Lockouts Hurt, So Does Getting Smashed Into the Boards

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Just last night at 12am ET no more negotiations had been made on the NHL’s CBA or Collective Bargain Agreement. The issue at hand is the fact that the owners of the hockey franchises want to reduce the amount of Hockey Related Revenues that the players receive from 57% to 46%. Within the current CBA this negotiation cannot be made, and neither side of the argument is willing to budge.

This affects many people, not only the players, but their families, and all the people that work behind the scenes in the professional hockey world. If there are no games — and currently there won’t be any — the players will not receive any HRR, the arenas will not sell tickets, which means they will not make money, which means they cannot pay their employees what they should be getting paid. As it is seen here it is a never ending spiral of horror for employees and fans alike. While this lockout will not effect my wallet in a negative way, rather a positive way, I think I can speak for myself and many others that this lockout is going to make this a very boring 9 months or so. Usually during this time watching my beloved Los Angeles Kings play a few times a week keeps me going through the ever so long week. Just one game makes me week so much better, and I feel that many would agree with me.

Hockey photo

If this blog could reach Gary Bettman, commissioner of the NHL, I would just want him to know that myself and fans alike would like him to re think his actions in the negotiations that started on September 15, 2012. Please Mr. Bettman, end this lockout, and LET MY KINGS PLAY. Go Kings Go!

Tales from Dr. Horatio Goldberg, Doctor at large: Phillips gets a check-up

smackyjackjack3 Comments

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.

Classin' it 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

displacedlocal3 Comments


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.

The Biggest Thing in Sneakers #1

displacedlocalLeave a comment

Ever since Nike started making endurance running sneakers they have been searching for a show with support that fits like a sock.

This latest development was one of pure genius. stemming from the “innovation kitchen” at Nike headquarters he has created a way of manufacturing that revolutionizes running, style, and production.

This product is Flyknit. Created with design genius Hiroshi Fujiwara, legendary designer Tinker Hatfield and CEO Mark Parker, Flyknit utilizes cords of synthetic yarn woven into the shape of a shoe. This technique allowed the designers to map the floor and create a running shoe that provides support exactly where one needs it.

This technology is not only good for runners and athletes, but the industry as a whole. The possibility of  being able to walk into a store and have a shoe woven to perfectly match the foot of the customer is something the industry has been pursuing for a long time.

The process is used to create a shoe made from TWO pieces. Most sneakers are made from upwards of twenty. This feat is unprecedented and has changed the idea of production as we know it.

The simple production eliminates  the need for the use of cheap labor in China and Vietnam and allows production to be pushed back into America.

The shoe has changed the way we think about style, production, and what we think a shoe can be.

Wearing it for the past month has made it my favorite pair of sneakers, and showed me something I had never seen before. A shoe that fits like a sock.

Worst Person 22-Jay Cutler

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This is brand new, and I’m talking a few minutes. The Bears and Packers faced off this evening in a battle of epic proportions. The teams looked ready and raring to go after last week. The Packers were beat last week, but that just got them more ready. The Bears had a great game last week using the power of Jay Cutler‘s arm to hurl the ball down field to Brandon Marshall. This was supposed to be a great matchup.

One problem though.

Jay. Cutler. SUCKS!!!!

What’s wrong? Did I hurt your feelings? Dude, you don’t know pain until you’ve been sacked by Clay Matthews.

Oh wait. THAT HAPPENED 2.5 TIMES TONIGHT!!! (For those that don’t know, when you combine with another player for a sack, you get .5)

Scary, huh? Well Mr. Cutler, that’s no excuse to ALSO throw FOUR interceptions. Ya, the Pack have a solid passing defense. But you’re supposed to be an elite quarterback. My cousin was fooled this week by ESPN to play Cutler instead of Peyton Manning for his fantasy team. Cutler would have ended up with negative points had it not been for a late touchdown.

Jay, I never believed in you. I don’t know why coaches and analysts keep giving you the BOTD. I see right through all that bad passing. You can’t blame Marshall. You had him in Denver and now you got him again. You can’t blame your running back. He got hurt. You CAN blame your line. Yes, they played poorly. But that doesn’t happen every game. You have games like this all too frequently.

