Global Warming

It seems to me that there are two large sides of the global warming debate. Side 1 believes that global warming is a direct result of industrial pollution. They feel that pollution must be reduced immediately in order to stymie global warming as soon as possible.

Side 2 believes that there is no proof of a connection between global warming and industry. They believe that reducing industry would result in a blow to economic development that is unnecessary.

Both sides are right, and both are wrong. There is no proof that industry causes global warming. However, our understanding of the atmosphere and the overall effect of certain gasses is exceedingly limited. We can measure climate changes and things like that, but to accurately gauge the overall composition of the entire atmosphere AND to be able to determine what exactly is causing what is ludicrously beyond the reach of our science. This means that even if global warming were being caused by output of certain gasses, we wouldn't be able to know this.

The side that accurately stipulates that global warming is an unproven theory, has an incorrect conclusion to its basic argument. The notion that since global warming cannot be proven is silly when you consider how we would know global warming exists. Given our science, the only way to truly know whether or not global warming is happening, would be by observing the climate. If the climate had become so extreme over such a short period (let's say average annual temperature rose 3 to 5 degrees each year with an increasing rate of increase) then it'd be pretty clear that the world was warming in an unnatural way. Unfortunately, this proof would probably come too late. In order for global warming to truly become apparent to those who do not believe in it, it would probably be at a perilous point. At this time, it may very well be totally irreversible, and the planet could be plunged into a disastrous and extremely deadly period.

Waiting for global warming to become apparent is like waiting for a murderer to kill you before you call the police. It just isn't very smart. In fact, it is completely moronic.

It is very interesting to note that the people who do not believe in global warming, are typically people who have direct interest in the well-being of corporations, and by extension, industry. You're not going to hear the CEO of General Motors saying "well, it looks like global warming is very possible." I'm not saying these people are evil, I just think they don't want to see the truth because of what it means to their lives. Also, keep in mind that every politician in major office in the US is heavily funded by industrial campaign contributions, and are surrounded by corporate lobbyists.

The fact of the matter is, whether or not global warming due to industry is happening is unclear. It probably always will be unclear unless the planet is devastated. Should we wait until then to try to stop it? I think it would be a better idea to try to stop it now. It seems like the process of global warming is a gradual one. It follows then that reversing it is just as gradual. Jobs will be lost, and money will be spent to reduce emissions worldwide. But in the end, would you rather have an economy that is slightly bruised, or have a planet that is uninhabitable? I'm not saying either one will happen or the other. But if the worse that can happen if something is done is that the NYSE and LSC go down for a little bit, that's not the end of the world. But the worse that can happen if nothing is done, is the end of the world.

I don't think people realize how difficult it is for a planet such as ours to even exist. There's a reason we have yet to find a planet similar to it. There are countless hazards to our kind of life from being allowed to be created, be developed, exist, and thrive. The temperature, atmosphere, geological composition, size, gravity, and weather all have to be in a small boundary in order for the planet to be livable. Astronomical factors like distance from the sun, our magnetic field, the proximity of the moon, the proximity of other planets and solar systems, our location in the galaxy, are all variables that have combined to allow our kind of life to exist. This very precarious and delicate balance is wire thin. We have to realize this when it comes to the global warming issue.

Food Stuff

I had veal for the first time ever the other day. I had always been a bit leery about veal. I was pretty young when I found out that it was a young calf, and as I got older I learned that a great deal of veal comes from calves that are kept in "veal cages" that restrict their movement in order to prevent tough muscle from developing.

Then I found out that it's only male calves that are used as veal. Male calves are pretty much commercially worthless as anything but veal, since females will produce milk. The only thing a male dairy cow is pretty much good for is breeding. I just read on Wikipedia that a dairy bull can be "in command" of a herd of 150 female cows. Sweet life.

Then I realized that the little calves that become veal aren't exactly missing much of a life. They're going to be slaughtered anyway for the by-products in their stomach, or at a slightly older age for low quality beef. They're cows for fuck's sake, their lives are pretty devoid.

So I ate the veal. It wasn't bad, it wasn't too good. I liked its tenderness, but I think the same tenderness can be found in a well-cooked, well-raised steak tip. Plus, the steak-tip is going to have the qualities of mature meat that are so good.

There was a South Park episode surrounding veal. It brought up an interesting question: how much would the veal market be affected if a more descriptive name were given to the product. Something like "Caged baby cow." We do this type of shit with meat a lot. Cow is beef. Deer and moose is venison. Humble is organs and other innards.

I just had some hamburgers for dinner. There was only one bun left in the house. Not a big deal, just get some bread. The only loaf I could find was wheat, but would still work. I opened it, and it smelled like vodka. It had a white powder on its corners. I tasted a little bit of it, and although it wasn't Godawful, it didn't taste nearly the same as it did a week ago. I inquired if there were any other buns or bread in the house. Nope. I was told to use bagel-bread. That wasn't happening. I ate the burgers with a knife and fork. Delicious.

