"You want to know where Brazil is? Buy a map."
This might seem like a humorous remark for someone who perchance has gotten lost & needs someone or something to help them along. But it's not, given the fact that we live in a culture where our knowledge of the world outside the United States is unsurprisingly limited (with the exception of the adventurous & globally curious bunch). It's not that we are merely unaware of the need to point out place names of a country we don't know squat about. It's the fact that staring at world maps, trying to locate countries besides our own, funny-sounding names associated with these countries has never been a big deal with Americans in the first place. Sad but it's true. Very true.
Obscure names, like an epiphany, work their way into our lingo. If "Congo," "Java," "Borneo," or the simple phrase "from here to Timbuktu" don't ring any bells by now, they should. Then again, how many people have actually made the effort to go find a map in hopes of finding out exactly where these places are located? When the nations of Somalia & Rwanda emerged as part of key news headlines almost 15 years ago, even then, we were hit with tunnel vision: "Where in good heavens is Mogadishu? Rwanda?" The only nation we really knew, inside & out, was the United States; the very thoughts of Bosnia, Somalia, & yes, even Rwanda never really entered our radar until later. Still the thought of looking them up on a map seemed too much to ask, too much to educate us on.
But in terms of getting an adequate education, the word "map" once again comes up like a lightbulb, a revelation out of the blue. Or so we think. Maps & globes have been in our educational infrastructure for the longest time but how well we used (& use) them can only be shown in the following statements:
In the good ol' days of elementary school, we were expected to learn everything about every state, especially being capable enough to look it up on a map; after that, we had to learn state capitals among other things connected to U.S. History & geography. Other than that, we didn't learn much about Asia, Africa, or Europe - perhaps a cursory page's worth of information - not to take offense here at all. But when it came to learning about other continents, we stopped way short of the mark - the whole premise of elementary instruction was all about Indiana and the rest of the United States.
Then we moved on to junior high/middle school & the word "map" got diluted in meaning & purpose, as every class with hemispheric & United States geography has clearly shown. Once we got past our freshman year of high school, the very topic of world history & with it, the very need for maps seemed almost irrelevant.
Bottom line is this: when it comes to informing our students about where all the different nations of the world are located (as well as which continent they're on), we've fallen asleep on the job...enough cause for alarm, right? For the typical adult who is given blank maps of Asia, Africa & Europe, how can he know where in the world every country is located if he has no point of reference to work with, i.e. a map which is 110% up to date? He can't be expected to know everything about everything, that is, unless there's a map, someone to provide him knowledge of the nations he's trying to find, which countries border which, etc., etc. (Even in the local/metro sections of our favorite newspapers, we need maps to help point out this & that.)
As Frank Gray, a columnist for the Journal-Gazette points out, "...That's why companies make maps and put the names of countries on them, because not everyone is expected to know where every country in the world is located. Certainly, when one in five Americans, presumably young adults and older, can't find the U.S. on a map, the normal reaction is 'ye gads.'" And he's right too. The need for maps to better inform the masses which are in need of knowledge about the world in general has never been great but ought to be, given that 1 in 5 Americans can't find the United States on a world map. Educating people to find the nation in which they live shouldn't be that difficult of a task to tackle, should it?
When it comes to every nation outside the United States, we've got our work cut out for us for sure. This much is true, very true indeed.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Something Brew-ing
When Miles Davis' album B----es Brew came out in 1970, it not only transcended every musical boundary line you could name off the top of your head. It also influenced a wide range of musicians from different musical genres as well. At the same time, this is where the fusion movement went full steam ahead with many of this recording's participants striking out on their own with new groups (Weather Report, Mwandishi, Return To Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra, just to name a few key players in the fusion genre).
If that wasn't enough, B----es Brew sold like hot cakes to the general public...it went gold, got a lot of rock music enthusiasts turned on, became Miles' best-selling record ever. Soon he would perform at rock venues like the Fillmore West and East, as well as rock festivals such as the Isle of Wight in the summer of 1970. Purists cringed at the new directions which Miles was taking with his music but he couldn't care less; he was never one to do more of the same old, same old material which his fans were expecting him to play. And with this album, Miles made adamantly clear where he drew the line when it came to the music he wanted to perform...some of the most amazing stuff ever, BTW.
Starting with his previous effort (& a groundbreaking album for the fusion genre as well), In A Silent Way, the studio became a musical instrument in its own special way. But with B----es Brew this application of the studio as instrumentation in its own right became more fully pronounced & more obvious from the get-go (as the first two tracks, "Pharoah's Dance" & the title track boldly indicate). Although it sounded like a bunch of musicians playing some great music on one lengthy jam session, large sections of this album (particularly the tracks listed above) depended on studio technology to create something which wasn't necessarily representative of the music which was actually committed to tape. Via tape loops, extensive tape editing, delays, echo effects & reverb, B----es Brew became a hallmark not only of musical innovation but also in terms of how the studio technology was used to create such a masterpiece, such a controversial & yet so awesome work of art.
It must also be noted that this music has aged well & found ways to endure almost 40 years later. From the rollicking "Spanish Key," "Miles Runs The Voodoo Down" on to the album closer "Sanctuary," Miles & company were churning out a pretty unique brew of sounds & colors previously unknown to the jazz community. Obviously, it went gold but that's another story for another article. What Miles did on B----es Brew was change the course of not only jazz but all of popular music in general & many musicians who were influenced by this album couldn;t go wrong in putting this recording among their top 10 favorite recordings ever. Yes, it's that mysterious & powerful.
If that wasn't enough, B----es Brew sold like hot cakes to the general public...it went gold, got a lot of rock music enthusiasts turned on, became Miles' best-selling record ever. Soon he would perform at rock venues like the Fillmore West and East, as well as rock festivals such as the Isle of Wight in the summer of 1970. Purists cringed at the new directions which Miles was taking with his music but he couldn't care less; he was never one to do more of the same old, same old material which his fans were expecting him to play. And with this album, Miles made adamantly clear where he drew the line when it came to the music he wanted to perform...some of the most amazing stuff ever, BTW.
Starting with his previous effort (& a groundbreaking album for the fusion genre as well), In A Silent Way, the studio became a musical instrument in its own special way. But with B----es Brew this application of the studio as instrumentation in its own right became more fully pronounced & more obvious from the get-go (as the first two tracks, "Pharoah's Dance" & the title track boldly indicate). Although it sounded like a bunch of musicians playing some great music on one lengthy jam session, large sections of this album (particularly the tracks listed above) depended on studio technology to create something which wasn't necessarily representative of the music which was actually committed to tape. Via tape loops, extensive tape editing, delays, echo effects & reverb, B----es Brew became a hallmark not only of musical innovation but also in terms of how the studio technology was used to create such a masterpiece, such a controversial & yet so awesome work of art.
It must also be noted that this music has aged well & found ways to endure almost 40 years later. From the rollicking "Spanish Key," "Miles Runs The Voodoo Down" on to the album closer "Sanctuary," Miles & company were churning out a pretty unique brew of sounds & colors previously unknown to the jazz community. Obviously, it went gold but that's another story for another article. What Miles did on B----es Brew was change the course of not only jazz but all of popular music in general & many musicians who were influenced by this album couldn;t go wrong in putting this recording among their top 10 favorite recordings ever. Yes, it's that mysterious & powerful.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Keeping up with the Joneses
In the NL Central, things are looking interesting as they should be with roughly a month or so left of regular season play.
My beloved Cubbies are leading the Central by 2 1/2 games - not something to get complacent about here though it's nice that the Cubs are on top of their division for what seems like the nth time all season. The Cards aren't far off. And what about them Brewers? They may have slipped & fell down the ladder as of late but don't count them out just yet. Then Cincinnati's 7 games back...putting on some kind of a surge to end this season, proof that even though they were once the worst team in all of MLB at one point in time for 2007, they've found a way out of the basement & into the light...Keeping up with the Joneses has never been so good in the world of baseball & none more so than in the NL Central.
My beloved Cubbies are leading the Central by 2 1/2 games - not something to get complacent about here though it's nice that the Cubs are on top of their division for what seems like the nth time all season. The Cards aren't far off. And what about them Brewers? They may have slipped & fell down the ladder as of late but don't count them out just yet. Then Cincinnati's 7 games back...putting on some kind of a surge to end this season, proof that even though they were once the worst team in all of MLB at one point in time for 2007, they've found a way out of the basement & into the light...Keeping up with the Joneses has never been so good in the world of baseball & none more so than in the NL Central.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Back to life on the Omaha line
Ethanol: for some it's a loaded word, others a fighting word. But for the Union Pacific railroad system, in particular its St. Paul (MN) - Sioux City (IA) line (dubbed the "Omaha line"), ethanol has brought an otherwise dormant line back to life & in more ways than one. In short, it's the best word that UP wants to hear.
Prior to Minnesota promoting ethanol (& it has been doing so over the past decade), the Omaha line among others in this region were either dormant or on the verge of dying/becoming abandoned. Somehow, though, these lines stayed open & once ethanol entered into the picture, these lines took on new life like never before. Since taking over Chicago & North Western (C&NW) in 1996, UP has rebuilt & spruced up the lines listed below, not only giving them meaning & purpose in the burgeoning ethanol industry but also revitalizing their value in the process:
(1) Soon after taking over C&NW in 1996, according to Dave Haugh, "...UP installed 43 miles of welded rail and new bridges between Mankato, Minn., and Sibley, Iowa...
(2) ...In 2001, UP fixed the decrepit Fairmont Sub, a cutoff from Butterfield, Minn., to Mason City (Iowa), with welded rail to handle grain from expanding shuttle-loading elevators."
On the Omaha line, only one ethanol plant was operating back then. But how times have changed, & all the more so in Minnesota as plants have began popping up across these once-dying rail lines. Since 2004, plants have been made at Ashton, IA, Hanlontown, IA, and Lake Crystal, MN. But wait!! There's more: in 2005, a biodiesel plant opened up in 2005 at Brewster, MN & another ethanol plant will start operations just up the road at Heron Lake. The end result for UP's Omaha line? You guessed it right: More jobs, more traffic & plenty of upgrades galore to cope with the increased flow of rail traffic. And Union Pacific has been up to the task in terms of improving their rail yards & sidings on the Omaha line now that ethanol has made it big in this neck of the woods.
A lot of people, I take it, will harp on the downsides of ethanol all they wish. But for the folks at Union Pacific, they like the changes which they are seeing. Two otherwise dead-in-the -water lines (the Omaha line & Fairmont Sub) are once again abuzz with traffic left & right.
This isn't the only place in the Corn Belt to find change for the better. In fact, it's happening all over the place in this particular section of the Midwest & Union Pacific, of all the railroads in service, is at the top of their game in knowing how to revitalize & resuscitate once-breathless stretches of track back to life again. And have they ever!!
Prior to Minnesota promoting ethanol (& it has been doing so over the past decade), the Omaha line among others in this region were either dormant or on the verge of dying/becoming abandoned. Somehow, though, these lines stayed open & once ethanol entered into the picture, these lines took on new life like never before. Since taking over Chicago & North Western (C&NW) in 1996, UP has rebuilt & spruced up the lines listed below, not only giving them meaning & purpose in the burgeoning ethanol industry but also revitalizing their value in the process:
(1) Soon after taking over C&NW in 1996, according to Dave Haugh, "...UP installed 43 miles of welded rail and new bridges between Mankato, Minn., and Sibley, Iowa...
(2) ...In 2001, UP fixed the decrepit Fairmont Sub, a cutoff from Butterfield, Minn., to Mason City (Iowa), with welded rail to handle grain from expanding shuttle-loading elevators."
On the Omaha line, only one ethanol plant was operating back then. But how times have changed, & all the more so in Minnesota as plants have began popping up across these once-dying rail lines. Since 2004, plants have been made at Ashton, IA, Hanlontown, IA, and Lake Crystal, MN. But wait!! There's more: in 2005, a biodiesel plant opened up in 2005 at Brewster, MN & another ethanol plant will start operations just up the road at Heron Lake. The end result for UP's Omaha line? You guessed it right: More jobs, more traffic & plenty of upgrades galore to cope with the increased flow of rail traffic. And Union Pacific has been up to the task in terms of improving their rail yards & sidings on the Omaha line now that ethanol has made it big in this neck of the woods.
A lot of people, I take it, will harp on the downsides of ethanol all they wish. But for the folks at Union Pacific, they like the changes which they are seeing. Two otherwise dead-in-the -water lines (the Omaha line & Fairmont Sub) are once again abuzz with traffic left & right.
This isn't the only place in the Corn Belt to find change for the better. In fact, it's happening all over the place in this particular section of the Midwest & Union Pacific, of all the railroads in service, is at the top of their game in knowing how to revitalize & resuscitate once-breathless stretches of track back to life again. And have they ever!!
SHHH...Silent, please!!
Miles Davis was tinkering with electronic instrumentation & the rhythms of rock music well before he put the word "fusion" on the map, first on "Circle In The Round" (from 1967), then putting both to good use on "Stuff" (from his 1968 album Miles In The Sky). Then Filles De Kilimanjaro and the electrified compositions from Water Babies. But it wasn't until his 1969 release, In A Silent Way, that the floodgates of fusion began to open ever so gradually & the rock/funk rhythms he experimented with to good effect really began to spread their wings to previously unknown vistas & previously unchartered territory.
And what a piece of beauty In A Silent Way is, even now. This release would mark a merging of differing musical routes, be it funk, soul, pop, rock...yes, even classical. At the same time, it can't easily be categorized as any of the above, can't be tagged down too easily to this era or that. No, it's beautiful music, plain & simple. It's music which takes risks along the same lines as its participants, all of whom would leave their footprints (or marks, if you will) in the world of fusion: keyboardist Joe Zawinul & saxman Wayne Shorter (both of Weather Report), bassist Dave Holland, keyboardist Chick Corea & guitarist John McLaughlin (Mahavishnu Orchestra) just to name a few. Of course, their contributions (along with Miles' own two cents worth of playing) are superb, given the man's ability to convene all these talented musicians into one room with very little if anything to go on...& still make it such a valuable piece of art.
In A Silent Way would also signal the emergence of the producer, namely Miles' longtime main man, Teo Macero, as artist. With only 27 actual minutes of recorded music in the can, one wonders if Teo was going to leave this album like so without any further rhetoric. But via editing (in fact, repeating a section of music twice in order to get a noteworthy product), he made it into a 38-minute masterpiece which has not lost its ability to wow & amaze the listener. All of this by just some nifty tinkering about at the recording desk...one really has to commend Teo for bringing such wonderful music into the spotlight like he did!!
But Miles was only getting started on his next musical odyssey. The next release he would put out, B****es' Brew, not only sold like hot cakes but also sent the fusion dam bursting wide open once & for all; it would be here that Miles threw down the gauntlet & let his critics know just where he stood. Yet if one wants to know where fusion began in earnest, In A Silent Way is the best place to start.
And what a piece of beauty In A Silent Way is, even now. This release would mark a merging of differing musical routes, be it funk, soul, pop, rock...yes, even classical. At the same time, it can't easily be categorized as any of the above, can't be tagged down too easily to this era or that. No, it's beautiful music, plain & simple. It's music which takes risks along the same lines as its participants, all of whom would leave their footprints (or marks, if you will) in the world of fusion: keyboardist Joe Zawinul & saxman Wayne Shorter (both of Weather Report), bassist Dave Holland, keyboardist Chick Corea & guitarist John McLaughlin (Mahavishnu Orchestra) just to name a few. Of course, their contributions (along with Miles' own two cents worth of playing) are superb, given the man's ability to convene all these talented musicians into one room with very little if anything to go on...& still make it such a valuable piece of art.
