To Each His Own Story

Quantifiable evidence for something we all knew.

2010-01-12T15:01:00.004-05:00

It's been ages since I posted something, so what am I going to write? Something soccer related of course.

Now as a good premiership fan, I participate in a fantasy football league. I'm certainly not an expert, and I don't obsess over it from week to week. But playing through it recently I discovered a batch of statistics that made me chuckle a bit.

Now when you sign up and create your team, you select your favorite squad. The following statistics can yield some interesting conclusions.

Best fans

Team	Fans	Average
Tottenham	103,969	900.7
Blackburn	17,036	899.3
West Ham	43,805	897.6
Fulham	17,620	895.7
Aston Villa	49,334	891.6
Everton	49,222	890.8
Sunderland	19,808	876
Portsmouth	15,757	874.6
Bolton	11,123	874.6
Stoke City	11,442	868.3
Hull City	13,520	865.2
Arsenal	284,134	863.4
Liverpool	417,718	861.9
Burnley	13,330	861.8
Wolves	19,117	861.6
Birmingham	11,368	861.5
Man Utd	583,452	856
Wigan	7,350	855.8
Man City	53,606	836.2
Chelsea	187,840	833.8

One of the most obvious statistics is the large following of teams in the big 4 (for the record, I am registered as a fan of Burnley). What I found fascinating though was that the average scores for their followers are in the bottom 10 in terms of average performance.

So what can we conclude? Simply put this gives us some quantifiable evidence to make the conclusion we all knew.

Most Big 4 fans are bandwagon hoppers and don't know shit about football.

Year end reflection Survey

2008-12-31T08:22:00.002-05:00

I've been reusing this survey every year I've had a blog (including the one before this) to reflect upon the year. Lots of stuff happened in 2008 as opposed to 2007, so let us reflect in a non jibjab fashion.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before? Studied abroad, and I'm still going! Living in France is quite an experience. I also filmed and edited a short movie with the guys.
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I forgot what they were, but one was probably working out, so no. :-) I'll try to procrastinate less in 2009, it should do me good and it'll be easy to keep in theory.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? No
4. Did anyone close to you die? No
5. What countries did you visit? Spain! (Catalonia to be precise) Also France as well. And don't forget Canada! Yeah Quebec!
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? A good exchange rate.
7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? August 1st, the last time my feet were on American soil.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Becoming a referee in France and running a line on a 16 ans national game.
9. What was your biggest failure? Screwing up in this one match as a referee :-).
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I got my wisdom teeth removed. It hurt like hell, and I couldn't play on my indoor soccer team because of it.
11. What was the best thing you bought? A ticket to watch Barcelona destroy Atletico Madrid 6-1. Thierry Henry scored :-D!
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Carol Huber, the director of the UNC program, she was super kind and took care of us while we are trying to make sense of everything in Montpellier. Her family is brilliant as well.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? The supporters of French youth soccer teams. I've never heard such fierce verbal abuse in any language.
14. There was never a question 14 in this survey.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Living in France? Maybe?
16. What song will always remind you of 2008? This Time Tomorrow by the Kinks, but also Supplique pour être enterré à la plage de Sète by Georges Brassens.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder? Happier, but a bit nostaligic because I'm leaving all the great people I met in Montpellier.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Blogging, I have so much to share about my travels and I never got around to write about it.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? I still procstaniate like a champ, I need to tone that down :-).
20. How will you be spending Christmas? I spent it with all my family here in France. One of the more memorable Christmases I've spent.
21. How will you be spending New Years Eve? Hanging out with a bunch of Americans in Paris
22. Did you fall in love in 2008?
Question 23?
24. What was your favorite TV program? The Amazing Race, as always.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? No not really
26. What was the best book you read? Memories of World War I: North Carolina Doughboys on the Western Front
27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Georges Brassens, It may be old music, but I really like it
28. What did you want and get? A new president that inspires hope.
29. What did you want and not get? A Montpellier HSC scarf. I couldn't find them anywhere >:o
30. What was your favorite film(s) of this year? I think the only 2008 films I saw have been Iron Man and The Dark Night, but I did go buy Letters from Iwo Jima, so I'll say that despite the fact it came out in 2007.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 21, and spent the evening with my grandparents eating a fabulous Indian curry. I then threw up because I ate too much (yes I ate too much, not drank too much). Then about 2 weeks later I celebrated with everyone in Montpellier, and well I don't remember the end too well :-).
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? A better exchange rate.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? I got to wear a cool Addidas referee uniform.
34. What kept you sane? Making fun of French and American quirks
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you admire the most? I seem to always put a politician down for this question, so I'll just keep the trend going and say Barack Obama. He inspired millions of Americans to vote, and there is now an unprecedented enthusiasm for our political process in the US. He has given us hope, now he needs to make something with it.
36. What political issue stirred you the most? Obviously the election, it garnerd most of my attention. But the real issue now is how the politicians of the world will handle the economic crisis. There is much oppurtunity out there.
37. Who did (do) you miss? I miss my best buds back home. We hung out as much as possible before I left, but I still miss those bastards. You better come visit me in the Spring!
38. Who were the best new person/people you met? I met loads of new people, from all over the US, to all over Europe. No particular person stands out, but it was quite a year for meeting people from 10+ states, and at least 8 different countries.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008: Be thankful for the little things we take for granted in the US. Like gas priced by the gallon, cheap food, and decent showers.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: I always like to do this with some lyrics from a song that came out this year.

