Michael Braun's Blog

For some time now, I’ve had a bit of a problem. I’ll think of an inflammatory thing to do, plan it quickly, carry it out, and then wait for the consequences. When those consequences come (even those I’ve desired), I’ll start to feel guilty. Why did I cause all this trouble?, I think. This happened shortly after I wrote the post “Numbers Don’t Lie”, which included what I dubbed the “5 magic words”. I predicted that these words would cause the number of hits on my blog to rise. They did, quite dramatically.

Figure 1: Blog views per day. The day that I posted “Numbers Don’t Lie”, I had my most hit-tastic day ever. After that, hits stayed relatively high, including someone going through a lot of posts on 7/30. It’s only been this week that things have gone back to normal.

Figure 2: Blog views per week. This graph is more explicit in how “Numbers Don’t Lie” changed my hits.

So now the only question is, should I do it again? My experiment worked; I increased page views dramatically. But I also encountered some heat, including people calling me things like bitter (I ask you, bitter? About what?). And it could come across as some sort of attack on said company, which is not true. It’s merely an exploitation of paranoia. It’s like in high school, when Zach had a headache, and we teased him about a brain tumor until it seemed like he actually believed it himself. Is that malicious? I’ll let you decide.

In the end, I would like to see what would happen if I used the words in a certain context. What if I wrote, “This post has NOTHING to do with” and then wrote the magic words. Would web-crawling company shills still click the link, hoping they will get to feel indignant about words on the web? It’s possible, but might not happen.

Don’t expect the words to never appear again, but at the same time, a little bit of power can be a scary, scary thing.

Okay, it is absolutely propaganda. But this is one nicely done video.

On Friday, August 8, Russian troops entered the country of Georgia to secure disputed regions South Ossetia and Abkhazia. For years, says the New York Times, Russia has been alleging that Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was planning to take these regions. For several days, Russian tanks rolled through Georgia while planes battered the ground with bombing runs. Finally, a ceasefire was struck and Russian troops appear on their way out.

In the wake of battle, Georgia has accepted tough penalties for their surrender. Russian troops will be given free-reign in the disputed, pro-Russian provinces, while Georgian troops must return to their bases. While this may lead to peace, it is a bitter pill for the democratic nation to swallow. In part, it seems that their pro-West stance on governance (and against Russia dominance) made them an obvious target for Russia’s increasing aggression towards their neighbors (and the rest of the world).

But will this war change anything about how the world deals with Russia? Russia holds great sway in the United Nations, as well as occupying a lot of physical space. So while their country is weak, with a small, under-equipped military (when compared to the US and other Western powers), it is a country that the US cannot engage militarily. Furthermore, the US needs Russia’s cooperation on a wide variety of matters from space exploration to fighting terrorism to negotiating with stubborn countries like North Korea. Georgia’s president says that the West failed Georgia because it failed to intervene (militarily) during the conflict, but clearly it’s a little more complicated than that.

Can the West have it both ways? Can we stand up for all pro-Western governments while still protecting (increasingly fragile) alliances? Or are we doomed to have to make a tough decision about our future relationship with Russia? Unlike China’s rise to power (by peaceful means, most recently evidenced by the Olympics), Russia is trying to establish its power through its only proven method to success – killing people. I’m not sure the answer to these questions, but I must say, let’s hope Obama wins in November, or we’re likely to continue to make no progress with this increasingly hostile nation.

Much has been made of the musical influence between the Beatles and the Beach Boys. The Beatles released “Rubber Soul” in 1965. It was a big hit and marked the Beatles move from a popular music group to popular artists. The album is tight, with songs focusing on rather negative portrayals of romantic love. That theme is nothing new in music, but to have an entire album around it, with each song a gem alone and as a group made the album a breakthrough for the art form itself.

And the album was a major influence on the Beach Boys. For Brian Wilson, it was an album unlike anything he had heard before. As the Beach Boys began working on their next album, “Pet Sounds”, “Rubber Soul”‘s expansion of the art form served as a template. When “Pet Sounds” came out in 1966, it was a big hit. It has lived on through the ages and was ranked by Rolling Stone magazine as the 2nd best album of all time.

