threestripes

Spotify, goddamn; Or, Hello Again!

2011-07-20T15:11:00.004-04:00

After some time after the promised return of blogging, I have decided to try and breathe new life into threestripes. The key, I think, will be to just write and post, and not worry too much about writing super-polished pieces. I can, and will, leave that to much better writers than myself.

Regarding the title, I think its best to write my first blog post in a long time about my latest obsession: Spotify. In case you have been living under a rock for the past week or so, Spotify is a new music client that is blowing up on the interwebs. Its been going strong in select parts of Europe for a few years now, and only last week had a soft opening in the USA. And thank God for that, because this thing is fucking amazing.

I won't pretend to know too much about how it works, go in detail about features (their site does a good job of that), or any of that; I just want to convince you, dear reader, that if you do not have the client on your computer or mobile device now, to get your hands on an invite and sign up. And for those of you who have signed up but do not actively use it, to GET THE FUCK WITH THE PROGRAM. Spotify is a gift, The Truth, and something you should make a part of your life.

Why am I so crazy high on Spotify? I think there are two main reasons, really. The first is how it satisfies my appetite for music almost perfectly. I am not the type of person to go out and BUY an album in person or on iTunes (I'm looking at you, catty melt). My desire for music just doesn't cross the necessary threshold for justifying an investment greater than looking for a catchy tune on YouTube. This behavior, predictably, left me in a bit of a music box (no, not this kind, though the ballerinas are pretty), but rather one where my iTunes library was trapped in a pre-2007 bubble (the last time I bought new music) and the only new songs I listened to were invariably catchy Top40.

But with Spotify Free (the bottom rung of the three-tired Spotify pricing scheme), I don't really have to invest more than the same searching/streaming time I would otherwise do on YouTube. Users like me also get the added benefit of being able to hear the entire albums from which our preferred jams originated. Spotify further suggests songs/artists that are similar to the ones you are listening to, which provided another helping hand out of my music box. Sharing with friends, catching onto musical zeitgeists, and other features only further bolster the impressive nature of the service.

The fact that I am possibly considering obtaining a paid version of the service is the second reason why I am so high on Spotify. This idea backs up so much of what has been said in some circles about "building the brand" and other such novel approaches to content distribution and pricing. By "novel approaches" I mean those approaches that do not fit into the normal pay for album/game/movie paradigm, instead opting for some form of alternate payment scheme (sometimes, even, no payment!). From a business perspective its kinda brilliant: by giving away this content, a free taste of the full range of possibilities, Spotify might transform a virtual non-consumer of music into a guy forking over about $60 bucks a year for his musical needs. $0 to $60 in less than a week of trying the service out. I know I am not the typical case, but I wouldn't be surprised if conversions like mine are a reason for the ultimate wild success of this platform.

Anyways, I could go on, but in the interests of brevity I will sum up my position on Spotify: Do It.

Coke is doing it to you on the invites, so hook it up: https://www.spotify.com/us/coca-cola/

post-CL quick hit thoughts

2011-05-28T16:46:00.002-04:00

As I watch Barça claim their 4th Champions League title, a thought that first flashed through my mind after Villa's goal has gained a foothold. Maybe Mourinho had his tactics for the Clásico series spot-on.

His full strength team did not concede more than a goal against this very same Barça outfit. Man U let in 3. Mourinho's use of the Pepe "bull in a china shop" strategy worked to disrupt the midfield. Barça largely played the way they wanted to, Carrick's comical foul against Iniesta (launching him into the air!) notwithstanding. These are just a couple of facts that lead me to think that some form of this strategy might be the best way of beating this Barça team at their own game. They simply don't give you the ball, why try getting it back from them? Why try to beat them at a game they have positively mastered?

Of course, I can engage in counterfactuals all day. The fact is that Barça got it done, are holding the trophy, and will get no shortage of plaudits in the soccersphere over the summer. Good on them. I can't help but wonder though: how different would the narrative be had Pepe not been sent off in the first semifinal leg?

revival.

2011-04-18T01:06:00.002-04:00

threestripes is coming back, legit, May 2011. Count on it/put it in the ledger/and cetera.

Until then, goodnight and good luck.

tuesday museday round these parts

2010-05-18T20:45:00.003-04:00

"... greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works."

- Gordon Gekko, from the motion picture Wall Street

The picture above is a screenshot of the values of the leading for-profit companies at the end of trading yesterday. Why the sudden uptick? The announcement of the coming departure of Mr. Rob Shireman, a key figure at the Department of Education who has been known for taking a hard stance against for-profit colleges, that's why. The rise in stock values was Wall Street's collective boner at the fact that these companies could face less stringent regulation after July 1 (and thus could be much more profitable). Hmm. For-profit, for whom exactly?

Not the students, IMO. Of all the stakeholders involved in the business of for-profit colleges: the students, the federal government, the shareholders of the for-profits, the management, the "admissions counselors" and so on, the students are probably lowest on the totem poll. They bear all of the risk involved in the process: the tremendous cost of the loans, the opportunity cost of time spent in classes, and the chance that they will not even succeed in getting the degree they are seeking. For the for-profits (FPs), the risk is minimal. As long as they can get a butt in each seat in the classroom, they can keep the loan money flowing in and their investors happy. They are completely divorced from the outcomes of their students. Whether students fail or succeed is really of minimal concern to the FP, even if a student comes out with a terrible experience, loads of debt, and is super vocal about their tribulations, these companies have tremendous advertising budgets that will allow to them to drown out the voices of dissent with their siren song of "get this degree, make more money, have a better life."

For this reason, I think the FP model of education is simply untenable. The best interests of the students and the companies that run these schools are almost in complete opposition. The students are in need of a relevant and useful educational experience that can be parlayed into a better job and more opportunities. The company is best served by increasing enrollments and delivering this "education" at the greatest margin of profit. Because there is only so much money that these students could likely pay in a year (based on income and loans), these companies have to cut back on overhead. This profit maximization takes place in the form of more online classes of dubious rigor and value and more "vocational experiences" where a nursing clinical is actually a trip to a daycare (I cannot make this up, watch the Frontline piece mentioned in my previous post). The very essence of their business model depends on educating as many students as cheaply as possible.

Traditional non-profit schools, in a sense, operate in a much more "market-oriented" fashion: if they are truly good at educating their students, putting them in the best possible position to succeed, they should be able to solicit donations from grateful alumni and build a nice endowment. With said endowment (and yes, this is EGREGIOUS simplification here, but bear with me), they can build nicer facilities, hire better professors. and offer better financial aid packages to needy students. All of these benefits are cyclical in that they go back to the next generation of students, who then repeat the process. Hmm... a company (college/university) makes a good product (an education), its customers (students) go out and make money/gain prominence/promote product, and the company is able to expand and improve operations with more investment (alumni/corporate/foundational support). SEEMS PRETTY CAPITALIST TO ME. Somewhere Adam Smith is reaching for a Kleenex. The difference between this setup and the FP model is that the students, college, and the pursuit of knowledge benefit in this model, where as the shareholders reap most of the benefit with FPs.

Proponents of FPs say that they are simply catering to the "market" for education, that they fill a much-needed niche in the education sector. In some cases that may be true. By and large, these schools merely do the job that community colleges should perform: provide a vast array of vocational and transferable 1-2 year degrees. If all of the federal money currently going to line the pockets of the Barons of For-Profit Education went instead to a drastic reshaping and revitalization of our community college system to meet the dynamic needs of our workforce, it would be money much better spent.

tuesday museday

2010-05-11T21:48:00.003-04:00

Two things, timely and of moderate levels of interest:

- Britain has a new leader today (or yesterday, technically, because the UK is in the future as it were). He looks like this:
Apparently, that getup is called a "Born to Rule" outfit or somesuch. Interesting, and very appropriately British. This Cameron guy got to be Prime Minister by forming a coalition with the Liberal Democrats. These Liberal Democrats are not at all similar to American liberal Democrats, who in Britain would belong to the Labour Party. And no, that's not a typo, they actually spell "labor" with an extra 'u' in there. Don't ask me why. In any event these Liberal Democrats are actually more in the center of the political spectrum, contrary to what their name would have you believe. I guess in America their equivalent would be the moderates from either party who get out-primaried by more wingish adversaries. I'm really not too sure, but what I can say is that this marriage is quite strange. As far as my American political sense can reckon, this maneuver would be akin to the Democratic Party, in some dystopian future where they have been marginalized towards the center by a party led by Ralph Nader's zombie corpse, helping the Republicans into power in an inconclusive Electoral College. In this horror future, the Democratic Party's consolation prize for this odd coupling would be the Vice Presidency and a promise from the Republicans to not eat all the Poors immediately. Not the best bargain! But good luck to the Brits all the same.

- Last week, Frontline debuted this special about for-profit educational institutions. I found it informative, but not entirely shocking. The overall premise: yeah these places do some really shady things. Is that a shock? No. Should it be? Only if you are extremely naive or a complete free-market hack. The simple fact is that the dynamics of higher education allow for these schools to be pretty heinous actors, with students, employers, and the taxpayer getting the shaft. I plan to have a more extensive rundown of this topic in a later post, but for now check out that vid and get your mind grapes ripened.

an ad, for america

2010-05-05T23:12:00.002-04:00

I saw this web ad for ESPN's coverage of WC2010 and thought it was worth sharing.

It features Mandon, Timmy Howard, et al. on a boat approaching South Africa in the style of George "made of radiation" Washington crossing the Delaware. IT'S SO HIGH BROW. It works on many levels because in that instance Washington was going all out to defeat the British in a great struggle in which his army was the underdog, JUST LIKE THE USMNT.

It would be a lot more accurate, though, if England contracted out some Germans strikers to fill out their squad. Still, a class advertisement all around.

tuesday museday revival

2010-05-04T22:13:00.006-04:00

Ha, ha ha! Not quite. Circumstances largely beyond my control have prevented me from blogging in depth (or at all, ha) as of late. This will change in the coming days, to be sure. For now, I think I will do some (lazy) linking:

- FIFA World Cup Matchball, explained!

- Hilarious Wonkette post I can relate to, featuring this site:

- 1st song + 2nd song = where my head is at these days:
the first:

the second:

- Until yesterday, I had no idea who Justin Beiber was. Literally zero clue. I think I like that I am moving well past the point of knowing about each little flash in the pan pop sensation. I will now resume smoking my pipe in my old man attire.

- Thinking about deactivating from the Facebook machine. The "privacy" settings and layout are getting rather bothersome.

- That is all for now.

back, with soccer...

2010-04-19T21:45:00.003-04:00

Ah, the pageantry of the Semifinals of the UEFA Champions League. With only two games to follow, gone is the need to dual-monitor your matches, watch games on broadcasting delay, and (for me at least) read many, many lines before figuring out how to predict a match. Its truly the best time of the year.

But enough of my waxing poetic, on to the predicting!

Tuesday, 20 April 2:45 EDT

Internazionale Milan v. FC Barcelona [O/U 2.5 even -130] - The Special One gets a second crack at Barcelona in this year's Champions League as Inter welcome Barcelona to the San Siro Tuesday. During the group stage, Inter drew 0-0 at home despite being dominated statistically by Barca. Will it happen again? I am not so sure this time around, as these teams are not the same ones that met in the fall. Noticeably absent from the Blaugrana is Andres "lo puto crack" Iniesta, whose play in the midfield is instrumental to an efficient Barcelona side. Guardiola has been experimenting with different looks to make up for his absence, most notably bringing up Maxwell and Dani Alves into more midfield roles in the past couple of games, to mixed effect. Xavi has picked up the slack as well, as my beloved Real side can attest. And finally, how can we forget about this guy:

I really don't know what he is looking at so intently, but its kind of frightening. Maicon, the Special One, and the rest of Inter would be wise to keep their eyes on the little magician as he is easily the most dangerous player in the multiverse right now. (Even Thong Boy agrees, kind of!) Honestly, I would be shocked if Mourinho hasn't prepared his side to the utmost to deal with the Messi Problem, so his impact on the game may be somewhat muted. The real question for me is how much will Mourinho push his men to go for the aggressive strategy of attaining a home goal or play the conservative counterattack to contain Barca's offense. I see the match falling somewhere in-between:

Prediction: Inter 1-1 Barcelona

Wednesday, 21 April 2:45 EDT

FC Bayern Munich (-.5) v. Olympique Lyonnais [O/U 2.5 -110 -120] - Yes, yes we have all heard it before. Germany v. France, World War overtones, et cetera et cetera. Really though, perhaps the best and most notable thing about this match is that it will probably be recreated in Lego form by some ingenious (insane?) Germans:

If you haven't seen that yet, you really, really have to watch. The Robben moneyshot is incredible. Anyways, I think this should be a rather compelling tie. I have hated on both of these teams in the past, predicting the downfall of Bayern at various stages and underestimating Lyon's ability to get by Bordeaux. As John has pointed out to me (in a bit of pro-German bias I think? What propaganda has Eisbar been feeding you?), Bayern score with great aplomb. The facts actually bare this out; Bayern have a fat +24 GD in games at home in the Bundesliga. They are also the 4th highest scoring team this year's CL. Lyon have been nothing if not plucky in defense, though. Through the competition, they have been able to frustrate the competent offenses of Madrid and Bordeaux. How will strength play against strength at the Fussball Arena Munchen? I will look for Bayern to come away with the win in a close and exciting match:

Prediction: Bayern 2-1 Lyon

And what would be a matchday featuring Inter be without a Special guest appearance?

"Shut up, Messi!"

oh, and its a soccer thing

2010-03-23T22:26:00.007-04:00

Alright, I managed to go one post without talking about soccer in some form or fashion, but I just HAD to comment on this article I came across in the New Republic today.

'Galacticos' In Hell - Aleksandar Hemon

Here is a picture of the guy, just to give you a mental image of the man I will proceed to rant against:

Oh Hi, I am Alek. I am supposes to know about the soccer. Check out my glasses.

So in case you are backtracking, the The New Republic (double the's intentional) is, in fact, having a guy (that guy, up there) cover soccer from here to and through the World Cup. Soccer coverage? From a news and politics magazine? You've got me. But really, why not? More soccer coverage in America can't be a bad thing, right?

As it turns out, the answer is plainly 'yes.' Yes, it can be a bad thing to have more coverage of soccer if that coverage is crazy terrible. Like this guy's was. There are a LOT of people in this country (and outside of it, for that matter) who could do a vastly better job covering the beautiful game for the American audience. Why is this guy so terrible? Where to begin...

... I guess the biggest thing for me was the fact that he really doesn't seem to have all that deep on an understanding of the game. In the paragraph where he mentions Liverpool's financial trouble, he initially called world-renown striker Fernando Torres "Francisco Torres." (The mistake was edited later in the day.) I don't mean to be a soccer snob, but anyone actually following the game (instead of just looking up facts to write an article) would NOT make that mistake. I'm sorry, a simple mistake like that subverts any claim to be knowledgeable about anything regarding the game in Europe.

But on to the substance of the argument. I guess his main idea is that Real are pretty foolish in their attempt to win European glory through the second go-round of the galacticos policy. In that main respect, he may be right. This commentary is far (and I mean fucking Pluto-distant) from insightful and hardly worth a column in the The New Republic. About a million bloggers, commentators, soccer personalities, et al. have made this exact same observation. It doesn't take a soccer genius to note "hey, maybe buying great players isn't the best policy for winning the CL." Barcelona proved just that last year. And everyone noticed. Last year. Way to be on top of your game, guy! A mere 10 months late to that party!

But this common line of attack against the galacticos policy is not without its faults as well. Many seem to forget that under the first Perez regime, Madrid were quite successful, winning two Champions League crowns (2000 and 2002) and two Ligas (2001 and 2003). They only stopped succeeding when Perez sacked manager Vicente del Bosque, the current gaffer of the Spanish national team. Back in those halcyon days under del Bosque, Madrid's policy of signing the greatest players was hailed as masterstroke, and they were truly a delight to watch. While the current generation of superstars may not play together as well (bearing in mind they have only been at it for less than a season), no one can rightly claim that they are doomed to fail in future efforts. This is a team built for the future (many of the stars are under the age of 28), not for immediate results on the field.

Hemon also seems to lack an understanding of relative player quality. He lists Arbeloa and Garay as cut-rate defenders, while both of them have been capped for their respective national sides - Arbeloa generally figuring as a starter or substitute as of late. He claims that Guti is a "divinity among Madridistas for his fanatical club loyalty and meticulous hair care"... I really don't even know where to begin with that one. The general consensus among Madrid fans is that Guti is a player to be tolerated more then celebrated at this point, as he has both tremendous upside (sublime passes) and disastrous downside (disappears from games, bad attitude). "Fanatical club loyalty" in reference to Guti is probably the richest statement in this entire piece, which is otherwise riddled with bold statements; Guti has on many occasions expressed his desire to leave the club or shared his displeasure with his current amount of playing time. I think Hemon makes the dangerous error of conflating time of service with club (no one would deny that Guti has been with Real for ages) with loyalty to said club. Guti is no Raul, for example.

In the final analysis, this guy is pretty far off base when it comes to backing up his very bland "analysis." The fact that TNR picked this guy to give its American readers in-depth soccer coverage through the Mundial is quite disappointing.

/endrant

//really, what is up with those glasses?

hey, a non soccer thing!

2010-03-22T22:02:00.004-04:00

Yes! Finally a non-soccer related thing, for Once! All it took was a monumental piece of legislation to pass the do-nothing Congress, which finally did something.

America, welcome to the civilized world! Yes, you now (or at least close to almost) provide some sensible way for (most?) of your citizens to access affordable healthcare. Suck it second/third world!

But lets not get ahead of ourselves, this bill is certainly a camel. And no, not this colorful character:

But rather a camel in the sense that it was designed by committee, literally made of compromises that in aggregate make something that none of the people who had a hand in the creation are 100% happy with. I mean look at a camel, seriously, those things are bizarre.

Anyways, its a step in the right direction, even if its far from perfect. Other outlets could surely to a much better job of getting into the wonkery of the matter, so I will leave that out of this post. What I will include is my conversation tonight with someone who was displeased with the reform, and how her view is illustrative of how the Dems and President Obama need to continue to sell this here camel as the November elections grow closer:

D*: well, then that doesn't upset me. lol. it's not fair, i know. hell, i have two health insurance and until about 3 months ago, i had three. i shouldn't have 3 when others have none, but i shouldn't have to pay for yours

9:32 PM me: well, the merits of the healthcare part of the reconcilliation thing yesterday aside

the part that was SAFRA

was laudable

9:33 PM I will not debate the hcr part with you, but I do suggest you read carefully up on what it does and does not do

9:34 PM I don't suspect you will be paying much more in taxes

for whatever was done

unless you have some windfalls

that I am not aware of

D*: it's not so much about cost to me as it is principle. it's not the govt's responsibility to take care of people.

9:35 PM me: I understand and respect your view

and to a large extent agree

but "take care of people" is a pretty broad umbrella phrase

9:37 PM gotta take care of people, by you know, fighting wars against enemies

who would like to do harm to us

and take care of people by making sure companies don't sell shit products that could kill or hurt lots of people

9:38 PM but I think I understand what you are talking about

9:40 PM D*: im not very eloquent when i try to say what i mean. and yes i agree with you. someone has to check things. but in my head, we're giving things away. lots and lots and lots of just "giving" away. are the ins co corrupt? probably. because of bureaucracy, are the costs inflated? probably. i dont know the right answer, but i dont think this is it

9:42 PM me: it may very well not be the best answer

but its an answer

an answer that has not come in literally 90 years

D*: is a shitty answer better than none?

9:43 PM me: if you before could not afford insurance

and now can

because you were born with an expensive to treat condition

are now allowed to get insurance

I would imagine it is

9:44 PM as a relatively healthy person

who makes good decisions

with health

I can't say that it really does a lot for me

D*: dont even start me on 90 years ago. i dont have enough time tonight. lol i see your point in both examples. however, my fear is that this is going to become a runaway program similar to what happened almost 80 years ago. i honestly believe it's worse for you, brendan

9:45 PM me: but for someone who has a really sick kid and now insurance companies can't reject their child because they are too expensive to treat

well

yes

9:46 PM I understand if you don't have time to go into it now, and really I don't want to try to convince you of anything

but I do suggest you read about what was passed, just to make sure

that you are sure

that things are being given away

9:48 PM D*: i meant i don't have time to discuss 90 years of healthcare fiascos. but, i must retire anyway, but i will promise to review the bill and what it includes. i won't lie. i rely on glenn beck for a lot. i'm just highly skeptical. i do suppose i'm in a happy hc bubble and i dont see the outside. but i dont like change. i dont like govt telling me what to do or spending my money on things that arent about me. but i will mull this over. and we will discuss soon.

9:49 PM me: definitely

and

please

whatever you do

and whatever you believe

9:50 PM please find someone else to get info from other than glenn beck

Okay, you might be thinking that the Glenn Beck thing makes the whole conversation a moot point. I would caution that my friend is not a crazy wingnut in any sense. My friend represents a few commonly held views, namely that there are huge giveaways in this bill and that the ability to get affordable insurance may not be all that essential.

The challenge for Dems will be to highlight the immediate and long term benefits of the bill, while also providing evidence that those above points are the wrong way to think about HCR.

Also, SAFRA. Yay!

last soccer post for a bit, I swear

2010-03-15T23:09:00.002-04:00

This week's edition of the Pickakke is sponsored by the Special One:

"Be Champions"

Speaking of champions, lets do a quick review of last week's selections:

Man U 4 - 0 AC Milan (picked 2-1): HIT on O/U, HIT on Result

Madrid 1 - 1 Lyon (picked 2-1): MISSED on O/U, HIT on Result

Arsenal 5 - 0 Porto (picked 3-1): HIT on O/U, HIT on Result

Fiorentina 3 - 2 Bayern (picked 2-0): MISSED on O/U, HIT on Result

For those of you keeping score at home, that's a 75% rate of success. Very, very nice predicting.

But we can't afford to live in the past, resting upon our laurels (ahem Madrid ahem). Onward to this week's tasty treats:

Tuesday, 16 March 3:45 EDT

Chelsea FC (-1) vs. Internazionale (1-2 after 1st leg): The Special One returns to Stamford Bridge, where he amassed an impressive record as manager of Chelsea. Will his 2-1 lead be enough to see Inter through? Chelsea have had strong form at home in Europe and in the Prem, while Inter have been less than convincing away from the San Siro. Does it all add up to Chelsea victory, then? I am not so certain. Maybe its the special scarf, or just his way with words, but somehow I am believing in the Special One this time around in his former playpen. I see Chelsea getting an early goal, getting too comfortable sitting on their away goal advancement, and getting "puto cracked" by an Inter-man at the death.

Prediction: Chelsea 1 - 1 Inter [Inter advance on aggregate 2-3]

Sevilla FC (-1) vs. CSKA Moscow (1-1 after 1st leg): Sevilla have to be considered favorites to advance after their gutsy performance in cold Mother Russia to pull out the 1-1 draw. They have also been in-form at the Sanchez-Pizjuan as of late, going undefeated in their last 5 matches with a GD of +7. I really see no way for Moscow to outduel the nerviosos at home, and even if they manage an unlikely away goal, I see Sevilla countering comfortably.

