To Be Young Again...

This weekend was one of the better ones I've had in a while. Relaxing, full of good food, and company. While I was attending a graduation party, I got involved in a conversation with a 4th grader going into 5th. I had asked her what is with those silly bandz!? She explained that they were shaped elastics and they were banned from school along with japanese erasers. (I had no IDEA what the japanese erasers were.) The party goes on, and I spend a thrilling Saturday night watching Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I can't say enough about how much I love the book series, and the movies actually. So this all leads me to a question: why do some things take off and some do not? Children are very fickle. How do things like silly bandz become so popular, and so popular they are banned from schools?? How have such series as harry potter taken off with movies, books, and merchandise while others fade away?

Another World Cup Blog

Ok people. We are through game 2. And by "we" I mean the USA World Cup Team. It was a nail biter today! I was working all day, but snuck out of my office to watch 5-10 minutes of action everyone once in a while today. The second half... AMAZING. After being down 2 goals in the first half to Slovenia, we came back.... actually had a THIRD GOAL that would have given us the win, but the officiating sucked today, and our 3rd goal was discounted. GRRRRRR. But, given that the outcome was a tie, we are still in it. Our group is pretty evenly matched, and with an England/Algeria 0-0 tie today we are looking good in our group. So here are the standing after the first 2 games.

Slovenia: 4

United States 2

England 2

Algeria 1

So here is an explination of the points. A win in your group play at the world cup gets you 3 points. A tie gets you 1 point, and a loss gets you nothing. The final game match ups are as follows: USA vs. Algeria and England vs. Slovenia. And here is a break down of the MATH: Get ready it gets a little complicated

If the United States Wins: 5 points If England Wins: 5 points

Loses: 2 points Loses: 2 points

Tie: 3 points Tie: 3 points

If Algeria Wins: 4 points If Slovenia Wins: 7 points

Loses: 1 point Loses: 4 points

Ties: 2 points Ties: 5 points

AHH I love the World Cup!

Everyone wants, what nobody needs

This week has been very musically oriented. I hadn't found anything new to listen to in a while, and this week proved to be an exceptional new music week. I have a problem with CDs. I blame this on my father who always infected our house with music morning, noon, and night. Our father/daughter adventures usually involved a run to Tower Records (RIP), Borders, or Newbury Comics to check out new music, or just scour through the stacks of CDs for something he or I didn't already own. I think our CD collecting (some may call it purchasing, or a sickness) is something I have always found comforting. I have moved onto the digital version of our shopping excursions, but every now and again I'll find something that I really want on CD. I have to be careful when I shop, or else I end up with $50 worth of music before I can even blink an eye. Anyways, let me get back to sharing my new find this week. One of the greatest bands right now is called Delta Spirit. They are from California, and their 2nd full length album came out last week. History from Below is amazing. It has exceeded my expectations for this band. They bring their heart and soul to all of their songs, and such passion! Delta Spirit has so much soul. That's the best thing I can say about them. They are rock and roll, blues, soul, and a bit of California all rolled into one. My suggestion for a sampling would be to download Bushwick Blues off the new album, People C'mon and Children from Ode to Sunshine. This will give you a small slice of all that is Delta Spirit. Or hell, just go out and buy the two albums and you won't be disappointed.

FIFA

I'm continuing my World Cup obsession by blogging about it. Today was the kick off day for World Cup 2010 South Africa. Just to keep everyone up to date: today South Africa played Mexico in the kick-off match, and it ended a tie 1-1. Not a bad showing for the South African team considering that they come into the tournament ranked lower than Mexico. Also Uraguay pulled off a 0-0 tie with France today. Now, for all you out there who don't know. I hate France. I hate France more than any other team in the World Cup. Here is why. France knocked out the Republic of Ireland from the world cup on a HAND BALL goal during the qualifiers and the call didn't get reversed. Ireland was robbed, and since that is my mother's homeland, they would have been my 2nd team to root for after the US. So naturally anything that happens bad for France, is good for me. So tomorrow is the day of all days. The match of all matches. The USA vs. England match is tomorrow. Pre-game coverage starts at 1:30 on ABC. So I have to go to a wedding tomorrow. It's a day wedding. I am excited for the wedding. I am also excited to make friends with the bar tender so he or she puts the game on at the bar. My whole media related portion of this post is to say the the ESPN commercial leading up the match is epic. I saw it 3 or 4 times today while watching RSA vs. MX and UR vs. FR. It has such a great build up, and I think that if they were playing that more and more, and not just on ESPN there would be a lot more hype about the match. More over, I love that the world is involved in watching one sport, for one month. I LOVE the FIFA WORLD CUP!!

