This is video of the "goal" that sent France into next year's World Cup, and it should have been disallowed due to the clear handball. There has been some speculation as to whether certain high ranking football officials wanted to see the French go through. This would be like calling a guy safe at home plate in extra innings of a one-game playoff for an MLB division title. It's unfortunate that FIFA has decided not to replay the game, but I understand where they are coming from. This is more similar to the "Jeffrey Maier game". At least there wasn't any sort of controversy like this in our own MLS Cup final. Good soccer from both sides, and a match that took normal time, extra time, penalty kicks, and two sudden-death rounds of PKs before Real Salt Lake finally prevailed. And the crowd at Seattle's Qwest Field created a great atmosphere, one befitting a big match like this.
If two one-and-eight teams are scheduled to play in Detroit, but the game is blacked out locally, does the game actually take place? Yes, it most certainly did. 38-37. Game winning touchdown on an untimed play. The fortunes of the clubs involved altered...not in the least.
I came away from the Giants' win against the Falcons with very little additional confidence in their crunch time ability. If you want to drive deep into the NFL playoffs, you have to be able to protect a fourteen point lead with twelve minutes left in regulation - and Big Blue could not. The coin toss prior to overtime was quite nerve racking; had the Giants lost and their defense retaken the field, I was just about convinced they would come up on the short end. But credit must still be given to Eli Manning for taking the offense down the field and not letting the Falcons see the ball.
I neglected to watch the Islanders' game against Toronto last night. In doing so, I missed a 58-save performance from Dwayne Roloson. The Isles have an interesting conundrum in the net. Over the summer, they signed two quality netminders, Roloson and Martin Biron. They also have Rick DiPietro under contract until I turn forty. That's not hyperbole; he really is under contract until 2021. The general consensus is that Biron will be dealt at or near the trade deadline - but in order to get maximum value for him, he may have to appear in more games.
God, the Knicks are awful. And they won't even consider bringing in Allen Iverson for the rest of the year, because they're afraid it will hinder the development of the team's young players. Like the majority of the chattering classes on the sports radio, I think "the Answer" is worth a flier. The "development" in question isn't so important, because many of those players won't be there past the end of this season. They are, after all, trying to clear space under the salary cap to bring in one or more big name free agents. As bad as the Knicks are, at least they best the Nets, who don't have a victory on a basketball court yet this season (they are 0-13). They did, however, secure a triumph in the New York Court of Appeals today: the group trying to build them an arena in Brooklyn won the right to use eminent domain to evict some residents of the site. The proposed economic benefits of this are many, but are not certain; witness Pfizer's decision to leave New London, the site of the landmark Supreme Court case to which it was related. I think the Nets making the move across the Hudson would be good for the city, the team, and the Association - but it hsouldn't come about through this type of use of government power.
If two one-and-eight teams are scheduled to play in Detroit, but the game is blacked out locally, does the game actually take place? Yes, it most certainly did. 38-37. Game winning touchdown on an untimed play. The fortunes of the clubs involved altered...not in the least.
I came away from the Giants' win against the Falcons with very little additional confidence in their crunch time ability. If you want to drive deep into the NFL playoffs, you have to be able to protect a fourteen point lead with twelve minutes left in regulation - and Big Blue could not. The coin toss prior to overtime was quite nerve racking; had the Giants lost and their defense retaken the field, I was just about convinced they would come up on the short end. But credit must still be given to Eli Manning for taking the offense down the field and not letting the Falcons see the ball.
I neglected to watch the Islanders' game against Toronto last night. In doing so, I missed a 58-save performance from Dwayne Roloson. The Isles have an interesting conundrum in the net. Over the summer, they signed two quality netminders, Roloson and Martin Biron. They also have Rick DiPietro under contract until I turn forty. That's not hyperbole; he really is under contract until 2021. The general consensus is that Biron will be dealt at or near the trade deadline - but in order to get maximum value for him, he may have to appear in more games.
God, the Knicks are awful. And they won't even consider bringing in Allen Iverson for the rest of the year, because they're afraid it will hinder the development of the team's young players. Like the majority of the chattering classes on the sports radio, I think "the Answer" is worth a flier. The "development" in question isn't so important, because many of those players won't be there past the end of this season. They are, after all, trying to clear space under the salary cap to bring in one or more big name free agents. As bad as the Knicks are, at least they best the Nets, who don't have a victory on a basketball court yet this season (they are 0-13). They did, however, secure a triumph in the New York Court of Appeals today: the group trying to build them an arena in Brooklyn won the right to use eminent domain to evict some residents of the site. The proposed economic benefits of this are many, but are not certain; witness Pfizer's decision to leave New London, the site of the landmark Supreme Court case to which it was related. I think the Nets making the move across the Hudson would be good for the city, the team, and the Association - but it hsouldn't come about through this type of use of government power.
- Location:Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
It has been three weeks since I typed words into this white box on my computer screen. There's a good reason for this relatively prolonged silence - and when I discover it, I'll pass it along.
I've done very well on every graded evolution thus far this semester. I'm now into the second round of them in all of my classes. I have several theories as to why this is, drawing from various past experiences. I don't consider myself a particularly superstitious person...but I don't want to jinx the semester, so I'll wait until it's done before dissecting my academic performance.
At the end of last month, I finally got my end of the Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit. At no point was I ever in dire financial straits, because the combination of the volume of my savings and a lack of expenses keeps me from ever seriously worrying about money. But to log into your bank account on the afternoon of Halloween and see five thousand dollars that were not previously there? What a rush of euphoria. Amazingly, that happened not even an hour after I read an op-ed piece in Newsday entitled "GI bill looks like an IOU."
Even as the Giants were running up a gaudy résumé against their early opponents, I was concerned. I even expressed that concern here. It was based in part on Big Blue's placement in the Z-Ratings, which was then below the other undefeated teams. And now, experience has borne out that concern. The G-Men are 5-4 and hopefully well rested off the bye week as they prepare for the Falcons. One more note on the proceedings of NFL week 10; it concerns the fourth-and-two play with 2:08 left in the Patriots-Colts game. Once again, Bill Belichick thinks he's Rick James. I first surmised this in the aftermath of XLII, when he attempted fourth and thirteen. In neither case did fans of the "Flying Elvii"* enjoy a conversion.
While the gridiron might provide me with anguish, the various frozen ponds surely do not. Cornell stands at 4-1 on the young year, and the Big Red boast an unusually high offensive output - twenty-two goals over the first five games. Among the four wins is one over Harvard, in which Cornell erased a two-goal deficit after forty minutes. As for the professional ranks, well, the Islanders aren't doing half-bad. Their official record^ is 8-6-7, good for 23 points and seventh in the Eastern Conference. And the Isles wouldn't be where they are without the play of a man who honed his hockey skills "far above" - Matt Moulson. Whoever decided to put him on that top line with Tavares and Okposo smells awfully sweet right about now.
One more thing I want to get in: I am now less than two weeks removed from my ten-year high school reunion, an event I've mentioned more than a few times here. I'm excited for it, but I can't say the same for all of my good friends from that day and age. In particular, RB wants to make his feelings known, in a manner only slightly subdued by the pixellation I've added:
* Gregg Easterbrook, aka "Tuesday Morning Quarterback," refers to the Pats with this moniker, because the face on their logo resembles the King of Rock 'n' Roll.
^ Their "real" record, discounting the effect of various shootouts, is 7-9-5. (That's W-L-T.)
I've done very well on every graded evolution thus far this semester. I'm now into the second round of them in all of my classes. I have several theories as to why this is, drawing from various past experiences. I don't consider myself a particularly superstitious person...but I don't want to jinx the semester, so I'll wait until it's done before dissecting my academic performance.
At the end of last month, I finally got my end of the Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit. At no point was I ever in dire financial straits, because the combination of the volume of my savings and a lack of expenses keeps me from ever seriously worrying about money. But to log into your bank account on the afternoon of Halloween and see five thousand dollars that were not previously there? What a rush of euphoria. Amazingly, that happened not even an hour after I read an op-ed piece in Newsday entitled "GI bill looks like an IOU."
Even as the Giants were running up a gaudy résumé against their early opponents, I was concerned. I even expressed that concern here. It was based in part on Big Blue's placement in the Z-Ratings, which was then below the other undefeated teams. And now, experience has borne out that concern. The G-Men are 5-4 and hopefully well rested off the bye week as they prepare for the Falcons. One more note on the proceedings of NFL week 10; it concerns the fourth-and-two play with 2:08 left in the Patriots-Colts game. Once again, Bill Belichick thinks he's Rick James. I first surmised this in the aftermath of XLII, when he attempted fourth and thirteen. In neither case did fans of the "Flying Elvii"* enjoy a conversion.
While the gridiron might provide me with anguish, the various frozen ponds surely do not. Cornell stands at 4-1 on the young year, and the Big Red boast an unusually high offensive output - twenty-two goals over the first five games. Among the four wins is one over Harvard, in which Cornell erased a two-goal deficit after forty minutes. As for the professional ranks, well, the Islanders aren't doing half-bad. Their official record^ is 8-6-7, good for 23 points and seventh in the Eastern Conference. And the Isles wouldn't be where they are without the play of a man who honed his hockey skills "far above" - Matt Moulson. Whoever decided to put him on that top line with Tavares and Okposo smells awfully sweet right about now.