King Pedro in the Shop

My car, Pedro II a.k.a. King Pedro, is in the shop for much needed repairs. It's overdue for a transmission check, the brakes are worn to near nothing (dangerous in winter time), the oil needs changing, and the inspection is 19 months overdue.

I don't like being without my car. If I really need to get somewhere, I can drive my mother's mini-van. But even then, my car and I have a special relationship. He is my ability to move anywhere at anytime for any reason.

Anyway, I dropped him off at 7:30 Friday morning. I have difficulty getting up at such a ludicrously early time so I decided to stay up until that time. Unbeknown st to me, the Chevy dealership changed hands. It was purchased by Clay. Clay is one of the major power brokers on the Norwood Auto Mall. His name is on more dealerships than anyone else except Boch. Anyways, the service department seemed a bit nicer.

The nicest part of the new service department was the cute blonde behind the counter. I walked up, acting like I was bad ass, and said "I'm here to drop off my Impala, it's under Zeitz." She typed a few things in the computer and said "That's Susan Zeitz, right?" Game over. Difficult to suavely say "Yeah, that's my mommy's Impala, she bought it for me a few years ago, but she's going to sell it to me for a dollar when I graduate."

Once the car is fixed, which should be next week sometime, I return to Ithaca.

Revelations

I've decided that one of the two screenplays I'll be writing for this semester is going to be a modernization of the Book of Revelations. Why? Well, it's nothing but symbolism. It is one of my favorite books of the Bible along with Song of Songs because it is JUST symbolism. It is not meant to be an accurate prediction of the end of the world. The repetitive use of symbolic numbers like 4, 6, 7, and 12 is a big indicator of its symbolism. Of course, fundamentalists think it is a literal prophesy of the apocalypse. These people are wrong.

The Book of Revelations, to my knowledge, is also one of the few books of the Bible which has not been made into a movie. The Old Testament and the Gospels have all been adapted to film, but Revelations hasn't.

It's also divided into three basic parts (three act structure) so it should be able to transfer into a script with relative ease. Of course, I'll have to create a story and a human protagonist that exists with Revelations is a setting for the story. This shouldn't be too hard. I don't need to do much for events since the events are already in the Book. I just need to create the characters and figure out their reactions to the events. I've already begun to do this.

In re-reading Revelations, I found a line from Gangs of New York. "I know your works...you are neither hot nor cold...so because you are lukewarm I will spit you out of my mouth."

Cheating Chess

I'm a nerd so I was playing chess. I downloaded a good chess program. It's simple, doesn't take up much memory, lists every move in an easy to read format, and is very difficult to beat. I didn't realize how difficult it truly was. This program cheats.

I was actually doing well against it for the first time. Normally, I make so many mistakes that the program captures my key pieces before I can even mount any sort of offensive. This time, however, I was holding my own. In the Middle Game (the phase in which pieces have developed and attacks and defenses can begin to be made), my knight was under attack and I wanted to move it to a safe square. I also wanted to use it to threaten his rook and bishop which were still pinned behind some pawns. But the program wouldn't let me do it. It was a perfectly legal move, it just wouldn't let me do it. So I moved another piece and the program took my knight on the next move. I assumed it was just a glitch and continued the game.

The game progressed to the End Game (when there are few pieces on the board and there is a great deal of space for maneuvering). This was the first time I've gotten to an End Game playing this program. I saw an opportunity to make a good move. I wanted to move my bishop into a fork AND pin position. I just learned what these terms mean and the complexity of this attack was its strength.

A fork is when one piece is threatening two pieces. The opponent is forced to give up one of his pieces to save the other. In this instance, my bishop was going to attack both his rook and his king. The king was in check and couldn't move to take my bishop because my queen would be attacking it (the king can't move into check). So his only move would be to move the king and let me take the rook. It would have given me a very nice advantage in the End Game, especially with his other rook still behind his pawns, incapable of moving. But the program wouldn't let me perform the move. I'd click the piece, drag it to the square, and unclick, but nothing would happen. I had to do another move. Later on in the game, the program let me move my bishop to the square I had wanted to move it to, but this time the fork attack was not present.

I lost in 28 moves. I probably would have lost anyway, but I would have had a better chance with a knight and with him lacking a rook. That rook eventually was a major part in the program's checkmate.

I don't know why a program would cheat.

X Mas

So, today was Christmas. Christmas always brings controversy and debate as the overly religious segment of America battles with the overly whiny segment of the country. The religious folk want Christmas to be EVERYWHERE! Mangers in front of government buildings, angels flying around, etcetera. The whiny folk want Christmas to be NOWHERE! No evergreen trees, and a ban on the expression "Merry Christmas."

Here's the problem with the debate over Christmas and its religious connections, Christmas is not a Christian holiday. It isn't now, and it wasn't a long time ago.