Prediction: Sevilla 2 - 0 Moscow [Sevilla advance on aggregate 3-1]

Wednesday, 17 March 3:45 EDT

FC Barcelona (-1.5) vs. VfB Stuttgart (1-1 after 1st leg): Waawee whoa whoa. After Barcelona's impressive thrashing of Valencia yesterday, they are installed in this match as MEGAFAVORITES. The over/under for this match is set at 3, instead of the customary 2.5 AND Barca is pegged as a winner by more than a goal. If you needed any more proof of how no one gives Stuttgart a snowball's chance in hell at the Camp Nou, if you bet 100 dollars on them winning, you could be 1100 dollars richer at the end of the match. A more than 10x return on investment! Not too shabby. I am not advocating making that investment, though. Messi was sublime yesterday, and I fully expect he and his Barca Boys to work over Stuttgart in this match as well. I can see them getting a lucky goal somewhere in there, so I will through Stuttgart a bone with this one:

Prediction: Barca 3 - 1 Stuttgart [Barca advance on aggregate 4-2]

FC Girondins de Bordeaux (-1) vs. Olympiacos CFP (1-0 after 1st leg): Hmm, because I think so highly of the ol' Geronimos, I will keep this one short and sweet. Olympiacos have not scored an away goal in Europe this year. Bordeaux are CLASS. As such:

Prediction: Bordeaux 1 - 0 Olympiacos [Bordeaux advance on aggregate 2-0]

---

Just a friendly Daylight SAVING Time reminder: because we set our clocks ahead before our friends in Europe, this week's matches are at quarter to FOUR, not three as per usual. Didn't have enough DST chatter today so I figured I would throw that one in.

And remember, Be Champions!

wednesday sadness, or pjanic (75') at the disco

2010-03-10T16:41:00.004-05:00

I know I am making a horrible habit of posting these predictions AFTER the events take place, but I got out of work late and could only post this after being enthralled by the match:

From earlier today:

... and now for Wednesday's Picks:

Wednesday, 10 March 2:45 EST

Manchester United vs. AC Milan (3-2 After 1st Leg): The Beckham makes his glorious return to the Theater of Dreams in this 2nd leg match up between European greats. Unfortunately for Becks and his temporary teammates, this trip away from Italy holds more value as a tourist getaway to scenic (?) Northwest England than as a sporting endeavor. Their not so fresh home showing, where they gave up three (3) away goals, all but assures that the damned United will go through to the next round. The Mancunians have been stingy at home in European play, and with Milan desperately needing to score, I could see the Rossoneri being dangerously exposed at the back and prone to counterattacks. I don't think Milan will be shut out, but I don't think they have what it takes to overcome tremendous hurdle they have set up for themselves.

Prediction: Man U 2 -1 Milan [Man U Advance on Aggregate 5-3]

Real Madrid CF vs. Olympique Lyonnais (0-1 After 1st Leg): As a desperate, anxious Madridista, I am going to stray from my typical dispassionate analysis for a moment. Enjoy my sadness... Madrid need to get a firm grasp of the two ways that this game can go: they can either play very conservatively, go for a straightforward 2-0 result that would get them through OR they could go balls-to-the-wall and try to score as many goals as possible, defense be damned. Given that they allow one goal on average at home in Europe, going for the first result seems Quixotic (how apropos for a Spanish Squadroon!). As they demonstrated with their play in the latter half of the Sevilla game this weekend, when they are going all out on offense, the Blancos' play can be quite sublime. I think they need to channel that spirit and style for the entire 90 minutes, with the Bernabeu faithful cheering them on, urging them forward in all-out attack. Anything short of that effort will lead to a 6th straight failure in the Round of 16. Count it. In that spirit, I have cooked up two predictions: one likely and one ideal. The likely one assumes a conservative approach from Pellegrini, where he starts an all-Diarra central midfield. The ideal is one where there is maybe one holding midfielder , 4 at the back, and the rest some combination of strikers and attacking midfielders (Ronaldo, Kaka, Guti, Van Der Vaart, et al.).

Likely Scenario Prediction: Madrid 2 - 1 Lyon [Lyon Advance on Away Goals 2-2]

Ideal Scenario Prediction: Madrid 4 - 2 Lyon [Madrid Advance on Aggregate 4-3]

Enjoy the matches, folks!

and HALA MADRID!

-----

Back to the present and my immediate post-match thoughts. The following paragraph will likely take the form of a long stream of consciousness that makes little to no sense for the non-soccer fans out there.

Well, for starters I am pretty numb. This one hurts more than Arsenal in 2006, more than the embarrassment to Liverpool last year, more than the Bayern shaming in 2007. Madrid played great in the first half and should have had this one in the bag. As per my comments earlier today, though, I KNEW we were going to give up a goal. It was bound to happen. Why Pellegrini even STARTED Granero I can't understand. We were always going to need firepower, we were always going to be chasing goals. One central/holding mid in the form of Lass was going to be enough. But no, we get Granero (who was shit over the two legs of the tie), and his mistakes. Not to say that he should get all of the blame or even the majority of it. There was enough to go around. Kaka, for all of his occasional brilliance, was also reduced to flopping around at times looking for calls. Ramos was prone to giving up the ball at times, something that you just can't get away with doing as a RB who goes charging up the flank. Ronaldo showed the usual effort, although we could have seen better from his free kicks than to put one super wide and one right into the wall. Hmm, who else. Oh yes, there is Higuain. Pepita had a howler of a miss in the first half, hitting the post on a wide open net. He was absent for the rest of the game.

But what does this mean in the long term? Well obviously all attention now turns to the League, which is really all about keeping pace and beating Barca in the home leg of the Clasico. Does the team continue the domestic form that has helped them catch up to the Catalans? Its hard to say. I could easily see them losing all fight, as half the team (Kaka, Benzema, Ronaldo, Alonso, Albiol, Arbeloa, Granero) were brought on for the express purpose of winning the CL, or at least GETTING US PAST THE ROUND OF 16, FUCK (!). When you have failed epically at the sole thing you were hired to do, I can't help but feel that will negatively impact your future performances. But then again I am not a professional athlete playing at the highest levels. Maybe they will be so angered by this failure that they will romp on the comparatively puny competition in La Liga and get Number 32. Who's to say?

What I do know is that in this instance, 10 >> 32. At least for tonight, that math is ringing true in the minds of Madridistas everywhere.

yes, more soccer, but soon variety

2010-03-09T22:30:00.002-05:00

I realize that many of my posts as of late have been very soccer-related. If that has bothered you, dear reader, I am very sorry. Also, shut up! I will write about what I feel like writing about. Assurances that I will have some variety of topics soon, though, so don't fret too much.

That being said, here is my latest soccer work: a prediction I concocted earlier in the day. Marvel at its accuracy!

Ed. note: I composed this prediction at around 2:25 PM today, long before the start of the matches...

A Fine Tuesday Tradition: The Champions League Pickkake.

Last Week (actually two weeks ago) Retrospective:

Stuttgart 1 - 1 Barcelona (picked 1-3): MISSED on O/U, MISSED on Result

Olympiacos 0 - 1 Bordeaux (picked 1-2): MISSED on O/U, HIT on Result

CSKA Moscow 1 - 1 Sevilla (picked 1-1): HIT on O/U, HIT on Result

Inter 2 - 1 Chelsea (picked 0-1): MISSED on O/U, MISSED on Result

Not too bad, but not great either. Still hovering around mediocrity, but got a direct hit with the Moscow/Sevilla clash. Very nice. On to this week's action...

Tuesday, 9 March 2:45 EST

Arsenal vs. FC Porto (1-2 After 1st Leg): As much as I enjoy Porto for their various name-related foibles (playing in the Stadium of the Dragon and having a man by the name of Hulk), I can't help but see The Arsenal going through to the next round. While they are probably still reeling from that awful leg break suffered by the promising young Ramsey, Arsenal should play tough at the Emirates and use that away goal they have stashed away to their advantage. Porto travel well in Europe, though, so it will be no easy task for the Gunners as they try to advance. I see this one going to extra time to find a winner.

Prediction: Arsenal 2 -1 Porto (AET 3-1) [Arsenal Advance on Aggregate 4-3]

AC Fiorentina vs. FC Bayern Munich (1-2 After 1st Leg): Man, if the first leg wasn't an example of some of the worst Champions League refereeing since, oh, last spring... The best thing that Fiorentina may have going for them in this match (besides their one away goal) is the fact that Bovs Bovsen will not be officiating this match. He and his suspect decisions probably cost them the 1st leg, but Bayern will not be so lucky this time around. I see Fiorentina playing with fire in their bellies in this match, in an effort to avenge the wrongs they suffered at the hands of the Boverson. Will fire and desire be enough, though? I fear that they may not be able to overcome the one goal advantage that Bayern took away from the first leg and will (unjustly) fall out of Champions League competition in this round.

Prediction: Fiorentina 1 - 1 Bayern [Bayern Advance on Aggregate 2-3]

... ack ran out of time (busy day, Part 2 of this Pickkake will feature tomorrow)

100th post and a pickkake

2010-02-23T21:20:00.003-05:00

This is the 100th post to the blog. Yay!

It is also a little late, considering some of my predictions have already (sadly) busted out. But tomorrow is another day!

Last week retrospective:

So with the year layoff since my last bit of soccer prognosticating, I showed off my rust with some rather dodgy results last week. I hope to improve today, but here is a look at what I hit on and what I missed from Matchdays 1/2.

AC Milan 2 - 3 Man U (picked 1-1): MISSED on O/U, MISSED on Result

Lyon 1 - 0 Real Madrid (picked 0-1): HIT on O/U, MISSED on Result

Porto 2 - 1 Arsenal (picked 1-1): MISSED on O/U, MISSED on Result

Bayern Munich 2 - 1 Fiorentina (picked 2-0): MISSED on O/U, HIT on Result

For those keeping score at home, thats a robust .250 batting average. Decent for baseball, below average for a sports book. I will try harder this week to get the results on the button. To the predicterfaaning:

Tuesday, 23 February 2:45 EST

VfB Stuttgart vs. FC Barcelona (-1) [O/U 2.5 -150 +115] - The defending European and World Club Champions (like that Ahmad? I'm giving them their DUE) begin their title defense in earnest today when they take on the upstart Stuttgart. Barca still stands astride La Liga, despite their bedshitting against Atletico and Real's efforts to play catch-up. Les Cules are justifiably worried about their team's injury woes, with a number of starters banged up as of late. Will these injuries come to haunt the Blaugrana when they go on their south German adventure? I say no, as Stuttgart have been atrocious in the back in European play, giving up 1.67 goals on average at home. While Barca have not lit the world on fire away from the Camp in Europe, I think they are due for a bit of their old form this afternoon, and will come away with a valuable away win:

Prediction: Stuttgart 1 - 3 Barcelona UPDATE: MISSED on O/U, MISSED on Result

Olympiacos CFP vs. FC Girondins de Bordeaux [O/U 2.5 -130 even] - Somehow, someway, some greasy Greek team and two French teams end up qualifying for Round of 16 play. That fact, in and of itself, is quite annoying given the quality of these leagues compared to other European powerhouses. When teams like this play EACH OTHER, that really steams my clams. Somehow seven-times champs AC Milan will not feature in the Quarterfinals, whereas one of these teams will have a spot. Blegh. Anyways, as far as predictions go, I think this matchup is pretty clear. Olympiacos made it out of their group with a rather sterling 3-1-2 record and -1 GD. They have yet to lose at home in European play, though, so I must give them credit where it is due. Bordeaux have a had a great season thusfar, in both Europe and at home, so I will give them the edge in this affair:

Prediction: Olympiacos 1 - 2 Bordeaux UPDATE: MISSED on O/U, HIT on Result

Wednesday, 24 February 12:30 and 2:45 EST

CSKA Moscow vs. Sevilla FC [O/U 2.5 +120 -155] - The Rojiblancos head out to cold Mother Russia to take on Professional Football Club Central Sports Club of Army Moscow (their actual name!) in this tie that lacks the flavor of some of the other matches in store this week. While the Sevillistas are normally quite strong on the road in Europe (2.33 GF average thusfar), I can see the chilly temperatures (projected high of 36) in Moscow getting to them tomorrow night. While I don't think they will be completely frozen out of the net tomorrow night, I don't see a goalfest happening either. CSKA seems to play much better at home, and I think they will be able to escape this tie with a draw:

Prediction: Moscow 1 - 1 Sevilla

Inter Milan vs. Chelsea FC [O/U 2.5 +135 -175] - Oh ho ho! Soccer writers the world over have had this match circled on their calendars since the day of the draw. The subplots in this tie are legion: Special One versus his old club, negative football versus negative football, perennial Champions League failures versus even more heartbreaking failures. What this match will lack in goals, I think it will more than make up for in backstory and drama. What kind of antics or mind games will the Special One cook up for this encounter? How will Chelsea players, who for the most part liked the Mourinho regime, handle playing against their old gaffer? No one is quite sure how any of this will shake out, but I am willing to say that a lot of the excitement of this matchup will happen before the starting whistle and after the final one. Inter has played rather negative football as of late, and we have all see what Chelsea's tactics can look like away from home in European play (reference Ahmad's frustration with them in last year's email chain.) Chelsea has yet to be shutout in Europe, but I think they will be frustrated in tomorrow night's encounter:

Prediction: Inter 1 - 0 Chelsea

Lots of focus on soccer. So sue me.

you betta ask somebodayyyyyy

2010-02-18T23:31:00.004-05:00

Sven Kramer: if you don't know who he is...

... YOU BETTA ASK SOMEBODAYYYY

... just not Sven, of course.

MAKOUN (47') ME SICK

2010-02-17T19:52:00.003-05:00

Folks, I would like to take a moment to introduce you to a serious affliction that has once again reared its ugly head and affected the lives of so many with its terrible symptoms.

RMISS affects this writer and many others around the world. It is a crippling disease that can lead to chest pains, nausea, hyperventilation, compulsive shouting, and various other wellness-reducing symptoms. RMISS is a highly seasonal illness, it grows in frequency in mid-February, reaching a peak in early-March, and typically runs its course no later than early April.

Its a devastating, horrible condition, and there is no known cure.

I have RMISS. I have struggled with it for 5 years, and only now am I coming to grips with this fact.

Yesterday, I had my first Real Madrid Induced Stress Syndrome outbreak of the year. This man was the catalyst:

Makoun (left) scored an absolute wonderstrike in the 47th minute for the winning goal.

Madrid's chances in the Round of 16 took a substantial hit when they were unable to net an away goal at Lyon yesterday. They fell 1-0, leaving them in the sticky situation whereby they must score two goals at home and surrender none to win.

This disappointment, sadly, was not quite unexpected. Despite paying over $200 million in transfer fees for a return to the Galacticos method of team building, they were unable to overcome the demons of Champions League past. Madrid have failed to advance past the Round of 16 since 2004, during Galacticos I. Whether in league-winning form, as was the case in 2007 and 2008, or runner-up form, they have not been able to translate domestic strength into European power. They seem to shrivel in the limelight, causing me and other Madridistas great angst in the form of RMISS.

This particular game was disconcerting beyond its ultimate result, though. While the 1-0 result presents a hurdle to overcome in the home leg, the way that the team earned this loss was far more troubling. Kaka, Ronaldo, and Alonso - galacticos and former Champions League winners in the past - seemed to lack any sort of coherent form of attack. Alonso seemed frustrated that he could not provide the service from the defensive third to the middle third of the field while alos looking shaky in regulaing the Lyon attack. Kaka was VISIBLY frustrated with the service he was getting from the deep midfield, shouting for the ball and seeming frustrated for the majority of the game. Ronaldo looked lost at times: while he was probably giving some of his hardest effort of the season, he crippled the Madrid attack at times by attempting ball tricks that were completely inappropriate in the given situation.

But why were these otherwise clutch CL performers made to look stunningly average in yesterday's game? I think there are a few reasons. Firstly, Lyon seemed DETERMINED to not surrender an away goal. That airtight defense was a critical part of their gameplan, for they knew just like everyone watching that surrundering such a goal would deal an almost deadly blow to their chances of advancing past the Whites. Another reason for the lackluster performance could have also come from the fact that the team is still gelling togther, and being tested by a new form of play from the French side constipated their normal game flow. My most worrying reason, though, is that they collectively (6 new acquisitions started, 2 subbed, 4 total Galacticos) felt almost unbearable pressure to perform in this one game. They all know that they were brought in to replace players who could not get it done in the Champions League. To make a baseball reference, with all of these high-priced, high-profile acquisitions, Madrid started half a team of A-Rods. Until this season, A-Rod was known as a regular season performer, a post-season chump. The CL is much like the European soccer equivalent of the post season. They all individually feel a great amount of pressure, and because the nature of the game this effect can compound itself all over the field. Doing too much, forcing passes, forgetting team play all can happen when players feel that they themselves must make the difference to win the game.

Is this most recent disappointment a ringing repudiation of the Galacticos policy? Not necessarily. If Madrid can score 2 and pitch a shutout at home, which is entirely possible, this loss will have merely been a speed bump on the road to the Round of 8. Should they play well and somehow manage to not make it through, one could reasonably say that they need one more season to gel to make a good run. It will be a whole different story, though, if this assembled group cannot in several seasons time give Madrid fans a cure for RMISS. The fan base cannot stomach many more season of its pain.

THE CHAMPIONS

2010-02-16T09:11:00.000-05:00

We are in the 3rd week of February, and we all know what that means...

... the glorious return of the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ROUND OF 16. Cue song. Ah, thats the stuff. And they say that February is the black hole of sports. Pshaw!

Just like last year I am offering up some BOLD and BOMBASTIC predictions, which are up for everyone's scrutiny and/or potential lols. This week we are treated to some truly grand matchups, with yet another meeting of AC Milan and Man U (where maybe we can see a repeat of something like this) and Real visiting Lyon, a team they have historically struggled with in Champions League play. But enough with prologue and on to the picking!

Tuesday, 16 February 2:45 EST:

AC Milan vs. Manchester United [O/U 2.5 +130 -165] - In a battle of teams which were relieved of their top stars by Real over the summer, we have a rematch of what was an epic semifinal tie back in 2007. In that last encounter, Milan put a finger in the eye of those who would claim the Premiership to have the best brand of football in Europe by thoroughly decimating Man U 5-1 on aggregate. Milan won their home leg 3-0 back then, but don't look for them to repeat the feat this time around. They did well in qualifying out of their tough group (beating and drawing eventual group winners Real) and are currently sitting in 3rd in Serie A. While Man U have lost some of last season's luster, currently second to Chelsea in the Premiership and not exactly coming out smelling like roses from their easy as pie qualifying group. I think this will be a chippy, fairly even affair, and I feel comfortable with the under in this one:

Prediction: AC Milan 1 - 1 Man U

Olympique Lyonnais vs. Real Madrid (-.5) [O/U 2.5 even -130] - Lyon have dominated Real in the recent past in Champions League play - they were paired in the group stage in 2005/06 and 2006/07, where Lyon amassed an 8-3 aggregate score over 2 years. Real has undergone quite a bit of a transformation since then, they aren't even the same side that was dominated by Liverpool in the Round of 16 last year. They have started to hit their stride in La Liga, winning 4 games on the trot, and progressed with top billing out of their tricky qualifying group. Aside from their shaky record against Lyon, history is also not on Real's side. Progressing past the Round of 16 has proved to be mission impossible for Real, having failed to do so since 2004. Lyon will prove to be a formidable foe in this first leg, but I feel that they will be overmatched in this encounter:

Prediction: Lyon 0 - 1 Real Madrid

Wednesday, 17 February 2:45 EST:

FC Bayern Munich (-1) vs. AC Fiorentina [O/U 2.5 -130 even] - Bayern appear to be favorites in what should actually be a pretty tasty matchup on Wednesday. Despite being runners-up in their group, Bayern will likely play strong at home, where they have amassed an 8-4-0 record with an average of 2.08 goals per game. Fiorentina put together a rather impressive qualifying campaign, where they had a +9 goal differential and and a 5-0-1 record in a group that included quality sides Lyon and Liverpool. Fiorentina's domestic record has been less than stellar; they currently sit in 11th position, where they are just as close to Serie B as they are to a Europa League place. So the question for the Gigliati is, which team will show this week under the bright lights of European competition? I think the match will be closely fought, but I see Munich coming out on top with a comfortable lead going into the second leg:

Prediction: Bayern 2 - 0 Fiorentina

FC Porto vs. Arsenal [O/U 2.5 +125 -160] - The Gunners head into this encounter as slight favorites, which is fitting given their rather indifferent European campaign to this point. They qualified with top billing in their group, a dubious achievement given that the group included the likes of Standard Liege and AZ Alkmaar. Their away record in the group stage also gives me pause, as they have conceded as many goals as they have scored on the road (4). They are clearly more comfortable at the Emirates, so this away match could prove difficult for them. Two-time European Champions Porto should give Arsenal all they can handle. While they currently sit at 3rd in Portugal, they have had a good run of form in Europe of late, giving eventual finalists Man U a run for their money last year and managing a +5 goal difference in the group stage this year. I see them playing this one tight at the Dragao, leaving all to play for in the second leg:

Prediction: FC Porto 1 - 0 Arsenal

Looking forward to the start of the best tournament held in February/March/April in the WORLD (sorry college bball fans).

Also, how exciting is it that the final will be held on a SATURDAY on NETWORK TV? Watch out Super Bowl, the Champions League is ready to zap ya!!!

weekend whimsy, pontification with pictures!

2010-02-13T21:52:00.015-05:00

When I last posted, I mused about the coming snowpocalypse that was about the descend on Virginia. Due to the massive amount of snow that eventually came, in two parts no less, I found myself without the right schedule to maintain blogitude. Consider this a Tuesday Museday on a snow induced two-hour delay of sorts.

Being snowed in for a week and a half gives one lots of time for a) doing leisurely indoor things, and b) forming opinions on said leisures and other matters of the day. I will share accordingly.

SNOW DAYS out the wazoo! Six-point-five (6.5) consecutive days out from school! That is fucking wild! Not since the halcyon days of junior year of high school have we seen such an ourpouring of love from local school superintendents. While I thoroughly enjoyed the first couple off from work, towards the end of the week I was beginning to feel quite shiftless what with the hours on end of playing FIFA (more on this later) and the waking up at all hours of the later morning. When the only thing you have getting you up in the morning is the prospect of catching your favorite morning radio show, you are kind of trifling.

The picture at right is an illustration of why school was canceled for the whole week in many parts of Northern Virginia. Beyond that pink line is Arlington County. Note the clean and navigable nature of the road in the distance. Then look to the foreground. That same road is on the Fairfax County side of the line. Note how the asphalt is barely visible. Now imagine the Fairfax County road, with about an inch more of frozen water stuff and more mud, and that was the condition of the roads where I live. Localities shitting the bed all over the place in terms of road clearance. Except for Arlington, which I have long contended is one of the finest counties in the Old Dominion. All bow to the emancipated Virginia portion of the District of Columbia!

I GROK this book is a very worthwhile read. I thoroughly enjoyed Stranger in a Strange Land, a book that I had never heard of nor knew anything about before a friend recommended it to me a couple months ago. I am ashamed that I, a nerd, did not know of such an epic Sci Fi book. I could have read well beyond the 360+ pages that Heinlein provides: I eagerly devoured the book in a matter of days and at the end was left wanting more of the story. Perhaps one of the more interesting parts of the book was trying to understand the projection for the state of technology from Heinlein's 1960s perspective. Apparently newspapers are still extant in the space-traveling future, and grass is considered a premium rug. Who knew?

I GOT INTO weeds over this little impromptu winter break. While it wasn't ont hte top of my queue of must see shows (It's Always Sunny and Arrested Development, I promise to get to thee!), it was on Netflix instant streaming, so I blazed (no pun intended) through the first two seasons. While I found the show generally enjoyable, what with the milk-white attractiveness of Mary-Louise Parker (see left) and the occasional sex scene, I found myself growing tired of the predictable actions of the characters at times. Silas can be counted on to be ever the teenage douche, the little kid is unfailingly freakish, and the brother-in-law is almost too ridiculous to be believed. Another thing that annoys me is how each episode in the second season has its own version of the intro song. I am really not sure what to make of that from a stylistic aspect, since no really awesome shows that I have ever followed have done such a thing. Kevin Nolan is perfectly cast in his role, though, and somehow his ludicrous character is one of the more believable and likeable of the bunch.

