

We say we want our athletes to play for the love of the game. Noah turned down a chance to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft just so he could stay in school for another year.

We say we want our athletes to have color and charisma and joy and jubilation. Noah danced on national TV after the Gators won the SEC Tournament and blew kisses to UCLA's cheerleaders when he tumbled into them during the national championship game last year.

We say we want our athletes to be more than just dumb jocks whose view of the world stretches no further than the 3-point line. Noah once gathered his teammates together to see City of God -- a subtitled foreign film about the horrors of living in the slums of South America.

"We play basketball," Noah says. "There are a lot of things more important than what we do."

Like New Orleans, a great American city turning into America's greatest shame.

"The suffering that's still here is something everybody in the world should know about," Noah says. "It's really sad the way this was dealt with."

Let's hear it for this not-so-average Jo, one of those preciously rare athletes who's more interested in taking a stand than making a buck.

Mike Bianchi can be reached at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com.

I'm floundering a bit here.

I don't know this Mike Bianchi person, nor do I know a thing about this Joakim Noah beyond the fact that he plays college basketball. I don't follow basketball. I don't even like basketball. It's marginally better than hockey, and makes NASCAR look like a loose organization of beer-swilling rednecks. Er...yeah, that works. Beer-swilling rednecks.

Nevertheless, a few points....

1. "It makes you wonder, 'Do we really care?' " This is what I love about Joakim Noah: He's not just a student of the game; he's a student of the world. He's doesn't spout cliches; he talks issues. With his 1960s ponytail and anti-establishment mentality, Noah is a flower child a half-century too late. If he weren't a famous college basketball player, he'd probably be carrying a protest sign: "More trees, less Bush!"

Here we see a rare example of a Double Cliche! Can you spot the second one?

2. "The suffering that's still here is something everybody in the world should know about," Noah says. "It's really sad the way this was dealt with."

Jo, we know. We're reminded each and every time a tornado wipes out a trailer park, a foot of snow falls in the Northeast (or, occasionally, Colorado, but only because it messes up the flight schedules of Northeasterners), or someone is forced to sit on an airplane that isn't going anywhere (again, only if it impacts the Northeast). In short, we're reminded every time the news media wants to pat itself on the back for being the social watchdog it claims we need and when said media want to blame natural disasters on a Republican White House. Particularly THIS Republican White House. 

3. Noah might not be the best player in college basketball, but he's certainly the most interesting. You can agree or disagree with his political viewpoint, but at least he has a political viewpoint. Half of the college basketball players today couldn't tell you who the vice president is; Noah likely can name President Bush's entire cabinet and then tell you why they are all so wrong about the war in Iraq.

After Florida won the national championship last season, Noah nearly refused to make the ceremonial visit to the White House to meet President Bush. Only after UF Coach Billy Donovan had a conference with his star player did Noah finally acquiesce. However, he did not wear a tie to the White House and left his shirt untucked -- perhaps a silent protest to Bush's politics.

What a guy!

4. There have been times past when Noah has engaged Donovan in political debates. He even tried to get Donovan to go see Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore's politically charged anti-Bush documentary.

See #3 above.

5. "We play basketball," Noah says. "There are a lot of things more important than what we do."

See #3 and #4 above.

Mike the Columnist asks, "(w)hy is it then that Noah is reviled instead of revered? He's been cursed by the coach at Vanderbilt. The Georgia pep band mocked him with chants of "Ugly." LSU fans chided him by calling him "Caveman."

I don't know, Mike. Might it have something to do with the trash-talking that normally takes place at athletic events? I once sat in the right field bleachers at Wrigley Field and heard Cub fans shout things to then-Mets right fielder Jeromy Burnitz that even I had never thought of. And I once considered myself an artisan of contemptible vulgarity (marriage has mellowed me).

There's no definite indication here, but is it somehow being suggested that all of these rude people just have it in for Jo's politics? I thought they didn't know anything about politics, Mike, and that's why this guy stands out. Which is it?

But here's the real meat of it, as far as I'm concerned...

We say we want our athletes to be more than just dumb jocks whose view of the world stretches no further than the 3-point line. Noah once gathered his teammates together to see City of God -- a subtitled foreign film about the horrors of living in the slums of South America.

To answer Mike's point about "dumb jocks" strictly on my own behalf - they can't come stupid enough for me. The dumber, the better. I'd like athletes to be so dumb, in fact, that their vocabulary consists of little more than multi-tonal grunts. It's not that I don't like jocks. I just don't watch them hoping for displays of superhuman intelligence or social awareness. I do not seek their advice on matters of public opinion or world affairs. Nor do I expect, or want, them to seek mine. Same with actors. In fact, I'd be willing to ditch talkies if it means I won't have to hear yet another Bush snipe - all of which are really getting cliche, to drop a term.

Actually, given the overall quality of Hollywood's product these days, I'm willing to ditch talkies regardless.

But I don't live in a dreamworld. I know that even reverting to silent films won't silence the microphoned mouths of all the famous people out there who are too stupid to see Bush's real shortcomings, and way YONDER too stupid to understand that some of us know exactly what the word "redeployment" means. And I know that once in a while idealistic actors and sports stars, who are filthy rich or know they soon will be, feel a need to remind those of us who aren't rich and work thankless jobs that aren't really very much fun, that the world isn't perfect.

Nope. No dreamworld for me. That's why I have no doubt that when Joakim Noah starts making millions in the NBA, every last cent of his income will go toward the rebuilding of New Orleans.