Christmas is a secular commercial and family holiday more than it is a religious one. The very fact that it is called X-Mas indicates its lack of religiousness. If you watch TV, read magazines/papers, and generally pay attention to stuff around you, you'll notice that most instances of the word "Christmas" or some other sort of Christmas related theme is for a commercial purpose.

Christmas comes with an abundance of holiday related commercials. Of course, the retail sector of the economy receives a dramatic boom at this time, and companies compete for your gift-giving money. Heineken, Kay Jeweler's, McDonald's, Budweiser, Lexus, Coca-Cola, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Verizon, Victoria's Secret, and dozens of other companies put on Christmas based advertisements.

Christmas also brings a bevy of holiday related entertainment. Movies, TV shows, and even sports gear themselves around Christmas in order to get viewers. Classics that have become holiday traditions like It's a Wonderful Life, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolf the Rednosed Reindeer, and A Christmas Story; are all commercial enterprises that were produced in order to make money. They get re-aired on TV with tons of commercials and promotions. TV shows get in on the holiday spirit by making holiday specials. The NBA features a major game on Christmas day every year, sometimes two. The NFL had two games today, including an exceedingly rare Monday day game.

Now I'm not complaining about the commercial nature of Christmas. I don't think it is such a bad thing. I'm a capitalist, and a consumer. If companies want to slap on a Christmas label for their product, that's their decision. If people want to buy something that's from a holiday Christmas commercial, that's their decision. My point is, Christmas is about entertainment, giving presents, and getting presents. Of course, these three things can bring people together. They watch the shows and movies together, exchange gifts together, and consume the holiday related foods together. However, presents, red and green M&Ms and Best Buy gift cards have nothing to do with the birth of Jesus.

A lot of people complain about the lack of Christianity in Christmas. "Christmas used to be about...blah blah blah." The problem is, that even if Christmas used to be about Jesus, its true foundations were not.

Christmas is celebrated on December 25th. Why? Well, it used to be celebrated on January 6th. It was then moved to the 25th. Was Jesus born on the 25th? Well, if there were actually shepherds in the fields as the Gospels say, then he wasn't. Also, if there was a mass census, why would there be one in the dead of winter? So why the 25th? It just so happens that the 25th of December was the Winter Solstice on the Roman Julian calendar. The Romans celebrated the Winter Solstice with the feast of Saturnalia, which honored the god Saturn. The holiday was one of the most popular amongst the people. There was an exchange of presents, drinking, feasting, and general merriment.

The 25th is also the same day as another Roman feast: Sol Invictus. This feast celebrated the end of shortening days and honored various sun gods. Sol Invictus was celebrated as the birthday of the Sun. The connection to the birth of Jesus being celebrated on the 25th is obvious.

It is possible that early Christians moved Christmas to the 25th because of Saturnalia. Perhaps the festival's popularity was drawing newly converted Christians back to their pagan roots, or preventing new converts from joining. It is a fact that celebrating the birth of Jesus was not a major part of the early church. Other events such as his baptism and conception were viewed as being much more important.

Eventually, the Church grew and began to absorb more and more cultures into itself. It became legal in the Roman Empire, and eventually became popular. The Early Middle Ages, when Christmas grew in popularity, was also when more Germanic peoples became Christians. Local winter festivals for the Solstice were adapted into a celebration of Jesus' birth. Christmas, as we know it, was born. It father was a pagan, and its mother was an early Church leader trying to generate good publicity.

So when people bitch about the words "Merry Christmas" on a public building, point out to them that the holiday is secular, and it isn't even based on a Christian holiday, but a variety of pagan ones. And the next time someone complains that Christmas "isn't what it used to be" say "praise Saturn," get naked and drunk, then run around town and dance around fires.

Merry X-Mas!

It's a Terrible Movie

I'm sorry, but this movie sucks. I used to love this movie and would watch it all the time. However, as I've learned more and more about narrative and characters and their importance to a good movie, It's a Wonderful Life has lost its appeal.

Its a feel good story. The token good guy you root for triumphs over adversity. But this is too simple to be considered one of the greatest movies of all time. The characters are my biggest problem with this film.

George Bailey never develops or changes. He has one good scene when he becomes an asshole and yells at his kids. This is the best scene in the movie. However, nothing builds off of it and its sole function is as a dark moment in relation to the impending bright moment at the film's end. This is screenwriting 101 shit and isn't very impressive.

George Bailey has two very simple motivations: to explore the world, and to do the right thing. Why? We never find out. Although it's interesting to see him struggle with these dual motivations, he always chooses to do the same thing.

What do we know about Mary Bailey? Honestly, what? Why does she even fall in love with George? She seems to be in love with him from the get go when she is introduced as a child in Mr. Gower's shop. Why? Do we ever learn of her motivations? She is a stock character, folks. This is all too common for female characters, particularly in studio era Hollywood (pre 1954). They serve as fetishized objects for male characters to acquire. This movie fails to break from that tradition. Mary Bailey functions as a character subservient to George Bailey, servicing his needs as a wife and mother. She has no depth of her own. She is simply, Mrs. Bailey.

