Daily MISdom

I often wonder why Matthew doesn't just write his own blog. He's written more blog stuff this week than I have. I already know he'd have at least two readers, since that seems to be as many as I have now.

My blogging hasn't been and isn't going to be very regular right now because it's the end of the semester, so I'm equal parts super busy and enjoying some freedom. Most of my students are probably either finished blogging or finishing up, so now would be a fine time to sort of look back over what they've written. That's one of my tasks for the next week or so (because I'm going to grade their blogs).

I made the mistake of putting Marvel Trading Card Game back into my DS. It's kind of like cocaine for me; now I can't stop playing it. I haven't written anything for the Star-News blog in over a month now, and I don't think that any readers would be particularly interested in a review of a two-year-old niche-market game. In other words, I should probably become addicted to a different game that I could actually write about.

I already missed Puzzle Quest: Galactrix this month because my schedule was as full as a Catholic priest's schedule in the months leading up to Y2K. That's another game that I think would require rehab.

The truth is that I'm still not out of the woods. I still have to administer two exams, complete one of my own, and then grade about a month's worth of my students' work. And its spring, so it's not like I have any free weekends or anything.

Speaking of that, I'm supposed to graduate next weekend.

Bill Simmons was absolutely right when he said that the Bulls/Celtics series is a historic series. And he said that almost a week ago. I had last night's game on our primary TV because I was that excited about it. Nothing against KG, but his absence has made for some great basketball.

The original The Office is going to be on [adult swim] in the near future. I'm definitely down with that, but I still don't understand why Cartoon Network plays so damned much live-action stuff, especially since so much of it is bad. I used to blog about [as] so often. Now I barely watch it. I did watch this G.I. Joe "movie" recently. That was certainly worth an hour of time (if you have it).

QotD:

Boston or Chicago?

My take: Chicago. During last year's Finals, I felt like these Celtics had to win the 'ship then, if ever. I didn't make the same prediction about first round series, but it's starting to look like that could be the case.

D-pad or joystick?

I read some Richard Weaver for my rhetoric class this week. Oddly enough, in an essay on rhetoric, he argues for a "one-ness" of everything in existence:

The explanation would be that the cosmos is one vast system of analogy, so that our profoundest intuitions of it are made in the form of comparisons. To affirm that something is like something else is to begin to talk about the unitariness of creation. Everything is like everything else somehow, so that we have a ladder of similitude mounting up to the final one-ness.

Weaver presents this argument "asking your indulgence if it seems to border on the whimsical." I'd say it does, but that doesn't mean it isn't a valid or useful line of thought. It reminds me (again) of semiotics. Saussure argued that words only have meaning in relation to other words. So, the word "black" only refers to the color black because it is not "white" or "purple" or "hammock," for that matter. In other words, all language is only definable through difference. Poststructuralism and, more specifically, Jacques Derrida's (non-)concept of différance changed this conception a bit. Basically, différance means that, because language is only definable through difference, words can't actually refer to "things," only other words.

Even so, all words and, subsequently, concepts are related through this process of différance. I don't know if this points to a "one-ness" of existence, but I think it de-whimsicalizes Weaver's argument a bit. (Editor's – i.e. me – note: At this point in this blog, I went to class for a few hours, and we talked about Saussure, but his relation to I. A. Richards instead of to Weaver. We also talked about anthimeria, of which "de-whimsicalizes" is a great example.) Anyhow, différance explains how words, if not concepts, are all connected through a web of meaning. If, like I discussed last time, thought and language are inseparable, then it seems that concepts would also be connected through a web of meaning.

I think différance can be likened to the six degrees of Kevin Bacon game. But it's not a perfect analogy.

Sit Down, Shut Up premiered last night and was less than impressive. There were some funny jokes, but the story was kind of annoying, the pilot-ness of the episode was over-the-top, and a lot of the jokes didn't really pay off. I'm still hoping for great things. The cast is probably the biggest "name" cast ever to start a TV series. I guess Mitch Hurwitz has some considerable "pull" nowadays.

The Chicago/Boston series is shaping up to be either a really close series or a Celtics' collapse. Both games (one's on right now) have been as close as Ozzie's muzzle to a plate of bacon. (I don't know if that metaphor works or not.) KG's injury has absolutely changed (Oop – Boston just won.) the playoff landscape – drastically.

QotD (submitted by Matthew):

Can Matthew call Dustin Pedroia "D Pads"?

My take: No.

Fabulously Friday...?

John Madden is retiring/has retired. I don't know if that's a process for him or if just saying it makes it so. The (larger) football family is now gushing praise and respect for Madden. I've never really had any personal interest in Madden as a broadcaster, but I basically learned football from his games, which he might still be involved with. Although, I doubt he's ever been that involved with the games.

