Soccer Dork Update: Gerrard is the Man

 

It was announced today that Aston Villa have signed Steven Gerrard as their new manager. He signed on a 3 1/2 year deal (since we're halfway through this season already).

I mentioned in my last SDU that the grade for firing Dean Smith was pending, but now that they've brought in his successor in Gerrard I'd say it was a slight improvement with some serious risk. Somewhere in the C/C+ range. Gerrard has yet to manage in England, and while he dominated in the Premier League during his illustrious playing career at Liverpool, it remains to be seen whether or not that will translate to being gaffer.

I'll also say that this appointment showed what Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris (the owners) were thinking: they wanted to make a big name splash and were willing to pay the 4.5 million pound release to Rangers for SG's services. It certainly looks like they have genuine European ambitions, and with Gerrard they now have a coach who's been there with his old club Rangers. He's also won the Champions League as a player. This seems like the most logical next step for both the club and the manager.

But in classic European football fashion, despite a lot of the boxes being checked, this still comes with massive risk. Critics argue that Gerrard underperformed in Europe with Rangers, and that his overall success in the Scottish Premier League doesn't equate to the much more cutthroat English Premier League. He's also a Liverpool legend, and if/when Jurgen Klopp leaves Anfield there's no doubt Gerrard will be tempted to go (if Liverpool will have him of course). He's definitely not the passionate Villa lifer that Dean Smith was - nobody should expect the same level of loyalty if a bigger club comes knocking for his services.

Ultimately this C/C+ grade could swing either way by the end of SG's term. I have high hopes that he'll lift the team in these first few weeks, and am also hopeful that the owners will give him some money for the January transfer window. If they can turn it around and end up somewhere in the mid-table mix by May then I'd say it's a successful first half season. Worst case would still be relegation, which is always the nightmare in the back of mid-level clubs' heads. I see that as less of a possibility now though, given the nature of this managerial move. If they continue to slump I wouldn't be shocked if Edens and Sawiris spent like madmen in January - not to the level that the Saudis and Newcastle will, but along similar lines.

Crazy times in Aston right now. And while I'm bummed that the Grealish/Smith era couldn't end in a Disney-like fashion, I'm excited for the next chapter and still have high expectations going forward.

UTV

-ZB James

Soccer Dork Update: The Rollercoaster in Birmingham

 

We will miss you Dean. We will never forget what you did for Villa.

Today my favorite football club Aston Villa fired their manager Dean Smith. The team has lost five matches in a row so the owners (Milwaukee Bucks owner Wes Edens and Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris) decided to pull the plug in order to shake things up. It's a bold move that will definitely come with mixed reactions from the fanbase.

For me, it came as pretty devastating news. Smith was a boyhood fan of Aston Villa - his dad worked at the stadium when Dean was young so he spent his childhood going to matches. He also orchestrated Villa's miraculous rise back to the Premier League back in 2019 when he first took over as gaffer. There was a lot to love about the connection Dean and the club had and now, on the heals of the worst stretch in his managerial career, that connection has been severed.

A major reason why I fell in love with Aston Villa was their unique position within English football. They have rich history, major trophies in their case, and - at the time - a manager and a captain that were local boys and fans of the team. It was all so cool and Hollywood - Jack Grealish was the youth academy darling who grew up in Birmingham and Dean Smith was the Midlander who was making his father proud. Fairy tale stuff.

But, alas, the business of football came knocking on the door this year and the book was shut. Grealish left to go play for Manchester City - a place where he'll be coached by the best in the game and paid top dollar. And Villa, sitting in 16th place in the EPL table, have shown Smith the door and now find themselves in a relegation battle. All that pride that swelled from the fanbase being able to boast about their gaffer and captain being "their own" is now gone. Brutal.

Ultimately this latest decision's grade is pending, as the owners have yet to name Dean's replacement. That will be the biggest tell of all in terms of what Edens and Sawiris truly want to do with this club. If they want to make it to Europe in the next five years like they say, they'll need to go and get a big-name manager with pedigree. Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Kasper Hjulmand, and Paulo Fonseca are names I've seen that could be potential upgrades. I've seen other names like Ralph Hassenhuttl, John Terry, and Graham Potter that feel less inspiring. I'd say more than half those names don't jump out as instant needle-movers. Maybe Gerrard or Lampard, but the rest are unproven in the English game (I guess Terry but he's never been a manager).