Henry Potter is pure evil in the form of a pure capitalist. He is absolute greed personified with no redeemable characteristics. One can argue that being pure evil makes him the ultimate antagonist. If you ask me, though, he is borderline cartoonish. He just seems like Mumm-ra from ThunderCats or Cobra Commander from GI Joe.



Henry Potter is a purpose character. He only exists to fuck with the protagonist. He has no depth, no explanation of motivation, and is consequently uninteresting.

As far as all-time film villains go, Potter is ranked very high by many critics. AFI ranked him as the 6th best villain of all-time. Only Hannibal Lecter, Norman Bates, Darth Vader, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Nurse Ratched are ranked higher. Okay, Lecter, Bates, and Vader all have depth. Ratched has some mystery about her seeing as she is the nurse in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest but is also apparently evil in her care taking. The Witch is another cartoonish character along with Potter.

Compare Mr. Potter with another wealthy Christmas miser: Ebenezer Scrooge. They both start off as evil, greedy guys concerned only with money. But Scrooge actually develops as a character. We also see Scrooge as a deeper character with a reason behind his motivations.

So those are the three main characters. The other minor characters are similarly shallow, but that's to be expected from minor characters.

The plot is also quite simple. It is full of simple devices and actions that stress the suspension of disbelief to the maximum. As George is about to leave Bedford Falls to go to school, his father dies and the board of trustees at the Bailey Building & Loan decide not to sell out to Potter ONLY if George stays to run it. Coincidental? When George is later supposed to go to college, his brother can't stay to run the Building & Loan because he's been offered a great job by his future father-in-law. Coincidental? This pattern is repeated ad nauseum throughout the film. The culmination of coincidence is when Uncle Billy drops $8,000 into Potter's lap. This silly misplacing of cash is the impetus behind the near ruin of George Bailey. The entire "Worth more dead than alive" sequence and the near suicide attempt and everything are all because of this stupid little mistake. Poor narrative construction. It isn't because a character did something. Uncle Billy just acts like a retard, Potter decides to keep the money, and then everything collapses.

I'm being a bit too harsh. I just get mad at this movie, though. It's too simple. It oversimplifies every problem into right vs. wrong, good vs. evil. Life ain't that simple. And in the end, good wins because everyone pitches in.

This is a Puritanical movie, with morality prevailing. Bedford Falls is your typical dreamworld of middle class Americans. It's a nice place to raise a family. The alternate reality Pottersville is a den of sex, music, and gambling. It's John Ashcroft's nightmare. But it does look like a more entertaining town. The moral lesson of the story is that if you're a good person, things will work out for you.

The movie is fun and simple, and nice. I guess that's why I liked it so much when I was younger. It didn't take too much thought and it was nice seeing things work out for George Bailey. Film A&A, Hollywood and American Cinema, and Fiction Film Theory have given me new perspective on movies, which means I can enjoy them on a deeper level now, but not on the shallow levels anymore.

Great example:

Cav: How do you like the movie [Lord of the Rings] so far?
Me: I like the lighting.

Just Tired

I saw the Sun rise 8 times in the last 10 days. I went through tons of Ramp - Topps's version of Mountain Dew. The 24 hour McDonalds was often a stop for my 4 AM breakfasts. It wasn't too bad, though. I only had a few Red Bulls, not bad compared to the adderall cocktails people down at this time of year. But I am still tired.

This is how tired I was. After some sort of pointless thing I had to do for class (I forget what it was, exactly). I walked out to the parking lot behind Park. Now, I remembered that I parked in the third row back. So I walked back there and started looking for my car where I thought it would be. Looked left, nothing. Looked right, nothing. I'm thinking "Great, those fuckers towed me cuz I don't have a parking permit." Then I looked down and saw Red Sox license plates on a black Chevy. My car was literally right under my nose.

The point of the story is, I think it's fuckin hilarious, even though it probably isn't. That's how seriously fucking tired I am.

Return to Alcoholism

Last night, I got drunk for the first time since November 22nd. I've either had too much work to do, or too much poker to play in between then and last night to have fun. I still have an immense amount of work to get done, but after doing so much work during the week that I witnessed the Sun rising every single day, I decided to give myself a day off to relax.

I went to a professor's house for an end of the year party. It was the first time that's ever happened for one of my classes. I think the college is clamping down on stuff like that. Anyway, it was somewhat weird. We got there at 5:30, when the party supposedly was beginning. But when we got there, there were no cars in the driveway, and the professor and her husband (also a professor, and also having an end of the year party for a class) were just standing outside. We didn't want to be the first ones there, so I drove down the road and parked by a park on the side of the road, and sat there.