Lovers, keep on the road you're on
Runners, until the race is run
Soldiers, you've got to soldier on
Sometimes even right is wrong

Coldplay - Lovers in Japan

2008 has turned out to be a spectacular year. I certainly made up for my lack of travel in 2007. All aspects of my life got better. I'm now allowed to referee higher level matches, and I was able to referee in Montpellier at a surprisingly high level (you would think they wouldn't trust an American ref to go solo in a U18 tournament game). I travelled to Montreal, Philadelphia, Nimes, Carcasonne, Avignon, Montpellier, Clermont-Ferrand, Paris, Setes, and Barcelona. I'm now off to Old Blighty to experience Great Britain outside of London.

I learned a ton, but more importantly I've met a lot of great people who I hope to keep in touch with in the future. Thank God for facebook!

Happy New Year everyone!

Thanksgiving.

2008-11-27T19:59:00.004-05:00

I'm sitting here now, listening to a tune from the Civil War, reminiscing this day from past years.

of turkey drenched in gravy.

of a walk in the woods, the brisk autumn air on my face.

of sitting next to a fire, reading about heroes past.

of a game on TV, cheering on today's heroes.

of a mountain stream, fishing pole in one hand, no fish in the other.

of board games, and a daemon who doesn't lose in Yahtzee...

I just finished speaking with my family in the United States on Skype. Two large groups, one in New Mexico, the other in North Carolina. I spent a good 45 minutes chatting with each.

I've spent a fantastic time here in France, but today was the first day I was truly homesick. I woke up in the morning thinking how I'm not with my loved ones, and how I can make it better. Calling them helped, but it made me realize how much more I want to be there right now.

But our UNC director summed it up quite nicely. "If you can't be with family at least you can be with friends"

We ate a nice meal ensemble, turkey of course. Not quite like home, but it was a hearty meal, and one of the girls made pecan pie for dessert.

I love you all. Family, old friends, and new.

Observations on UM III

2008-10-02T15:05:00.002-04:00

After a few weeks in the French university system, I think I've sorted it out mostly by now. It's odd how one month into classes things are still very confused, and I still haven't officially registered for classes yet! You ask how that's possible? Well I have the answer for you… The French university system is organized anarchy, eventually the professors state when and where they'll teach, and they assume students will find out where and when to be. Amazingly enough it works. But I digress, what I want to talk about are quick little observations on the French university system.

