PlanetUSF

Today is Ash Wednesday, a very important day in the Catholic church. It is today that all the followers of God through the Catholic church go to a special mass to recieve ashes on their foreheads. The ashes are very symbolic, they mean repentance, remorse and mourning. The ashes are made from burning the palms from the previous Palm Sunday. They are blessed during a sacred ceremony and mixed with olive oil. Each person recieves the ashes on their forehead in the shape of a cross and it is not washed off traditionally until after sundown. As each person recieves the ashes the priest reminds you “remember that you are dust, you came as dust and as dust you shall return.” We must remember that God brought us into this world through breathing the breath of life into a dust made Adam and we will die and be buried and return as dust. This day begins the forty days of Lent, a time that we must give up something dear to us in order to show repentance for God. Back in the day, Jesus gave up food and water for forty days and that is also why we give something up. During Lent you are not allowed to eat any meat on Friday. Ash Wednesday is a time of sober reflection, you are only allowed to eat on whole meal on this day and it cannot have meat. Lent is over on Easter Sunday.

Mardi Gras returns to New Orleans in 2006, the first Mardi Gras after the devastation of New Orleans by Hurrican Katrina. One of the main worries was the safety of performers and citizens during Mardi Gras, but police officials said there was nothing to worry about. Some floats honored lost ones and here is the Mardi Gras link.

Last weekend my fraternity had a Dads Day. It was a day that all of our dads could come hang out with us and get to know some of the brothers. We couldn’t figure out for the longesttime ever what to do on that day. Should we go to a theme park? Or maybe to a sporting event. Well we put our heads together, which isn’t saying much, but we did come up with a solution. How about a fishing trip? So we called the harbour and got a boat all lined up with gear and bait and all that stuff. We were going to fish out of clearwater on the Queen, it didn’t sound like a promising boat but it ended up being a pretty nice boat. We got there at seven thirty in the morning, the pledges made breakfast before we left, and we actually got out around eight thirty. It took two hours to get out to the spot, we would fish for four hours and then drive two hours to get back in. We got to the first spot and everyone was having a good time just hanging out when we got to thinking, we’ve been hanging for awhile and no one has caught a fish. So we moved to the next spot, nothing again. We moved another three or four times and finally someone caught a fish that couldn’t have weighed more than a pound. That was the extent of the fish that we caught all day. We all had a good time though, because we got to hang out with our dads all day long.

There is a very scary site that some of you might want to see or might not want to see I’ll give you a brief preview. To see why Barry Bonds is dressed up in drag, finish reading the entire story. You won’t guess why he doing it. See more here.

On February 24, the most touching story I have heard in a long time happened when an autistic senior called “J-Mac” by teammates did the unthinkable. “J-Mac” is an autistic senior at Greece Athena High school and scored a remakrkable 20 points in under 4 minutes of play in the fourth quarter. J-Mac has been the team manager since eleventh grade and never got the oppurtunity to ever play in a live high school basketball game. Not only was it his first game to ever play in its probably be going to be the first thing he thinks about every morning for the next couple of years. To just see this young man do the unthinkable was just touching and anybody with some sort of heart will feel some sort of emotion after watching the video. To just see the whole student body erupt after him scoring these points and carrying him off the court like a vintage Rudy was just something that I will personally not forget until the day I die. Unfortunately J-Mac is back in his shirt and tie while his team performs in the playoffs. I just don’t understand that after the performance he put on in just about 4 minutes. To see the video of this heroic performance click here, you will be moved greatly.

Over the past semester and a half, I have seen Spiderman 2 at least twenty-five times. I don’t know if anyone else feels the way I do, but I am getting sick and tired of the repeats HBO constantly plays on their six channels available. If HBO would change what they played, I believe people who share the same opinion as I would be very happy.

The Daytona 500 is NASCAR’s most prestigious race. Unlike most sports who’s biggest event is the final, NASCARs biggest event is the kick off of the season. With the pressure of the event comes a lot of pressure to do well for sponsors. The Lowes’ team was found to have made an illegal medication to the rear window of the car in order to improve aerodynamics. The crew chief for the car was removed from the race, suspended for 3 more races and fined twenty-five thousand dollars. Driver, Jimmy Johnson went on to win the Daytona 500 after his car was put back into specs. NBC NASCAR reported Allen Beswick says that Johnson should have been docked point for the win even though the car met all the post race specifications. I think that this is ridiculous; he was already penalized by forcing to start at the back of the qualifying races due to the infraction. The medication was corrected before the start of the race and the car was found to be legal during the race. Beswick states that NASCAR in the past has fined by docking points in the past. But Beswick fail to acknowledge that there have been just as many situations were there were no points penalties and very small fines. NASCAR unlike many sanctioning bodies is privately owned. Over the years NASCAR was always done what it best for NASCAR. They pass rules and make schedule to increase revenue and not to please he racers and the race teams. Not till recently has NASCAR had all of their races broadcast on public T.V., when this finally occurred the sport went Hollywood. Today the sport is no longer about the racing, it instead is about sponsorships dollars, image, and presentation.

