Posted on by the coffee philosopher

Archimedes Manuscript Revealed


An ancient manuscript by the Greek mathematician Archimedes (the one who saw water spilling out of his bathtub and leaped out and ran naked through the streets, yelling eureka, having realized that he’d figured out that whole mass displacement thing) was decoded or deciphered or whatever you want to call it after years and years or work.

The original writing had been scraped off by a medieval monk who was short on paper, so the challenge was determining the writing beneath and generally putting together a jigsaw puzzle.

You can see it at the Walters Museum of Art in Baltimore.

Posted on by the coffee philosopher

Poetry Readings At Bridge Street Books


There will be poetry reading tomorrow night and another on next Thursday night at DC’s undoubted center for poetry, Bridge Street Books.

I won’t pretend to recognize the names of these poets, but I’m still going to try to make it to both readings because Bridge Street is good at bringing in innovative poets, as well as many local ones.

Posted on by the coffee philosopher

Poet Laureate at the Library of Congress Tonight


Because of work, I suspect I won’t make it, but Philip Levine is reading at the Library of Congress at 7pm tonight. The AFL-CIO has been promoting this, so I would expect a good crowd.

Posted on by the coffee philosopher

Walkable Cities


Living in a walkable neighborhood is a huge issue for me. Even when living in car obsessed cities like Los Angeles and Atlanta, I still migrated towards walkable neighborhoods with restaurants, bookstores, entertainment, and groceries all within easy strolling distance (if you’re curious, I lived in Hollywood and Midtown to accomplish those things).

I was as surprised as anyone that New Jersey turns out to be the state with the most “walkable cities,” according to this article.

I also want to bring attention to the picture they used – I am guessing it is San Francisco, but that’s not my point. There’s a Borders prominently featured in it. Kind of makes me sad.

Why Walkable Cities Aren't Always the Ones You'd Think

Posted on by the coffee philosopher · 1 Comment

Push Open The Window


Last night, a the Library of Congress, there was a reading from Push Open the Window: Contemporary Poetry from China, featuring two of the poets, Xi Chuan and Zhou Zan, as well Michael Wiegers of Copper Canyon Press, the anthology’s publisher. American poet Carolyn Forché, who read English translation Ms. Zan’s poetry on behalf of that poet.

It was a wonderful event, and apparently filmed for C-SPAN 2 and it’s BookTV programming on weekends.

I’d tell you more about the book itself, except that I have review of it coming out next month.

Posted on by the coffee philosopher

Robert Pinsky At The Folger


I’m late getting to this, but last Tuesday, former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky read at the Folger Shakespeare Library.

As Poet Laureate, he was tireless in his promotion of poetry to the American people and, to my mind, no one has performed the role better. Poet
Laureate, really, has little to with the recipient’s poetry and everything to do with how well they raise the profile of poetry and literature in this country. Pinsky passed that test, unlike so many others – [cough, cough] Merwin [cough, cough] – who did little to promote the art.

I like, but do not love his poetry, but you don’t need to love his poetry to enjoy his reading. Pinsky is also a public poet or public intellectual and his readings are also conversations about poetry, culture, and politics and how they should, could, and do relate.

He also wonderfully encapsulates a particular image of what a poet should be. A face like some character actor you know that you’ve seen and liked but just can’t remember his name or where you saw him. Slightly mismatched, but expensive looking cloths (pin striped pants from a suit; blue crew neck pull over; stylish houndstooth jacket; and burgundy shoes with blue socks).

For this reading, I bought and had autographed a copy of Gulf Music.

Posted on by the coffee philosopher

I Live In Cities That Drink A Lot Of Coffee


The 10 American cities that spend the most on coffee.

I have lived in four of them: Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Washington, and Miami.

A coincidence?

Posted on by the coffee philosopher

United Draws 2-2


Last night’s game was a little uncomfortable.

Not because I still have feelings for the DC United’s opponent, Chivas.

But because the Red & Black’s performance was not good.

They lined up with an unusual formation. Ostensibly, it was no doubt intended to be a midfield diamond with two wide players, a defensive midfielder and a trequartista at the tip of the diamond. In practice, it got a little more complicated.

On the right, youthful Honduran phenom Andy Najar played a good game. He provided some real width to the team and drew the foul that produced DC’s first goal off the ensuing set piece.

On the left, right footed Santino Quaranta played pretty narrow, staying closer to the center than to the sideline.

One of the strikers, Josh Wolff, actually played pretty deep and spent much of the game close to the trequartista, Dwayne DeRosario.

This essentially left Charlie Davies as the lone striker, which is not actually a problem. He’s got a quick first step to accelerate past defenders and can be lethal inside the box, with great ball control to dribble in tight areas.

But with, in effect, two attacking midfielders playing in the same areas, it left some gaps between the defensive midfielder – Clyde Simms – and the rest of the midfield. It also put a great deal of burden on Simms to protect the backline.

Neither Wolff nor DeRo nor Quaranta put in much defensive work (though Najar did yeoman’s work, tracking back to help the fullback and harrying opposing attackers coming down the right.