First:

It's ugly here. Now I don't mean Europe as a whole, nor individual cities like Paris and Montpellier. I mean of course Paris is filthy , smelly, and the repository for the world's dog poop, but there is an innate charm to the city. It's hard to describe the "City of Lights" with Notre Dame, and the Eiffel tower as ugly.

No I mean the Universite de Montpellier Paul Valery III. This place is ugly. I keep wanting to take pictures, but then students will look at me funny and ask "Why the hell are you taking pictures of this ugly university?" But of course there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. The French university system, like most things in the developed world (France in particular), is divided into the "haves" and "have-nots".

There are the French "Grandes Ecoles" basically the Ivy League + 20 other top universities in the US. They are incredibly selective, get heavy government finances, la crème de la crème of French society go there. Anyone who is important in French society, went to one of les Grandes Ecoles. You would think that UNC may send us to a Grande Ecole, actually we have a program with Sciences Po, the political science, history, and journalism school in France. However it was expensive and closed off for UNC students at the moment, so I went to Montpellier.

Second:

French note-taking skills. Holy crap, These kids are brilliant at taking notes. It is truly an elaborate art-form. Sit in on some random French university class and this is what you will see...

The students arrive and pull out their paper. This paper is a mix between our notebook paper and graph paper, there are 4 lines per line, but this has to do with their strict handwriting code, where certain letters are certain heights etc. After pulling out their paper, they pull out a little pencil pouch. It's like a miniature toiletrie bag, inside it there are multiple colored pens, a small 15 cm ruler (6 inches), and highlighters. The professer begins to speak, french students immediately huddle over their paper writing down almost word for word what the professer says, all while creating titles and subheadings. They are also underlining key phrases and titles (with the ruler no less), and colorcoding as they see fit. Finally they somehow get every little bit of information the professer says.

It. Blows. My. Mind. You have to see it to really appreciate it. I look at my notes and I feel incredibly self-conscious, because not only are their notes organized (unlike mine), the handwriting of french students is generally perfect (unlike mine). My notes say "FOREIGNER HERE" to Frenchies.

Finally:

The organization. Now of course I have a United Statesian perspective on this. We pay (or our parents) thousands of dollars a year for the priveledge to attend an institute of higher learning. At the French university system, as long as you pass high school, you can attend a university. The students pay some annual fee that hovers around 500 euros, and they are in. As a result the campus will not have the same level of organization and infrastructure as American universities...

But it shouldn't be this damn complicated! For example: classes started september 8th. The history department hadn't decided what classes they will offer until the 9th or 10th, and didn't inform the students until Saturday afternoon on the 13th. We then had classes on the 15th.

It's all one big mess, but amazingly enough it all falls into place.

Update

2008-09-17T18:05:00.002-04:00

So I was going to update. But then the Lyon game was on the TV, and that turned out to be a good match. Then my friend and I spoke on Skype for an hour and a half... so now I'm here, it's midnight, and I have a class on the Crusades in 10 hours...

So here's a picture. It's the Arc de Triomphe of Montpellier at Night.

International Soccer and Time.

2008-09-10T18:45:00.003-04:00

One becomes very conscious of time zones if they become a fan of soccer. Why? Because usually they are trying to watch games that occur on other sides of the world, and we want to watch them live. Normally for me in the states that involves getting up early and watching games between 9 AM and 3 PM on weekends. That's never been too bad. Yesterday was a very surreal experience for me and it is attributed to differing time zones. There's a great article at Pitch Invastion about this.

I went to FitzPatrick's Pub last night to take in the Croatia v. England, and France v. Serbia matches. The England match was brilliant, and although the French won their game, I was hoping they would lose or tie, and Domenech would be fired. But nevertheless they won and Henry scored so I can't be angry. My friends and I then went to the local park, where lots of students find a nice little spot to sit down drink, and chat with close friends. But when we went are separate ways at about 1130, the night was just starting for me.