The article can be found here.

This past year’s winter Olympics turned out to be one for US skier Bode Miller. Bode Miller has been a great skier for a long time and is also a previous World Cup champion, however this Olympics was one for the American to forget. Bode Miller was the favorite in his numerous events, but the pressure must have got to this skier. Bode skied is scheduled to ski in five events for the United States and is the favorite in just about each, but sloppy preparation has stalled this man from receiving the medals he thought he would receive. Bode Miller was one who believed he was allowed to do anything he wanted the night before one of his competitions, whether or not it was drinking or just being out late. Miller’s competition rose this year for the Olympics. Three Austrians were Bode Miller’s major threat, though each person who qualifies for the Olympics is a threat to the favorites in the specific events. Miller was disqualified for his combined Alpine event because he was straddling a gate, just when he thought he built up a large enough lead to win his first gold medal. After finding out he was disqualified, Miller seemed to not really care. He said it was up to the US team coaches whether or not to protest the ruling made by the Olympic judges. He did not want to protest. Miller was quoted saying, “If it’s clear, it’s clear.” Clearly he did not want to protest and must have known he would be disqualified for missing his gate.

Parkinson’s is one of the most debilitating diseases in the United States. According to the article about 1.5 million Americans have Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease slowly effects the communication of the brain with muscle tissue. The disease destroys the brain cells that produce the chemical dopamine. The thinking part of the brains remains strong but the communication with the rest of the body is interrupted. As the process continues the body appears to have tremors, poor balance, and slow movements. Muhammad Ali and Michael J. Fox are two famous people who have fallen ill due to Parkinson’s. A recently preformed study suggests that there are possible supplements that could be taken to reduce the chances of developing Parkinson’s. The study suggested that a person who consumed creatine and the antibiotic minocycline. Creatine is a supplement used by many athletes and in particular bodybuilders. The supplements are thought to reduce the cell stress as well as reduce the inflammation. The researchers called these to chemicals neroprotectors. The researchers hope that a possible pill could be produced to protect the body against the disease, similar to the way that aspirin is used to prevent heart attack. It is important to realize that these are not cures. They only are supplements that slow down the diseases symptoms.

Here is a link to the study

This Sunday was a big day for all Swedish people. Sweden won the biggest ice hockey tournament in the world, the Olympic Games. Before the final, Finland was undefeated in the tournament; they had beaten everybody in the group play and were the favorites to the victory.
When the big day came, everybody in Sweden and Finland were extremely nervous. This was not only an Olympic final, but also a derby between the Scandinavian countries. It was not only the Olympic title that was on stage, but also the prestige of being the best Scandinavian team.
I am not going to lie, the game was even. Sweden scored 3 to 2 in the third period and Finland had a lot of good opportunities to catch up with Sweden before the game was over. Fortunately for Sweden, they did not and Sweden won their seventh gold medal in the Olympics 2006.

Chapter four in the Inventing Arguments book is titled “Arguing Meaning.” From this chapter we learn that everything we know of has a specific meaning, however many things in our society can and usually do have more than one meaning. This chapter helped us to learn new strategies for discovering new layers of meaning, which will eventually help us develop a more focused argument. In this chapter we learn that the study of meaning is often referred to as hermeneutics and also that text can refer to any type of written document or a specific event. Meaning does not just occur when something is created, but people make meaning for these things. Meaning is often created for items as time goes by. Things like history often impact the meaning for items that we use today. As time goes on, we can develop new meanings for things that originally have one type of meaning. Many people like to use rhetoric essays to change meanings of words to give a word or an item a new meaning in our society.