In A Silent Way would also signal the emergence of the producer, namely Miles' longtime main man, Teo Macero, as artist. With only 27 actual minutes of recorded music in the can, one wonders if Teo was going to leave this album like so without any further rhetoric. But via editing (in fact, repeating a section of music twice in order to get a noteworthy product), he made it into a 38-minute masterpiece which has not lost its ability to wow & amaze the listener. All of this by just some nifty tinkering about at the recording desk...one really has to commend Teo for bringing such wonderful music into the spotlight like he did!!
But Miles was only getting started on his next musical odyssey. The next release he would put out, B****es' Brew, not only sold like hot cakes but also sent the fusion dam bursting wide open once & for all; it would be here that Miles threw down the gauntlet & let his critics know just where he stood. Yet if one wants to know where fusion began in earnest, In A Silent Way is the best place to start.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Travel Fever & Other Assorted Stories: Entry Nine
Home is where the heart is. Or it is where the heart has always been. Always will be. No matter: Home is waiting with open arms, with an open embrace, with a love that cannot be surpassed.
So it was with me. Once I went Greek, the one home I could truly feel comfortable being at was the fraternity house. I lived there for 1 1/2 years so I should know, right? Oh, I'm digressing here. But to be honest, the fraternity house was home in the broadest, most expansive sense of the word & even if I tried I wouldn't think of leaving it for anywhere else. And for the aforementioned 1 1/2 years I was residing at one, this is how I felt, this is what I believed...to a point. By hanging out at the frat more, other valuable places which I would visit regularly fell by the wayside & those who knew my presence, those who knew how often I stopped by their digs sensed something was amiss. It wasn't that I was too cool to hang out with them anymore; far from it. The thing was that in hanging out at the fraternity house more, I ended up stopping by so & so's place(s) less & less - the typical natural progression one goes through post-initiation & beyond. But the fact of the matter was the frat was home to me, where I felt most at ease even when I did travel to the bars (among other places on the weekend itinerary). I don't know how many other duders harbor these strong convictions that the frat is home but I surmise that if you truly love your respective chapters, that's how you should look at the house in general.
Some duders, after staying on at the frat for a year or so, decide to break from life at the house & strike out on their own. Maybe it's to find a more conducive atmosphere to do their studying & thus keep their grades in fighting trim or it's to make up for the lack of amenities which they experienced while living at the frat. It's anyone's guess. But at any rate, there comes a time when they decide that life at the frat house is no longer enough for them. For what? why? The fraternity house should be home, no questions asked, if not one of the best places to live off campus. Yet this doesn't suffice so they move on to more comfortable digs for the remainder of their time as undergraduates. And of course, there's no pressure on them to stay stuck at the frat unless their chapters insist they stay on to fulfill their contract obligations.
Oh well, whether it's the restroom sinks filling up with dreck, the showers not working properly, no one holding themselves accountable for the growing tide of garbage filling up on each floor of the house...these are just a few downsides of life at the frat but somehow I got used to them, however reluctantly I had to adapt to the disadvantages of living there. Maybe it was these above factors which drove duders to leave the fraternity house in exchange for nicer, more cleaner confines? I can't say for sure. But whether it's just to hang out & visit or whether it's to attend chapter meetings, the fraternity house, to me, is home. And that is where my heart needs to be sometime soon.
So it was with me. Once I went Greek, the one home I could truly feel comfortable being at was the fraternity house. I lived there for 1 1/2 years so I should know, right? Oh, I'm digressing here. But to be honest, the fraternity house was home in the broadest, most expansive sense of the word & even if I tried I wouldn't think of leaving it for anywhere else. And for the aforementioned 1 1/2 years I was residing at one, this is how I felt, this is what I believed...to a point. By hanging out at the frat more, other valuable places which I would visit regularly fell by the wayside & those who knew my presence, those who knew how often I stopped by their digs sensed something was amiss. It wasn't that I was too cool to hang out with them anymore; far from it. The thing was that in hanging out at the fraternity house more, I ended up stopping by so & so's place(s) less & less - the typical natural progression one goes through post-initiation & beyond. But the fact of the matter was the frat was home to me, where I felt most at ease even when I did travel to the bars (among other places on the weekend itinerary). I don't know how many other duders harbor these strong convictions that the frat is home but I surmise that if you truly love your respective chapters, that's how you should look at the house in general.
Some duders, after staying on at the frat for a year or so, decide to break from life at the house & strike out on their own. Maybe it's to find a more conducive atmosphere to do their studying & thus keep their grades in fighting trim or it's to make up for the lack of amenities which they experienced while living at the frat. It's anyone's guess. But at any rate, there comes a time when they decide that life at the frat house is no longer enough for them. For what? why? The fraternity house should be home, no questions asked, if not one of the best places to live off campus. Yet this doesn't suffice so they move on to more comfortable digs for the remainder of their time as undergraduates. And of course, there's no pressure on them to stay stuck at the frat unless their chapters insist they stay on to fulfill their contract obligations.
Oh well, whether it's the restroom sinks filling up with dreck, the showers not working properly, no one holding themselves accountable for the growing tide of garbage filling up on each floor of the house...these are just a few downsides of life at the frat but somehow I got used to them, however reluctantly I had to adapt to the disadvantages of living there. Maybe it was these above factors which drove duders to leave the fraternity house in exchange for nicer, more cleaner confines? I can't say for sure. But whether it's just to hang out & visit or whether it's to attend chapter meetings, the fraternity house, to me, is home. And that is where my heart needs to be sometime soon.
It's about that time of year...
The first home football game @ Ball State is coming up on Thursday night. Bummer that I can't make it down to attend the tailgating festivities...oh how I miss those days with a passion!! Anyways, while I'm on the subject of tailgating, I thought that this would be a perfect opportunity to get a pressing topic off my chest & share it with my fellow Greeks who are planning to live it up & have a blast during tailgating so here goes:
When it comes to wearing Greek letters, we should wear them not only with pride but also with respect & courtesy toward our fellow Greeks. However, when it comes to tailgating, as well as on other occasions, we (more often than not duders!!) would rather wear our letters & make complete fools of ourselves while we get ridonculously hammered & become raging wastoids...in short, we're representing our chapters in such a way that isn't exactly befitting by any means. I'm not saying that we can't wear our letters @ tailgating or that we can't get our drink on @ tailgating with our Greek letters displayed proudly for all to see. (With sororities, that's a whole other ballgame; I won't go into all the details here.) What I'm trying to say is this: we should wear our letters in a way that emphasizes respect & appreciation towards our fellow Greeks; as it stands, our letters give away our true character, what kind of people we're made out to be according to the standards of our respective fraternities & sororities. To wear them in a manner which confirms that we act the fool on a regular basis is not only wrong; it's also unacceptable.
Hopefully, though, with our first home game, we can get thing started out right (& strong as well). And of course, things wouldn't complete without tailgating so if we're planning to show our Greek letters, let's wear them with pride, with respect, with courtesy & most of all, with love.
When it comes to wearing Greek letters, we should wear them not only with pride but also with respect & courtesy toward our fellow Greeks. However, when it comes to tailgating, as well as on other occasions, we (more often than not duders!!) would rather wear our letters & make complete fools of ourselves while we get ridonculously hammered & become raging wastoids...in short, we're representing our chapters in such a way that isn't exactly befitting by any means. I'm not saying that we can't wear our letters @ tailgating or that we can't get our drink on @ tailgating with our Greek letters displayed proudly for all to see. (With sororities, that's a whole other ballgame; I won't go into all the details here.) What I'm trying to say is this: we should wear our letters in a way that emphasizes respect & appreciation towards our fellow Greeks; as it stands, our letters give away our true character, what kind of people we're made out to be according to the standards of our respective fraternities & sororities. To wear them in a manner which confirms that we act the fool on a regular basis is not only wrong; it's also unacceptable.
Hopefully, though, with our first home game, we can get thing started out right (& strong as well). And of course, things wouldn't complete without tailgating so if we're planning to show our Greek letters, let's wear them with pride, with respect, with courtesy & most of all, with love.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Finally, the NFL decided to get tough with one of its latest bad boys ever, Michael Vick.
Vick's now suspended without any dinero for who knows how long; this may be my own personal opinion but I feel he should be banned for life...oh, what of it; the NFL made a good call here, after he finally came clean in his involvement with a dogfighting venture which was not only illegal, but the lowest of the lowest business practices anyone could ever want to be a part of.
On Monday he's due to plead guilty to all the federal charges which are connected to said dogfighting operation...he's looking at 12 to 18 (months) in the clink at most. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. And to be honest, Vick has fallen not only hard but he has also fallen to rock bottom. Consider Michael Vick's case the worst non-injury-related demise any professional athlete should never end up facing.
Vick's now suspended without any dinero for who knows how long; this may be my own personal opinion but I feel he should be banned for life...oh, what of it; the NFL made a good call here, after he finally came clean in his involvement with a dogfighting venture which was not only illegal, but the lowest of the lowest business practices anyone could ever want to be a part of.
On Monday he's due to plead guilty to all the federal charges which are connected to said dogfighting operation...he's looking at 12 to 18 (months) in the clink at most. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. And to be honest, Vick has fallen not only hard but he has also fallen to rock bottom. Consider Michael Vick's case the worst non-injury-related demise any professional athlete should never end up facing.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Hitting the big 3-0 @ Baltimore
30 runs in one baseball game. Imagine that. But somehow the Texas Rangers accomplished this miraculous feat, a feat for the record books when they clobbered the Baltimore Orioles to the tune of a (get this) 30-3 score.
Some folks when they saw this score pro'lly were thinking, "Is this a misprint?" "Am I seeing things?" "Oh no they didn't...they couldn't have."
But it's true. Texas did score 30 runs & left the Orioles doing a lot more than shaking their heads at such an awful blowout. All this after Orioles manager Dave Trembley got an extension on his contract...It's a wonder he hasn't been shown the door yet, even after this embarrassing loss.
Being on time. Being professional. Respecting the game. Those are three of Trembley's (as it were) insightful words of wisdom to his ballclub, & against the Yankees & Red Sox, this approach worked some wonders. Not so with Texas who scored at will...& I thought high-school teams had it bad getting clobbered by 27 runs. But in MLB, there's no such thing as a 10-run rule after say just 5 or 6 innings worth of play. It's even a wonder that this league could even use such a rule now that Baltimore set an example for us to gape at in awe.
Hitting the big 3-0. Or should I say the big 30. Either way, the Orioles wrote another inglorious chapter in their history as a ballclub & also another record-breaking chapter in the world of Major League Baseball while they were at it. And this is not just another day in paradise back @ Camden Yards.
It's time for Trembley to modify his words of wisdom before someone else hits the big 3-0.
Some folks when they saw this score pro'lly were thinking, "Is this a misprint?" "Am I seeing things?" "Oh no they didn't...they couldn't have."
But it's true. Texas did score 30 runs & left the Orioles doing a lot more than shaking their heads at such an awful blowout. All this after Orioles manager Dave Trembley got an extension on his contract...It's a wonder he hasn't been shown the door yet, even after this embarrassing loss.
Being on time. Being professional. Respecting the game. Those are three of Trembley's (as it were) insightful words of wisdom to his ballclub, & against the Yankees & Red Sox, this approach worked some wonders. Not so with Texas who scored at will...& I thought high-school teams had it bad getting clobbered by 27 runs. But in MLB, there's no such thing as a 10-run rule after say just 5 or 6 innings worth of play. It's even a wonder that this league could even use such a rule now that Baltimore set an example for us to gape at in awe.
Hitting the big 3-0. Or should I say the big 30. Either way, the Orioles wrote another inglorious chapter in their history as a ballclub & also another record-breaking chapter in the world of Major League Baseball while they were at it. And this is not just another day in paradise back @ Camden Yards.
It's time for Trembley to modify his words of wisdom before someone else hits the big 3-0.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Travel Fever & Other Assorted Stories: Entry Eight
Welcome home.
My heart is once more at home with those I love with a passion, with a heartfelt love unlike any other that I've ever known. Funny how some dudes, when they leave here, tend to forget that such love lives on like raging fire, like flames which cannot be extinguished completely. And with that forgetfulness of love this amazing & awesome, names & faces too recede from memory, if not abruptly, gradually over time. "Life must go on," they say just to make up some poor excuse for why they're not back here as I write these words with a spontaneity that they could never match much less come close to. And so they proceed, without another word to explain why they do not return, why they cannot take the time to pay this town another visit. Not I. Not this man. With love like this, how can I forget my roots? How can I forget the very women whom I represent? I cannot forget either; otherwise my love, my longtime dedication, my longtime support -all of these things would be for nothing. To keep this love alive: this is one of many reasons why I return, to revisit this place when I can. This is why I can say that my heart feels right at home, at ease in the midst of my sorority counterparts; although no longer an undergrad, my love still lives on just the same & with it such dedication & support too few duders ever realize exist - their loss, not mine. Yet another reason why I come back with so much to give, so much more to say, so much to write down...such love as this makes each of the above tasks possible & I wouldn't pass this love up for anything else.
My heart is once more at home with those I love with a passion, with a heartfelt love unlike any other that I've ever known. Funny how some dudes, when they leave here, tend to forget that such love lives on like raging fire, like flames which cannot be extinguished completely. And with that forgetfulness of love this amazing & awesome, names & faces too recede from memory, if not abruptly, gradually over time. "Life must go on," they say just to make up some poor excuse for why they're not back here as I write these words with a spontaneity that they could never match much less come close to. And so they proceed, without another word to explain why they do not return, why they cannot take the time to pay this town another visit. Not I. Not this man. With love like this, how can I forget my roots? How can I forget the very women whom I represent? I cannot forget either; otherwise my love, my longtime dedication, my longtime support -all of these things would be for nothing. To keep this love alive: this is one of many reasons why I return, to revisit this place when I can. This is why I can say that my heart feels right at home, at ease in the midst of my sorority counterparts; although no longer an undergrad, my love still lives on just the same & with it such dedication & support too few duders ever realize exist - their loss, not mine. Yet another reason why I come back with so much to give, so much more to say, so much to write down...such love as this makes each of the above tasks possible & I wouldn't pass this love up for anything else.
Hard to believe it but it's true:
The Cubs once again are in first place in the NL Central, holding on precariously to their one game lead over the Brewers. Just three games back are the St. Louis Cardinals, poised to make up for lost time in hopes of claiming another championship in the Central Division...things are shaping up to be lovely in this particular neck of the NL woods & with over a month or so of baseball left to play before the regular season is officially over & done, anything can happen. Chicago knows this. Milwaukee knows this. St. Louis does as well.
Well, what of the ChiSox? Eeeee...they're roughly a dozen games behind the division-leading Indians; them good ol' Detroit Tigers are just one & a half games back last time I checked. And of course, nobody should count out the Minnesota Twins just yet either. If the White Sox do believe in miracles, they've got their work cut out for them & tons of catching up to do just to make a wild card appearance...too much to ask this late in the running.
A tale of two ballclubs, two leagues, two diverging paths they're taking as this season is winding down. But when it comes to the world of baseball in Chicago, things don't get any better than this. And of course, I can't help but say "Go Cubs!!"
The Cubs once again are in first place in the NL Central, holding on precariously to their one game lead over the Brewers. Just three games back are the St. Louis Cardinals, poised to make up for lost time in hopes of claiming another championship in the Central Division...things are shaping up to be lovely in this particular neck of the NL woods & with over a month or so of baseball left to play before the regular season is officially over & done, anything can happen. Chicago knows this. Milwaukee knows this. St. Louis does as well.