The park was a wildflower garden. I found that to be odd terminology. A garden set aside for wildflowers sort of takes the wildness out of the equation.

Anyway, we got to the party and there were a few people from the other professor's class already there. We were offered drinks. They had three kinds of beer, red wine, and white wine. The beer they had was premium beer, too. There was some sort of Vermont beer, Yuengling Black & Tan, and Ithaca Pale Ale. I tried the Vermont beer and enjoyed it thoroughly.

I think if I were a professor and was having a party for my class, I'd get Keystone. Or maybe have a beer selection for different grades. The A students would get Sam Adams, B could get Labbatt, C could get Budweiser, D could get Busch, and F would get Keystone Ice.

Then we were treated to pizza. By the time I got to the pizza, the first wave of cheese and pepperoni had already been taken. I didn't want to be "that guy" and demand more cheese pizza be put out, so I tried some mushroom pizza for the first time ever. I've never eaten mushrooms, as either a food or an intoxicant. I gotta say, they were pretty fucking good.

We were also treated to Williams-Sonoma peppermint bark candies. These were extremely fucking good. It's white choclate, dark choclate, peppermint oil, and little bits of peppermint candy combined into a thin little bark of deliciousness. Here's what they look like:



One of these little tins costs $24. It's fucking worth it, though. The expensivity almost makes them more tasty, especially considering they were free.

We also were able to make our own smores thanks to little smore making kits scattered throughout the house. Graham crackers, Hershey's chocolate, marshmellows, little spikes for the marshmellows, and small little burners for roasting the marshmellows. I didn't have a smore because I don't like the taste of melted marshmellow for some reason. It's weird, because I like raw marshmellow a lot, and used to love Fluff.

Before leaving, we were treated to a small little bit of Madiera win. I actually did my group presentation on the history of said wine and its relationship to economic development in the 18th century Atlantic world. It was really, really good. Very sweet and very interestingly coloured. It wasn't quite red, it wasn't quite white, it was simply Madeira. I think it was fortified, too. Madeira was the first wine known to be fortified.

After that, I went to an apartment party on Giles. No big deal, but it was nice to do something on a Friday night that didn't involve cards or writing. Lost in beer pong twice. I was pretty rusty. Plus we were up against good opponents.

My tolerance was pretty low, after about 10 beers, I was gone. Normally, I need 10 for a buzz, and 20+ to get that wasted. It was a good time, though. I didn't puke either, which is a plus.

I woke up this morning at 7:30 AM. This is a little tendency of mine. Whenever I get wasted, I tend to wake up extremely early. Unfortunately, this leaves me still with a good amount of alcohol in my system, and the immense feeling of shittiness. This morning, I felt so shitty in my stomache and my head, that I couldn't get back to sleep. We're out of aspirin, so in order to combat my headache, I drank some Gatorade. I pounded a whole bottle. Big mistake.

After about 30 minutes of sitting on bed with my eyes closed, waiting for my headache to go away, my stomache started getting restless. I felt like I was going to puke. I went to the bathroom and sat in front of the toliet. I considered pulling the trigger to alleviate my symptoms, when all of a sudden, a rush of blue liquied erupted from my mouth into the toliet. It was the bottle of Gatorade I just drank. Remarkably, no actual puke came out, just Gatorade. I felt much better and went back to bed.

The End

Pointless Busy Work

The entirity of my days and nights are now catching up and completing pointless busy work for my various classes. Reading journal for a 300 level history course (pointless), paper for same course (similarly without point), rewrites of essays for Persuasive Argument (somewhat pointless), and all. My work will be done by next Wednesday, which means I can go home.

This break is coming too late. Normally, THIS is final's week, not next week. But I don't mind the extra week to complete tedious busy work.

This morning at around 7:30, this web-site significantly cheered me up.

Horny Manatee.com

Lazy Sunday

I love Sundays. After a long weekend of playing poker, and before a long week of finishing up schoolwork, I spent my entire day relaxing.

I woke up early and watched Arsenal play Chelsea live. It was an amazing game to watch, and although my Arsenal gave up a 1-0 lead and wound up tying 1-1, I was satisfied with the result and thoroughly enjoyed the game.

I indulged in some chicken wing pizza from Rogan's. Truly delicious. Then I watched the Patriots play one of the worst games I've ever seen them play. But, it's just a regular season game and their problems are correctable. They're still just a win away from clinching the division, so I'm not too worried. And even if we don't do well in the playoffs, I got to see the win three Super Bowls already. That's more than most fans see their teams win in an entire lifetime. That's also 100% of the Super Bowls they've ever won, so that's a plus.

In case you can't tell, I have a positive attitude today. This is what ignoring schoolwork will do for you. The work will get done this week. It will take some time and be an annoyance, but getting stressed over it won't help it get done any faster or any easier.

Now to sit back, watch some cartoons, and maybe pop open a beer.

