This Saturday I refereed 3 soccer games. I recently passed my licence test for my level 8 refereeing licence. I wanted to become a ref for the money but also for the good of the game. As I found out, refereeing is much harder than a player or a fan may think. I was refereeing girls club games, not exactly the highest level of soccer. But after 3 games of chasing the game around the pitch, making dead out sprints as well as standing around, I gained an appreciation for refs. Although I now have more respect for them, chances are I will still harass them and get red cards. But I will at least be able to acknowledge (after I have cooled down) that they were just doing their job. So many refs nowadays are looked at as being pathetic old men. This is partly true because most are old men. But without them we cannot play. We don’t have to like what they do or how they do it, but lets show them some respect for them taking all of our abuse. Any soccer player, football player or basketball player can tell you all the times they have yelled at the top of their lungs at an official. We have all had refs who don’t know which end of their whistle to blow. But without them standing out their (they don’t usually run) we don’t get to play. So let us thank them for their service, and then continue yelling at them.
Month: September 2010
Devil
Today my friend and I were planning on going to see The Town. You know, that flick where nuns throw grenades and for once, Ben Affleck isn’t terrible. I saw this movie with my parents and this time, I wanted to see it with my buddy. Now my friend is 16, and thanks to super fine small print, i can only get him in with me if I’m 21. This was much to my dismay indeed, so after arguing with the clerk and not wanting to run into OVS kids on the Promenade, we tentatively decided to see DEVIL by M. Night Shyamalan.
Now, we realized that this was a PG-13 horror flick which basically meant it was a “P word” movie to us teenagers, and it was from a director who has been on the decline ever since THE 6th SENSE. The movie was a thriller about how Satan supposedly takes human form to punish the damned before taking their souls. This was something that we understood from the narrative and didn’t feel the need for the small spanish security guard to mention over and over again. We get it, the Devil is something that isn’t to be messed with, but when mentioned too much, it becomes a dry and useless redundancy.
The story was interesting and consuming during the beginning and as it made it’s way into the middle, not because of any plot, but because the movie was trippy as hell and the effects were awesome. Mix in the terror factor and we have ourselves a decent horror flick.
Texas did it again
On Friday, the Texas State Board of Education put an end to all “Islam references” in Texan World History textbooks. The resolution passed to put an end to the Islam bias in the textbooks. Supposedly, there are too many textbooks with too many lines devoted to the practices of Islam, and not enough to the practices of Christianity. Terri Leo, a Texas school board member, said that the resolution sends a “clear message to publishers that it should not happen in the future.”
Okay, first of all, I fail to see how any world history textbook can accurately teach history without making references to Islam. If we want school children to even vaguely understand the war in the Middle East, then they have to learn about Islam. Secondly, there is no way the Texas Board of Education can favor one religion over another. School is supposed to educate kids, not to brainwash them into thinking that one religion is better than another. By saying that Christianity is better than Islam is ridiculous. They are almost the same. One God, one messenger, holy scriptures, etc. 1.5 BILLION people are Muslim. The Texas Board of Education managed to insult nearly 1/5 of the world’s population by one silly, and very racist resolution.
Funk
My whole week has been a little hazy. My brain began to feel like a joint in your finger that feels like its just about to pop, but never really does. I constantly find it hard to focus on anything for more than a minute. Anything that is, but music.
Lately I’ve been able to zero in on multiple tracks on a song at once. New music is as exiting as ever, and my musical roots have taken on a whole new meaning. But through it all, and possibly the cause of these mind games, has been “Baby I’m Yours.” Breakbot’s instant classic has been stuck in my head all week. I even found the root chords and screwed around on the guitar for a substantial amount of time. Download at your own discretion. http://www.etmusiquepourtous.com/2010/02/17/breakbot-baby-im-yours-feat-irfane/
PDA
It’s no surprise that Hayley Williams would eventually make her way into this blog. Last week she was surprised by a kiss a fan gave her on the cheek and proceeded to throw a fit. To be honest I don’t understand why a kiss is such a big deal, especially a harmless one on the cheek. This brings me to the topic of PDA here at the Ojai Valley School.