Also, when Simms or the defense won the ball, there was often too much distance between them and a player able to move the ball further forward.

Consequently, we saw a long of ball hoofed up the field towards Davies. Even that wouldn’t have been so bad if they had been balls hit with pace over the top, allowing Davies to use his speed to get behind the defenders and latch onto it. But they hit them high and slow and the shorter Davies is not going to win many headers in the open field against a big, burly defender.

When they tried to move the opposition around, rather than forming triangles in the midfield, which means that the player in possession will always have an outlet to pass the ball, they would try highlight reel cross field passes that the winger had a 50-50 chance, at best of being able to reach, win, and control.

The reason you play the formation set out is to play possession soccer. You have players in Quaranta, Najar, DeRo, and Wolff who are able to dribble the ball and pass the ball around, probing for an opening. They play defense from the front by keeping the ball away from the opposition.

But if you play long balls, then the defensive players must shoulder their burden alone. Not only that, but you a ceding a lot of possession to the opposition, who can attack and tire out your players by making them chase the ball.

It’s not surprise that first ball came from a too rare period of players holding the ball and running at the opposition rather than launching it towards the goal and hoping a teammate finds it. Najar ran at the defense and forced them to foul him, gifting DC a critical free kick.

Finally, after Chivas pulled a goal back to reach 2-1, Coach Olsen pulled off both natural strikers (though not at once), with attacking midfielder, DeRo, moved to striker.

The players he put on the field made sense: Stephen King, a central midfielder who can move up an attack, but will also hang deeper to help out the defense; and Austin de la Luz, a left footed midfielder who could provide some width on the left side.

But it should have been Quaranta and just one of the strikers taken off.

Also, it only makes sense, once again, if you are going to try to keep the ball and play for possession. Make quick, short passes to make the opposition chase you and allow you to keep the ball with little effort.

But they hadn’t been doing that all game.

So when Chivas scored to draw level, United had little in the way of options to claw ahead for a win.

Yes, we won a penalty kick, which was saved. But it wasn’t DeRosario’s fault for not burying that. He should never have been forced in that situation. If Davies were still on the field, he would surely have scored that PK. Or if we’d played like we’re supposed to, we should have been able to finish the game at 2-1.

[sigh]

Posted on by the coffee philosopher · 1 Comment

Theo Dorgan and Paula Meehan at the Folger


Greek by Theo Dorgan

The Folger Shakespeare Library kicked off its 2011-2012 poetry series last night. Naturally, I attended (I actually invested in a subscription for the season – a deal, really, if you attend more than five of the eight events, which I certainly did last season).

I had not heard of the two Irish poets reading – Paula Meehan and Theo Dorgan – but surely part of the point of these things is to learn about new (to me) poets?

Of course, there is nothing quite like good poetry being read in a true Irish accent. Both poets talked about the song tradition in Ireland and Paula Meehan, in particular, was very musical in her reading style – though both were amazing readers and Dorgan, as he got into the swing of things, was a very engaging (and openly political) personality as he read.

Naturally, I purchased a book. I went for Greek by Theo Dorgan (don’t you love how the cover alludes to those inexpensive Dover publications of classic literature?)

Meehan was a beautiful reader, with mesmerizing sing-song intonations and a great ebb and flow to her speech. Her poetry is also peppered with alliterations which, to the ear, made for Emily Dickinson-like slant rhyme effect. Her poems were also often very sexual. Not explicit, but filled with sensual language and references to sexual activity (a field being described as having been the place of first “smokes, tokes and gropes” for example).

But I went for Dorgan for several reasons.

Firstly, the way his poems grew on him. Though not as obviously an appealing reader, he had a certain fiery, political passion that slipped out, as well a certain fumbling for meaning that fitted my sensibilities better. I also like his allusions to ancient Greek and Roman literature, with references to Odysseus (though he actually used the Roman formulation, Ulysses – fitting for a post-Joycean Irishman, no?) and Cicero. Yes, I am a sucker for that kind of thing (I’m reading the Cantos, aren’t I?).

Also, I do not comprehend things orally. By which I mean, when I read, I do not ‘hear’ the words in my head. The reverse, actually. When I listen, I ‘see’ the words written in my head.

Meehan, to me, sounded very much a poet who had to be read aloud to be properly appreciated (she even writes radio plays), while Dorgan, I feel, translates better to the page.

Dorgan was unfailingly polite when signing my book and spoke with me briefly about our mutual love of Cavafy and Seferis (he even admitted to having appropriated from Seferis).

Posted on by the coffee philosopher

DC United v Chivas USA


We purchased a deal on tickets for the Wednesday DC United home game. To add a little spice/nostalgia/internal conflict/wistfulness to the whole proceedings, their competition is Chivas USA – the team I rooted for during my years in Los Angeles.

I won’t be wearing my red Chivas shirt, of course. I was a United fan long before I ever saw Los Angeles and I’m a Washingtonian now.

But one can’t help but feel a little torn, especially since each team is clinging to thin playoff hopes and a tie won’t do it for either team. I have to hope for a crushing victory by United (which they got some nine days ago, when they hammered the Goats 3-0 in California).

Go DC!