NO CREDIT TO NBC's coverage of the Vancouver Games, right from the start. We aren't going to talk about the hundreds of millions that the family of networks is going to lose on the broadcast of these games, that displayed some small measure of bad judgement on the part of the bigwigs at NBC. What was truly horrid, though, was their repeated airing of the tragic luge accident that claimed the life of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili. The violent high speed crash was shown numerous times during the coverage in the lead-up to the opening ceremonies. I really don't understand their thought process in green-lighting this video for a news/sports broadcast that many families would be watching. In the scheme of terrible things that TV/Internet has brought me in the way of shocking videos, this wasn't so bad, but the fact that there were probably little kids that were tuned in makes their decision to air quite disappointing. Also, no credit to HuffPo for posting some really horrid pictures of the accident scene. Nothing like scrolling through a page to find some pics of a guy losing his life. Thanks Arianna!

FIFA FAILS ME in a major, major way. Over the break I had made quite a bit of progress in my manager mode; Zinedine Zidane had lead Madrid to it second consecutive Treble and everything seemed fine and dandy. I had big plans going into my 4th season. BIG PLANS. But these, alas, went up in smoke when I loaded up my save file to find that from the very start of sesaon 4, my team was 2.14 BILLION dollars in DEBT. I had not bought any ridiculously expensive players (rare for Madrid, I know), nor had I splashed out on any upgrades (my staff were all already at level 10). Perplexed, I turned to Google for answers. To my simultaneous comfort and dismay I found that a) I was not alone, that this is a common glitch, but b) there is no fix for this problem. Sigh. There goes 3 months of gaming out the window. Thanks EA!

DOMINO'S "NEW" PIZZA blows. The sauce is the same, the cheese hasn't changed, and the only noticable difference - the crust - is a terrible abomination. In their attempt to add flavor to their already decent recipe, the geniuses at Domino's decided to load up the crust with obscene amounts of garlic. While there is a good amount of taste added, makes the pizza super-rich, and thus each small sized piece becomes kind of like superdense pizza matter in your stomach. Not pleasant. The load of garlic also makes the boxes something akin to radioactively smelly, in that they cannot be kept in a closed space unless one wants to create a vampire-proof panic room. Please go back to unoffensive, normal-flavored filler pizza, Domino's. Please and thank you!

Alright, there are more Events to be watched tonight, enough with this bloggery for the evening. Back later with some movie thoughts.

tuesday museday

2010-02-02T19:40:00.007-05:00

Aloha and hello! Today's muse is brought to you by the letter W. And no, not that really terrible one.

W is for Win: So my pledges today circulated a link to this site: http://animalinyou.com/ Essentially its one of those really dumb personality tests, in the vein of those that would tell you what house you would be a member of in Harry Potter or what sports team fits your personality. I only mention this one because it gave me a most satisfactory answer. It pronounced me a bear. In case you didn't know, bears are FUCKING AWESOME. They are ferocious, yet can be great friends to humans. In all of their forms, from cute to terrifying, bears are the shit.

W is for Winter: FUCK YOU GROUNDHOG! How dare you fail to see your shadow?! Its probably right there, in front of you! Dickhead. We are all doomed now, so thanks a lot. Also, this event is not nearly as fun or funny as it was portrayed in that hilarious Bill Murray movie. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that we are relegated to six more weeks of this nonsense bullshit "winter" thing. I want to see the sun! I want to not fear slipping and dying on ice. I would also like for my car not to look like it has a permanent salt bukkake, for fuck's sake. Who interprets these results? I bet that smug looking bastard behind you has a large stake in sun lamp and blanket industries, directly profiting from this (perceived, at least) extension of the worst season.

W is for Weather: Its snowing right now. It snowed this weekend. Its supposed to snow again this upcoming weekend. Apparently this weekend storm is supposed to be big. To summarize my thoughts on the matter, I have created this little infographic:
For reference, that blob that covers most of Virginia is brown. In this particular model, brown represents the range between 18 and 20 inches. Of snow.

W is for Wuss: As in the Virginia "Democrats" who voted along with all 18 Republican Senators in the State Senate to render illegal any mandates for insurance coverage. Now while I am not too crazy about a mandate, if it means that more people will get better insurance, I like that idea. Way to carry water (another w-word!) for the whole Health Care Reform initiative. Jackasses. No visits to the White House (w alert!) for you!

no tuesday museday, wednesday rants?

2010-01-27T20:48:00.002-05:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah, so the Tuesday Museday never happened, whatevs. Wednesday Rants are SO much better.

Also, today was much more newsworthy, what with the two speeches that will mark the day in history for ALL TIME.

A review of the first, a liveblog (of sorts) of the second.

1) Steve Jobs announces the... iPad.

...

Firstly, what the fuck kind of name is iPad? Its menstrual overtones aside, it just seems too close to iPod for my liking, and really is it a Pad? A Slate I will believe, a Tablet sure, but a Pad? A Pad is something I take casual notes or doodles on. Read eBooks, listen to music, watch videos, make presentations, etc... I am not so sure. So the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly about the iPad:

The Good:

- Interface: from what I have seen, the way a user interacts with the iPad seems pretty cool. Being able to flick and drag pictures in iPhoto looks like a lot of fun. It also strikes me as an intuitive way to work with pictures. The same can be said for what I saw from Keynote for iPad... if my work necessitated using such a device to create presentations, I would gladly work for hours on it.

- Battery life: good god, 10 hours!?! Thats freaking awesome.

- Promise: I see this iPad being able to do a lot of things in the future. A LOT of things. It seems kind of unwieldy now (what with the dongles and all), but I think the concept holds a lot of promise for the future of gaming, for computing, and for media consumption. More on this later....

The Bad:

- Inputs/outputs: sweet baby Jesus... the dongles! What the hell is going on with these dongles? Since when is the uber design-conscious Apple in the market of selling us devices that need so many god damn DONGLES! When you need a dongle for a USB cable... YOU'RE NOT KABLAMMO.

- Six (6) price points?!/! wtf is that, Apple? That seems like QUITE the M$ maneuver. I thought one of the features of Apple's sales strategy was that there are few options, that the consumer merely had to pick an Apple product based on their specific needs and go with it.

The Ugly:

- The design I mentioned earlier, the fact that the machine looks somewhat strange (infinite bevel, what's with that Apple?), is somewhat un-Apple. I doubt that the machine was rushed per se, but I think that a lot more could have been done to make the design more aesthetically pleasing.

- Home button, really?

- NO MULTITASKING. WHAT. THE. FUCK.

...more on iPad later, when I have had more time to digest it all and read more about the tech specs.

----

2) President Obama's 1st SOTU.

Alright, here is where Obama either starts the trend towards being the next Reagan or the next Carter. My thoughts, as they come to me, with no timestamp or attention to grammar:

- Pelosi is looking particular skeleton-y tonight. Hot.

- I HATE ERIC CANTOR, WHAT A DOUCHE.

- Obama is cracking joke(s). More than one? Hmm, I liked the one asking for applause from the Repubs re: tax cuts. Nice.

- JOBS. Where are the JOBS?! A jobs bill? Didn't we already try that?

- Small business help, eh? Thought the elephant brigade would like that? No? Just big businesses these days? Cool.

- FUCK YOU ERIC CANTOR! I bet he is giving an h-job to Boehner on the sly. GO DIE.

- More smiles.

- Jobs bill on the desk without delay? Just like the health care bill? ORLY

- How long should America put its future on hold. Love it!

- FUCK YEAH AMERICA 1st PLACE FTW.

- Don't want to punish banks? I think we should consider that one, they seem like they need some punishing. REEEEAAALLL REFORM, we gotta get it right.

- Disagree with overwhelming scientific evidence of climate change - cold icy stare towards repubs - joe biden laughs in the background. I laugh in the background.

- What are we going to export? Our sadness? I am pretty sure exporting requires things to be made here, which we don't do anymore.

- All this talk about trade... you are starting to lose me here Barry...

- Oh, education, thats good. Race to the Top? World class education! Yeah! Buzzwords.

- COMMUNITY COLLEGES YEEAAASSSS. Revitalize those guys, plz. And end FFEL, sure that sounds good. 10k tax credit for 4 years of college? Sexy.

- Joe Biden, professional train man, knows something of these "middle-class" people we hear so much about.

- ugh, health insurance reform... did we have to bring that up? kind of a blight on the congress as of late.

- MORE LOLS. Healthcare LOLS. So funny?

- NO MORE FATS, thats what I have been waiting for! backyard gardens for all!

- AGAIN WITH THE LOLS.

- enough with the healthcare already - what?

- did you hear that? if you have better ideas, let him KNOW. So lets start all over again, or something.

- ooo, forceful hand motions. very good.

- WHAAA NBC END THAT OVERHEAD VIEW. NOW.

- womp wonk wont, deficits...

- the CONRAD-GREGG abortion?! really? we are talking about that thing? horrible.

- "thats how budgeting works"... SNARKITUDE. thats something even I know how to do!

- and more snark. comical. I kind of want a snack right now.

- this SOTU has to have set the record for JOKES and JOKES. Man this guy is funny.

- yikes, poor RBG, she doesn't look so hot right now.

- earmark some reform, why not?

- confirm my appointments, YOU ASSFUCKS. Why hasn't he straight up javelin-ed some repubs right now.

- Mitch McConnell needs this thing. Badly.

- has Napolitano made out with Reno yet?

- ugh, Iraq is SO 2000-late. Good thing its coming to an end? Soon? Maybe?

- show me more Jill Biden. She is a FOX.

- JFK and REAGAN? My god man, you could have the best hair of any president, ever.

- zooooooonnnnning out.

- and still, disinterested. is there a pit orchestra that can start playing?

- WOMEN AND GAYS?! come on, this is rose garden speech material at best. jk, love both of those groups.

- haha, i promised some change* (*change not actually guaranteed)

- ... no more jokes now. just Serious America Talk. good?

- ok.... wrap it up please.

/end.

PS - Geithner stiffarm. lol.

um, rex...

2010-01-20T20:01:00.005-05:00

I think google ads are trying to tell you something...

tuesday museday

2010-01-19T21:22:00.009-05:00

This week's edition is brought to you by the letter 'S.'

S is for Schadenfreude - I was feeling it during this weekend's NFL playoff action. Big time. First on the plate were the Dallas Cowboys, with their crazy owner and comical quarterback/coach combination. I must admit that I was nervous that the Cowboys were going to live up to all of their big talk and put a hurting on the Vikings, who aside from brutalizing my Giants hadn't had a convincing performance in about a month. Many of the professional prognosticators called the game "a 50-50 coinflip," and I sure as hell didn't want Tony Romo's goofy-ass face coming up heads. Fuck that guy. Luckily for me, though, the Vikings put it ON the Cowboys, demolishing them 34-3. Score one for the Dallas-haters. The next matchup looked even less promising, with the Jets taking on the Marmalard-powered Chargers. Surely, the Dislexy Rexy coached Jets would fall to the mighty SuperChargers, right? WRONG! I was treated to another delicious serving of schadenfreude when Norval onside-kicked his team's playoff chances over to the Jets. Nate Kaeding also played his part too, reliving his delicious fail of 2005... times 3! How WONDERFUL!

S is for Scott Brown - Massachusetts' newest Senator! Yay! We are now liberated from Obamacare, socialism, et al. forever and ever. Way to go Massholes!

S is for Sadness? - See above.

S is for Stuck - as in stuck between that place where you don't know whether to laugh or cry. I really wish our government weren't so dysfunctional as to let 41 members of a deliberative body block the will of 59, but that being the case, the results in Massachusetts tonight are disappointing (crying). The ineptitude of the Democrats since November 2008 has been almost comical (laughing). Notice S is not for Surprise in this case. After recent polls showed Brown surging, the writing was pretty much on the wall for Coakley. What is it with Democrats putting up doo doo butter candidates to lose hold of offices? Last November, I thought the lesson was learned with Virginia getting this ascot-wearing douche as its Governor. The Democratic Party has proven itself to be FECKLESS in the senate, so I am not shocked that they managed to lose this seat and imperil meaningful healthcare reform.

The picture above is like the 5th Google images result for "fecklessness." I am not one to argue with Google, so I kept Gin Lane in here. Maybe thats a vision into America's new, terrible future

S is for Soccer news - in three acts: Madrid lose to Athletic Bilbao (ugh), Clint Dempsey injures knee (double ugh), and DC United sign Danny Allsopp (wt ugh). Maybe S is for SHITTY Soccer news? Hopefully relief from ugh will come next week.

tuesday museday mobile

2010-01-12T15:21:00.000-05:00

Hello! Greetings from my gmail account as I try to write my latest installment of the muse on the go. Whats the rush, you ask? Well I am going to the movies tonight, and since all reputable and decent theaters are literal tens of miles away, its a bit of a trek and I don't reckon I will be back in any time to muse later on tonight. So there we have it!

Onwards, with the mobile, abbreviated muse:

Netflix - continues to amaze me. Due to a snow day on Friday and the general lax nature of my Saturday, I was able to catch up on a season and a half of 30 Rock via internet streaming through the PS3 and watch a couple of movies as well. BAM! The movies load pretty fast on the player, and skipping ahead/back to scenes is super easy with the user interface they have created. I would say that instant access to all of these shows and movies is perhaps better than the DVD rental portion of the service. If only I had a decent TV to watch all of these fantastic movies/shows on...

The TV Situation - is becoming just that, a situation. Of the bad variety. After starting the long-term borrowing of the PS3 for the winter/spring, I have been filled with a good deal of regret that I don't have an adequate tv on which I can watch movies/play games. Actually, the tv is fine for watching movies, but the playing of video games has been a tale of constant sadness. After noticing that the menus on FIFA10 were damn near unreadable on my tv, I endeavored to get an HDMI-DVI converter cable so I could play the PS3 on my computer monitor. I found one at monoprice.com for 4 bucks and I thought I was good to go. Had it shipped extra fast for more game-time. Well, the thing comes in the mail and I try hooking it up to my monitor and GUESS WHAT... some fucking encryption crap called HDCP that is hard-coded into the PS3 prevents it from sending HDMI signal to an output device that is not HDCP compliant. As my monitor predates HDCP my months, I am, as they say, shit out of luck! Great. More fucking squinting at the tv screen hoping that I am not making my already poor eyesight even poorer.

Is there anything better than the NFL Playoffs? No, no there isn't. Non-Green Bay/New England/Cincinnati/Philadelphia fans were treated to quite a spectacle this weekend in the wild card round. Most right-thinking people pretty much hate the Pats and the Eagles anyway, so it was quite a treat to see those teams fall flat on their faces against opponents that were all too ready to punch them in the mouth. I must admit I felt a little bad for the Bungles, as well, they are the Bungles and one of their players died this year. Kinda wish that karma would balance out with at least one playoff victory. Bro well. Green Bay's loss to the Cardinals provided ample lols, more than I could expect for a wild card match, and which is all that I can ask for in a football game where I really don't care which team wins. Here's to hoping that next week brings equal excitement, and the demise of Romo and Marmalard.

The big chill - is still getting on my nerves. Someone call the Arctic and tell it to take its fucking cold ass air back. We in the warmer climes can DO WITHOUT it. Now I like a good snow day as much as the next guy, but these days of barely cracking the freezing mark and nights that plunge into the teens are getting OLD, FAST. Luckily, each cold ass day that passes means we are that much closer to glorious spring.

Alright, time to head out of work early and begin the long trek to civilization for this movie outing.

tuesday museday 2010

2010-01-05T19:45:00.009-05:00

Happy New Year! I know I was absent for some time over winter break, but thats just the way things go when the sun and fun of Florida provide ample distraction. Actually, who am I kidding? I rarely went outside, and when I did it was to do yardwork for my mom. My break was full of playing FIFA10 and watching HD movies on my parent's new TV.

Anyway, upwards and onwards to the inaugural muse of the year:

wtf cold weather?! - Holy crap its cold outside. Where is that global warming Al Gore promised me in that movie a couple of years ago? You know the one he made on his Mac that scared the crap out of everyone and got him a Nobel Prize? Way to renege, dude. I am freezing my ass off here, and you know things are bad when the temperature cracks above freezing and it seems like a warm day. At least there is some snow in the forecast towards the end of the week. I swear, though, if this doesn't net me at least a two-hour delay I am doing to... to... be really mad! Gah, I can't wait for spring.

Resolutioners... I am officially over you. No, no not you (hopefully) ex-smokers or dried up alcoholics out there. I am talking only to you people clogging up my gym for the past two days. As someone who has gone to the gym on a fairly regular basis for something like 6 years now, this January influx is not unexpected, but boy does it steam my clams. Don't get me wrong, I am all about self-improvement and getting fit and all that... heck thats why I am at the gym! BUT REALLY, these people are the worst. Its damn near impossible to get a treadmill to warmup on, and when I do find one, I am next to the smelly old guy! Come on! Ab machines? Forget about it. The newbies are using up all of those as well. Seriously, though, the fact that all these people are deciding at THE SAME FUCKING TIME to get in shape pisses me off. Getting healthy is something you want to start working on PROMPTLY. When you look at yourself in the mirror one day and realize you have to shape up, join a gym THAT DAY. Don't fucking put it off until some arbitrary day WHEN EVERYONE ELSE will be doing the SAME THING. It just makes things shitty for everyone. Put down the god damned hamburger and get on the stairmaster this MINUTE (not literally this minute because that would compound the problem, but you know what I mean.) GAH.

Netflix - I can't believe I waited so long to get on this train. Now that I'm on it, though, I couldn't be more excited for the ride! Within minutes my mailing queue was stocked and my watch instantly list was extensive. I may not have mentioned this before, but I really like movies. I really don't like going out of my way to get them, though. Netflix really seems like it is going to bridge that gap nicely. First movie up on the queue is The Wrestler. Some other great movies are to follow, so I am thinking the blog may benefit from this new service by adding a new movie review feature (!)

New York "Football" Giants - the football is in quotes because I am not sure if the team knew what sport they were supposed to be playing for the past couple of weeks. I really wasn't expecting all that much from the team following the fucking disgrace that was the Panthers game, but they really exceeded my expectations for shittyness with that stinker they laid in Minnesota. At least Bill Sheridan's head got rolling pretty quickly thereafter, but I am really hoping there is is another shoe to drop soon. And by shoe I mean Kevin Gilbride and by drop I mean get ditched in favor of an offensive coordinator worth a damn.

Onward and upward for the week, there may or may not be a book review soonish.

tuesday museday SEQUEL

2009-12-16T20:24:00.010-05:00

... and we're back for part 2 of the NFL "of the Decade" edition of tuesday museday (on a wednesday no less!)

with no further ado, nos. 6 through 10!

6) Play of the Decade: Manning to Tyree in Super Bowl XLII

Apologies to the Music City Miracle (which actually occurred in the playoffs following the 1999 regular season, so I don't feel that bad), but this play was one of the wildest, perhaps flukiest, and definitely memorable plays of the decade. This play came on a career-defining drive for Manning, going for the win against a Patriots team that nearly everyone expected to go 19-0. After Manning gets out of the clutches of the Patriots pass rush, he seemingly lobs the ball into the middle of the field, where shockingly there is a Giants receiver waiting for the pass. Tyree goes up for it, and PINS the ball to his helmet and deftly prevents the pigskin from touching the ground. Rodney Harrison is simultaneously too shocked and unaware to try to strip the ball from the receiver. A few plays later, the drive is completed with a Manning TD pass to Burress and the Super Bowl of the Decade is pretty much over.

7) Upset of the Decade: Giants over Patriots in Super Bowl XLII

Recency effect! You are a Giants fan! What about the Patriots over the Rams in XXXVI?! STFU, I say. You can't tell me that beating the team that had YET TO BE DEFEATED and which had set NUMEROUS OFFENSIVE RECORDS in the process doesn't qualify as the upset of the decade. At least this is my last post that involves the Giants. The Patriots on the other hand...

8) Call of the Decade: Tuck Rule in 2001 Raiders vs. Patriots AFC Divisional Game

Note: I am not saying its the best or worst call of the decade, I am simply noting its importance. The "tuck rule" becomes the savior of the Patriots and the doom of the Raiders. Three weeks after Walt Coleman's controversial call, the Patriots win Super Bowl XXXVI and two subsequent titles, the Raiders make it to XXXVII, but slide into ignominy for the rest of the decade (one can envision an alternate universe where if the call were different, the Raiders win the game and somehow don't end up drafting this "quarterback" some years later). I am not sure if one call so dramatically impacted the fates of the teams and careers of the players involved so much as this one.

----

Things that rank among "of the Decade" are not always great. For items 9 and 10, I have some thoughts on things that were not so hot this decade. Even though there are only two selections, I think you will notice a distinct pattern:

9) Bust of the Decade: Detroit Lions 1st Round Draft Picks (2002, 2003, 2005)

Mssrs. Harrington, Rogers, and Williams all join forces to create a megabust for this worst thing of the decade. Since their suckitude is patently clear, I will not elaborate more.

10) Worst Team of the Decade: Detroit Lions

42 wins DTD (decade to date) with a record setting 0 win season thrown in there qualifies this team for the inglorious title of Worst Team of the Decade. Again, the craptastic quality of this team is self-evident, so the analysis is unnecessary.

---

I hope you, dear reader, have enjoyed this DiR as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I may feel inspired to do a few more before we finally say goodbye to the aughts, but not before Saturday, as I will be on an epic road trip until then.

tuesday museday

2009-12-15T22:01:00.003-05:00

Another Tuesday, another (two part!) muse:

Ah, its that truly magical time that comes around every ten years, when we can take a subject matter and analyze it through the lens of the decade gone by. The subject matter at hand today is the NFL. The aughts represent my first full decade of football memories, and to celebrate this fact (and to gloss over its corollary, that I am getting old) I propose a Decade in Review for the NFL. The DiR consists of a series of "of the Decade"s. For example, if I were to have a "Top Restaurant Discovery of the Decade" it would surely be Chipotle. Before being introduced to its burritos back in 2002, Mexican food was purely a 3rd rate sit down dinner experience for me. Discovery of Chipotle was a watershed moment in restauranting for me for the rest of the aughts. As such, it gains "of the Decade" status. Make sense? Alright, now that I am hungry for a burrito, back to football we go. Seeing as how the decade represents 10 years, I chose 10 areas to highlight. With pictures! Please and thank you!

1) Offensive Player of the Decade: Peyton MANNING

Peyton Manning was selected to the 2000 and 2002-2008 Pro Bowls; was named NFL MVP in 2003, 2004, and 2008; was Super Bowl XLI MVP and Champion; and has been the face of the NFL for a greater part of the decade. He has coached the winningest team of the decade, the Colts, a team that would be a mere shell of itself without him running the show from the quarterback position. Some might cry out that Brady is 3x as much of a champion and thus deserves the award, but I will hear no such arguments. The Pats could have probably achieved a portion of their success without him as QB. The Colts, not so much.

2) Defensive Player of the Year: Ray LEWIS

Ray Lewis was selected to the 2000-01, 2003-04, and 2006-08 Pro Bowls; was named Defensive Player of the Year in 2000 and 2003; was Super Bowl XXXV MVP and Champion; and has some of the sickest pre-game dance moves in the league, which are an inspiration to millions of Baltimorons (I was going to link to a Ravens-themed wedding reception, in which the overweight white groom does his best Lewis impression - God help us - but sadly its a private vimeo video now). Anywho, Lewis is a physical freak, being a bulwark on a formidable defense for the past decade.

3) Team of the Decade: New England Patriots

The Pats appeared in Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVII, XXXIX, and XLVII - claiming the championship in the first 3. They were also the first team to ever go 18-0, which was great and all, except that season had 19 games. Haha! But seriously, even though I hate them, I have to give credit where credit is due. Spygate, 18-1, and Bill Belichick's loathsomeness aside, this team will forever be synonymous with 2000s success.

4) Coach of the Decade: Bill BELICHICK

Bill Belichick started off the decade with a shrewd move - vacating the Jets coaching job within a day of receiving it, and went on to coach the Pats to their three Super Bowl crowns and their memorable Super Bowl loss to the Giants. I really dislike this dude (he may even be a cheater), but he, like his Pats, will forever be synonymous with success in the aughts.