I went home, and played some video games till 2, still buzzed, I found a live feed of FSC on my computer and sat down for the next 2 hours, fighting sleep, slightly buzzed, but pumped for the US soccer team. There is something special about staying up to an ungodly hour to watch the team you love. I'm used to waking up early, but this was a different experience. I don't know if it was the buzz from the alcohol, the adrenaline of being on the verge of sleep, or watching the US play a good game of soccer and beat down Trinidad 3-0. I woke up groggy and disoriented, but having no class is was OK.

Now I'm going to do it all again Sunday with the RailHawks :-D.

The Problem of Blogging.

2008-09-06T14:18:00.004-04:00

Blogging is much like everything else in life, it can be very difficult to get into a routine, but once in it, it becomes like every day. Right now I'm experiencing difficulty in blogging regularly. Like normal. I found it amazing that I kept up with one of these in high school.

My problem is similar to one of my daily issues in life. I see things and I'll think "Oh I should blog about that" and then when I get down to doing it something comes up. It's an unintentional chronic procrastination in a way. I wonder if that's in the DSM-IV...

My excuse during the past 2 weeks is that I've been focusing on HW and my Essex application. I'm down to just the paper now which I was working on a bit earlier.

What to say about Montpellier though, it's a fascinating city, although not quite like others that I've enjoyed. I can't quite put my finger on it. It's relatively small, but filled with students, there's also a very vibrant night life that I've only just touched. I'm not really a big fan of going out, but I do occasionally.

What I do love about the city, like most medium sized + euro towns, is that there is so much history. I'll walk around and stumble across a piece of history. Like for example"

At the end of the aqueduct I found this stone, in a nutshell it says that the French resistance fighters came along this route to liberate the city in August 1944.

Anyways regular updates now. I promise :-)

Market Day!

2008-08-24T16:37:00.003-04:00

OK so it was actually Saturday. Shoot me. I'm writing a letter to my grandma so you won't get the long blog post about my trip to Nimes and the Pont du Gare. But you get pretty photos of the market.
Grains and Spices!

Chicken!

Ham!

Pigeons! 20 Euros a kilo!

Peaches! Cheaper than the pigeons!

Trams are cool.

2008-08-22T13:34:00.002-04:00

I ride them every day. It makes me feel like a kid again.

Bastard

2008-08-21T17:45:00.003-04:00

That guy was a jerk in A Knight's Tale...

The bastard has a road in Montpellier...

Dumas, me voilà

2008-08-20T15:14:00.002-04:00

Guillaume Mathieu, comte Dumas was born in Montpellier. He left with General Rochambeau in 1780 to help General Lafayette and General Washington during the revolution. Like Pershing before me I have arrived with a sense of purpose, to improve my french and learn the history of this region in France.

A couple of days ago I arrived here and have acclimated myself to the area. My host family is great so I figured I should describe them to you.

I live in a household with a mother, her boyfriend/practically a husband, and her son. There is also an English student staying here right now, along with the mother's sister. Everyone is pretty damn cool and it looks like this semester will go very well.

The mother Mme Henriel is very chill. She lived in Louisiana for a few years teaching French, but she's also been to many other places around the world to teach French. Conveniently she speaks fluent English, so those times when I don't know a French word I can just ask her.

The boyfriend Jean-Francois is also a great person. He is a political cartoonist, and has some very liberal, but extremely well formed political thoughts. It makes for some great discussion at the dinner table, at least so far. He also drew a picture of me that I'm going to put in digital form soon and put it up.

The son I only just met but he's a huge soccer fan. His favorite club is Olympique de Marseille. I guess when they play Rennes and Monaco I'm just going to have to drive him crazy. Sadly it looks to be Marseille's year to upset Lyon, but we'll see.

Those are the three I'm living with over the next semester. But right now theres this English student as well here. She's cool but I haven't had a chance to get to know her. She's not particularly talkative, in english or french. Oh well.

Anyways I'm heading out for the night to watch the 2nd half of the France game at the bar. Allez les Bleus!

Blogging with no Internet

2008-08-16T16:16:00.004-04:00

So While I was at the summer home I had no internet connection. However now I have some limited connection and I thought I could share my past few writings.

