All things go, all things go.

After working as a sports copy editor for a central Ohio newspaper for about a month and a half, looking over stories from Cleveland and Cincinnati as well as any number of other places around the world, I have gathered some knowledge about the typical sports news article. It seems to me that no other section of news is so devoted to statistics. Tidbits of information that seem inconsequential out of context – a pitcher’s ERA versus left-handed batters, for instance, or the at-bat ratings of a particular batter against a particular team – suddenly bear so much importance when applied to an upcoming game or, even more so, the upset of a game that just happened.

If readers wanted to know just the information behind the meeting of two teams on the diamond, they would look at a roundup of statistics from last night’s game. They look to sports journalists to put some meaning to the numbers and figures, to explain why it’s so crucial that CC Sabathia, a former member of the Cleveland Indians, lost in a shootout to major-league newbie Josh Tomlin in the same game where Alex Rodriguez was once again denied his 600th career home run.

It is in this same vein, I think, that superstition has developed so strongly in the sports world, both among fans and among players. While sports could be derived down to numbers and probability, some occurrences seem so astronomical and extraordinary, one can’t help but feel that some outside force has exerted its influence. If a player has a phenomenal performance, he or she might look back on a seemingly insignificant item or event that set that day apart from others and, in future performances, re-enact that item or event in the hope that doing so would cause another great outing. Likewise, an out-of-the-ordinary event might be blamed for a streak of bad luck or bad performance for a franchise.

Image courtesy wikimedia.org.

So it is that the “Curse of the Billy Goat” came to be. In 1945, Billy Sanis, owner of the Billy Goat Tavern across from Chicago Stadium, attended game four of the World Series at Wrigley Field to cheer on his local Cubs. He brought his pet goat Murphy – a goat that had fallen off a truck and wandered into his tavern – hoping the animal would bring the team good luck. Billy’s goat was denied entrance because of its odor, and Billy proclaimed (according to legend) that the Cubs would never win the World Series again so long as his goat was refused admission. Sure enough, the once successful franchise has had a hard time since then. More »

I know what you might be thinking. Those who know me may not see me as much of a cook. I did mention in a previous post that I basically cook spaghetti every day. Those who really know me would say that I can also make a mean apple crisp, my chocolate mint banana bread is pretty awesome, and – as I learned today – cheesecake-stuffed strawberries are not beyond my capabilities.

The goggles, they do nothing.

While stumbling late one sleep-deprived night, I came upon the recipe on this blog, a recipe that the blogger had originally found on this blog. And now I pass it on to you. Trust me, it’s delicious.

More »

Image courtesy inceptionmovie.com.

Title: Inception

Directed by: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe

“Inception” was intentionally marketed in such a way that viewers, upon seeing the trailer, would have little idea about the plot of the movie. One thing is clear: This film is unique, monumental and, quite possibly, complex.

The movie portrays a world in which technology has been developed that allows individuals to share dreams. In the advent of this technology, individuals such as Cobb (DiCaprio) and Arthur (Gordon-Levitt) make a living as extractors, or agents who enter the dreams of others to obtain classified information. On one such mission, the procedure goes awry, but rather than being killed by their target, they are offered great rewards for the use of their services in a dangerous operation.

Their work is complicated, however, when Cobb’s own subconscious starts trying to wrest control of the situation. Cobb is a man with a deeply troubled past (one might draw correlations to DiCaprio’s role in “Shutter Island”), and that past has been locked away in his dreams. To the danger of Cobb and his fellow extractors, that past has every intention of breaking out. More »

Let the ranting commence!

But first, a disclaimer: I don’t watch much television. I watch TV shows on occasion, but not on a television. I have my reasons, but I don’t intend to get into them in this post.

What I would like to address in this post is why I believe reality shows have been damaging to American culture.

Image courtesy cbs.com.