5) Super Bowl of the Decade: XLII (Giants vs. Patriots)

Undefeated Pats cruise to their crowning moment, 4th Super Bowl in the decade, and a special place in the history boo... OH WAIT. The GIANTS win this one. Guided by a MANNING?! This is a total nightmare for the Pats, a wondrous event for Giants fans/Pats haters/and the '72 Dolphins all the same. In my (clearly) unbiased opinion, hands down Super Bowl of the decade, perhaps of all!

....

[Numbers 6 through 10 to appear in tomorrow's muse sequel]

kit quick hit!

2009-12-14T21:41:00.005-05:00

A possible feature? In the future? We'll see...

For now, though, two hearty helpings of FAIL in the world of kits, sadly both involving my favoured (note the English spelling!) sporting apparel maker adidas.

1) Just wandered over to Kitbag today to see what was going on in the world of purchasable kits and other soccer paraphernalia and noticed this little gem in the upper right of my screen. What would that be? Stevie G and his mug hawking "Liverpool European Away Kits." Ah yes, those kits that you will be donning in the prestigious Europa League, Mr. Gerrard? And, what? They are 15% off you say? What a shock! A great value for an item that will remind Liverpool fans of an utterly uninspiring and miserable European campaign this year. They should be giving these horrible things away, as a courtesy to fans, so they have something with which they can wipe away their salty scouser tears.

Liverpool better shape up before they get the Newcastle Treatment

2) Apparently, adidas unveiled the WC 2010 Nigeria kit a little too early. How early? Well, it would appear so early that the Nigerian FA didn't even have time to approve the design! I know adidas are eager to trot out their WC2010 offerings, but before the country's federation has time to approve them? Slow down there, Adi.

[image via football shirt blog @ footballshirtculture]

tuesday museday

2009-12-08T22:26:00.003-05:00

First, to get everyone in the Christmas (holiday?) spirit, here and here are videos of one of my favorite holiday-time songs, Riu Riu Chiu. Its a medieval Spanish (Galician) folk song, about Jesus and wolves or something. I like how its sung in canon, and how the second super-Spanish version features people playing authentic medieval instruments.

Anyways, onwards to the muse:

Concentrated muse today, on a subject that has been on my mind for some time now. What with the events of my high school reunion and school field trip to my alma mater happening in the past weeks, I have been thinking about what impact these respective institutions have had on shaping me as a person/student/educated fellow. I like to think of it as assessing educational value added. This is not a new concept at all, higher ed wonks have been analyzing this concept for some time now, taking a critical eye towards what colleges actually do with those bright young people to whom they give access to their ivory towers.

Taking stock of the person I was (or I now view myself to have been), I can't say that my experience in college improved me all that much as a student. I think most of the habits, skills, and academic interests I have now remain unchanged since I graduated from high school some 5 years ago. I still write in mostly the same way, study in the same way, think in similar ways, and generally go about my intellectual business the way I did when I was a wide-eyed 18 year old coming out of high school. As a point of comparison, I think high school vastly changed the kind of student I was. In high school I was exposed to a level of academic rigor and enrichment that I had never before seen. I would say that I had to "level up" accordingly. I was taught to write (in some form or function), to think, to learn in a whole new way. Not to say that classes didn't frustrate or challenge me in college, but usually these obstacles were a function of the professor being hard to reach/too focused on research/weird to make the class as useful as it could have been. I found myself relying on the skills I learned in high school to get by in these classes, but never really needed to change the way I went about things to do well. The "leveling up" wasn't nearly as great as it was in high school.

Was/is it foolish to expect such an increase at the college level? Maybe, maybe not. I can't argue that I wasn't changed for the better through my experience in college - I met some truly amazing people, had some wonderful leadership opportunities, and matured quite a bit as a person. Is that the purpose of college though? Couldn't the same result be achieved through other means? Isn't the aim to change the way that students think and engage with the material they are presented? I am not sure of the answers to these questions, but they sure got me thinking.

So where is the educational value added, especially for someone like me who majored in a non-applied science and a liberal art? I am not convinced I am at all "smarter" for the experience. Sure, I may know more historical facts or be able to tell you how the cell cycle works (or not?), but really I learned these things from either reading a book (something I learned to do long, long ago) or a PowerPoint slide (just long ago), not from any special insight from a professor or TA. Now I don't mean to poo poo on ALL of my in-class experiences in college, Profs. Jenkins, Provencio, Gallagher, Braun, and Confino (and their respective classes) are notable exceptions. In some way their classes inspired/challenged/motivated me to be a better student and change the way I look at the world. None were Earth-shattering though. Kelly, Gullickson, Gecan, Nelson, McFaden, Lampazzi, Torrence, McCarthy... these are names that will live long in my memory, for I can trace specific ways I think about subjects (or how I try to avoid splitting my infinitives) back to these fine folks in high school.

Interested to hear what others have to think about their value added experience in college. Comments, ho!

weekend in preview

2009-12-03T22:20:00.002-05:00

Ah yes, another return fail. Sorry about that!

and, the weekend!

Sport. Oh, okay, okay, yes, THIS is the "must win" game for the Giants. They are going to treat it like a playoff game, leave it all out on the field, fix the problems, etc. Sorry dudes, I am not aware of any playoff system that allows you to lose a game, narrowly win another, then lose next and still be in the competition. Thats just not how it works. Look for the Giants to continue their slide to mediocrity this Sunday against the Cowboys at the Meadowlands. Really this terrible nightmare of a season needs to mercifully end. This team is going nowhere. Why am I so downcast on my dudes? Well, for one, they have a literal moron running their defense. Bill Sheridan is the worst, injuries to the secondary or not. The secondary is not the issue. The problem is that somehow he has managed to turn Tuck, Umenyiora, Kiwanuka, et al. into a bunch of average to below average joes. Also, Brandon Jacobs is literal doo doo. He refuses to run like he used to, and subsequently refuse to believe in him like I used to. He will either hit the hole with authority, or he can hit the fucking bus to the glue factory. Bye.

Also, the USMNT gets to find out their group fate tomorrow at noon. I plan on following the action on ESPN360 intently. Come on Group of Life!

Cinema. Alright, I might be three weeks early on this, but at least I am in the same month as the release. I am ready for Nine to rock my world. Today, I found myself singing "Be Italian" in the shower. I fully expect this to continue until I am sitting Diet Coke and Twizzlers in hand, watching DDL to his thing in the highly anticipated musical. Gah. Cannot wait. What this has to do with this weekend, I really can't say. Maybe I will watch the "Cinema Italiano" video on loop during my free time. Or perhaps this nice trailer?

Drink. Ah, well, I had thoughts of concocting my favorite Puerto Rican coconut-based nog drink, coquito, but realistically I am not sure if I could do my father's version justice. Its pretty much the most delicious holiday drink imaginable, and I have been a devoted fan since I was but a wee lad. I plan to devote my holiday in Florida to learning the art of making the family recipe, drinking dozens of eggs and a handle of rum in the process. As for this weekend, I again strive to try some seasonal brews, as they are a thing right now.

Whimsy. I am really thinking about delving more into my interest in uniform design. Perchance on Sunday I will finally get around to reworking my alma mater's football getup for my first piece of work. Or maybe I will just wallow after the Giants sure loss. Guh.

tuesday museday? tuesday museday.

2009-12-01T23:56:00.001-05:00

Hmmm, retroactive Tuesday Museday on a Wednesday. What is this skullduggery? Sorry, had some Business that kept me busy last night, so I couldn't do the usual Tuesday edition of musings. Most sincere apologies!

But this bastardization of the muse allows me to segue into what should be a New Feature of the blog that should bring more Entertainment to the legion of loyal readers.

What is this brand-new Thing? Well while many blogs may have link dumps once in a while, I propose an even FINER link dump for the middle of the workweek. Why is it better? Because it is an All Star collection of links, from all corners of The Internet. Naming suggestions for this amazing new feature welcome. I am thinking something along the lines of Hump Day Heroics, or something.

Anyways, the segue will be me providing a sort of hybrid between the Tuesday and Wednesday features. And away we go!

Here we have a perfect example of how ab-so-freaking-lutely talented some Internet People can be. Well that or they are so incredibly bored that they produce such works of genius. I mean this video combines two loves of mine (Mario games and Queen songs) into one sinfully glorious union. I am not sure if my excited brain made this up or if it is an actual feature of the video, but I believe the game sounds are some way made to sound like features of the song. And then we have the lyrics being introduced in various forms in the background of the four windows, another stroke of brilliance.

This, this, and especially this are the opposite of said brilliance. They are the work of a hackery of the highest order. If you at one point were ever a fan of Family Guy, it may pain you to watch. I encourage you to do so, though, because any shred of affinity you once had for that hollow shell of a show will disappear.

I really wish this nifty little tool had been invented when I was a senior in high school. That was about the last time that calculus actually mattered in my life, and having this Internet Thing able to solve problems for me (and show all work!) would have been quite useful. The computers, I tell you, they will be self aware before we know it. Now I know recently I called for an epic struggle against a mighty foe, but I am pretty sure self aware machines are sure to crush the entirety of the human race. Or maybe I watched Terminator at too young of an age.

I am really not sure if I like what Time, Inc. is showing me with their 'Manhattan Project.' It seems to me like a spiffy PDF or a neat way to interact with a website. I am not sure if its entirely viable as an alternative to print magazines or web pages. I really want great publications like Sports Illustrated and Time to survive the great journalism purge, but I am not convinced that this is a way to weather the downturn.

TMZ goes to Taiwan, meets the Sims and talks Tiger. Hilarity ensues.

And then there was this image that captured my imagination yesterday. I would just like to note the a) dog wearing a sweater, and b) the fact that he has clearly made it rain on this tortoise in addition to enslaving it as his means of transportation.

tuesday museday

2009-11-24T19:47:00.002-05:00

Back to the quick hits version of the muse, because really, alien invasion?

Thanksgiving is a mere two days away. How fucking exciting is that? In case I have never mentioned it before, its my favorite holiday. ORLY BRENDAN? ITS BETTER THAN CHRISTMAS?! Yes. Yes it is. I put it up against Easter, Halloween, New Years, et al. It trumps all. Christmas is awesome, don't get me wrong. But that is ostensibly only for one of the major religions of our melting pot of a country. Thanksgiving is for everyone, though, even vegetarians. How about that? Sure, its kind of fraught with some questionable overtones (sorry Amerindians), but what good holiday isn't? Halloween is inherently morbid, while New Years just reminds most people about how overrated New Years is. Don't even get me started on Valentine's Day, as it is pretty much universally boycotted/ignored by those not in a relationship. Thanksgiving has the three F's you need for an amazing day: Food, Football, and Family, probably in that order of descending necessity/enjoyment. There is also a fourth F. F-off if you are thinking about hating on this awesome day.

Early entry for donkey of the week, nay month, nay year! Les Miles shows us how to lose a football game in the most inept manner possible. National Championship notwithstanding, he could be one of the worst coaches in HISTORY. What was he DOING?! He goes on to claim that he did not ask for the spike, when video evidence clearly shows that he DID (1:27). To call him "retarded" as many irate LSU fans have over the past couple of days would be both politically incorrect and a disservice to legitimately mentally challenged people across the world, so I will refrain. Les Miles, ladies and gentlemen, idiot and liar.

Continuing with the football theme, I must have watched this clip about a hundred times at work today. You can literally taste the children's pain. Now I know that is horrible to say, but really, who doesn't like to see people get lit up? Its pretty much primal human instinct. Plus, I am pretty sure all those dads on the field could have prevented that first tackle from happening, but they wanted to see how the whole scenario would play out as well. What they got instead was the first entry in a longitudinal study of football-related brain injury. Well, that is, if that quarterback can ever muster the courage to step on a football field again. In happier news, I am pretty sure Nyrel Sevilla's parents don't have to worry about college tuition for the lad, as he will be playing on Saturdays.

Fun fact: despite all the various criticisms leveled at Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini, Madrid are off to their best start in over 15 years. Bring on El Clasico!

Thats all for the muse today because hey, Thanksgiving break started like 4 hours ago.

weekend in preview

2009-11-19T20:05:00.001-05:00

... and cue weekend!

Sport: Ah yes, the return of the New York Football Giants off of the bye week. Will they get off the schnide and get a win after going 0-4 for their past four games? They face an Atlanta team who also come into match at 5-4, also searching to break a bit out of a bit of a funk. Who will rid themselves of the stench of defeat and who will dive fully into the doo doo pit of a 5-5 record? The objective/pessimistic New York sports fan in me wants to say that it will be the Giants taking the poop bath this weekend, so don't expect great things from Eli's Band of Merry (G-)Men. I am pretty sure I could play safety for them at this point, so I kind of expect Matty Ice (does he know that his nickname reminds thousands of people of really shitty beer they drank in college?) to tear the defense a new one. In other, non-handegg news, my soccer men of Madrid are taking on Racing Santander this weekend in a tune-up match for El Clasico, which takes place next week. Racing are pretty terrible about this time of the year, standing at the mighty 17 spot in the table going into the match, so I expect Madrid to win. But will they win with anything resembling grace, style, and team play? Of course not. Will they win next week at Barcelona? Of course not. Will this guy be the coach come Monday, November 30? Of course not. Looks like Madrid are in for The Gene Hackman, professional Uzbekistan coach man!

Cinema: Alright, we all know that New Moon opens in a matter of hours. I will not pretend to notice or care beyond that simple acknowledgement because, well I don't care to notice or care for it. We all know that vampire-based cinema peaked with Interview with the Vampire, a movie featuring then-sane Tom Cruise, then-relatively-childless Brad Pitt, and a then-young Kirsten Dunst. It was fantastic! Anyways, back to the modern day. Is it terrible that I am very intrigued by The Blind Side? I am a sucker for football movies (The Replacements still has a special place in my heart - why?), so naturally this one pairing a warm story and some football naturally makes sense for me. I may spring for a movie ticket to catch a Sunday matinee, depending on how the reviews shake out. Right now, its holding steady at a fantastically mediocre 48, so it looks like I will be waiting for DVD.

Liquor: I really have yet to do enough damage to my new bottle of Eagle Rare, so graciously given to me by dear friend emma. Perhaps some comfort the likes of which only bourbon can provide will be necessary after the Giants shit their season.

Whimsy: So, I look forward (as you all should) to getting a geography lesson this weekend. Most of these renderings are surprisingly decent (Sherrod Brown's Ohio is really quite convincing), save for the abomination provided to us by Georgia's Saxby Chambliss. Really shocking stuff from the senior senator, a purported University of Georgia alum, and all around Georgia man. In case you have a distant relationship with geography, the state he decided to offer up bears a much stronger resemblance to Mississippi than it does to his home state of Georgia. Only a couple of states off, friend! Nice try.

And now its time for the Office - 30 Rock comedy hour of power. Go weekend, go!

tuesday museday

2009-11-17T22:54:00.003-05:00

Ah, the super-late edition of the muse!

A single topic, possibly insane one at that!

So, things have been pretty boring as of late, in many respects. My sports teams are either in a holding pattern (Madrid), tanking (Giants), miserable (Rangers), and unwatchable (Knicks). Everyone has kind of settled out to predictability. Wonderful. Professionally, work is kind of meh, as kids are reluctant to come in to work on applications before December, when they will collectively have a shit fit as they realize that applications are due right after Christmas break ends. Womps there. Congress can't get a damn thing done with regard to anything good (Obama isn't getting much traction in getting judges appointed? Sixty vote majority, my ass.) Its all very rich right now. How to solve this? What would bring me, the country, and the WOLRD out of this morass?

Alien invasion.

Come again?

Yes, I could really go for an alien invasion right about now. Now I am not talking about Kang and Kodos style domination of the planet, really who wants to be a slave to some tentacled horrors? No, no, the kind of alien invasion I am talking about is the kind that you get to see in movies like Independence Day (am I continuing last week's pattern?), where the shit hits the fan for a while, lots of shit gets blown up, but in the end the aliens have some kind of hilarious weakness that allows us to pwn them with our puny, non-intergalactic technology. Alright, yes, I realize that is clearly a sub-optimal way of improving things in this country/world, but at the same time you can't deny the potential power of it.

1) Economic Problems Solved: with the expected loss of labor due to the devastation (sorry folks!), and the increased need for infrastructure repair (see previously linked picture), I see many of our economic problems taking care of themselves after the invasion/war. Everyone likes a good postwar boom time, so I say let the good times roll!

2) World Bands Together: surely nothing could bring us together more than having to collectively, as a planet, have to fend off an alien invader. Partisan attacks and political quibbles would be minimized in an ultimate test of planetary survival. That is, unless some rogue nation decides to cut a deal with the aliens in exchange for a lenient slavery policy. I am looking at you, North Korea!

3) Sweet New Technology: you thought your Android 2.0 based phone was cool? Think about the awesome technology we could cop if we harnessed all the good tidbits inside the alien ships (once of course we destroyed the aliens inside) and used them to our own ends. Cancer? Psht, these Klingon bitches figured that shit out millennia ago. Recycling? Look at this doodad they have here, it can turn these copies of Going Rogue into food for starving children. The payoff would be tremendous.

Really these are only the top 3 benefits to be gained by successfully fending off some kind of epic attack. There are definitely at least two more, and quite possibly four! I will let your imaginations run wild!

/ return to sanity next week, or sooner.

avert your eyes!

2009-11-14T11:34:00.002-05:00

Starting today, I believe, two of the new Nike Pro Combat football uniforms are going to be featured in "rivalry games." Tech and TCU are the first intrepid teams to don these "uniforms" in real games, and I am curious to see the fan reaction to these ghastly/weird looking unis. Tech's isn't horrible, but I must say that TCU's make me want to gouge my eyes out. The whole thing with the "spiky extensions of our cranium" and "blood shooting" and "super fast frog agility" or whatever is pretty terrible; it seems like some intern at Nike was researching what the hell a "horned frog" (actually not a frog?) is, and saw that it can shoot poisoned blood out of its eyes when threatened... whereupon some middle manager decided to run with it and - zap! there it is in the uni! Awesome!

---- oh it appears that in the middle of writing this post, Ohio State's terrible uniform has also gone live on the site ----

---- never mind, it was just their t-shirt, that also comes with an overwrought explanation ----

Anyways, here is a link to a site where you can see most of the features of all the uniforms. Texas' is probably one of the best, as it doesn't change the uniform all that much from their already clean, classy look. FSU and LSU are the clear losers here, with FSU looking like some kind of mutant version of the Atlanta Falcons uniform and LSU looking like they swapped uniforms with UW. Not so fantastic. The linked site does a pretty good job of poking fun at the other aspects of the unis, so I will leave it to them to eviscerate Nike for this fairly ludicrous campaign.

weekend in preview

2009-11-12T21:58:00.003-05:00

Welcome to the new, freewheeling Thursday feature, Weekend in Preview!

Because we all know the weekend starts tonight.

What to watch out for this weekend...

Sport: Actually no too much going on here for my teams of choice. Mercifully, the Knicks will be sparing the world of their horror this weekend. It turns out you can’t blow a 1st half lead when there will be no second half... or any game for that matter! Woop! The Blueshirts will play the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, Ottawa being the capital province of Canada, apparently. That’s why their name is the Senators. To think the Rangers are so named because some Texan owned them once... terrible! In other, non-shitty New York area, team news we have some pretty good football games on our hands. Peyton is going to take on Mr. Brady in what NBC would have us believe to be some kind of armageddon of football - in Week 10 no less! I think it should be a good matchup, but really, nothing will silence the debate between who is the better out-and-out quarterback until we can see them in some kind of one on one deathmatch... where the winner is the crowned the best and the loser, well, dies.

Cinema: Speaking of armageddon, that disaster (of a?) movie 2012 comes out on Friday. It seems like reviews are mixed so far, so maybe I shouldn't judge it too harshly ahead of time. One thing I know for sure is that I am not going to fork over any of my hard earned dough to see it in the theater. Why? Well mainly because I don't need to see it to know generally what is going to happen: the main character is going to have some hardship (the world is ending), will probably reconnect with some old flame as a result of this conflict (the world ending will have that effect on you, see also Jeff Goldblum's character in Independence Day), and he will either sacrifice all (a la Bruce Willis in Armageddon (3rd use so far!)) to save the world, or just do it in some kind of half believable fashion (see Independence Day again). I will save my 12 bucks ($20 if you include the movie-sized Twizzlers and large Diet Coke that are REQUIRED) and probably get 1.5 pounds of Wegmans asian cookery and watch whatever is on cable. Win.

Beer: Is it just me, or did the fall ales this year have too short of a run on store shelves? Just as I was getting into my Sam Adams Octoberfest groove, I can't get it anymore. What gives? Well, I am on a quest to get some new beers in my repertoire this weekend. Those on the hit list include: Brooklyn Pennant Ale '55; Rogue Shakespeare Stout; and some sort of pumpkin ale. If I can manage all three in significant quantity... well kudos to me, I will be in for another weekend I probably won't remember much of. Let's shoot for one or two...

Whimsy: I plan to fully dedicate at least 40 minutes of my weekend exploring the YouTube channel of the fine folks who brought you Auto-Tune the News. Its... fantastic!

Alright, its time to stop previewing and start... viewing?

tuesday museday

2009-11-10T22:33:00.002-05:00

After that brief post fail, I bring you the true tues muse:

So my beloved Merengues fell to AD Alcorcon today (1-0, 1-4 on aggregate) in what was at times a spirited defense of the Bernabeu. As I was telling some friends today, while the loss is disappointing, it must be viewed in the larger context. While this loss may sting (as it came at the hands of a team with roughly 1/400th of the value of Real), it is not by any means a defining moment of the season, or a sign that the Galacticos project is doomed. The team had one bad game (the 0-4 loss at Alcorcon) and could not manage to score 4+ goals on a team that has not given up many throughout their whole campaign. This season does not, and never has, rested on how well the team did in the Copa Del Rey. Imagine for a moment, if at the end of the season the team had come in second in the league, crashed out of the Champions League, yet won the Copa. Would that season be considered a "success" by the fans, the front office, and the media? Heavens no. At best the King's Cup is a cherry on top of a season for Madrid, and at worse its a distraction from other competitions. The Champions League is the stated aim of this Club, and the season truly hinges on success and progress there.

In other painful sporting news, my beloved New York Football Giants lost a heartbreaker to the Marmalard-powered Chargers. Just imagine if Lawrence Tynes had decided to participate in that field goal attempt on the Giants' first drive? All other things being equal, that would have put the difference at 9 instead of 6 heading into that final Chargers drive, changing the entire complexion of that game and rendering Tom Coughlin's gutless playcalling moot. / tears flow freely for what is shaping up to be a lost season for the GMen.

Mad Men had an utterly awesome finale! What a bonus after that dreadful JFK penultimate episode. I honestly did not see the Jerry Maguire-esque turn of creating a new firm coming until it did. And the necessary return of Joan? Perfect. I really don't know what I am going to do with myself until next August when Season 4 starts up.

I am actively looking for the proper chocolate syrup concoction to add to my coffee to make my everyday lattes into mochas. Any suggestions / is this a really unhealthy move on my part?

Finally got caught up on FlashForward and I must say that I like what I am seeing from the show... **SPOILER ALERT** I was sad to see the suicide of Al, and would really hate to see some shit still happen to that chick he was supposedly trying to save. Maybe he will return to guide Demitri from the other side... and speaking of Demitri, does anyone buy his relationship with Zoey? Their relationship is probably the least believable part of this whole show, one that supposes that everyone on earth blacked out for 2+ minutes by some strange phenomenon cooked up by evil(?) Brits, mind you. Something has got to change here. Can Demitri run off with Janis and be her baby daddy or something? And finally... I am really into Sonya Walger right now in a cougar-prey kinda way. Dr. Benford can perform on me any time...

tuesday museday

2009-11-03T22:19:00.002-05:00

And now, with the late-night musing! In quick-hits form because its close to bedtime!

I waited to muse until more of the Election Day results poured in. The results for the Blue Team are turning out to be not so fantastic:

Alleged candidate Creigh Deeds lost emphatically to Bob McDonnell. Are we surprised at all? No. Deeds ran a terrible campaign and ran away from the bread and butter issues that turned out progressives for Obama last year. Coming out against the public option and cap and trade to appeal to voters who won't swing for you anyway is not the best strategy, Blue Dogs! Sry!
Jabba the Hut Chris Christie appears to be on his way to victory in the Dirty Jers. This Christie character might lower your taxes, but watch your lunch, New Jerseyans!