The album also had a huge effect on the Beatles, working on their follow-up to “Revolver”. The two bands were spurring each other on to record better and better music. “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” came out in 1967. Rolling Stone has ranked it as the best album of all time. With the album, the Beatles took the art form one step farther. “Sgt. Pepper’s” is a true concept album, played by a fictional band and beginning and ending with tracks introducing and closing the album.

While the Beatles were spending 129 days working on “Sgt. Pepper’s”, Brian Wilson was busy working on the next Beach Boys album as well, to be called “Smile”. He too was aiming to take the album further in its development. Unfortunately, the project was be abandoned. When “Sgt. Pepper’s” came out, it had a great effect on Wilson; he had a nervous breakdown and “Smile” was laid aside.

With that background, we can now get to the “What If?” of the post. What if Brian Wilson had completed the ambitious “Smile” project in 1967 and released it after “Sgt. Pepper’s”? We can look into this question because Brian Wilson did complete “Smile”… in 2004. I picked up the album in 2005 and have listened to it quite a bit since then. There are 2 areas in which the album would have had an impact, had it been released in 1967.

1. Song Conception Per Album.
While the Beatles are the best and most influential band of all time, their expansion of the album artform reached its peak with “Sgt. Pepper’s”. After that, they continued to focus on writing individual tracks, fitting them together sonically and thematically, and putting them on an album. Their ventures into alternative song forms occurs only a few times, most notably at the end of “Abbey Road”, where the last 8 tracks combine together in a pop symphony of sorts.

But, Brian Wilson sought to do more with the album. His vision called for multiple small melodies to be combined to create songs. But these melodies would also serve like classical music themes, weaving themselves in and out of multiple songs. He brings this technique to full power on the song “Good Vibrations”, which is a collection of sonic snippets (reported to be over 30 minutes in length total) combined together to form a 3 minute track. This was the aesthetic he sought for “Smile”. The final product works beautifully. We hear melodies fade out and come back, across multiple tracks, while each track still holds its own.

What if the Beatles had been as influenced by “Smile” as they were by “Pet Sounds”? It’s possible that they would have collapsed. After all, the Beatles were not exceptional musicians and none of them could read scored music. But more than likely, the Beatles would have been inspired to create something like the end of “Abbey Road” perhaps for an entire album. Rather than releasing the tepid “Magical Mystery Tour” (a cobbled together double EP for release in the US as an album) and the fractured White Album (which I love), they might have produced another tight, well-conceived masterpiece.

2. Americana in Pop Music.
Both the Beatles and Brian Wilson were avid users of LSD. And this seems to affect their writing in an interesting way – both bands look extensively to their own environment as source material for their songs. The Beatles choose to write about ordinary things in strange, unusual ways (most characterized by the song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”); Brian Wilson embraced Americana.

In “Smile” many of the songs focus on farming (“Barnyard”, “Vega-Tales”). He’s not busy in train stations with “plasticine porters”; he’s jumping into a pigpen, watching chickens lay eggs. Similarly, he embraced American history/legend, like the landing at Plymouth Rock, quite literally (“Roll Plymouth Rock” and “On A Holiday”). And Brian Wilson also adapts all the songs to the Beach Boys original aesthetic – surfing and the beach. “On A Holiday” mentions a ukulele lady, Waikiki, and a blue Hawaiian. 3 tracks later, it all ties together, with the song “In Blue Hawaii”.

This embrace of Americana was lost to pop music, only revived by some Indie artists today (specifically Sufjan Stevens, who I find almost insufferable). Had “Smile” come out in 1967, we might have seen an entirely different picture of America in pop music. Rather than focusing on the dark sides (as Bob Dylan did), American pop music might have reached to the roots of America to produce music of change, rather than attempting to show the darkest parts. That’s a lot to say for one album, but the Beach Boys were an exceptionally influential group at the time.

