An Ode to Ryan Giggs

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Ryan Giggs is a legend. Not only is he 37, but he is still able to play at the highest level in the EPL.

Today he signed a contract extension that will last through next season. Next year will be his 22nd season at Manchester United. Those 22 seasons have been full of awards on a personal and team level. At age 35, Giggs still managed to capture Player of the Year for the EPL.

He has been a leader for United, playing hard, physical and intelligent football. Giggs has taught players like David Beckham, the Neville brothers, Michael Carrick and many others.

I feel that Ryan Giggs is one of the most transformational players football has seen. He plays a style of soccer that involves much running, hard tackles while still playing an attacking game.

He is a Welsh hero and will be known as one of the greatest United players ever. I will not pretend that he is on the downhill slope, but he is still able to play football better than many players half his age.

Hopefully Giggs will follow Roy Keane and go into coaching, expanding his career in football that is already legendary. Ryan Giggs has inspired my football career and I am sure I am not alone. Thank you Giggsy for what you have done and what you continue to do.

And I’m Still Alive

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Lesbian.
Gay.
Dyke.
Dyke.
Dyke.

She keeps her head down as people sneer at her, she’s only trying to walk to her next class in peace. Her baggy jacket hides the scars littering her arms and the hood masks the look of utter pain etched onto her face.

“Hey!” Someone calls at her, but she does not know who, “how bout I let you borrow my girlfriend if you return your clothes to the men’s section?”

It was a poor attempt to hurt her, but it did, nonetheless. She moved her feet faster, trying to avoid the people in the cruel jail she knew as high school, but they would never go away. The taunting would never go away.

It wasn’t always so hard, she remembered, back when she wasn’t sure what her hormones were telling her. It wasn’t always so hard when she was in the closet, so far back she thought she was in Narnia. It was when she emerged from the darkness that a spotlight shined down onto her, that people took notice. She was no longer the smiling girl with all the friends, but the lesbian that you had to stay away from. After all, you don’t want to catch their disease, right?

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Coachella!

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The music festival, Coachella, has just released its tentative list of performers.
It’s big news in the music world. The concert that has now been going on for nine years and has hosted the most famous artists including Pearl Jam and Rage Against the Machine.

Lineup

In the hot and dry Indio, California, the concert lasts a total of three days each year with at least 20 artists playing on one given day. Thousands of people of all ages flock from across the country to see the spectacle and believe me it’s worth seeing.

Personally, I have never attended the concert, but I have had dozens of friends who have. I haven’t heard a single bad review. Although I only found out about the concert three years ago, there hasn’t been a year where I wish I couldn’t have gone. Hopefully this year will be the first.

For more information visit here

All Stars

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With only 4 days left to vote, the NBA All Star Teams are coming together. Usually the most popular players get picked, but this year, I hope to see some of my picks on the team…

West

As one of the forwards I have to pick the amazing rookie sensation Blake Griffin. The toughness and raw power of the 21-year-old Clipper is too good to not make the team. With his strong defense and amazing dunk, Griffin will hopefully make to team.

Since I’m a Laker fan I have to go with Ron Artest for the second forward (sorry Durant). He may be the craziest player in the NBA, but Artest shows great heart. With great defensive and solid offensive skills, Artest definitely makes the team.

For the point guard I have to pick the toughest, most determined player in the NBA, Steve Nash. To me, Nash commands the most respect out of any player. That’s not just because of his skill, but because he wants to win.   In the last playoffs, Nash had his nose broken on a defensive play. What did he do? He pulled it back into place and kept playing.

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For the next guard, I pick Kobe. Do I have to explain?

The West team’s center? Andrew Bynum. With his imposing bulk, and skill, Bynum is the obvious choice. Bynum is easily the best center in the West, and maybe the league (maybe Noah. More on him later).

East

The obvious choice for one of the East’s forwards is Amare Stoudemire. This is the player that has single-handedly turned one of the worst teams in the East into a solid 5th place team.  With power and skill, Stoudemire is a great choice.

The next pick is a little strange because I refuse to pick anyone on the Heat (lookin’ at you Bosh). It’s weird too because I hated the 2000 Sacramento Kings, but I have to pick Hedo Turkoglu. The only reason I’m picking him is because I have a grudge against everyone else (“cough” Bosh”cough” Garnett “cough”). Having said that, he is a solid player.

The point guard for the East would have to be Derrick Rose. This player has shown prowess and ability since the start of his career.  He is on one of the up and rising teams, the Chicago Bulls. I hope they can get a ring before too soon. Just not this year because the Lakers have to get another 3-peat.

The next guard is the rookie John Wall. Not only has he mastered the fine art of Dougie-ing, but he can also play a good game of basketball. Sadly this player may not get the rookie of the year trophy because he is on one of the worst teams ever.

Saving the best for last, the East center would have to be Joakim Noah. Not only is he one of the best centers out there, but he makes everyone around him better.  This is the type of player that can be an asset to any team.

So that’s it. Hopefully Noah and Wall can make it on the team, because they are my favorites. Go Lakers.