The pain in fantasy football continues, as my team of note plummets to a 1-7 mark on a 7 game losing streak. Hmm, the pain in real football also seems pretty tangible, as the Giants fall to a 5-3 record on a 3 game losing streak. Reality imitating fantasy as it would seem.

At least the RMF side of me can take solace in the fact that it would appear that the Yankees are going to doom the Phillies tomorrow's Game 6 of the World Series. Maybe seeing a ticker-tape parade for another team through the city will inspire the Mets to, I don't know, learn how to run the bases properly and stay healthy for more than half a season. One can always hope, right?

I promise myself, and you dear reader, to have a more convincing Halloween costume next year. I was Andy from The Office this year, and just couldn't get into the Halloween spirit, as I felt that I was just dressed especially dweeb-ily and not in any particular costume.

On Monday I saw Michael Jackson's This Is It. I wavered at times from enjoying what I was seeing (Thriller and They Don't Care About Us seemed especially promising) to wondering why I was at the theater in the first place (the entire movie seemed like I could have made it on my Mac, what with its cheap-looking intro and transitions and all). The overall message I got from the movie, though, was that MJ seemed like he was in pretty good health in the weeks before his death, so really he was probably just negligently murdered by his doctor. Oops! Sigh.

Thats all I have for this Tuesday, but more frequent blogging should start later this week.

tuesday museday

2009-10-27T18:48:00.002-04:00

Single, extra-long muse today:

On this most auspicious day of days, the 27th of October 2009, I am dedicating my post to a subject that has consumed New York sports talk radio for the past week or so. That subject, for those of you who don't listen to WFAN religiously like I do, is what good Mets fans should do given the horror matchup presented to them by the 2009 World Series pitting the Yankees against the Phillies. In this muse, I present my case for why any Rational Mets Fan (a group of which I consider myself a member) CANNOT root for the Phillies.

The Rational Mets Fan (RMF from here on) gets his own title to distinguish himself from the Irrational Mets Fan (raving idiot from here on), who through some twisted logic finds himself calling into NY sports radio blasting those who would cheer on the Yankees and cursing them to fan purgatory. But onto the substance of the argument:

The RMF has three acceptable courses of action:

(1) Bury head in the sand and ignore baseball for the next month. This is a very sound plan, if you are passive enough about the sport itself to not want to watch the culmination of this very painful baseball season. By late November, all baseball talk will have shifted to free agency and next season, which will hopefully be an improvement on the fucking disgrace of 2009. The RMF is forced to make no hard choices in this scenario.

(2) Watch the Series, just root for good baseball (difficult). Observing games as a neutral has always been hard for me personally, and especially difficult in baseball, as its hard to watch throughout an entire game without a compelling interest the result. I admire fans who are able to just cheer for good baseball, its the sign of true love for the sport. This is an exceedingly dispassionate way of approaching a series with two teams that are none too friendly to the Metropolitans, so again kudos to those fans that take this approach.

(3) Watch the Series, pull for the Yankees (as much as you can given that they are the Yankees). Here is the crux of the debate. Rooting for the "cross-town rivals" can be a difficult pill to swallow, but if you are going to root for a team, this is the only choice. Why? Because while the Yankees may be "cross town rivals", the Phillies are REAL rivals in every sense of the word. They compete in the same division, fight for the same pennant, and ultimately their success comes at the price of the Mets'. The Mets play the Phillies 18 times a year... the Yankees a mere 6, and that is only a recent phenomenon. They also hail from a city with which New York has a direct sporting rivalry, with some of the most obnoxious fans south of New England. They are the real enemy. They win, and the Filthadelphians (Killadephians?) get something they never deserve: a championship.

Possible Raving Idiot rebuttals, rebutted:

But I have so many obnoxious Yankee fan friends and relatives, I couldn't stand to have them rub another title in my face! Look, they have ultimate scoreboard on us. This title is not going to really change anything. The asshole Yankee fans who make fun of the Mets are not going to change, and whether they have 13 times as many championships as we do or 13.5 as many really won't make a difference in the end.
I hate what the Yankees stand for, with their ludicrous spending... Well, I hate to say it, but the Mets also know how to splash out a good deal of coin as well, just not as wisely. Sorry, no merits there.
You have to pull for the National League! Yeah, I would buy this MAYBE if we were talking about the Hollywood Dodgers here or the Astros or something, but no one from the NL East, please. Were you cheering on the Braves in '96 or '99? Come on. We all hated the Braves back then because they consistently kicked our ass. This situation is really no different.
They are our rivals, too! Not really. But we are the inheritors of the Giants and Dodgers National League tradition, and they had rivalries with the Yankees! I must admit I am a sucker for the New York National League history aspect of the Mets, but that argument will not cut it with me. The Giants had a rivalry with the Yankees going back to when the Yankees weren't even playing in New York (the Giants poached players from the then-Baltimore Orioles). The Dodgers were foiled by the Yankees numerous times in the World Series back in the 40s and 50s, sparking a rivalry then. We didn't inherit those teams' championships, their records, or their names (a la the Cleveland Browns (minus the championships part! Ha!)) so I don't buy that we inherited their rivalries either. Until interleague play started in 1997, the Mets didn't even face the Yankees in meaningful baseball. Sorry, can't form a real rivalry when there is no meaningful competition (and some would even say that calling interleague play "meaningful competition" would be a stretch).

In conclusion, fellow RMFs out there: we have 3 choices before us. Lets pick our poison.

Oh, and I know I said this was a single topic muse, but I can't help myself: reasons to no longer want to be Don Draper. Blasphemy?

tuesday museday

2009-10-20T19:11:00.002-04:00

The latest edition of Tuesday Museday:

I thinking I need to revise my approach to Glenn Beck. Until now, I have sometimes paid attention to his insane rants whether I caught them on the TV at the gym or in a reposted link from someone else's blog or facebook page. Usually my reaction is to have my jaw drop at his stupidity or my heart palpitate with rage in reaction to the bullshit he is peddling. No more, I say. Insane people can't be reasoned with, and nor should they get any attention from right thinking people. Just like you politely ignore the crazy homeless person on the street who is swearing loudly and warning you about the infrastructure destroying rays coming from your computer (this actually happened to me in San Fran, btw), Glenn Beck too should be politely ignored. "Did you hear that crazy thing that Glenn Beck said on his show today?" No, I didn't catch that, I try not to trouble myself too much with the screeching monkey throwing feces at the wall of his enclosure at the zoo, either. They are really one in the same.

... and having said that, the new policy does not go into effect until tomorrow. Check this crazy rant that he puts on about national service. Apparently he is against the government encouraging its citizens to do things like, oh I don't know, help inner city youths read, rebuild devastated areas, and aid military families. Oh the horror! He also calls the Corporation for National and Community Service "Obama's Corporation for National and Community Service." Sorry Glenn, but President Clinton created the CNCS, so it was Bush's CNCS as well. This whole "service" thing isn't new either, its been kind of big for a while now. While I don't think its the best idea that Disney is rewarding people for doing service, its also a bit hypocritical to say that you would prefer you see people doing service through church or a synagogue, where you replace a trip to Disney as a reward with a trip to heaven instead. /end beck rant

In other news, Mad Men is getting pretty exciting. Betty finally got her pretty little hands into Don's drawer of terrible secrets. What this means for Don is uncertain, but with only three more episodes to go in the season, I am sure the soup is just about ready to hit the fan.

Rangers lost big time last night, which was pretty sad. To the Sharks no less. And by 4 goals. Ugh. Hopefully this doesn't mark the beginning of the end for a season that was showing great promise.

Ohhhh Giants. That was a painful game to watch. Almost as painful as seeing my fantasy team lose by 1 point because I a) chose to start Eli Manning over Kyle Orton, b) Denver's D couldn't get one more fumble/sack/int, and/or c) LaToeinjury decided to actually get some points while on my bench. Its gotta be wins from here on out if I have any hope for playoff football.

Again, back to the other writing... and bourbon?

tuesday museday

2009-10-13T20:34:00.002-04:00

Today's edition of Tuesday Museday:

Truvia update: simply put, so far so good. My coffee has tasted just fine and I don't feel any new cancers sprouting up anywhere, so I would have to say that a week in, the truvia experiment has been a success. My next coffee related decision will be whether to switch from my staple Pilon to an espresso made by Shenandoah Joe. Having the Joe twice this weekend in Charlottesville has really turned me onto this particular brand of bean, but at 3x the cost per pound of the venerable Pilon, I have to wonder if the juice is worth the squeeze. More to come later.

Don't look now but the Rangers are on a 5 game win streak. So are the Giants! The Jets, not so much. Steve Sommers on the Fan tonight made a good point about the wildcat offense that also made me laugh: the wildcat is nothing more than the running game by a different name. Somehow calling it the wildcat gives defensive coordinators a pass because it makes it seem so much more new, exciting, and dynamic. Way to go, Steve-o!

Interesting article about Mad Men I read today in the Atlantic. The author makes some good points, especially with regard to the occasional failings of historical accuracy (of special interest to me as a known history man). I do fault the author for using the word verisimilitude TWICE in one piece, which smacks of insufferable douchery.

Continuing with the Mad Men theme - man, January Jones is really hot.

Thats all for now, I have arguably far more important writing to be doing.

tuesday museday

2009-10-06T19:55:00.002-04:00

In what should hopefully be a new weekly feature, I present to you Tuesday Museday. I will present some things that have caught my eye and hopefully provide some witty commentary!

Today at the grocery store I purchased a new type of sugar, at least new to me. Before I was content with Sugar in the Raw for adding to my coffees and teas, as it is a) tasty and b) pretty natural seeming. The new sweetness in town (or at least my cupboard) is called T ruvia, which is made with the plant extracts from the genus Stevia and the sugar alcohol erythritol. A sweetener that isn't totally genotoxic sounds too good to be true, so hopefully it doesn't taste like ass or cause me to grow a third eye. I am sure if it fucks up my daily dose of coffee in any way, though, you will hear about it.

This completely insane painting has been making its way around the Internet today. Is it just me or do the wingnuts grow more insane by the day? I mean the overall rhetoric of this isn't that wild (there is even a tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. in there!), but the overall presentation smacks of crazy. Cowering immigrant? Really?

In my daily listening to Benigno and Roberts on WFAN today, the topic of the Mets' Citi Field paying too much homage to the Dodgers (and to a lesser extent the Giants). Among their chief complaints was that modeling the stadium after Ebbets Field was a poor start. I couldn't disagree with their position more. Look, the Mets were based as a replacement team for the Dodgers and Giants. In their selection of uniform colors, they specifically chose Dodger Blue and Giants Orange. The "NY" in their official logo comes straight from the Giants. The team was CREATED to pay homage to these two franchises that left New York high and dry (thanks a lot Robert Moses). Ebbets Field is (was?) iconic, and I think modeling the new stadium after another so important to the city's National League history was more than appropriate.

The Rangers won again yesterday. Yay. Their overall record is now 2-1-0 with a big test coming up on Thursday against the Caps at the Verizon Center. I really hope they can make up for their shameful playoff performance with a win.

I renamed my fantasy football team to Poo Poo Muldoon H.E.C. (hand egg club) because of their high degree of suckitude. More on this later.

Thats it for Tuesday Museday for this week. Lets see what other rhymed daily themes I can come up with... or not.

oh what a night!

2009-09-09T21:14:00.002-04:00

Short, but hopefully sweet, thoughts on the happenings of the night:

1) Not really about tonight, but about this night TEN years ago... it was the release day of the SEGA Dreamcast. I remember this night pretty vividly, actually. I believe it was also the night of the MTV Video Music Awards (as an impressionable 13 year old, of course video games and MTV were important spheres of influence in my world). Its kind of hard to believe that 10 years ago is so fresh in my mind, but I guess that is just a part of getting older...

2) Now, back to the present day. The Fightin' United came out with all three, crucial, golden points against Kansas City. Good to see them score in the run of play, since that hasn't happened in weeks. I can't really comment more on the game, seeing as how I could only follow it on the tweetstream from the DCUnited website. GOOD ON YA UNITED!

3) USMNT with a clutch victory over T&T on a 61st minute golazo from Ricardo Clark. It was a gritty match, with the back line putting in a pretty comical performance in the first half. Howard, as usual, was on point and there to play, although he definitely got bailed out by the crossbar and by T&T lack of cutting edge on a couple of occasions. The result is three critical points, so I am not going to complain one bit more.

4) Obama's speech. I don't really feel like trifling around with a comprehensive review of the speech (especially since it will be done much better on numerous sites around the interwebs), but I do have some quick hits that I would like to share:

+ Overall, I liked the speech. Good show from Obama.

- TERRIBLE from the fucking heckler from the Republican side of the aisle. What the hell was he thinking?!?! He is a federal-level official, not some grab-ass town councilman at a contentious school board meeting. Grow up and find some decorum. Actually, first look up decorum because I am sure you don't know what the word means.

+ Some form of public option, although I am not 100% confident that I fully understand how it would work. I look forward to more detail on this one.

- - Mandate... I am not really into the whole mandate concept, but it seems like it dovetails with the public option component somehow, so again, I look forward to more details.

+ Invoking Kennedy and reminding Republicans like Grassley that they need to grow the fuck up and stop fanning the flames of lies.

+ Rhetoric on the nature of government and what it can, should, and should not do. Very nice.

+ + Putting health care reform in historical perspective, and also comparing how we have gotten to this point with respect to major reforms.

+ + + (and I am paraphrasing here) "not the first president to try to fix this issue, but determined to be the last"... loved it.

Again, overall, I liked the speech a good deal, now its time to see how it travels down the various echo chambers and into the public opinion.

a fucking disgrace

2009-08-19T21:34:00.002-04:00

And no, I am not talking about Greg Janicki's performance at the back for D.C. United last night against Marathon in CONCACAF Champions League play, although that could merit a good rant in of itself.

I do make reference to this soccer dude, though:

"It's a fucking disgrace!" (0:40)

Mr. Drogba's indignation at the terrible refereeing in that game mirrors nicely my growing frustration with the tone of the anti-health reform movement and the handling of the situation by the Obama Administation. The Republicans who are intent on keeping the status quo and conning the American people with flat out lies about the proposed changes are making me sick. The possible abandonment of a public option by the President is most discouraging.

Now I am not going to drone on about facts and figures about why reform with a public option is far, far superior to the "fucking disgrace" of a situation we have now - there are other, more informed sources that would do a much better job of that. I also am not interested in going on an impassioned explanation about how a stunning majority of my family falls into that great mass of uninsured Americans and how worry over their well-being comes over me almost every day. No, all I would like to do is probe into some logical fallacies with the Republican argument against reform.

Republican Tenet 1: We need to keep taxes on the super rich low in order to compete with other industrialized nations, to retain talent and to reward the entrepreneurial spirit alive and well.

Republican Tenet 2: We can't afford government-run health care because it would be ruinous to the economy and would be far too socialist of a measure.

Hmm... it would seem that these other industrialized nations HAVE some form of pubic option for health coverage - a socialist measure of course. So... we can't afford something that these "socialists" HAVE in order to keep pace with them? Oh, and relating back to taxes... in order to PAY for this safety net, they have higher taxes than we. Oh...

To summarize in case my questioning tone confused you, dear reader: we can't afford slightly higher taxes on the super wealthy NOR can we afford a public option so we can COMPETE with countries that have one to pay for the other. Maybe we would be more competitive if we had the same system as they? No, no. God forbid we try to emulate these other countries, who are certainly giving us a run for our money (if the Repubs are to be believed) with these socialist shackles. No, no, that would make FAR too much sense for those who would want you to believe that government-administered health care would lead to death panels and rationing (the latter of which we have already, fyir).

President Obama - please do your fucking job and direct the Democratic party in an effective manner. The people who voted for you want a public option. Don't waver. Elections matter. You have the majority, you have (above perhaps any other modern day politician) have the oratorical skill and ability to convince the American people (those among us who are reasonable, at least) of the necessity of change. Millions of lives and hard earned fortunes hang in the balance. End this fucking disgrace of misinformation by the right and abuse of the American people by the health insurance industry. There are times for bipartisanship and there are times for bold leadership in a new direction. Now is the time for the latter.

thoughts on chapel hill

2009-08-06T21:55:00.004-04:00

Yes, yes, by "tomorrow" of course I meant two weeks. Really, I will be back on the wagon soon.

The Old Well

For the second straight year, my first week of August was spent in Chapel Hill for a conference. I must say that, just as last year, I come away impressed and intrigued. On my first night in town, I texted to a friend over some late night pizza, "I really, really like bizarro Charlottesville!" I think that fairly epitomizes my opinion of the place. In general I view UNC-CH as a sort of bizarro UVA: two old, southern schools with fine reputations, classy academic programs, and great surrounding cities. Below I offer a subject-based comparison that help frame my understanding of the place.

Bar Scene: Franklin Street is Chapel Hill's answer to both the Corner and Downtown Mall. I really liked how all of the bars were along one axis at the perimeter of campus. Having both sides of the street dedicated to student revelry and gastronomy offers a distinct advantage over the Corner in the sense that it creates a virtual hyphydrome when there are a lot of people out on the town. Or when a national championship is won (not that UVA would know anything about that in a sport that people care about). The tendency of bars to charge a cover most nights was very perplexing to those of us used to bar-hopping on the Corner. The practice effectively locks folks into staying at one or two places for the whole night, but that is not too bad considering that these $3 charges typically give you access to some pretty sweet drink specials. Overall, I would I have to say that I enjoyed myself immensely each and every night I went out and hope to go back and prowl Franklin Street once more.

Campus: I found the architecture of most of the buildings on the main part of campus to be rather attractive, despite the lack of an overall theme. I think being from Virginia has me spoiled: each of the major schools here seem to have a certain look or profile to their buildings; UVA has its red brick, W&M has its pale brick, VT has its trademark Hokie Stone, and JMU has bluestone from a local quarry. I think having buildings with different styles and looks adds to the appeal of a campus and helps to give each building its own identity. Unfortunately, the campus shared something with the aforementioned schools: a smattering of buildings that were clearly designed in the 60s and 70s - completely hideous affairs with thin windows and jarring facades. Bleh. Overall, a rousing thumbs up for the scenery. I found it comparable to the beauty of its bizarro younger sister in Charlottesville.

Student Body: Now I am going to admit straight out that I am basing this judgement solely upon the group of kids I met during this conference and those few others that I knew before that are students/alums. I must say that on the whole I like what I see. The people there seem to be similar to folks you would find at UVA, except without the d-baggery and big-headedness that comes with being labeled the "top public school in the nation." (To their credit, the Berkeley kids were pretty chill about their school's prestige.) They definitely know they are the shit in NC (as far as publics go) and don't let others forget... they avoid being rich about it, though, which I definitely appreciated. I meet some really cool folks, and it kind of makes me wonder what life would have been like had I gone to this school (assuming I got in of course, which is a pretty big assumption considering you have to be a fucking baller to get in out of state).

Overall, I must say that I found Chapel Hill to be a rather charming place. The town, the campus, the people... all fit together to make UNC-CH one of those places I have a "school crush" on. Good on ya, Carolina.

threestripes revival

2009-07-22T19:16:00.004-04:00

Last post was over a month ago at this point, but it's not as if I have not been thinking about the blog. I believe that my lack of blogging has been due to the erratic nature of my schedule (touring across the state mixed in with variable, odd, and time-consuming tasks) and the fact that when I have had free time, I have not really felt a huge urge to bloviate on any interesting topics. I have been reading some books, following events in the soccer/political world, and researching law schools, so I think my source material is getting to the tipping point where I will absolutely have to write about something to sort everything out.

Check back for a new, exciting post tomorrow!

three stripes, now with tags

2009-06-15T21:09:00.002-04:00

I have taken the liberty to tag almost all of the posts from the past year of blogging. Navigation, ho!

the 228 million dollar odd couple

2009-06-11T19:46:00.008-04:00

Teammates!

What better week to come back to the world of blogging than this one, full of fantastic record summer signings for Los Blancos. The Galacti-dos era has gone off to a record-breaking start, first with news this Monday that Kaka was heading to Madrid and late breaking word last night that Cristiano Ronaldo would be following him there. In total, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez lightened his transfer purse by an astounding 228 million dollars in the course of four days, with no end in sight to the spending, as David Villa and others are expected to fill out the ranks in the coming days and weeks.

But I think the signing of these two players in particular cannot pass by without comment. In nabbing these two magnificent players, Madrid has set up quite an interesting situation. Both of these men have been regarded in recent times as the best in their craft: Kaka a master finisher (0:27) and distributor of the ball and Ronaldo a free kick wizard and stepover champion. Their on-the-field abilities aside, I am fascinated by the dynamic that the two of them bring to the squad.

One one hand, we have Kaka. I think Kaka goes to church more often than my old school, ultra-Catholic grandfather. After recovering from a very serious spinal cord injury at a young age, Kaka has devoted his life to Jesus (going so far as to wear an undershirt claiming as such during the Champions League final in 2007). Even his wife is as wholesome as WAGs get, not to mention pretty damn fine. Overall, I must say that Kaka seems like a genuinely wholesome dude, which is even more impressive considering the multitude of vices available to a world famous soccer player.

TCFW!

On the other, we have C. Ron. Much has been made of his ultra-metrosexual ways, his womanizing (maninzing?), his man tan, and general dandy-ness. It generally goes without saying that this dude is full of himself and then some. He has also been criticized for being rather petulant and whiny on the field and off, so I wouldn't be going out on a limb in labeling him soccer's #1 prima donna. Apparently he likes to cavort with other ill-regarded, pink-loving, gossip column fodder, proof coming from those fine people at TMZ. Basically, the man in both attitude and lifestyle is the exact opposite of Kaka.

Umm... words cannot describe.

So how will they get on? On the field, I can see magic happening. Off of the field... I can only hope Kaka will at least have some kind of influence on the wild child antics of Ronaldo. After all, one can only hook up with Paris Hilton so many times before becoming completely disabled by VDs.

not dead, just away for a while

2009-05-05T11:10:00.002-04:00

I realize its been way, wayyyy too long since my last post, yet the drought will continue until around June 8. After that, when I am bound to have much more time on my hands, there will be a return to form for the ol' blog.

mtp minute

2009-03-31T10:08:00.005-04:00

AmeriCorps conference and hyphy DC United weekend kept me from an earlier post.

MTP Minute for 29 March:

- Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner: Well, I have to say that after his appearance I am slightly more confident in the plan he put forth to save the banking system. While he is clearly not the best communicator (in stark contrast to his boss), he is knowledgeable and apparently competent. I am thinking though, that people might not have the highest confidence in his abilities due to his rather technical way of speaking and his general Frenchman-like appearance. My suggestion to Secretary Geithner? Get a serious-looking haircut and drop the nasal-sounding voice. That way, when you are speaking like a braniac, the American people won't reflexively think you some sort of wimpy, effete European.

- Senator John McCain: I actually liked to hear what Sen. McCain had to say on MTP. He didn't sound bitter or crazed like he did back before the election, but rather like the moderate, thoughtful senator he was before he ran for president. I would like to see him assume more of a leadership role in the Republican party until they can pick some wacko conservative to replace him ahead of the 2010 election cycle, as maybe then he could get enough of them to stop being professional haters and instead resume their duties of responsible cooperation with the Democratic majority.

David Gregory Match Rating: 8.5 - I really liked his thorough walktrough of the Secretary's bank plan, being sure to point out its potential rewards and its risks. The on-screen graphics really did it for me.

new spain kits

2009-03-25T20:06:00.003-04:00

Speaking of threestripes...

Spain unveiled their new home kits recently, shown below:

I am really not sure how I feel about it... I mean the stripe seems kind of cool, but it ends awkwardly at the bottom of the shirt. I think keeping the shirt that proved lucky enough for Euro 2008 would have been a good idea, but then again this is soccer and kits must be refreshed to make the bacon.

