Month: September 2011

How about those…BILLS?!?!?!

backinphillyLeave a comment

As I’m sitting in my hotel room in Los Angeles this past weekend with my NFL-addicted family. Football games are on and emotions fly. It was a sad sight to watch the flightless Eagles perish against the equally as ineffective Giants. But, as I have known, anything can happen on any given day in the NFL. That includes the AFC East powerhouse New England Patriots falling to the usually pathetic Buffalo Bills. The New York misfit franchise came back from a score of 21-10 to defeat the Patriots by a score of 34-31. This brings the Bills’ record to 3-0. Wait, WHAT?! THE BILLS?!?! I’m not going to complain. I am tired, as I’m sure many others are, of the Patriots winning everything year after year after year. I’m glad a team finally put them in their place. However, I never thought for one second that this team would be the Buffalo Bills. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick graduated from the football “powerhouse” known as Harvard University, has led the Bills through the first part of the season with perfection. However, Harvard grads rarely opt to enter the NFL. In fact, to my knowledge, only one other player in NFL history has graduated from Harvard and played for at least 7 seasons (Matt Birk). Maybe teams should add Harvard as a college of interest when they recruit players pre-draft. Certainly seems to have worked out well for the Bills. Will it last? I don’t know. Like I said, anything can happen.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

therightliberal2 Comments

Just when you thought this obvious debate was over, IT’S BACK!

Rick Santorum felt the need to answer a gay soldier’s question about the policy by saying he would reinstate Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

Santorum: ‘I condemn’ booing of gay soldier, didn’t hear it

Now his opinion is one thing, he has every right to that. But really was that necessary? I thought we were getting over this as a country, but now with the Republican debates the whole thing is coming back strong.

Personally, I feel that this is a RIDICULOUS issue. Just the other day I was talking to a veteran who had served in Iraq and he put it very well. He had a friend who came out to him after they had received their honorable discharge. This friend was an incredible soldier and man, speaking multiple languages and very trustworthy in combat. The C.I.A. is trying to recruit him now.

Now the fact that he is gay has absolutely nothing to do with his abilities, neither positively or negatively. He is defending his country, putting his life on the line for all of us who enjoy the luxuries that are provided by our military. The very least we could do is allow him to be open about his sexuality.

If his fellow soldiers have a problem with that then maybe it is time to talk it out. For to long we have pretended like homosexuality is a disease, it is no such thing. Gays and lesbians are not a danger to have in the military. If it is going to cause issues then the homophobes need to deal with their issues, not make someone change their sexuality (which is not possible) or make them hide it.

I see no difference between don’t ask, don’t tell and racially recruiting. Would the military not allow Blacks, Asian Americans, Latinos if they could hide the color of their skin.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is so unconstitutional that it makes me want to scream. But lovely people like Presidential un-hopeful Rick Santorum will continue to spread their charming opinions about their homophobia.

I would like to ask Rick Santorum a question; if your life was on the line, a gun to your head, would you care about the sexuality of the man or woman who saved you? Sexuality aside, these men and women are heroes and they deserve the rights of heroes.

Blogging on an iPhone…not fun. (It also doesn’t allow tagging)

backinphillyLeave a comment

I’m going to keep this short simply because after the OVS football game on Saturday, my thumbs are killing me and, being that the school has no internet, I am forced to write on my phone. I remember last year when I still hadn’t received my computer and was forced to use my phone to write papers and access moodle. Those were the days; the days of inefficiency maybe.

Realistic Games

r3t5nom2 Comments

More and more we are being exposed to the visual creations that at times thousands of people work on to create video games such as Call Of Duty Black Ops, Fifa Soccer 11, God Of War III, and Dirt 3. Those four games I mentioned are the ones I strongly believe possess the greatest graphics and are the most realistic. I have played them all, I have passed them all, I have liked them all.

These games take a player into the world they are trying to depict. The gamer feels like he/she is a part of that world, like he/she is the driver of that race car, even like he/she is a soccer player playing with a team like Manchester United (which is a truly great team btw).

Graphics are a feature which gamers seek when purchasing a game. Great graphics equal a great gaming experience, for example in Call Of Duty Black Ops,

COD B.O.
The clarity in this image is lifelike, it makes you want to see more of the creators work. It is truly amazing what these game makers can create.

I never thought that characters in games would look as realistic as a real person, but damn does it amaze me.

A near miss.

YourcupateaLeave a comment

GOD

Ok so I have nearly been driving for one month. Yes I know you can’t believe it, trust me I can’t either. After reading my previous driving blogs I’m sure many believed that I one: wouldn’t survive my lessons on the road and two: definitely wouldn’t make it through the test. I guess the gods had mercy and looked upon my small Ford Fiesta with pity and smiled at the Santa Paula DMV on September the 1st. Whatever the case, I miraculously past and now I have been unleashed on the roads of Ventura county. Watch Out.

Oxnard has already witnessed some of my skilled driving as I visited the local fish and chip shop and a supermarket known as Vons. Vons is a great supermarket but it’s car parks are a nightmare. Now I’m guessing you’re thinking “oh no what did she do?” No I did not run over anyone, or an animal or scratch a car. In fact a rather large red Chevy truck nearly hit me.