Well since I have forgotten about these blogs the past 2 times they were due I will start my themed blogs now. I will just talk about the happenings in and around our apartment throughout the week. Well I guess I will begin with a introduction and brief history of my roommates and our first semester together. I live with two girls and one guy, Jennifer, Tim, and Alyssa. Its funny that we all live together because at one point we all attended different schools. Alyssa and Tim were born in different states, California and Pennsylvania, Jennifer and I on the other hand were born and raised on opposite ends of Sumter County, where we all would meet. We all met in high school when I transferred to Wildwood High School at the end of tenth grade, we became good friends and decided during senior year that we would live together. We live in Jefferson Commons which is about the shittiest place you could live, but we make the best of it. The first semester was pretty awesome and it just keeps getting better.

My opinions of blogs so far are quite easy. Between my blogs and my two online quizzes it becomes quite hectic to keep up with all my online work. This is my first time taking online classes and I believe it was a mistake to take online classes the same time I am taking Composition II. The classes are not hard, but they are just time consuming because you just have to read textbooks and take online quizzes and tests. It is just a major hassle with the lifestyle I like to live.

The online article I chose to read about is for the World Cup that is happening this summer in Germany. I have played soccer for the last fifteen years of my life so as you can tell soccer is a big part of my life. Every four years, the most prestigious tournament occurs for the world’s most popular sport. The article I read was found on espn.com and was titled, “Rooney confident England will win World Cup.” One of England’s top forwards, Wayne Rooney spoke to an ESPN reporter telling them that he is very confident that England will win this year’s tournament. England is known as one of the top teams in soccer and is typically a favorite to win this tournament every four years. Wayne Rooney goes on to talk about how well the England National Team has been playing and how hard they have been training to get ready for this month and a half long tournament. In my own opinion, I do not believe the England national team will win the World Cup this summer. Over the last World Cup and the Euro 2004, England has choked under pressure when it counted. I enjoy watching England play because they play a very calm and possessive style of soccer, but I think teams like Argentina, Brazil, and the Netherlands have the best shot to win the World Cup because they are the top three teams in the world according to FIFA. The World Cup kicks off in June and will continue to run through until mid July and I cannot wait for this tournament to begin.

This week was kind of tough because Monday we ran at 5am and plus wednesday and thursday we do the same thing. Also the reason why they are working us so hard is because they believe that we can be the best team in the BigEast which we can all we got to do is stick together and we will be alright. Meanwhile today in practice was kind of a testing day because the coaches wanna see where were at as far as weight wise and speed wise stuff like that, also we did vertical jump, power cleans and skull crushes. During this week of practice the workouts will be quick and easy because the coaches are kinda giving us a break next week with spring break coming up an all. Finally today we ran extra routes like 1on1 and a little bit of 7on7 just for practice and stuff, also we some of the players we watched film from last season and practice films just to see what mistakes we did and what we can do better for us and the team. Throughly this week shouldn’t be that bad hopefully we don’t have to run that much in practice anymore because winter condition is coming to an end thank goodness.

Apparently the Olympic fire is not sparking more television viewers to watch. So far this year’s Olympic Winter Games’ have had the lowest ratings ever. According to USA Today, the winter games which took place in “Torino, Italy, marked the least-watched Winter Olympics since at least 1988.” Only 20.2 million viewers tuned in for the games which showed on NBC during prime time, according to Nielsen Media Research. The highest viewed event was Thursday’s women’s figure skating finals which lured 25.7 million people to their television sets. The lowest ratings 14 million viewers were recorded for Sunday’s closing ceremony. In comparison, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars finale a show where celebrities get to showcase their dancing skills, received doubled that of the Closing ceremony’s ratings.

There are only guesses for why the ratings are so much lower this winter games, then previous years, one guess is results from the Olympics can be found online, so less people are watching live. Another possible reason for low rating’s might be the wide selection of stations that are showing the Olympics as well as more advertising for other shows which take place during that time slot, therefore spreading out viewers and their numbers among different stations.

As disappointing as these rating might be for NBC, the Winter games were actually Rating Highs for that station in comparison to its other shows. ABC is serious competition that is stealing viewers “thanks to the super bowl and hit drams.”

Even with low ratings NBC is hoping for higher ratings for the Spring Olympics airing later this year.

Gary Levin, “Olympics flame out in ratings” USA TODAY
http ://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-02-27-olympics-ratings_x.htm

Of all the ideas rushing into my head for this week’s random blog topic, I’ve decided to write about Sean Connery’s declining acting skills. One of my favorite actors since childhood has been Sean Connery. He always entertains me with a humorous punch line mixed with a heavy Scottish accent. The first movie I remember seeing Sean Connery in, aside from his commanding force as Agent 007 (James Bond), was in The Rock. Connery played an ex-con named John Mason who was released from prison to help the government capture poisonous rockets from terrorists. The Rock thoroughly entertains me each time it is on. Connery was given another starring role in this film.