Speaking of broadcasting legends, Bob Costas was "in the booth" for yesterday's Yankees' home opener for the lowly MLB Network. Ah, the New York baseball bias. Again, New York stadium openings seem to overshadow a lot. Anyhow, Cleveland killed them, so it wasn't much of a home opener.

About this whole KG thing, I don't know if the NBA really needs to play their two-month-long playoffs now. Before Garnett's injury, it probably would have been enough to just play the conference finals between Boston and Cleveland and the Lakers and any basketball team with at least 5 players. Now, they can just skip straight to the Finals, which could be epic.

Bryan and I tried to play the Finals matchup of Cleveland/LA last night on NBA Live, but all of Cleveland's starters were in street clothes. On NBA Live. The good news is that NBA Live's 365 feature has never been more "fresh." I guess it helps to have an off-day.

Parks and Rec picked up some steam last night. Amy Poehler's character is still sort of annoying. She's very Michael-like. But she started to show more of the Michael-esque comedy in this episode. Everybody else was still funnier than her, though. To me.

It's Friday, so I'm going to stop here. Have a good weekend.

QotD:

Did Matthew get his Xbox fixed yet?

My take: Probably not, but he needs to before mid-May because I'm going to have a lot more free time to play games then.

I know this is a weak QotD, but I really want to know the actual answer. Plus, there are usually only 2-3 people who respond anyhow.

Blog Post the Third

I guess FIU AD Pete Garcia doesn't read my blog, or he probably wouldn't have hired Isiah Thomas. I mean, if you can't go to some random dude's blog for head-basketball-coach hiring advice, then where can you turn? At any rate, I don't think this is a bad move from FIU's standpoint; they hired a big-name guy who can be the face of the program for a few years, but there really isn't any pressure to win. It's perfect for both sides really.

There was a cat on the field in the first game ever in the new Mets' stadium. I'm not sure if that's good or bad news. It wasn't black. Somehow, cat-gate escaped this game recap. I know that would have been my lead for this story. But then I probably would have written about San Diego's unreasonably warm start. New stadiums open every year.

As for the other New York team, A.J. Burnett pitched a no-hitter into the 7^th last night against the team formerly known as Devil. That's cool and all, and I'm glad Burnett pitched well since he's on my fantasy team. But, really, a no-hitter through 6 is just another game. Last week, Chris Carpenter gave up his first hit in the 7^th, but nobody really cared (maybe because the Cardinals were down 1-0 at the time).

Speaking of Carpenter, he left his second start of the season early with a rib cage injury, evidently from swinging the bat. Carpenter is a fantastic pitcher and he's proving that again this year. Unfortunately, he's also proving that he's about as durable as a Jennifer Anniston romance. He just can't stay healthy.

There was/is a film crew in the English building on campus today. They were filming in the room on the other side of one of my office walls, so I watched pretty much the whole crew and a bunch of extras walk past my door this morning. That was a pretty odd sight for my office considering it's tucked away under a staircase and is really more of a closet than an office. So, there isn't much foot traffic on a normal day. Most of the people who walked by seemed more surprised to see Karlie and me than we were to see them.

Karlie struck up a conversation with some guy, maybe a production assistant or a gaffer or something. He told us that they were filming something called Provinces of Night which is based on this book. It's evidently set in Tennessee (maybe Mid Tennessee State), so Wilmington is somehow passing for the middle of Tennessee. This guy also mentioned that Kris Kristofferson, Hank Williams III, and Hillary Duff are in the movie, to which Karlie later responded, "I didn't know there were three Hank Williams." And, really, one is probably enough. I guess Duff was on campus somewhere. I guess.

I also found out – using my mad Wikipedia skills – that Toby Keith is in this movie, which is...a thing. Somehow, I feel like this'll be the last time I ever come into contact with Provinces of Night. But we'll see...

QotD:

Who is your favorite Hank?

1. Hank Williams I, II, or III (yes – they only count as one option)
   
2. Hank Aaron
   
3. Hank Hill
   
4. Henry "Hank" Pym
   
5. Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf (?)
   
6. Hank Greenberg
   
7. Hank the Cowdog
   
8. Hank Steinbrenner
   
9. Other: _______________
   

My take: I'm going with Hank Pym, mostly because I'm sure Bryan and possibly Matthew will pick Hank Hill, but also because he discovered Pym particles. Hank Hill can't claim that.

