Realm of the Wombat

We know what a Jim Dandy is and who Jim Dandy is. But where did the term come from?

Etymology Online suggests that is could be derived from the 1840s song “Dandy Jim of Caroline,” written by Silas Sexton Steel. I’m not sure what ol’ Silas’ was known for back in the day, but google reports 5 hits for the gentleman, four of which credit his writing of “Dandy Jim of Caroline” and the other providing the lyrics to another minstrel song, “Kiss Me Quick and Go.” Of course, JD was also featured musically in LaVern Baker & The Gliders’ 1956 classic “Jim Dandy.” The Virginian Quarterly Review and this message board thread offer more commentary on the term.

How’s that for some learning?

Rule of Four follows up on the success of The DaVinci Code in the historical, academic mystery genre. Where Rule of Four differs is that the puzzle takes a back seat to character development of the four (double entendre?) Princeton senior roommates and an elder generation of Renaissance scholars all pursuing the secrets of the 15th century Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (a real book). Also, while the main storyline essentially comprises a three day period (similar to The DaVinci Code), the pace is substantially slowed by the flashbacks that provide the necessary backstory. Rule of Four was enjoyable enough to finish on a cross-country flight, but Dan Brown is still the master of the genre.

Despite putting up 663 yd offense and holding Stanford to a negative rushing total, ND made several costly mistakes and was actually losing this game with 1:46 to go. Almost all of these miscues were on special teams (basically 14 points given away), but Quinn threw two interceptions and the DBs got beat on a few deep balls. Nevertheless, when ND needed a score, the offense stormed down the field and put up 8 points to reclaim the lead, and the defense stood tough after giving up an 80 yard scoring drive on the previous series.

The Good:

The Bad:

The Ugly:

Now begins the whining by Oregon and others about how they (10-1 record) deserve to go to the BCS over ND (finish 9-2). The common argument for ND is that our fans travel well and the TV broadcast will get good ratings. While that is true, I would prefer that our team went to a big game because we deserve it, not because we’re popular. In terms of comparison to Oregon, I certainly feel that we’re worthy. ND had four games decided by 7 points or less (7 point wins at Michigan and Stanford, 3 point losses vs Mich. St. and USC) and demolished the others by an average of three touchdowns. Oregon was destroyed by USC (45-13), and squeeked by Arizona, Cal, Fresno St., and Washington St. They did take care of business against the rest of their cupcake schedule, but it’s not a convincing argument that they are a better team than ND. If Oregon wants to complain about a team that doesn’t belong in the BCS, talk to West Virginia.

One other note about Saturday’s contest: Stanford began destruction of the Stadium immediately after the game, and not a moment too soon. The only thing that separates that place from Waldwick High School’s field is the number of people it can hold.

Before I moved to California, my family didn’t make a big deal out of Thanksgiving. Most of my memories of the holiday involve falling asleep in a variety of locations in the house (bedroom, living room, dining room, etc.). And while dinner has become fancier for me on the left coast, some things never change.

Saturday brought my first experience of Charlie Weis in person. We were excited about it . . .

and after some tense moments, Charlie didn’t disappoint.

It’s pretty ridiculous, but my first exposure to Vonnegut was when he appeared on the Daily Show. Jon Stewart praised the author as one of his heroes, so when ‘Stache offered a copy of Slaughterhouse-Five, I added the book to my queue.

Why is it a classic? Of course war is absurd; not many are going to argue about that point. But what’s the solution? The wiser, omniscient Tralfamadorians have endured wars, and will again in the future. It cannot be averted. So do we continue along this absurd path? I’m no war hawk, but I recognize that fighting has been necessary, and although I pray otherwise, it will be necessary again. It’s easy to then fall into the existentialist attitude of “So it goes.”

In my head, I’m arguing in circles; that must be why it’s a classic. It certainly isn’t because it’s a pleasure to read. The protagonist isn’t likeable, the science-fiction aspect isn’t very imaginitive, and the book doesn’t provide any suggestions for dealing with the absurdity of war other than “So it goes.” I guess as a starting point for discussion and argument, it’s a classic.

Canadian indie rockers Wolf Parade have received praise from numerous sources for their debut Apologies to the Queen Mary. Pitchfork and AllMusic both cite influence by to Modest Mouse and David Bowie, the former of which I can hear pretty much throughout, the latter only vaguely on some of the later tracks. I think they’ve achieved airplay on Live105, but nothing close to the popular success as ‘Float On’ for instance. I haven’t listened particularly carefully to the lyrics, but nonetheless certain lines have stuck out (Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts). A good addition to the collection following selections from Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene.

