One
Your heart pulses
Your muscles prepare for the explosion of force that explodes from your muscles.
You take a breath in
Your mind does a quick recap of your preparations
Your body is ready
Two
A huge push
A signal from your brain reaches the muscles in your legs
The muscles expand throwing you off the ledge
The tendons in your knees expand and contract
Gravity is no longer a boundary
Your brain works tirelessly sharpening the senses
Three
The brisk air flies by your face
you feel weightless
Gravity again grips at your feet
Your brain again fears the earth and prepares itself for impact
Your legs reach out for land
The ledge comes into sight
You close your eyes for the last moment of bliss
Four
Contact
Your muscles absorb the shock
You roll from the balls of your feet, throwing your weight forward
The earth is cold and it grips to your hand
Your brain recovers from the impact bringing blood back to the extremeties to heal
You stand and open your eyes
Five
You let out a sigh of relief
You are alive
You look back at your accomplishment
a ten foot gap cleared
back to work
Category: entertainment
The Moon.
We are sitting here again. The dim moon hid her face behind the grey clouds, like home, gloomy and unreachable.
Today is the joyous Mid-Autumn Festival, the third and last festival for the living, which is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon, around the time of the autumn equinox. Many referred to it simply as the “Fifteenth of the Eighth Moon”. In the Western calendar, the day of the festival usually occurred sometime between the second week of September and the second week of October.
This day was also considered a harvest festival since fruits, vegetables and grain had been harvested by this time and food was abundant. With delinquent accounts settled prior to the festival , it was a time for relaxation and celebration.
Jack came here this weekend to spend this special day with me. Also, our group which includes Vivian, Sophia, and other my Chinese friends on campus cooked Chinese food at the girls’ lounge.
We had a good time cooking the dishes that we used to have at home, and I called them “the taste of home”. We were laughing and talking about our own customs at home. We also ate moon cakes.
As foreign students, the only way to keep us together is to remember our cultures. Festivals of different cultures can be considered as profound bonds between time and distance.Read More »
Home of Soul.
I was lucky enough to have a chance to visit Lijiang with my parents this summer. And till now, I still believe that my soul has settled in Lijiang and it could not escape from there any more.
Lijiang, a popular destination in Yunnan,the southern part in China, is considered a fairyland blessed with fresh air, clear streams, breathtaking snow mountains and an undisturbed landscape inhabited by a friendly group of people. The Old Town there is graced by well preserved ancient buildings and the Naxi culture.
One of the most attractive feature is the way people live and the mood of the city. I clearly remember the very first moment when I stepped into the Old Town which lied in the center of the city – the peace and comfort strongly flipped my heart.
The small-sized houses stand together to create an atmosphere of unity. The colors are mostly grey and dark blue that take people back to the past. People live in a slow and leisurely pace. Most residents work as tour guides and the olds spend most of their time dancing and singing. The whole mood of the town is peace but joy.
Featured Movie: Red Eye
Before you read this post, just watch this trailer.
Please?
Gotta say… I’m not a horror movie person.
I’m one of those people. I freak out when I have to walk 15 feet by myself in the house at night after I watch a scary movie.
However, I do love psychological thrillers. Those are just OUTSTANDING.
If you’ve visited infiniteblue before, you may know of my passionate love for Cillian Murphy.Read More »
Behind the Scenes of the Lee Vining Live Blog
Hello all, we are finally back from our football road trip where we came out victorious against the Lee Vining Tigers, putting us 4th in our free lance league, and currently putting us in an undefeated position with our 52-28 win.
Now, if you are reading this post I hope you have read our Lee Vining updates where the whole trip is laid out day by day, highlighting major moments and fun times.
What you as a reader get is different than what I as a writer experience on a day to day basis. Some of our readers may envision students and teachers alike sitting in an office or classroom that is well groomed and maintained, writing on computers in newsrooms like those portrayed on TV and in movies.
It is actually quite the contrary if you are reading our blogs from the Lee Vining trip. Our three journalists on the Lee Vining trip were me (Keaton Shiffman), second year journalist (John Olivo), and first year journalist and photographer (Nicholas Giannetti).
It may seem obvious that trees and bushes do not output a strong WiFi signal, rather, none at all. So every night of our trip after all of our camp business was done, and food was taken care of, the journalists along with Mr. John Wickenhaeuser travelled down the road into the small town of Lee Vining.
Lee Vining is not the most normal of towns, because as it currently states on its welcome sign, it has a population of 398, which could have varied from the first time this sign was put up.
The first night of blogging was done from a Mobil Gas station, which also supplemented as a restaurant, gift shop, and convenience store. John, Mr. Wick, and Mr. Craig Floyd, all sat outside on the picnic style benches this gas station had to offer, and used a phone’s internet to post our Lee Vining: Day 1 post. John and I sat outside in the cold writing on the computers to inform our readers of how the first day and night had gone so far. This blog can be found on John’s profile, backinphilly, where we co-wrote the first story.
After about an hour of blogging John, our faculty supervisors, and I headed back to camp to find all of our teammates and remaining coaches asleep.
