Is the NBA becoming the NBE?

The National Basketball Entertainment league -- that's what it kind of feels like these days.

Bam Adebayo's "record-setting" 83-point game the other night is just one more example of a league that is increasingly criticized for spectacle and flash over substance and standards. Traveling seems to no longer be a rule at all, carrying the ball has replaced the dribble, "load management" is standard practice for taking a night or week off, hand checking by the defense is still a no-no while star players can push and shove defenders with their free hand, and the theatrical flopping by some of the biggest stars has reached a level that puts European soccer to shame. 

For basketball fans who remember earlier eras like the 90s with Jordan, Barkley, Ewing, Olajuwon, Malone and more, the 80s with Magic and Kareem battling Bird and Parrish with the Pistons playing the bad boys, and 70s with the legendary Dr. J, the current loose game and lax standards for the fundamentals of roundball just feels like a superficial, over-commercialized video game in real life. Granted, it's always the case that the older generation criticizes the younger one as "not as good as it used to be." And that may certainly be a subjective reality. Yet it's difficult to argue today's game isn't different. 

Personally, the record by Bam holds little weight with me because it seemed so contrived. A center tossing up 22 three-point shots is absurd, as is that same player going to the line for 43 foul shots. The Wizards are a team that is clearly tanking a season, so the competitive edge was lax at best. And fans can literally see Miami Coach Erik Spoelstra laughing on the sidelines toward the end, leaving a player in as his team blatantly fouls to extend the game time. While Bam is certainly a solid NBA player and even an All-Star selection, he is nowhere near the caliber of talent and impact of the legendary Kobe Bryant, whose record he supposedly just surpassed. 

So, for this NBA fan, that NBA record is certainly one with an asterisk, as are many of LeBron's longevity awards. The game is what it is, and NBA commissioner Adam Silver, as well as the players association clearly want it that way. They'll continue to make their billions, and I will still watch the game. But I am less than impressed.

The Return of the Mall Rat, Gen-Z style

The mall is not dead. In fact, it's not only not dead - the mall is back!

As a 56-year-old Generation X male, I grew up at the mall in the heyday of the mall. Even in my small town of Alton, outside St. Louis, the Alton Square Mall was a vibing place with numerous options for tweens and teens to hang out. Playing Defender at Tilt, browsing concert posters and somewhat racy items at Spencer Gifts, flipping through record/cassette/CD collections at Record Bar and Musicland, trying on endless pairs of sneakers at Foot Locker ... there was no shortage of crass commercial consumerist indulgences. It was the 80s, and honestly the classic mall film Fast Times at Ridgemont High captured the spirit quite well. 

Alas, we've all noticed, noted, and occasionally lamented the demise of the shopping mall in the twenty-first century. Countless abandoned mall properties sitting like industrial graveyards across the United States remind us of how online shopping decimated many local economies. No matter how many times properties try to rebrand and remodel, the golden age of malls has certainly passed. Yet, there are pockets of thriving mall life across the country, such as Park Meadows Mall in Lone Tree, Colorado, where I've been for the past quarter century. 

In fact, a couple years ago I pondered and pitched a few magazine pieces about Park Meadows and how "the mall is not dead." I proposed spending a weekend at the mall as a "mall writer in residence" to spotlight and capture the spirit of what has enabled Park Meadows and mall culture to continue thriving in a southeast Denver suburb. Unfortunately, I had no takers on the feature and quietly moved on to other writing projects. However, it appears I'm not the only one noticing and writing about the mall.

For Gen Z -- the obvious offspring of Generation X -- the mall is still the place to be, as A New Generation of Mall Rats Has Arrived.  According to this recent Wall Street Journal feature, there is a new group of young people living the mall rat life, but in an update for the digital age and twenty-first century, this group is filled with social media mavens and influencers who are documenting the experience:

Savera Ghorzang scrolls through her phone all the time. But when she needed an outfit for her Valentine’s Day date, the 24-year-old went to the mall.

“I don’t really like online shopping,” she said. “I’m an instant-gratification girl. I need it now.” Ghorzang held her phone in one hand and a $29 black lace top in the other as she documented her shopping trip on Instagram.

The first digitally native generation is resurrecting an old-fashioned American pastime: Shopping at the mall.

