Keys to a Soccer Team

therightliberalLeave a comment

Although there are some great Champions League games on today, I want to talk about something else. Football (or soccer to some of you) is a great sport. It is fun and enjoyable for me and may others to play. It teaches teamwork, perseverance and many other skills. But to have a good soccer team there are somethings that a team needs.

1. Coach-Although there are good teams with bad coaches, a coach/manager can make a team great. They control who plays and who doesn’t. they control how the team is run and how the team trains. In most teams they are the head and they control everything under them. A bad coach can ruin a team. They can ruin moral, ruin chemistry and not play the right people at the right time. they may not even run practices correctly which can also damage a team. The first step to building a great team is having a great coach.

2. Players-Although having players with motivation and character is important, what a team really needs is players with talent. You cannot compete with a team that has 10 times the amount of talent you have, trust me I have tried. A team with no talent is not a team, it is a group of people looking to have fun. To be competitive you must have players who are invested in winning, can take advice and build with it, and strive to win. Without that a soccer team will fail.

3. Support-This can come from many places but every team needs it. At a school it would come from students and faculty with help from the athletic department. At a professional team it would come from having a large fan base with support from the people with the check book. In today’s world of soccer, you have to invest a lot of time and money if you want to be succesful. If you are not interested in that, get of the field.

Jimmy Reed

smackyjackjackLeave a comment

The blues world has had a great number of musicians, BB King, Muddy Waters, Little Walter. But one of the best, most underrated musicians is Jimmy Reed.  Jimmy Reed was the amazing, blues singer of the late fifties and sixtes. Some of his hit songs include “Ain’t that Lovin’ you Baby,” “Down in Virgina” and “Bright Lights, Big City.”

He was known not only for  his guitar playing and lazy singing, but also for his rampant alcoholism.  He would show up so drunk to his album recordings, that his wife would have to help him remember the lyrics. In one of his recordings, he even stops the song, talks about something else, then keeps it going again because he is so drunk. This later led to a case of epilepsy.

But no matter what his personal life was like, he will always be remembered as a pioneer for blues.

 

Tumbling

yourgingerkidLeave a comment

I have a new addiction. You see, here at the Ojai Valley School we can’t access youtube.com and many other partially essential websites for teenagers due to “sonic wall” blocking for random reasons. Photography, writing, self-expression has always been an interest, and I finally found a way to curb my cravings here.

Tumblr

Some people call it tumbling, some call it self-expression, but Tumblr is the new MySpace.

It may not include things such as a “profile revealing personal information,” but if desired users can make that information accessible. The gist of it is posting anything you want, and having people who subscribe to you, and even guests, see your work or what you have “reblogged” from other users. I can say that I’ve found the most inspiring and entertaining things through tumbling. It’s awe-inspiring entertainment those who have an eye for art or a good sense of humor.

Go make an account now.

Daft Punk

realtompagnozziLeave a comment

I can hardly believe I’ve gone this long without a Daft Punk post. Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo are not just legends of electro house, but icons of a musical generation.

While attending a French university, Bangalter and Manuel started a band with Laurent Brancowitz called Darlin’. The members themselves now admit the project was not their best work. A negative review by Melody Maker magazine claimed it was “a bunch of daft punk”. The trio had the last laugh however, as Brancowitz went on to form Phoenix and dominate electropop while the others donned robot helmets and made history.

Daft Punk rose to fame with the single Da Funk off of their debut album, Homework. The single entailed a music video by Spike Jonze for MTV. Shortly after, the duo signed to Virgin records and hired Pedro Winter as their manager. Eight years later, Busy P created the powerhouse French record label, Ed Banger. Daft Punk truly has the Midas touch.

Five studio albums later, the group is now producing the soundtrack to the upcoming Tron Legacy for Disney, which I can assume is the heftiest paycheck the duo has received in a while. That said, I’m sure they enjoyed the challenge of producing a movie score instead of a new album (See: SebastiAN’s OST for Notre Jour Viendre).

Daft Punk are legends of the French house scene. They headline and sell out every stadium they play. In fact, It has become somewhat of a rite of passage for DJs to remix a Daft Punk song with justice to the original (See also: SebastiAN’s Human After All remix).

Cultural context can transform your perception of music. Hopefully the next time you see Daft Punk, you think Daft punk, and not those guys with the robot helmets who made “One more time.”

MICHAEL

sennymcflyLeave a comment

This Is It… For the children of the 60’s all the way through to the 21st century it was hard to learn that their idol, role model, and King had finally sang his last song and passed away. But we all know that Michael Jackson’s music will live on throughout history for years and years.