I’ve been looking for entries into a “Best Policy Ever” contest. This one from Freakonomics will get consideration:

I was in New York City the other day and my taxi cab driver bypassed a long line of cars exiting the freeway to cut in at the last second. As usual, I enjoyed being an innocent bystander/beneficiary to this little crime. But what happened next was even more gratifying to the economist in me. A police officer was standing in the middle of the road, waving every car that cut in line over to the shoulder, where a second officer was handing out tickets like an assembly line. By my rough estimate, these two officers were giving out 30 tickets an hour at $115 a pop. At over $1,500 per officer per hour (assuming the tickets get paid), this was a fantastic money making proposition for the city. And it nails just the right people. Speeding doesn’t really hurt other people very much, except indirectly. So to my mind it makes much more sense to go directly after the mean-spirited behavior like cutting in line. This is very much in the spirit of Bratton’s “broken windows” policing philosophy. I’m not sure it cuts down the number of cheaters on the roads in any fundamental way since the probability of getting caught remains vanishly small. Still, the beauty of it is that (1) every driver that follows the rules feels a rush of glee over the rude drivers getting nailed, and (2) it is a very efficient way of taxing bad behavior.

Here’s the full post.

Yes, Syracuse is a terrible football team, but they do have a good defense. So while we were supposed to win handily, it is meaningful that the offense put up 27 points on those guys. There was a bit of a slow start, and Quinn again didn’t seem to be as crisp as usual, but I think maybe we’re getting spoiled with this team, expecting them to score on every possession. Most importantly however, we got a win for those seniors that had to endure the roller coaster O’Davieham era.

The Good:

The Bad:

The Ugly:

Next week, we welcome ND back to the Bay Area for the season finale with Stanford.

In other news, the axe is still baxe in Berkeley, St. John’s rolls in the DIII tourney (62-3 over Monmouth), and Michigan can’t ever help us out.

It really felt like Quinn was having an off day, yet he threw for nearly 300 yd and 3 TD against a defense that had only allowed 3 TD through the air in all of its previous games combined. We’re getting spoiled with this guy.

The Good:

The Bad:

The Ugly:

Here’s another win that before the season, we’d be ecstatic to get, but with all of UT’s problems, it was a game we were supposed to win. I find those games worrisome, because you know that a team ranked #3 preseason is talented, and they just might put it all together at the worst possible time for us.

Earlier this year we wanted to see Weezer play in San Francisco. The tickets sold out in less than five minutes. So when I heard that they were coming back, with Foo Fighters no less, I was thrilled to get tickets to the show.

Rivers Cuomo is not a rock star like anyone else I can think of. He’s now a thirty something balding geek who jumps very clumsily around the stage, often with his arms outstretched. It really reaffirms my faith in humanity that he can get 20,000 people excited to see him do this. Dave Grohl is the antithesis of Rivers. He screams voraciously for 90 minutes while running back and forth across the stage and even through the crowd. This is what I think of as a rock star. Watching Grohl lead the Foo Fighters, it’s really an amazing thought that he was once in the same band as Kurt Cobain. Nirvana is often touted as one of the greatest bands ever, and after seeing Foo Fighters in person, I’ll no longer ever doubt it.

Both sets covered significant territory from the bands’ careers, but Foo Fighters focused a bit more on the latest album. Weezer really got going with ‘Say It Ain’t So.’ Having the entire crowd singing along will do that. All four group members took over lead vocals for at least one song. The highlights for the Foos were an extended version of ‘Stacked Actors’ and Grohl and drummer Taylor Hawkins switching roles on ‘Cold Day in the Sun.’

Setlists after the jump.

See the setlists…

In the buildup to the ND/USC game this year, I picked up this one at Odie’s place to satiate my school spirit. I happened to be reading the chapter on the Miami game as ND prepared for this year’s contest against USC. That certainly fed my excitement about the epic clash. Maybe the comparison can be made with other coaches as well, but there seemed to be quite a few similarities between the way Holtz and Weis talk about their teams. Both are very focused on taking the season one game at a time. There is very little time to celebrate a victory, because in seven days, that victory is meaningless. Both are perfectionists; they look for flaws in the performance and seek to improve, even after blowout victories. However, the criticism is usually placed on a team as a whole and all facets of the game are evaluated with equal rigor. That said, both are quick to praise their players publicly, usually by name. In terms of strategy, they’ll beat you with what’s working. For example, Holtz had games where ND rarely threw the ball. This year, we’ve had games where we hardly ever ran. Balance is overrated if you’re winning. Anyway, it’s not the most well written book ever, but I sure got fired up for that USC game because of it.