Gen Z’s retail-spending growth is outpacing all other generations, according to data firm NielsenIQ, with the generation’s global annual retail spending expected to exceed $12 trillion by 2030. The cohort also spends a greater proportion of their discretionary dollars in physical stores than older generations, according to data firm Circana.

Younger shoppers’ mall enthusiasm is a bright spot for a business that has struggled with property closures and declining foot traffic in recent years, in part because the millennial generation never warmed to hanging out at the mall in the same way Gen X had. Gen Z has helped boost a recent recovery, with demand for mall space rising again.

Scrubs reboot is a perfectly updated bit of nostalgia

Dr. Dorian and Turk are back at it in the same ol' adorable fashion, as if they ever really went away.

Scrubs was an exceptional show during its first run that debuted in the fall of 2001. In a long litany of provocative, engaging, poignant, and occasionally humorous medical dramas in the world of American sitcoms, Scrubs offered something different. It deftly balanced the poignant with the whimsical, the serious and thoughtful with the wild and wacky, as viewers experienced the first year of residency for three promising young doctors at the fictional Sacred Heart Hospital.

Like far too many network shows, it went on for a bit too long, but the first three seasons were pure storytelling magic, and the series from talented showrunner Bill Lawrence was quite innovative in its narrative arcs as well as its adept use of indie music, a quality it shared with other new shows like The O.C. and One Tree Hill. I still have a CD of the soundtrack from the first season, which introduced me to bands like The Shins. That unique quality was a key part of the show's character, and I have a feeling the music was influenced by the musical tastes of Zach Braff whose first independent film Garden State was another sweet example of the incredible indie music in 90s-2000s film and television.

I've only seen two episodes of the new show at this point, but as I watched the end of the second episode last night, I was struck by how perfectly the show has re-captured the magic. As Dr. Dorian narrates the conclusion of several storylines, including the personal and professional struggles of the young resident mirroring his initial role, the line that grabbed me was something like this:  "We try to do as much good as we can every day for one shift, and then we go home." The wise but difficult wisdom could have easily been drawn from an early episode with the blunt Dr. Cox softening just for a moment to counsel J.D.

Ben McKenzie of "The OC" fame, a Cryptocurrency expert & critic

Who knew that Ryan from The O.C. had such range?

I mean, we all remember the incredibly fun character arc of the kid from Chino who is taken in by Sandy and Kristen Cohen, and ultimately finds success in life as an architect and engineer, coming full circle in the final scene of the show. But, I'm not actually talking about Ryan. I recently learned that actor Ben McKenzie is a pretty smart dude as well, and he is also a well-known student of and critic of the world of cryptocurrency.

McKenzie became a "crypto-skeptic" back in 2021 after beginning to learn more about the strange underground currency during the pandemic, and, along with journalist Jacob Silverman, published the book Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud in 2023. McKenzie also directed (in his debut behind the camera) the documentary film "Everyone is Lying to You." A key to McKenzie's interest in and skepticism of crypto is his college degree in economics. Apparently, when he first began looking into the enigma, he thought, "If I can't understand this with an economics degree," then what exactly is this huge new financial monster?

$14,000 a month as a Crossing Guard? Well, not exactly.

Ah, the artists and the writers -- the "creatives" -- who see beauty and meaning where no one else has noticed it, and capitalize on that. They have my awe and respect.

Take for example, Christine Tyler Hill, an artist recently profiled in the Wall Street Journal:

Christine Tyler Hill was working as a designer and illustrator when she decided she needed a fresh way to connect to her city. So she took a job as a crossing guard.

Every weekday morning at 7:30, she stands at an intersection in Burlington, Vt., ensuring the safe passage of pedestrians, including children heading to a nearby school. During her 50-minute shift, she also takes in the scene, from the daily rhythms of commuters to the familiar faces to the shape of the clouds in the sky.

Those observations pay well. Very well. The 36-year-old has parlayed interest in her daily musings into a one-woman publishing empire that is bringing in about $14,000 a month.

Hill is part of a small group of creative types who have found healthy demand for analog subscription services in a world of digital screens. They create or curate packets of art prints, stickers, letters and commentary covering topics from architecture to food to their daily routines. They often use social media to find and market to fans but the real connection happens offline.