When I talk about “reality shows”, I am referring to shows such as “Survivor”, “American Idol”, “Dancing With the Stars” – shows that feature (supposedly) non-actors in unscripted situations. The genre has been around for decades, taking form in early shows such as “Candid Camera” and various game shows, but it has taken on a unique form in the past decade. From 2005 to 2009, Fox even had a whole channel devoted exclusively to reality television.

Yet it almost goes without saying that these shows often lack what one might define as “reality”. Take “Survivor”, for example. The show premiered in the United States in 2000 and has gone on for 20 seasons. Each week during the first season, the American people were brought about an hour of footage from Borneo, spanning over 13 episodes. The actual challenge took place over 39 days, as at least 10 cameras around the island recorded the contestants’ actions and interactions. More »

I had intended to post this sooner, but I was messing around with transferring the site to a new host, and technical problems set me back a bit. Apologies to anyone who might have been waiting for it.

From "Le Voyage dans la Lune" (1902)

After consulting with Jeremy, who took responsibility for submitting this topic, I learned that he had come up with it while drunk (though he later stated that he was not). That certainly explains why it makes no sense to me or, even, to him.

In that case, I shall approach the topic similarly to the way I did with Jackie Robinson and compile a list of facts and interesting points relating to the moon and “moon time” that you may or may not already know. More »

It was something of a running joke with my housemates that I eat huge amounts of spaghetti every day. I don’t eat it every day, just most days. The process of cooking and preparing spaghetti has become something of a ritual for me, so to address this topic, I think I will give some tips that I have learned on THE ART OF SPAGHETTI. More »

It’s been a tough week and a half. I am no longer an OU student, I am now an OU graduate. I don’t feel any different, but that’s not so strange. It’s not as if I suddenly changed as a person after the graduation ceremony a few weekends ago; the process took about four years.

To be honest, I kind of wish it weren’t over already. I wish I had more time to hang out with my friends, more time to learn new things. Granted, I can still spend time with friends and hobbies, but now that we have all gone on to our own homes and new jobs (or hopes for new jobs), it’s tougher. I also wonder about those friendships that never fully blossomed, those people whom I would not likely see again.

That said, here’s a rundown of the 10 best moments of senior year. I may be missing some, and others might be a bit of a stretch. Part of the reason some of them were chosen was because I had photo evidence of them occurring. My memory isn’t the best, and I don’t always think to take pictures.

These are not arranged in any particular order, save for a more or less chronological one. More »

I hate to say this, but the next mouseandhat update will have to wait until next week. I have started my internship this week, and it is going well, but it will take me a bit of time to adjust to the schedule. I will still have new mouseandhat articles on Wednesdays, but I will need to skip this week. Apologies.

A few months ago, I was considering the intricacies of Pastafarianism when I found myself lost in The Void.

Image courtesy tension-game.com. Click for a larger version.

The feeling was utterly immersive. Every color had meaning, every sound caught my ear and yanked my head in search of danger. I could tell that, in The Void, I had entered a unique world with an ecology and anatomy all its own, one removed from reality but at the same time touching on the same foundation.

This venture into The Void brought more than pleasant imagery and ambience, though. Lurking in the dark yet inviting plains was an intangible danger. Every second was felt as my life was drained from me. I sacrificed a part of myself, planting it in the wasteland and praying for it to grow, but I constantly felt the risk involved should such efforts prove fruitless. My life force was seeping out of me with each moment I spent in The Void, and even the slightest poor decision or wrong move could lead to my demise. More »

I’m down to the wire, but it’s not Thursday yet!

I thought I would try something new for this mouseandhat post. My housemate Jake hosted a house party last weekend, dubbed Jake Fest. I sat down with him for a little while to ask him a few questions about the event. Rather than posting a script of my questions and his responses, I decided to record the interview and intersperse his responses with images from the party using iMovie HD. The resulting video is below:

Next week’s mouseandhat topic:

"Pastafarianism" submitted by Papagenu

Until next time!