My problem lies with recent movies Connery has appeared in. Since his performances as James Bond and other action packed characters, Connery has seemingly dwindled in the roles that he takes in films. What brought this to my mind was a film that appeared on television the other day called “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.” While Connery plays somewhat of a starring role in this film, many other characters distract from his performance. The film did not get great ratings and includes only a few comical Connery quotes. It seems that lately Sean Connery has been taking smaller parts in movies and not giving them his full effort. I would encourage Mr. Connery to give it his best and go out with a bang…..for the children.

The Mellow Mood and The Rising Sun
By Austin Stevens

It’s about nine thirty in the morning and the light from the window is seeping in through the small cracks in the shades, hitting me right in the face telling me to get up and out of whereever I was. I get up and walk around trying to remember what had happened the night before although it was hard because I was still too tipsy to remember, but all I could smell was that sweet smell of Coke a Cola mixed with a hint of Jack Daniels. I walked to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. It looked like I had just ran a marathon but did it in style but some how ended up with various colored stains on my shirt from some food the night before. It didn’t matter how it got there at this point. All that mattered was me getting home and back into my own bed. It was looking in the mirror that made me realize I was at Tom’s house.
I venture around the house and regain my memory, the clothes I was wearing and the carpet all smelled from the night before, but not a bad smell. It was the smell that all kids want to get rid of before their parents get home. The smell of Jack Daniels and Coke a Cola, all around me wafting up my nostrils from each puff of air I felt hit my face from the air conditioning vent above. The scent is inevitable at this point but I am still too tired to get up off the couch which I arose on in bewilderment. So I close my eyes and I am taken into a deep thought and start to remember what happened.
I think hard about what had happened the night before but its hard to get past the bottle of Jack Daniels blocking my thoughts, like a big dam blocking all water from escaping. The smell of the Jacks purity surrounding the air around me isn’t helping, but it was coming back after a few minutes. I start to remember leaving my house and picking up my friend David.
It was mid afternoon and we went to the corner store and bought some cigarettes, I bought two because it was going to be a big night. There was a party at one of my friend’s house’s named Tom and he didn’t want just any party, he wanted everyone who is anyone to be there. Like the movies where the nerds are there with the grunge kids and the jocks are with all the other preppy kids. But everyone is just hanging around kicking back and getting faded with one another. A true way to experience a high school party at its finest we thought.
David and I traveled to John’s house to get with him and his older brother because he has a fake ID and we need alcohol for the party tonight, and lucky me Tom gave me money to spend for the festivities. We all met up with the usual Mango Phillie, then went out to the liquor store near Albertsons; they always have good deals when you need a lot of liquor real fast. After arriving to the liquor store and getting the money together I tell Tom to get five handles of Jack, lots of coke, two liters of Yeager, and some cups. It takes about 25 minutes to gather all the items, but boy does it bring a smile to our faces. After rejoicing we quickly headed over to Tom’s place.
We sit around at Tom’s for about an hour or two and people start showing up by the truck loads. Even other grades were tagging along with our senior friends. It was literally the most diverse crowd coming in through his front door for about five hours. The kids that smell funny were there and so were the kids that no one really knew existed. Some people brought their own beer and we had the fridge packed full by the peak of the night. I remember sitting outside a lot during the party with my own bottle of Jack Daniels in my hand and a cup of Coke a Cola in the other, gulping the Jack like it’s the end of a baby bottle but the bottle was still half full. Letting the good times roll watching all the different people socialize that usually didn’t, everyone feeling the same state of mind and complete relaxation. Everyone was somebody at this party, not just faded and in small groups of gossip but in a group of one.
I remember briefly a keg showing up at the party and everyone drinking it like it was water and they were stranded in the desert. I just sat and absorbed each action that was going on around me, listening to the beat coming out of the stereo, the scent of a burning Phillie fills my lungs but not as much as the scent of my quarter left bottle of Jack Daniels. Knowing that the next day I will feel like crap, I don’t care I just close my eyes and sink into my chair. A boat catches on fire from a flair gun someone shot off, I think to my self hurry run cops are going to come, some one saw the fire devouring the boat, run. But I can’t move. I am too stuck into my seat so I just smile as I watch someone pour a bucket of water on the fierce flames.