Well, what of the ChiSox? Eeeee...they're roughly a dozen games behind the division-leading Indians; them good ol' Detroit Tigers are just one & a half games back last time I checked. And of course, nobody should count out the Minnesota Twins just yet either. If the White Sox do believe in miracles, they've got their work cut out for them & tons of catching up to do just to make a wild card appearance...too much to ask this late in the running.
A tale of two ballclubs, two leagues, two diverging paths they're taking as this season is winding down. But when it comes to the world of baseball in Chicago, things don't get any better than this. And of course, I can't help but say "Go Cubs!!"
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
What a waste
Michael Vick's career, once full of promise & potential (so much so that it earned him a contract worth $130 mil), now lies in smoldering ruins. The question is not why it has ended up in a permament state of shambles, but rather how. When someone with such God-given talents as Vick has had lets his career - everything which defines the man himself - go to waste through bad decision making & other whatnot, it's hard to get a clear-cut diagnosis on what precipitated his descent to rock bottom. Unsurprisingly, there are plenty of factors behind Vick's downfall & with it plenty of theories to parse out at will.
The most prominent theory, which former Falcons coach Dan Reeves & Vick's grandfather James Boddie both share is this: much of Vick's legal troubles can be tied to his continued association with buddies he has known since childhood, buddies it must be said whose pasts haven't exactly been saintly by any stretch. These same buddies of his, unsavory pasts & all, decided to do some table turning & testify against Vick in hopes of getting less time behind bars...amazing how friendships can change in the blink of an eye. But the awful truth which court papers gleefully point out is that Vick's legal troubles are his own doing, the final result of his own bad decision-making. If Vick only did what was right from the start, Vick's father Michael Boddie said on Monday, "...He could have saved a lot of people a lot of heartache..."
And Michael Boddie is right: his own son could have done himself & countless others a whole world of good if he would just do more positive stuff with his life instead of letting his old sidekicks & so on influence him in any way, shape or form.
Michael Vick is in some real hot water, this much we know with frightening certainty. We could say his enablers (friends, business advisers, etc.) brought him to this legal predicament of mass proportions; others tell a quite different tale which ending isn't promising - that Vick himself is responsible for his own mess as his various roles in the dogfighting ring aptly confirm. Anyways, this is the worst demise, that being of the non-injury-related type, which any star professional athlete can go through. "What a waste of talent & potential..." so his critics, former fans, etcetera bemoan Vick's fate, a fate which could sentence him to 12-18 months in prison,a suspension from the NFL & much worse.
What a waste, indeed. And a career full of so much spark now dashed to flame, to ruins.
The most prominent theory, which former Falcons coach Dan Reeves & Vick's grandfather James Boddie both share is this: much of Vick's legal troubles can be tied to his continued association with buddies he has known since childhood, buddies it must be said whose pasts haven't exactly been saintly by any stretch. These same buddies of his, unsavory pasts & all, decided to do some table turning & testify against Vick in hopes of getting less time behind bars...amazing how friendships can change in the blink of an eye. But the awful truth which court papers gleefully point out is that Vick's legal troubles are his own doing, the final result of his own bad decision-making. If Vick only did what was right from the start, Vick's father Michael Boddie said on Monday, "...He could have saved a lot of people a lot of heartache..."
And Michael Boddie is right: his own son could have done himself & countless others a whole world of good if he would just do more positive stuff with his life instead of letting his old sidekicks & so on influence him in any way, shape or form.
Michael Vick is in some real hot water, this much we know with frightening certainty. We could say his enablers (friends, business advisers, etc.) brought him to this legal predicament of mass proportions; others tell a quite different tale which ending isn't promising - that Vick himself is responsible for his own mess as his various roles in the dogfighting ring aptly confirm. Anyways, this is the worst demise, that being of the non-injury-related type, which any star professional athlete can go through. "What a waste of talent & potential..." so his critics, former fans, etcetera bemoan Vick's fate, a fate which could sentence him to 12-18 months in prison,a suspension from the NFL & much worse.
What a waste, indeed. And a career full of so much spark now dashed to flame, to ruins.
Once/always
It seems that Ball State isn't the only university in the Hoosier State to get a lot of flak for underage drinking this past weekend.
At Purdue, five fraternities were suspended for violating their university's ban of alcohol at freshman orientation week events. Whereas the police were the only folks in charge to crack down on underage drinking @ BSU, @ Purdue it was the Interfraternity Council who reported the violations & in turn acted accordingly to suspend the fraternities in question.
A tale of two campuses. Two similar stories to tell. A lot of lessons to be learned.
True, parties & drinking have been part & parcel of the college experience for some portion of the student population for who knows how long, even more so at the start of the school year, as students have finally broken free from the grasp of the home life they've been living virtually all summer. But with that newfound sense of freedom, of being away from home to celebrate this newfound freedom...there also comes accountability & responsibility as well.
Zeta Beta Tau, now suspended, found that out the hard way as with countless others who got nailed by the police back in Muncie. At Purdue, the Greek system is short five fraternities; these suspended chapters also are finding out the hard way about freedom & the need to hold themselves accountable & responsible for the violations which they committed under the IFC's nose.
For all of the above, the party is over. Hopefully the Greek systems at Purdue & at Ball State got a good wake-up call in light of these incidents. This is not to say that the partying will die down; far from it. But after all these awful headlines we've had the chance to read, the parties are going to proceed with extreme caution from here on out.
At Purdue, five fraternities were suspended for violating their university's ban of alcohol at freshman orientation week events. Whereas the police were the only folks in charge to crack down on underage drinking @ BSU, @ Purdue it was the Interfraternity Council who reported the violations & in turn acted accordingly to suspend the fraternities in question.
A tale of two campuses. Two similar stories to tell. A lot of lessons to be learned.
True, parties & drinking have been part & parcel of the college experience for some portion of the student population for who knows how long, even more so at the start of the school year, as students have finally broken free from the grasp of the home life they've been living virtually all summer. But with that newfound sense of freedom, of being away from home to celebrate this newfound freedom...there also comes accountability & responsibility as well.
Zeta Beta Tau, now suspended, found that out the hard way as with countless others who got nailed by the police back in Muncie. At Purdue, the Greek system is short five fraternities; these suspended chapters also are finding out the hard way about freedom & the need to hold themselves accountable & responsible for the violations which they committed under the IFC's nose.
For all of the above, the party is over. Hopefully the Greek systems at Purdue & at Ball State got a good wake-up call in light of these incidents. This is not to say that the partying will die down; far from it. But after all these awful headlines we've had the chance to read, the parties are going to proceed with extreme caution from here on out.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Getting Watered Down
Last Saturday night, the authorities back in Muncie set another example for us to think about when they paid Zeta Beta Tau an unexpected visit & cracked down on roughly 2 dozen folks in an attempt to stem underage drinking. That being everyone's first official weekend back at school, if you're lucky enough to dodge the system by laying low, the chances of you not getting caught are pretty good. But if you're not lucky enough & if you happen to be underage, then law enforcement will act accordingly, no questions asked.
This is the first time in quite awhile where we've had to deal with a crackdown of such magnitude at Ball State, especially if it's at a fraternity house. For those who can recall over 3 years ago, Lambda Chi Alpha (R.I.P.) got busted along the exact same lines, but their bust took on greater magnitude & more importance then, while they were still on campus & while their house was still in existence, in no small part to the number of people who were at their party & some duders who decided to give away a little secret of where they were at earlier that night.
Looking back on the Lambda Chi incident, I can't help but wonder. Have we learned anything of value from that uneventful night? For those who remember, I feel we learned something about not only ourselves, but also about the gnawing issue of complacency, the impression that such things can't happen to us under our own roof. It wouldn't matter if we were the #1 fraternity on campus; the authorities in situations like these aren't discriminatory & in the case of Lambda Chi Alpha, they weren't discriminatory by any means.
For those who don't...it's time to come full circle to now. If there is something to be learned from this whole crackdown, even though it turned out to be an awesome weekend overall, we as members of the Greek community or no, cannot afford to carry around a casual air of complacency as if to say, "The police can't nail us." Well, if they could nail ZBT, they could come to anyone's fraternity house & issue a good ol' crackdown, no questions asked. It's not that they were on a witch hunt on Saturday night & they convened with one goal in mind: "Hey man, let's make life miserable for the ZBT house tonight!!" As part of a much bigger crackdown which BTW netted 74 folks, this took time & effort to keep things with law enforcement from getting thrown out of joint. Things happened like so & if this latest raid (the first recent one we've had for quite awhile, in fact!!) doesn't get us thinking, it should.
Now another fraternity has made the news headlines for all the wrong reasons; that same said fraternity is also going to face the music which the university is going to play in a short while. If we as fellow Greeks prefer not to make frontpage news in a negative light like the Delts did last year (& now Zeta Beta Tau), risk management needs to keep aware & act as they see fit. And this of course means not falling asleep on the job. Not to forget: one cannot get complacent here either. At a time like this, who can?
This is the first time in quite awhile where we've had to deal with a crackdown of such magnitude at Ball State, especially if it's at a fraternity house. For those who can recall over 3 years ago, Lambda Chi Alpha (R.I.P.) got busted along the exact same lines, but their bust took on greater magnitude & more importance then, while they were still on campus & while their house was still in existence, in no small part to the number of people who were at their party & some duders who decided to give away a little secret of where they were at earlier that night.
Looking back on the Lambda Chi incident, I can't help but wonder. Have we learned anything of value from that uneventful night? For those who remember, I feel we learned something about not only ourselves, but also about the gnawing issue of complacency, the impression that such things can't happen to us under our own roof. It wouldn't matter if we were the #1 fraternity on campus; the authorities in situations like these aren't discriminatory & in the case of Lambda Chi Alpha, they weren't discriminatory by any means.
For those who don't...it's time to come full circle to now. If there is something to be learned from this whole crackdown, even though it turned out to be an awesome weekend overall, we as members of the Greek community or no, cannot afford to carry around a casual air of complacency as if to say, "The police can't nail us." Well, if they could nail ZBT, they could come to anyone's fraternity house & issue a good ol' crackdown, no questions asked. It's not that they were on a witch hunt on Saturday night & they convened with one goal in mind: "Hey man, let's make life miserable for the ZBT house tonight!!" As part of a much bigger crackdown which BTW netted 74 folks, this took time & effort to keep things with law enforcement from getting thrown out of joint. Things happened like so & if this latest raid (the first recent one we've had for quite awhile, in fact!!) doesn't get us thinking, it should.
Now another fraternity has made the news headlines for all the wrong reasons; that same said fraternity is also going to face the music which the university is going to play in a short while. If we as fellow Greeks prefer not to make frontpage news in a negative light like the Delts did last year (& now Zeta Beta Tau), risk management needs to keep aware & act as they see fit. And this of course means not falling asleep on the job. Not to forget: one cannot get complacent here either. At a time like this, who can?
Travel Fever & Other Assorted Stories: Entry Seven
When it comes to all things Greek, my enthusiasm, dedication & support for the Greek community have never been dormant or chose to be revealed only on certain occasions of the year, when the timing seems right to do so (e.g. Homecoming weekend). For the record, they're 110% alive & well...As an alumni, that's sincerely saying something which folks need to take note of. So when Saturday night rolled around, of all the places that I could be in Muncie at any given time, I chose to head over to the Activity Fair & check things out.
Not only is this is an opportune time for the newly arrived freshmen to look around, check out the various organizations along the way & hope their experiences at the Fair rubbed off on them should they consider joining one or more of them. It's also a time for us, as members of the Greek community, to fine tune our statements of intent before giving prospective recruits the hard sell about our chapters during Rush Week. With Sorority Recruitment, that's a drastically different story. But even so, a night like this is a perfect chance to get geared up for the weeks ahead, minus all the drama, anxiety & procrastination.
If there is something I learned from Saturday night's trip over to the Activity Fair, it brings back a lot of valuable memories, some of which I picked up on only later, a good three or so semesters down the line. The possibilities of getting involved & making a difference on & off campus are endless; this particular event is just one way to plan on doing both of the above. And in terms of Greek life, the Activity Fair is just one means by which we can initially address the basic facts about ourselves, our chapters, & our respective fraternities/sororities. For an alumni like myself, that's one of the most important things we as Greeks could do before getting down to business a few weeks from now.
Not only is this is an opportune time for the newly arrived freshmen to look around, check out the various organizations along the way & hope their experiences at the Fair rubbed off on them should they consider joining one or more of them. It's also a time for us, as members of the Greek community, to fine tune our statements of intent before giving prospective recruits the hard sell about our chapters during Rush Week. With Sorority Recruitment, that's a drastically different story. But even so, a night like this is a perfect chance to get geared up for the weeks ahead, minus all the drama, anxiety & procrastination.
If there is something I learned from Saturday night's trip over to the Activity Fair, it brings back a lot of valuable memories, some of which I picked up on only later, a good three or so semesters down the line. The possibilities of getting involved & making a difference on & off campus are endless; this particular event is just one way to plan on doing both of the above. And in terms of Greek life, the Activity Fair is just one means by which we can initially address the basic facts about ourselves, our chapters, & our respective fraternities/sororities. For an alumni like myself, that's one of the most important things we as Greeks could do before getting down to business a few weeks from now.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Travel Fever & Other Assorted Stories: Entry Six
Setting: Saturday afternoon. Later part of the day. A time to crash out, on out. Yet this is also a time to reflect on the strides I have made along these avenues, these pathways which all lead homeward. So far, I've covered all the ground I could possibly cover: from the general consensus, nothing going for the moment. Peace & calm prevails if anything. A few hours or so down the line, now that'll be a different story. It takes just one spark among the thousands of sparks out there all aglow in the embers to set things off aright, to get things going on the good foot. But for now the neighborhood is awash in colors of serenity, set in its ways of slumber, not yet fully shaken from its lethargic state just yet. One can't go wrong here: relaxing on a couch at who knows where, pondering over the forthcoming words I'm going to write, I once again feel at home, more at ease than I've ever been since I last set foot on campus. Soon enough, though, I'll leave this spot in which I'm currently sitting & resume my wayward journey around campus along the lines of an explorer whose senses of timing & direction have repeatedly failed him. With no points of reference (maps, compasses) to help him along, to light his way, to indicate where he's at or where he's headed off to, one could say he's lost, chicken scratching about as it were, rambling around in hopes of finding his destination safely. And yet he's not lost; he knows via instinct the way ahead, all the diverging paths which connect to it. So it is with me as well. When all is said & done, when I've at long last settled down, there's nothing for me to grouse over, much less argue about vehemently. I feel right at home, at ease in a familiar setting I have been accustomed to for an eternity & things indeed are looking up: Welcome back to Ball State.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Just a few games ago, the Cubs seemed to be on the outside looking in, still 1-odd game behind the Brewers in the NL Central standings; with the Cardinals currently in the chase to gain some ground in a tightly contested race for first place, Cubbies fans who just can't stand St. Louis have had every reason to worry.
But worry no more. The Cubs won 2-1 yesterday, gained a half-game advantage over Milwaukee & not only that, could get ready to seize some more momentum heading into today. To say that they're poised for another awesome 19-5 run over the next 20-plus games which they're going to play is a bit premature, but hopefully this win will get them over the hump, or at least get the pressure off their backs for a spell.
And for the moment, the Cubs are in first place, however precariously their position may be.
But worry no more. The Cubs won 2-1 yesterday, gained a half-game advantage over Milwaukee & not only that, could get ready to seize some more momentum heading into today. To say that they're poised for another awesome 19-5 run over the next 20-plus games which they're going to play is a bit premature, but hopefully this win will get them over the hump, or at least get the pressure off their backs for a spell.
And for the moment, the Cubs are in first place, however precariously their position may be.
