Hey y’all, happy Monkey Monday! It is indeed another Monday. This is true. It is Monday. Ummmmmm. If you were on Spring break, I hope it was restful! If not, then uh I hope your week was restful too! Splendid! I am tired from working my big boy aerospace job all week, and my body is mad at me for putting it through a cross-fit workout (shoutout George) immediately into Saturday morning Jiujitsu class. I’m sorry body, please forgive me.
Monkey Monday 3 #9, cramping in…
The Alien
Alright y’all, I have to admit, I’ve been watching quite a bit of basketball, and most of the games I’ve watched have specifically been for one man: THE ALIEN.
22 years old. Born in France. 7 feet 4 inches tall. 8 foot wingspan. Potentially still growing. Victor Wembanyama. The NBA has never seen a player like him. A player with unbelievable size coupled with incredible skill.
What’s absurd is that despite his gigantic, created-in-a-lab size, Wemby has the skill and technique of a guard. It’s unheard of. Guys this big normally just fumble and bumble their big limbs around, hoping do block some stuff. Wemby? He’ll pull up on you with the tween-tween stepback three, or speedily drive into the paint against four Rockets players, finishing with a reverse dunk (he did this just a week ago.)
His ability to charge into the paint is terrifying; it only takes three good Wemby strides to get from the arc to the net, where he can stretch out his Elastigirl arms and slam that thang in the basket. Check out this comparison between Wemby and MJ in Space Jam:
Him driving the paint makes sense. He’s big, his arms are super long, and again, he only needs a good three strides to get there; it makes sense that you can’t stop him. But the fact that he’s a great shooter too is just not fair. If you’re worried too much about him driving past you, he will pull up to the arc and drain a 3 over your head, it’s ridiculous.
As if his offensive prowess wasn’t enough, that’s not even the scariest thing about him. Wemby’s greatest strength is his defense. His freakish frame is imposing. When opponents get the ball and make their way down the court, they will approach a great, terrible threat in the paint, looming with arms open wide.
He will get his fingers on your shot from deep. He will swat your midrange shot. He will devour your layup. He will stuff your dunk. He leads the league in blocks by a large margin. It’s at the point where raw stats have a hard time depicting just how good he is, since players won’t even take a shot if he’s anywhere near.
What I love about Wemby goes beyond his talents on the court, too. The dude is super humble, works very, very hard, and absolutely LOVES the game of basketball. Having the body that he has requires a lot of management to keep from shattering. He has worked very hard to add muscle to his thin frame, and he’s spent time training under Shaolin monks to build his flexibility. He’s also trained extensively with legendary basketball big man Hakeem Olajuwon to improve his handling and footwork (which is even harder being as big as he is.) On the court, he plays with passion and fire, and in interviews he displays humility, respect, and genuine love for his teammates, and for basketball.
I’ve never had so much fun watching a singular athlete. I may have more fun watching him than prime Lamar (those who know, know that’s saying alot). I’ll link some highlights from his game the other night. This dude is impossible not to love.
NBA playoffs are coming up soon. Go Timberwolves of course, and Go Spurs!!!
-Nate
Pick of the Week
Alright y’all, this week I’m doing something a little different. Instead of an album, I’m recommending a single song. This is Will I love again? by random relatively small artist Junior Mesa. This dude doesn’t have any albums left, but his past few singles from the past few years are super neat, and I think he has a really cool sound cooking up. His newer stuff is characterized by slightly out of tune, earwormy piano riffs, and pitched vocals. Reminds me a bit of DERBY mixed with Dominic Fike for those who are familiar, plus his own flare. This single is pretty sick, check it out.
Shoutout Junior Mesa, doin his own thing.
-Nate
Is It Ripe?
Following up the Tyler Childers train from last week, I recently decided to check out his first album, 2011’s Bottles and Bibles while driving back from my music therapy practicum site.
Part of why I like his live album so much, is that it’s pretty much just Tyler, his guitar, and his voice, and I think that’s where he shines best. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that this album is pretty much just that; more Tyler Childers doing simple Tyler Childers stuff. While his songwriting hasn’t peaked on this album, and some of the songs sound very similar to each other, it’s pretty nice all the way across. If you like the live album from last week, maybe check this one out!
Favorite Songs: Junction City Queen, We’ve Had Our Fun, The Harvest
-Nate
Ripeness: 6.5/10
Ashley’s Animals (feat. Nate)
THE HODAG
The Hodag species was discovered in 1893 in the forests of Rhinelander, Wisconsin by a land surveyor and lumberjack named Eugene Shepherd. The newspaper articles claimed the Hodag had "the head of a frog, the grinning face of a giant elephant, thick short legs set off by huge claws, the back of a dinosaur, and a long tail with spears at the end".
Hodags are found primarily around the forests of Rhinelander. Their diet consists of mud turtles, water snakes, but their favorite treat is a white bulldog, which they only eat on Sundays.
Hodags do not lay down when they sleep because of their large spikes. Instead, they usually lean on trees to get comfortable.
A friend of Shepard, Luke Kerney wrote a book titled The Hodag: And Other Tales of the Logging Camps. According to Kerney, a Hodag can be born when an ox is verbally abused by its handlers and when it dies its body is not burnt for seven years.
In 1896, Shepherd and a group of bear wrestlers captured a live Hodag, and displayed it at the Oneida County fair. Shortly after this, Shepherd admitted that the Hodag had been a hoax all along, and that it was a fur puppet carved out of wood.
The Hodag is the pride of the people of Rhinelander. All around town you can find references to the Hodag. Hodag Park, Hodag Dome, The Hodag Store, Hodag Farmers Market, and so on. Hodag statues and decor can be found all around town. Every summer, Rhinelander hosts the annual Hodag Heritage Festival, a massive country music festival that brings people from all around. The Hodag is truly legendary.
Nate here. Special shoutout my mom who made a Sno-dag for a snowman contest. She’s so cool.
Verse of the Week
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