One more thing I want to get in: I am now less than two weeks removed from my ten-year high school reunion, an event I've mentioned more than a few times here. I'm excited for it, but I can't say the same for all of my good friends from that day and age. In particular, RB wants to make his feelings known, in a manner only slightly subdued by the pixellation I've added:
* Gregg Easterbrook, aka "Tuesday Morning Quarterback," refers to the Pats with this moniker, because the face on their logo resembles the King of Rock 'n' Roll.
^ Their "real" record, discounting the effect of various shootouts, is 7-9-5. (That's W-L-T.)
- Location:Northport, NY
...for those of us (mis)fortunate to be Mets fans, the apocalypse is upon us here and now.
That wonderful "art"work come to us courtesy of the fine folks over at Amazin' Avenue.
I was compelled to email The Sports Guy my thoughts:
One more thing, courtesy of Jacob. The best Yankees blog out there, without question, is IT IS HIGH, IT IS FAR, IT IS... caught. When you get into charts and graphs to describe the power and girth of Sterling's "WinWarbles," it's clearly a sign of solid effort from dedicated fans. Worthy of recognition, even if their devotion is to baseball's "dark side," and thus sorely misplaced.
That wonderful "art"work come to us courtesy of the fine folks over at Amazin' Avenue.
I was compelled to email The Sports Guy my thoughts:
I am a Mets fan. I also used to serve on a U. S. Navy submarine. After the Yankees clinched last night, I thought about inquiring with my former co-workers to see if it's too late to get a cruise missile strike on Yankee Stadium during Game 1.The Phillies may be divisional rivals, but the antipathy just isn't there. I'll be behind them in this matchup, for 423,500,000 different reasons. Throw in Series debutante A-Rod, and that jumps to a smidge under 700 million. I feel pretty confident that we'll get a well played Series, regardless of who wins.
One more thing, courtesy of Jacob. The best Yankees blog out there, without question, is IT IS HIGH, IT IS FAR, IT IS... caught. When you get into charts and graphs to describe the power and girth of Sterling's "WinWarbles," it's clearly a sign of solid effort from dedicated fans. Worthy of recognition, even if their devotion is to baseball's "dark side," and thus sorely misplaced.
- Location:Northport, NY
So yesterday afternoon I decided to hit the treadmill, something I will readily admit I don't do nearly often enough. After finishing the run and showering, I threw a bunch of things on the passenger seat of my car. Among these things was my watch...or so I thought. (I remove my watch when running so as not to infuse it with sweat.) Upon arriving at my dinner destination, I noticed that I was unable to find out the time by looking at my arm, and a search commenced. Not in the cabin, not in the trunk...WTF? I ate and then searched again, but still nothing. So I headed back to campus, and proceeded to haul myself to my evening macroeconomics class. Said class is an evolution that causes me to frequently glance at my left wrist, so as to know how long the agony will continue. (It's a class that rivals a submarine's engineering department training for lack of liveliness.) After the class mercifully ended early, I decided, on a lark, to drive back to the Recreation Center and see if my watch was still there. And sure enough, it was right there on the ground, in the exact same place I'd dropped it two and a half hours before. Nobody had picked it up and brought it into the Rec Center and kept it for themselves, and nobody had run over it with their car. I was both surprised and thankful.
This evening's event was briefer, but also potentially more sinister. I had dinner at Wendy's before doing laundry, and got some a book from my backpack in my trunk before going in. When I returned to my car, I was shocked to see that I'd left the trunk open. And by open, I don't mean "unlatched," I mean "in the fully upright position, so that anyone could look inside and/or take whatever they wanted." Luckily, nothing was gone. Thinking about it, it's not so unexpected. Anyone desiring to commit petty theft had the following choices: a backpack filled with various books and papers; some other loose textbooks; a bag fill of dirty clothes; a less-than-half-full container of laundry detergent; a sixteen-year-old trombone; a large blue sleeping bag; and some car care products. Still, I breathed a sigh of relief, and remarked to myself that even as I near the age of 28.5, I'm still sometimes prone to losing track of important parts of the immediate situation.
This evening's event was briefer, but also potentially more sinister. I had dinner at Wendy's before doing laundry, and got some a book from my backpack in my trunk before going in. When I returned to my car, I was shocked to see that I'd left the trunk open. And by open, I don't mean "unlatched," I mean "in the fully upright position, so that anyone could look inside and/or take whatever they wanted." Luckily, nothing was gone. Thinking about it, it's not so unexpected. Anyone desiring to commit petty theft had the following choices: a backpack filled with various books and papers; some other loose textbooks; a bag fill of dirty clothes; a less-than-half-full container of laundry detergent; a sixteen-year-old trombone; a large blue sleeping bag; and some car care products. Still, I breathed a sigh of relief, and remarked to myself that even as I near the age of 28.5, I'm still sometimes prone to losing track of important parts of the immediate situation.
- Location:Northport, NY
Blunoz just blogged about being "violated" by his alma mater, the University of San Diego. I've some similar and related things happen to me recently, and I think I can set aside my jealousy of his college choice just long enough to tell you all about it.
A week and a half ago, I began getting calls without messages on my voicemail. The first occurred on a Friday afternoon while driving home from school, and it was so unexpected that I pulled off the road to see who was ringing me. The number appearing on my phone - "700-000-0000" - left no clue whatsoever. After the same number appeared on my phone on the following three weekdays, I finally answered. It was someone calling on behalf of Rand Paul. He's the son of 2008 presidential candidate Ron Paul (thus explaining how they got my number), and he's running to replace the retiring (and villianous)* Jim Bunning. They asked me to listen to a message from Paul the Younger, and I agreed. That said, knowing the content of the message, I put the phone down at various points.
Once the representative came back on the line, she politely asked me if I would sign a pledge to support Rand Paul's Senate candidacy. I agreed to do so. I then braced myself for what I knew was coming next - a request for some financial support. The Paul campaign's opening bid was $200...and I didn't bite. Right now, my income is essentially zero, being as the (purported) benefits of the Post 9/11 GI Bill have not yet materialized in my bank account. So they tried for either $100 or $50. I countered with a compromise value of $25. It was indeed sufficient to stop the stream of calls to my phone. The call concluded with both parties relatively satisfied.
Blunoz's post also got me to thinking about the relationship between myself and Cornell. One of the very few positives of not having graduated from there is being spared having to endure conversations designed to extract money from my pocket into the Big Red coffers. But could that be subject to change? It may be, given I received a mailing from the Cornell Club of Long Island a few weeks back. This is the first such correspondence I've EVER received. While my love for things Big Red is extensive and well documented, I'm not quite prepared to give general donations. If the BRMB were to call upon me for a small amount of money, I would likely be more than happy to oblige. But the rest of the University shall have to wait until I have many more American dollars available to me. But then again, by that time, I'll have two universities to which to donate...
* Bunning's designation here has nothing to do with anything he did as a Senator; it relies solely on his perfect game against the Mets in 1964.
A week and a half ago, I began getting calls without messages on my voicemail. The first occurred on a Friday afternoon while driving home from school, and it was so unexpected that I pulled off the road to see who was ringing me. The number appearing on my phone - "700-000-0000" - left no clue whatsoever. After the same number appeared on my phone on the following three weekdays, I finally answered. It was someone calling on behalf of Rand Paul. He's the son of 2008 presidential candidate Ron Paul (thus explaining how they got my number), and he's running to replace the retiring (and villianous)* Jim Bunning. They asked me to listen to a message from Paul the Younger, and I agreed. That said, knowing the content of the message, I put the phone down at various points.
Once the representative came back on the line, she politely asked me if I would sign a pledge to support Rand Paul's Senate candidacy. I agreed to do so. I then braced myself for what I knew was coming next - a request for some financial support. The Paul campaign's opening bid was $200...and I didn't bite. Right now, my income is essentially zero, being as the (purported) benefits of the Post 9/11 GI Bill have not yet materialized in my bank account. So they tried for either $100 or $50. I countered with a compromise value of $25. It was indeed sufficient to stop the stream of calls to my phone. The call concluded with both parties relatively satisfied.
Blunoz's post also got me to thinking about the relationship between myself and Cornell. One of the very few positives of not having graduated from there is being spared having to endure conversations designed to extract money from my pocket into the Big Red coffers. But could that be subject to change? It may be, given I received a mailing from the Cornell Club of Long Island a few weeks back. This is the first such correspondence I've EVER received. While my love for things Big Red is extensive and well documented, I'm not quite prepared to give general donations. If the BRMB were to call upon me for a small amount of money, I would likely be more than happy to oblige. But the rest of the University shall have to wait until I have many more American dollars available to me. But then again, by that time, I'll have two universities to which to donate...
* Bunning's designation here has nothing to do with anything he did as a Senator; it relies solely on his perfect game against the Mets in 1964.