Overall, I’m just pleased that the album did come out. It shows Brian Wilson is a masterful artist. And it reaffirms the power of the Beach Boys. “Pet Sounds” is one of my favorite albums of all time, and I’ve loved the Beach Boys since I was a kid. If “Smile” had come out right after “Pet Sounds”, the Beach Boys might be ranked right with the Beatles as one of the most influential bands of all time.

Somehow the start of school has snuck on me. When I looked at all the time I had off before school started (2 whole months), and then felt the slow, slow pace of that first week, I thought the time would last forever. But the weeks started getting faster and faster, and now there’s just three weeks before the fall semester starts! Before you know it, I’ll be a real graduate student, living on a pittance and loving every minute of it!

I made it back safely from Mishicot on Sunday. Saturday, I decided not to go up to Shanty Days, mostly because neither Zach nor Levi would be attending. That meant the chances of running into someone with whom I could have more than a 10 minute conversation was unlikely. And that meant I would end up walking around for a couple of hours before finally deciding to head back south.

Changing topics again, the Olympics have started! I’ve already gotten in some good viewing last night and briefly this afternoon, in both cases seeing the US pull off great wins! First, the 4×100 meter Individual Medley race, where the US narrowly squeaked out a win over the much-favored French. Second, the US Women’s Water Polo team winning in a preliminary match against China. I must say, seeing China get so close to winning made me feel much more of a nationalist. I almost considered voting for John McCain, but then realized I was having a nightmare.

Amos was in town yesterday as well. Lauren and I met him down on the terrace around 4 PM. We chatted and talked for a while before grabbing some pizza at Ian’s, meeting up with Mark, and then later Amos’ friend Justin. Finally, Amos, Justin, Lauren, and I walked back to Amos’ car, where we bid him farewell. He’s back up to the Wausau area to work for the campaign of his friend Nate. It was nice to see Amos; it had been around 7 months! Inconceivable!

Something more substantial tomorrow, I promise. Until then, tune into your local NBC affiliate and root for your countrymen and -women.

I called up Mr. Jeff Buczek (my high school math teacher) last week, to see if he wanted to get together for lunch while I was going to be in town. He was out of town when I called (in the Philippines!), but returned my call yesterday. So today, I drove up to Green Bay to meet him for lunch. It’s always funny to get together with someone who you haven’t seen in a number of years. The last time I saw Mr. Buczek, I was still in college. So updating him on my life was like, “Right, so I graduated from college with a degree in English, then worked for a software company for a couple of years, and then quit and will be starting grad. school in the fall.” There’s really too much there to actually go over the full details.

As for him, for those of you who also had him as a teacher, not much is different. He’s got both his kids in college now, with his son just starting. Already an empty-nester! But other than that, he’s still teaching math at Algoma.

While eating, we shared some pictures from our recent trips. I got to see lots of pictures from the Philippines and he from Rome and Paris. That was fun, though our waitress seemed quite determined to get us out of the table. Despite her best efforts, we sat for a couple of hours before his family looped back through to pick him up (they were doing their school shopping).

Aside from visiting with old teachers, this trip up to visit my dad has been largely uneventful. I have had a chance to go through a lot of my things. Yesterday, I took 4 garbage bags, 2 paper bags, and 1 box of stuff off to St. Vincent de Paul. Some of it was actual good stuff (good clothes, some nice stuffed animals). Some of it wasn’t so good, but I sent it off anyway. I have certainly managed to accumulate a lot of possessions and now am pleased to have jettisoned a good many of them.

Tomorrow, it will be off to Shanty Days (most likely; still haven’t heard if Zach is coming or not) for a little while, anyway. Then Sunday, back down to Madison, with a dresser and four boxes of books. They’ll have to sit in their boxes for a while. Lauren and I are out of shelf space.

Here’s something strange, the Media thinks, we’ve been reported how great Obama is for the last few months. We’ve called his campaign different. We’ve fawned over him in Europe. We’ve talked about unification of America, a candidate who transcends race, and covered Obama much more than McCain. In an effort to be impartial, we’ve also confused Obama with Osama, insinuated that Obama is actually a Muslim, and described actions with his wife (including a “fist bump”) as having to do with terrorism.