You know, come to think of it, maybe I shouldn’t have made Jay Cutler the worst person.

Maybe I should’ve given the honor to my cousin for drafting the useless “gunslinger.”

Israel and its nuclear problem with Iran

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It is commonly known that the US and her allies believe that Iran is enriching Uranium in order to build nuclear weapons. The US and to a extent the Obama Administration has been criticized for refusing to take a hard stance against Iran’s Nuclear Program.

The most vocal of these critics is Israel whose proximity to Iran puts Israel in an extremely precarious position. Israel and Iran are mortal enemies; Israel believes (knows) that if Iran develops nuclear weapons it would plunge the region into total war.

Israel has not let Iran’s nuclear research continued unmolested. Peaceful resolutions are almost out of the question, Israel has given up on diplomacy and outside parties, they now deal with the Iranian Nuclear Program in a much more direct way.

dd

Several Iranian scientist have been assassinated the most memorable of which have been Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan. On January 11th, 2012 two unknown assailants on motorcycles attached a magnetic bomb to the side of Roshan’s car, the motorcyclist sped away and the bomb detonated moments later.

Iran has blamed Israel and believe that the United States may have been involve in the attacks. Whether this assassination will lead to peace or more violence remains to be seen.

What You Need to Know

therightliberal9 Comments

Hello journalists!

Let me start off by reminding you of how lucky you are. You are in one of, if not the best, journalism classes in the country. And that is a lot more important than being in the best chemistry class or the best pre-calc class.

And here is why: journalism is much more than a class.

Now you are probably saying, “Evan, didn’t you learn not to use clichés in high school?”

Yes critical reader, I did. But I have evidence for that claim, lots of it.

Let us first start with what skills are required for journalism. A good journalist needs critical thinking skills, people to people skills and the ability to write well and concisely.

Translate that to the real world and you already have some of the most important skills available. You can solve problems, converse with people and then summarize with writing; pretty much the core skills for the work place.

Now let me tell you, Mr. Alvarez teaches this as well as anyone, actually a lot better. I will admit, I am biased. Mr. Alvarez (though he likes to keep this a secret) has very similar views on the world as I do, so of course I was drawn in. He also is funny, and so gosh darn handsome.

But his greatest attribute (and no, it’s not the flat top) is getting you to think. What is the key to this story? What people do I need to talk to? What really should go in the nut graf?

Listen, I have spent my first three weeks of college working my ass off for the paper here. You think Mr. Alvarez asks a lot? You are about as wrong as Mitt Romney. Just one story for the Panther takes hours to get sources for, research, interview, write, edit, edit, edit, and edit.

You can’t just go talk to Mrs. Colborn then swing into Coop’s office for a chat about the subject. You can’t interview your friends, your significant other or your cat. You have to stick your neck out there and talk to strangers. Not just talk to them, harass them for information.

And you think that Mr. Alvarez asks for a lot of long stories and grades them too critically? The bare minimum for this college newspaper is 500 published words each week, so at least one published story. You are missing a comma: there goes 10% of the story grade. You misspell a name (and they do check): zero points. You miss your deadline by a minute (I turned my story in yesterday with 16 seconds to spare): zero points.

I’m not trying to tell you that college writing is hard and you young whippersnappers have it so easy; I am telling you what you need to know.

So here it is: journalism is hard. I have wanted to throw my laptop into the wall after receiving edits (although in college you have other ways to relax yourself), I have wanted to  pawn the story off on someone else, I have wanted to just give up.

But the reward of taking a class and writing for a school newspaper is you get insight on the world that no other class can teach you. You are in a job, you have responsibilities that cannot just be ignored. You learn lessons that can be applied everywhere. And best of all, you meet awesome, cool and groovy people like your journalism teacher (I hope you have been watching these videos, there will be a test).

Even though the late Mr. Walker will turn over in his grave because of this cliché; keep working, it pays off in the end.

P.S. The real key to success as a staff writer is to have the attitude of the honey badger.