Sports Teams I Hate: Episode I: Syracuse Orangemen

After living in Central New York for about three and a half years, I've grown to hate the Syracuse Orangemen. I had never really liked them, but I had never had much of a problem with them until I came to Ithaca.

They're overrated in every aspect. They're a mediocre athletic college with a cadre of fanatics who think they're an elite program in all sports. People out here are fucking obsessed with them. When Charlie and I once went to Turning Stone, he was stunned at the amount of support they had out here. The Carmelo Anthony jerseys, the posters of the Carrier Dome at a Burger King in Westmoreland, the bumper stickers in Oneida, and the memorabilia sold as far away as Cooperstown.

I come from a sports market that is based on professional sports. The hierarchy in Greater Boston for sports teams goes somewhat like this:

1. Red Sox
2. Patriots
3. Celtics
4. Bruins
5. Boston College/New England Revolution

About the only college sport that a great deal of Boston sports fans really follow with local loyalty is hockey. In basketball and football, the two biggest college sports, many Boston fans find teams outside of New England to follow. Notre Dame is hugely popular. Even I did this when I became an Oklahoma Sooners fan back in high school.

When I came out to CNY, the devotion to a college sports team was an alien concept to me. I like Boston College, but they're hardly as dear and near to my heart as Cuse is to many people out here.

Even though I was unfamiliar with college sports as the #1 draw, it didn't shock me. I know how big college sports are in certain places. Usually, they're places that lack a pro sports team to follow. Alabama, Oklahoma, Iowa, Virginia, North Carolina, Mississippi, Arkansas, Nebraska, Utah, Oregon etc. Places like Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Norman, Austin, South Bend, Columbus, Manhattan (Kansas), Oxford (Mississippi), and Tallahassee are understandably hot beds for their college teams. They lack nearby professional teams, but have college powerhouses in their backyard.

The problem is, Syracuse is far from a powerhouse. They've got a great basketball program that is on the top level in the country, but hardly an elite level historically. I'm sorry, but Duke, UNC, Kansas, UConn, and other schools are the best of the best, Syracuse is still a bit below that.

And let's talk football. I can understand Cuse fans placing their basketball team on a pedestal. But they do the same for their shitty football team.

Syracuse finished dead last in the Big East in 2006 with a 4-8 record. They were not bowl eligible. Do you know hard it is to NOT make a college football bowl? There are 119 D-IA schools, and 32 bowls. That's 64 teams going to bowl games, or 54% of Division I-A. The Big East alone is sending 5 of its 8 teams to bowl games.

Let's look at Syracuse's 4 wins this season. They beat Illinois, another dreadful football team, then beat Miami...of Ohio, then barely, and I mean barely, beat D-IAA Wyoming at home. They capped it off with a squeaker against UConn.

I was at the casino for the UConn game. People were actually celebrating Syracuse touchdowns as if the game weren't for 7th place in the Big East. Fucking pathetic.

In 2005, Syruacse was even worse. They were 1-10. That's right, they won a single game. That game was against the University of Buffalo, a team that struggles to crack the top 110 teams in D-IA.

In '04, Cuse was 6-6, allowing opponents to score 51 points on them twice. In '03, they missed the bowl season again with a 6-6 record. In '02, they were a hapless 4-8. In '01 they actually had a good season with a victory in the prestigious, historical, heroically battled Insight.com Bowl. In 2000 they missed the bowls again. In '99 they won the Music City Bowl after finishing the regular season at 6-5.

And it isn't just a recent trend in an otherwise glorious history for Cuse. Way back in the 60's and 50's, they were a very competitive team, even winning a national championship in 1959. However, since then and before then they've been strictly above average, occasionally going to a good or big bowl game and pretty much losing as often as winning.

You know what, I have no problem with fans supporting bad teams. I think that's great. But I do have a problem with fans of bad teams thinking their team is good. That pisses me off. Live in fucking reality, Central New York. Your sole major sports team is a fucking joke. But what's even funnier is your sad, blind devotion and adoration of a crap football team.

So fuck the Syracuse Orangemen, and their fucking foolish fans. You can't spell suck without SU.

Winter's Here

The weeks of living in a global warming fantasy world are over. Winter showed up this week with freezing temperatures and harsh winds. Then yesterday afternoon, a few inches of blowing snow officially began the shittiest part of the year.

It came very late this year. Three years ago, the first significant snowfall to hit Ithaca was sometime in October or early November. This year, the first snowflakes occurred Sunday November 19th, but did not accumulate. Yesterday, a few inches settled on the ground.

At first, I loved it. I always like the first good snowfall of the season. Change is good, and snow just seems fun.

Then the magic ended as I got to my car. After scraping off ice from my side windows, I shivered uncontrollably, waiting for the heat to kick in. As I drove down South Hill, the untreated road caused other drivers to drive very, very carefully.