King of Pop

Even after Jackson’s death his fans will be running to every store across the nation and around the world to buy his newest album. The  record entitled Michael contains 10 of the hundreds of songs that Jackson produced just a few years before his death. It is scheduled to make its debut on the 14th of this month and who knows how long it will be before every last copy is bought and the shelves of every department store, record store, and online store are empty.

M. Jackson

So, this is really it. One last walk on the moon after 51 years of musical excellence. Will we ever forget the man who put the “pop” into Pop Music? Probably not. His music will live on forever, continuously influencing todays artists.

In Loving Memory

Little Michael

Michael Joseph Jackson

(Aug. 29, 1958-June 25, 2009)

Snowflakes in Southern California

theycallmedameLeave a comment

You may have already heard from my fellow blog-mates, but it is time once again for Secret Snowflakes to take OVS by the reins and kick off!

Each person in our school drew a name out of a paper bag and then had to go out and buy not one but five gifts for them, one for each day of the school week.

The presents usually start small and get gradually bigger, each coming with a clue (ex. I have blue eyes, I’m not a day student, etc.) to help the gift receiver guess who is giving them presents.

It is unfortunate, however, that some people do not feel up for the holiday cheer. Some people either give bad presents (like used airplane headphones) or no presents at all.

The people who do this tend to ruin the spirit of the rest of the school, and it makes the week before final exams all that more stressful.

I can only hope that this year everyone will receive and give presents, and no one will be left with a frown on their face.

Ocean Acidification

weirdjennyLeave a comment

nullThe greenhouse gas: CO2 not only influences our climate but also affects our ocean ecosystem. Each year, billions of carbon emissions from fossil fuels are absorbed by the ocean, and this will gradually turn the water into more acidic. This will greatly affect the calcium-based species, such as crabs and shrimps, which are the primary food sources for many marine animals. “We are seeing an overall negative impact from ocean acidification directly on organisms and on some key ecosystems that help provide food for billions,” said Carol Turley, a senior scientist at Britain’s Ocean Acidification Research Program. Many people have thought that the greenhouse gas we produced will only influence species on the ground and in the air; however, they are wrong. The evidence shows that those gases will affect the entire planet.

Time to make change-Tips to help you determine your new years resolution.

YourcupateaLeave a comment

It’s time to start thinking about those New Year’s resolutions. Yes it may be to far in advance but there are intense preparations we need to make. We need clear our heads, hearts and minds in order to find those simple changes that will benefit us in the following year.

Start by doing a “spring clean” around the house, get rid of old junk, clothes and bits and pieces that no longer relate to your life. Maybe donate old property to a local charity. After all why not start the end of the year by helping someone else and doing something charitable. You should find this spring clean also helps clear out the cobwebs in your own head as well as improving the appearance of your house.

Next, do delayed tasks. Remember all those tasks you put of to do another time, but never do? Well it’s time to rid yourself of these burdens and clear that list. For example fix that light that’s never worked. This should contribute to peace of mind and allow you to progress further with new tasks next year, maybe helping your motivation for the future.

Finally make a list of those negatives and positives you see in yourself including bad and good habits. This movement will allow you to acknowledge those bad traits as well as praise yourself for the positives.

Although it is important for you to focus on the positives it is essential that you look at the negatives in order to determine the best new years resolution/resolutions for yourself. Think about how you can improve these negative aspects in order to benefit you and your life next year.

You can now make a final list of new years resolutions. Now it’s up to you to make the changes.

Neutron Bomb

weirdjennyLeave a comment

nullSamuel T. Cohen, who designed the neutron bomb, which intended to kill people but do minimal damage to structures, died from stomach cancer on Sunday.

Cohen  first introduced this bomb in 1958. As one of the scientists in the Manhattan Project, he has realized that the regular nuclear bomb has killed too many innocent lives and numerous of constructions. So this inspired him to invent this new technology.

Neutron bombs use tiny particles which can penetrate buildings without any big damage but kill humans by attacking their nervous system. Moreover, it has shorter nuclear contamination than the regular nuclear bomb. However, many ethicists have questioned that this weapon is designed to destroy only life. Samuel argued that “this is the only nuclear weapon in history that makes sense in waging war. When the war is over, the world is still intact.”null

Natty.

YourcupateaLeave a comment

Natty is a Reggae singer, songwriter with a message. Although he is relatively unheard of, in respect to mainstream music, he has a large loyal fan base from all over the globe. His numerous tours have been very successful with many sell out dates which including his debut at large reggae festival, One Love.

The singer was born in San Francisco, California living there until the age of 1, when he moved to London. American culture has not directly influenced his song writing, although American artists have. His parent’s musical tastes, as well as past and present issues affect much of Natty’s lyrics.

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