August 6

The past couple of days I’ve made it a point to get out of the house away from the family, if only for a little while. I’ve gone out on a couple jogs and walks and each time I’m reminded just how much I love this province. Right now I’m in Auvergne, France. Not many Americans come here but my buddy Matt (and my old French teacher Mr. Dubois) can vouch for me when I say it has some of the most gorgeous countryside in the World.

I snapped this shot as I was walking down from the old medieval village to the new houses that have sprung up over the years. It’s not the best shot but it should hopefully give you an idea of the scenery.

This is the town of Mierfleurs; my grandparents live here just outside of Clermont-Ferrand in France. It’s a small village with nothing really special about it. There aren’t any shops outside of a little bakery depot and a mini Grocery store. There’s one little run down Bar, and the post office is open for a couple hours a day. It’s just like every small European village. Hell it’s even more boring than most. There’s not a cool castle, the church isn’t very exciting, and there are next to no activities. Despite all that there’s this little garden area near the Church. There they put the town monuments.

Mierfleurs, like every small village in France has a memorial dedicated to the soldiers of World War One. At every memorial I’ve seen, there was a list of the men who died during the war from that village. Now think about that, “every small village in France”. There wasn’t a single French town village or city that came through the war without losing some of its young men. I took a couple of shots at the memorial so you guys could see. This small town lost 36 young men during the war. The population now is just over 1000. Ninety years ago the town would have been much smaller.

I promise my next post will be more cheerful J.

August 8

So I left for Ardeche, France today. Odds are I will not have internet access, so I’m writing in a word document. When I get a connection I’ll upload the document. Odds are I won’t be able to do anything until the 14^th, or the 18^th.

I just realized I don’t have French spell-check installed on my computer ever since I had to reimage it. Better have the folks send over the Microsoft Office 2007 CD.

I’m at the family’s summer house here in the South of France. It’s in a small village called Lanas, in the department of Ardeche. It’s an even smaller town than Mierfleurs, with only about 100 permanent residents. But during the summer months there are at least a couple hundred more. Regardless there is a lot more character to this town than Mierfleurs. For one there is a celebrity buried here.

He’s not that big an icon, but a dude called Papillon is buried here. You may or may not have seen a movie starring Steve McQueen called “Papillon”. It’s about this French murderer who was sent to prison in French Guyana (in S America for you geographically impaired people), well this dude was the only one who ever escaped from the prison. He then made it home to France (don’t ask me how) and lived out the rest of his life in his hometown.

Anyways my stay here shouldn’t be too exciting. Just more time with the grandparents and taking care of the two youngest cousins (ages 9 and 5). We’ll see how everything pans out.

August 12

Parts of a great vacation:

· Listening to the river roll by as you read a book on the shore

· Reading l’Equipe while drinking a Guinness

· Playing basketball at the park with a beautiful backdrop

· Drinking the local beer while watching the Olympics at the local Café

· Cliff diving

· Watching movies on a rainy day

· Eating a wonderful meal with family and friends.

· Watching the rain fall while sitting on the porch, writing this post.

Sports – check

Nerdiness – check

Good Food - check

Drinking – check

Sadly with all the rainy days we’ve had I didn’t get a chance to go on the long bike ride or hike that I wanted to this trip. Maybe next time. On the 14^th I’m heading out to Montpellier to join some other UNC kiddos. Let’s see how that goes.

Sitting in Philadelphia.

2008-07-31T16:49:00.002-04:00

Honestly I thought the hardest part of this trip would be the travel, and then dealing with family. I didn't think it would be that hard to say goodbye to my parents...

I'm sitting here at Philadelphia International staring out the window. The sky is dark and gray and there is a general feeling of glumness about. Normally an airport is filled with business travelers and families going on vacation. The business travelers are always reserved, but the families don't seem their normal cheery self. I'll blame it on the general perception of the economy. People always have their mind on their finances it seems like.

