The Forgotten Great Man

I attended one Catholic service in my childhood. The service was in Latin, the church was somber and dark--it had only a few stained glass windows---and the men wore suits. In those days children had to sit absolutely still throughout. I never complained about Episcopal worship again.

Fast forward ten years, when a friend in Boston invited me to a Catholic service that was popular with college students. The mass was in English--nearly indistinguishable from an experimental Episcopal liturgy--and the priest played the guitar. The bread was torn from a loaf, and the chalice was ceramic, not metal.

The changes in the Catholic church, all within the span of a decade, were the result of the Second Vatican Council, and one of the 20th century's "forgotten" great men, Pope John XXIII.

The Second Vatican Council, which opened 60 years ago on Oct. 11, 1962, was the most important Catholic event in half a millennium. Its achievements were many and notable; it was also followed by ecclesiastical upheavals that continue to roil the Church today.

After Vatican II, Catholics worshiped in their own languages, rather than in Latin. By urging Catholics to become more biblically literate, the council inspired lay communities of spiritual renewal, some of them robustly charismatic. It also led to greater lay participation in all aspects of Church life: liturgical, educational, managerial, evangelical. The council fully inserted Catholicism into the ecumenical movement’s quest for Christian unity, even as it dramatically reconfigured the Church’s relationship to its religious parent, Judaism.

Vatican II was also the moment in which Catholicism fully realized its claim to be a global (“catholic”) institution, as churchmen from outside the Church’s historic European core began to take prominent roles in shaping the Catholic future. The extraordinary growth of the Catholic Church in sub-Saharan Africa—where Catholicism now counts hundreds of millions of adherents, many of them first- or second-generation Christians—was accelerated by the council’s promotion of native African clergy and religious orders, its disentanglement of Catholicism from colonialism and its insistence on the Church’s essentially missionary character.

....From his historical studies and pastoral experience, John XXIII knew that the defensive Catholicism of the Counter-Reformation, however successful a salvage operation, had run its course. It was time to raze the bastions that Catholicism had erected and turn its robust institutions into platforms for evangelization and mission in order to engage a deeply troubled modern world. The Church, he believed, existed to proclaim and compassionately witness to Christian truth for the world’s healing and sanctification. It could not hide that truth like the frightened servant in Christ’s parable of the talents (Luke 19:12-28).

...John XXIII often spoke of his hope that Vatican II would be a “new Pentecost,” recalling the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. The council he imagined was not a business meeting in which the branch officers of a global enterprise discussed ways to increase market share in a stable cultural and social environment. Pope John intended Vatican II to be an event in the realm of the spirit: an experience of the love of God breaking into the world anew

Jewish and Christian history is replete with great men and women like Pope John XXIII, whose background and training made them seem singularly unequipped to lead people out of the wilderness.

Ten Years Later

In March, 2012 we went to a sports memorabilia store in Burlingame to get Stephen Curry's autograph. He was a skinny, relatively short (6'3"), 24-year-old point guard for the lackluster Warriors, who had missed the playoffs for the past five years.

Stephen Curry was an excellent shooter but had never made the All-Star team in three years in the NBA. He was always getting hurt and would undergo ankle surgery later in 2012. It was questionable whether the Warriors were going to extend his contract. Let's go meet him before he leaves the team, said the youngster. And so we did.

With the NBA Finals MVP award (NY Post photo)

Update: Stephen Curry’s all-time legacy is undeniable — and growing

[In the series-clinching Game 6 against Boston] Curry had 34 points, seven boards and seven assists, finishing the series averaging 31.2 points, six boards and five dimes to earn the MVP award. It was the last missing piece from his trophy case after four titles, two scoring titles, an MVP and All-Star MVP.

He joins Durant, James, Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal are the only others to have done so.

A lot can happen in ten years.

Brutalism: Not Ready for Revival

Geisel Library, UCSD (WSJ photo)

Not so brutal in the San Diego sun.

"Brutalist" architecture is enjoying a mini-revival: [bold added]

Brutalism, the oft-derided architectural style of blockish buildings and naked concrete, is making a comeback. Fans have mobilized on social media, and there are waiting lists for apartment buildings once dubbed eyesores...

Architectural styles fall into and out of fashion, but few have been as controversial as Brutalism. It flourished in the post World War II period of public-housing construction and tight budgets. It was known for gray concrete, no decoration and severe geometric lines. Boston City Hall and the Geisel Library in San Diego are frequently cited U.S. examples. Latin America abounds with such buildings.