Travel Fever & Other Assorted Stories: Entry Five
Another typical Saturday morning, struggling to get awake. But all the other Saturdays before today have gone on in this exact same fashion: one tries to get in a reasonable amount of sleep within a limited timeframe, wakes up still groggy as can be...Eventually he'll snap out of his lethargy when he goes out on his morning errands & other whatnot. In a few hours, he'll be ready to take on the world, newly invigorated & eager for adventure. On days like this, he has to be: the road is once again calling out, the world is out there for him to explore.
Three days prior I made another journey to Muncie, the details of which I brought up in an earlier entry. The neighborhoods on & off campus at that time were gradually beginning to come back to life with a passion though some folks didn't even know, much less want to admit, that they would. Then the next day & yesterday - leading up to today -, more of the same: more students beginning to enter the picture, some of them about to experience their first full day of life who knows how many miles removed from home. Today & possibly tomorrow, they'll be celebrating this first weekend back there like you wouldn't believe, some ending up getting more carried away than others in the excitement & mayhem that surrounds these few days of settling in. All the while, life goes on & there is plenty of it to be lived. And soon I will have so much more to say, so much more to write about, so much more to give: my dedication & support for this place (among other things) has not faded away or become MIA. No,
both of the above are still active, alive & well.
Three days prior I made another journey to Muncie, the details of which I brought up in an earlier entry. The neighborhoods on & off campus at that time were gradually beginning to come back to life with a passion though some folks didn't even know, much less want to admit, that they would. Then the next day & yesterday - leading up to today -, more of the same: more students beginning to enter the picture, some of them about to experience their first full day of life who knows how many miles removed from home. Today & possibly tomorrow, they'll be celebrating this first weekend back there like you wouldn't believe, some ending up getting more carried away than others in the excitement & mayhem that surrounds these few days of settling in. All the while, life goes on & there is plenty of it to be lived. And soon I will have so much more to say, so much more to write about, so much more to give: my dedication & support for this place (among other things) has not faded away or become MIA. No,
both of the above are still active, alive & well.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Friday Night Fun
Nothing beats the joy of Friday nights, now that they're back up & in full swing.
No, I'm not talking about heading out on the town. Or even heading out to the mall or driving the main drag to relieve one's boredom.
I'm referring to high school football. The regular season has now arrived & a lot of teams are getting geared up for another season of fun & excitement. This isn't to say every ballclub will have the same amount of success or win the same degree of praises & accolades but each game, blowout or no, is going to be competitive nonetheless.
For some teams, this is a year to rebuild, to restock the almost-depleted offensive & defensive cupboards. For some, it means getting adjusted to a new coach's way of thinking & the system which he prefers to use. For yet others, the song remains the same: plenty of returning starters to make the playoff situation more scarier for their opponents.
At any rate, the first game to kick things off tonight is a gauge for every team to find out not only their true heart but it is also a premise to kick off the rust that comes from going out a whole season away from the football field. If that's not enough, it's the ultimate test of faith for every player involved.
But it should make way for good times to be had by all, fans, coaching personnel & players alike. And you can't argue there: It pays to get ready for some Friday night fun, wherever the game's at.
No, I'm not talking about heading out on the town. Or even heading out to the mall or driving the main drag to relieve one's boredom.
I'm referring to high school football. The regular season has now arrived & a lot of teams are getting geared up for another season of fun & excitement. This isn't to say every ballclub will have the same amount of success or win the same degree of praises & accolades but each game, blowout or no, is going to be competitive nonetheless.
For some teams, this is a year to rebuild, to restock the almost-depleted offensive & defensive cupboards. For some, it means getting adjusted to a new coach's way of thinking & the system which he prefers to use. For yet others, the song remains the same: plenty of returning starters to make the playoff situation more scarier for their opponents.
At any rate, the first game to kick things off tonight is a gauge for every team to find out not only their true heart but it is also a premise to kick off the rust that comes from going out a whole season away from the football field. If that's not enough, it's the ultimate test of faith for every player involved.
But it should make way for good times to be had by all, fans, coaching personnel & players alike. And you can't argue there: It pays to get ready for some Friday night fun, wherever the game's at.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Cub-a-dub-dub
The Cubs lost again...bummer...but they're still 1 1/2 games behind Milwaukee & still plenty of games left to play. The worst they could do right now is have a letdown from either end of the baseball spectrum: be it hitting or pitching, they need to come together once more & prove they can take the Central Division with plenty of fight in 'em.
But the St. Louis Cardinals have been playing awesome baseball of late & are right up there with the Cubbies & Brewers...things are definitely getting intense at the upper half of the NL Central right now. And nothing's going to get any easier for the Cubs as they attempt to maintain their footing on an already-precarious divisional ladder. With the Cardinals coming up on the schedule, their first honest test of faith begins as both ballclubs come in with nothing to lose & everything hanging in the balance for the remainder of the 2007 season.
But the St. Louis Cardinals have been playing awesome baseball of late & are right up there with the Cubbies & Brewers...things are definitely getting intense at the upper half of the NL Central right now. And nothing's going to get any easier for the Cubs as they attempt to maintain their footing on an already-precarious divisional ladder. With the Cardinals coming up on the schedule, their first honest test of faith begins as both ballclubs come in with nothing to lose & everything hanging in the balance for the remainder of the 2007 season.
A Scrambled Up Mess
The ongoing saga of Michael Vick is continuing at a pretty impressive rate. Just a few months ago, the only things Vick had to worry over no end were a water bottle & some instances where he gave fans the finger...nothing to get hung up about here.
But how things have changed since then. If it were up to Vick to do so, he'd gladly give up a season or two of football to get himself out of this latest tangle of charges against him, in regards to that dogfighting ring. As if it really matters since he isn't going to be playing this season anyhow, not if Falcons owner Arthur Blank, NFL commish Roger Goodell, etc. can help it. The next question remains to be answered: will Vick ever play in the NFL again?
Well, I can see the look in a lot of the GMs/team owners' eyes (Blank included) right now & it is dominated by nothing but consternation. "Who in their right mind would want a QB who's the poster child for animal abusers worldwide? I wouldn't & neither would our fans." Hard to imagine, indeed, how even the fans would feel about this whole ordeal. Then again, this wouldn't sit well with them either, given the fact that Vick is the lowest of the low, the worst of the worst when it comes to animals.
As if it really matters. Now Vick has a lot more to be concerned about & that doesn't mean getting paid to play in a Falcons uniform on Sundays anymore: it's about finding a way to avoid prison time. And it will take a lot more than his QB skills to dodge the latest batch of news surrounding this case. Two more of his cohorts are heading to court this week to enter their plea bargains, in hopes of getting their sentences cut down. Not good news for Vick by any stretch since his 3 co-defendants are leaving him high & dry in their eagerness to tell the court everything under the sun about the dogfighting ring of which they were a part of.
Vick doesn't have many options to consider & what options are available don't look very promising: first of all, he could plead guilty & anticipate less than 5 years behind bars. Or secondly, he could decide to go to trial, hear his former buddies spill the beans & risk getting more time in the clink. Wow, the case against the man has moved alarmingly fast...his co-defendants are cutting deals, eyebrows are being raised: the prison doors will soon open for their next occupants.
Once upon a time Vick was the star of the show for the Atlanta Falcons, a very brilliant though at times unpredictable QB who turned plenty of heads for sure. But now his endorsements are gone, his career itself is almost over for good. Plenty of folks who never saw the man in person loathe him with a passion & even his entourage has become a group of sworn enemies. In a sense, he's like the QB trying to evade a blitzing defense & finding no means of escape, a trap of his own making which his offensive line isn't going to get him out of.
Talk about Vick getting himself into a scrambled-up mess; the latest news concerning the course the courts will take in his case isn't making things any easier for a man who up to his indictments had everything going his way & then some. If anything, it's going to clamp the screws down even tighter on Vick & with it his chances of redemption in any way, shape or form.
But how things have changed since then. If it were up to Vick to do so, he'd gladly give up a season or two of football to get himself out of this latest tangle of charges against him, in regards to that dogfighting ring. As if it really matters since he isn't going to be playing this season anyhow, not if Falcons owner Arthur Blank, NFL commish Roger Goodell, etc. can help it. The next question remains to be answered: will Vick ever play in the NFL again?
Well, I can see the look in a lot of the GMs/team owners' eyes (Blank included) right now & it is dominated by nothing but consternation. "Who in their right mind would want a QB who's the poster child for animal abusers worldwide? I wouldn't & neither would our fans." Hard to imagine, indeed, how even the fans would feel about this whole ordeal. Then again, this wouldn't sit well with them either, given the fact that Vick is the lowest of the low, the worst of the worst when it comes to animals.
As if it really matters. Now Vick has a lot more to be concerned about & that doesn't mean getting paid to play in a Falcons uniform on Sundays anymore: it's about finding a way to avoid prison time. And it will take a lot more than his QB skills to dodge the latest batch of news surrounding this case. Two more of his cohorts are heading to court this week to enter their plea bargains, in hopes of getting their sentences cut down. Not good news for Vick by any stretch since his 3 co-defendants are leaving him high & dry in their eagerness to tell the court everything under the sun about the dogfighting ring of which they were a part of.
Vick doesn't have many options to consider & what options are available don't look very promising: first of all, he could plead guilty & anticipate less than 5 years behind bars. Or secondly, he could decide to go to trial, hear his former buddies spill the beans & risk getting more time in the clink. Wow, the case against the man has moved alarmingly fast...his co-defendants are cutting deals, eyebrows are being raised: the prison doors will soon open for their next occupants.
Once upon a time Vick was the star of the show for the Atlanta Falcons, a very brilliant though at times unpredictable QB who turned plenty of heads for sure. But now his endorsements are gone, his career itself is almost over for good. Plenty of folks who never saw the man in person loathe him with a passion & even his entourage has become a group of sworn enemies. In a sense, he's like the QB trying to evade a blitzing defense & finding no means of escape, a trap of his own making which his offensive line isn't going to get him out of.
Talk about Vick getting himself into a scrambled-up mess; the latest news concerning the course the courts will take in his case isn't making things any easier for a man who up to his indictments had everything going his way & then some. If anything, it's going to clamp the screws down even tighter on Vick & with it his chances of redemption in any way, shape or form.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Travel Fever & Other Assorted Stories: Entry Four
So the heart returns home without hesitation, still desperate to settle down. Or has this heart remained at home all along & not even known it? It's hard to say with certainty. Each time I make a visit to Muncie it is as if I never left, as if home is where the heart has always been. And that's stating fact. Even on a day like today, this return among many returns to this place reveals something new, something different about life over here, life which I thought I'd fully get over by now.
From the first wave of freshmen getting moved in, their parents coming along for the ride to help get them ready for this excursion down to Muncie, their clothes, computers, stereos & other miscellany in tow, I'm starting to realize what I'm missing out on the most: the joys of life living on campus, close to every building where I'd wind up attending classes in. Tomorrow & the next 2 days or so afterward, it'll be more of the same: wave after wave of students bringing the landscape which has always been Ball State back to life, restoring as it were surges of electricity & adventure which can't be found for a good three months running. In a matter of time, classes will begin & the whole campus will be fired up in earnest...
Off campus, I visited my fraternity house; we got new carpet put in who knows when...things are definitely on the up & up. If only I stopped by Sigs more often: then again, there's no pressure on me to stop by when I'm in town. After being away from the frat for almost 2 years, though, the timing couldn't be better to make a really heartfelt visit. No doubt about this, it'll be soon, very soon to say the least. When I'm not sure. But at any rate, this next visit will be a long overdue one. To be perfectly honest, it's going to be.
In only two more days I'll be back down here, still writing away in my notebook about the joys & mountains of memories I cherish highly about this campus, along with the other stops I made along the way. To make a long story short, it'll be the one poem worth the salt in reading since it's not a poem alone: It's an autobiography, a honest, heartfelt piece of my life I feel like sharing with those who will listen & take the time to effortfully delve into. Until then, I'm waiting the workweek out as one must before the weekend arrives & the adventures resume in the same vein of spontaneity & randomness as before.
From the first wave of freshmen getting moved in, their parents coming along for the ride to help get them ready for this excursion down to Muncie, their clothes, computers, stereos & other miscellany in tow, I'm starting to realize what I'm missing out on the most: the joys of life living on campus, close to every building where I'd wind up attending classes in. Tomorrow & the next 2 days or so afterward, it'll be more of the same: wave after wave of students bringing the landscape which has always been Ball State back to life, restoring as it were surges of electricity & adventure which can't be found for a good three months running. In a matter of time, classes will begin & the whole campus will be fired up in earnest...
Off campus, I visited my fraternity house; we got new carpet put in who knows when...things are definitely on the up & up. If only I stopped by Sigs more often: then again, there's no pressure on me to stop by when I'm in town. After being away from the frat for almost 2 years, though, the timing couldn't be better to make a really heartfelt visit. No doubt about this, it'll be soon, very soon to say the least. When I'm not sure. But at any rate, this next visit will be a long overdue one. To be perfectly honest, it's going to be.
In only two more days I'll be back down here, still writing away in my notebook about the joys & mountains of memories I cherish highly about this campus, along with the other stops I made along the way. To make a long story short, it'll be the one poem worth the salt in reading since it's not a poem alone: It's an autobiography, a honest, heartfelt piece of my life I feel like sharing with those who will listen & take the time to effortfully delve into. Until then, I'm waiting the workweek out as one must before the weekend arrives & the adventures resume in the same vein of spontaneity & randomness as before.
Travel Fever and Other Assorted Stories: Entry Three
So the story has been told numerous times: same basic storyline, a different cast of characters to tell the story & naturally enough differing interpretations of what the whole story's about. But the real kicker is that the real identities of each storyteller cannot emerge until the tale has ended once & for all.
When it comes to sorority recruitment & one disaffiliates from the whole scene for a good month, the situation is no different. Each year, a certain number of women do exactly that as they show incoming freshmen (along with those ladies who chose not to go through Recruitment week during their freshman year) the ropes on not only sorority life but Greek life in general. At this point, an important, insightful word of advice must be made:
Note to self, duders, don't go running & telling which sororities these women belong to!! You know whom they represent, but when it comes to their status as Pi Chis, guys, it's a whole new thing: you can't go popping off at the mouth that she's from this sorority or that sorority until Recruitment is officially over & done with. Like the real identity of the storyteller that doesn't get revealed until the tale has finally been told in full, so the sororities whom these ladies are proud to represent must remain secret until the last actual day of Sorority Recruitment. Up to that point, duders can't go "run & tell." Not only is the idea of "running & telling" just wrong but also a plain insult to the Pi Chis as well.
Getting back to the matter at hand. Pi Chis, disaffiliated from their respective sororities for a month, have an important task to deal with in addressing the aspects of sorority life to the above groups whom I mentioned in the second paragraph as well as helping them along as best they can when it comes to certain pressing questions which naturally are going to be asked from time to time. And yet it doesn't hurt to offer them our support & wish them the best of luck during the next several weeks or so; I'm sure they'd love it if duders actually followed both suggestions to the letter. I know I am offering my support & wishing Pi Chis the best of luck for sure. And to close things off accordingly:
Fire up!!
When it comes to sorority recruitment & one disaffiliates from the whole scene for a good month, the situation is no different. Each year, a certain number of women do exactly that as they show incoming freshmen (along with those ladies who chose not to go through Recruitment week during their freshman year) the ropes on not only sorority life but Greek life in general. At this point, an important, insightful word of advice must be made:
Note to self, duders, don't go running & telling which sororities these women belong to!! You know whom they represent, but when it comes to their status as Pi Chis, guys, it's a whole new thing: you can't go popping off at the mouth that she's from this sorority or that sorority until Recruitment is officially over & done with. Like the real identity of the storyteller that doesn't get revealed until the tale has finally been told in full, so the sororities whom these ladies are proud to represent must remain secret until the last actual day of Sorority Recruitment. Up to that point, duders can't go "run & tell." Not only is the idea of "running & telling" just wrong but also a plain insult to the Pi Chis as well.