Taylor Gang or Die…

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Wiz Khalifa. If you haven’t heard that name, you will. Cameron Jabril Thomaz (more often refered to by his stage name Wiz Khalifa) has come a long way since 2005. From his first mixtape (Prince of the City: Welcome to Pitsolvania) to his most recent single (The now infamous “Black & Yellow”) he’s had the kind of journey most rappers only dream of. Now age 23, he has released eight mixtapes and two albums as well as making two mainstream hits, the first being “Say Yeah,” the electronic hip-hop style track from 2007, and the second being “Black & Yellow,” which is currently one of the five hottest songs in America.

Wiz Khalifa lives a life of ambition and focus when it comes to his career, saying on his second album, “It’s lonely at the top, I’m tired of having company.” Well, he may not be there just yet, but he’s been rising fast. This can be attributed to many things, including time and talent, but also his clever and resourceful use of the internet and other new media. He constantly updates his twitter page, telling his fans about anything from how his new song is coming to just how flat-out drunk he is, and his fans love him for it.

As he says at the end of his first verse in Black & Yellow, “No keys, push to start.” And as it would happen, push to start seems to be exactly the case. Wiz Khalifa has started the road to mainstream success, and he seems to be loving how it looks from here.

Crying Animals in South Korea

vabenissimo1 Comment

More than 662,647 livestock have been slaughtered and buried, alive.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) has thoroughly pervaded certain areas of South Korea. This disease suffers domesticated animals, mainly including cattle and swine by causing a fever and other biological destruction such as oral blister and internal erosion without any acute vaccination provided to aid their excruciating pain.

Due to its high potential for contamination, the South Korean government ordered the farmers to end the lives of countless livestock.

Unfortunately, this tragedy continues to affect not only the animals but also the humans.

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Tanning Bed for the Notorious Russian Prison

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Prisons in Russia are known to be notorious. But, this particularly infamous Moscow’s Butyrskaya prison has decided to make a significant contribution to the prisoners, a tanning bed.

The origin of this idea is stunning.

After the death of prisoner Sergei Magnitsky in 2009 due to his pancreas disease, federal prisons service Viktor Dezhurov became increasingly concerned about the prisoners’ health, leading to his decision to install tanning beds on the prison’s 240 anniversary celebration day. This plan is also considerably profitable with an estimated cost of $1,000 a month or 33 cents for every minute.

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Space Hotels Make Vacationing Among the Stars Possible!

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The Galactic Suite Space Resort is reported to be on schedule and expected to launch its first guests into space in 2012. Guests would pay roughly $4.4 million for a three night stay at the space resort and an eight week training program on an island. The Virgin Galactic, a space touring company, would launch four lucky guests and two astronaut pilots from a spaceport in New Mexico into the sky to single pod, where the visitors would land alone and not be met up with staff. Each ride would cost each passenger roughly $200,000.

Once at the Galactic Suite, the guests would be harnessed in a velcro suit so they could shift around their rooms by adhering to the velcro walls. The guests will be able to see the sun rise 15 times in 24 hours and circumnavigate around the globe every hour and 20 minutes.

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My OVS Awakening

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Screen shot 2011-01-18 at 8.16.22 PM

Just past the halfway mark in my senior year and reality is starting to kick in. Going into my 11th year at OVS , I have just began to appreciate how greatly it has influenced my life.

The school has been the most steady home I have always had. Who I am today has been developed and impacted from my life at Ojai Valley School, from the people who have shared their knowledge with me, and more than that, their friendship with me.

Coming home from finals last week, I was anxious to see what would come next in all of my classes. I was pulled aside by Mr. Weidlich, who encouraged me to switch out of his English 12 class and into the AP English class. I was happy to challenge myself and move on to a new opportunity for learning. It was that experience, along with several other experiences with faculty members, that made me truly take a moment and think about how lucky I am to be in this place.

I want to thank Mr. Weidlich for being my advisor through my upper campus experience and always pushing me to challenge and tap into my writing abilities. It is to him that I owe my passion for writing because it was created when he shared his passion of writing with me through his English classes.

He has taught me a lot and I really look up to him as a person. Through thick and thin I will always love Ojai Valley School and it will always be a place where I have felt safest and will certainly be a place I will love to visit in the future as my life unfolds.

Eredivisie

therightliberal4 Comments

Dutch football does not receive enough credit. After the trade rumors about Ryan Babel and Luis Suarez I decided that this blog needed to discuss the Dutch Eredivisie (the professional football league in the Netherlands).

The Eredivisie has never been competitive with leagues like the EPL or La Liga in the actual competition between teams. However, Eredivisie is by far the best league for the development of football players.

The Dutch style of training and development is true genius. Youth players do not play 11v11 until they are at least 15 years old. This means that youth get many more touches than if they were playing larger sided games like they do in most countries. The youth learn how to control a game, passing and moving and then are able to better translate that to a game with more players.

Dutch development also focuses on the football psychology of players more than any other country. They work to develop a strong understanding of all the variables in football, an understanding of the cause and effect relationships on the field. This allows for the players to be best suited for intelligent play and use their skills most effectively.

There is a reason that talented Brazilians, Portuguese, Spaniards and players from all around the world go to the Netherlands to develop their football skills. It is the Mecca of football development. Dutch football should get more credit for the great teaching they bring to football.