- Location:Northport, NY
I spent the previous weekend in Ithaca, celebrating Bonecoming 2009 with friends old and new. Here are some of the things I learned anew, along with other highlights of which I was reminded in my time on the East Hill:
On the whole, it was a most memorable enjoyable time, and it was a wise decision to proceed to the Finger Lakes. That said, even if the weekend had been total crap, it least it would have been total crap without the rain and wind that plagued Long Island. It wasn't quite the soul-rejuvenating experience of 2007 - but then again, I didn't expect it to be. The cohort of friends was larger then, and that weekend was a necessary escape from the drudgery of shipyard life. Regardless of the circumstances, time spent with the Big Red Band and its alumni (yes, even the trumpets) is always time very well spent. Their hospitality, combined with their spirit - be it attending the lacrosse Final Four on Commencement weekend, or toughing out four quarters of the farce that Cornell claims is football - makes the band an organization without parallel in the Ivy League.
- The Pinesburger is a gastronomical concoction without peer. Being as this was the third one I've had this year, this certainly wasn't new knowledge.
- I was reminded of a unique incident that occurred, I believe, sometime in my second year at Cornell. There was a game of kings, or as we call it, Oh Fuck, I Got The King. We were playing with jokers; in our game, drawing one required you to down a shot. At some point during the game, I drew one, but was adamantly against imbibing hard liquor, so an alternative had to be conceived. What did my friends come up with? A shot of potato chips. I mean that literally; they crushed up come chips (Wegmans brand, undoubtedly), placed them into a shot glass, and down my hatch it went. Surprisingly, it wasn't half bad.
- Staying on the topic of OFIGTK, and filing under "discretion is the better part of valor": During a game Friday night, we were down to the last king, and I had a nasty premonition that I was going to draw it. When the turn came around to me, of course I did. I chugged my beer as required, and was on the verge of refunding. Despite an urge not to back down, I knew a fifteen to twenty minute break was the right course of action. And that was correct; I did not vomit at that point or any other during the weekend, not even after downing a small quantity of reddish "vitamin water" during the second quarter on Saturday. (Of course, the primary "vitamin" in that substance has the chemical representation C2H5OH.)
- The presence of an eighteen inch dildo (that the undergrads have named "Michael") adds an interesting element to both conversations and drinking games.
- I brought my trombone to Ithaca, and for the first time in over seven years, I busted out some notes. I wasn't worried about remembering the correspondence between notes and slide positions; having played for eleven years has permanently ingrained that knowledge into me. But I certainly wasn't up on the Big Red Marching Band's playlist, and my sound could undoubtedly use some improvement. One of my flute-playing friends said she tries to break out her instrument at least once a year; that might not be a bad plan, especially to be ready in advance of next year's Grand Bonecoming.
- Cornell football is such as it always is...not good. The Big Red secondary was extremely susceptible to the big play. And even the coaching staff seemed to have given up before the final horn sounded. With ten minutes left in the fourth quarter and down by 26, the Big Red drove deep into Fordham territory, got to fourth down...and sent out the field-goal unit. The underlying message: "If we could concede this game at this point, we would." The attempt sailing wide right was simply poetic justice.
- Red-White hockey was an enjoyable time. Even if still haven't seen a competitive game at Lynah Rink since January 2003, it's always nice to see the Coach Schafer's boys in person. And the little kids playing during the breaks were a nice touch. In the past few years, I have not closely kept up on the team until the playoffs, being as my energies were directed at enduring the Memphis boot of oppression. But this significant uptick in free time, combined with the high expectations for this year, mean that this is probably the most excited and ready I've been for Cornell hockey since the Frozen Four season of 2002-03.
- Favorite memory of the game: For the second song of the halftime show, the alumni joined the BRMB on the field. The song was "Jesus Christ Superstar," a staple of the band's folder. Being as the alumni of Da Bones had neither knowledge of nor concern for the intended formation, we found a spot and lined up. After the slow introduction, we began snaking around the field...as the ENTIRE rest of the band was standing still. And by the end of the song, we were in front of the drum major's ladder. Way to go, Scersk.
- And lastly, speaking of Scersk...he's now in his twelfth or thirteenth year as a Ph.D. student. This situation leads to the one piece of advice I would give to those now on the East Hill following us in this lineage. Everything your parents told you about hard work and determination being the keys to success is generally true. But if those qualities simply aren't your bag, you can still get what you want out of life...and Scersk is living proof of that.
On the whole, it was a most memorable enjoyable time, and it was a wise decision to proceed to the Finger Lakes. That said, even if the weekend had been total crap, it least it would have been total crap without the rain and wind that plagued Long Island. It wasn't quite the soul-rejuvenating experience of 2007 - but then again, I didn't expect it to be. The cohort of friends was larger then, and that weekend was a necessary escape from the drudgery of shipyard life. Regardless of the circumstances, time spent with the Big Red Band and its alumni (yes, even the trumpets) is always time very well spent. Their hospitality, combined with their spirit - be it attending the lacrosse Final Four on Commencement weekend, or toughing out four quarters of the farce that Cornell claims is football - makes the band an organization without parallel in the Ivy League.
- Location:Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
I don't keep a running tally of the best decisions I've ever made in my life. However, if I did, the removal of Dartmouth College from consideration in the fall of 1998 ranks a lot higher today than it did earlier this week. IvyGate has revealed this to me:
FAIL, Co-Ten$. This from the same school that has, or has had in the past, "Keggy the Keg" as a mascot. In Hanover, New Hampshire, D clearly stands for "douchebag" in addition to "Dartmouth." Or perhaps "dregs of the Ivy League."
(And yes, I did search YouTube for "Skorton", the name of Cornell's current president, and found no videos of similar content.)
FAIL, Co-Ten$. This from the same school that has, or has had in the past, "Keggy the Keg" as a mascot. In Hanover, New Hampshire, D clearly stands for "douchebag" in addition to "Dartmouth." Or perhaps "dregs of the Ivy League."
(And yes, I did search YouTube for "Skorton", the name of Cornell's current president, and found no videos of similar content.)
- Location:Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
On my first day of relative freedom following the six years of self-imposed indentured servitude, the Navy swore in a new Secretary. I had only a passing familiarity with him until this evening, when I watched his appearance on The Daily Show. He's an affable gentleman, and was rightfully fulsome in his praise of the Navy-Marine Corps team. Among the prominent subjects in the interview was the consideration of allowing women to serve on submarines. It's been known for a couple of weeks that the Secretary, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs (a Navy admiral), and the Chief of Naval Operations all support this initiative, and are "moving out aggressively" on it. Let's leave aside for the moment that question, and look instead at some of the statements made by SECNAV on Jon Stewart's set.
All told, the Secretary could have done better. I am also happy to report, for the benefit of those who watch the full interview, that in the 21st century Navy, we do not as a matter of course inquire about each other's venereal diseases - and absolutely not as a standard greeting. As far as the whole women-on-submarines question, the one that has generated over two hundred comments at TSSBP? We do not reach that issue here; that's for another post entirely...
* The Supply Officer is not nuclear trained. He is, however, a staff corps officer, and thus not eligible to command. All regular line officers aboard go through the nuclear training pipeline.
Stewart: Will it take long?This is patently wrong. Two-thirds of the crew of every fast-attack submarine (and a larger percentage on ballistic missile subs) does NOT get nuclear training. They are briefed on radiation safety; they carry dosimetry to measure how much radiation they get; they learn the basics of how the power plant works as part of qualification in submarines. But they most certainly do not get the same in-depth immersion in things nuclear as members of engineering department. Ask a coner about cross-section for neutron absorption, and you'll get either a blank stare or a blistering rebuke. Now, all officers except one* are nuclear trained, and the women-on-subs will be initially limited to officers on the Ohio-class. But nowhere is this said or implied in this interview. Actually, Mabus would have needed to add only one word to make this quote totally accurate. He should have said "...you gotta be nuclear trained to be valuable on a submarine."
Mabus: It'll take a little while because you gotta interview people...you gotta be nuclear trained to be on a submarine.
Stewart: What's nuclear training? How would a fellow get nuclear trained? Is that like...getting a merit badge?Really? Has the training pipeline changed that much in the five years since I went through it? Let me think of some of the dangers I faced during my time training in the nuclear ways. There was the alligator that lives in the pond next to Rickover Center at NNPTC, or perhaps playing tackle football with many others in my class (which would have been more dangerous if fewer had played, because then my broken collarbone probably would have led to mast). You might also count the damage to my brain simply from residence in the Lowcountry of South Carolina for such an extended period of time. But that's really about it. And while the qualification portion of becoming a nuke is only similar in form to getting a merit badge (that is to say, you get a bunch of stuff signed off), there is one similarity between the Boy Scouts of America and the United States Navy: questionable (read: poor) taste in uniforms. But let's continue on to the most absurd line...
Mabus: It's the same idea...it takes a little longer, a little more dangerous to do it.
Stewart: So, it's a merit badge that could cause genetic mutations inside your body. All right.No, no, NO! Crap like that makes it sound as if we operate a fleet full of ships like K-19: The Widowmaker. That could not be further from the truth. The Navy's internal limits on annual and quarterly exposure are a small fraction of those in the Federal regulations. Most members of the nuclear Navy get less exposure over their careers than a civilian can legally obtain in a single year. Dosimetry is worn whenever there's significant radiation - and if it's not, that person has to track everywhere they'd been so exposure can be estimated. Trust me - I wouldn't wish a dose investigation on anybody. You'll suffer more irradiation laying on the beach on a sunny day than in the engine room of a nuclear submarine. There's an old adage that nukes have a propensity to produce female offspring, but that has no basis in fact. I understand that Jon Stewart is just making a joke, but for SECNAV to let the remark pass without comment is to allow the public to believe that our boat captains are acting like Harrison Ford, and that's simply hogwash.