I hate when that happens. People go too slow, then they become moving road hazards. It's not like I want to go 50 MPH down the Hill like I normally do, it'd just be nice to move at a decent pace. When traffic moves slowly, it tends to bunch. Bunched traffic leads to accidents, big accidents.

I can't go to Turning Stone tomorrow because the forecast says it will be snowing. The back roads across Central NY tend to be sporadically plowed and treated.

I don't even think I'll drive my car to class tomorrow. I figure, I'll spend 6 or 7 minutes cleaning it off, then another 4 inside the car waiting for it to warm. It only takes me about 30 minutes to walk to class, so I mind as well get some exercise. Also, driving up and down from campus wouldn't be a simple cruise. Also, starting an engine when it's this cold is harmful to the car. I'd rather walk and catch a cold then fuck up my engine, which is already in dire need of various repairs and upgrades.

Parkies

I came across a group on Facebook. It's writing students that want to be considered Parkies because a good deal of the writing school's facilities are located within the Park School.

I don't know why anyone would ever want to be considered a member of the Park School. Having spent 3 1/2 years as a Parkie, I've come to detest and revile that wretched building and the people who dwell within it.

Anyway, here's a few pointers for anyone who wants to be a Park student.

Be pretentious. Whatever your opinion is, treat it as completely and utterly correct. In fact, anyone who disagrees with you should be treated like a moron. Don't actually try to convince people you're right, just state your opinion and if people disagree, that's their problem. Use the longest possible words you can so that nobody can understand you. If lost when trying to explain your opinions, make something up as lofty and high-minded sounding as you're capable of.

Stop shaving. I'm very guilty of this one. This one also applies to both girls and boys. It doesn't even matter if your beard comes in right. In fact, the worse looking your facial hair is, the better.

Smoke. Smoke as many cigarettes as you can so you can hang out in front of the Park School so everyone can see you're a Parkie.

Get a scarf. This applies to men, as well. It doesn't matter what color it is. Pink scarves are best for men. You want to show the world that you don't care.

Dress in as many different pieces of clothing as possible. No matter what the temperature is, dress in layers. If possible, not full layers so everyone can see how many different shirts you're wearing. Wearing less than 8 items of visible clothing is a massive failure in this department.

Start thinking you're better than all the other students at IC. Hey, you got into the Park School, those Business kids didn't. And music students, that doesn't count. H&S? HA!

Start thinking your major is better than all the other majors. This is especially true of film students. Those other majors are either bullshit, or they're too simple for you.

Start thinking you're the best student within your major. Begin to alienate yourself from the other students and live a lonely sheltered life, plotting and scheming.

Get a button maker. Not only can you make your own politically charged buttons, you'll earn a steady income selling buttons to other Parkies (ignoring your "Fair Trade Not Free Trade" button while doing so.

Find a movie that has no plot, no story, no characters, and is just a random collection of images slapped together by some director coming down from cocaine. This is now your favorite movie.

If it's European, it's better.

Complain about how much time you spend in the Park School doing work, even though you'd be hanging around there anyway.

Get rid of your backpack and get some other form of bag. The best for Parkies is that over the shoulder small little briefcase on a strap thing. Even though you have no books to carry, walk around with this bag strapped across your body.

Get as many patches of defunct 80's bands as you can to place on this new bag next to your buttons.

Buy as many clothes that are new but look worn out as possible.

Shitty jackets are best. Try to look as much like John Lennon as possible. But still look down on him because he wasn't a Parkie.

Take naps in the foyer watching CNN even though you could just as easily go home and sleep.

Stop acknowledging the concept of time. It doesn't matter if you're late for something, or if your shoot takes 12 hours and not the planned 3. Time should be standing still for you. You're a Park student.

Don't raise your hand in class when you have something to say. Just yell it out. After all, your opinion is so correct that hearing other people's who raise their hand would be a waste of everybody's time.

Interrupt people as much as possible.

Given the opportunity, try ignoring the main point of everything and argue about something meaningless and trivial. Make a big of a deal as possible out of nothing.

Start hating sports. Start viewing them as nothing but an immature and barbaric enterprise.

Be as utterly out of shape as possible.

These are just a few guidelines to being a Park student. Remember, this is your last chance to feel superior to others because 99% of you will be unemployed after graduation.

Slap in the Face

Monday night, I decided to stay up all night in order to finish my research paper for Colonial American history. I just wanted to get the paper finished and over with so I could move on to work in other classes. Tuesday morning at 7:23 AM, I finished it. I still have to touch up a few things and rewrite the last few paragraphs, but it is essentially completed.

I was happy to be done with one of my classes. That meant only three more to complete. I was also glad that in class, we would be watching Last of the Mohecans. When I saw this on the syllabus way back in August, I figured it would be a week off from classwork so we could focus on finishing our papers. I was wrong.

Along with watching the movie, we must write a 5 page paper comparing it to a book we're supposed to be reading, focusing on historical accuracy and inaccuracy of the movie. Yeah. That fucking sucks. It's such a pointless piece of work, too. Pretty much everyone in the class is still doing their research paper and final work for other classes.