Getting back to the matter at hand. Pi Chis, disaffiliated from their respective sororities for a month, have an important task to deal with in addressing the aspects of sorority life to the above groups whom I mentioned in the second paragraph as well as helping them along as best they can when it comes to certain pressing questions which naturally are going to be asked from time to time. And yet it doesn't hurt to offer them our support & wish them the best of luck during the next several weeks or so; I'm sure they'd love it if duders actually followed both suggestions to the letter. I know I am offering my support & wishing Pi Chis the best of luck for sure. And to close things off accordingly:
Fire up!!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Travel Fever & Other Assorted Stories: Entry Two
What better time than now to return to old haunts, to my longtime stomping ground. Old friends have come & gone, the scenery around campus has changed over time but so much has remained the same...Once more one has found home sweet home, one has found (as it were) serenity at long last. And of course, one has regained a connection with old friends & has every opportunity under the sun to make new ones as well. Around here, without question, life is beautiful & always will remain that way.
Around here, life is about to settle down for another round of good times which are never in short supply. Of all the times during the year when one must resume with life as we know it, putting off the nomadic trappings which has defined his summer, that time is now. If there is room to roam, it's almost exclusively to do errands, go shopping, the occasional visit back home...house parties & bars come up later on. Otherwise it's all work & almost no downtime save for the weekends. What more could be said about the adventures awaiting me each time I return? or of the further surprises this place has to offer along the way?
These words are written from experience, from a man who has spent a good four-&-a-half years living the good life in such a neighborhood as this. And I miss those days with a passion, reflecting on the words which I just wrote for whoever feels inclined to read them. This isn't to say my urge for reliving those days has been lost forever; it hasn't by the way. My urge to relive some of these moments has never been as strong as it is now. Maybe it's less so but still this fire keeps finding ways to rekindle itself. I may have grown calmer & wiser since my last days as an undergraduate but in no way, no how has my love for this place diminished. If anything, it has only grown stronger: Why it took me this much time to say so is beyond any attempts at conjecture; what I do know is I have a longing for home away from home, a longing which cannot quit on its own accord & never will. What better time to return over here than now...My homesickness has already made itself apparent...Soon my next journey will begin & who knows where it will lead me to...
Around here, life is about to settle down for another round of good times which are never in short supply. Of all the times during the year when one must resume with life as we know it, putting off the nomadic trappings which has defined his summer, that time is now. If there is room to roam, it's almost exclusively to do errands, go shopping, the occasional visit back home...house parties & bars come up later on. Otherwise it's all work & almost no downtime save for the weekends. What more could be said about the adventures awaiting me each time I return? or of the further surprises this place has to offer along the way?
These words are written from experience, from a man who has spent a good four-&-a-half years living the good life in such a neighborhood as this. And I miss those days with a passion, reflecting on the words which I just wrote for whoever feels inclined to read them. This isn't to say my urge for reliving those days has been lost forever; it hasn't by the way. My urge to relive some of these moments has never been as strong as it is now. Maybe it's less so but still this fire keeps finding ways to rekindle itself. I may have grown calmer & wiser since my last days as an undergraduate but in no way, no how has my love for this place diminished. If anything, it has only grown stronger: Why it took me this much time to say so is beyond any attempts at conjecture; what I do know is I have a longing for home away from home, a longing which cannot quit on its own accord & never will. What better time to return over here than now...My homesickness has already made itself apparent...Soon my next journey will begin & who knows where it will lead me to...
Monday, August 13, 2007
Travel Fever & Other Assorted Stories: Entry One
The joy of Sunday mornings. But nothing compares to the joys of Sunday afternoons: if the weather is cooperating & one is itching to leave the house for a spell in hopes of finding something to do, scenic drives are the perfect panacea to break all the monotony which prevails throughout the week & never ceases until the weekend begins in earnest. If one has travel fever like I have always had for time immemorial, the random road trip always works its wonders in its own charismatic, spellbinding ways. One hops into a car, doesn't really know where to head off to...but voila!! when it's time to settle down, get some grub & other whatnot, reality sets in once that destination has been reached: "Well, how'd I end up here?" Then again, life is good. That is to say, if you're prepared accordingly. And one would not want to have life on the road any other way.
Only yesterday I made another odyssey out of who knows how many I have taken all by my lonesome. This time it was off to Muncie; for the moment the neighborhoods off campus were making their slow but sure flickering back to life. For those actually in the initial stages of getting settled in & all, there were of course the usual demands which life back in Muncie has asked of them: fixing up their rooms like so, building bars at such & such a spot in their respective residences, moving in furniture & other miscellaneous items...a constant routine without end it seems. In just two more days, however, everything is fair game as freshmen (among others making their official returns to their familiar confines) start stepping foot on campus to begin the move-in routines anew; the whole campus will in a brief matter of time be abuzz in energy & spring back to life that it has been doing without for a good three months.
I reminisce on those times & do I know them well; even before I first set foot on Ball State's sidewalks as a student myself, I could feel that rush of energy, that wave of momentum which hits everyone who enters Ball State or is making their re-entry back to a familiar home away from home. I didn't happen to know how momentous this vibe could be. Until I too became a student, how could I know its impact & the way it would transform my life after I shed my undergraduate trappings to begin life once more in the real world?
Now I know. This time I see through the eyes of a graduate, someone who has seen the sights of this place enough to know what joyful times I experienced here. And what joyful times they were. Soon I must make my returns to Muncie when I can, if only my schedule did not compel me to make my visits sporadically. But such is life. Life on the road, however, is a different story: It doesn't have to be lived in fits & starts if you cherish it wholeheartedly. Or so that's what I'd love to believe. Kerouac said it best when he wrote, "The road is life." When there's time to burn & the great wide open is calling out for me to take another journey, location as yet unknown, I look back on his words with an aura of nostalgia. Maybe a bit much, else I'd definitely come down with homesickness. But soon Muncie will make its presence felt, its imposing voice heard & of all places which I'd like to be this trumps all: What better time to travel back down there than now?
Only yesterday I made another odyssey out of who knows how many I have taken all by my lonesome. This time it was off to Muncie; for the moment the neighborhoods off campus were making their slow but sure flickering back to life. For those actually in the initial stages of getting settled in & all, there were of course the usual demands which life back in Muncie has asked of them: fixing up their rooms like so, building bars at such & such a spot in their respective residences, moving in furniture & other miscellaneous items...a constant routine without end it seems. In just two more days, however, everything is fair game as freshmen (among others making their official returns to their familiar confines) start stepping foot on campus to begin the move-in routines anew; the whole campus will in a brief matter of time be abuzz in energy & spring back to life that it has been doing without for a good three months.
I reminisce on those times & do I know them well; even before I first set foot on Ball State's sidewalks as a student myself, I could feel that rush of energy, that wave of momentum which hits everyone who enters Ball State or is making their re-entry back to a familiar home away from home. I didn't happen to know how momentous this vibe could be. Until I too became a student, how could I know its impact & the way it would transform my life after I shed my undergraduate trappings to begin life once more in the real world?
Now I know. This time I see through the eyes of a graduate, someone who has seen the sights of this place enough to know what joyful times I experienced here. And what joyful times they were. Soon I must make my returns to Muncie when I can, if only my schedule did not compel me to make my visits sporadically. But such is life. Life on the road, however, is a different story: It doesn't have to be lived in fits & starts if you cherish it wholeheartedly. Or so that's what I'd love to believe. Kerouac said it best when he wrote, "The road is life." When there's time to burn & the great wide open is calling out for me to take another journey, location as yet unknown, I look back on his words with an aura of nostalgia. Maybe a bit much, else I'd definitely come down with homesickness. But soon Muncie will make its presence felt, its imposing voice heard & of all places which I'd like to be this trumps all: What better time to travel back down there than now?
Getting started off right
School's going to start back up this week & for a lot of incoming freshmen heading off to the colleges of their choices, those couple months or so of breaktime they've had on their hands will soon come to a close. And of course, one wonders why the summer months seem to fly by so fast...lol. (Yeah, sometimes summer can go too fast as well.)
Having said that, the issue of Greek life for them may seem to be the farthest thing from their minds, unless they have brothers/sisters who are in fraternities/sororities (or are alumni/alumna) who can help explain the superlatives about Greek life to them. For those who don't have brothers/sisters who are proud to be Greek, however, they unsurprisingly are going to be asking plenty of questions, realizing that they're not yet comfortable about taking the plunge into all things connected with the Greek system.
And Move-In Day is one of the first places besides the Activity Fair where we as Greeks can get involved. This being one of the first days that they'll set foot on campus in earnest, upon their seeing us with our letters on, helping move in furniture, clothes, etc. they not only might be surprised that we're not the stereotypical lot some might take us as being. In fact, this may be one way among many which will help them decide if going Greek is a good call for them or no. By making one difference out of who knows how many on campus - & on Move-In Day especially - we could help shine a light to lead their way should they decide on checking things out during our respective periods of Recruitment.
Then a couple or so days later, one of the first tests for our respective chapters begins with the previously mentioned Activity Fair. Yet Move-In Day is the time when we, with plenty of dedication & initiative to spare, are getting things started off on a good note when it comes to shining our lights (& proudly wearing our letters) to the incoming freshmen out there.
Having said that, the issue of Greek life for them may seem to be the farthest thing from their minds, unless they have brothers/sisters who are in fraternities/sororities (or are alumni/alumna) who can help explain the superlatives about Greek life to them. For those who don't have brothers/sisters who are proud to be Greek, however, they unsurprisingly are going to be asking plenty of questions, realizing that they're not yet comfortable about taking the plunge into all things connected with the Greek system.
And Move-In Day is one of the first places besides the Activity Fair where we as Greeks can get involved. This being one of the first days that they'll set foot on campus in earnest, upon their seeing us with our letters on, helping move in furniture, clothes, etc. they not only might be surprised that we're not the stereotypical lot some might take us as being. In fact, this may be one way among many which will help them decide if going Greek is a good call for them or no. By making one difference out of who knows how many on campus - & on Move-In Day especially - we could help shine a light to lead their way should they decide on checking things out during our respective periods of Recruitment.
Then a couple or so days later, one of the first tests for our respective chapters begins with the previously mentioned Activity Fair. Yet Move-In Day is the time when we, with plenty of dedication & initiative to spare, are getting things started off on a good note when it comes to shining our lights (& proudly wearing our letters) to the incoming freshmen out there.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Frat boy behavior: when will it end? (Conclusion)
In my previous post, I just wanted to voice my views about "frat boy" behavior; this may sound like my prerogative & yet I'm being deeply honest about these views I'm holding: the "frat boy" culture has no formal place whatsoever in fraternities who are seeking to get rid of the issue altogether. Whether it be during pledgeship or after initiation, "frat boy" behavior is simply perpetuating the stereotypes certain non-Greeks have of us - not individually but collectively. Also, hazing doesn't have any formal place in the Greek community either; it never was supposed to be part of a new member's learning process about his fraternity along with his chapter & never will be...it's not helping the new member grow in such a way that he can be truly proud to say he is a loyal Sig, a loyal member of Fiji, etcetera.
You could say that this is an appendix to my last post, but here are just a few examples of what counts as hazing or stereotypical "frat boy" behavior:
(1) Servitude of any type (e.g. the actives not taking any initiative to clean up their own messes or purposely trashing the house to see to it that the pledges are doing their house duties)
(2) Making any inappropriate, demeaning comments about race, gender or sexual orientation be it verbally or no
(3) Line-ups which are a premise for the actives to ream out , degrade or humiliate prospective members
(4) "Kidnapping" of actives by prospective members (who unknowingly or vice versa were duped/manipulated by the actives into pulling off such sneaks to begin with)
(5) Getting prospective members to drink not merely against their wishes but also in such a way as to promote & perpetuate alcohol abuse later on after they get initiated
The bottom line about the "fratty" culture is this: It can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime & it could be the #1 house on campus as well as the house with the top GPA for 10 semesters running. Hopefully we as members of the Greek system haven't forgotten how to combat the "frat boy" culture & are making progress in stamping it out; I can't help but be optimistic that we're making strides of some type in weeding it out for good.
You could say that this is an appendix to my last post, but here are just a few examples of what counts as hazing or stereotypical "frat boy" behavior:
(1) Servitude of any type (e.g. the actives not taking any initiative to clean up their own messes or purposely trashing the house to see to it that the pledges are doing their house duties)
(2) Making any inappropriate, demeaning comments about race, gender or sexual orientation be it verbally or no
(3) Line-ups which are a premise for the actives to ream out , degrade or humiliate prospective members
(4) "Kidnapping" of actives by prospective members (who unknowingly or vice versa were duped/manipulated by the actives into pulling off such sneaks to begin with)
(5) Getting prospective members to drink not merely against their wishes but also in such a way as to promote & perpetuate alcohol abuse later on after they get initiated
The bottom line about the "fratty" culture is this: It can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime & it could be the #1 house on campus as well as the house with the top GPA for 10 semesters running. Hopefully we as members of the Greek system haven't forgotten how to combat the "frat boy" culture & are making progress in stamping it out; I can't help but be optimistic that we're making strides of some type in weeding it out for good.
Frat boy behavior: when will it end?
If there are any glaring topics about Greek life which rile me up the most (& there are hardly any to get upset over BTW) it would be the following: that good ol' stereotypical "frat boy" behavior which some Greeks still feel is necessary to keep their chapter spirit up & running if not functioning for the sake of tradition alone.
And the "frat boy" culture in some places is still alive & well. There are going to be those duders who are all for it & they'll say, "Oh, we're doing these things for fun," or, "We're doing these things because we've always done them that way in the past." But I feel that a "frat boy" culture is just wrong & uncalled for. When certain chapters in certain fraternities perpetuate their fratty antics all in the name of "tradition," they're not only creating an atmosphere which is not conducive to performing to one's fullest abilities academically much less from a social aspect. They're also earning severe criticism from Greek Affairs, their National HQs, along with Alumni who are eager to eradicate problem chapters whom they feel aren't meeting the expectations/requirements which they need to remain on campus.
I'm getting to wonder sometimes when this "frat boy" culture will come to a screeching halt if it ever does. But so far, there are those chapters from this fraternity & that who believe the show must go on even though it could mean the suspension/shutdown of their house. Believe me, that's a bitter pill for any fraternity to take at any given time.
And the "frat boy" culture in some places is still alive & well. There are going to be those duders who are all for it & they'll say, "Oh, we're doing these things for fun," or, "We're doing these things because we've always done them that way in the past." But I feel that a "frat boy" culture is just wrong & uncalled for. When certain chapters in certain fraternities perpetuate their fratty antics all in the name of "tradition," they're not only creating an atmosphere which is not conducive to performing to one's fullest abilities academically much less from a social aspect. They're also earning severe criticism from Greek Affairs, their National HQs, along with Alumni who are eager to eradicate problem chapters whom they feel aren't meeting the expectations/requirements which they need to remain on campus.
I'm getting to wonder sometimes when this "frat boy" culture will come to a screeching halt if it ever does. But so far, there are those chapters from this fraternity & that who believe the show must go on even though it could mean the suspension/shutdown of their house. Believe me, that's a bitter pill for any fraternity to take at any given time.
Friday, August 10, 2007
A Thought For Today
What is a true fraternity member?
He's someone who lives up to the standards which his chapter asks of him, someone who goes above & beyond the call of his obligations & duties as a member of his chapter, someone who reveals his integrity & knows how to hold himself accountable for his actions. He's someone who doesn't go halfway or cut corners in order to make his chapter one of the best around, someone who can maintain his honesty, someone who despite unconquerable odds accomplishes much more than some folks would have envisioned him doing chapter-wise.