So with all this positive coverage of Obama, why isn’t he out 20-30 points in the polls? He should be zooming away with this election. Most Republicans should be lining up to vote for Obama. After all, haven’t we been covering his campaign heavily? How could it be that most polls show Obama with a 10 point lead or less?

This subject will be the focus of our next great story push. In terms of investing in a narrative, we’ve done a lot with Obama already. But since that narrative hasn’t really panned out (“Obama will unite America, make all problems disappear), we need a new one. How about, “Americans find something wrong with Obama, because he hasn’t united America and made all problems disappear”? Sounds like a winner! Run with it, journalists, go!

Don’t try telling us that the election hasn’t even happened yet. Don’t remind us that the conventions are still weeks away and that neither candidate has even picked a running mate! Those things don’t matter. In this day and age of 24/7 news coverage, we need stories to tell. And rather than watching how some organizations can make good news stories by using facts, how about you give us a “person-on-the-street” quote about how you are disappointed in Obama. Or maybe something about how you are switching from Obama to McCain?

In fact, what about that guy McCain? I seem to recall that we used to love him. Maybe there was a book written about that… something called “Free Ride: John McCain and the Media“? Maybe we should get back to that! Here’s a story idea: “McCain will unite America, make all problems disappear.” Perfect!

Run with it, journalists, go!

Today, I am heading up to Mishicot to visit my dad. The trip will culminate with Shanty Days celebration in Algoma on Saturday (and possibly Friday). I’ll be coming back to Madison on Sunday. I’m not sure if I’ll have access to the internet. I think the Manitowoc Public Library offers free wireless, but I was unable to confirm this.

In other news, have you taken a look at the new Facebook redesign? First, kudos to them for doing something different. They’ve made good use of the full browser window. Second, shame on them for adjusting the area where text starts as you switch from page to page. That looks awful and unprofessional. Like if you used different tabbing on your resume or something. And shame on them for changing what the “Wall” is – it used to be something relatively novel, but now is just an amalgamation of the “news feeds” and what used to be the Wall. WHY? I’ll write more about it later.

I’ve often both scoffed at claims of elitism when levied against others, as well as defended myself against the same charges. I’ve even called other people elitist for criticizing certain forms of entertainment as trash, while they lauded others (that seemed to have equal merit, or lack thereof). And, as a liberal and a Democrat, I’ve heard claims of elitism levied against my political belief system and my party. I’ve also levied those same complaints against Republicans.

Throughout all this claiming of or defending against elitism, I’m not sure I ever had a specific concrete bit of evidence that I could use to state what elitism is. But I was just reading the August issue of Bon Appétit and came across a quote from a chef (Peter Hoffman) they were interviewing.

Q: If someone says to you “I don’t shop at farmers’ markets because they’re too expensive,” how do you respond?
A: Get with it. That is the real cost of food. Vote with your fork and your belly, and support the opportunity to buy directly from farmers and eat better food by buying from them.

Suddenly, it struck me; this was absolute elitism! So, based on this quote, here’s my definition of elitism: the act of disregarding ideas, statements, perceptions, or creations, while ignoring a central truth associated with such. I reserve the right to revise the definition at any time.

Based on this definition, the fact that Barack Obama is not very good at bowling does not make him an elitist. The fact that McCain’s economic advisor Phil Gramm called the nation a “bunch of whiners” does make him an elitist. That Obama said that certain people, in times of uncertainty, cling to guns and religion, actually makes him the opposite of an elitist. He is openly embracing a central truth, while others choose to ignore it (that people are scared, et cetera).

In terms of food, my aunt related an anecdote she recalled from George Bush I reelection campaign in 1992. He was in a grocery store and was asked how much a loaf of bread cost. His guess (and it truly was a guess): $3. When he got to the register to purchase some food, he had no money in his wallet. To put it mildly, the guy was out of touch.

It’s the same for McCain. Barack Obama got his schooling through hardwork and loans. McCain went to college at the United States Naval Academy, where you can only get in with a letter from a US Senator. He also graduated in the bottom five in his class (that’s people, not percent). So how is it possible that Obama’s high intelligence makes him an elitist? If anything, being smarter makes you less likely to be an elitist, if you keep yourself well-informed and in touch.