Also of note is the Cats vibe that the adidas promoters created for the event:

Prrrrr.

monday mtp minute

2009-03-23T20:55:00.006-04:00

Saturdays of hard drinking never lend themselves to a prompt Sunday MTP report... that won't change anytime soon.

Monday MTP Minute:

- Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ed Rendell and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. I will never get tired of hearing Ahnold say "California"... what a great governor! Anyway, the Govs and the Mayor were on to showcase their support for increased investment in infrastructure across the nation. While the investment is clearly needed, is this the time to be making such huge outlays on so many projects? I say yes. I agree with the Governors and the Mayor on this one. The government needs to make this investment now while the public is in the mood to accept such spending. In all honestly, though, if government hadn't been so shortsighted when we had record SURPLUSES, this wouln't have been such an issue right now, when we have pretty much NO money. Yeah, so much for those fantastic Bush tax cuts.

- Roundtable of Tom Brokaw and Erin Burnett: Nothing terribly insightful here, so no characters wasted on it.

David Gregory Match Rating: 7.0 - Question for Schwarzenegger regarding Special Olympics was old before it was asked, could have really done without it.

umm... wednesday mtp minute

2009-03-18T18:18:00.001-04:00

Yeah, yeah, its Wednesday, but somehow the business of Sunday is still at hand.

Without further ado, the mtp minute:

- Dr. Christina Romer: I think that the Obama Administration needed to pick a more deft politician to explain their economic position, if nothing else someone more pleasant to look at. At most times, it seemed like Romer knew what she was talking about regarding the economy - she is a DOCTOR of the DOLLARS after all. David Gregory managed to get the better of her at times, though, especially when he called out the president on remarking that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. Just in case you don't remember, Senator McCain was lambasted for the same comment made back in September, albeit that comment was unfortunately (for McCain) made on the day that Lehman Brothers collapsed. Dr. Romer really didn't have the best political answer to this question when Mr. Gregory prodded her, and for that I wish the Obama team had someone more deft at the rhetorical arts up at the plate for them.

- Roundtable of David Frum, Katty Kay, Steve Liesman, and Tavis Smiley: Jesus Christ, what the hell was Tavis Smiley talking about? Every time he tried to lead the conversation, he ended up bringing about an off-topic tangent that really had more to do with a political agenda (why poor people aren't being helped in the economic stimulus plans, which is not true) and less to do with the discussion at hand (the fact that CNBC was asleep at the wheel regarding the financial crisis). Was he on drugs or something? Terrible.

David Gregory Match Rating: 8.5, for deftly eschewing the nonsensical comments of Smiley and zapping Romer on the spot.

what an embarrassment

2009-03-10T17:37:00.005-04:00

Well, some postgame thoughts from the Real Madrid - Liverpool clash:

1. So much for the "Greatest Team of the XX Century." Yes, they certainly played like a team that peaked 9 or so years ago. Jesus fucking Christ, this was a terrible performance from my beloved Blancos. More nuanced analysis of the shitty play to come.

2. Iker Casillas is arguably the greatest keeper on the planet today. Saying that after a keeper is scored on 4 times in a game may seem surprising, but in reality without him Madrid would have been down 7 or so goals. He played out of his skin for the whole game, even when the result was far out of hand (just look at the Torres attempt just before he came off).

3. Juande Ramos is not the coach of the future for Madrid. This team has looked like absolute crap in two straight big games and I place the blame squarely on the coach. He simply has not gotten them up and ready for the big game. Yes, he has turned their form around in La Liga, but this team, with all of its talent and skill, should win those games on autopilot (or at least with a modicum of decent coaching). I will say it right here that I hope Real can win all of the games they can against La Liga competition beore tehy have to face off with Barcelona towards the end of the season, because they are sure to lose that game. In the best case scenario for Madrid, Liverpool fail to win the Champions League (I would bet on them) and the Premier League (I would not bet on them) and Rafa gets the sack. The new regime of Florentino Perez (I pray) would be smart enough to nab him up immediately.

3a. Rafa Benitez is one of the best Champions League managers of recent times. If Madrid were to get him, they could do to lose out on La Liga for a couple of years while their play in the Champions League would surely improve.

4. Is the Spanish game falling off compared to the English one? The English-speaking commentators on ESPN sure seemed to think so and I would be hard pressed to disagree. Madrid looked as if they were utterly baffled by the quick, physical play of Liverpool. While Madrid's game might suit them well in Spain, it looked absolutely awful against stiff English competition. Then again, with better coaching and preparation, Madrid might have had a better day of it.

5. Heinze needs to be shipped off to MLS immediately... what the fuck is this guy doing on my team? Although the handball in the penalty area was obviously a blown call, he was still not very inspiring or convincing in the back.

Well, that's all I can bear to speak on right now. I have to wash this disgusting feeling off of my person. Blegh.

cl preview edition, 2nd leg

2009-03-10T08:31:00.002-04:00

Its the second week of March, we have all turned off the heat (except for Jesse, perhaps?) and are ready to tune in to the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16. Last time around, I think I was decent with my predicting. Now I know there is a big difference between a 1-1 draw and a 2-2 draw when the away goals rule is in effect, but still there is only so much clarity I can get from my crystal ball - unlike Mike's new TV, which when coupled with Ashaad's HDMI cable provides stunning clarity... we should expect nothing less from Champions League sponsor Sony!

Second Leg:
10 March
1) Juventus - Chelsea
"Fantastic Donkey" Didier Drogba picked himself off the ground and scored a early game matchwinner at home in the first leg to provide the Pensioners a slim lead going into this tie. I see Juve playing Chelsea tough again, even gaining an early goal, just to see the effort go to rot with a daggerific Chelsea goal in the later stages of the game.
Juventus 1 - Chelsea 1 (Chelsea advance on aggregate 2-1)

2) Panathinaikos - Villarreal
The return leg of the Gyro Express versus the Yellow Submarine just reminds us all that somehow, one of these lackluster clubs is going through to the next round while either Manchester United or Inter will not. Ain't that a b? Anyway, I see the home cooking sinking the Yellow Submarine after giving up that costly goal at home in Spain.
Panathinaikos 1 - 0 Villarreal (Panathinaikos advance on aggregate 2-1)

3) Liverpool - Real Madrid
Oh boy... how quickly can the tables turn on your squad of choice. Heading into the first leg, Madrid were coming off a solid 2-0 victory against baby Barca squad RCD Espanyol while Liverpool were coming off of a backbreaking, nay, season-dooming draw to Man City. While Liverpool aren't exactly resurgent, Madrid seem like they have completely forgotten how to play the game. Coming off of a lucky draw to cross-town rivals Atletico Madrid, Real don't seem like they are in a mood to advance. Expect attacking play to earn them a goal, but it won't be enough to see them through when the Kop urges on their squad to an advancing goal. Rafa to celebrate at local pastry shop after the game.
Liverpool 1 - 1 Real Madrid (Liverpool advance on aggregate 2-1)

4) Bayern Munich - Sporting Lisbon
Why should I bother? When you let the Germans have a romp in your backyard like they did two weeks ago, what chance do you have to advance, Sporting? None is the answer. I see you saving some modicum of face by scoring a goal, but that might be it. My initial hopes for Landycakes getting some CL time may have to wait for some future matchup with an even bigger lead going into the second leg, should that ever occur.
Bayern 3 - 1 Sporting (Bayern advance on aggregate 8-1)

11 March
1) Man U - Inter
I'm not going to lie, Man U didn't do themselves many favors by not scoring away in the first leg. Not that these team seems very stoppable right now, I just think it leaves too much room for a Special One coup through a shocking goal or goals. Van Der Saar needs to make sure he has his head on straight going into this tie, for Inter are no Newcastle and could certainly punish any foolish mistakes the Dutchman could make. Maybe its the puppet admirer in me, but I think Jose will pull out all the stops to zap his gum chewing rival.
Man U 1 - 1 Inter (Inter advance on away goals 1-1)

2) Roma - Arsenal
I think the Voyeur should feel safe in his team advancing through to the next round. They've got their home goal in the bank and will be looking to score another for insurance, which I am sure they will be able to do. Roma will not go down without a fight, though, and I see them pulling one back to great futility late in the game.
Roma 1 - 1 Arsenal (Arsenal advance on aggregate 2-1)

3) Barcelona - Lyon
Well-a, this second leg is going to be a lot spicier than my earlier prediction would have let on. Barca was 'avin a bit of a laffa for the past couple of weeks, but they seemed to have had a return to form after their clash with Athletic Bilbao baggins this weekend. Lyon suffered a recent domestic defeat, but I think they will be inspired by the possibility that this tie presents. In the end, though, the stage and players for Barca will be too much and I see them advancing through (especially when Barca realizes that goals only count when they go into the net, not hit the woodwork).
Barca 2 - 1 Lyon (Barca advance on aggregate 3-2)

4) Porto - Atletico Madrid
While I thought the contest was going to be evenly matched last leg, I didn't see as many goals being scored as there were. After seeing Atletico take on my boys this weekend, they seem like they have got their footballing act together... minus the whole finishing thing. By rights, the result in the derbi madrileño should have favored Atletico by at least 3 goals, but they were lacking the cutting edge in a big way. I see them digging out of their away-goals hole to come out on top in this match:
Porto 1 - Atletico 2 (Atletico advance on aggregate 4-3)

sunday mtp minute

2009-03-08T21:31:00.003-04:00

Sometimes, when Daylight Saving Time zaps an hour out of your day, you get to MTP a little late.

But, that's another entry. Onward to the wrapup:

- Sens. Chuck Schumer and Lindsey Graham butted heads over the issue of the century, the crumbling state of the economy. A lot of the conversation centered around the usual arguments that are circulating around the Beltway regarding the economy: stimulus, tanking markets, omnibus, and earmarks. The discussion of the last point was actually the most compelling one, where both senators essentially supported the practice of earmarking. Mr. Gregory did a great job of pressing the issue on both of the senators, although I think he understood that they were not the worst offenders by far. Senator Schumer did make me feel a little better about how earmarks are now more transparent than ever before: they can be tracked online and each one is tagged to whomever added it in to the bill.

- Roundtable: considering all of the personalities present, I think it was very mild - especially compared to the yakking of last week. I found former speaker Gingrich's take on the administration to be Limbaugh-esque... "Bush-Obama spending bill" and "trial lawyers and judges rewriting mortgages" were especially rich (Rush?). I don't feel like ranting now, but he was just being an Rump Party ass (par for the course). Mort Zuckerman's "popularity, but not credibility" was an especially piercing line.

David Gregory Match Rating: 8.5 - a great showing with the roundtable and the senators, I really think he is growing into his role on the show.

lecture us, please

2009-03-03T18:11:00.003-05:00

A response to this article, of today's edition of TheDailyBeast.com:

As I read this article today, I grew increasingly frustrated with the narrative that the Republicans are peddling these days. I have heard it all over, from the news channels to the radio, and then this article, that somehow this new administration is trying to implement "socialistic" agendas and is trying to punish the "payers of taxes and creators of wealth." It really doesn't make any sense to me and I think its a completely disingenuous representation of the responsible leadership that this country chose overwhelmingly in November.

It would seem that the web the Republicans are weaving these days relies heavily on the belief that the government is the least reliable means to solve any problem, and that the market and individuals will undoubtedly make the decisions that will bring about the correct, market driven solutions. While I think that is true most of the time, this crisis has highlighted that the market can't be relied on exclusively. "No, no no!" the Rushites protest, "the government caused all of these problems through regulation and forcing banks to give out bad loans to people who couldn't afford them!" Right. As the frosty credit markets can show us, not even the federal government can tell the banks who to lend to, even when the money they are supposed to be lending came from the government itself - for the express purpose of lending, no less!

Government isn't the problem, and it isn't the solution. Government is merely a means to an otherwise impossible to coordinate end. And thats where my criticism of this article comes into play. President Obama, as the leader of the executive branch of the government, is in a position to wake the nation up from the haze it has been under for quite some time now (I am not going to lay all of the blame on the Bush administration, we have been asleep at the wheel far longer than that) and he is rightfully doing so. The era of irresponisbility that has gotten us to this point must end and end quickly. We need someone like him to not tell us, in effect, that we are Americans and that nothing we do is bad or wrong (as his predecessor seemed all too happy to do ), but rather that we are Americans and that carries a special burden of sacrifice coupled with unbridled opportunity.

We did not abandon our belief that despite our imperfections, America is the solution—not the problem—to every challenge facing the people in this country and, in many cases, the world... And we believe that our president’s job is to cheer [America] on not talk her down.

It is precisely this type of thinking that has landed us here. We now have a president that lays bold challenges before us, not challenges to go out and spend, but rather go out and serve: to engage in our communities rather than sink away into our overpriced homes. "America" is not a solution or a problem. It is a nation... a nation capable of erring, yet also capable of unequaled opporunity and freedom. Its a great nation, but not an infallable one. I think those who would accuse President Obama of "remaking the nation in his own image" are forgetting this fact. Through more just tax policies, proper oversight and accountability for government, and needed investments in the future, President Obama is trying to seek out "a more perfect Union" so that future generations may reap the benefits of liberty and prosperity that recent ones have abused and taken for granted.

sunday (monday) mtp minute

2009-03-02T11:00:00.004-05:00

Sometimes when you are moving a friend into their new apartment, you don't get a chance to watch mtp when it first airs and instead have to watch the online addition.

This was one of those times.

On this Sunday's edition of the show, Mr. Gregory hosted Secretary of Defense Gates and a political roundtable consisted of "Morning" Joe Scarborough, Harold Ford, Jr., Dee Dee Myers, and Mike "beardo" Murphy.

- Sec. Gates: I was impressed with the Secretary's ability to carefully articulate the president's vision for moving forward in Iraq and advancing the war in Afghanistan. The moves from the administration seem to indicate a real understanding of what scaling up the effort in Afghanistan means: Secretary Gates made no attempt to hide the fact that the fight there is going to be a long and arduous one. Its really good to hear realistic analysis and forthrightness coming from those making some of the most serious and consequential decisions at the highest levels. I am concerned, however, about developments occurring in Iraq that would make a responsible scale-down there less than feasible. If something were to occur there, it would set off a domino effect that would have ramifications on both foreign and domestic policy. As the domestic agenda, made clear through the president's release of his budget, relies heavily on economic savings derived from a scale down in the effort there, any change to the plan could necessitate some cuts in other avenues.

- Roundtable: Fairly standard, barely worth commenting on except for the fact that Mike Murphy was sporting a closely kempt beard.

David Gregory match rating: 7.5
Another solid interview with a big name, yet he let the panel descend into one too many shouting matches.

planetary political analysis

2009-02-25T17:57:00.002-05:00

This article, from Nate Silver's fivethirtyeight.com, has a fascinating and well done analysis of the 2012 Republican race for the presidential nomination. Takes me back to my political science class last year. It's definitely worth checking out.

obama address liveblog

2009-02-24T21:11:00.004-05:00

9:10 :: Obama sure does like the red tie... its pretty much the official color tie of the President.
9:13 :: Watching the NBC coverage, definitely missing the wise words of Tim Russert.
9:15 :: Pelosi's outfit definitely leaes a lot to be desired... is it some sort of sweater? Also a terrible color... Madame Speaker, puke green is never in.
9:16 :: What is it with Obama and jumping the gun for big speeches? At least he doesn't make idiotic faces like W.
9:18 :: I really need Obama to look into the camera for the money shot... his head is darting back and forth wayyy too much.
9:19 :: WOW, Pelosi and Biden looked as if Obama activated the nail cushion on their seats. Jesus, they jumped up fast.
9:21 :: Great line about the "surplus" we had back in the day... draws a stark contrast with the "refund" speech Bush gave in 2001.
9:24 :: Thank you for jumpng the clapping gun, Minnesota delegation. We are ALL glad Minneapolis has 57 more cops than it would have had without the ARRA.
9:25 :: NOBODY MESSES WITH JOE! AM I RIGHT?
9:33 :: The clapping at just the wrong time has GOT to stop.
9:39 :: When is the new stuff coming out? This is all pretty much all what we already know.
9:40 :: I hate the lone clapper.
9:43 :: Could Pelosi be more excited about SCHIP? She was clapping so hard I thought her hands were going to explode.
9:45 :: Lowering of deficit through health care reform... I am no economics-man, but I think I will need to see the numbers on that one.
9:46 :: Yessssss, going for the educational moneyshot. Access to everyone! I love it!
9:48 :: SPICY with the support for charter schools. Lukewarm clapping from Biden and NO show of support from Pelosi.
9:48 :: Obama calls for at least 1 year of postsecondary education!!! "Dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It's not quitting on yourself, it's quitting on your country!" Beautiful!
9:51 :: Pulling responsible parent line... somewhere Bill Cosby is smiling while shoving a spoonful of jell-o into his mouth.
9:57 :: And there we have the ZAP of Bush re: fishy budget practices.
10:03 :: Good story about the bank guy giving out his bonus money. I am sure the wingnuts will find some socialistic theme here and criticize to no end.
10:06 :: "We are not quitters," I very much enjoy this story as well.
10:08 :: Speech over. While I liked the speech generally, I am not sure if it lived up to the high expectations that some had for it. It sounded, as par for the course so far, almost like a campaign speech. Maybe thats an unfair criticism since he has been president for only 36 days so far, but I am still having a hard time his transition in speaking. I think it should be well received, except by those who you would expect to hate anything that Obama said. Obviously I was pleased with the strong education rhetoric towards the mid-end of the speech. I think that line about dropping out of high school was fabulous and should be remembered for some time. David Gregory is doing a capable job of analysis overall, I think. More reactions tomorrow, perhaps.

cl preview edition

2009-02-23T08:36:00.001-05:00

Ah, the refreshing gusts of 37-degree air, the meteorological confusion of the wintry mix, and the thawing of topsoil across the land... it must be late February, and we all know what late February means. That's right, in a few days we will be blessed with the beginning of Champions League Round of 16 play!!!!111 (insert appropriate zomigods and anticipatory yelps here). Each game is super important now and with the away goals rule, the balance of each match up can change at the strike of a single golazo. Europe's - nay the world's - finest clubs (and the assorted Portuguese, Greek, and second rate Spanish dongles) will duke it out for the opportunity to advance to the Quarterfinals. Who's dreams of European glory will be fulfilled? Who will ignominiously crash out? I take this opportunity to pontificate and prognosticate.

First Leg:
24 February
1) Inter - Man U
The Special One butts heads once again with his former Premier League rival Sir Alex when domestic league leaders Inter and Man U face off in this delightful tie. Inter has not had a flair for CL play as of late (epic brawl with Valencia '07, pwnage by Gerrard '08 come to mind) and the Special One's reputation for falling short in the competition precedes him. Those factors, combined with Man U's dominance of form and more favorable recent history makes me favor the Red Devils overall in this matchup. I tend to favor home teams, though, so I will throw Inter a bone on this one:
Inter 2 - 2 Man U

2) Arsenal - Roma
This clash of almost top 4 teams lacks some of the luster that the matchup may have presented in previous years. Everyone is glad to see Eduardo back from his near-amputation causing leg injury, but will he strike fear in any of Roma's defenders? The Professor is known for preparing his sides well, so I would be remiss to shortchange his side in this encounter. I think Arsenal takes the home leg handily, but may not find the confines of the Olimpico in Rome as inviting:
Arsenal 2 - 0 Roma

3) Lyon - Barcelona
In yet another matchup of league-leaders, top of the world Barcelona head north to face off against Ligue 1 Oranjello superchamps Lyon. Who are we kidding here? Barca has to be the runaway favorite in this one. With their lead in La Liga all but insurmountable (despite the best efforts of my beloved Real Madrid) and a laundry list of characters who can bulge the auld onion bag, how can you not favor them against Olympique "leading the league by the skin of our teeth" Lyonnais? I would rather not, but I have to give a ringing endorsement for Barca:
Lyon 1 - 3 Barca

4) Atletico Madrid - Porto
This runt in an otherwise impressive litter of games. One on side we have 6th place Atletico, a side that is not convincing many of its ability to qualify for the UEFA Cup next year, let alone the Champions League. They have proven inconsistent this year, and who knows which side will show up for this tie. Then we have Porto, sitting atop the Portuguese Liga by a slim 1 point, as if being a Portuguese team weren't marginal enough. Bolstered by the unwashed masses at the Calderon, I see Atletico making this one a pretty even contest:
Atletico 1 - 1 Porto

25 February
1) Chelsea - Juventus
Chelsea - the club of 4 coaches in the past 2 seasons - are a bit of an unknown heading into this tie. Reports of a locker room split, a lack of fitness among the starters, and a general sense of malaise surrounding the squad since the ouster of Scolari make me want to discount them off the bat against Juve. Juve, however, have not played in the Champions League Round of 16 in some time, and could display a bit of rust in such a pressure-packed situation. I see Chelsea overcoming an early away goal from Juve to eek out the win at Stamford Bridge:
Chelsea 2 - Juventus 1

2) Villarreal - Panathinaikos
While this pairing would certainly be a dream matchup in the UEFA Cup, its hardly impressive in the context of the CL Round of 16. While Villarreal have managed to place 5th so far in La Liga they, like their Spanish also-ran brethren Atletico, have had an inconsistent season. Panathinaikos, ugh, well they are a distant second in the Greek Super League. When you are not in the running for your domestic title in GREECE, you are a trifling club, I'm sorry to say. I see the Greeks putting up a staunch defense that will be torpedoed by an opportunistic Yellow Submarine:
Villarreal 1 - 0 Panathinaikos

3) Real Madrid - Liverpool
Ah yes, the famed Brendan Sepulveda derby. When I first found out about the draw I was made extremely nervous by the power of then 1st-placed Liverpool, but I am now feeling more confident in Los Blancos. Under Ramos' stewardship, they have managed to pull themselves out of a state of complete disaster and seem poised to lock in on the second place spot in La Liga. Raul is in a bit of a renaissaince, as he is bound to do for a stretch each season, and that will help Real tremendously in the tie. Liverpool are formidible, however, and I think they will have an incredibly strong showing at the Bernabeu. Real have made a habit of crashing out in the Round of 16 as of late, and I am not entirely sure they have kicked it just yet. For now, though, they will probably get their home win (to set me up for heartbreak on the away leg):
Real Madrid 2 -1 Liverpool

4) Sporting Lisbon - Bayern Munich
I am actually looking forward to this undercard match, as I want to see if Bayern can live up to the Champions League expectations that many had for them going into the campaign. After ignominiously missing out on the competition last year, they are back and supposedly primed to go far. Their domestic record, where they are currently sitting at 4th (2 pts out of first), would seem to indicate that they are slighly out of peak form, but I have faith that they will impress away at Sporting. I think Sporting will make a decent showing of it at home, but I don't expect them to make it out of this round:
Sporting 1 - 2 Bayern

The games are a couple of days away, and I couldn't be more excited. Bring on the Heineken/Sony Bravia commercials, the commentary of enthusiastic ESPN Deportes announcers, and the majesty of the Champions League anthem!

sunday mtp minute

2009-02-22T17:00:00.003-05:00

Internet has arrived at my domicile! I have joined the 21st century!

And on that note, I am trying to set up a more stable routine of posting since I will have access to the interwebs at all times of day. In that vein, I introduce:

The Sunday MTP Minute: a quick summary of my thoughts stemming from the day's episode.

Without further ado, the 23 February edition:

- Gov. Bobby "targeted, temporary" Jindal made the Party of No's case for, well, their no-ness and his decision to turn down some of the billions of dollars headed his state's way from the stimulus bill. He must have uttered the phrase "targeted, temporary" at least 10 times, making it seem like the stimulus is a willy-nilly, long-lasting spending bill. While there are some questionable provisions in the bill, it is certainly targeted in many respects and the money is not going to flow forever, so it is definitely temporary. I am sure Gov. Jindal isn't too worried about explaining to the thousands of unemployed in his state why he is rejecting $100 million in unemployment assistance - they most likely don't lie in his voter base anyway.