Comments:
1) Brutalism has a powerful association with decrepit housing projects and government buildings in run-down areas.
2) Well-maintained brutalist structures, e.g., UCSD's Geisel Library and Boston City Hall, still are attractive.
3) After enough buildings are torn down, the negative associations are likely to be forgotten.
4) A more pronounced revival will have to wait until this generation--the one with the bad associations and all the money--passes from the scene.

Super Bowl LIII: Confounding Expectations

The GCOAT and GQOAT (si.com image)

NFL rules changes intended to limit injuries have resulted in an explosion in offensive football. Last year's Super Bowl--Eagles 41, Patriots 33--was the second-highest-scoring Super Bowl in history, one point shy of 1995's contest (49ers 49, Chargers 26).

In this year's championship the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots were both among the top-five offenses in the league--while being in the bottom half in defense--so more fireworks were expected.

Super Bowl LIII--Patriots 13, Rams 3--confounded expectations. It was the lowest scoring Super Bowl in history and many people called it boring. Not me.

Toward the end of a tight, low-scoring game each play's importance is heightened. If the defense makes a mistake, that could well be the decider because the offense is unlikely to come back with a score. That sort of game is suspenseful and thrilling, where just making a first down is an achievement or even grinding out field position in a punting duel is sound strategy. (Your humble blogger also enjoys 1-0 pitching duels where sacrifice bunts, stolen bases, and aiming a ground ball to advance the runner are paramount, but I'm a sports fossil.)

I also appreciated watching Tom Brady and Bill Belichick seal their reputations as the greatest quarterback and coach, respectively, of all time. It was another chance to watch them at work, for in my lifetime I'll never see their like again.

Whoever Heard of a Skinny Panda?

Third baseman Pablo Sandoval helped the Giants win three World Series in the past five years, but his salary demands and concerns about his weight caused the club to part ways with him in November. The Boston Red Sox signed him to a five-year $95 million contract; the downside risk is less for the American League teams, for whom Pablo can be a designated hitter if he can no longer perform as a major league infielder.

There was a lot of chortling by Giants supporters--and concern, even buyers remorse from some Red Sox fans--when Pablo Sandoval reported for spring training badly overweight, again (see tweet below).

When we cut our losses on an investment--and that turns out to be the right decision because the asset deteriorates further--we feel some satisfaction but little joy. When we sever our ties with a person, even when we're right there's no joy or satisfaction, just sadness.

Pablo never came across as a mean person, was key to many Giants triumphs, and, frankly, we hope the naysayers are wrong. We hope he does well in Boston.

Safe to say Pablo Sandoval didn't miss too many meals this offseason [cough] #redsox #worst2firstround2 pic.twitter.com/zN0ZHUYEXG
— Steve Silva (@stevesilva) February 17, 2015

Added to the Mix

The Boston Marathon bombings have sucked up the media oxygen this week. The explosions, the victims, the mystery of who was responsible, the citywide lockdown, the release of photos and identification of the perpetrators, the chase, the shootouts, and the final manhunt took turns being the lede over a dramatic five days.

Stories that took a back seat:

1) the West Texas explosion, which had more fatalities (14 so far) than the Marathon bombings; while the cause of that tragedy is officially unknown, the public and media appear to have concluded that it was a horrible accident perhaps exacerbated by inadequate safety protocols.

2) the gun control bill; it had weighty Constitutional matters at stake, but the motivations of the important players and the major talking points have been known for years.

But back to Boston: the Tsarnaev brothers fit no one's standard model of terrorists, whether they be foreign jihadists, native white supremacists, or solo sociopaths.

But should we think of the Tsarnaevs as a threat that was “homegrown”? Or “foreign”? Again, they are both...

Were the Tsarnaevs “suicide bombers”? Yes and no. Getting into shooting matches with police while wearing IEDs would seem to suggest the brothers knew they were dead. But after they murdered a child and two young women and maimed scores more on Monday, the brothers appear to have gone back to business as usual...

Lastly, were the Tsarnaevs ideologues, evil, or “just nuts”? This might be the most complicated question. As with all the others, the best answer again is “all of the above.”

The discomfiture of terrorism experts was matched by the questioning of new-media enthusiasm for crowdsourcing as a great leap forward in information gathering. On Wednesday night this humble, impatient observer turned off the TV and began following Twitter, which not only named the suspects but delved into their background and motivations. The only trouble is, Twitter said one of the bombers was a missing Brown University student and was completely wrong.

