Category: journalism

Stuff having to do with the world of journalism.

The Season of the LAX Bro is Upon Us

callmemaybe32Leave a comment

I’m sorry to use the term “LAX Bro,” but I just love using it to piss people off.

It is almost that time of the year to go beat the crap out of people with metal poles and have some good old fashioned fun.

Lacrosse has been defined by Webster Dictionary and all other reputable sources as, ” (n) Lacrosse: The sport real men play during baseball season, (v) To Lacrosse: The act of beating opponents with metal alloy sticks whilst others throw leather balls into leather mitts and slide in dirt because dirt is fun.”

If you would like to check up on that I urge you not to because I would hope you trust me enough to know that’s true.

Lacrosse combines aspects of basketball, soccer, and hockey.

It is the sport of all sports, while it is not my favorite sport to play it comes in 2nd due to a 3 way tie between Football and Ice Hockey.

Lacrosse is raw.

Lacrosse is mean.

Lacrosse is what is up my friend.

Last year was my first season and I was just learning the ropes.

I chose to play defense because I enjoyed the idea of holding a 6 foot long metal stick that I can beat people with.

It is so hard to talk about lacrosse without billions of sexual innuendoes going through your head, but bear with me people.

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College

callmemaybe32Leave a comment

It is about that time in my life that college becomes a hot topic.

Where do I want to go? Where can I get in? Can I play sports? Do they have the sports I want to play? Where is it? How big is it? What do I want to study?

So many questions and ultimately all of these questions have to be answered to narrow down the long list of schools to one.

Recently I have been doing some research and I have started to look at schools so I started to put a list of schools together so it is all laid out.

College Location Sports
Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX FootballHockey
Duke University Durham, NC FootballHockey
Stanford University Stanford, CA FootballHockey
University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA FootballHockey
University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA FootballHockey
Brown Providence, RI FootballHockey
Chapman University CA FootballHockey
Boston University Boston, MA FootballHockey
University of Denver Denver, CO Hockey
Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN FootballHockeyLacrosse
Northeastern University Boston, MA FootballHockey
Northwestern University Evanston, IL FootballHockey
CU Boulder Boulder, CO FootballHockey
University of Oregon Portland, OR FootballHockey
Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD FootballHockey

In the coming months I will be adding and deleting schools as I compare and contrast the pros and cons of each on the list, and as I discover other schools that will fit into my plan.

I am looking at majoring in either Molecular Biology, Human Biology, Kinesiology, or Sports Medicine.

I have wanted to become a doctor for a very long time.

I want to be able to introduce myself as Dr. Keaton Shiffman, having that prestigious M.D. at the end of my name.

My ultimate dream would be to be a team physician, working on the field or on the ice with the best football or hockey players.

I know that has gotten very specific, but I feel that if I stick to what I want to do that I will make it happen.

As much as I don’t think I will be able to come out of my school and play high level intercollegiate sports it is always worth a try.

The worst thing that could happen is I won’t play, but best case scenario my dream comes true.

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Equality in the Military

frog3Leave a comment

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This week something wonderful has happened!!! Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has announced that (sometime in the near future) women in the United States military will be able to serve in combat roles. The United States has taken another step to become the pinnacle of equality it preaches to be.

Although women in the United States military have seen combat before, they were not officially allowed in combat only roles. The lifting of the ban of women in combat does not come without a catch. The Pentagon had said that certain combat roles will still be open to men only.

This is England

smackyjackjackLeave a comment

It’s time for another movie suggestion everyone, so hold on to your horses. This week’s suggestion is Shane Meadow’s This is England.

The film documents the life of a twelve year old named Shaun while he struggles to grow up in the 1983 slums of England. Pretty early on in the movie, Shaun falls into line with a gang of much older skinheads who take him in and treat him like one of their own.

Now, keep in mind these are pre-racist skinheads, or original skinheads. Being a skinhead then basically meant juvenile delinquent.  The style was actually brought over from Jamaica by the Rude Boys there and eventually led to music like ska and 2tone. But back to the movie.

Remember how I said Shaun hangs out with non-racist skinheads? Well that all changes in about 30 minutes of the movie when Stephen Graham comes into the scene. Leave it to him.

The rest of the movie is about how little Shaun goes from this…

To this…

Little scamp.

Anyways the movie is an amazing portrayal of Falklands-era England and what was going on back then. Big thumbs up. Its Netflix watch instantly too, go check it out.

Aside Daphne PsaledakisLeave a comment

As a kid, we all have that one thing that brings us comfort. Sometimes it’s a blanket, or a stuffed animal, or even a lullaby sung every night by your mother. We all have that safety blanket we run to whenever things get tough. For some, the teddy might stick around a little longer than […]

And we’re back!

callmemaybe32Leave a comment

Well, Saturday marked the first day of the 2012-2013 NHL season, well I guess the 2013 season at least.

It was a long and frustrating lockout, but the teams are back lacing up the skates and getting out on the ice.

I witnessed a moment in history that will only happen once, and that was watching my beloved Los Angeles Kings raise their first Stanley Cup banner up into the rafters at Staples Center.

While watching the captains of the team skate the flag out to center ice I started to feel something.

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The Native Americans Plight

frog3Leave a comment

Image

The Native Americans who stood on long held land, were once asked to leave.

The Native Americans, aghast at the Europeans request politely refused.

It was their right to refuse.

However their greatest mistake was to trust the Europeans word.

In order to take from the Native Americans they had to rationalize their request.

The Native Americans of course do not really need their land and besides we can convert them to.

So the forced removal began with the Native Americans fighting to hold onto their homes.

It was for naught, the Europeans could easily destroy the Native Americans with unseen weapons.

Disease, an invisible force that cannot be fought decimated the Native American tribes.

The Europeans in all their false righteousness eventually won out.

Capitalistic Inefficiency

frog3Leave a comment

Image

Money what is it?

Humans assigning artificial value.

Perhaps.

Why?

Humans greedy creatures cannot decide what people should have.

A short lasting solution is brought into play.

Everything is given a value.

A system is created.

A human works and is given a value.

This value gives humans the ability to buy objects.

These objects are of course given value.

Capitalism has risen.

That’s all fine and well.

Social Darwinism is the norm.

A worker who works hard will rise in social size.

How logical.

So then a lazy worker will fall in social standing.

A sound concept in theory.

It does not work like this.

People who work hard may suffer, those who don’t may thrive.

Why?

My Second Family

Daphne PsaledakisLeave a comment

As I step off the plane, my friend texts me: “Welcome home!” Normally, I wouldn’t even think twice about this. I would respond saying thank-you, and how excited I was to be home. Only this time, I paused for a second. I had to think twice about it.

I spend the majority of my time here at OVS. I live here, I go to school here. And at some point, withought me even realizing it, I started thinking of it as home.

My family is in Colorado, and when I’m on break that’s where I go. Aspen is beautiful, but at the same time it’s hard for me to be there. The friends I had while going to school there I have grown apart from.

It’s hard to go from living in the dorm, where almost all of my friends are around me 24/7, to Aspen where I don’t have very many people to connect with. When I came to school here my friends slowly became best friends, and from there they morphed into a second family.

Image.

And while I miss being home at times, when I’m home I miss being at school.

So when my friend texted me that welcome home message at the beginning of break, I thought to myself that it’s just one of my homes. The home where my family is. But my life, my life is back in California.

Man of Fury

displacedlocalLeave a comment


I am a man of fire and fury

I leave a wake of destruction and fire in my path

As I cross oceans they become steam.

Deserts become mountain ranges of glass in my wake.

I walk through cities and around me civilization Is gone.