Mabus: Right.
Stewart: That seems reasonable.
All told, the Secretary could have done better. I am also happy to report, for the benefit of those who watch the full interview, that in the 21st century Navy, we do not as a matter of course inquire about each other's venereal diseases - and absolutely not as a standard greeting. As far as the whole women-on-submarines question, the one that has generated over two hundred comments at TSSBP? We do not reach that issue here; that's for another post entirely...
* The Supply Officer is not nuclear trained. He is, however, a staff corps officer, and thus not eligible to command. All regular line officers aboard go through the nuclear training pipeline.
- Location:Northport, NY
I know that deriving humor from another's disease is a practice of questionable morality. But you have got to see "Tourette's Guy". Here's a sample:
Part 1 and Part 2 of the "best of Tourette's Guy."
Random musing on music #1: I have recently become captivated by Miley Cyrus's latest song, "Party In The USA." It's yet another example of how something catchy can hold my attention, however short a span that may be. There's not really anything original about the music, and the lyrics may as well have been written by Taking Back Sunday. A new city feels weird, but hearing familiar music calms me down and reassures me. That's the entire song, condensed to one sentence. This is not an idea that requires backup dancers, a giant flag, confetti, a swing set in a globe-shaped cage, and large-scale electronics to be conveyed. The video does, however, serve a purpose: it explains just what it means to nod one's head or move one's hips "like yeah."
Random musing about music #2: I missed Lady Gaga's performance on Saturday Night Live this past weekend, but have seen the video of the two sets. The second one is simply befuddling. Of course, there's the obvious: she's got some five-ringed gyroscope-type contraption attached to her. She can barely move in the thing, and it's not totally compatible with her attempts to play the piano. But let's leave that aside for a minute. She's giving a performance IN HER UNDERWEAR! Well, her underwear...and knee-high stiletto boots. How does this add to the musical performance? For a contrast, take a look at this video from January 2006. Yes, that's the same woman.
Since the Mets' season has been dead since around my birthday, I'm behind the Twins against the Yankees. The Bronx Bombers seem like the favorites in the postseason, but we all know that annual deal Alex Rodriguez makes with the Devil expires on the last day of the regular season. With this in mind, the Phillies might be a good bet to repeat. Of course, between hockey and basketball, there's no reason I should have to recall the disaster that was the preceding Mets season. The Islanders played well on Saturday night, andgot a 3-3 tie with lost 4-3 to the Penguins in a shootout. It's a good thing I'm not expecting them to make the playoffs or anything this year. And the Giants are 4-0 and looking like the class of the NFL - but they are in the middle of a spell of patsies in their schedule. Oakland this week shouldn't pose much of a challenge, but if the G-Men can avoid the same fate as the Jets (that is, avoid losing to the Saints) their place atop the league will be a lot more secure.
Part 1 and Part 2 of the "best of Tourette's Guy."
Random musing on music #1: I have recently become captivated by Miley Cyrus's latest song, "Party In The USA." It's yet another example of how something catchy can hold my attention, however short a span that may be. There's not really anything original about the music, and the lyrics may as well have been written by Taking Back Sunday. A new city feels weird, but hearing familiar music calms me down and reassures me. That's the entire song, condensed to one sentence. This is not an idea that requires backup dancers, a giant flag, confetti, a swing set in a globe-shaped cage, and large-scale electronics to be conveyed. The video does, however, serve a purpose: it explains just what it means to nod one's head or move one's hips "like yeah."
Random musing about music #2: I missed Lady Gaga's performance on Saturday Night Live this past weekend, but have seen the video of the two sets. The second one is simply befuddling. Of course, there's the obvious: she's got some five-ringed gyroscope-type contraption attached to her. She can barely move in the thing, and it's not totally compatible with her attempts to play the piano. But let's leave that aside for a minute. She's giving a performance IN HER UNDERWEAR! Well, her underwear...and knee-high stiletto boots. How does this add to the musical performance? For a contrast, take a look at this video from January 2006. Yes, that's the same woman.
Since the Mets' season has been dead since around my birthday, I'm behind the Twins against the Yankees. The Bronx Bombers seem like the favorites in the postseason, but we all know that annual deal Alex Rodriguez makes with the Devil expires on the last day of the regular season. With this in mind, the Phillies might be a good bet to repeat. Of course, between hockey and basketball, there's no reason I should have to recall the disaster that was the preceding Mets season. The Islanders played well on Saturday night, and
- Location:Northport, NY
That was the quote from RB's dad at 7:55 a.m. Saturday, a quote I heard as I parked my car across from his house. He was airing his disgust with the inconveniences brought about by the road closures throughout Northport Village this morning. I chose not to interject my opinion, because it was the exact opposite - I love the Great Cow Harbor 10-Kilometer Run, and was about to make my way down to the finish line. Having decided a few months ago that I wouldn't run this year, I figured I might as well root on these five thousand-plus who are, in this respect, better than myself. It was about as good a day as you could want - temperatures in the low fifties, clear skies, and a light breeze.
As was the case three years ago, the race was well run. Then, it was a smashing of the course record; this past Saturday, it was the fastest top ten in memory (the top ten male finishers all ran in less than thirty-one minutes). And the men's race was close, with a margin of victory of less than three seconds. The women's race wasn't nearly as close. The real surprise, and certainly a treat, was seeing a twelve-year-old boy finish the race in thirty-eight minutes. That's just an insane time. Once the elite runners come across, then you get to see the flood of men and women who are just happy to be finishing the thing. That flood included at least five of my high school classmates. And for the umpteenth time - in direct contradiction to one of my New Year's resolutions - I did not run. That changes in 2010. I know I've said that so many times before, so take it with as many grains of salt as you like.
Pictures - 2009 Great Cow Harbor 10K
- Location:Northport, NY
ECAC Hockey announced today that it will relocate the championship weekend to Atlantic City from the season after this one (2010-11). The reaction at the eLynah Forum has been overwhelmingly negative, and I fully concur.
In terms of convenience to fans, there is no conceivable way that Atlantic City presents a more palatable option than the Capital District. Some quick work with Google Maps has yielded numerical data for us:
Only Princeton sees its travel time shortened. Nine of the twelve schools are further from Atlantic City than the farthest from Albany (SLU, at 4:32). The median1 rise in trip length is a shade under 80 percent. This is not like ACC basketball or SEC football - most fans develop their ties to these programs while attending the member institutions, not through geographical or television exposure. Making it more difficult for nearly all student fans to reach the tournament site seems about as counterproductive as you can get.
I've been to the ECACs in both Lake Placid and Albany. Each has advantages and drawbacks. LP is somewhat out of the way and a bit pricier in terms of lodging, but it benefits from a beautiful location and a historic venue. Albany isn't as nice, but it's a bit cheaper, has places to drink in the immediate area, and is centrally located with respect to the twelve ECAC members. Atlantic City, from everything I've heard so far, combines the seediness of Albany with the exorbitant lodging of Lake Placid, and throws in long drives for nearly everyone and a questionable venue (it's clearly designed for concerts; the seats appear to not even extend all the way around the rink).
To sum up, talk about taking a dump on your fans. Hopefully this decision is reversed by 2014, if not sooner.
(EDIT, 9:00 pm, to correct serious personal idiocy: the lack of seating around the rink's full circumference isn't in and of itself a bad thing. After all, Lynah has the same quality. It still doesn't sit well with me to be playing the conference's showcase event in a concert hall, to say nothing of one whose primary claim to fame is being the long-standing home of the Miss America pageant.)
1 Median is used here because the average is distorted by the fact that RPI and Union are both less than half an hour from Albany.
In terms of convenience to fans, there is no conceivable way that Atlantic City presents a more palatable option than the Capital District. Some quick work with Google Maps has yielded numerical data for us:
| City (Member School) | To Albany, NY | To Atlantic City, NJ | ΔTime (h:mm) | ΔTime (%) |
| Providence, RI (Brown) | 2:52 | 5:22 | +2:30 | 87.2% |
| Potsdam, NY (Clarkson) | 4:32 | 7:46 | +3:14 | 71.3% |
| Hamilton, NY (Colgate) | 2:17 | 5:41 | +3:24 | 148.9% |
| Ithaca, NY (Cornell) | 3:19 | 5:04 | +1:45 | 52.8% |
| Hanover, NH (Dartmouth) | 2:51 | 6:44 | +3:53 | 136.3% |
| Cambridge, MA (Harvard) | 2:49 | 5:56 | +3:07 | 110.7% |
| Princeton, NJ (Princeton) | 3:09 | 1:44 | -1:25 | -45.0% |
| Hamden, CT (Quinnipiac) | 2:27 | 3:48 | +1:21 | 55.1% |
| Troy, NY (RPI) | 0:14 | 4:39 | +4:25 | 1892.9% |
| Canton, NY (St. Lawrence) | 4:28 | 7:31 | +3:03 | 68.3% |
| Schnectady, NY (Union) | 0:22 | 4:38 | +4:16 | 1163.6% |
| New Haven, CT (Yale) | 2:35 | 3:46 | +1:11 | 45.8% |
Only Princeton sees its travel time shortened. Nine of the twelve schools are further from Atlantic City than the farthest from Albany (SLU, at 4:32). The median1 rise in trip length is a shade under 80 percent. This is not like ACC basketball or SEC football - most fans develop their ties to these programs while attending the member institutions, not through geographical or television exposure. Making it more difficult for nearly all student fans to reach the tournament site seems about as counterproductive as you can get.