I've admired (and, yes, envied) people like Christine who have found their niche and have the inspiration, persistence, and work ethic to see their vision to fruition.

It's Casimir Pulaski Day! IYKYK

There's no school and banks and government offices are closed in the state of Illinois in honor of Casimir Pulaski Day. Celebrated on the first Monday in March, Casimir Pulaski Day is in member of the Revolutionary War hero who is also considered the father of the U.S. Cavalry. Pulaski is also one of only eight people to be awarded honorary United States citizenship.

The reason Casimir Pulaski day is celebrated in Illinois is because the city of Chicago has the largest Polish population anywhere in the world outside of Warsaw. Thus, for many years Pulaski was celebrated with festivals and parades around the city of Chicago. And in 1977, the day became a state holiday.

The 'Burbs on Peacock

I vaguely remember the movie The 'Burbs, starring Tom Hanks, when it came out in 1989, and while it was generally interesting, it's not the first thing that springs to mind when pondering a remake or update. And, yet, in the era of un-originality and knock-off marketing, here we are with a limited series on Peacock that explores the idea that even in the finely manicured world of suburban America -- or especially in that setting -- all is not well on Paradise Drive.

I've watched half of the season so far - four episodes - and while the show is reasonably engaging, I'm not overly impressed. In all honesty, from the first few minutes of the first episode, which was clever enough, my first connection wasn't the 1989 movie, but the 2004 television series Desperate Housewives, which had an impressive opening season ... but went on far too long. The Raymond Chandler-esque narrative of a seedy rotten dark side to the American Dream was quite entertaining and unique at the time. But like too many network shows, it was induced to stick around far longer than the original writer's inspiration could take it. 

If The 'Burbs is a single-limited series that exceeds the promise of its premise, I will be impressed. But if it devolves into cliche and cheaply sets itself up for syndication, I will be quite disappointed.

Reminder: School Schedules are not based on farming

It's the myth that won't go away -- American school schedules are based on an agrarian calendar from when "kids need to be out of school to work on the farm."

I've written about this myth numerous times over the years -- as have many others -- in response to education reformers who criticize summer vacation and argue that the reason many students in the United States score poorly on national exams and international tests is because they don't go to school enough. There are many problems with that opinion, not the least of which is that summer vacation and the 180-day school year did not originate from the United States being an agrarian nation. In fact, the counter is true for school -- summer vacation originated for the middle and upper class families to get out of the hot crowded cities of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago during the summer.

It was more than a decade ago that I first wrote about the myth when school reformers like Arne Duncan and Bill Gates were perpetuating the nonsense of "the agrarian calendar."

The most recent anti-summer fun entry comes from Cristina Evans, a teacher, who took to the pages of Education Week with “A Teacher’s Case Against Summer Vacation.” Like many reformers and summer vacation critics, Evans focuses specifically on the struggles of low-income and mostly urban students who tend to experience academic regression during the months off schools. This is known as the summer slide. To her credit, Evans doesn’t call for a radical end to summer vacation. Instead, she makes a rational argument for shortening it from maybe 10 weeks to six or so. And no one is arguing that we should ignore a summer slide in schools where it is evident. However, a blanket argument that summer vacation should be shorter across all schools is misguided at best. The reality is that summer vacation is embedded in our culture, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.

The case against summer vacation has been made many times, and the carefree break from school has even been called “evil” by some commentators. The reality, though, is a bit different than the “history” indicates. The biggest problem with summer vacation criticism is that the primary argument is based on myth and misinformation. It’s a myth perpetuated at the highest levels, as even Education Secretary Arne Duncan lacks knowledge of public education’s history, saying, “Our school calendar is based on the agrarian economy and not too many of our kids are working in the fields today.” This is fundamentally not true. Summer vacation is not a leftover relic of America’s agrarian past, and it is not a result of our farming history or an “agrarian calendar” that released kids in the summer to work in the fields. In fact, the opposite is more likely true, as American students in the 19th century were generally in school during the summer, but often took breaks in the spring and fall.

The history of summer vacation is not unclear to anyone willing to do a bit of research.

I also addressed the issue in a piece for the Denver Post when I responded to critics who believe American kids aren't in school enough. I also followed up with a column for The Villager.