The next morning was the game which can also be found on the “backinphilly” blog. This day turned out better than expected with a great victory, but we played against a team with such great work ethic, and even better sportsmanship. Read all about Day 2 in Lee Vining @ Lee Vining: Day 2. This blog was written in an even more unique spot than a gas station diner, a McDonalds PlayPlace.
After our first varsity victory, the team enjoyed a fantastic meal at Giovanni’s Pizza in Mammoth Lakes, CA.
After dinner, we once again ventured out to a new blog spot, and it turned out that McDonalds had accessible WiFi, so we hopped on that opportunity.
When we first arrived, briefcase in hand, covered in dirt, sweat, and tears, I would have expected an unusual look from the staff, but maybe that was normal for them.
What really should have provoked a look was the fact that when we could not find any power outlets, we set up shop in the middle of the napkins and straws. And even at that no McDonalds employee minded the fact that we had set up our computer at a random condiment counter in the middle of their restaurant.
While writing we had a few visitors trying to find a straw or a napkin to wipe off their hands. Even at that nobody really wanted to question the two large teenage boys sitting and writing on a laptop in the middle of a McDonalds in Mammoth.
About 30 minutes into our writing one employee finally decided to tell us there was a power outlet under a seating area in the front lobby of the establishment. We picked up and moved there, and in this area there was a PlayPlace located conveniently on our left.
While we wrote on the couch like seat, we had to seize a great photo op in which John and I sat in the PlayPlace finishing our Day 2 blog.
I now see why these play places are made for children and not grown adolescent boys who have heights that exceed 6 feet.
This blog spot provoked a few laugh after an amazing and exhausting day.
We once again packed up, got in the car and headed back to camp, where once again we found a campground in a slumber after a day of hard work.
This really shows the dedication of our Journalists, and the want to let our readers know how we do what we do.
I hope this shed some light on what really goes on behind the scenes in the life of an OVS Journalists, and what it is like blogging on the road while playing one of the most memorable football games any of us will ever take part in.
From Keaton “That Guy” Shiffman, back in Ojai, I bid you good evening.
Also, contrary to popular belief apparently, I was not stuck in the slide at the PlayPlace, I was merely lost in the ever so confusing maze of tunnels that I may or may not have been to large to have been crawling around in.
Lee Vining Day 2-Game Day
Today, we woke up to our pregame breakfast. First off, this consisted of a 4 pound slab of bacon (purchased from the Mahogany Smoked Meats Co.).
You have never seen a group of guys go this wild for meat.
With the bacon, we made sausages, eggs cooked with the bacon grease, potatoes and onions cooked with bacon grease, and threw it all into breakfast burritos. Clearly, there was salsa and cheese involved. But it was meat-tastic.
After breakfast, we relaxed and either slept or went into the freezing cold river for a nice wake up dip. We then gathered to elect team captains while getting game gear ready to go.
Each player had to vote for three players that they think displayed the greatest form of leadership. Although we only planned on having three captains, the vote was so close that the coaches added a fourth. The result was John Olivo, Cody Triggs, Grant Spencer and Min Ung Choi.
We checked our gear one last time before loading up into the vans and blasting pump up music. We all got into our own zones, and prepared ourselves for battle.
We arrived to the field with one goal in mind: Win. We showed up an hour prior to kickoff, and began our warmups. The captains led the team in their stretches and agility workouts, and then broke up into individual position drills.
The whistles blew, and the starters took the field to compete in what very well may be the greatest 48 minutes in OVS history.Read More »
Featured Song: Abraham’s Daughter – Featured Book: The Hunger Games
Abraham took Isaac‘s hand
And led him to the lonesome hill
While his daughter hid and watched
She dared not breathe; she was so still
Just as an angel cried for the slaughter
Abraham’s daughter raised her voice
Then the angel asked her what her name was
She said, “I have none.”
Then he asked, “How can this be?”
“My father never gave me one.”
And when he saw her raised for the slaughter
Abraham’s daughter raised her bow
“How darest you, child, defy your father?”
“You better let young Isaac go.”
-“Abraham’s Daughter,” by Arcade Fire
The story of Abraham and Isaac is one of the most important in the Old Testament.
God wants to test Abraham’s devotion to, and fear of him. So he commands Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, as a testament to his loyalty. Abraham takes Isaac to a mountain and tells him to gather up wood for a sacrifice. When Isaac asks where the lamb for slaughter is, Abraham replies, “God will provide the lamb,” and together they ascend.
Abraham then lays Isaac down and raises his knife.
Convinced that Abraham is sufficiently God-fearing, an angel descends and stays his hand, thus, saving Isaac.
The Wind That Shakes the Barley
“I sat within a valley green
I sat with me my true love
My sad heart strove to choose between
The old love and the new love
The old for her, the new that made
Me think on Ireland dearly
While soft the wind blew down the glade
And shook the golden barley
‘Twas hard the woeful words to frame
To break the ties that bound us
But harder still to bear the weight
Of foreign chains around us
And so I said, “The mountain glen
I’ll seek at morning early,
And join the brave United Men
While soft winds shake the barley.”