I've been to the ECACs in both Lake Placid and Albany. Each has advantages and drawbacks. LP is somewhat out of the way and a bit pricier in terms of lodging, but it benefits from a beautiful location and a historic venue. Albany isn't as nice, but it's a bit cheaper, has places to drink in the immediate area, and is centrally located with respect to the twelve ECAC members. Atlantic City, from everything I've heard so far, combines the seediness of Albany with the exorbitant lodging of Lake Placid, and throws in long drives for nearly everyone and a questionable venue (it's clearly designed for concerts; the seats appear to not even extend all the way around the rink).
To sum up, talk about taking a dump on your fans. Hopefully this decision is reversed by 2014, if not sooner.
(EDIT, 9:00 pm, to correct serious personal idiocy: the lack of seating around the rink's full circumference isn't in and of itself a bad thing. After all, Lynah has the same quality. It still doesn't sit well with me to be playing the conference's showcase event in a concert hall, to say nothing of one whose primary claim to fame is being the long-standing home of the Miss America pageant.)
1 Median is used here because the average is distorted by the fact that RPI and Union are both less than half an hour from Albany.
- Location:Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
...quotes included!
"I'm going to drop out of school and become a stripper." - a female student frustrated with class work
"Let's play hangman...where's the chalk?"
(Professor walks in.)
"So much for that...my word was going to be 'falcon punch.'"
Guy A: "How much for an eight ball?"
Guy B: "Fifty dollars."
Guy A: "OK. Um...maybe that was too loud."
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Hofstra University!
It seems like every other person I see on campus - and I mean that quite literally - has a phone or similar device out and is gabbing away or furiously texting. That's quite a departure from the first time around, when cell phones were rare and checking your e-mail away from home often meant waiting for a a machine to free up in a library or computer lab.
There are plenty of other differences between Cornell at the start of the decade and Hofstra at its end; I'll highlight two in particular. Here and now, student-athletes have access to Margiotta Hall for their fitness needs. But the rest of the campus gets nearly as good a deal, as access to the Recreation Center facilities carries no additional charge. At Cornell, you had to pay extra for a membership in Cornell Fitness Centers. Unless, of course, you played an intercollegiate sport, that was entirely unnecessary - you had complimentary access to the Friedman Strength and Conditioning Center, arguably the best gym on campus. (This was also a point of contention due to the absence of athletic scholarships.) As a result, I went the first two and a half weeks of the semester without knowing I could work out anytime during the Rec Center's hours. I haven't gotten up there yet, but that'll change.
Something else that made itself highly visible to me last week was how the Hofstra Chronicle differs from The Cornell Daily Sun. Apart from the Chronicle being a weekly, its website hadn't been updated until this past weekend, after all the newsworthy events regarding the "rape hoax" had passed. Thus, when I went there looking for updates on the situation, I was treated to articles on the Pride men's lacrosse team's preparation to face Cornell in the opening round of last May's NCAA tournament. And on page five, the editorial claims the Chronicle was of less concern to University Relations than "the media." Um, isn't the student newspaper part of the media? When the paper is a fully independent entity - as is the Daily Sun - it is so treated. I'm actually giving some thought to the possibility of writing for the paper in the future.
I am currently in the fourth day of working through a nasty coughing spell; the stuffy nose resolved itself over a day ago. Thankfully, none of these conditions has impinged upon my academic activities. And of course, I wouldn't dream of letting this prevent me from seeing I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell tomorrow, the day of its limited release. (FYI - list of all theaters showing the film this weekend.) I do, however, intend to abandon all hope of ever understanding women's fashion. The justification for wearing knee-high boots with two-and-a-half inch stiletto heels is absolutely beyond me. And personally, I restrict my use of open-toed footwear to the pool or beach; the number of flip-flops I saw around campus today borders on staggering.
"I'm going to drop out of school and become a stripper." - a female student frustrated with class work
"Let's play hangman...where's the chalk?"
(Professor walks in.)
"So much for that...my word was going to be 'falcon punch.'"
Guy A: "How much for an eight ball?"
Guy B: "Fifty dollars."
Guy A: "OK. Um...maybe that was too loud."
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Hofstra University!
It seems like every other person I see on campus - and I mean that quite literally - has a phone or similar device out and is gabbing away or furiously texting. That's quite a departure from the first time around, when cell phones were rare and checking your e-mail away from home often meant waiting for a a machine to free up in a library or computer lab.
There are plenty of other differences between Cornell at the start of the decade and Hofstra at its end; I'll highlight two in particular. Here and now, student-athletes have access to Margiotta Hall for their fitness needs. But the rest of the campus gets nearly as good a deal, as access to the Recreation Center facilities carries no additional charge. At Cornell, you had to pay extra for a membership in Cornell Fitness Centers. Unless, of course, you played an intercollegiate sport, that was entirely unnecessary - you had complimentary access to the Friedman Strength and Conditioning Center, arguably the best gym on campus. (This was also a point of contention due to the absence of athletic scholarships.) As a result, I went the first two and a half weeks of the semester without knowing I could work out anytime during the Rec Center's hours. I haven't gotten up there yet, but that'll change.
Something else that made itself highly visible to me last week was how the Hofstra Chronicle differs from The Cornell Daily Sun. Apart from the Chronicle being a weekly, its website hadn't been updated until this past weekend, after all the newsworthy events regarding the "rape hoax" had passed. Thus, when I went there looking for updates on the situation, I was treated to articles on the Pride men's lacrosse team's preparation to face Cornell in the opening round of last May's NCAA tournament. And on page five, the editorial claims the Chronicle was of less concern to University Relations than "the media." Um, isn't the student newspaper part of the media? When the paper is a fully independent entity - as is the Daily Sun - it is so treated. I'm actually giving some thought to the possibility of writing for the paper in the future.
I am currently in the fourth day of working through a nasty coughing spell; the stuffy nose resolved itself over a day ago. Thankfully, none of these conditions has impinged upon my academic activities. And of course, I wouldn't dream of letting this prevent me from seeing I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell tomorrow, the day of its limited release. (FYI - list of all theaters showing the film this weekend.) I do, however, intend to abandon all hope of ever understanding women's fashion. The justification for wearing knee-high boots with two-and-a-half inch stiletto heels is absolutely beyond me. And personally, I restrict my use of open-toed footwear to the pool or beach; the number of flip-flops I saw around campus today borders on staggering.
- Location:Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
...based on developments that broke late last night. It is insufficient to link to my last post; I must instead quote it:
Both the Nassau County DA and Hofstra have acted swiftly on this. There's a criminal investigation against her, and the University suspended her today. Both of these are appropriate actions. Even if Kathleen Rice's office decides her actions don't rise to the level of criminality, she seems to have flagrantly violated Hofstra's code of community standards. Whatever her reasons for her actions, the outcomes cannot be ignored. Severe and potentially lasting damage to the reputations of four young men, fear unnecessarily inflicted on thousands of students and their families, and unwelcome negative media attention on campus. Personally, I believe what she did warrants expulsion. Whether or not this comes to pass, due process must be maintained throughout. Only a full and thorough investigation will reveal what actually happened. Nassau County prosecutors are to be commended for this, by clearing the men so quickly. Hofstra should accord the same respect and diligence to all those involved.
The ugliest part about the crying of wolf in this case is how it trivializes actual rape and its victims. Every time something like this happens, it plants seeds of doubt in people's minds. Every person who experiences a sex crime suffers from that. And in fact, we all are impacted - think of all the time and money the police and prosecutors spent on this. In the end, all of us are less safe thanks to things like this, and none of us should stand for it.
I trust that the justice system will see that the perpetrators face justice and get the punishment they deserve.Based on the latest, it seems that they have - by way of the dismissal (with prejudice, I hope) of all the charges. What turned the tide? Apparently, the existence of video.
Both the Nassau County DA and Hofstra have acted swiftly on this. There's a criminal investigation against her, and the University suspended her today. Both of these are appropriate actions. Even if Kathleen Rice's office decides her actions don't rise to the level of criminality, she seems to have flagrantly violated Hofstra's code of community standards. Whatever her reasons for her actions, the outcomes cannot be ignored. Severe and potentially lasting damage to the reputations of four young men, fear unnecessarily inflicted on thousands of students and their families, and unwelcome negative media attention on campus. Personally, I believe what she did warrants expulsion. Whether or not this comes to pass, due process must be maintained throughout. Only a full and thorough investigation will reveal what actually happened. Nassau County prosecutors are to be commended for this, by clearing the men so quickly. Hofstra should accord the same respect and diligence to all those involved.