Podcast by Bill Simmons, yes please!

I was recently introduced to Bill Simmons Podcast on itunes. If you haven't heard, he doesn't just talk about Basketball. He has recently been talking about what is considered the biggest sporting event in the world that is happening in 1 week (eek!!!) the FIFA 2010 World Cup. Over the last year, I found myself falling deeper and deeper into the world of Soccer. So in 1 week, what is arguably the greatest world sporting event is going to take place. Fans and countries all over the world wait 4 years for another chance at the World Cup. It funny thing is in the United States, there doesn't seem to be that much hype about it. I was a bbq this weekend, and myself and my boyfriend were the only two remotely excited about it, or knew much about it. I've been mapping out a schedule of games, and times and trying to figure out how I'm going to get to watch some of the matches during the day. All over the world, things stop when a match is on. That is all a whole country will focus on for 90 minutes. So this Podcast was with an English journalist who write for ESPN covering world soccer events and news. It was great to hear a global perspective on the world cup. More interesting was hear that the rest of the world, especially global press don't even think the US has a chance at the Cup. I think this particular podcast really got me thinking about global media and, using the world cup as an example, has a completely different view of the world than we do. I think its fascinating to see how we are represented in the global press just with soccer. I can't imagine how the world perceives us on other issues. In any event, the FIFA 2010 WORLD CUP starts this Friday June 11th. If you are looking for one of the greatest match ups this century watch the USA vs. England match June 12th and 2pm. GO USA! And remember, don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes.

"this is the NBA, you don't go back to shirts and skins!"

I have figured out, that I am a media junkie. Specifically, I love television. I shouldn't. I know this. It rots your brain. I enjoy going outside, and going on adventures. I play softball, and run (or try too) and generally have a sunny disposition. I however, am addicted to television. There, I've said it. So that being said I'm compiling a list of my favorite television shows (top 5). Pictures may be included. So here we go. In NO particular order:

1.LOST!!!!

I laughed, I cried, and I was puzzled over what the heck was going on half the time! This show for me was like no other. I came in when the second season was airing. I got a 2 hour tutorial of all the characters drawn as stick figures by my (at the time) soon to be boyfriend. After that I was hooked. For this television show was unique because you knew there was going to be an end. They knew they would have 6 season to tell this amazingly character driven tale about an island and all the people who were stuck there. I loved that they fully got to explore all the characters and then threw in nerdy things for you to look up afterwards. The sci-fi aspect was amazing. And to be honest, it now covers the last 4 years of my life. I can tell time by Lost. Weather or not you liked or hated the ending, it was still an amazing ride.

2. The WEST WING. I know this has been off the air for a while (but if you want to catch all the action just watch bravo from 8-10 a.m., they re-run episodes every weekday morning), but I was the lucky recipiant of the complete DVD box set last Christmas. I was able to go through 7 seasons in about 3 months. This show again, is completely character driven. Cj, Toby, Josh, and President Bartlett ran a White House full of problems, screw ups, accomplishment, and very dry and witty humor. The story line mirrored what our country was going through politically at certain points, and I have to say I passed a bunch of my POLI 172 with the knowledge I had collected about our government from that show. (filibuster anyone?)

3. The Gilmore Girls. I admit, one of my all time favorite shows. Again I own the complete series box set. I love this mother daughter drama/comedy and all the fast talking and quick wit along with it. I can literally watch these episodes over and over and never get bored, and still laugh at some of the jokes that I have heard at least 4 or 5 times. I love the characters and the writing. I hold it is some of the best on television.

4. Friday Night Lights. Step one: sign up for netflix. Step two: start watching FNL season 1. Step three: complete season 1 and move onto FNL season 2. Step four: finish season 2 get the discs for FNL season 3, watch and enjoy. Step five: start watching the current season on NBC. Go... now... trust me.

5. Veronica Mars. This show was only on for 3 seasons, and then

cancelled. This teen detective drama had some of the best writing, acting, and story lines that I've watched in a long time. I love love love love this show. It took a whole season to work out a really big crime, but within each episode you got (shocker here!) tons of character development, and lots of drama. I loved loved loved this show.

So I think that I love character driven dramas that include bits of witty humor and lots of plot and character development. I have a problem. Or do I??