Finny Tales

Daphne Psaledakis2 Comments

Those of you who attend the Ojai Valley School may have heard of, or perhaps even been lucky enough to encounter, the dog Fin. Fin is no ordinary dog. He belongs to the head of the girls dorm, Ms. Megan, and it is perhaps from her that he has acquired his original qualities.

My first encounter with Fin took place the first week of school, during a dorm meeting. Ms. Megan’s sister was recalling a cautionary tale of how, one day, she was bending down in order to give him a loving cuddle, and was snapped at in the close proximity of her face. It was at this point I decided I would avoid Fin at all costs.

For those of you who don’t know, and I’m guessing the majority of you don’t, I am a dog lover. In fact, I love all animals (except insects and snakes, but let’s face it, not very many people like them either). However, the thought of being bit in the face, even if the dog is toothless, is not particularly pleasing to me.

Unfortunately, my plan to avoid what I thought was a dangerous dog did not exactly follow through. One night, which was an especially terrible night, the fire alarm in the girls dorm decided to go off an amazing three times. Now imagine the fire alarm from your high school, the nightmarish one that never stops. Then imagine yourself sleeping peacefully, only to be startled awake and pulled from your cozy bed for a fire drill. We were not happy.

The first time the alarm went off that night, there was chaos as all the girls attempted to go through two doors at once. Ms. Megan was standing off to the side in one of the hallways, ushering us along. For some reason, probably just because I was the closest one to her, she thrust Fin’s leash into my hands and told me to take him outside.

Deciding to put on a brave face, I held Fin at arms length and escorted him to the outside. Instead of ruthlessly attacking me, as I foolishly expected, Fin huddled against my legs and looked up at me with the sweetest puppy dog eyes one will ever see. Besides my two dogs back home, because well, no one can beat them. Not even Fin.

At that precise moment my resolve to avoid Fin dissolved, and I instead decided that he would be my best friend. Of course, surrounded by amazing people at school and in classes, that did not exactly happen. However, whenever I do see the wonderful dog Fin, he brightens my day.

Without even meaning to, I have become that annoying person who uses the baby voice when around animals. I promise I only do it with Fin. I won’t lie, there are a few exceptions. I also bend down and scratch his head.

When he’ll let me that is.

But the lesson contained within the ramble of this story is not that Fin is a nice dog, even though he is. The lesson is that you should make decisions about whether or not you want to be around someone based on your own experiences, not someone else’s.

The European Monopoly

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Europeans seems to have established a monopoly on the principal roles in American superhero films.

In recent years, the most popular superhero movie characters are primarily European, often of the British persuasion.

Batman Begins (2005) starred 5 prominent European actors.

Christian Bale took the title role with Sir Michael Caine  and Gary Oldman as his allies.  Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy portrayed the main antagonists Henri Ducard/Ra’s al Ghul and Dr. Jonathan Crane/the Scarecrow.

Bale, Oldman, Neeson and Murphy spoke with American accents in the film, disguising their English and Irish accents respectively.

Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman
Sir Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth

Liam Neeson as Henri Ducard/Ra’s al Ghul
Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane/the Scarecrow.

Bale, Caine, Murphy, and Oldman reprised their roles in The Dark Knight (2008).Read More »

The Beauty of Independence

Daphne Psaledakis5 Comments

About three weeks ago, on my way to the Ojai Valley School for the beginning of the school year, I was dragged out of bed at six in the morning and loaded into my dad’s truck along with my luggage and two little brothers.

We were on our way to the airport in Denver, Colorado, and set off from my hometown Aspen so early in the morning because of the four hour drive ahead of us. Although the drive might sound long, it is not as tedious as one would expect.

My dad starts the truck with just a little bit of trouble, enough to make me look over at him and raise my eyebrows in a sleepy haze. He’ll blame it on the cold of the morning, but I think he was just as tired as the rest of us. He did manage to successfully back out of the driveway (without hitting any mailboxes or trash cans), and we were en route. Knowing these were my final hours with my family before not seeing them for three months, I settled in for the drive up Independence Pass.Read More »