The ugliest part about the crying of wolf in this case is how it trivializes actual rape and its victims. Every time something like this happens, it plants seeds of doubt in people's minds. Every person who experiences a sex crime suffers from that. And in fact, we all are impacted - think of all the time and money the police and prosecutors spent on this. In the end, all of us are less safe thanks to things like this, and none of us should stand for it.
- Location:Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
...both the old and the new.
Last week, the lovely little parasite known as H1N1 - or "swine flu" made its way in force to the bountiful lands far above Cayuga's waters. At least five hundred students have been infected at Cornell, and there's one confirmed death. But for the most part, it's only mild bodily discomfort, even if it's that widespread. It doesn't compare to what, according to police, happened early Sunday morning in a residence hall on Hofstra's campus - a brutal rape. I won't rehash the details; for those, follow any or all of these links.
Newsday | New York Times | Fox News | WPIX | WCBS | WNBC | News 12 Long Island (subscription for non-Cablevision customers)
This is a totally despicable act, one that rightly casts a pall over the entire campus and community. The four suspects in custody, the one accomplice still at large, and anyone of like mind pollute our campus with their presence. I trust that the justice system will see that the perpetrators face justice and get the punishment they deserve.
There are a lot of questions in the air as this story unfolds. Chief among them is the length of time between the commission of the act and the university alerting its community - a time interval in excess of thirty-six hours. Not until 4:45 p.m. Monday was everybody notified. I understand that the campus alert system is designed for imminent threats to the campus, primarily of the weather variety. Hofstra should revisit that policy. The true gravity of the situation wasn't revealed to me until I walked out of the Student Center around 5:20 p.m., after having been in the library for three hours, and saw no less than six television news vans there. And for a university that has an entire school of communication, they certainly didn't choose the best words to convey the gravity of the situation. When I logged in to my "Portal," I saw only the words "Campus Notification" on the screen; not exactly an attention grabber. This afternoon, an "Incident Update" was released. I understand a desire to not force the details of the event down people's throats. And these updates were all solely within the Hofstra community. The official website is completely silent on the matter. I don't know anything about the process leading to that decision, or whether it accounts for the fact that one of the accused worked part time for Public Safety. But the truth is going to make its way out, and Hofstra has to take the lead on that front.
The maximum penalty under New York State law for these crimes is twenty-five years in prison. But if these "men" are found guilty of the alleged acts, what do I think should happen? Well, I think Samuel L. Jackson said it best in "A Time to Kill": yes they deserve to die, and I hope they burn in Hell!
Last week, the lovely little parasite known as H1N1 - or "swine flu" made its way in force to the bountiful lands far above Cayuga's waters. At least five hundred students have been infected at Cornell, and there's one confirmed death. But for the most part, it's only mild bodily discomfort, even if it's that widespread. It doesn't compare to what, according to police, happened early Sunday morning in a residence hall on Hofstra's campus - a brutal rape. I won't rehash the details; for those, follow any or all of these links.
Newsday | New York Times | Fox News | WPIX | WCBS | WNBC | News 12 Long Island (subscription for non-Cablevision customers)
This is a totally despicable act, one that rightly casts a pall over the entire campus and community. The four suspects in custody, the one accomplice still at large, and anyone of like mind pollute our campus with their presence. I trust that the justice system will see that the perpetrators face justice and get the punishment they deserve.
There are a lot of questions in the air as this story unfolds. Chief among them is the length of time between the commission of the act and the university alerting its community - a time interval in excess of thirty-six hours. Not until 4:45 p.m. Monday was everybody notified. I understand that the campus alert system is designed for imminent threats to the campus, primarily of the weather variety. Hofstra should revisit that policy. The true gravity of the situation wasn't revealed to me until I walked out of the Student Center around 5:20 p.m., after having been in the library for three hours, and saw no less than six television news vans there. And for a university that has an entire school of communication, they certainly didn't choose the best words to convey the gravity of the situation. When I logged in to my "Portal," I saw only the words "Campus Notification" on the screen; not exactly an attention grabber. This afternoon, an "Incident Update" was released. I understand a desire to not force the details of the event down people's throats. And these updates were all solely within the Hofstra community. The official website is completely silent on the matter. I don't know anything about the process leading to that decision, or whether it accounts for the fact that one of the accused worked part time for Public Safety. But the truth is going to make its way out, and Hofstra has to take the lead on that front.
The maximum penalty under New York State law for these crimes is twenty-five years in prison. But if these "men" are found guilty of the alleged acts, what do I think should happen? Well, I think Samuel L. Jackson said it best in "A Time to Kill": yes they deserve to die, and I hope they burn in Hell!
- Location:Northport, NY
...but not quite.
Nearly two weeks ago, I was rolling on BitTorrent in pursuit of an important ingredient in the maintenance of most people's sanity, despite the general reluctance of the fairer sex to admit it. That's right, I was downloading porn. Not content with the wonder of RedTube and other such sites, I sought to add to the collection on my personal drives. After bringing in one particular file, I tried to view it, and got a notification that something malicious had been detected. The more I looked into it, the more frustrated I was with what I saw. The word "rootkit." Volumes of tech support forum posts containing registry entries. More safe mode boots that one should have to endure in a lifetime. Finally, after a few days without success, and with a noticeable drag on the computer's performance, I decided to proceed with the "nuclear option" - format the hard drive and reinstall the operating system.
I didn't get a copy of Windows Vista with this computer, but I did have a copy of XP Professional. In the course of my troubleshooting research, I discovered that one could not install XP onto a computer that previously carried Vista. I figured that formatting the hard drive would remove that restriction. If you know anything about computers, you know that I just committed a serious personal fail there. The hidden recovery partition - ironically enough, the "X drive" on my computer - still recalled the existence of Vista, and it couldn't be overwritten. So there I was, with neither an operating system nor a means if installing one. I called it quits for the night, a decision influenced heavily by the facts that it was already 12:30 at night and that the next day was the opening day of classes at college.
After the classes and lunch, I pondered whether to attempt to acquire Vista via the Internet, thanks to the old computer now in the use and care of my mother. I decided to instead resolve this problem by paying for a fresh copy of Vista. The first place I looked, the Wal-Mart in East Meadow, had it on sale for a hundred dollars. I wanted to at least look at Best Buy, although I highly doubted they'd come with a lower price. But when I got there, I was blown away by the number I saw - $199.99. Bitch, say what? Are somebody's synapses misfiring? You really think I'm going to pay double what Wal-Mart wants? Please. I continued on to another Wal-Mart and paid up.
Once I got home, I proceeded immediately to the install. First I tried the product key on the copy of Vista I'd bought. I was swiftly rejected, being informed that I'd have to work from a previously installed copy of Windows. Not so much an option. Had I really wasted $100 plus tax on a product I couldn't use? Only one path remained open - using the product key on the bottom of the computer. I typed it in...
...and away the installation went. In the following hours, I repeatedly gave thanks to my external hard drive. The last time I did a clean reinstall and recovery - four and a half years and two computers ago - it took nearly half a day to get everything back to normal. Having all the important stuff backed up on a single drive - including install files of several important programs - my computer had been recovered around five hours after I'd commenced the Vista reinstall. And a lot of the unimportant software that was present when I bought the thing was no more. Most certainly not a pleasant experience, and a time sink to boot, but at least I did come out a little bit ahead. Unfortunately, this might make me less inclined to upgrade to Windows 7 immediately after it comes out next month...
Nearly two weeks ago, I was rolling on BitTorrent in pursuit of an important ingredient in the maintenance of most people's sanity, despite the general reluctance of the fairer sex to admit it. That's right, I was downloading porn. Not content with the wonder of RedTube and other such sites, I sought to add to the collection on my personal drives. After bringing in one particular file, I tried to view it, and got a notification that something malicious had been detected. The more I looked into it, the more frustrated I was with what I saw. The word "rootkit." Volumes of tech support forum posts containing registry entries. More safe mode boots that one should have to endure in a lifetime. Finally, after a few days without success, and with a noticeable drag on the computer's performance, I decided to proceed with the "nuclear option" - format the hard drive and reinstall the operating system.
I didn't get a copy of Windows Vista with this computer, but I did have a copy of XP Professional. In the course of my troubleshooting research, I discovered that one could not install XP onto a computer that previously carried Vista. I figured that formatting the hard drive would remove that restriction. If you know anything about computers, you know that I just committed a serious personal fail there. The hidden recovery partition - ironically enough, the "X drive" on my computer - still recalled the existence of Vista, and it couldn't be overwritten. So there I was, with neither an operating system nor a means if installing one. I called it quits for the night, a decision influenced heavily by the facts that it was already 12:30 at night and that the next day was the opening day of classes at college.
After the classes and lunch, I pondered whether to attempt to acquire Vista via the Internet, thanks to the old computer now in the use and care of my mother. I decided to instead resolve this problem by paying for a fresh copy of Vista. The first place I looked, the Wal-Mart in East Meadow, had it on sale for a hundred dollars. I wanted to at least look at Best Buy, although I highly doubted they'd come with a lower price. But when I got there, I was blown away by the number I saw - $199.99. Bitch, say what? Are somebody's synapses misfiring? You really think I'm going to pay double what Wal-Mart wants? Please. I continued on to another Wal-Mart and paid up.
