Month: October 2012

Promise me, Dear Lapland.

eternity10301 Comment


Do you remember the promise, Lapland?

I know you do.

Covering the whole of northern Finland, Lapland is said to be the true home of Santa. No surprise then, this place really comes into its own at Christmas. Imagine cozy log cabins, crackling campfires and husky sleds and reindeer sleighs swishing through the snow. Plus, there are plenty of ways to get out into the wilderness, like snowmobiling and skiing.

And that is the place that hides at almost the northern top of the world, also the deepest corner within my heart.

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App Review: Civilization Revolution

frog3Leave a comment

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Hello. As anyone who goes to OVS knows, gaming has been banned in the dorms. There is a grayish area however (More of a ignorable area). iPhone Apps, more specifically iPhone Games can be amazing.

The game we will be looking at today is Civilization Revolution, an IOS spin off of the critically acclaimed Civilization series.

In Civilization Revolution you are given an open goal, build a civilization and mold it into a world dominating empire. One of the standout features in this game is the variation in victory. There are four ways to win Civilization Revolution; you must achieve a Technological victory, a Domination Victory, an Economic Victory, or a Cultural Victory.

Upon starting a new game the player must choose a leader for their nation, selectable leaders are drawn from great (sometimes bad) rulers from history. These leaders are not drawn from any one-time period but are as varied as Abraham Lincoln to Cleopatra. The leader you chose effects which city you start in and also gives you a unique ability.

After selecting your leader you are dropped onto a randomly generated continent. You are given one warrior and a city (what you are given varies with difficulty). You are then free to research the basics of civilizations such as writing or pottery (Yes I know the game starts rather slow). As you research more technologies, new technologies become available at a extremely fast rate. It will not take much time (or skill) to be begin researching advanced technologies such as gunpowder or flight. You must choose your research carefully, not necessarily because of the in game time limit, but because of the threats of other nations.

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Molly Malone

kirbyfullyloadedLeave a comment

I love Irish music.

Even when it’s sad, which it often is, there is something lovely and haunting about it.

Anyway, when I was little, we still used tape players.

Oh yes, those ancient things, tapes.  Not CDs (which are fast becoming antiques), not iPods, cassette tapes.

I lived in San Diego, so my parents did a lot of driving with me in the car, and I listened to books and music on tape.

My mom used to play these “We Sing” tapes.

Which were, in their essence, recordings of overly enthusiastic kids singing loud classic children’s songs.  I used to sing along, but there were only three songs I really liked.

My favorite song was about a sweet Irish fishmonger who died.  I know.  Sad right?

I never knew the song title, and the tape got lost so I soon forgot about it.

But yesterday, after nearly 13 years, I heard that sad, Irish song again.

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Family Guy/Seth MacFarlane

callmemaybe32Leave a comment

For years this cartoon has been enchanting the homes of those young and old.

This show first aired on January 31, 1999.

File:Family Guy Logo.svg

I feel like I have watched this show since birth, and while this is not true, I have seen every episode, all 190 of them.

When this show first aired I was two and a half years old, so i don’t think it was exactly appropriate for me to watch it at that age.

Family guy is a hilarious adult cartoon created by the wonderful mind of Seth Macfarlane.

Family Guy may be MacFarlane’s most famous piece, but he has done many other shows such as “American Dad!” and the “Cleveland Show“.

He has is also a fantastic vocalist, and just recently put out is first feature length film, “Ted“.

Here MacFarlane can be heard doing the voice of Ted.

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Sidelined pt. 2

displacedlocalLeave a comment

I had a conversation to my parents about my injury today. They seemed very closed off about the idea of letting me play.

It feels horrible knowing that I am the only player on the team that has yet to have a single minute of in game time. Especially because it is due to a small injury like this one.

As you saw in my last post I am very disappointed about this and have been trying as hard as a possibly can to help it heal and make it up to my team, but I am of little help to them in this state.

I am doing what I can for my team and my parents have been kind of receptive to the idea of me playing in a very limited fashion, but I want the feeling of playing a game and being able to win… or lose with a team as a team.

I am still trying to do everything in my power to let my parents clear me to play but as it stands it hasn’t been effective.

I want to apologize to the team for letting them down as a player and teammate.

But for today at least I am still although angry about being so,

still sidelined.