In short, he's walking the walk & talking the talk, nothing less than both: character-in-action.
Which brings me to the next issue at hand:
Does being a true fraternity member mean it's OK to abuse drugs & alcohol, all the while encouraging others to do the same?
Does being a true fraternity member make it OK to get so out of control you end up insulting guests, your own fraternity brothers, trashing the house left & right, even getting into petty fights (among other things which I didn't bring up)?
Does being a true fraternity member make it OK to be delinquent in your financial obligations to your respective chapters?
Does being a true fraternity member make it OK to treat women like playthings instead of the beautiful human beings I have always seen them as?
My answer to each of these questions is an unanimous NO!!
For those who had the gall to say "Why, yes, of course!" I won't say, "Shame on you." To be blunt, he's not even living remotely close to the standards which his fraternity is asking of him; not only that, he's a detriment to his chapter, tarnishing its good name by his untoward conduct. If that's not enough, he's putting his own fraternal organization to shame (not just by being a raging, out-of-line animal or by simply being dead weight; it's definitely a multicausal thing here). How many of us have asked the above questions & realized alarmingly enough that we're not up to par with our chapters' standards? As an undergrad, the more I thought about this issue, the higher I wanted to set the bar for myself as a representative of the Greek system. At the same time, even more so, I strove to be even more accountable for my actions, to go above & beyond the call of duty if need be...& this is the personal philosophy I have always carried since my first days of going Greek.
These are my thoughts for today & it'd be pointless to say any more than I have already. Yet my words need to be taken into consideration since I, even as an alumni, keep finding myself asking the same question day in, day out on what being a true fraternity member is all about.
He's someone who lives up to the standards which his chapter asks of him, someone who goes above & beyond the call of his obligations & duties as a member of his chapter, someone who reveals his integrity & knows how to hold himself accountable for his actions. He's someone who doesn't go halfway or cut corners in order to make his chapter one of the best around, someone who can maintain his honesty, someone who despite unconquerable odds accomplishes much more than some folks would have envisioned him doing chapter-wise.
In short, he's walking the walk & talking the talk, nothing less than both: character-in-action.
Which brings me to the next issue at hand:
Does being a true fraternity member mean it's OK to abuse drugs & alcohol, all the while encouraging others to do the same?
Does being a true fraternity member make it OK to get so out of control you end up insulting guests, your own fraternity brothers, trashing the house left & right, even getting into petty fights (among other things which I didn't bring up)?
Does being a true fraternity member make it OK to be delinquent in your financial obligations to your respective chapters?
Does being a true fraternity member make it OK to treat women like playthings instead of the beautiful human beings I have always seen them as?
My answer to each of these questions is an unanimous NO!!
For those who had the gall to say "Why, yes, of course!" I won't say, "Shame on you." To be blunt, he's not even living remotely close to the standards which his fraternity is asking of him; not only that, he's a detriment to his chapter, tarnishing its good name by his untoward conduct. If that's not enough, he's putting his own fraternal organization to shame (not just by being a raging, out-of-line animal or by simply being dead weight; it's definitely a multicausal thing here). How many of us have asked the above questions & realized alarmingly enough that we're not up to par with our chapters' standards? As an undergrad, the more I thought about this issue, the higher I wanted to set the bar for myself as a representative of the Greek system. At the same time, even more so, I strove to be even more accountable for my actions, to go above & beyond the call of duty if need be...& this is the personal philosophy I have always carried since my first days of going Greek.
These are my thoughts for today & it'd be pointless to say any more than I have already. Yet my words need to be taken into consideration since I, even as an alumni, keep finding myself asking the same question day in, day out on what being a true fraternity member is all about.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
How'dhedoit?
Miles Davis has always been one of my favorite all-time musicians, bar none. But when it comes to which period of Miles' music I like/really love the most, I'm at a loss to say which one really floats my boat. I mean, I don't discriminate here. But when all is said & done, it would have to be his electric period (1969-1975).
Miles Davis' electric period (the very same period which gave birth to fusion in general) was not only a time of radical experimentation. It was also a time for the man himself to make a clean break as it were from the conventions of jazz: incorporating African percussion, tablas, sitars, even shades of avant-garde composers into the equation, he was a man on a mission, stepping outside the box & connecting with the youth culture of those times. And he never ceased to amaze (& just as equally confound) the unsuspecting public & in particular the deeply conservative jazz critics of his day.
At the same time, it also must be said that his electric period was one of the most obscure & most misunderstood of his entire career. The music itself was an enigma, running along the same lines as its creator. You couldn't call it just jazz, rock, funk, calypso, or for goodness' sakes, even ambient (the German group Can already staked the first claim to the word "ambient" before Eno's Discreet Music saw the light of day). This was music, plain & simple. In all of its impenetrable depth, the supersonic equivalent of Picasso's paintings, the output which Miles put out during this timeframe was not only pretty powerful but intriguing as well.
Paul Tingen, in an article he wrote for the May 1998 edition of Sound on Sound magazine, remarks that "...the impenetrable density of some of the rhythm tracks, the often poor bass sound, and the awkwardness of some of the edits makes one wonder whether his (Miles') vision had ever been done justice to in the way it was committed to vinyl." The one amazing thing about Miles' recordings during his electric period was, & Bill Laswell's words in that same article are so right on, "...that they are interpretations of original performances." In other words, what we hear on those records doesn't necessarily mean that things were done exactly like so in the studio. They were the end result of a day's work, with plenty of heavy tape editing & manipulation; from 1969 up to 1975, the engineers let the tapes roll incessantly, hours & hours of tapes got filled up beyond belief.
At this point, longtime producer Teo Macero's contributions cannot be overlooked. He would be the one who saw to it what bits & pieces of recordings ended up on each album & how the record would sound in the final assessment. Via the aforementioned heavy tape editing & electronic tinkering around, Teo constructed Miles' albums in a style which could be viewed as a precursor to remixing. However, Teo worked intuitively in hopes of finding an effective product from all the available raw musical material he had at his disposal in the least possible time & sometimes mistakes would occur, especially in terms of edits & all. But you have to give the man credit for how he shaped Miles Davis' music during his electric phase...& did he ever come up with some awesome sounding albums!!
In summary, Miles Davis' electric period was not only one of his most controversial but also one of his most groundbreaking as well. Surprise was one of the elements he brought to his music in droves, but then again, change was an equally key component which defined Miles' mindset from the get-go: He never stayed set in his ways at any one time in his career & the material which came from his electric period reveals a musician who wasn't afraid of change, of taking new risks & adventures with his music, of pushing the musical envelope every chance he got.
Gotta love how this music has endured even after all these years...it's not for the faint-hearted, this.
Miles Davis' electric period (the very same period which gave birth to fusion in general) was not only a time of radical experimentation. It was also a time for the man himself to make a clean break as it were from the conventions of jazz: incorporating African percussion, tablas, sitars, even shades of avant-garde composers into the equation, he was a man on a mission, stepping outside the box & connecting with the youth culture of those times. And he never ceased to amaze (& just as equally confound) the unsuspecting public & in particular the deeply conservative jazz critics of his day.
At the same time, it also must be said that his electric period was one of the most obscure & most misunderstood of his entire career. The music itself was an enigma, running along the same lines as its creator. You couldn't call it just jazz, rock, funk, calypso, or for goodness' sakes, even ambient (the German group Can already staked the first claim to the word "ambient" before Eno's Discreet Music saw the light of day). This was music, plain & simple. In all of its impenetrable depth, the supersonic equivalent of Picasso's paintings, the output which Miles put out during this timeframe was not only pretty powerful but intriguing as well.
Paul Tingen, in an article he wrote for the May 1998 edition of Sound on Sound magazine, remarks that "...the impenetrable density of some of the rhythm tracks, the often poor bass sound, and the awkwardness of some of the edits makes one wonder whether his (Miles') vision had ever been done justice to in the way it was committed to vinyl." The one amazing thing about Miles' recordings during his electric period was, & Bill Laswell's words in that same article are so right on, "...that they are interpretations of original performances." In other words, what we hear on those records doesn't necessarily mean that things were done exactly like so in the studio. They were the end result of a day's work, with plenty of heavy tape editing & manipulation; from 1969 up to 1975, the engineers let the tapes roll incessantly, hours & hours of tapes got filled up beyond belief.
At this point, longtime producer Teo Macero's contributions cannot be overlooked. He would be the one who saw to it what bits & pieces of recordings ended up on each album & how the record would sound in the final assessment. Via the aforementioned heavy tape editing & electronic tinkering around, Teo constructed Miles' albums in a style which could be viewed as a precursor to remixing. However, Teo worked intuitively in hopes of finding an effective product from all the available raw musical material he had at his disposal in the least possible time & sometimes mistakes would occur, especially in terms of edits & all. But you have to give the man credit for how he shaped Miles Davis' music during his electric phase...& did he ever come up with some awesome sounding albums!!
In summary, Miles Davis' electric period was not only one of his most controversial but also one of his most groundbreaking as well. Surprise was one of the elements he brought to his music in droves, but then again, change was an equally key component which defined Miles' mindset from the get-go: He never stayed set in his ways at any one time in his career & the material which came from his electric period reveals a musician who wasn't afraid of change, of taking new risks & adventures with his music, of pushing the musical envelope every chance he got.
Gotta love how this music has endured even after all these years...it's not for the faint-hearted, this.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
756: WTF?
I can't believe it, I just can't.
Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron's all-time home run record by hitting homer #756 out of the yard & into the record books. The question is, how'd he do it? How'd he get here in the first place?
It took 22 seasons for Bonds to accomplish the miraculous, to prove his humanity. He not only fired a shot for the whole world to hear; he has also left us wondering if his latest accomplishment was legitimate in the first place. So hard to believe that Barry Bonds has eclipsed Aaron's record once & for all but he has. And I'm not the only one to voice his misgivings about Bonds' record either.
Rewind to Summer 1998. We heard all the applause we could stand to hear when Mark McGwire belted his 62nd homer & the MLB commish was singing praises left & right about this glorious milestone in baseball history. Then fast forward to August 2007. Is anyone singing praises or giving up applause for Bonds' feat like they were for McGwire? No way. Now we understand what the phrase "too good to be true" means, even though it took almost a decade for us to figure out.
To go off on a small tangent here: back in June 1986, the New York Times carried a box score with info on Bonds' first homer in Atlanta. In the editions for that specific day (6/5/86) there was a small story about steroids & the trouble they would cause. Amazing how we could have blown that article off then but over two decades later, the irony of that story is frighteningly real. Trouble is, no one was listening to the clarion call about steroids & no one really noticed how they would penetrate into the world of professional sports with utmost ferocity. By then, the damage was already done. McGwire was through with baseball & by this point the HR totals were tarnished beyond rescue.
And now this. Why, Bud Selig, didn't you catch on to this problem by then? And why, Bud Selig, didn't you step up & take action on any player caught using steroids? Selig saw it coming & should have put the brakes on those players who used steroids a long time ago but no. Then we look at Bonds breaking the record books...& our cries of disgust become even more apparent: "Why?"
Bonds took the shortcut to success with steroids & compromised a whole sport in the process. Amazingly enough, he didn't need to use steroids, being the great player that he was. And yet being the great player that he is, he was human. In the world of jazz, John Coltrane performed music that scaled even the heavens in its passion & intensity but nonetheless he was human & didn't need to go the Barry Bonds route to make such great music.
Getting back to Barry though. There is a big price to pay for using steroids & he should have paid for it a while back. And yet here we are, looking at him hit homer #756 off a pitcher who had every urge to keep Bonds in check for the whole night...until one bad pitch changed history. And that one bad pitch raised enough eyebrows the whole world over.
I still can't believe it. Really, after all this time, I don't think anyone else can believe it either.
Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron's all-time home run record by hitting homer #756 out of the yard & into the record books. The question is, how'd he do it? How'd he get here in the first place?
It took 22 seasons for Bonds to accomplish the miraculous, to prove his humanity. He not only fired a shot for the whole world to hear; he has also left us wondering if his latest accomplishment was legitimate in the first place. So hard to believe that Barry Bonds has eclipsed Aaron's record once & for all but he has. And I'm not the only one to voice his misgivings about Bonds' record either.
Rewind to Summer 1998. We heard all the applause we could stand to hear when Mark McGwire belted his 62nd homer & the MLB commish was singing praises left & right about this glorious milestone in baseball history. Then fast forward to August 2007. Is anyone singing praises or giving up applause for Bonds' feat like they were for McGwire? No way. Now we understand what the phrase "too good to be true" means, even though it took almost a decade for us to figure out.
To go off on a small tangent here: back in June 1986, the New York Times carried a box score with info on Bonds' first homer in Atlanta. In the editions for that specific day (6/5/86) there was a small story about steroids & the trouble they would cause. Amazing how we could have blown that article off then but over two decades later, the irony of that story is frighteningly real. Trouble is, no one was listening to the clarion call about steroids & no one really noticed how they would penetrate into the world of professional sports with utmost ferocity. By then, the damage was already done. McGwire was through with baseball & by this point the HR totals were tarnished beyond rescue.
And now this. Why, Bud Selig, didn't you catch on to this problem by then? And why, Bud Selig, didn't you step up & take action on any player caught using steroids? Selig saw it coming & should have put the brakes on those players who used steroids a long time ago but no. Then we look at Bonds breaking the record books...& our cries of disgust become even more apparent: "Why?"
Bonds took the shortcut to success with steroids & compromised a whole sport in the process. Amazingly enough, he didn't need to use steroids, being the great player that he was. And yet being the great player that he is, he was human. In the world of jazz, John Coltrane performed music that scaled even the heavens in its passion & intensity but nonetheless he was human & didn't need to go the Barry Bonds route to make such great music.
Getting back to Barry though. There is a big price to pay for using steroids & he should have paid for it a while back. And yet here we are, looking at him hit homer #756 off a pitcher who had every urge to keep Bonds in check for the whole night...until one bad pitch changed history. And that one bad pitch raised enough eyebrows the whole world over.
I still can't believe it. Really, after all this time, I don't think anyone else can believe it either.
The only way to go from here is up!!
Finally!!
Ball State took its final steps in healing a wounded men's basketball program when they hired Billy Taylor (whose previous stint was at Lehigh University) as head coach. Now the only way the Cards can go from this moment on is up & the timing couldn't be better.
After all the negatives & drama which marred last season, it's Taylor's chance to restore luster to an otherwise faded program. Not only that, one hopes that he can once more make the Cards one of the MAC's elite teams...something Ronny Thompson could not accomplish during his year or so at the helm.
Indeed, Taylor is a perfect candidate for this position: with Midwestern roots, head coaching experience which really helped him out in the long run no matter what league his teams played in (none more so than in the Patriot League!!)...wow!! Now that's a far cry from Thompson's standoffish, East Coast antics & mentality. What makes Billy Taylor stand out even more is he actually cares about the student-athletes & has the will to win. If BSU AD Tom Collins ever found first-rate coaching material, he made a good call in getting Taylor. And God willing, he could make a positive impact on a program which just last season reached its nadir & the worst of its suffering. I wish Billy Taylor the best of luck this season; from here on out, the only way to go is up & I'm confident that he will make the Cardinals winners again.
Ball State took its final steps in healing a wounded men's basketball program when they hired Billy Taylor (whose previous stint was at Lehigh University) as head coach. Now the only way the Cards can go from this moment on is up & the timing couldn't be better.
After all the negatives & drama which marred last season, it's Taylor's chance to restore luster to an otherwise faded program. Not only that, one hopes that he can once more make the Cards one of the MAC's elite teams...something Ronny Thompson could not accomplish during his year or so at the helm.