Once I got home, I proceeded immediately to the install. First I tried the product key on the copy of Vista I'd bought. I was swiftly rejected, being informed that I'd have to work from a previously installed copy of Windows. Not so much an option. Had I really wasted $100 plus tax on a product I couldn't use? Only one path remained open - using the product key on the bottom of the computer. I typed it in...
...and away the installation went. In the following hours, I repeatedly gave thanks to my external hard drive. The last time I did a clean reinstall and recovery - four and a half years and two computers ago - it took nearly half a day to get everything back to normal. Having all the important stuff backed up on a single drive - including install files of several important programs - my computer had been recovered around five hours after I'd commenced the Vista reinstall. And a lot of the unimportant software that was present when I bought the thing was no more. Most certainly not a pleasant experience, and a time sink to boot, but at least I did come out a little bit ahead. Unfortunately, this might make me less inclined to upgrade to Windows 7 immediately after it comes out next month...
- Location:Northport, NY
... the "Unispan" is one of the three pedestrian walkways over Hempstead Turnpike; while the other two are freestanding bridges, it connects the main library and student center.
Classes have begun for the fall semester, and so far they're not too bad. I have one on statics (basically an applied version of mechanics), macroeconomics, engineering economy, and oral communication. I don't have to be on campus earlier than 10:10 on any day, which spares me having to navigate the brunt of Long Island traffic. Unfortunately, one of the four classes meets on Tuesday and Thursday nights, leaving me with several hours of downtime on those days. That's when I intend to get the majority of my work done. I like the classes and the teachers so far, and think I'm well positioned to put up the kind of big numbers necessary to justify the Hofstra admissions department's faith in me.
The biggest difference between here and Cornell is, without question, the size and structure of the courses. On the East Hill, each course has a lecture (led my the professor, at which everyone enrolled in the class attends), multiple sections (led by a teaching assistant), and in the case of science classes, labs. Hofstra keeps the various sections of a class independent of one another; courses with multiple sections could be taught by multiple professors, and the classes have only one meeting time. As a result, none of my classes has more than about 35 students, and one has only nineteen. That makes it a lot harder to go unnoticed. Also, Hofstra seems to be rather keen on enforcing attendance at classes. On principle, I share the opinion of a few friends who are alumni of the school - that students are adults, and should be treated as such. But I can't fully disregard the fact that failure to attend class was a main reason for the failure of college take one, so it's not a completely bad thing.
I'm still working through many of the other details of this transition. I had to have my mother fish out my immunization records. On Friday, I got the letter from the Veterans Administration approving my benefits claim; that moves me much closer to getting paid - and more importantly, getting Hofstra paid. And I had to switch anti-virus defenses, despite the fact that I'm still have four and a half months remaining on my Norton subscription. Hofstra mandates McAfee for connecting to its network, so I had to change it over. At least I could download McAfee free from Hofstra. The kicker to this was that it came two days after I'd reinstalled Norton following a hard drive format and clean installation of Windows Vista (which is entirely another story). I know I'm losing the subscription for which I've already paid, but I can live with that in order to be online on campus.
The most important thingrevealed reiterated over the past week: the need for me to find a place of my own closer to campus. I'm fortunate to be able to make the trips, thirty miles each way, when I can. Like I said, I do not have to take to the roads when the congestion is at its worst. But I am usually left with a desire to flee campus with a quickness immediately upon the conclusion of my last class on any given day. This, along with the normal pull of my personality and the fact that I don't know ANYONE, prevents me from fully engaging myself in the non-academic life of the university. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of benefits to living here in Northport. It's a beautiful place, I'm not paying rent, I get fed maybe half the meals I eat. But I'm living under a set of non-self-imposed rules more restrictive than any I've experienced in the last decade. It's frustrating, and it might not be all that healthy. I signed myself up for Hofstra's off-campus housing registry, so I think some progress can be made on this front in the near future. And it's far better if I can make this happen soon, before I get too deep into the semester.
It starts back up again tomorrow, with this nice three-day weekend having concluded. I'm certainly thankful for that, coming off plenty of class-filled Labor Days at Cornell and underway and/or duty on the boat. Fortunately, this little adventure is just gearing up...
Classes have begun for the fall semester, and so far they're not too bad. I have one on statics (basically an applied version of mechanics), macroeconomics, engineering economy, and oral communication. I don't have to be on campus earlier than 10:10 on any day, which spares me having to navigate the brunt of Long Island traffic. Unfortunately, one of the four classes meets on Tuesday and Thursday nights, leaving me with several hours of downtime on those days. That's when I intend to get the majority of my work done. I like the classes and the teachers so far, and think I'm well positioned to put up the kind of big numbers necessary to justify the Hofstra admissions department's faith in me.
The biggest difference between here and Cornell is, without question, the size and structure of the courses. On the East Hill, each course has a lecture (led my the professor, at which everyone enrolled in the class attends), multiple sections (led by a teaching assistant), and in the case of science classes, labs. Hofstra keeps the various sections of a class independent of one another; courses with multiple sections could be taught by multiple professors, and the classes have only one meeting time. As a result, none of my classes has more than about 35 students, and one has only nineteen. That makes it a lot harder to go unnoticed. Also, Hofstra seems to be rather keen on enforcing attendance at classes. On principle, I share the opinion of a few friends who are alumni of the school - that students are adults, and should be treated as such. But I can't fully disregard the fact that failure to attend class was a main reason for the failure of college take one, so it's not a completely bad thing.
I'm still working through many of the other details of this transition. I had to have my mother fish out my immunization records. On Friday, I got the letter from the Veterans Administration approving my benefits claim; that moves me much closer to getting paid - and more importantly, getting Hofstra paid. And I had to switch anti-virus defenses, despite the fact that I'm still have four and a half months remaining on my Norton subscription. Hofstra mandates McAfee for connecting to its network, so I had to change it over. At least I could download McAfee free from Hofstra. The kicker to this was that it came two days after I'd reinstalled Norton following a hard drive format and clean installation of Windows Vista (which is entirely another story). I know I'm losing the subscription for which I've already paid, but I can live with that in order to be online on campus.
The most important thing
It starts back up again tomorrow, with this nice three-day weekend having concluded. I'm certainly thankful for that, coming off plenty of class-filled Labor Days at Cornell and underway and/or duty on the boat. Fortunately, this little adventure is just gearing up...
- Location:Northport, NY
...correction - two dash one. For reasons never explained to me while I was in the service, the Navy chooses to refer to the character '-' as a tack, vice a dash. I have no idea.
But anyway! I showed up at noon and initially parked on a side street, walking onto campus to do all the check-in type stuff. I went to the check-in tent, where I got some swag and an assignment to a Welcome Week group. Then I went to another tent and got my ID card made. It took all of a half an hour. This was a far different process from what transpired at Cornell ten years ago. There, I went through this labyrinth of places in the Field House (Bartels Hall, if you will) and Lynah Rink, and was separated from my parents for the duration of the procedure. After that, I went to get a parking pass. Upon arriving at Public Safety, I learned that there was a drive-thru station on the other side of campus to issue permits on this day. It was a surprisingly efficient process. That was followed by a long period of time to kill before the President's welcome. I ended up walking to the location very early, and was thus seated in the front row. It was a long, long wait. I had to contain laughter when I saw a young sibling of a student take a couple of steps out, and then stick both his hands down his pants. Toward the end - after the speech's scheduled start, to be precise - the young lady next to me noticed that, like herself, I did not have parents in tow. The rough transcript:
Freshman: So, are you a commuter?
Carbs: Yes, I am.
Freshman: Do a lot of people from your high school go here?
Carbs: Well, I really wouldn't know if they did...
(This was followed by an explanation of my situation - one that included my relatively advanced age.)
The part that cracked me up the most about this is that for at least a moment, she actually thought I was eighteen. My age is, thankfully, consistently underestimated...but never by that much.
After the speeches, the groups broke off and did some ice breakers. I was originally in a group of commuter students, but upon realizing that it would be composed mostly of eighteen-year-old freshmen, I defected to a transfer group. My favorite game was one called "two truths, one lie." My three statements were "I grew up on the North Shore," "I have previously served in the Air Force," and "My last school was in the Ivy League." Without question, it was the most outlandish set of statements uttered by anyone. Then we went to a barbecue. I was happy the food was free, even if it wasn't necessarily the most choice gourmet. Afterward, I went to a briefing for commuter students, and then we walked over to Adams Playhouse where there was some other thing going on, billed as a "celebration of the Class of 2013." I determined it wasn't something I needed to be at, and made a discreet departure. Not that it's too hard, given I don't really know anyone on this campus.
The next day, I went to a safety briefing in that very same Adams Playhouse. It reminded me very much of Navy training, right down to the "death by PowerPoint." But there were differences. More than a few were texting during the lecture, and I could have sworn I heard a female voice (likely on a cell phone) from several rows behind me. I again thought back to the previous six years, in multiple respects. For one, my sensibilities were shocked that people would so blatantly disregard the presenter. If someone tried that shit in any training session on a submarine, they'd have to answer for it quickly. And for two, this thing was about fire, and the fine gentleman at the front kept emphasizing the whole "evacuation" aspect. I could not resist a divergent thought: "what? No, you grab an extinguisher and you fight that shit." Only a slight self-reminder of my training from Memphis's period in the shipyard reassured me that I should indeed get out, if I ever should find myself in a residence hall. And I hope to find myself in several of Hofstra's residence halls, even though I'm a commuter...
