Offseason Entertainment

During the offseason, as you’ve no doubt noticed, I take (for the most part) a long break from writing about basketball. I’m not one of those guys who feels the need to watch lots of summer ball or pay loads of attention to recruiting. For a variety of reasons, I feel like any attention that I pay to either of those topics will be mostly wasted time. Instead, in the summer I like to do things that I don't have time for during basketball season, and take time to enjoy the finer things in life.

Okay, that last sentence is a half-truth. In the summer I primarily like to watch bad reality shows and drink beer outside in hot weather. Sometimes while wearing my Kevin Pittsnogle jersey and pretending that I am my hero. But some people do have an appreciation for the finer things in life, and can occasionally pound some of that appreciation into me. One of those people is my older brother, Jonathan. So keen is his handle on culture, that he’s been tapped to write a blog about the arts scene in Milwaukee for MKE Online, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s attempt to produce something hip and interesting for the young-ish set in the city. A year ago, my brother didn’t know what a "blog" was, save for the fact that he could make fun of me for having one. Now he’s writing one for a legitimate (okay, semi-legitimate) local publication. Not too shabby, I’d say.

So head on over, and check out his attempt to answer the question "Does Art Matter?" It should be entertaining (truth be told, he’s probably the more amusing of the West brothers, though I'm much, much better looking). And hey, you might even find yourself interested in something that he mentions in his weekly suggestions regarding what’s going on in the local arts scene. After all, a little art’s good for you. Just get it in during the next month and a half, because after that I’m going to need people to join me in the various arenas and dank gyms that I’ll be returning to. And I don’t want to be the only guy sitting at a UWM game in November because everyone’s out taking in a production of Hamlet...

Subconscious Design

On rare occasions, your subconscious can reveal itself to you in ways that you would have never expected. I had a moment like that last evening. While painting the living room of my new abode, my brother (whose assistance last evening was tremendously valuable) noted shortly after we began painting that the color I was using on the room was very similar to that of a standard basketball. Strangely, that thought had not entered my head a single time when I was choosing my colors. Nonetheless, games viewed in my living room this upcoming season will now allow me and my guests to indulge in the fantasy that we're actually watching the game from inside of a big basketball. Not a bad result, considering that I was just trying to find a color to properly compliment my end tables.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to paint my guest bedroom in the colors of the ABA ball...