Jacky Boy in his new Man City gear...gutted

Sadly The Villans are now lumped with the rest as the rollercoaster tosses and turns. They no longer have their local dream boy and they no longer have their loyal manager. It's a bummer to see the real world/business side of things beat out the fanatic storybook side of sports, but that's the way it goes at the very top. I'd happily sacrifice Grealish and Smith if it meant Europe in a few years and perennial top half table results for the next decade plus. But nothing in this game is guaranteed - it could just as easily be relegation this year and a decade plus of stagnation. That's the horrific beauty of sports, and European football specifically - that razor thin edge between glory and oblivion.

Let's hope AV bring in a legit replacement, I'm hoping they make an announcement soon so the new gaff can get a couple weeks with the lads during international break. For now, the Villan Army waits with bated breath.

UTV.

- ZB James

Manchin is the most powerful person in Congress

With 2021 Election Day coming and going with Democrats and progressives having an underwhelming performance, the currently Democratic-led government can turn their attention back to helping the American people and the future of the planet by finishing up the reconciliation bill (Build Back Better Act).  Biden was not able to cruise into the COP26 international climate conference this week with swag, because Democratic Senator Joe Manchin single-handedly decimated the portion of Biden's bill that would've finally put the United States' money where their mouth is.  The $3.5 trillion proposal is now down to $1.75 trillion, and the central part of Biden's climate agenda, a program to quickly replace the US' coal and gas power plants with wind, solar, and nuclear energy, is now scratched by Manchin.  The Senator emphasized that the program might damage his state's economy but leaves out the economic cost of inaction on climate change for West Virginia as the state is more exposed to flood damage than any other state in the US, according to data released a few weeks ago. Manchin also profits personally from polluting industries as he owns stock valued at between $1 million and $5 million in a coal brokerage firm that he founded in 1988 and last year he made nearly half a million dollars in dividends from that stock, according to his Senate financial disclosure report.

This was a critical juncture in the battle against climate change because the United States is the second biggest polluter currently (and all time #1 biggest) and the party that, in general, wants to take action against climate change has control over both the legislative and the executive branch.  The Republicans will most likely take one or both houses of Congress back next year in the mid-terms and maybe the Democrats won't have budget reconciliation legislative power like this for another decade or even longer, nobody knows.  And scientists are urging immediate action by governments to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change.  This year's ecological crises, like the droughts, floods, wildfires, and heatwaves should prove to all of us that climate change is already here and it's only going to get far worse before it gets any better, and in order to make it better we need concrete legislation by the government to accelerate the economy's switch away from carbon-intensive sources.  But the legislation will only go as far as the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, because the Democrats have a 51-50 majority so they need every single Democratic voter to agree on something.  That "most conservative Democrat" happens to be Joe Manchin, especially when it comes to climate legislation.

Biden had to quickly come up with a Plan B: tax credits, regulation and state action.  Regulation could work but it can also be shut down by the conservative Supreme Court and would likely be rolled back by a future Republican president. State action sounds like an optional thing for each state. How does Biden persuade a red state to do something that he wants?  I'm skeptical.  While I would've preferred all of the original investments in climate mitigation, the tax credits for clean energy programs is a $300 billion bucket, and overall the legislative framework still includes $555 billion for clean energy and climate change provisions.  The beggar in me is still happy that so much is still on the table.  Not to mention all of the other great investments in the American people within the Build Back Better Act, such as $400 billion for childcare and preschools.  And there is also the separate physical infrastructure bill (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) which contains $7.5 billion to build a national network of electric vehicle chargers and $73 billion in power infrastructure and clean energy transmission.  Something is better than nothing, and these investments are all highly significant.

We need more than 51 Senators to care about climate change in order to pass the legislation we truly need, so that no one person has all the negotiating power that Manchin has had.  I think that the majority of Americans want the US to do more in the battle against climate change, but the politics almost always gets in the way.

ZB's YouTube Cavern #11: Watching Jon Again

 

Jon Stewart came back into public eye recently with a new current affairs show called The Problem with Jon Stewart. I haven't watched a full episode yet (I don't have Apple +), but have been peeping the YouTube clips and I must say it's a breath of fresh air to have the king back.