I went home after that, but returned to the campus several hours later for the last of the "mandatory" events on the program. It was a program by Equalogy on the subject of acquaintance rape. I was expecting something in the vein of the "rape culture" that some, especially at North Carolina State, have issues with. I envisioned the Adam Lack case that I saw on 20/20 so many years ago. What I actually saw...not even close. After watching that presentation, no right-thinking person could possibly conclude that the depicted events constituted consensual sex.
So that's the story of the first two days. Classes have started, though it's a slow start, given that it's already Wednesday. And what's this...Labor Day off? Coming from Cornell, I certainly didn't expect that...
But anyway! I showed up at noon and initially parked on a side street, walking onto campus to do all the check-in type stuff. I went to the check-in tent, where I got some swag and an assignment to a Welcome Week group. Then I went to another tent and got my ID card made. It took all of a half an hour. This was a far different process from what transpired at Cornell ten years ago. There, I went through this labyrinth of places in the Field House (Bartels Hall, if you will) and Lynah Rink, and was separated from my parents for the duration of the procedure. After that, I went to get a parking pass. Upon arriving at Public Safety, I learned that there was a drive-thru station on the other side of campus to issue permits on this day. It was a surprisingly efficient process. That was followed by a long period of time to kill before the President's welcome. I ended up walking to the location very early, and was thus seated in the front row. It was a long, long wait. I had to contain laughter when I saw a young sibling of a student take a couple of steps out, and then stick both his hands down his pants. Toward the end - after the speech's scheduled start, to be precise - the young lady next to me noticed that, like herself, I did not have parents in tow. The rough transcript:
Freshman: So, are you a commuter?
Carbs: Yes, I am.
Freshman: Do a lot of people from your high school go here?
Carbs: Well, I really wouldn't know if they did...
(This was followed by an explanation of my situation - one that included my relatively advanced age.)
The part that cracked me up the most about this is that for at least a moment, she actually thought I was eighteen. My age is, thankfully, consistently underestimated...but never by that much.
After the speeches, the groups broke off and did some ice breakers. I was originally in a group of commuter students, but upon realizing that it would be composed mostly of eighteen-year-old freshmen, I defected to a transfer group. My favorite game was one called "two truths, one lie." My three statements were "I grew up on the North Shore," "I have previously served in the Air Force," and "My last school was in the Ivy League." Without question, it was the most outlandish set of statements uttered by anyone. Then we went to a barbecue. I was happy the food was free, even if it wasn't necessarily the most choice gourmet. Afterward, I went to a briefing for commuter students, and then we walked over to Adams Playhouse where there was some other thing going on, billed as a "celebration of the Class of 2013." I determined it wasn't something I needed to be at, and made a discreet departure. Not that it's too hard, given I don't really know anyone on this campus.
The next day, I went to a safety briefing in that very same Adams Playhouse. It reminded me very much of Navy training, right down to the "death by PowerPoint." But there were differences. More than a few were texting during the lecture, and I could have sworn I heard a female voice (likely on a cell phone) from several rows behind me. I again thought back to the previous six years, in multiple respects. For one, my sensibilities were shocked that people would so blatantly disregard the presenter. If someone tried that shit in any training session on a submarine, they'd have to answer for it quickly. And for two, this thing was about fire, and the fine gentleman at the front kept emphasizing the whole "evacuation" aspect. I could not resist a divergent thought: "what? No, you grab an extinguisher and you fight that shit." Only a slight self-reminder of my training from Memphis's period in the shipyard reassured me that I should indeed get out, if I ever should find myself in a residence hall. And I hope to find myself in several of Hofstra's residence halls, even though I'm a commuter...
I went home after that, but returned to the campus several hours later for the last of the "mandatory" events on the program. It was a program by Equalogy on the subject of acquaintance rape. I was expecting something in the vein of the "rape culture" that some, especially at North Carolina State, have issues with. I envisioned the Adam Lack case that I saw on 20/20 so many years ago. What I actually saw...not even close. After watching that presentation, no right-thinking person could possibly conclude that the depicted events constituted consensual sex.
So that's the story of the first two days. Classes have started, though it's a slow start, given that it's already Wednesday. And what's this...Labor Day off? Coming from Cornell, I certainly didn't expect that...
...on the site of the Cow Harbor Inn, of which the conversion to a TD Bank branch has finally gone forward in the last week or so. This was last night:
By contrast, this is a shot from across the street nearly three years ago:
In recent years, the site had become overgrown, but as recently as a week and a half ago, the building was still standing...no longer. I'm glad everybody appears to have sorted everything out and the work is moving forward; once the new structure is up, there won't be an eyesore at one of the primary entrances to Northport Village. I disagree with a passing runner who said that it was "sad" to see the old structure go.
Which brings me to my next point...these runners! In specific, the runners training for the Great Cow Harbor 10-Kilometer Run a month from now. On each of the six Wednesdays before the race, the Northport Running Club organizes preparatory runs on the actual race course. Unlike race day, however, they share the road with normal vehicular traffic. They don't share it particularly well, occupying both shoulders in addition to the sidewalk (where they all should be, regardless of which side of the road it's on). I don't even have the option to go around them, as both routes out of Crab Meadow are part of the course. I have the utmost respect for them and the energy and endurance they bring to this undertaking. This feeling is heightened by my admission to myself that this won't be the year I tackle the course. But what they do on these training runs is both discourteous and unsafe.
Sorry about that, but I needed to vent it. I'm over the immediate frustration, but today has been a long day and the exhaustion is coming out onto the keyboard. This was the first day of new student orientation at Hofstra; full coverage to appear here soon.
By contrast, this is a shot from across the street nearly three years ago:
In recent years, the site had become overgrown, but as recently as a week and a half ago, the building was still standing...no longer. I'm glad everybody appears to have sorted everything out and the work is moving forward; once the new structure is up, there won't be an eyesore at one of the primary entrances to Northport Village. I disagree with a passing runner who said that it was "sad" to see the old structure go.
Which brings me to my next point...these runners! In specific, the runners training for the Great Cow Harbor 10-Kilometer Run a month from now. On each of the six Wednesdays before the race, the Northport Running Club organizes preparatory runs on the actual race course. Unlike race day, however, they share the road with normal vehicular traffic. They don't share it particularly well, occupying both shoulders in addition to the sidewalk (where they all should be, regardless of which side of the road it's on). I don't even have the option to go around them, as both routes out of Crab Meadow are part of the course. I have the utmost respect for them and the energy and endurance they bring to this undertaking. This feeling is heightened by my admission to myself that this won't be the year I tackle the course. But what they do on these training runs is both discourteous and unsafe.
Sorry about that, but I needed to vent it. I'm over the immediate frustration, but today has been a long day and the exhaustion is coming out onto the keyboard. This was the first day of new student orientation at Hofstra; full coverage to appear here soon.
- Location:Northport, NY
...strongly suggests that returning to college was clearly the right course of action.
I've got the TV on mute right now, because The Daily Show is a rerun. I look over as it's in commercial, and notice a commercial for the upcoming film Sorority Row. It's a horror movie, so I have no interest in actually seeing it. It grabbed my attention by leading me to wonder if simply casting a passel of young, hot women is enough of a draw to generate some revenue at the box office. The hook was enough to lead me to search the movie on Wikipedia, where I saw the words "fun-filled" linked. A bit surprising. Where does that link go? As soon as I put the cursor above it, I laughed at the answer:
The link for "cheating" a few lines down goes to the same place. And those links have been there for several days. And if you're going to off one of a seven-hot-girl ensemble, why choose the most famous one (Audrina from The Hills)?
It's really too bad I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell doesn't open until two weeks after Sorority Row; I suspect the former would easily crush the latter in a head-to-head battle.
I've got the TV on mute right now, because The Daily Show is a rerun. I look over as it's in commercial, and notice a commercial for the upcoming film Sorority Row. It's a horror movie, so I have no interest in actually seeing it. It grabbed my attention by leading me to wonder if simply casting a passel of young, hot women is enough of a draw to generate some revenue at the box office. The hook was enough to lead me to search the movie on Wikipedia, where I saw the words "fun-filled" linked. A bit surprising. Where does that link go? As soon as I put the cursor above it, I laughed at the answer:
The link for "cheating" a few lines down goes to the same place. And those links have been there for several days. And if you're going to off one of a seven-hot-girl ensemble, why choose the most famous one (Audrina from The Hills)?
It's really too bad I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell doesn't open until two weeks after Sorority Row; I suspect the former would easily crush the latter in a head-to-head battle.
- Location:Northport, NY
About a month and a half ago, I made a small change to some of the text in the left side bar. (If you read this via an RSS or Atom feed, you wouldn't notice it at all.) Frankly, I'm surprised it took anyone this lone to see it - or at least, to point it out. I do not presently intend to issue a fully detailed post concerning the surrounding circumstances. I will, however, state that I contradicted something I wrote earlier this year, and certain previously stated justifications for certain stances were inaccurate.
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