Anyway, long story short, I think it’s ludicrous to call Barack Obama an elitist, unless there is concrete proof that he really is out of touch, ignoring important issues, and generally not representing the people. If it’s simply the fact that he’s a US Senator, then it can’t possibly that he’s any more elitist than McCain, rendering the whole argument moot.

Obama 2008!

In an attempt to do something different, but not very different, Lauren and I drove over to the east side today, to go to East Towne Mall. Neither of us really knew what to expect. The last time I was over at East Towne was sometime freshman year, when the two malls seemed equidistant. I have very little recollection of what I might have seen there. Lauren couldn’t even recall the last time she had been there.

Before I continue with the story, I have to discuss how I feel about the east side of Madison. A lot of people I know (indeed, friends!) wax nostalgic about the east side. After all, it’s got bars, clubs, coffee houses, and the like, all interspersed with well-established neighborhoods. It’s the city part of the city of Madison. I, on the other hand, don’t find anything appealing about the east side. It’s dirty and crowded. A lot of its buildings don’t look too good. It houses Madison’s only strip club (Visions), as well as the ever-famous Red Letter News. I avoid the east side whenever possible.

Lauren feels the same way, so we really were throwing caution to the wind by heading to East Towne. We found it just fine, driving through the city. It is, after all, right off East Washington. We parked and entered through Barnes and Noble. How nice – a Barnes attached right to the mall! But their Barnes is small, especially when compared to the west side location. We walked right through and hit the mall. It seemed pretty nice, mostly carpeted and with some good open areas filled with lots of light. We could really notice the size because the place was practically empty. Strange, we thought – it’s a Saturday, kind of hot out, and no one is here at this nice mall.

As we continued to walk, we quickly realized why the mall was empty. They have no good stores at all! Here’s a rundown of the stores Lauren and I commonly frequent on a trip to West Towne Mall: Gap, J. Crew, Banana Republic, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, the Apple Store, Dick’s Sporting Goods, H&M, and sometimes Boston Store, Express, their video game store, and Lens Crafters. Of that list, East Towne had a Dick’s, Boston Store, and Gap. We went in Gap, looked around, and left. We finished walking the mall in 25 minutes, only going into Gap.

So that’s how the other side lives… with a really lame mall. Now, I’m often reminded that it is cool to live on the east side, so that may also explain both why the mall is lame, and why there weren’t people there. But overall, I don’t want to think about it very much. It was nice to drive somewhere close by to do something a little different, but really, I would have gotten a lot more out of shopping at West Towne.

In other news, this afternoon we went swimming at the Y. It was great, though now my skin feels a little dry. Time to moisturize!

Barack Obama is a funny and personable guy. And while on the campaign trail, he commented that John McCain is trying to make people not vote for Obama by saying that Obama is different – you know, different sounding name, different look, different background – and thus not fit to be president. It’s a funny kind of statement, as you can totally see establishment folks, like McCain, trying to mount criticism of Obama based on these grounds. After all, how many flubs have we seen of newscasters calling Obama “Osama”? The Daily Show did a nice compilation a while back.

McCain’s people, and McCain himself, jumped all over these comments. Somehow, they think that Obama was injecting race into the campaign. They imply that the Obama’s mention of scare tactics based on his looks mean that Obama is saying that people are against him because his father is African. Oh, Obama, you and your subtle hints at truth.

In this case, Obama is making a joke about what ridiculous tricks Republicans will use to keep people from the polls. Bush-style campaigning still has a lot of fans among Republicans. Recall their ad in the 2004 election, posted in African American neighborhoods, urging people to vote on Wednesday, rather than Tuesday? And McCain is accusing Obama of injecting race into campaigning?

So what is McCain really upset about? He’s upset at his own allegation that he is a racist. That’s right: John McCain’s comments on Obama invent a racial comment, thus if McCain is doing what McCain alleges, he would be racist. So McCain is actually mad at himself. And people say McCain is losing his wit!

Obama 2008!