Nobody comes close to his monologue deliverability. He's hilarious and sharp without the overly condescending highbrow liberal elitist tone that basically every other anchor within the genre has these days. And I think that's mostly due to the fact that he's the OG of the format, and he's essentially untouchable (especially at this point in his career) so he can go for more deep-cut/off limits topics (like working class issues covered on this segment where an actual poor person is on the panel). Plus he has a pretty remarkable track record to back it up - he's championed the 9/11 first responders benefits extension year in and year out, and is a major advocate for war veteran's health benefits as well. He's even gone in front of Congress and made an incredibly power speech in support of the first responders. I'll never forget watching that for the first time back in 2019 - I was left speechless and in awe of the man. A fucking comedian in front of all the hacks that run this country telling them to their face "they [9/11 first responders] did their job, now do yours".

Stewart and his new show, like any form of politically charged entertainment these days, will get immediately pigeonholed on a "side" of the exhausting and misguided culture wars that America is entrenched in. If you're on the right you need to hate him, and if you're on the left you should love him (although that line is getting blurry as the Dems kowtow more and more to the technocratic and meritocratic elites). But despite where you fall within that battle, Jon's talent should at the very least be acknowledged for what it is: a powerful and seminal voice within the political comedy genre.

I admit that I'm biased here -I lean "left" on a lot of cultural and economic issue (if I must be labeled...I fucking hate the right-left spectrum racket) and I grew up watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from when I was a preteen up until his retirement from the program in 2015. Even still I think there's a specific magic that Jon brings that can really make someone think critically about issues in a way that's unlike any other form of political news coverage. Comedy for me - and Jon's comedic delivery in particular - acts as a cathartic way of internalizing what are usually depressing, infuriating, saddening, and all-together upsetting issues. He's light and witty and purposefully hacky at times, cutting and harsh at others, and insightful and serious when appropriate. And it all feels genuine (something that is lacking with most of his late night current affairs disciples).

I guess ultimately I've found Jon to be a guiding light politically, comedically, and even philosophically over the years because he shows how to balance things. His monologues sort of act as a way to go about life: Think critically, be articulate, and no matter how intense things get there is a space and time for laughter that can nourish the soul.

Anyways, I'm really glad Jon is back and look forward to keeping up with what he's covering. He is truly the GOAT.

Edit: I highly recommend checking out the companion podcast to Jon's new show as well (also called The Problem with Jon Stewart). The episode where he has a debate with Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, is particularly engaging.

- ZB James

ZB's YouTube Cavern #10: A Lovely Wormhole

The other night I had a splendid little run on YouTube that started off with a quick search for a live version of Nikki Lane's tune "Send the Sun". I found this one below and it's amazing - her voice is angelic and the backing musicians do a terrific job at accenting and complimenting her vocals. Always awesome when an artist can strip down a song and crush it.

Nikki Lane - Send the Sun - 1/25/2017 - Paste Studios, New York, NY

Naturally after that video the all-powerful YouTube algorithm had a juicy suggestion for me. And I couldn't help but click it, thus opening up the wormhole. It's an OG rendition of "In Dreams" by Sierra Ferrell from 2018. I think this is the video that went viral-ish and eventually lead to her getting signed by a label and ultimately releasing her debut album this year. She is a master of her craft - great guitar playing, thoughtful lyrics, and a voice that will send chills down your spine. She's in Holyoke, MA in November (with Bella White opening) and I will 100% be in attendance.

Sierra Ferrell, "In Dreams" // GemsOnVHS

Next up was a group that I wasn't familiar with called The Staves. It's a trio of English gals (I believe they're all sisters) and they play a live rendition of their song "In The Long Run" in the middle of a meadow. The lead singer/guitarist has a stunning voice and the backing singers come in with well-placed harmonies all throughout. And that chorus - my lord. Pure folk bliss plain and simple.

The Staves - In The Long Run

After a trip across the pond I found myself hopping back over to the backwoods of the USA watching Cat Clyde's rocker "Mama Said". The melody instantly reminded me of "Where Is My Mind?" by the Pixies and the music video itself gave me Into the Wild vibes for sure. It's a cool song structure that feels icy thin, and the song subject is heavy af. This is sort of where the tone shifted in the wormhole and I'm glad it did (stay tuned to find out why).