While sad I kissed away her tears
My fond arms ‘round her flinging
The foeman’s shot burst on our ears
From out the wildwood ringing
A bullet pierced my true love’s side
In life’s young spring so early
And on my breast in blood she died
While soft winds shook the barley
I bore her to some mountain stream
And many the summer’s blossom
I placed with branches soft and green
About her gore-stained bosom
I wept and kissed her clay-cold corpse
Then rushed o’er vale and valley
My vengeance on the foe to wreak
While soft wind shook the barley
But blood for blood without remorse
I’ve taken at Oulart Hollow
And laid my true love’s clay-cold corpse
Where I full soon may follow
As ‘round her grave I wander drear
Noon, night and morning early
With breaking heart when e’er I hear
The wind that shakes the barley“
–Robert Dwyer Joyce, “The Wind That Shakes the Barley.”
This poem was written about the 1798 Irish Rebellion, a conflict opposing British rule in Ireland.
It is told from the perspective of a young Irish rebel, torn between his lover and his desire to fight for his country.Read More »
Tales from Dr. Horatio Goldberg, Doctor at large: Phillips gets a check-up
I always figured I’d be a lousy Doctor. I’d be pretty bad with hanging around sick people, and even worse with giving them the bad news in a comforting way. With that said, I like to think I’d be better than Dr. Goldberg here. So, here’s my newest story: Tales from Dr. Horatio Goldberg, Doctor at large: Phillips gets a check up.
“Hey hey! Phillips! How ya doin’ buddy?” Dr. Goldberg said as he came tumbling into the room where his patient was waiting.
“I’m great doc! I’ve never felt better!” Phillips said with a gleam in his eye.
“Haha, that’s odd.” Dr. Goldberg laughed, as he took off a pair of latex gloves.
“Really? Haha, how come?” Phillips said, losing his gleam.
“Because you won’t make it through the week.” The Doctor said as he checked his clipboard. “So…Phillips, is that a Persian name?”
“Wait, I what??”
“No no, I was asking you.” Dr. Goldberg said, putting his stethoscope into his ears. “Persian name?”
“Dutch-Irish.” Phillips said. “What did you say about me not making it through the week?”
“Well its no big deal. Your test results came back; you’re probably not going to make it to next Tuesday. Its all good, plenty of my patients have died.”
Phillips didn’t know what to say.
“So, you’re scheduled for a prostate exam, right?” Dr. Goldberg said..
“I hardly think that matters right now!!”
“Look, Philly–you mind if I call you Philly?”
“Uh, no, go ahead.”
“Philly, dying is not a big deal. It happens to everyone. I personally believe that after death, we will all be sent to a spirit world, where we will be resurrected and then judged by our superior spirit overlords and then granted life on a far off planet with varying degrees of servitude.” Dr. Goldberg said. “I believe that I’ll be a king of my planet.”
“So you’re a Mormon?”
“We prefer the term Latter Day Saints.” Dr. Goldberg said.
“Well…sir…how am I going to die?” Phillips asked.
“How should I know?” The Doctor asked.
“Well I would think because you’re a-”
“I gotta run, I’m playing golf with Gonzalez from cardiology.” Dr. Goldberg said, running out the door. “We’ll make a rain check on that prostate exam.”
“HEY! Wait a second!”
“See you next time.” The doctor stopped himself at the door. “Actually, haha, no I won’t.”
With that, Horatio Goldberg ran out the door, and Phillips was left alone in the cold, grey doctor’s office.Read More »
Breaking Through
Breaking through was the hardest part. They said that on the other side we would find happiness, answers, something. There must have been a reason the universe inexplicably stopped expanding.
The crew of our small expedition consisted of five of us. The “best” people for the job. Best. I would describe us as inexperienced. Too young. Lost.
The greatest minds of our time wanted answers and we were the crew assigned to the job. The journey to the edge was instantaneous.
To break through we had to bend the laws of what we thought was possible. We [Process Classified].
When we breached the edge of the universe there was nothing but darkness. Then it started infecting us.
[Name removed] was the first infected by the bug.
The parasite’s symptoms were unlike any others any of us had ever seen.
It was not a physical disease. It starts with projecting an image of unbelievable beauty. It captivates you. Seeing it absorbs your every thought. Nothing else matters.
Then, like a candle burning out for the last time, it disappears and never returns.
It fills you with a need for it. It becomes an addiction. You beg for it to return.
After days of waiting. It returns, but it isn’t the same. Something is wrong. The happiness is replaced by fear. It consumes you. It hurts to live. [Names removed] ended their lives at this point. I locked the last survivor other than myself in a cell at his request.
He lives through the fear and walks up to the window and explains to me what he feels. “I have seen all. We should never have tested these limits. Life isn’t meant to be tested like this. GO LEAVE.” The rest of his words were muddled and unrecognizable.
Looking outside the window of my quarters I have to wonder why I haven’t been infected, but my mind has been fixated on a thought. A thought I can’t quite place, but It is beautiful.
Just beautiful.
OVS Journalism Blog 
You must be logged in to post a comment.