Cynics Unlimited

“Brazil will win it all”

With that safe, middle-of-the-road prediction, this near-neophyte soccer fan put down his $15 in the department World Cup betting pool. Halfway through the quarter-finals, Brazil still looks safe for a spot in the final game; however my second place pick, Argentina, is out of the running, thanks to a solid performance by Germany in the quarter final match. In a World Cup full of disappointing performances (England has yet to seriously rout any team; Portugal’s ugly victory over the Netherlands was unconvincing; Italy’s victory over Australia was undeserved; Sweden battled Trinidad & Tobago to a draw), Germany has been surprisingly stable.

Toronto soccer fans have taken notice. At the beginning of the tournament, the city was awash in flags from Italy, Portugal, Brazil, England and Trinidad – barely a Deutschland to be seen anywhere. After Germany’s shootout victory over Argentina, the nation’s tri-color flag can be found on Volkswagens everywhere. Most people probably didn’t even know there were that many Germans in Toronto.

In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been so quick to discount the host nation as a potential tournament winner: while certainly not the “best” team in the tournament, Germany is still a strong team and has the all-important home field advantage. Germany also boasts the youngest team in the tournament, which could be advantageous as the later stages of the tournament fatigue older players.

German Fans Celebrate a Dramatic Victory over Argentina (source)

Given Italy’s poor performance on the field and my poor performance in the pool, here is a new set of predictions for the remaining world cup games:

Remaining Quarter Finals:

• England beats Portugal by 1. The aftermath is very ugly - angry Portuguese fans cause violence both in Portugal and in Toronto.
• Brazil beats France by 2. This match is exciting with a lot of near-goals but ultimately the French don’t measure up

Semi-Finals:

• Germany defeats Italy by 2 points, maintaining possession of the ball for > 60% of the game. Overall it’s a boring game and not even bad refereeing can save the Italians
• Brazil beats England by 1. Not sure how this game will pan out, but Brazil seems destined to reach the final.

Final Game:

• Germany beats Brazil by 1, probably via overtime or shootouts. Normally this wouldn’t happen, but home field advantage propels the locals to a heroic victory
• Mindful of the historic consequences imposed by flag-waving Germans in large groups, the freshly humiliated and painfully conspicuous Brazilian team vacates the field in great haste, along with any other foreigners who stuck around to sample the delights of Deutschland.

Naturally, I won’t be wagering a dime on any of these predictions.

In perhaps cinematic the upset of the year, Race-relations movie Crash won the Oscar for best picture at the 78th academy awards. Ang Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain” was the favorite to win for best picture and had been nominated heavily in every award show up to and including the Oscars.

This is a pat on the back for Canadians, as Crash was written by London native Paul Haggis. While Canadian actors have generally been acknowledged for their contributions to the movie world, Canadians are not as celebrated for their efforts behind the camera. Hopefully this serves as a wakeup call to both the Canadian Government (who has cut quite of bit of funding for Canadian moviemakers and TV producers over the past few years) and the Canadian public (who has consistently failed to support Canadian productions, thus leading to the need for government funding in the first place).

Still, I sense a bit of cowardice on the part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for not giving the award to the gay cowboy epic Brokeback. No doubt Hollywood, already under fire from various media pundits and the general public for being “out of touch” with mainstream America, probably figures that a film about bad race relations is a little less risqué than a film showing homosexuals assuming the lifestyle of one of America’s most treasured frontier figures – the cowboy. Granted, it was not much of a decision, as mainstream America also loathes directly confronting its racial past/present; however, gay cowboys are the larger taboo so Hollywood seemingly played it safe.

Now did Crash actually deserve to win? The general consensus of movie buffs I’ve talked to and/or read is decisively no. One of the harshest responses so far has ironically come from hometown writer Dan Brown. In a column for the London Free Press he dared to criticize:

The main problem with Crash is that it’s based on an entirely unoriginal premise … repainting the same horse ridden by previous directors is not the mark of a strong storyteller … As if to prove he has a hard time coming up with his own ideas, he stole the name from David Cronenberg’s 1996 flick about sexual deviants who are turned on by car accidents. Cronenberg has condemned Haggis for the intellectual theft, and rightly so … The truth is that Crash is a perfect selection for the Academy because it’s the type of film that makes white Americans feel guilty, but not too guilty, about that country’s racial divide … You can now feel free to send in those e-mails. But just remember — you won’t be able to change my mind.

Well Dan, brace yourself …

Not long after the Grammy Awards honored the influential Sly Stone, the music world lost another pioneer and a class act. Veteran beatmaker Jay Dee, known for his solo production as well as his work with music collective The Ummah, passed away yesterday morning from liver complications at the age of 32. A founding father of legendary Detroit outfit Slum Village, “Jay Dilla” has also written music for Common, A Tribe Called Quest, Erykah Badu and Busta Rhymes.

Many of you may not have heard of Jay Dee and this is at least in part because the ultra-talented producer did not personify the typical image of a rap producer. Raised in a strict household, the Detroit native managed to avoid of the juvenile trouble that often landed his hip hop peers on the front page of the news. Instead, producing was a labor of love for Jay Dee and his work over the years earned the respect of both the hip hop underground and mainstream producers alike. His crowning achievement was arguably Slum Village’s Fantastic, Volume 2.

Released in 2000, to critical acclaim Fantastic broke from the bling-obsessed gangsterism generally associated with hip hop. Instead, the album featured a smooth, universally appealing neo-soul sound and beats that can only be described as delightfully chunky. The lyrics (provided by MC’s T3 and Baatin) were simplistic and of the party variety, but anyone who’s dabbled in music production can appreciate how Jay Dee made a +90% synthetic kit sound more soulful than most sampled rap music. To give synthesized sounds the same organic expressiveness associated with traditional instrumentation is the mark of a truly skilled composer and engineer. Subsequent producers still try to emulate his “soul clap” sound.

Unfortunately, the producer’s unyielding work ethic may have ultimately been his downfall. Jay Dee mused about his workaholic tendencies during a recent interview with URB magazine:

“What happened was that the doctor told me that I’d ruptured my kidney from being too busy and being stressed out and not eating right … Sometimes that fixation can be a good thing and sometimes it can be bad. There’d be days when I wouldn’t eat at all because I’d be in the basement working all day … This is definitely my second chance, my wakeup call. I still love the music, but I wouldn’t put it first in my life. It’s family first, and then everything else”
-Jay Dee (Interview with URB Magazine, 2004)

Being a workaholic myself, I’m familiar with the dangers of not watching one’s own health and it is a very difficult habit to drop. By giving his life, Jay Dee has made the ultimate sacrifice to his art - just like so many before him. May he rest in peace.

Recommended listening:
Slum Village – Fantastic, Volume 2
Jay Dee – Donuts
A Tribe Called Quest – The Love Movement