Cat Clyde - Mama Said (Official Video)

Last but certainly not least I stumbled upon my final epic video of the night: "Hertz" by Amyl and the Sniffers. There've been a handful of moments the last decade plus when the stars aligned and a new musical artist presented themselves to me within a cavern. There was Gorillaz back in the OG days of YouTube - I remember watching Feel Good Inc over and over and just marveling at this new website and all it had to offer. Then there were the college years when Reggie Watts and Dub FX truly blew my mind - their looping style was perfect for the medium. Then Ty Segall came later on - I'll never forget hearing "Feel" in my bed at Hathorne Crescent late one night just completely floored. And then came Amyl and the Sniffers - what a freaking hilarious yet badass hodgepodge these guys are. Lead singer Amy Taylor is mesmerizing and the bringing-it-back-the-old-school swagger they have is infectious.

Amyl and the Sniffers - Hertz

I proceeded to watch about another dozen Amyl videos, as one does once they've found that "it" factor within the wormhole lol. And while it can be a bit of a time suck I must say the YouTube suggestion bar is a great place to discover new artists and videos. I'm on a never-ending quest to find good tunes I've never heard, and a quick little cavern can really do the trick. It was a late bedtime that night, but totally worth it.

- ZB James

Reusable Packaging: What Some Publications Are Ignoring in Their Evaluations

    As the people of the world continue to realize the growing need for environmental rehabilitation and stewardship, I have seen a number of large publications evaluating the costs and benefits of reusable packaging vs single-use. I do not know whether big oil goes so far as to lobby against reusable packaging - they probably do - but from the majority of the publications I’ve seen (specific post inspiration came from this TIME article: Reusable Packaging Is the Latest Eco-Friendly Trend. But Does It Actually Make a Difference?), these evaluations are shortsightedly from an energy-use-only standpoint.

The main argument is “you would have to use a reusable product X amount of times before it would save more energy than it took to create single-use product Y”. While energy-use may be the most important factor at the moment, it is not the only concern that requires acknowledgement when assessing the costs of reusable vs single-use, especially when a large percentage of consumers and services (accidentally or not) are not properly disposing of waste.

What I have not seen many of these publications include in their assessments is the impact that single-use packaging has on wildlife, specifically marine wildlife. When you have massive swaths of single-use packaging blanketing portions of the ocean, suffocating animals, being mistaken for food, and entering their bodies (which enters ours if we consume them), the problem is bigger than just energy. To ignore that incalculably complex issue in these publications is irresponsible. *This is not to say there aren’t plenty of people and organizations out there raising awareness about the issue; just that I’m not seeing it in this conversation.*

I know not everyone cares about the suffering of marine wildlife, or even recognizes that marine life can suffer, but the problem is a symptom of a bigger environmental issue if nothing else. Habitat and biodiversity loss threaten to exponentially increase the speed at which these emissions freely enter our biosphere, pushing the world past its tipping point at even greater speeds.

The more (overwhelmingly single-use) waste that collects in our oceans, the less viable a host it becomes for marine flora, which sequester enormous amounts of Carbon. This leads to increases in overall ocean temperature and acidification, further clearing the path for greenhouse gasses to enter our biosphere and raise global temperatures beyond repair.

No matter how you slice it, there is more to consider in the “reusable vs disposable” debate than the amount of energy it takes to create or recycle the product. It concerns me to comb through these articles and see little-to-no recognition of this problem, which could easily outweigh energy-use issues once we’ve ditched fossil fuels as an energy source.

As a leading publication, I think printing any article that leads people to believe they should go on using single-use packaging is a harmful misstep when complete ecosystems, species, and the suffering of wildlife are at stake. As of right now, there is no comprehensive way to calculate the long-term impacts that plastic pollution will have on our oceans and its inhabitants, which is all the more reason why it can't be ignored.


- Moth

Lucius: The Doreen to Irene Trilogy

 A listener's perspective on Lucius' 2010s album trilogy

Throughout the 2010s there were plenty of captivating album runs from indie artists that spanned the entire decade. But one trilogy of records has truly captivated my attention: Lucius' prolific Wildewoman --> Good Grief --> NUDES trilogy where many different motifs and perspectives were touched upon (both sonically and lyrically). I recently reviewed all three of these pieces on the Album Review, and wanted to put them up on Lush and Todd. Below is the trio, hope anyone reading enjoys.

God Bless,

- ZB James