Spotify

kirbyfullyloadedLeave a comment

I have a love/hate relationship with Pandora.

On one hand, I like streaming free music and getting exposed to new artists and songs.

On the other, I hate not being able to select specific tracks, artists, fast forward, rewind, repeat or organize songs into playlists.

And then there’s the thing where you can only skip so many songs that you dislike… yeah.

I was driving to school the other day and heard a special on KCRW or maybe it was NPR… Anyway, I heard a radio program on the free online streaming site, created by Swedish startup Spotify AB.

It talked about the increasing problem of pirating music, with people using things like Pirate Bay and other illegal downloading services.

Spotify is a legal streaming service, created in October of 2008.  It’s free and unlike Pandora, you can select specific artists and tracks.  They have a surprisingly large selection of music and the search process is easy and intuitive.

You can link it to your Facebook account, and check out what your friends have been listening to.

I love sea shanties, and I found the most beautiful version of my favorite shanty, “Leaving of Liverpool,” by the High Kings.

Irish music in general is just fabulous.

Sidelined

displacedlocal1 Comment

I have been sidelined at every football game this season. I have not played a down of football in a game this year. This is all due to a small fracture in my ring finger that I injured during practice.

I injured on a play during practice where I rushed the quarterback and was blocked. my finger happened to get caught in another player’s jersey.

The fracture wasn’t very large, but my finger was rotated halfway sideways and wouldn’t move.

I stopped playing and after practice had it wrapped up. It wouldn’t move and I didn’t feel hopeful.

The results from the X-ray proved my fears.

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Defeated by the Indians

callmemaybe32Leave a comment

 

While many of us were feeling hopeful going into our first night game under the lights, it did not turn out how we had hoped.

The team gathered in the locker room 5 hours before kick off to prepare for the close to 3 hour road trip over Highway 33 into Maricopa.

We all put on the lower half of our pads and so that when we walked off the bus we could get right into our pre game warm ups.

The bus ride was filled with many people sleeping, listening to music, and having a good time.

The team has not played a game under the lights for a while, so seeing lights on a field was pretty exciting.

While it was not a huge stadium, it was still a stadium none the less.

Seeing as we arrived about an hour early we spent some time running around on the field to get accustomed to the grass, and pass the ball around, having a good time, smiles could be seen on all of our faces.

At about 6 pm we all entered the final stage of game mode.

We quit the messing around, grabbed our bags, and walked over to a covered area to finish dressing and spend time thinking about our assignments, and what we wanted this game to be like.

It was almost completely silent as we all helped each other grab straps on our pads, and get pumped for the game.

After we were all ready we lined up in two lines, two men across, holding hands, and walking out in complete silence, as one well oiled machine.

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Working at Paradise

Daphne PsaledakisLeave a comment

One night over towards the middle of the summer my family and I decided to go to Paradise Bakery for dessert. We got our cookies and hot chocolate, and stood outside listening to the music students playing mozart and the can-can.

Pardise Bakery in Winter

It was dark out, but warm, and the line extended all the way out the door and around the corner. The manager was out handing small sample cookies out to everyone waiting, and my dad saw him just as I saw the help wanted sign in the window.

My dad called him over, and we began talking, and somehow or another we ended up asking him if I could apply for a job. A couple days later I went in for an interview, and the following day I showed up for work.

Paradise Bakery is a small coffee and ice cream shop in Aspen, Colorado who just sold their other location to Panera Bread. But what you really need to know is that their cookies are heavenly, their gelato is to die for, and their coffee is just right. And it’s all homemade downstairs.

Working at Paradise was my first job, and I showed up for work my first day nervous. I didn’t know how to make coffees, or work the register, how to treat customers, or where anything was. Who knew there was a right way to scoop ice cream?

Paradise Cookies n' CreamRead More »

Don’t Leave Me.

eternity1030Leave a comment

The warmness in your eyes
Just like how the sun shines
Remember the day we first met
You bit
On my old furry carpet



I always tell you my thoughts
You always sit patiently on the stairs
Although you never speak
But you gently lick
On my left chubby cheek


Chasing a ball
Running in the hall
Come to me happily when I call
With your shaking tail
That’s our life
For all

We had our precious decade
But now you can’t even stand
With your paw in my hand
For the tears that I shed
Don’t leave me
Don’t make it the end.