While we have a strong appreciation for the scientists, mathematicians, analysts, researchers, and public safety experts who are advancing knowledge in ways that we barely fathom, the Marathon bombings show that we should accept their assurances with skepticism. When it comes to our safety and that of our families, a healthy dose of plain old common sense should be added to the mix. © 2013 Stephen Yuen

[Update: The world is a dynamic place. And reality throws curve balls at us all the time. In the end the world is what it is whatever government and media say.]

Taxes and Terror

The Sub S corporation finally got its act together and sent me the K-1 in March, so for the first time in years we were able to file our 1040 and 540 on April 15th. The joy in the morning, however, quickly vanished when news of the explosions came shortly after noon, Pacific time. Partisan divisions were put aside for a little while. "We are all Americans," said the President.

Many Americans are also angry, but we need to take a deep breath and keep the anger unfocused. It's awfully tempting to fill in the blanks with one's own view of the world and blame one's pet bête noires, about which there is little consensus. Comity was fleeting.

I take back what I said earlier--be angry at those who are jumping to conclusions, especially those who are trying to inflame the situation. Assigning blame to groups is something that should be avoided anyway but is especially egregious in advance of the important facts being known. Patience is a virtue that is singularly lacking in these folks, and they should know better. © 2013 Stephen Yuen

All Too Quickly

Boston and San Francisco have oft-remarked similarities---a rich maritime history, world-class universities, liberal politics, and leading technology companies, not to mention a big city to the south that dominates the region. But in one respect they are today quite different.

Boston is the center of the sports universe; the Red Sox are champions of professional baseball for the second time this decade, and the New England (nee Boston) Patriots have won three professional football titles in the past six years. The Red Sox are young and should be a top team for years to come, while the Patriots appear more dominant than ever. Meanwhile, Bay Area sports teams languish near the bottom of their divisions.

But it wasn’t that long ago that San Francisco and Oakland were at the top of the sports world. In the 1980’s the road to the Super Bowl ran through Candlestick Park, and the Oakland Athletics made three straight appearances in the World Series. Enjoy these days, Boston, they will pass all too quickly.

The Wink of an Eye

Last night we were reminded of another difference between West and East Coast cities. The 5.6 earthquake in the South Bay lasted for what seemed to be an interminable 30 seconds. We’re quite accustomed to one or two quick mild jolts, but this time the rumbling seemed to go on and on. For a moment it seemed to be 1989 all over again, when, to continue the sports theme, the Bay Bridge World Series between the Giants and A’s was interrupted by the 7.0 Loma Prieta quake.

Fortunately, no one was injured and property damage was limited. This month’s southland wildfires and last night’s earthquake were yet another warning that we live in an area that we may have to vacate on a moment’s notice. In the wink of an eye the world changes abruptly and the accumulations of a lifetime can vanish.

Here’s a long and thoughtful essay by Virginia Postrel about the consequences of living on the fault-line’s edge (hat tip: Ed Driscoll).

Sputtering to the End

It took 3 hours to drive 130 miles in the Beetle.

In the Seventies my college roommate was kind enough to lend me his Volkswagen. Driving to Boston, especially in the winter, was an adventure with the car’s thin bias-ply tires and barely working defroster. But the real excitement occurred when the engine began to sputter. That was the signal that I was down to my last gallon of gas—pre-1962 Beetles didn’t have fuel gauges--and I would flip the switch near the pedal and pray that there was a (cheap) gas station within the next twenty miles. I was used to living close to the edge; with ten bucks in my pocket and a full tank of gas life was bliss.

Since then our measurement devices have improved exponentially in precision and speed, so there's no need to wait for the telltale sputter. I know where I stand in many aspects of life. I can read instantaneously my systolic pressure, the value of my stock portfolio, the exact time of day, and the minutes left on my cellphone plan.

In spite of, or perhaps because of their accuracy, I’ve made changes to many of these instruments. The bathroom scale is a couple pounds high, the alarm clock is five minutes fast, and my checkbook balance has a few zeroes omitted (I’ve got a cushion at the bank). But of course my monkey mind is aware of these fudge factors, and it adjusts them back to the real measurements.

In a psych class the professor said that those who keep their watches fast are high need-achievers. Now I think that those who deliberately build imprecision into their devices do so because of unfulfilled dreams---and fears; once I didn’t worry about running out of gas or money or time, and now I do. The unexamined life is not worth living, said the philosopher, but it's easy to forget that he said that the process of examination can be painful. © 2007 Stephen Yuen

San Francisco microcosm: Lotta's Fountain and the venerable Palace Hotel, both of which survived the '06 quake, and the modern "jukebox" Marriott with its (accurate) clock.