Writers Interviewed. The Tallahatchee Button Fetish.

Interviews with two writers, I’ve mentioned recently here – Dorianne Laux and Charles Baxter – are available at Eastern Washington’s literary mag, Willow Springs:

http://willowsprings.ewu.edu/interviews.php

Other Banjo-respected writers interviewed there are Rick Bass, Aimee Bender, Stuart Dybek, Yusef Komunyakaa, and Gerald Stern. Each of them has wowed me at least a couple of times, though for truth in advertising, I should mention that I haven’t yet read these interviews.

Speaking of celebrities (outside the poetry world, where appearance should be irrelevant), why have male celebs developed the custom of buttoning their jackets when they stand, unbuttoning when they sit?

I caught a moment of the nuclear arms summit on TV this morning, and as President Obama rose for a moment of silence honoring Poland’s tragedy, he buttoned his jacket. So did his female counterpart from Argentina.

How many times have I puzzled over this as I watched Letterman or Leno and their guests?

What is so outrageous about an unbuttoned jacket on a standing man or a buttoned jacket on a sitting man? (Well, the latter might be an issue of tightness and popped buttons, an epic embarrassment, to be sure). Aren’t there enough dumb behaviors out there without this button fetish?

I’ve lost plenty of sleep over this, and my patience is wearing thin. Everything has a reason. A universe without reasons is a piss-poor universe, and I want some answers. I don’t want obscene wealth, just some minor league info—nothing that would shock or depress me, please, just some crumbs on quirky subjects like this. If you have nothing to offer, why are you using my oxygen?

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GM HEADQUARTERS AND THE DETROIT RIVER

CITIES AND THEIR TEAMS, revisited

Pic to the left: "Urban Scene"

Here are some random Sunday thoughts, some drifting clouds. Am I the only one who thinks about such things? The city and sports items come from the first Banjo52 post, back in March. I continue to think of those subjects as both fluff and heft, mind candy and soul meat.

Hey, those last metaphors are pretty good, don’t you think? Are they actually mine? As far as I know, they are . . . .

Let's say you can afford a long October weekend in only one of the following cities: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh. Which do you choose and why?

Consider sports as tribalism, or even nationhood. How many of the players have anything in common with you? How many—and who?—would you keep in your tribe? How many of the fans? And in case I need to say it: Why?

Do you care if a pro sports team somehow captures the character of its city? Or is winning the only realistic, reasonable concern? For example, should it be ordained that no matter how good their quarterbacks and receivers are, the Steelers shall be known for linebackers and tough running between the offensive tackles, while it's okay for the Cardinals, Seahawks, or 49ers to be passing teams—flashy and dramatic, frilly and inconsistent? They might as well wear pink.

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