Indeed, Taylor is a perfect candidate for this position: with Midwestern roots, head coaching experience which really helped him out in the long run no matter what league his teams played in (none more so than in the Patriot League!!)...wow!! Now that's a far cry from Thompson's standoffish, East Coast antics & mentality. What makes Billy Taylor stand out even more is he actually cares about the student-athletes & has the will to win. If BSU AD Tom Collins ever found first-rate coaching material, he made a good call in getting Taylor. And God willing, he could make a positive impact on a program which just last season reached its nadir & the worst of its suffering. I wish Billy Taylor the best of luck this season; from here on out, the only way to go is up & I'm confident that he will make the Cardinals winners again.
Oh me, oh my, O'Neal!!
I thought Kobe Bryant was the worst when it came to going on verbal offensives. Boy, was I wrong.
Now it's Jermaine O'Neal's turn to speak his mind & from what we've heard on Sunday & Monday, it's hard to say just what he's thinking. In fact, it's hard to know exactly which direction he wants to go for this season.
First off, at a charity hoops game in L.A. he told several media sources that he wanted to be traded over to the Los Angeles Lakers, perhaps New Jersey if anyone could help it. He said it best when he said in various reports, "It's time for me to move on...and the Lakers are the team I want Indiana to trade me to." Then on Monday, he did a complete about-face with the media, saying that he wasn't asking for a trade to the Lakers, Nets, or any other team who wants to snatch him up; he really meant to say that if the Pacers should have a oh-so-much-crap season, if this is the rebuilding year everyone is saying this season is going to be, then he'd be up for a trade to either the East or West Coast.
What was that again, Jermaine? Did he just say he wanted to be traded now? Or later, should the Pacers stink to high heavens? At this point, he wasn't about to say, "People are taking this whole thing out of context," or, "They misquoted me, man!! What they're giving you is speculation." He said what he said, even though he realized that his words weren't going to sit well with too many folks, not in the Pacers front office & not in the city of Indianapolis itself, where longtime Pacers fans have had to endure enough nonsensical routines over the past few years or so. And come to think of it, his words, even for all the goodwill in them, might backfire on him.
But why? You may ask. Well, trying to make a reasonable deal in the NBA is a serious job, & the demands he's asking are a bit much for any GM to pull off without any qualms. The Pacers, as it is, are in no mood to make a trade under duress again. They had to let go of Ron Artest after his constant trade demands. They had to let go of Stephen Jackson after that whole nightclub incident. With O'Neal, it's a different story, since there isn't any pressure for the Pacers to get rid of him & send him elsewhere. I mean, his threat of wanting out of the tail end of his contract is farcical; how many people believe that O'Neal will find another NBA team who's willing to pay him approximately $43 mil over 2 years?
Going back to a meeting he had on Monday with Bob Kravitz, a writer for The Indianapolis Star, O'Neal said on Sunday that "...he didn't want to be part of a rebuilding program..." But the very next day O'Neal drew a conclusion that no one wants to hear when he remarked that "...the Pacers are heading nowhere." If memory serves me rightly, such sentiments aren't healthy, & are reminiscent of all the tirades which Kobe Bryant has launched against the Lakers. Try as he might, O'Neal tried the Kobe route in praising his Pacers teammates but to no avail as his ultimate coup de grace confirms: "I think (Pacers president Larry Bird and CEO Donnie Walsh) are definitely trying to get better...We got some more shooting, which was something we really needed to improve. But we haven't reached the point where we can be a contender."
Really, Jermaine? If he wants the Pacers to get him out of town, alrighty then. But I'd suggest that he use the route which Reggie Miller took, that is to say, he didn't mutter any complaints or seethe with discontent when the 2000 NBA Finals team got broke up. Then again, that's O'Neal's personal opinion at work & can you blame him for feeling like he does? His team has been going through the motions for the longest time & since the good old days of Brad Miller, he hasn't had a really good big man to back him up. No wonder then that life at Conseco has been full of hard knocks. But just for one time alone, he shouldn't have popped off at the mouth like Kobe.
Perhaps the maxim "Silence is golden" does have some validity after all. But for Jermaine O'Neal, he has made it perfectly clear that he doesn't like the direction his team is headed & his relationship with the Pacers as a result is strained to the core. And if his ties with Indiana must end, it will be on the Pacers' terms alone, not his.
Now it's Jermaine O'Neal's turn to speak his mind & from what we've heard on Sunday & Monday, it's hard to say just what he's thinking. In fact, it's hard to know exactly which direction he wants to go for this season.
First off, at a charity hoops game in L.A. he told several media sources that he wanted to be traded over to the Los Angeles Lakers, perhaps New Jersey if anyone could help it. He said it best when he said in various reports, "It's time for me to move on...and the Lakers are the team I want Indiana to trade me to." Then on Monday, he did a complete about-face with the media, saying that he wasn't asking for a trade to the Lakers, Nets, or any other team who wants to snatch him up; he really meant to say that if the Pacers should have a oh-so-much-crap season, if this is the rebuilding year everyone is saying this season is going to be, then he'd be up for a trade to either the East or West Coast.
What was that again, Jermaine? Did he just say he wanted to be traded now? Or later, should the Pacers stink to high heavens? At this point, he wasn't about to say, "People are taking this whole thing out of context," or, "They misquoted me, man!! What they're giving you is speculation." He said what he said, even though he realized that his words weren't going to sit well with too many folks, not in the Pacers front office & not in the city of Indianapolis itself, where longtime Pacers fans have had to endure enough nonsensical routines over the past few years or so. And come to think of it, his words, even for all the goodwill in them, might backfire on him.
But why? You may ask. Well, trying to make a reasonable deal in the NBA is a serious job, & the demands he's asking are a bit much for any GM to pull off without any qualms. The Pacers, as it is, are in no mood to make a trade under duress again. They had to let go of Ron Artest after his constant trade demands. They had to let go of Stephen Jackson after that whole nightclub incident. With O'Neal, it's a different story, since there isn't any pressure for the Pacers to get rid of him & send him elsewhere. I mean, his threat of wanting out of the tail end of his contract is farcical; how many people believe that O'Neal will find another NBA team who's willing to pay him approximately $43 mil over 2 years?
Going back to a meeting he had on Monday with Bob Kravitz, a writer for The Indianapolis Star, O'Neal said on Sunday that "...he didn't want to be part of a rebuilding program..." But the very next day O'Neal drew a conclusion that no one wants to hear when he remarked that "...the Pacers are heading nowhere." If memory serves me rightly, such sentiments aren't healthy, & are reminiscent of all the tirades which Kobe Bryant has launched against the Lakers. Try as he might, O'Neal tried the Kobe route in praising his Pacers teammates but to no avail as his ultimate coup de grace confirms: "I think (Pacers president Larry Bird and CEO Donnie Walsh) are definitely trying to get better...We got some more shooting, which was something we really needed to improve. But we haven't reached the point where we can be a contender."
Really, Jermaine? If he wants the Pacers to get him out of town, alrighty then. But I'd suggest that he use the route which Reggie Miller took, that is to say, he didn't mutter any complaints or seethe with discontent when the 2000 NBA Finals team got broke up. Then again, that's O'Neal's personal opinion at work & can you blame him for feeling like he does? His team has been going through the motions for the longest time & since the good old days of Brad Miller, he hasn't had a really good big man to back him up. No wonder then that life at Conseco has been full of hard knocks. But just for one time alone, he shouldn't have popped off at the mouth like Kobe.
Perhaps the maxim "Silence is golden" does have some validity after all. But for Jermaine O'Neal, he has made it perfectly clear that he doesn't like the direction his team is headed & his relationship with the Pacers as a result is strained to the core. And if his ties with Indiana must end, it will be on the Pacers' terms alone, not his.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Ready To Go?!
It's just a matter of time...
When it comes down to Fraternity Recruitment, it doesn't hurt to see to it that you've got much of your recruiting groundwork done & ready to go for this autumn. And of course, in order to do that, it pays to start early & plan in advance.
For each chapter who's got the memos from their recruitment chairmen already, keeping on the same page is not only key but a big deal. It also shows that when it comes to looking for quality members who could prove to be an asset for our respective fraternities, we're doing the little things right. It's not a matter of leapfrogging over one another to see which house gets the most men; the whole idea of Recruitment is always quality over quantity & should stay that way. Likewise, it's not about putting prospectives under duress to join, say, SAE or Sigma Chi. If this was our modus operandi, think of how many men we could be losing to other houses or those men who swear off Greek life altogether. Each chapter has a job to do & a very important one at that to be perfectly honest.
When it comes to finding men of integrity, true gentlemen or men of good character, it pays to keep networking with incoming freshmen/folks who didn't go Greek their freshman year. If they should plan on going Greek, they're better prepared for a much more challenging journey which isn't too far off.
Until then, there's still work which needs to be done.
When it comes down to Fraternity Recruitment, it doesn't hurt to see to it that you've got much of your recruiting groundwork done & ready to go for this autumn. And of course, in order to do that, it pays to start early & plan in advance.
For each chapter who's got the memos from their recruitment chairmen already, keeping on the same page is not only key but a big deal. It also shows that when it comes to looking for quality members who could prove to be an asset for our respective fraternities, we're doing the little things right. It's not a matter of leapfrogging over one another to see which house gets the most men; the whole idea of Recruitment is always quality over quantity & should stay that way. Likewise, it's not about putting prospectives under duress to join, say, SAE or Sigma Chi. If this was our modus operandi, think of how many men we could be losing to other houses or those men who swear off Greek life altogether. Each chapter has a job to do & a very important one at that to be perfectly honest.
When it comes to finding men of integrity, true gentlemen or men of good character, it pays to keep networking with incoming freshmen/folks who didn't go Greek their freshman year. If they should plan on going Greek, they're better prepared for a much more challenging journey which isn't too far off.
Until then, there's still work which needs to be done.
Just like starting over
In a little more than a week, folks left & right will be flocking down to their respective colleges/universities to start off their lives as freshmen, green to everything that there is to know about campus life. Not only will they gradually become acquainted with their surroundings; they will also be away from home for most of their several months at State U. At the same time, they're looking for organizations which they can be/stay actively involved in as well as take on roles which they excelled at during their high school days.
Where do we as members of the Greek community factor into all of this?
Our involvement in showing them the ropes on Greek life is essential; in fact, when it comes to looking for quality men & women for our organizations, our involvement is crucial. And on their first official weekend on campus, this is all the more so. When they visit our Activity Fairs, this is where we not merely need to make an impact & make our voices heard, but it is also our time to address the hundredfold positive aspects about Greek life in general - not only for the whole system but also for our respective chapters as well. This isn't to say that we have to be severe with them, like, "You go Greek or else!!" No, our objectives aren't about pressuring them to join a Greek organization; rather, they're about giving them a chance to weigh their options before they make the first small steps into going Greek.
Is this to say we need to put off the issue on Recruitment until then? No way. For those who are all ready to go to work on finding quality members for their organizations, I commend them a lot. For those who are procrastinating, putting it off until the 11th hour...I don't feel pity for those individuals. But to keep things going on the up & up, I sure hope that we're making the issue of Recruitment known to the prospectives/incoming freshmen even before they set foot on campus, as part of a yearlong process which has been stressed who knows how many times.
If I can help adding a few additional cents in the matter, Facebook isn't the only place to find new members; if we went to high school with them, know of friends who have friends who'd like to go Greek but are debating the issue, have relatives/brothers... who just graduated from high school & know of other friends who'd like to give the Greek system a go, the possibilities of such networking are beneficial. To say that they're endless is a bit of an understatement, since these approaches not only give us a chance to see who's fit for our chapters & who isn't; they also could provide us with folks who are willing to make an impact & get involved for us as well.
At this point in time, we've got our work cut out for us. The next thing at this juncture is to formulate what kind of chapters we truly are when the Activity Fairs roll around the corner.
Fire up!!
Where do we as members of the Greek community factor into all of this?
Our involvement in showing them the ropes on Greek life is essential; in fact, when it comes to looking for quality men & women for our organizations, our involvement is crucial. And on their first official weekend on campus, this is all the more so. When they visit our Activity Fairs, this is where we not merely need to make an impact & make our voices heard, but it is also our time to address the hundredfold positive aspects about Greek life in general - not only for the whole system but also for our respective chapters as well. This isn't to say that we have to be severe with them, like, "You go Greek or else!!" No, our objectives aren't about pressuring them to join a Greek organization; rather, they're about giving them a chance to weigh their options before they make the first small steps into going Greek.
Is this to say we need to put off the issue on Recruitment until then? No way. For those who are all ready to go to work on finding quality members for their organizations, I commend them a lot. For those who are procrastinating, putting it off until the 11th hour...I don't feel pity for those individuals. But to keep things going on the up & up, I sure hope that we're making the issue of Recruitment known to the prospectives/incoming freshmen even before they set foot on campus, as part of a yearlong process which has been stressed who knows how many times.
If I can help adding a few additional cents in the matter, Facebook isn't the only place to find new members; if we went to high school with them, know of friends who have friends who'd like to go Greek but are debating the issue, have relatives/brothers... who just graduated from high school & know of other friends who'd like to give the Greek system a go, the possibilities of such networking are beneficial. To say that they're endless is a bit of an understatement, since these approaches not only give us a chance to see who's fit for our chapters & who isn't; they also could provide us with folks who are willing to make an impact & get involved for us as well.
At this point in time, we've got our work cut out for us. The next thing at this juncture is to formulate what kind of chapters we truly are when the Activity Fairs roll around the corner.
Fire up!!
Monday, August 6, 2007
Setting new standards
In 1998, Tortoise released one of the most defining post-rock masterpieces of all time, TNT. With its amalgamation of various musical styles (Krautrock, jazz, fusion, electronic, dub just to name a few) TNT put the Chicago collective on the map in more ways than one. First of all, Tortoise gave us a fresh & groundbreaking approach on how music should not only sound, but also be listened to. Secondly, they used the studio as a key piece of instrumentation, developing compositions not just as they went along but also through remixing & editing as well. (Brian Eno's Another Green World, Miles Davis' In A Silent Way & B----es' Brew are three like-minded works by musicians who used the recording studio not as a mere workshop/creative laboratory but at the same time, as a musical instrument brimming with endless possibilities.)
And third, they gave us music which was not only to be heard but also visualized...aka the perfect roadtrip music, no matter where you might end up going.
Four score & three years later, in the winter of 2001, Tortoise came back with a vengeance on their fourth release, Standards. In a sense, this is a slight departure from the musical formula they took with TNT. And yet this is still quintessentially Tortoise through & through. The opener, "Seneca," starts off with an outburst of keyboards, two drummers, bass & a guitar droning out its statement of intent Spaghetti-western style. After the prelims are out of the way, the collective does what they do best: gets their groove on like a well-timed machine...think of Krautrock meeting hip-hop beats; you get the picture. Eventually, it dissolves into an atonal soundscape of bleeped-out synths & Steve Reich-ish vibraphone playing which defines "Eros." This track is like robotic hip-hop at its finest & yet so danceable, proof that Tortoise's love for electronic & computer music is very much alive & well. "Benway" in the first half is entirely synthesized but eventually morphs into a prog-jazz delight with breaks that sound like someone stumbling down stairs...then it drifts off into the ambient ether of "Firefly."