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Epic Baby Face

bedghostLeave a comment

Lets pretend all is wrong in your life like late bills, girl/boy dumped you, didn’t clean your room because you were lazy, parents are not on the same vibe, etc… Do you ant to know what gets me throught the day during trouble times? Watching funny baby videos…

Yep it works! 100% of the time!

Try watching and tell me your day got better.

Charley Bit my Finger – again

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Marathon

thehungryrunnergirl2 Comments

September 12th BC 450, a Greek messenger was sent from the battlefield of Marathon (name of the city) to Athens to report that Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon, which took place in August or September that year. According to the Greek messenger, he ran the entire 42.195km(26.1miles) without stopping.

He exclaimed, “We have won” before he collapsed and died.

In 19th century, the marathon became one of the Olympic events. The marathon is one of my favorite events in Olympics. The most memorable marathon I saw on TV was in the Sydney Olympics in 2000. I was in first grade. An amazing runner from Japan Naoko Takahashi won the first gold medal in marathon. She said,” It was the most enjoyable 42.195km I’ve ever ran.” She smiled and waved at the crowd. Why is she not tired? Didn’t she just run 26 miles? It was very inspirational. I wanted to start running.

Today, many marathon races are held all over the world. I see many people run and train for races.

The marathon is one of those rare events related to history. Marathon is associated with the Ancient Greeks in the name “marathon” and the distance that is run still remains the same.

Stressed out.

rangerthecat4 Comments

It’s only the 4th week of school. I have been here for less than 30 days.
IT FEELS LIKE I HAVE BEEN HERE FOREVER! AHHHH!

I love this school, and I especially love the people here. I love being here.

That being said, I REALLY wish that I could just take a break.
I know I am speaking for not just myself, but also a lot of my fellow classmates when I say THIS WORKLOAD IS STRESSFUL!

Never in my entire high school career have I worked as hard as I have worked this year. I even dropped a class because I realized that I would not be able to handle it. And still, every night, even on the weekends, I find myself working for hours on end and still not feeling satisfied with some of my work. I thought Friday and Saturday nights were for relaxing… Maybe I’m just crazy.

I know all of the teachers here really care about the students and really want them to learn. I am so thankful for that. I have learned a lot from every teacher I have had at this school. But being a good teacher and helping students learn does not mean assigning homework every night, even on the weekends, and assigning huge essays and projects with minimal time to complete them.

All of these homework assignments just keep building up and I cannot seem to find a way to escape. Even if I am proactive and do my homework days in advance before it is due, thinking this will help me manage my time better, I am always assigned something else.

I will be honest, I do know a lot of students – and even some of my close friends – slack off a lot and procrastinate. And once in a while, I do the same. But it is only because I can never catch a break otherwise. Whenever I have free time, I use it to sleep, catch up with my friends from home, call my parents, or watch a movie. Is it too much to ask to not have a homework overload every once in a while?

I wish teachers could see it from our perspective. Some of them don’t take into consideration that we all have at least 4 or 5 other classes to deal with each day and night. It becomes really overwhelming for us!

I am so stressed out. But, nothing I can do about it… except more homework!

Rhinestones, Studs, and Designer Bags

yrreskrapLeave a comment

Fashion.

Fashion is like a sin. It’s an art form–a method of self-expression and distinction. It can empower you, release you, bemuse you. Fashion is meant to mesmerize and provoke. It’s wonderful. But it also comes at a price.

Now by price, I mean two things.

Lets begin with the literal meaning:

Take a look at this Hermes Birkin Bag. It’s the most expensive bag in the world. It’s diamond encrusted (a whopping 2,182 shiny ones) and one of a kind. Now, does this handbag look like its worth $1.6 million?

Some might say yes.

Now, here’s fashion at a price…again:

This is not beautiful. This isn’t even human. Regardless, many models strive to be skinny and suffer a disease called anorexia. Research states that up to 40% of models may have eatings disorders.

Why do people pay the price? It’s all in the name of fashion. Fabulous, glamorous, sinful fashion taken too far.

NOW TO END ON A HAPPIER (catchier) NOTE:

The Expendables

venturatrekerLeave a comment

After a week of OVS, the weekend is a much-needed reprieve.  With multiple AP classes, being a senior and just being a teenager, life is quite exhausting.

So when that Friday ‘bell’ rings, its time to kick back and enjoy some….male gratuitous violence??

Yeah so for all the guys out there, here is a good list of things to do to get that ‘fix’

1.  Call of Duty: Black Ops.  When playing COD the best option is always zombies.  Being placed in some form of derelict environment with hundreds of brain craving undead after you and the only defense a plethora of automatic weapons.  OH YEAH that’ll do it.

2. ANY RACING GAME. Well when you have the option of crashing a 2.5 million dollar Bugati Veyron into an on-coming Aston-Martin at 250 miles an hour, seriously what could be more fun.  Or perhaps drifting a Ferrari 458 Italia around a 180 degree turn.

3.  But my personal favorite and the highlight of my weekend, was watching the Expendables movie.  Well really any movie with Sylvester Stalone or Jason Stathan is a true adrenaline pumping man’s movie.  The  Expendables movie, though, has both, plus a number of other action-super stars.  With little plot line to speak of, there is really only one thing that the movie has going for it, lots and lots and lots of gratuitous violence.