On another note I saw some of the Italian Olympic athletes. At least I think they were. They looked like gymnasts for certain so I assumed so.

And finally my computer is fixed (otherwise this post wouldn't exist). But now I need to head off to my gate.

Goodbye America.

Roman Cavalry Choirs

2008-07-23T17:25:00.003-04:00

So it's a common thing for me to bash modern music. Many of the modern music coming out lacks any real skill, and there is little thought process behind the creation of the song. Artists today rely on simplistic rhythms and recite words written by others. The songs also carry no meaning to me.

The other day the song "I Kissed a Girl" made #1 in the US, Canada, and Australia. I heard it and although it has a catchy rhythm the lyrics carry no significance. Sure some may argue that there is a gay-rights undertone behind it, but I really don't think so. The lyrics are there to grab your attention and thats it. They don't make you think.

But then I sat down and listened to the new Coldplay album. There is hope for modern music yet. Their new single "Viva La Vida" has hit #1 in both the US and UK. Sadly its up there because the song is catchy, but the lyrics make it for me. A reflective piece told from the perspective of a fallen king, after his former subjects led a revolution. Its a melody that collects my attention and makes me focus on the corruption of power, while appreciating the sacrifices made by revolutionaries in history. To risk everything one has for a noble ideal is the most endearing form of sacrifice.

I'm going off on a rant, so I'll stop myself now, but I do want to point out that we don't have enough of this type of music out there today. Songs that are not only catchy and rhythmically appealing, but make you think.

Forget the hot Lesbians making out, I'll take 1830's Paris.

Happy Bastille Day

2008-07-14T13:07:00.001-04:00

Its the end of my patriotic period. With Wisdom teeth pain included!

The most patriotic 10 days of the year.

2008-07-04T14:56:00.001-04:00

From this.

To this.

Happy 4th of July! Vive l'Etas Unis!

My Bucket List

2008-06-30T23:47:00.002-04:00

So the other day I watched The Bucket List. It was a good little film, it seemed to me that it was made quickly because it was filled with cliches. However, the film starred Jack
Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, and they can make almost any plot line good because of their strenghts as actors.

Anyways Freeman's character (the more philosophical of the two) begins writing a "Bucket List", a list of 10 things he wants to do before he dies. I figured I should take a stab at it.

1. Visit the Holy Land
2. Live in sub-saharan Africa
3. Ignite someone's passion for history.
4. Say "Live long and prosper" to Leonard Nimoy. Then get punched in the face by Leonard Nimoy.
5. Attend a World Cup Final (hopefully the US or France, but that's not in my power)
6. Ref an international soccer match
7. Volunteer or work for a non-profit organization in a developing country
8. Drive a WWII-era tank (firing the main gun would be pretty damn awesome as well)
9. Visit the Terracotta army
10. Become an ambassador

Married? kids? bah if I can do all 10 of these things I will be a happy man indeed.

UEFA over, time to move on.

2008-06-29T20:24:00.004-04:00

Well the Euros are over, and although I was pulling for Germany to win it (after France fell flat on their face), I am very pleased that the Spanish won.. This tournament showed that teams can win playing attacking football. They can play the beautiful game and not rely on overly defensive tactics with a couple brilliant plays like the French and Italians in 2006. The Dutch, Russian, and Spanish teams all provided us with brilliant games, that hopefully will continue through the World Cup qualifying cycle and then the World Cup.

But in the meantime, I'm waiting anxiously for Domenech to get sacked, Deschamps to get appointed, and my boys in blue can start kicking some Serbian, Romanian, and Austrian ass in the World Cup qualifying cycle. A couple USA 2-0s against Mexico would be nice as well :-).

Next games:
France at Sweden (friendly) 20th August
USA v. Guatemala 20th August
France at Austria (1st qualifier) 6th September
USA v. Cuba 6th September

ALLEZ LES BLEUS! C'mon you Yanks!

I'm leaving soon.

2008-06-11T22:31:00.002-04:00

I just realized I'm leaving to study abroad in 50 days.