My thoughts are my language

For my rhetoric class, we read some Hugh Blair this week. His introductory statements in Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres struck me as a possible precursor to semiotics, which is basically the science of how language (and humans) makes meaning with different signs, whether words or body language or whatever. Blair says (in the first few sentences):

One of the most distinguished privileges which Providence has conferred upon mankind, is the power of communicating their thoughts to one another. Destitute of this power, reason would be a solitary, and, in some measure, an unavailable principle. Speech is the great instrument by which man becomes beneficial to man: and it is to the intercourse and transmission of thought, by means of speech, that we a chiefly indebted for the improvement of thought itself.

Essentially, he's saying that humans can't really think without language, or at least not think as well. Similarly, Ferdinand de Saussure, the father of semiotics, argued:

Psychologically our thought—apart from its expression in words—is only a shapeless and indistinct mass. Philosophers and linguists have always agreed in recognizing that without the help of signs we would be unable to make a clear-cut, consistent distinction between two ideas. Without language, thought is a vague, uncharted nebula. There are no pre-existing ideas, and nothing is distinct before the appearance of language.

(I wonder if Saussure was including Blair in his "philosophers and linguists.")

So, both Blair and Saussure are defending the study of language (and rhetoric) as crucial to an understanding of thought and philosophy. They were both probably doing this, mainly, in an attempt to justify their jobs and/or lifetimes of studying language, but I think their arguments are pretty important to human life. I always like to think about this problem in terms of this (rhetorical) question: can you make an argument against the value of language?

The answer, of course, is no because, even if you had valid reasons to distrust language, you couldn't express those reasons (i.e. "make an argument") without using language. So, it's basically an indefensible position. Considering that, it's pretty strange that two great thinkers like Blair and Saussure had to defend the opposite position. But that's sort of the way of our world: everybody desires good communication skills, but few people see the value in studying communication.

While I'm writing this, I have three baseball games "on." Thanks to Bryan's subscription to mlb.tv, I have the White Sox/Tigers and Astros/Pirates games on my computer. But I say that I have three games "on," instead of on, because the Rockies/Cubs game that would be on WGN on my office TV is rain delayed right now. So, it's "on," but it's not on. I thought it was supposed to rain here today, too, but I haven't seen much more than a sprinkle.

Anyhow, I lose baseball season. Despite that, I lost my first fantasy week thanks to Aaron Harang's shutout. Surprisingly, the triple play from that game was not the defensive highlight of the day, at least not in my mind. Reed Johnson robbed Prince Fielder of a grand slam in the fifth inning of the Brewers/Cubs game yesterday. It was a pretty clutch play, especially considering Milwaukee was down four at the time.

I watched the pilot episode of Better Off Ted in my literature class today as part of what I've dubbed our teledrama section. We had a fairly decent conversation afterwards, but I feel like I may have rushed it a bit. There's a lot to talk about with that show. I particularly liked talking about Veridian Dynamics as a character. Speaking of Better Off Ted, the last episode was fantastic.

QotD:

What is your favorite Veridian Dynamics product?

1. A (computer) mouse that can withstand temperatures up to 195 degrees.
   
2. Cow-less meat.
   
3. Weaponized pumpkins.
   
4. The third arm.
   
5. Male pregnancy.
   
6. The Focus Master.
   

My take: "Hands. Three." How can you argue with that? It has to be the third arm.

By the way, ABC has a particularly useless website. Otherwise, I would have linked a few of those inventions.

Early weekend

My weekend starts today (sort of), so this'll be my last blog for this week, in all likelihood.

So, this wasn't much of a game. Bryan and I were already talking draft
stock in the first half. I'm considerably excited about NBA Live 10, even though it's a good six months away (and this NBA season has yet to conclude).

The most interesting thing I've seen on draft boards is that up to three Wake Forest players are projected to go in the first round. If those three enter the draft, that might decimate a sometimes good, but ultimately disappointing team.

I guess I don't have much to say today.

Enjoy the weekend.

QotD:

Do you like zombies?

My take: I do now. I used to not, though.

Outer Space Bar

I've been thinking more and more about my GTA IV/Saints Row 2 paper, since it's becoming more and more due. I haven't actually started writing, other than what I've done on this blog, so I thought I'd do a little more of that to help move along this process.

I'm pretty positive I'm going to ignore the narrative of each game and just focus on the gameplay. I think that subject is both sufficiently narrow and sufficiently ample. In other words, it's sufficient. I guess the thrust of the argument will revolve around comparing the mini-games/side missions. But THQ has already posited an argument similar to my own about the side missions in their advertising and in interviews. THQ has suggested that Saints Row 2 is a "tongue-in-cheek" parody of GTA IV. So my paper will aim to prove whether they make good on this claim or not. I'm obviously going to examine the mini-games in that sense, but I'll also be looking at things like the driving and shooting mechanics and other gameplay stuff. This is where I'll need to spend some more time playing each game again. I'm glad I've decided to ignore (or at least downplay) the narrative aspects, though, because that would mean a lot more playing time, which I don't have right now.