- Gov. Charlie Crist made the case FOR the stimulus bill, coming from a state where the monies are desperately needed. I appreciated his bipartisan tone, but I certainly saw his political future in the Republican Party flashing before his eyes as he expressed strong support for the stimulus. Best of luck to you sir, as you fend off the rabid anti-stimulus dogs of your party.

David Gregory match rating: 8.0
Mr. Gregory asked some tough questions, essentially forming the debate between Govs. Jindal and Crist without actually having the two duke it out. A solid outing.

mileage tax

2009-02-20T15:05:00.003-05:00

Excuse my tax-loathing Republicanism here, but somehow this tax strikes me as a bit of a misstep. Proposing to tax mileage instead of (or god help us - in addition to) gasoline is terrible. Its simply a horrible idea and really doesn't strike me as The Change We Need. Something about a Republican proposing a tax increase of any kind strikes me as more than a tad unseemly as well. There must be some sort of horrible side effect to it, like screwing over the working poor or making large corporations rich. Hmm, let me think of what it must be...

... oh of course. It helps kill the environment faster! What, you say? Discouraging the use of cars somehow hurts the environment? That's un-possible! Well, this measure really does hurt dear old mother nature, and in a pretty underhanded and not-so-obvious way. You see, dear reader, by taxing miles instead of gas consumption, the regulation would encourage people to drive whatever car they please. There would be much less incentive to drive a light-on-the-gas Prius or Civic and relatively little penalty for driving a gas-guzzling Dodge Ram or some other musclebound nonsense car. As a result, the emerging push towards green cars would stall in a big way. Why invest in making cars more green when people will no longer demand that their cars be gas-efficient? Its a terrible notion; not only does it hurt the environment on the front-end, it also has detrimental effects on our push to rid ourselves of foreign oil as a matter of policy.

So what to do about the budget gap for infrastructure? Well, making the stimulus bill less laden with some of the more useless crap would have been a good start. Since that one is already in the books, I would say that a reasonable solution is to make a special provision in some upcoming massive spending bill (there will certainly be one) with a significant amount of it dedicated to much needed infrastructure improvement. That way the only people who will pay will be future generations of Americans yet to be born, who will hopefully have some sort of environment left to enjoy.

junior varsity 2

2009-02-16T14:07:00.002-05:00

I found this article in my latest lunchtime trolling of the NY Times Education section and was quite fascinated by what it had to say. The premise of the "great middle" is something that I haven't heard called by that name before, but is not a completely unfamiliar concept. I think the parents worrying about these average students are the same kind of parents that worry that kids shouldn't get cut from teams, and that every team in a competition deserves some kind of award. In fact, the article mentions this kind of coddling in detail:

And it instituted a policy prohibiting students from being cut from the orchestra, band and most sports, adding "junior varsity 2" teams to accommodate extra players.

"Junior varsity 2"? Really? There are other ways of promoting involvement in sports and the concepts of dedication and teamwork. There are any number of house and association leagues in which kids can participate with similarly talented kids, often with friends who are also involved just for the fun of playing organized sports. Being a member of a "junior varsity 2" team is not likely to boost the morale of a mediocre athlete, nor is it likely to be a conduit through which an otherwise unheralded prospect will be brought into the varsity fold. Measures such as this one, and the practice of rotating first chair in band and orchestra, simply diminish the innate value that positions of status have. If everyone gets a crack at being first chair violin, being first chair isn't that special anymore, is it?

While I would usually find the same to be true for A.P classes, the statistics would seem to indicate otherwise.

Even as the number of A.P. exams taken by Port Washington students nearly doubled, to 1,134 last year from 603 in 2002, the average overall score climbed to 3.30 from 3.04. At the same time, the percentage of students accepted to four-year colleges during that period also rose, to 82 percent from 74 percent, according to district records.

I am impressed with the way the school district has been able to effectively double the number of kids taking the test AND manage to raise the average score. A common principle in testing is that the more students who take an advanced test, the lower the average will go. Port Washington must be doing something right. On principle, though, I reject the notion that the "great middle" needs to be pushed into A.P. classes. The drastic effects of such A.P. cramming are evident in student reports like this one:

Joe Barrett, 17, a senior, said his United States history teacher went to the opposite extreme in the 2007-8 school year, presenting "elaborate PowerPoints with music videos to keep people interested."
"At the beginning of the year, it was funny, but then it just got tiresome because there wasn't a lot of content," complained Joe, who earned the top score of 5 on the A.P. exam in the class last May. "I definitely could have learned more and faster. I felt like we skipped a lot of history."

From a policy perspective, I think the solution isn't cramming more students into A.P. classes, but rather removing A.P. as the default level of honors classes. Certainly a measure of students in the "great middle" would benefit from taking a level of class higher than the standard offering, but not quite at A.P. level. Setting high expectations of all students, not just the "gifted" ones, could also do a world of good in increasing the quality of instruction without the need to push students into A.P. classes.

a shovel answer

2009-02-05T13:53:00.001-05:00

In a continuation of my latest post, I found this great website that breaks down the stimulus bill comprehensively and in a very attractive manner. The site is linked here. One of the things that I find most appealing about this site is their clever use of Gotham HFJ (aka the Obama Font) in the masthead of their site. Has change come or is this just the biggest Christmas tree spending bill of all time? I'm not sure, but the use of the typeface definitely gets me wondering...

super bowl thoughts

2009-02-02T17:12:00.002-05:00

Now that the gastrointestinal ruckus caused by all of that terribly unhealthy yet wonderfully delicious Super Bowl food has ceased, I can now look back on last night's happenings with a sound mind and body. Super Bowl XLIII had some great storylines: a storied franchise seeking unrivaled excellence (Steelers going for a record 6 championships), a comparatively lackluster one trying to secure its first championship since the 40s, a quarterback seeking a signature Super Bowl performance (Ben Roethlisberger turned in a less-than-convincing effort in Super Bowl XL), and another trying to recapture Super Bowl greatness (Kurt Warner was MVP of Super Bowl XXXIV). The game itself produced some remarkable moments as well - two impressive Larry Fitzgerald touchdown catches, an improbable and record setting 100 yard interception returned for a touchdown, and several shrewdly challenged and overturned calls. A lot of talk today has centered around if it was the best Super Bowl of all time. A case can be made, to be sure. Santonio Holmes' catch for the winning touchdown was incredibly clutch. The Cardinals rally that set up that dramatic play was also great to watch. Through the win, a franchise staked an enhanced claim at greatness. But was it the best? No. Not by a long shot. It can't even be considered one of the best in recent memory when it is so clearly overshadowed by its immediate predecessor - Super Bowl XLII.

Circumstances:
XLIII (43): Those mentioned above... in brief, Roethlisberger had a roflsberger of a super bowl and wanted to prove himself, Warner wanted to regain SBMVP status, Steelers a storied franchise looking to one-up the Cowboys and the Niners, and the Cards were looking to break the 60 year championship drought.

XLII (42): In yet another sports proxy war between east coast rival cities Boston and New York, the undefeated Patriots longed for immortality in the form of a perfect 19-0 season while the plucky Giants, riding high after 3 consecutive road wins, looked to stop the seemingly unstoppable New England juggernaut. Despite having been tempered by a latter day ice bowl against Brett Favre and the Packers and a harrowing victory over the rival Cowboys, the Giants were still given little chance of pulling off the upset. Seeing his brother shrug off the Dan Marino comparisons just the year before, Eli Manning knew the pressure was on to prove himself as an equally capable quarterback who justified the 2004 draft shenangians that brought him to New York. The record-setting Patriots were under no less pressure to seal the deal and become the only team in history to go 19-0 and look every bit the part in the process.

Advantage: XLII (42) in a landslide.

The Catch:
XLIII (43): Santonio Holmes' 6 yard touchdown reception will go down in history as one of the most clutch catches in any Super Bowl. The tremendous nature of the moment cannot be denied... the Steelers needed the touchdown to win, a field goal would not have cut it. Roethlisberger placed the ball just where it needed to be in order for Holmes to catch it in triple coverage, and before he did he managed to evade the pressure. All in all, its hard to argue against this catch being epic to say the least.

XLII (42): Unheralded David Tyree's 32-yard catch was immediately recognized to be one of the biggest in Super Bowl history (as recognized on SportsCenter the day following the Super Bowl). The fact that Manning evaded the sack so improbably and that Tyree managed to catch and hold on to the ball AGAINST HIS HELMET sets this catch apart from most others. It loses some credibility as Manning's throw was admittedly "a little high" and not perfectly placed as Roethlisberger's was.

Advantage: none, its a push.

Overall Quality of Game:
XLIII (43): Featuring an interception returned for touchdown, a safety, and some impressive displays from Messrs. Fitzgerald and Holmes it is impossible to argue that this was not an entertaining game in the end.

XLII (42): With lead changes and spectacular grabs of its own, forty-two was an exciting game in its own right, and there was no blasted tuck rule to awkwardly end the game.

Advantage: XLIII (43) by a smidge.

Better Super Bowl: XLII
With the combination of the circumstances, the Catch, and the overall quality of the game, forty-two beats out forty-three (sorry Steelers fans). Football fans will be long in waiting to see a game match the sheer epic-ness of forty-two.

shovel ready?

2009-01-29T17:21:00.004-05:00

I do not purport to be an economist of any stripe, so feel free to pass extremely critical judgment on the claims I make here based on whatever fiscal weaknesses they present.

That disclaimer being made, though, I must say that I think the stimulus plan put forth by the Obama Administration and passed by House Democrats yesterday is a steaming pile of shit. As an American taxpayer (nominally at least - I promise to make more money in the future, Uncle Sam) I am shocked at the way that this $8xx billion dollars are going to be spent. Here are the things that bug me, in descending order of outrageousness:

1) 21% of funds spent in 2009? Uhm, I am not sure if that is the most expedient way to stimulate an economy that seems to be heading at a rate faster than 9.81 m/s^2 down the proverbial shitter.

2) Only $59 billion in transportation/housing development? People were throwing around Eisenhower-era comparisons when this bill was first introduced. I thought we were supposed to be rebuilding the nation's infrastructure. Just about 7% (by my own math, based on the CBO report) of the stimulus is devoted to these kinds of projects, though.

3) Money for food stamps, Pell grants, and state education programs? Yes, I realize that we don't want states to cut out teachers from the schools and for struggling families to be without food. My objections arise from the perception that the Dems are just hooking up two of their big constituencies (teachers' unions and lower income folk) in the guise of stimulus. Tack on those increases for Pell grants, and you have yourself appropriations masquerading as an urgent financial rescue package.

4) Numerous other offenses to the sensibilities... such as the hundreds of millions being spent on re-sodding the National Mall. I am sure thats going to be a great and needed project (especaially after I saw all the pummeling that ground took for the inauguration), but is that going to really be the shot in the arm that the economy needs? Doubtful.

Now I would love to be proven wrong here. I want the economy to come out of the dumps as fast as possible. Soup lines, dust bowls, and those newsie hats are Depression-era relics that I want to remain as such - things of the past and not of the present. I am just not sure if pouring billions into questionable programs is the change, um excuse me, stimulus we need.

snow pictures

2009-01-27T16:36:00.008-05:00

Today was day one of a supposed two and a half day snowstorm here in FroRo. With the giddiness of a small child upon hearing the news of the school closures, I went outside and snapped a few photos of the quaint snowy scenery. Enjoy!

What time is it? Who cares? Its certainly not time for school!

Its really coming down out there!

Look at that plow job! Looks like we won't be going to school again until the spring thaw!

grading policy

2009-01-23T15:36:00.002-05:00

As I sleepily stumbled through my morning routine today, I picked up on an interesting story reported in the local news. Apparently there is a fight underway in my beloved Fairfax County Public Schools regarding the grading system; some parents would like to see the grading system shifted from a so-called six-point rubric (94-100% is an A, etc) to a ten-point system (90-100% as an A) that would supposedly make grading more fair. Some of the more outrageous claims come from Mr. Todd Gaziano, U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner, who makes the argument that:

Fairfax County's six-point grading scale discriminates against minority students. He has completed his own analysis of the Fairfax County Public Schools Investigation of the Grading Policy and has determined that it shows all Fairfax County students are disadvantaged by the tougher grading policy, but that lower-grade students are hurt the most. Gaziano says because Black and Hispanic students often make up a large section of that group, the grading scale discriminates against them.

[paraphrasing from this article]

According to this outstanding logic, because black and hispanic students get lower grades, and the grading scale as it is hurts everyone (supposedly), the grading issue is actually a civil rights issue. Surely MLK is turning in his grave. A civil rights issue? Calling this a civil rights issue is insulting to people who have legit civil rights claims, say people who can't marry the person they love or those who marched in the south when they couldn't eat where they pleased or sit where they wanted. No, no this is not a civil rights issue, Mr. Gaziano, this is an issue of whiny parents and underperforming minority students.

The whiny parents are those who can't stand to see their child fail at anything and look for outside reasons for their children's shortcomings. I'm sorry your son didn't get an A in Biology class, Mrs. So-and-so, maybe he should have studied better. Oh, he didn't get that scholarship? Well thats what makes scholarships so valuable - they are not easy to get! Suck it up.

As for making excuses for the minorities? I'm sorry, but thats the most insulting thing I have ever heard. Fairfax County Public Schools are some of the best in the COUNTRY, with resources and a budget that most counties DREAM of. There is opportunity to succeed abound. I know, I went to FCPS schools from 7th to 12th grade. And yes, despite Jeff's claims, I am an hispanic student. I did well enough to get into Thomas Jefferson, and then did well enough there to get into UVa. My parents never graduated from college and worked constantly while I was going through the school system, so its not like I was getting homework help or any outside encouragement besides what responsible parents provide. These kids don't need excuses, they need the kick in the ass and the harsh dose of reality that the six-point system provides.

The whiny parents and the excuse-makers need to calm down and shut up. Their points are ridiculous and wasteful, as the FCPS board and superintendent have much more to worry about in light of the budget shortfalls. Six-points, touchdown, ftw.

presidential portrait

2009-01-15T13:20:00.002-05:00

CNN has a good look at President-Elect Obama's official portrait (the picture that will go up in most federal government buildings and such), check it out here.

My first thought: did they have to photoshop the American flag lapel pin in?
Second thought: check out some of the comments that follow the picture... I especially like the cotton fields one (don't worry, it's a reverse-racist joke, one aimed at white racists).

And final reaction: man... isn't it great to have a president who doesn't look like a buffoon?

ponzi scheme

2009-01-13T13:42:00.001-05:00

A lunchtime article I thought was very worth reading, probably one of the best opinion pieces I have come across since I started reading the NYTimes and WaPo with any regularity.

Just a taste:

But think: Was there a better Ponzi scheme than the one that ensnarled countless underfinanced homeowners? Who has gone to jail? Nobody. Who has paid back the huge amounts of money made in financial services? Nobody. Where's the former financial genius who has vowed to return his bonus -- or donate it to charity -- because he was overseeing a huge dream factory that produced nothing more than a stack of three-dollar bills as high as the sky? "Here, sorry, I didn't earn it." Words you will never hear.

Very well done, Mr. Cohen

post-game reaction

2009-01-11T16:26:00.003-05:00

Well...

I am not sure what to say right now. Disappointed isn't quite the word to describe the way I feel. I think there is more anger than anything else right now. I am angry because the offense utterly shat the bed. Eli was less Super Bowl MVP and more Eli ver. 2006. That is, the Eli that was godawful in the playoffs and not quite the quarterback we all thought he could be. I think there is also a good deal of blame to be assigned to some Jim Zorn-esque playcalling from Tom Coughlin down the stretch there. 4th down is not a down you need to go for that agressively when your defense is playing well and keeping the other team to mostly field goals. The fact that the running game wasn't very effective was confusing to me, as they had been effective for most of the year to this point.

Ultimately... this loss was not entirely unpredictable. The Giants ended the season very weakly and only impressed against the also-eliminated Panthers. Going 1-3 down the stretch is no way to get to the playoffs. Now I know the Cardinals are looking good right now, but they have actually changed strategies in the playoffs, which has sort of made them into a new-team. Adding the run game has been a sort of offensive stimulus package for them that has helped balance out the loss of Anquan Boldin. The Giants came into the game with a very predictable gameplan that has been their mother's milk for the whole season. Pound the ball with Jacobs+Ward and let Eli get some throws in where he can. That worked when they were 11-1. Then they went 1-3... what happened then and now?

The loss of Plaxico Burress ultimately doomed this team. Many thought that after the Redskins win that his absence wouldn't be as important as once thought. "The impressive defending Super Bowl champs aren't even letting the Plaxico situation get to them... they are a team to be reckoned with," the sports pundits claimed. I was guilty of a similar line of thought. This loss an the other 3 highlight the fallacy of this logic, though. Without the big play threat of Burress, the Giants were a neutered team. Without Plaxico, Eli was without his go-to receiver. No matter how valuable his catches can be, Amani Toomer is no Burress. You can put Steve Smith and Domenik Hixon together and they don't add up to a Plaxico. Plainly put, the Giants were not a Super Bowl caliber team without him.

Now what? Well for the immediate future I will root with all of my soul against the Eagles. I hate them so. I am officially endorsing the Cards as Super Bowl champs. I know its a long shot, but that will only add to the spice.

In the long term, its clear that the Giants need to replace Burress. I am not sure how they are going to do this, as it took a few years for Eli and Plaxico to build their valuable repoire. What I do know, though, is that the road back to the Super Bowl will be long and arduous for the Burress-less Giants.

Immediate post-loss prediction for next year: Giants finish 9-7 and out of the playoffs next year.

Sigh.

big game

2009-01-11T10:47:00.003-05:00

Short but sweet:

If the Eagles win today, it will be a loss for civilization as we know it. The universe nearly collapsed on itself when a Philadelphia team won a championship, and to have another take one step closer is simply a risk we can't afford.

Go G-Men.

rain day

2009-01-06T16:34:00.002-05:00

Nothing too long today, except to share my thoughts on this Rain Day that the superintendent (supernintendo?) of WCPS has blessed upon me:

- Rain Day? Really? Although I can't complain with the lack of school today, I must say that I am disappointed in what mother nature has attempted to throw in our direction. There were calls for significant weather maladies and as of yet, all I can tell is that there was a sight glazing of ice on the trees early this morning. Maybe next time it will be a real snow day.

- Watching the Congressional Inauguration was a blast. CSPAN is a truly underrated channel. While the other news networks had the usual talking heads blabbering over a live feed from the House and Senate chambers, the CSPANs had unadulterated broadcasts from the chambers, which I appreciated immensely. It was especially fun watching the Senate proceedings, where the newly sworn-in senators had to sign the Oath Book. Now that might not sound funny prima facie, but it actually was entertaining becasue you could easily route out the veterans from the n00bs. The vets knew that the clerk who was helping them sign the book was offering them their own sentate pen to keep as a memento, but the rofln00bz0rs kept trying to give the pen back, as if they hadn't been observing everyone else keeping the pen! Our nation's finest leaders!

- Washing comforters is a pain in the ass and wasteful of my valuable quarters.

- Being sick, also not so good.

- I could go for another one of these inclement weather days tomorrow.

playoff disappointment

2009-01-05T16:13:00.002-05:00

Like most other red-meat-eating, beer drinking American males of my age cohort, I sat down and watched the opening weekend of the NFL Playoffs (playoffs?) this Saturday and Sunday. I was very excited about the prospect of four knock-down, drag-out barnburners that would remind me why I love football and the NFL so much.

What did I get instead? Let me recount Wild Card Weekend:

Atlanta at Arizona: Is the Colts game on yet? I napped through most of this one, as my headache and fatigue of the announcer's adulation of Matt Ryan eventually brought me to zzz's.

Indianapolis at San Diego: Boy do I hate Philip Rivers. Firstly, the man throws like a clown. His release is god-awful and makes me wonder how this man has managed to have the highest QB rating in all of football this year. Secondly, his personality is so distasteful that I wish for bodily harm to come of him at every play, something I can't even say about hated Donovan McNabb (more on him later). I thought my homeboy Peyton was going to pull this one out, but apparently someone forgot to tell Indy's D that its not ok to a) grab a fistful of mask during a tackle, b) interfere with a receiving-man on a ball that is probably uncatchable anyway, and c) one cannot hold even if you are playing defense. Fuck the Chargers.

Baltimore at Miami: I really had no clear favorite in this one, I just wanted an entertaining game and would have been slightly more pleased by a Miami win, but it wasn't a dealbreaker for me. Instead, what I got was a Baltimore romp in which Chad Pennington reverted to his "Hanging" Chad days of floater-ball interceptions and general lackluster plays. The wildcat was thoroughly tamed by Special Ed and the rest of the Baltimorons. Perhaps the most annoying thing about this game, though, was the fact that the Dolphins kept it close enough throught the second half that I kept watching, holding out hope for an exciting game that would never materialize. Ugh.

Philadelphia at Minnesota: I promised I would get to McNabb, et al. and I have. Due to my general hatred of the Eagles and becasue I knew a Vikings win would send the Cardinals to play my beloved NYFBG, I had the most hope going into this game. After the heartbreak of seeing the Colts lose to one of my most hated teams, I thought that fate would smile upon me and the oft-blighted Vikings and bestow a victory upon the purple people eaters. Alas, it was not meant to be. Instead I was treated to an overall defensive stalemate punctuated by Tavaris Jackson's woeful incompetence at the quarterback position. Minnesota had a viable chance at taking the game from the Eagles several times, but they proved that they wanted the loss more. AP was put on the shelf in the later parts of the game, thrusting the entirety of the effort on the feeble shoulders of Mr. Jackson. What a mistake. Realizing that the Vikings O-Line is but a mere fleshy seive, the Jim Johnson - the Eagles D-Coordinator - let loose his dogs of war. It was an ugly sight and a sad loss.

Here's to hoping for a better weekend during the Divisional Round. Here are my preferred outcomes (preferred winners in BOLD):

Baltimore at Tennessee: Enough of the reign of Reed.
San Diego at Pittsburgh: Rivers must be dried up.
Arizona at Carolina: Don't want to see Smash 'n' Dash again.
Philadelphia at New York: NYFBG FTW!

a little more serif

2008-12-28T00:26:00.002-05:00

So I have updated the layout of the site a bit more... I never quite settled on the background color before and I have decided to change things around a bit. I also changed the typeface from verdana to georgia to give the text a different feel. There might be future tinkering, so... be prepared!

smart kids, bad schools

2008-12-22T18:01:00.011-05:00

Smart Kids, Bad Schools, authored by high school English teacher-turned-author Brian Crosby, has been taking up most of my reading time as of late. I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed the book, mainly because of my recent kick in rethinking the way I think about public education. The premise of the book is that while public schools are racked with problems, they are our best option in terms of educating young people that is available. From his perspective of working in Los Angeles area public school, Mr. Crosby provides 38 ways that he thinks our current system could be improved... from my perspective, I am going to provide my own take on 5 of his best ideas for reforming the system.

5. (1) What Building Is Drab-Looking, Has Gates All Around It, with Bells Ringing All the Time? (Hint: It's Not a Prison)

In his first chapter, Mr. Crosby makes the point that schools are designed horribly these days. Even newer schools are bland-looking and set a very negative tone for what goes on within the walls of the school. He also makes the point that the way that school is structured, with bells going off to indicate that students should move on to the next class and with Student Resource Officers (SROs - little more than glorified sheriff's deputies) marshaling over the goings-on of the school as if it were a prison. When you put kids into a prison-like place, and set the tone of expectation that they will screw up and break all sorts of rules, well... don't be surprised when they behave like prisoners and act a fool!

The point is well taken... in the school in which I work there is an SRO and several administrators whose sole job it seems is to monitor the halls and to track down troubled children. At least once a week there are "hall sweeps" which are used to flush out the tardy children who are just hanging out in the halls. They are collected by these administrators and placed into the auditorium, presumably to strike fear in their harts such that they will never be late again... right. Halls sweeps are ridiculous... if kids are late to class or just trying to spend their time hanging out in the hall... fuck them up. Give them suspensions or just kick them out of school. If they don't want to be in class and want to fuck around, they can do that on someone else's time. These administrators could be doing more useful things with their time rather than being the police of the school.