If there is something to be said about this much of the musical adventure so far, it could be best summed up in three words: an awesome surprise!! The rest of Standards is equally impressive down to the final track, "Speakeasy." But to go off on a tangent: "Monica" is the centerpiece which keeps the second half of Standards flowing smoothly. This track reveals not only (Tortoise multi-instrumentalist/engineer/mixer) John McEntire's ability to piece together a hypnotic composition out of so many separate parts (via remixing & nifty editing among other things) but also his ability to keep the composition's central melody moving along while instrumentation drifts in & out of the mix like ghosts lost in space. Just think of having John McEntire as a remixer extraordinaire with hip-hop beats or even tracks...this is the feel of a hip-hop tune gone prog but, man, is it such a beautiful work though!!
Standards, if not better than its predecessor, is equally good & given the work ethic on which this Chicago fivesome has felt comfortable operating in, the time spent in the studio once again paid huge dividends. If memory serves me well, this release has also proven that Tortoise has remained distinct in their own way, if not exclusively on their own terms, as one of the more formidable shape-shifting bands of our day & age.
And third, they gave us music which was not only to be heard but also visualized...aka the perfect roadtrip music, no matter where you might end up going.
Four score & three years later, in the winter of 2001, Tortoise came back with a vengeance on their fourth release, Standards. In a sense, this is a slight departure from the musical formula they took with TNT. And yet this is still quintessentially Tortoise through & through. The opener, "Seneca," starts off with an outburst of keyboards, two drummers, bass & a guitar droning out its statement of intent Spaghetti-western style. After the prelims are out of the way, the collective does what they do best: gets their groove on like a well-timed machine...think of Krautrock meeting hip-hop beats; you get the picture. Eventually, it dissolves into an atonal soundscape of bleeped-out synths & Steve Reich-ish vibraphone playing which defines "Eros." This track is like robotic hip-hop at its finest & yet so danceable, proof that Tortoise's love for electronic & computer music is very much alive & well. "Benway" in the first half is entirely synthesized but eventually morphs into a prog-jazz delight with breaks that sound like someone stumbling down stairs...then it drifts off into the ambient ether of "Firefly."
If there is something to be said about this much of the musical adventure so far, it could be best summed up in three words: an awesome surprise!! The rest of Standards is equally impressive down to the final track, "Speakeasy." But to go off on a tangent: "Monica" is the centerpiece which keeps the second half of Standards flowing smoothly. This track reveals not only (Tortoise multi-instrumentalist/engineer/mixer) John McEntire's ability to piece together a hypnotic composition out of so many separate parts (via remixing & nifty editing among other things) but also his ability to keep the composition's central melody moving along while instrumentation drifts in & out of the mix like ghosts lost in space. Just think of having John McEntire as a remixer extraordinaire with hip-hop beats or even tracks...this is the feel of a hip-hop tune gone prog but, man, is it such a beautiful work though!!
Standards, if not better than its predecessor, is equally good & given the work ethic on which this Chicago fivesome has felt comfortable operating in, the time spent in the studio once again paid huge dividends. If memory serves me well, this release has also proven that Tortoise has remained distinct in their own way, if not exclusively on their own terms, as one of the more formidable shape-shifting bands of our day & age.
All The Rage
At long last.
Barry Bonds sensed that he would finally catch up with Hank Aaron, baseball's all-time leader in home runs. I never dreamed that it would take several games to accomplish his latest feat. But on Saturday night he did just that, hitting his 755th homer, hushing up plenty of doubters & haters who felt he wasn't even worthy of making this milestone in baseball history.
And yet he did it again. But this isn't to say he hasn't left a trail of anti-Bonds sentiments floating around. Some say his latest home run should have an asterisk attached to it, implying that this 755th home run (& some of the homers leading up to it) is & will always be a moot subject to delve into. "If only (MLB commissioner) Bud Selig banned Barry Bonds from ever playing in a Giants uniform again, we wouldn't have this fiasco, this heated debate on whether or not Bonds' latest accomplishment is even legitimate to begin with." "How many homers did that dude hit when he was roided up? You tell me why he deserves all these accolades - to be honest with you, he doesn't."
Of course, they feel this record should be challenged like everything else in the world of professional sports or even in the NCAA, if they feel it's questionable or raises the slightest air of misgivings/suspicions. Why shouldn't it be? For those folks who are anti-Bonds at heart, the very reason why it should be contested is simple: drugs. The very people who felt Selig wasn't doing enough to ban Bonds from baseball feel that one of their favorite sports has been tainted forever by one home run, one hit, one man who they feel is way past his playing prime.
And yet his 755th homer still stands for the moment, written down in the record books. There's not much else we can do but hope that Barry surpasses Hank Aaron as baseball's all-time home-run king. And the battle rages on, controversy & all.
Barry Bonds sensed that he would finally catch up with Hank Aaron, baseball's all-time leader in home runs. I never dreamed that it would take several games to accomplish his latest feat. But on Saturday night he did just that, hitting his 755th homer, hushing up plenty of doubters & haters who felt he wasn't even worthy of making this milestone in baseball history.
And yet he did it again. But this isn't to say he hasn't left a trail of anti-Bonds sentiments floating around. Some say his latest home run should have an asterisk attached to it, implying that this 755th home run (& some of the homers leading up to it) is & will always be a moot subject to delve into. "If only (MLB commissioner) Bud Selig banned Barry Bonds from ever playing in a Giants uniform again, we wouldn't have this fiasco, this heated debate on whether or not Bonds' latest accomplishment is even legitimate to begin with." "How many homers did that dude hit when he was roided up? You tell me why he deserves all these accolades - to be honest with you, he doesn't."
Of course, they feel this record should be challenged like everything else in the world of professional sports or even in the NCAA, if they feel it's questionable or raises the slightest air of misgivings/suspicions. Why shouldn't it be? For those folks who are anti-Bonds at heart, the very reason why it should be contested is simple: drugs. The very people who felt Selig wasn't doing enough to ban Bonds from baseball feel that one of their favorite sports has been tainted forever by one home run, one hit, one man who they feel is way past his playing prime.
And yet his 755th homer still stands for the moment, written down in the record books. There's not much else we can do but hope that Barry surpasses Hank Aaron as baseball's all-time home-run king. And the battle rages on, controversy & all.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Bridge talk
Whenever news about the Minnesota bridge collapse comes up, I can't help but wonder: when it comes to maintaining our bridges, are we doing a good enough job? Or are we cutting corners in an attempt to tell the public that our bridges are in tip-top shape when in reality they aren't? Or have we just fallen asleep on the whole matter altogether?
Right here in Indiana, I feel that we're doing a pretty awesome job in seeing to it that our bridges are maintained & kept in sufficient shape & if we know of bridges which have structural issues which may render them a danger to motorists & pedestrians alike, we're informing folks ASAP that they may be closed indefinitely for the necessary repairs. When it comes to the safety of others, notifying us of bridge closings/repairs is a must; not only that, it shows that we do care about safety first & foremost.
What can I say about the rest of the US in terms of how we upkeep our bridges? I'm not so sure. But the last time that I checked, the overall assessment didn't look very promising. I mean, for our DOTs (or Departments of Transportation) to go to sleep on bridge maintenance is downright inexcusable. The Minneapolis bridge disaster could easily have been avoided if folks took the time & wherewithal to diagnose the structural issues & repair that bridge accordingly. Not to be bitter, far from it; but to be honest, when it comes to keeping our bridges in awesome shape, the rest of the States are woefully lagging behind. And that's truly distressing.
Another issue to take note of is people who choose not to comply with weight restrictions on certain bridges; this, too, is a great way to cause those specific bridges to collapse/get torn out of whack/have structural issues which make it unsafe for any use whatsoever. I mean, if you're going to cross a bridge which has a weight limit of 8 tons, you don't want to drive a semi or 18-wheeler across that thing; some people have forgotten to do the math, it seems. And they wonder why certain bridges have been lost or doomed to the elements (i.e. abandoned). If only these weight restrictions were followed to a T, these issues wouldn't have to be reiterated time & time again. But unfortunately they must be; otherwise such needless incidents wouldn't keep occurring.
It doesn't take a genius to find out when a bridge has something amiss, it either a) needs to be replaced or at the least b) repaired properly to ensure a high sufficiency rating. These two solutions are the mark of DOTs who know the task at hand & how to get their bridge work done right & in line with regulations. Those DOTs who haven't gotten the info are the reason why we've gotten such an awful assessment when it comes to our bridges in general.
Right here in Indiana, I feel that we're doing a pretty awesome job in seeing to it that our bridges are maintained & kept in sufficient shape & if we know of bridges which have structural issues which may render them a danger to motorists & pedestrians alike, we're informing folks ASAP that they may be closed indefinitely for the necessary repairs. When it comes to the safety of others, notifying us of bridge closings/repairs is a must; not only that, it shows that we do care about safety first & foremost.
What can I say about the rest of the US in terms of how we upkeep our bridges? I'm not so sure. But the last time that I checked, the overall assessment didn't look very promising. I mean, for our DOTs (or Departments of Transportation) to go to sleep on bridge maintenance is downright inexcusable. The Minneapolis bridge disaster could easily have been avoided if folks took the time & wherewithal to diagnose the structural issues & repair that bridge accordingly. Not to be bitter, far from it; but to be honest, when it comes to keeping our bridges in awesome shape, the rest of the States are woefully lagging behind. And that's truly distressing.
Another issue to take note of is people who choose not to comply with weight restrictions on certain bridges; this, too, is a great way to cause those specific bridges to collapse/get torn out of whack/have structural issues which make it unsafe for any use whatsoever. I mean, if you're going to cross a bridge which has a weight limit of 8 tons, you don't want to drive a semi or 18-wheeler across that thing; some people have forgotten to do the math, it seems. And they wonder why certain bridges have been lost or doomed to the elements (i.e. abandoned). If only these weight restrictions were followed to a T, these issues wouldn't have to be reiterated time & time again. But unfortunately they must be; otherwise such needless incidents wouldn't keep occurring.
It doesn't take a genius to find out when a bridge has something amiss, it either a) needs to be replaced or at the least b) repaired properly to ensure a high sufficiency rating. These two solutions are the mark of DOTs who know the task at hand & how to get their bridge work done right & in line with regulations. Those DOTs who haven't gotten the info are the reason why we've gotten such an awful assessment when it comes to our bridges in general.
Ah, what a long road Barry Bonds has to take to reach home run #755. In the past few games, the Los Angeles Dodgers just made his chances of tying Hank Aaron's all-time HR record a distant reality as well. If that's not enough, San Diego's going to make things even more difficult for Bonds as he chases that ever elusive 755th homer & a chance to eventually crack the record books.
So much for all the hype of him making baseball history anytime soon.
It seems that Bonds is still stuck at point A, trying to reach point B...you have to give credit to the opponents' pitching corps for keeping Barry in check so far. For a lot of folks who are anxiously anticipating him hitting #755, chances are it might be a long wait. Or should I say a really long wait.
But Padres pitcher Greg Maddux has been victimized regularly by Bonds for the longest time, giving up 8 homers to the man himself. The question is, can he clamp the screws down even tighter on Barry's quest to shatter a pretty formidable record? Of course he can...& I'm sure a lot of folks who can't stand Barry Bonds at all will agree.
So much for all the hype of him making baseball history anytime soon.
It seems that Bonds is still stuck at point A, trying to reach point B...you have to give credit to the opponents' pitching corps for keeping Barry in check so far. For a lot of folks who are anxiously anticipating him hitting #755, chances are it might be a long wait. Or should I say a really long wait.
But Padres pitcher Greg Maddux has been victimized regularly by Bonds for the longest time, giving up 8 homers to the man himself. The question is, can he clamp the screws down even tighter on Barry's quest to shatter a pretty formidable record? Of course he can...& I'm sure a lot of folks who can't stand Barry Bonds at all will agree.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Q&A
A month after Zimbabwean autocrat Robert Mugabe issued a decree to merchants to counter constant hyperinflation by slashing prices down to half the original cost or more, the nation's long-suffering economy is at a standstill.
I mean, what was Mugabe trying to gain by telling merchants to slash down their prices in an attempt to get all this horrific inflation off Zimbabwe's back? From the looks of things, nothing has been accomplished but more tribulations & suffering.
Basic essentials like sugar & cornmeal have disappeared. So has meat. Gasoline is practically unaffordable. Patients in hospitals are dying because of an immense shortage of basic medical supplies. Such things as power shortages & water cutoffs are becoming commonplace. In the case of manufacturing, business is down to a mere trickle since hardly any businesses can produce goods which cost less than what the government demands they should be. Raw materials are almost out of the picture since suppliers have to sell to factories at a loss. Businesses are cutting down on labor & reducing their work hours...all this in the name of combating severe overinflation.
Look at what life in Zimbabwe has come to & it would be best summed up in two words: "Dire straits." Or "sheer survival" if you will. However, it is not the underclass (which comprises the majority of the nation's 10-11 million people) who are likely to be affected by the latest crimp on their country's economical well-being: the rural poor survive on whatever they're able to grow; both rural & urban poor are lucky enough to be staying afloat on food & money which their relations/friends have sent from abroad.
Rather, it is the middle class who will feel the brunt of the decree which Mugabe has imposed. Somehow slugging by for several years running, they will soon be new casualties to an epidemic of poverty which has already engulfed Zimbabwe to the gills. For the 15 to 20% of Zimbabweans who still have employment, factory shutdowns & layoffs are the last thing they want to hear about, given the fact that unemployment is rampant throughout the country. Pensioners, whose incomes have been virtually reduced to almost nil through inflation, are discovering that no amount of money can pay for the basic necessities which they are most reliant on.
This is to say how troubling the economic situation has become in Zimbabwe; for those who choose not to comply with Mugabe's draconian orders, jail time or the forced closure of their stores (by the government) are the two end results.
An old saying used to go that things must get worse before they get better. In Zimbabwe, worse has only come to worst. For the majority of the nation, it will only be a matter of time before the inevitable must be faced once & for all. The next question is, when will that moment of truth arrive?
I mean, what was Mugabe trying to gain by telling merchants to slash down their prices in an attempt to get all this horrific inflation off Zimbabwe's back? From the looks of things, nothing has been accomplished but more tribulations & suffering.
Basic essentials like sugar & cornmeal have disappeared. So has meat. Gasoline is practically unaffordable. Patients in hospitals are dying because of an immense shortage of basic medical supplies. Such things as power shortages & water cutoffs are becoming commonplace. In the case of manufacturing, business is down to a mere trickle since hardly any businesses can produce goods which cost less than what the government demands they should be. Raw materials are almost out of the picture since suppliers have to sell to factories at a loss. Businesses are cutting down on labor & reducing their work hours...all this in the name of combating severe overinflation.
Look at what life in Zimbabwe has come to & it would be best summed up in two words: "Dire straits." Or "sheer survival" if you will. However, it is not the underclass (which comprises the majority of the nation's 10-11 million people) who are likely to be affected by the latest crimp on their country's economical well-being: the rural poor survive on whatever they're able to grow; both rural & urban poor are lucky enough to be staying afloat on food & money which their relations/friends have sent from abroad.
Rather, it is the middle class who will feel the brunt of the decree which Mugabe has imposed. Somehow slugging by for several years running, they will soon be new casualties to an epidemic of poverty which has already engulfed Zimbabwe to the gills. For the 15 to 20% of Zimbabweans who still have employment, factory shutdowns & layoffs are the last thing they want to hear about, given the fact that unemployment is rampant throughout the country. Pensioners, whose incomes have been virtually reduced to almost nil through inflation, are discovering that no amount of money can pay for the basic necessities which they are most reliant on.
This is to say how troubling the economic situation has become in Zimbabwe; for those who choose not to comply with Mugabe's draconian orders, jail time or the forced closure of their stores (by the government) are the two end results.
An old saying used to go that things must get worse before they get better. In Zimbabwe, worse has only come to worst. For the majority of the nation, it will only be a matter of time before the inevitable must be faced once & for all. The next question is, when will that moment of truth arrive?
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