So, for example, GTA IV has a fairly realistic emergency braking system, where you basically lose control of your car. This is a divergence from other similar games that let players use the emergency brake at full speed to make quick 90 degree turns, like in movies. This makes GTA IV seem more realistic, and I think realism was their goal. But, if you die in GTA IV your character just comes out of the hospital a few hours later all healed up and stuff. I think this sort of realism-mixed-with-bullshit factor sends mixed messages. Saints Row 2, on the other hand, is pretty clear with its message that it is just a game; it doesn't really shoot for realism as much as GTA IV. I don't think either game is really realistic, but I think GTA IV's mixed messages are dangerous for impressionable players – or at least more dangerous than Saints Row 2's messages.

By the way, I have a hard time typing Saints Row 2 because I feel like Saints should be Saint's. So I have to delete that apostrophe a lot.

On another typographical note, the spacebar on my laptop is squeaking for some reason, which is really annoying because I use it all the time, like here and here butnothere.

I was watching some of The Sports Reporters yesterday morning. Yes, I was up at 9:30 on a Sunday. So what? And Stephen A. Smith was trying to justify picking Michigan State in tonight's game. He was talking about how to defend against Ty Lawson, and this is what he argued: Lawson didn't really develop a jump shot before this year, so Michigan State should just make him take shots. That is just amazingly flawed logic. What if that had worked for Danny Almonte: I didn't turn 16 before this year, so I should be able to play with 12- and 13-year-olds. Or Isiah Thomas: I wasn't bad news for basketball teams until I started coaching and managing, so I should keep my job. Or even criminals: I wasn't a murderer before I killed that guy, so I shouldn't have to go to prison.

Either way, I'd be happy to watch Lawson shoot jump shots all game. He's shot .539 from the field and .486 from three-point land this season, and he's 9 for 15 from behind the arc in the NCAA tournament. So, what is Stephen A. talking about?

The other storyline that came up and will continue to come up in the few hours leading up to the game is that Michigan State is playing for the state of Michigan and their current 12% unemployment rate. And this somehow matters more because the game is in Detroit. That's the part that puzzles me. I really doubt that unemployed Michiganites will be at the game, whether it's in Detroit or Damascus. And if they are at the game, they probably deserve to be unemployed for being dumb enough to spend more than $250 on tickets when they don't even have a job.

The rematch angle is a much more interesting story for me. I'm also interested in who Travis Walton will guard. If he's on Lawson, that could make things difficult for the ACC player of the year. But, it would also mean that six-foot-tall Kalin Lucas will be guarding a shooter with at least three or four inches on him.

MLB started last night, and I have both of the lone game's starting pitchers on my fantasy team: Derek Lowe and Brett Myers. Myers didn't really inspire confidence. I drafted Myers last year, and he had a similarly awful start. In fact, he was demoted to the minors for a while last season. But then he came back up and started destroying folks, at which point Jon picked him up and reaped all the benefits. I was really hoping for second-half Myers when I drafted him this year. Maybe I'll just leave him on my bench until the All-Star break, so nobody else can get him but he doesn't hurt my team, like he did last night (-4 fantasy points). Lowe was worth a solid 35 points, though, so I still came out ahead from the game.

The season starts in earnest today, as most teams kick off their seasons in the next few hours. The Rays, Red Sox, Royals, and White Sox will have to wait because their games for today have already been canceled due to weather.

QotD:

What would you name your bar?

My take: This question came into my mind when I thought up the title for this post (Outer Space Bar), but it also came up on this week's My Boys, which Bryan and I watched yesterday. I forget exactly how their conversation went, but this is how my conversation (in my head) went today:

I should come up with a title that has something to do with my space bar.

How about "outer space bar"? That should work.

That sounds like a good name for an actual bar. Didn't they talk about that on My Boys yesterday?

You know what sounds even better than "outer space bar"? Deep Space Bar, that'd be an awesome bar name.

Men in Blogs

I'm glad the Jay Cutler debacle is over. In the end, I think he overreacted, but I'm still feeling a need to pull for him. I felt the same way when Little Ani went all Incredible Hulk on the Tusken Raiders in II. (I don't know that I've ever written a nerdier sentence.) Let's hope Cutler doesn't go (all the way) to the dark side.

So, I'm not really "current" on much cool stuff right now because I've pretty much been buried in work this week. I guess you could say I have writer's block (but I wouldn't).

I did read this morning that MIB 3 is in the works, so to speak. The first Men in Black was a pretty formative film for me, so that could be exciting.

At any rate, this might be pretty much it for the day.

QotD:

Evidently, actor Tim Robbins doesn't trust the internets. Do you trust the interwebs?

My take: With my life.