4. (29) Outlaw Teacher's Unions

Towards the end of his book, Mr. Crosby makes the point that a lot of the changes he proposes to public education, as well as any change in general, are rendered immediately fanciful because of the powerful teachers unions that are interested in maintaining the status quo. He also points out that all teachers have at least a bachelors' degree and most of them have masters' degrees, so having their work treated in the same way as autoworkers (an occupation that requires little to no college education) is demeaning and regressive. The assertion is rightly made that the unions for the most part are interested in the power of the union, not the betterment of the teaching profession or what is best for students.

Although I have little experience with teachers unions, I have gained some experience with how teachers view the status quo and its not good. I have some teacher-friends and they fall into two categories for the most part: those who are upset by much of what they see going on in the school and will soon change occupation if their situations don't improve and those who are satisfied enough with the way things are going/are apathetic to the real problems that face the school. Teachers unions are against many proven methods of improving the student experience: performance-based pay, eliminating the summer vacation, and more rigorous licensure measures. I think that any institution that stands against the kind of change that schools need is vile and needs to be done away with. Its obvious that many, many schools are underperforming and that education is becoming a black hole for billions of dollars of public funds, so lets do away with that which is holding back much needed reform.

3. (19) Put the A Back in Advanced Placement Classes

Mr. Crosby bemoans the fact that these days simply too many kids are taking the AP program of classes. The AP was initially designed as a rigorous curriculum for college preparation, and now it has taken the place of honors classes as a place for students to acquire weighted grades. Parents clamor for their students to be in these classes, and for the school districts to offer more of them, while the number of truly bright and dedicated kids up to the challenge of taking these classes isn't necessarily increasing. The result is a watered-down experience for those students who are in the classes for the right reasons of intellectual curiosity and aptitude.

This is one of the points of the book that really appealed to me. Being placed in a high school where the AP curriculum is somewhat suspect, I really took to noticing more about how there were some really trifling kids taking AP classes, some mediocre kids taking AP classes, and much fewer actually competent and prepared students taking the classes. Another problem about the AP situation, especially at my school, is that there aren't enough teachers qualified to teach the classes that are in demand and scheduled. For example, AP US History is taught virtually from the other high school in the county because of a shortage of teachers certified to teach the course. The result? Shitty classroom experience (students can't ask questions of a teacher who isn't there), a TERRIBLE passage rate on the AP test (a 3 is hailed as a great success at SHS), and a cheating scandal because the person watching over the class is super disinterested in watching the kids and grading tests that she didn't write (awesome!). The AP should be a great way for kids to get a jump on college - kids who are able to compete in the class and absorb the information required to pass the class.

2. (10) What One-third of All Seventeen- and Eighteen-year-olds Are Not Doing This Year (and It Has Nothing to Do with Sex or Drugs)

This chapter covers the alarming dropout rate among high school students in this country. According to statistics that Mr. Crosby provides, about 1/3 of the aforementioned seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds each year are dropping out of high school, an alarming statistic. Further statistics provided by Crosby show that the US ranks 11th among developed nations in our high school graduation rate, and that we used to rank 1st.

On its face, this might not be of great concern to you... after all, the world needs people to staff the McDonalds, the WalMarts, and the convenience stores. But when you think about it more deeply, you realize that these people will be lacking even the most remedial skills in reading, writing, and mathematics, leading to an overall dumbing down of our culture and country. This dropout rate is telling us that public schools are failing to engage and make school worthwhile to a third of the children that come through its doors. If you were to think that maybe the standards for high school graduation are too lofty, that if maybe schools made it easier to graduate we wouldn't have such an alarming figure, let me assuage your fears: IF YOU HAVE A PULSE, YOU CAN GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL these days. The last thing that schools are set up to do these days is allow for failure, such is the fear of administrators of having funding to their schools reduced or losing their jobs. Students are allowed to take, re-take, and take again standardized tests required by states to graduate from high school and teachers are actively discouraged from giving out F's that will prevent students from moving through high school. So trust me, these kids are not dropping out for lack of hope of attaining that elusive high school diploma. They are leaving because they find the classes disengaging, the material they are being forced to learn (or really not learn, as evidenced above) boring/inapplicable, or because they don't see the point in going to school if they want to be anything other than a college going student. Which brings me to my favorite point of the book...

1. (11) Vocational Education: Public Schools' Neglected Stepchild

Because Mr. Crosby makes his point best in his own words, I will quote from the opening paragraphs of his chapter to summarize:

"When students don't feel that school provides them with any thing, they act out in antisocial ways, from not doing work to creating a disturbance in class to vandalizing the school. A crucial area of connecting students to their schools is making sure there are enough choices to satisfy most students' interests. Currently in high school this is not the case.

Why are students brought up on the belief that they can accomplish any goal, yet when they get to high school their options are limited to "you will go to college"?

The question that needs to be asked of every high school student is "What are you interested in doing?" instead of "did you know that college graduates make X amount of money?" If a youngster can't stand spinach, the solution isn't to give him a heaping portion of it. You try to find alternative nutritious foods he will eat."

With the line of work that I am in, this chapter proved the most pertinent to me. I see the main thrust of this chapter playing out every day, amongst the guidance counselors I work with, the teachers in my school, and amongst my colleagues in college access. I can't blame students for seeing that all that high school is leading up to is more schooling, more classes that they are disinterested in, and ultimately ore wasting of their time. If a high school student has no appetite for college, currently their only options are to go through the motions at school and make a token effort, or to not. I can't blame those who choose to not go through the motions, to be honest. If you were to show up to a place every day, where you have no interest in what you are doing, where teachers treat you like crap because you don't want anything to do with what they are teaching you, where administrators are always on your case for not rushing to another useless class... would you show up? Probably not.

That’s why vocational education needs to be stressed more heavily. Instead of treating it as beneath our students, we need to be encouraging it as the best option for a lot of them. In the coming days I will write more about the ideas of chapter, as it fits into a general theory about the high school/college/vocational education paradigm. Suffice to say, though, that this point is one that more in my field need to consider more heavily. College isn't, or shouldn't be, for everyone.

The final verdict: the book is decent. Mr. Crosby makes some good points (like the ones above), but many of his chapters are weighed down by personal examples that stray from the main thrusts of the book and seem rather petty. He also shills for his American Educational Association (a professional association as an option for teachers against the powerful NEA), something that I wasn't crazy about in the context of a book that should have a more objective point of view. The writing isn't all that great and oftentimes ventures into the colloquial. Mr. Crosby is fond of providing statistics to back up his personal observations, but most all of these statistics lack proper footnotes or parenthetical references, so there is really no good way of backing up many of the points he attempts to bolster through the use of statistics. I would say its worth a read for the points mentioned above, but definitely peruse it on your next trip to Borders or take a look at it in the library, don't shell out precious dollars to buy it.

smell, et al.

2008-12-08T17:13:00.004-05:00

Samuels Public Library: where the most trifling denizens of FroRo congregate when the other vagabond spots are closed.

Now, I am not one to talk. I consider the library one of the places I can most often be found aside from my home and school. I like the fact that it has free internet, many interesting books, and a great library staff that is both helpful and polite (not like most of the librarians I have come across in my life).

But I am nothing like the rest of the people that come here. I have often described the people who frequent the library as the dregs of FroRo society, and I think today is a day that proves my point unlike any other. Just moments ago, as I walked in, I noticed two things about the current state of the library: 1) that there were a lot of people here and 2) holy shit it smelled like burnt rubber and ass! As I gathered more information about the scene, I realized that these two facts were intimately correlated, as the vast majority of people in here were some of the fattest, most unkempt looking fuckers I have ever laid eyes upon. The typical cast of characters were all here, namely the Waddler, the Quiet Studying Girl (not trifling for the record, but an established regular), Snoring Old Man, and the Beard Brigade, but this time they brought their families and friends it seemed. So many stained, raggedy shirts! So many people queued for access to computers to check their MySpace! So much BODY ODOR.

As a result, I am here blogging from a carrel in the far recesses of the library. Away from all of the malodorous nonsense going on in the main area. I pray that the cloud of evaporated plebian sweat will not reach me before I can do what I need to do and get out of here.

sat testing

2008-11-20T17:49:00.003-05:00

thoughts on this article in the NYTimes, from an email to a colleague:

I believe that the test needs to play a prominent role in college admissions. As the piece noted, it is a fairly reliable predictor of graduation rate, which is a very telling statistic. It shows how well students were able to adjust to the college curriculum and succeed at the next level.

What I worry about with the loosening of standards for SAT scores in admissions is that students are being admitted into schools that they are not fully ready to compete in. For example, with vocabulary and the SAT... the words featured on the test are not so obscure that one would not expect the average college student to be familiar with them. So if we let students into college who lack these words in their vocabulary, we are faced with two options: 1) let these students proceed in classes where it seems like the professors are speaking a foreign language or 2) "dumb down" the expectations of entering first years' vocabulary, thus leading to an overall watering down of the collegiate experience. I'm not saying that having a small vocabulary should be a barrier for students, but if they are genuinely interested in getting a good education, they need to spend the time to learn the language of complex ideas and creative description.

In terms of what to do about the SAT problem, the burden falls upon the schools. I think that schools systems that are serious about getting more of their students to go to 4 year school or community college, and thus improve the communities that they serve, need to incorporate SAT prep into their curricula. One teacher aptly described this as "pulling from the top" instead of "pushing from the bottom", which would describe the narrow focus on just getting kids to pass the SOLs. If schools don't take any measures to make sure that their students are prepared for the SAT, they are relegating themselves to a never-ending cycle of low socioeconomic standing compared to those districts that invest in their students' performance on these tests. Its not enough to put funding into fee waiver programs, just to see those students get 1000s on the test (all three sections combined).

In summary: the test is flawed, yet it is a useful tool right now. I think to do away with it would be folly, but changes are definitely necessary. Now off to my next SAT prep course for these kids...

veterans day

2008-11-11T19:33:00.000-05:00

Veterans Day

So today is Veterans Day, and sadly I am blogging this day after school because Warren County doesn't feel the need to give its students a holiday for what should be one of the most important non-religious holidays of the year. Why is Veterans Day so important, you ask? What makes it more special than, say, Memorial Day or the 4th of July? My answer is fairly simple, its one word, and its:

PEACE.

As most of you probably know, Veterans Day (11 November) is descended from the earlier Armistice Day (which underwent a name change after World War II), which signified the end of fighting on the western front in World War I. The Great War, as it is also known - especially in Europe - was the first modern conflagration Europe had ever experienced, and the first struggle between nations on a truly global scale. Modern warfare, instead of producing the rapid victories as many prognosticators forecasted, actually produced protracted, meaningless, and horribly destructive warfare when new technology was placed in the hands of 19th century-oriented generals. Millions upon millions died of the war and its after-effects. It was truly horrible, scarring, and set the tone for a century where might was too often conflated with right. Not to say that previous centuries hadn't seen their fair share of bloodshed, but the 20th saw it brought about with cold calculation and ruthless efficiency.

But what does this have to do with Veterans Day, and why students should have the day off of school for it?

Here is my thinking:

Too often days that used to have significance in times of or just after great struggle lose their impact to a generation of relatively coddled and insolent youth. In the interests of blog-integrity, I must include myself in this generation. Although our nation is definitely at war, the military engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan pale in comparison to the mobilizations this country has gone through in the past. Needless to say, that these are two ongoing conflicts that are not as high on the national conscience as our World Wars, or even Vietnam, a war to which our current situation is too often compared. Point is, students these days really have no idea what it was like to be alive in times of war like this, what kind of sacrifices everyone had to make, the heartache of having a whole generation wiped out or severely crippled due to war. That ignorance isn't all that bad, either: I bet most people who fought in those wars and lived through those times wouldn't wish it on any other generation. Students, and everyone for that matter, should not be totally ignorant of that hardship. They should know and have a somber reminder of all the pain and struggle each and every Veterans Day. Each year it should serve as a reminder of the bravery of those who serve, and of the undesirable nature of war as a means to resolve conflict between nations. Otherwise, Veterans Day becomes an empty "Hallmark Holiday" where people go through the motions while failing to grasp the significance of what the day actually means. If Veterans Day were taken more seriously, and if everyone learned from a young age what it all meant or should mean...

- Would leaders be as eager to engage in war if their people were fully aware of all the hardship and pain that it entails?
- Would those with few educational options be as intrigued by joining the service if they knew fully what being in a battle is like?
- Would we all demand that our veterans be treated with more care from the government that sent them out to fight if we knew better what they have sacrificed?
- Would more peaceful means be sought to resolve differences between all nations?

I usually don't like to be too serious, and I'm afraid that this post lacks most of the snark present in my average post, but I feel pretty strongly about this day and how it is presented to students. Maybe its because I work in a school. Maybe its because I am a history person and am fascinated by how important World War I was to our current history, or maybe even because I am encouraged by the new serious and thoughtful nature that our incoming presidential administration will bring to this country. I really can't tell for sure. What I do know is this: if someday, god willing, I am an old man high school history teacher, I will be sure to take this day to educate my students on how meaningful it truly is.

history

2008-11-06T17:53:00.004-05:00

Because I will never tire of watching these clips, and because NBC is my official network:

(I like the NBC graphic declaring Obama to be the next president:)

(I like the overall MSNBC presentation:)

delicious.

irony

2008-10-22T18:41:00.006-04:00

If you are as confused about this whole pro/real America versus anti/fake America thing as I am, I would like to share a moment of clarity that I just came to.

To be anti-American, if one follows the presumable meaning of Ms. Palin, is to probably be Republican. Republican-voting states are typically referred to as "red-states" in this poll-crazy, electoral vote counting age we are in.

If you would kindly consider the following picture of the 2004 Electoral Map:

This is the same map, but with only the states as of 1864:

And finally, this is a map of the Union (blue) and Confederate (red) states [Kentucky was really a split state, so we are discounting it here for the sake of argument]:

As you can see, there is a lot of similarity here.

Some would call it ironic that the "pro-America" parts of the country, in fact, used to be the most anti-America states! THE ONES WHO TRIED TO FORM THEIR OWN COUNTRY!!!

fifth column

2008-10-19T21:21:00.003-04:00

On my way back from Richmond last Thursday, I decided to listen to the Sean Hannity radio show, just to check the pulse of the rabid right. I was treated to several eye-opening points of view and detected the beginning of what I perceived to be a coherent idea building amongst the wingnuts out there in Fox News-watching, Hannity-listening, National Review-reading world:

ACORN, the most famous tree nut of this political season, is responsible for both the collapse of the stock market AND will deliver the election to Barack Obama this November.

... uh what? Come again?

Yes, you read correctly: the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now is single-handedly going to turn the country over to Barack Obama come November 4 (through "one of the greatest frauds of voter history in this country" according to Mr. McCain). How could they pull off such a massive campaign to defraud the naation? Well, its easy when you consider that they have already checked "cause the entire sub-prime mortgage crisis" and "plunge the stock market into over 30% loss in a year" off of your to-do list.

My friends (I couldn't help myself), the rabid right is truly reaching into its bag of dastardly tricks here. I mean, when accusations of "pallin' around with terrorists" aren't sticking, and people don't really give a shit if a candidate is Muslim (muslin?) as long as he has some clue of what is going on with the economy, you really have to dig deep to reverse the slide in the polls that your candidate is facing. And thats what brings us to the latest boogeyman of the radical right. Not your typical poor person or welfare queen or lazy minority, no no, its a group of ALL of them put together fighting for their RIGHTS and SOCIAL-ECONOMIC JUSTICE. God forbid!

ECONOMIC PERIL!
By asking the Big Bad Federal Government to step in and force responsible lenders to issue them loans back in 1977, minorities and other poor rabble are responsible for this economic mess we have found ourselves in! Nevermind the mind-bogglingly complex mortgage-backed derivatives and credit-default swaps, ACORN is the modern descendant of this government handout movement that really screwed us!

ELECTION FRAUD!
By mobilizing voter registration drives in record numbers, ACORN has opened the door ballot booth door for Jive Turkeys all around the country. Nevermind that voter registration fraud is not, in fact, voter fraud (there is a step or two in between), these ACORN people are going to deliver the vote to that socialist Obama, and the country will really go down the crapper - presumably farther than it is now.

- end sarcastic rant -

If this formula sounds slightly familiar, you may have been paying attention in history class. Congratulations! If it is less than familiar or you need a refresher after all these years, I'll break it down for you:

The Right is trying to make ACORN and groups like it out to be this nation's very own FIFTH COLUMN. What is a fifth column, you ask? Lets go to the Wiki, which provides a fairly succinct definition:

A fifth column is a group of people who clandestinely undermine a larger group to which it is expected to be loyal, such as a nation.

- and, with my additons -

The term also refers to a subpopulation, such as an ethnic minority (or ACORN and groups like it), which is assumed to have loyalties to countries other than the one in which they reside (they probably live in those anti-America parts of the country), or who support some other nation (anti-America) in war efforts (elections) against the country they live in (the pro-America), the result of dual loyalty (to both pro- and anti-America?).

Here are some historical fifth columns:

Nationalists in Madrid during the Spanish Civil War (original)
Kulaks in Stalinist Russia (purge much?)
Jews in Germany (re: Stab In the Back)

and soon to be added to the list: the vile COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS OF ACORN!!!111

Just you wait for the scapegoating come November 5... its sure to be rich.

distractions, distractions

2008-10-18T21:50:00.002-04:00

Just as it seemed that I was getting to be a somewhat consistent blogger, life got in the way and my activity has dropped yet again. I promise, dear readers, that this was but a momentary lapse in blogging vigilance.

But, I do say, that the reason for the distraction was a noble one.

For the past week, I have been attempting to right my television situation (as previously referenced in "antenna debacle" and casually mentioned in other posts). I will come out and say it now, though:

Bust out the "Mission Accomplished" banner and put it on the battleship: the war is over!

Just today, I mastered my mysterious new technology and thus have access to the channels I need. Now I will be able to watch Monday Night Football, just like every other flag-waving, God-fearing, red-meat-eating American (or 'murican, as Tyler correctly pointed out). I will also be able to watch my beloved New York Football Giants more often (but sadly not Real Madrid CF, because GolTV is a money grubbing network) which should be great.

Do not fear, though. I will be sure to not let my added breadth of tv networks distract me from my blogging duties.

Lengthy post tomorrow on the state of things re: election and possibly football.

Pup Buckley

2008-10-14T21:46:00.002-04:00

Former writer for conservative weekly National Review, Christopher Buckley, had the following to say regarding his support of Barack Obama:

"I'm putting it all on black, as they say in Vegas..."

In other words, this man is taking my new Obama slogan to heart. He is betting on black!!!

Also, I'm pretty sure that was a fairly racist statement on his part. I'll allow it though.

elite = good

2008-10-08T20:22:00.003-04:00

Reading about the speeches that Sarah Palin has been giving in the past few days has really got me thinking about the time tested right wing strategy of decrying "liberal elites" and the "elitism" of Mr. Obama. They would have us believe that we are better off run by lipstick wearing hockey moms and their joe sixpack husbands, because, well, thats who (on average) Americans are. And hey, the whole idea behind democracy is that the majority is always right, right?

Well, I beg to differ. Here are some things to consider in defense of elitism:

1) Remember the Constitution? (also known as W's toilet paper) The framers of the Constitution set up our government with a system of checks and balances that not only checked power across the three branches of government (as commonly known), but also within each branch (less commonly considered). The Senate, with fewer members serving longer terms, was designed to be the more deliberative body of the two, and as such was seen as a place to be insulated from the passions of the mob and the more mob-like House. As such, the Senate was also given additional responsibilities (including the exclusive right to ratify treaties and confirm judicial appointments). Furthermore, the members of the Senate were originally selected by the state legislatures, further insulating them from the whims of the general populace. Again, the framers were on to something. Here we see structured elitism: the more powerful arm of the legislative branch was an elite one. Why? Because the framers only wanted the best of the best, the most able and capable making the big decisions for the country.

2) Joe Six Pack is a Fucking Idiot! I work in a public school. In an average county. I would say it is fairly representative of middle America. Lets call it Joe Six Pack Canning Factory. In the position of quality assurance inspector in this factory, my professional assessment is: THIS COUNTRY IS FUCKED (educationally speaking). Not to say that kids are dumb, it just seems like they don't give a GOD DAMN if they learn or not. They are (honest to God) more worried about who is fighting who at the park and if Lil' Wayne's newest song is "whack" or not. They are disiniterested in science class and could care less about how to write effectively in their native language (or any other for that matter). These are the people that are going to be "responsible adults" in a few years? HOLY SHIT, we are in for a wild ride. If these kids, the same ones that struggle to find the Ukraine on a map or not know that Africa is NOT A COUNTRY, are going to be judging who gets to lead our cities, states, and nation... I'm betting on more of the same culture war crap, assault on reason bullshit we get from a lot of traditional candidates these days. Because if you are too unmotivated to pick up a book and do your homework, good luck actually thinking critically about the shit that the people you vote for (or are too apathetic to vote for) do in your name.

3) Elite != Privileged, for fuck's sake: There is a great difference between these two terms, and I think it strikes to the heart of the "elitist" attack. Most people would see a strong relationship between these two words, that one necessarily implies the other. Not so, I say. Here is an example:

George W. Bush = privileged. Bush did not get good grades in school. Empirical observation would tell us that he wasn't a very good businessman. He hasn't been a great president, either. He is where he is today mainly because he is privileged. His father was the 41st President and his family is incredibly wealthy. Privileged in this sense is having the best in life because of the circumstances you are born in to.

Barack Obama = elite. Obama got very good grades in school (you don't end up being president of Harvard Law Review on accident). Empirical observation wold tell us that he has been fairly successful at most things he has put his mind to. He has risen through the political ranks through a demonstrated ability to convey his message to people and has had legislative success when he hasn't been seeking a higher office. He is where he is today because he is an intellectual and political elite. He came from a supremely modest background (mother on food stamps, raised by grandparents) and has risen to where he is today. Elite in this sense is having natural brilliance and fortitude to make the most of yourself, despite what circumstances you are born into.

In this example, who do you trust? The "elitist" who is where he is today because he is very able and smart or the privileged man who pretty much fell ass-backwards into prominence?

Summary: elitism = not so bad. When it comes down to it, do you want the person who has committed themselves to gaining more knowledge and bettering themselves (the intellectual elite) or joe six pack who really doesn't care to use their brain for anything more than carrying out what their basic impulses command?

Give me the elite any day.

bloviators!

2008-10-08T00:10:00.001-04:00

The pundits are drumming up the spin cycle (that Travis Smiley is currently - and nobly - decrying on his PBS show) and the signs are troubling.

Why? Because they are saying how well Obama did! And how he should keep up his lead in light of this performance. And this is disturbing because... Pundits suck! They are paid and make their names by saying something new, yet something they still fits in with the CW. And if there us something I don't buy, it's the CW. It will be interesting to see how this plays out; for some reason I see Obama's lead contracting in the coming 10 days as the media will give some play to
the crazy bullshit that us coming out of Palin's mouth.

new slogan

2008-10-06T18:30:00.004-04:00

Forget "Change We Need"... I have a new slogan for the Obama campaign as we enter the final stretch of this marathon election cycle. Borrowed from perhaps the most famous phase uttered by action star turned tax felon Wesley Snipes in the excellent Passenger 57, my slogan is simple:

"Always Bet On Black"

Whether you're at the roulette table, betting on a 100m foot race, or deciding who is going to fix this country from its shambled state, you can't go wrong by betting on black. I know this, the Obama camp knows this, and I feel with the unveiling of this new piece of advertisement, the American people will know this all too soon.

No need to raise several hundred $5 donations, Barry, this one's for free.

Also, if you feel like your knowledge of the aforementioned Snipes film is lacking, here is the teaser (the profound words come in at 0:29 if you want to get right to gold):