I go inside and keep it quiet, while everyone disperses from what was the party of a lifetime, to a quick eight man sausage-fest. Luckily I knew Tom and could stay at his house that night; we sat and talked about the party and how crazy everything was. The party being the best party any of us had ever been to or thrown, all we could do was daze out to the lyrics and feel the alcohol course through our veins to the beat of the music. As I lay on the couch which smells of Jack I think to my self what a crazy night. It will be hard to remember what has happened tonight the next day. All I can do is wait for the rising sun to hit me in the face and then it will be just another exciting day.

HOW CUTE….. THIS was actually awhile ago but I didn’t know what else to post!

Well, lets see. Boyfriend drama for this week??? UMMMMMM…I went to Jacksonville on Thursday, because we were in a silly little arguement and we needed to get it resolved!!! I went up there, and basically everything was fixed..sucks huh?! HAHA, there isn’t much drama this week. I didn’t really get to see him as much as I would have liked because he was occupied with his fraternity, and this other thing called excessive alcohol. BUT… everything actually went well this week, I’m excited! We decided that we are going to try and stay together, and just kind of see what happens. I now go to school, and work during the week…and he goes to school and is currently looking for a job…soooo … I DONT KNOW! I guess only time will be able to tell how long we’ll be together!

After a grueling weekend at work, I decided that I am going to stick to what I’m doing now. I was debating against relocating to the wonderful world of electronics, or simply staying with the box of the register. It’s a horrible world I work in. I’ve decided to make a pin for my lanyard at work that reads: “I can save you $25 in 2 minutes”, and another one that reads: “I speak only English, please, no Spanish”. Now, I know that seems really harsh, but after the past 4 people on Sunday that came up to me and started speaking Spanish to me while I was with a customer I decided that my Spanish speaking skills are my little secret. Now if i really have to, I can- but I don’t like to, since we’re in Florida I’ve always been centered around the art of speaking Spanish, and the fact my mom is Spanish. The best part of no one thinking that you know it is that they will talk about you as if you have no clue, and then saying “have a nice day come back and see us again” in Spanish and seeing their face is priceless.

As a side note, there’s a major credit event going on and they split us up into two teams. My teammates are positive that we are going to win considering that I am the “credit queen” and always have the highest, when in actuality, I will only be there for one of the four days. They are mad at me, and I don’t really care.

This week has been all right in reference to any type of illness. I have yet to get sick again, and have been taking medication in order to prevent further illnesses of ANY sort. Let’s begin with this week’s drama in the dorm wars:
-This week the “Zeta Boys”- well, one of them, decided to flip out on me over a dry erase marker; we are currently not speaking due to the severity of his idiocy.
-Also on the agenda a hidden surprise party for yours truly.
+After I hacked into my roommate’s Myspace account, I found a reply to the invitation to a surprise party for Thursday night. Of course I think she realized that I found out and changed all her passwords (I still think she’s mad at me).
-As for the update on Castor: the devious drama on the fourth through the fifth floor continues. It was a spontaneous plan sparked by “collegehumor.com”. The “Fletcher Wal-Mart” provided my roommate and I the necessities in order for the plan to hop into action. It consisted of 208 solo cups filled with water on a tarp carefully placed in front of a door in the middle of the hallway. A surprise for all- mainly our dorm-war rivals. The best part of all was that the cups spread roughly 3.5 feet by 7 feet. There was no way out, except to move the cups, knock them over, be trapped, or make a run and jump for it. If the latter was chosen, our rivals should compete within the Olympics for the long jump.

This week has just not been up to par compared to last semester, we have to step it up a notch.

While browsing through the Oxford English Dictionary Online, I discovered the word “condecence.” I thought to myself, this is a very interesting sounding word and plus I have never heard of it before. I looked up the definition and the site stated, “Fitness, suitableness.” This word was discovered back in 1678. I believe that this word is to mean either fitness when it comes to our society. The type of society we live in all works together properly and is suitable. When it said fitness, the first thought that came to my mind is personal fitness an individual has. As I read “suitableness” it became clear to me that it had to deal with our society. It’s how proper everything works together. The second word I looked up on the Oxford English Online Dictionary was “nabam.” I discovered that this word is a noun and its definition is, “A water-soluble powder which is a fungicide formerly sprayed on the leaves of plants but now applied to soil to protect against certain root rots.” When I saw this word, I had no idea what it meant, or what it was used for. I quickly learned that it is a pesticide we use to use on leaves to protect plants, but now it is applied to our soil to protect plant roots. It is a very odd sounding word that has been around since the 1950s.