That said, the practice of taking a break from school in the summer has stuck around because it’s actually a good idea. The benefits of summer vacation aren’t simply about increased playtime and sleeping late. Summer breaks are filled with opportunities for growth and learning that extend well beyond the confines of the classroom. Many people cherish the memories and appreciate the value of summer camps, which offer all sorts of experiences for recreation, friendship, and learning. Whether kids attend day camps or leave home to stay for a week or even a month, the independence and camaraderie of camp can be a truly special experience. Summer sports leagues provide similar benefits as young people immerse themselves in their love of the game. Summer vacation is also a time to release kids from regimented schedules, letting them explore, daydream, goof off, and simply play.

Summer employment is an additional benefit of the annual break from school, whether that’s entrepreneurship for young kids running a lemonade stand, doing yard work, or babysitting, or it’s teenagers earning real paychecks at part-time jobs from lifeguarding to retail. And, it’s not just kids who take advantage of summer jobs. Because teachers work on ten-month contracts, many of them supplement their income with summer jobs as well. Often the managers of the neighborhood pools or the directors of those summer camps are teachers.

So, here’s to summer vacation in all its glory. Let us never forget the joy and benefits of summertime. Except for those unfortunate few stuck in the worst idea of all – summer school.

Shakespeare Reimagined

Shakespeare is timeless, his plays a testament to the enduring power of storytelling. 

In his thirty-six plays, running across genres with exquisite balance through 14 comedies, 10 histories, and 11 tragedies, there are few themes, narratives, or even moments of the human experience that the Bard does not address in full. It's a truly stunning output and collection of literary expression, and more than four hundred years later, the drama lives on.

Derivative work from Shakespeare's stories and themes is another rich layer to William's influence, and this year's release of the Chloe Zhao's film version of Hamnet, from the brilliant novel by Maggie O'Farrell, is just the latest contribution to the cottage industry of reimagining Shakespeare. O'Farrell's novel published in 2021 became a true literary sensation, and justifiably so. With layers of subtext, not the least of which is the subtle connection between the name "Hamnet" and "Hamlet," the Danish prince at the center of one of his most revered plays, the story "behind the story" of the untimely, tragic death of the playwright's son was a beautiful and heart wrenching drama all by itself.

Another recent contribution to the genre comes from a Colorado author and teacher who happens to be a former colleague of mine. Joel Morris, Ph.D. from Northwestern, has written a fascinating prequel of sorts to Shakespeare's diabolical Macbeth, telling the story of a young Lady Macbeth ten years before the dawn of the play. The book All Our Yesterdays: a Novel of Lady Macbeth is a USA Today bestseller and was winner of the Colorado Book Award for historical fiction. The highly favorable reviews tout the book for its incredible imagination and deep layers of historical knowledge. As an English teacher, Morris has filled the work with many literary Easter eggs, which add to the inventive story.

Fans of the Bard and of retellings like Hamnet should certainly consider exploring the story behind Lady Macbeth.

Stop Reading Shakespeare in Schools

My unpopular, even blasphemous, opinion: High school students should not read Shakespeare plays independently or out loud while studying the plays in school.

Now, the caveat to that controversial take is my reference to "studying the plays." High school students should most certainly study Shakespeare in their English classes. Whether they do so every year or at select levels, I have no doubt that a high school education should include a comprehensive experience with Shakespeare's work, including a deep dive into at least one full play. It's the reading of the text that I am addressing. Plays are written, but they are spoken word -- they are meant to be heard and performed, not simply read.

With that in mind, I will assert that the two worst ways to teach Shakespeare are to assign the students to read entire scenes or acts at home, or to hand out books to the kids and have them read the play out loud to the class. And don't even get me started on the practice of students trying to "act out" a scene in the course of reading the play. The Bard's plays are in many ways the pinnacle of theatre, and they are meant to be performed by trained actors who have internalized the roles, the cadence, the subtext, the essence of the scenes.

Shakespeare's plays must be experienced in all their "drama," and high school students unfamiliar with and flummoxed by the original text will not be able to provide the rich experience which enables an audience to appreciate the play. That is why I generally use audio tapes from professional performances as our class follows the written text. Too often, teachers will use film versions to "teach," but doing so separates students from the text, which is the essence of what English class is about. Just watching a play leaves far too much unavailable to students -- they simply miss the point.