I hate the amount of pointless work here at IC. I didn't mind the research paper. I learned a lot about something I knew little to nothing about. That's good. This paper on the movie and the book, I doubt I'll be learning much from it. That's not good.

Pequot Paper

I am done with my research paper on the Pequot war! Twenty pages, 14 sources, and 60 citations. This paper was really difficult to do. It was hard to compile information on a war that was fought nearly 400 years ago and has been nearly forgotten by American history. My Colonial America textbook contained a mere three paragraphs on this topic.

So basically, the Pequot War was fought between the Pequots and an alliance of English colonists, Mohegans, and Narragansetts. The Mohegans and Narragansetts pretty much manipulated the fear of the English to go to war with the Pequots. The English saw all Indians as devil-worshipping savages and didn't need much provocation to go to war. An English ship captain was killed by the Narragansetts' subsidiary tribe, but the Narragansetts accused the Pequots of harboring the murderers. The English confronted the Pequots and the conflict eventually escalated into an all out war. The climax of the war was the massacre at Mystic, where 600 Pequots were burned alive by the English and Mohegans. The remaining Pequots were killed or enslaved.

I found this topic interesting because the Pequots and Mohegans are still rivals. The Pequots own Foxwoods in Ledyard, CT and the Mohegans own Mohegan Sun in nearby Uncasville. Also, the paranoia of the English is not that different from the paranoid state the US currently exists in. They preemptively struck the Pequots because they were afraid of the Pequots. Sounds close to the War we're currently entangled in.

The Pequot War was also the first real test of English power in New England. Had the Narragansetts and Mohegans allied with the Pequots instead of the English, the Puritans might have been driven back to the sea. Things would definitely have been different in this country.

Next Semester's Schedule

Next semester's class schedule is really, really nice. Let's start off on Monday. I have no classes on Monday. Tuesday will be a bitch and a half, though. I start at 1:10 with Selected Topics in Screenwriting: The Short Narrative. Right after that, in the same room, I have Advanced Screenwriting. Right after that, in the Park auditorium, I have Nonfiction Film Theory. I have a 6 hour block of classes on Tuesdays and again on Thursdays. It kind of sucks, but it isn't too bad.

Wednesdays are easy, just a Screenwriting Workshop from 1 to 4 and that's it. This will be the first semester I've had no late night class on Wednesday since fall of '05. Thursday is the exact same thing as Tuesday. On Friday I have no classes.

I'm pretty pleased with that schedule. I have 112 hours in between my last class on Thursday and my first on Tuesday. but next semester will be far from a cakewalk. In case you didn't notice, the word "Screenwriting" is part of three of my classes.

For the Short Narrative class, I'll be writing a short script for a short film to be made by one of the ACP people. That means about 20 to 40 pages of script to write for that. For Advanced Screenwriting, as well as the Screenwriting Workshop, the primary requirement is to write a full length feature film script. Those are 90 to 120 pages each. This means I will be writing 200 to 280 pages of script next semester. That's quite a bit. But I'd like to graduate.

Let's say I write 240 pages next semester. There are 16 weeks with which to write. That's 15 pages of script to write a week.

I will have a monster weekend next semester, and I intend to catch up on the drinking I've missed out on for the past year. However, I will probably be forced to spend a great deal of time in my weekend writing script. I can also use that time to play a good deal of poker, too. Should be a good semester.

Want to Quit

I smoke too much. In fact, smoking at all is too much. My mouth tastes like ash, my room stinks, and I'm spending about $5 a day on something that will eventually kill me.

The money is the real killer. I figure over the past few years that I've smoked, I've probably burnt through a good $3,000 or $4,000. I could have used that money for so much more than cigarettes. Hell, I could have turned that money into more money by playing poker. Instead, that money went into my lungs in the form of ash.

I need to quit. Soon. The longer I smoke, the harder it will be to quit. The problem is the timing. With my workload in school increasing as finals approach, now would not be a great time to quit. When I've gone without cigarettes, I've found myself mentally sluggish and found it difficult to focus on anything for an extended period of time.

Quitting during winter break would also not be the best time. I intend to play somewhere around 80 to 100 hours of poker per week online and at Foxwoods. The irritability and sluggish mind of a recently quit smoker would not fare too well at a high level game of no-limit hold em. By deifnition, no limit is a game of swings, and without nicotine to help balance those swings, I'd be dead once something bad happened, which it inevitably would when playing thousands of hands of poker.

I've decided to quit after winter break. I won't be playing much poker then, and won't have much work to do right away. I can use that time before work starts piling up in order to get used to living without nicotine. I also will acquire prescription pills in order to help me quit. I've heard they really help reduce the cravings.

Until then, I'm going to try to keep my cigarette levels down so that quitting is less of a shock to my system.