It has come to my intention that hugging and even putting your arms around some one is unacceptable. Why is that? In other countries a kiss of the cheek is a hello, and I know that in the student handbook it even says that “a quick kiss on the cheek as a greeting or leaving” is acceptable. Why cant two friends simply be just friends? On several occasions I have been called about by different faculty members for just sitting alone with some even when I am in the open. This is a boarding school and technically, this is our home for around 8 months or each year. Shouldn’t we feel comfortable? If we aren’t able to be friends with someone of the opposite sex and spend time with them alone, I don’t see how that makes OVS any more home-like. I know that I just went off an a pretty long tangent, but I felt like that had to be said sooner or later.
With Heat Comes…
Many of you in the Ojai area have been witnessing the terrible nature of the recent heat. Earlier in the month the temperature seemed to have been cooling down with foggy days and brilliant jacket-wearing weather, but then the heat came sneaking in from behind, tapping Ojai on the shoulder and then slapping it on the face. Today’s temperature got as high as 104° F, and may I pleasantly ruin your week by telling you that the temperature tomorrow might even rise by two degrees. The heat is rather unbearable, especially for those of you out there (quite like me) who enjoy the type of foggy weather where you can hardly see ten feet in front of you.
Winter is coming around the corner but it is not coming quite soon enough!
Well, fellow Ojai-dwellers, prepare yourselves for another hot week. I’ll be here with you every step of the way, sweating and suffering along side you. Hang on my friends, for cold weather will come eventually! Until then we will deal with this heat… reluctantly.
Two Door Cinema Club- Just some British Music.
Last night, the 25th of September, Two door Cinema Club arrived in Brighton to play their first gig in the city. Luckily I was fortunate enough to be among the crowd in the small venue that they call Digital.
Two Door Cinema Club is an up coming indie/electro band from Ireland releasing their fist album, Tourist History on march the 1st 2010. Signed to Kisune Music the band are on their first sell out tour spreading their individual sound worldwide.
The band consists of members: Alex Trimble, Sam Halliday and Kevin Baird accompanied by Benjamin Thompson who acted as an additional member for there tour playing drums.
Indie music is extremely popular in England and Two Door Cinema Club are just reaching their boom. They have an extremely good reputation for providing a great live concert and they did not fail to disappoint.
The band was amazing and the two support acts : We Have Band and Kowalski also impressed with their unique styles and excellent crowd control.
Indie music is a great genre and one I think should be encouraged more in the U.S.
Here’s a taster of their music, I hope you like it.
Casualties of War
2010 declared “the deadliest year for NATO forces since the war began.” Nine soldiers were announced dead as a military helicopter crashes in southern Afghan region and as witnesses say there was no visible attack on the helicopter itself by opposing soldiers the notorious Taliban were quick to take credit.
To Learn More go to http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/nato-helicopter-crash-in-afghanistan/19641909?icid=main%7Cmain%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%7C171846
NorthEastWestSouth
News. What is news? We’re supposed to report on it. We’re supposed to read it and understand what it means. We’re supposed to find it interesting, enthralling. There are many things we’re supposed to do, but we rarely ever do them. We rarely ever do what is expected. What is important. What is truly needed. We confuse need with want, and want with need. We confuse many things, but we never admit to it. We’re always sure, and always insitent on any little thought that pops into our minds. But do we ever really know? How do we know what is truth or fiction? Many of the things we read in history books aren’t true! We’re lied to all of our lives and we accept it because someone of more authority than us told us to believe it. And we do believe it. We take what we are told and follow blindly. How will our world survive in the future, if our fact is fiction and our fiction is actually fact. Will books change? Will old movies or ancient myths or stories? What’s news? Is it actually new information? Or is it something that someone “important” deems necessary for the world to know? What is news?
When will Lindsay Lohan Learn?
Wow wow wow, everybody stop what they’re doing. I just found out that Lindsay Lohan just got out of temporary custody. This is huge news. I’m so happy that websites like “The Superficial” (whose slogan is “Because you’re ugly”) report on important matters just like this one. Now the issue is not that celebrity gossip websites like “The Superficial” reporting on “news” like this. The problem I have with it is that some people visit these sights religiously and treat them like they are news. If anyone can justify that Snooki was just on The David Letterman Show as front-page news, then something is wrong with him.
I personally get my news from “The Los Angeles Times,” because I find it to be a reliable news site. But just today, it pulled a “Perez Hilton.” Along with news about who is wining the race for Governor and the current state of Mexico’s drug war, was the story about Lindsay Lohan. I was so disappointed to see this. I always try to have my news 100% gossip free, but there it was. The same story that I saw in “The Superficial.” Not to discredit this website, and countless others like it, but I really have to ask the question: “Who cares?”
OVS Journalism Blog 
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