Now, of course, students will read parts of the text independently, and students can certainly be asked to learn a part of the play and read it aloud or even perform it in class. The soliloquies are excellent for giving students an opportunity to truly internalize, to "own," a part of the play. If we are going to truly teach Shakespeare's works, we need to get away from simply assigning the pages and setting students up to fall short in their appreciation of truly great works of literature.

I went to the wrong college

As we head into springtime, and decision day for high school seniors approaches, I've been thinking about the discussions I've had with students over the years as they receive news on acceptances, deferrals, and rejections. Of course there would be talk of dream schools and reach schools and safety schools. And I would try to emphasize the practical ideas of the "right school," ... with the caveat that "you can always transfer." Granted, that's not what any teenager wants to hear. So, I would also share with my students the story of how I got into my dream school -- the only school I ever wanted or applied to -- and how that wasn't quite the right place for me.

“I went to the wrong college.”

It was never even a doubt that I was going to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign because I’d been going to football games with my dad there for years, and my mom went there, and for a high achieving student at a small little Catholic school in southern Illinois, the U of I was pretty much the obvious choice. Just me and about 36,000 students (though it has now just passed 50K).

In reality I should have gone to a small liberal arts school where I wouldn’t have become lost amidst all the distractions. I should have gone to Wash-U in St. Louis or perhaps Northwestern or definitely Miami of Ohio, though I’m probably overestimating my brain and credentials. For, even going to a school like DePauw in Indiana, where I had a potential opportunity to keep playing soccer, would have been a really good fit for me. A small school with smaller classes and, perhaps, a better opportunity at a more cohesive sense of community might have kept me more focused on the reason we go to universities — educating ourselves. After being a straight A student my entire life, I graduated from my program in secondary education with a none-too-impressive 2.9 GPA. Yep, I went to the wrong college.

Read the rest of the story on my Medium page ...

A great Rom-Com you probably missed

When I started this blog almost twenty years ago, it was just a hodge-podge of topics I found interesting - which, to be honest, is what it has remained. One of my first posts was a quick review of a really fun movie my wife and I watched on DVD. It was a rom-com starring a 48-year-old Michelle Pfeiffer and a 37-year-old Paul Rudd, with a whimsically wacky cameo role from Tracey Ullman, as well as the big screen debut from a young adorable Saoirse Ronan. It's called I Could Never Be Your Woman, a terrible title, but relevant and apt, especially because the excellent groove from White Town is on the soundtrack.

I recently thought of the film again when it popped up in an article about great movies you've probably never seen. The movie is now available on PrimeVideo, and we watched it again last night. It definitely holds up all these years later. Here's my original review:

It seems somewhat surprising that a movie from the writer-director of both Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Clueless could go straight to DVD, but that's the case with Amy Heckerling's I Could Never Be Your Woman. Great movie, bad title, unfortunate turn of events regarding its release. The movie, which stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Paul Rudd, is a satirical romantic comedy about about a forty-something Hollywood writer/single mom falling for the twenty-something star of her hit - but fading - sitcom. As romantic-comedy it is pretty standard entertainment, but as a satire of contemporary American society via Hollywood stereotypes, it is, in a word, hilarious.

Heckerling's plot and dialogue are every bit is entertaining, realistic, perceptive, and funny as her best known movies. Pfeiffer is engaging as always, and Rudd is hysterical. The movie is also a great start for young actress Saoirse Ronan who "wowed" everyone with her Golden Globe nominated performance in Atonement. The satire of contemporary music via Ronan singing altered versions of hit pop songs is a highlight of the movie. Additionally, Tracy Ulmann is featured throughout the movie as "Mother Nature" who converses with Pfeiffer about the pitfalls of aging. It is mildly amusing criticism of the aging Baby Boom generation and its obsession with staying young.

Apparently, the film was originally scheduled for release in 2005, but was bumped repeatedly until it was shelved. Various explanations include mismanagement from its small indie producer, conflict over financing and marketing from major studios, opposition to the satire that hit too close to home in Hollywood (this one seems hard to believe), and simple unfortunate twists of fate. It's a shame that a satirical gem like this can be shelved while mindless and poorly written movies such as "My Bosses Daughter" or "What Happens in Vegas" are released and endlessly hyped. Regardless of its past, this movie is quite entertaining, and it's worth renting.