50 days and I say goodbye to this country I love for half a year and most likely a full year.

I'm filled with excitement towards this trip, but at the same time will miss those that I love dearly. I already said goodbye to a couple of close friends and realized that I will not see them for ages. Its a disappointing thing.

Montpellier will be an exciting place. But I'm still preparing myself mentally.

Raleigh, A Southern City?

2008-05-14T13:02:00.001-04:00

So there are times when I drive around the triangle area and its clearly visible that this city's culture has broken off from the southern culture of the State.

But then I drive around and see this intersection, and there remains hope for this city.

View Larger Map

Angry for a Week.

2008-05-11T01:54:00.002-04:00

http://www.carolinarailhawks.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=337&Itemid=152

So when your team is down 1-0, and then come back to get in the lead 2-1, and then fuck it up and end up tying the game 2-2; it leaves a bitter angry taste in your mouth.

I won't be happy until we beat the crap out of Minnesota on May 18th.

Cheers!

And So This is Summer.

2008-05-10T00:13:00.002-04:00

Am I glad summer is here. This last semester wasn't too good for me as I found myself involved in too many activities. As a result, my grades were hit a little this semester. But I'm still in fine shape to study abroad so there aren't any problems there :-).

So I've been hanging with my good buddies pretty much non-stop since I returned from Chapel Hill. These guys are so close to me, and my friendship with them is the one thing I truly miss while I'm in Chapel Hill.

Anyways in my conversations with them, others, and the facebook status update thingy, I've learned that many people already find themselves bored this summer. This is difficult for me to understand. Since my final exam on Tuesday, I've been doing stuff non-stop until today. Between cleaning, soccer, hanging with buds, getting my work schedules for next week, and more I haven't been able to sleep much. Tomorrow I'm back up in Chapel Hill to coach my U8 girls team for their final game. We had a spectacular run, losing only one game, drawing one other, and winning the other 4 or 5 matches. Then its back to Apex and off to Cary for the RailHawks match.

Anyways at the beginning of every summer I always like to plan out my goals for the break. One thing I always try to do is set aside some books for me to read. I rarely get time for personal reading during the school year. The usual culprits are the books for my history classes. Once I finish an assigned one my mind isn't ready to tackle another one for personal enjoyment.

Here is my overly ambitious reading list, I'll consider it a victory if I finish half of this:
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad (The only reread on the list)
Three Months in the Southern States - Arthur J.L. Fremantle (a personal civil war era diary)
Ploughshare of War: The Origins of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 - Richard Cope
Silent Night: The Story of the WWI Christmas Truce - Stanley Weintraub
The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Victor Hugo
March or Die: France and the Foreign Legion - Tony Geraghty
On War - Von Clausewitz
Strange Victory: Hitler's Conquest of France - Ernest R. May (I've read significant portions of this book but never the entire thing)
The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian - Robin Lane Fox

Listing them out like this, I have an obvious slant towards the subject of history, but what I do love is the wide range I cover. From small events such as the Christmas truce of WWI, to an overview of classical history. I even have a personal diary and a philosophy on war. I'll probably add some book relating to soccer in there as well so I can round out the list at ten.

My summer resolution - post more on this blog.

BLASPHEMY!

2008-05-01T00:27:00.003-04:00

BLASPHEMY I TELL YOU! BLASPHEMY!

So an old friend of mine has started up a new blog to write about. Odds are it will be a waste of internet space much like this one, however the title of said blog is what I'm writing about.

For those of you who know me personally, I have a lot of friends named Marc or Mark. I count two of them amongst my best friends. One (nicknamed Schu), and I came up with a philosophy for Marc/ks to follow. It is dubbed "Marcks' ism".

The specific principles and guidelines of this philosophy have been debated loosely. I sometimes describe it as a cultured liberal patriotic Americanism if you want. Others claim it to be capitalistic controlled communism, while others argue that it is xenophobic moderatism.

What is for certain, is that Marcks' ism is a brotherhood for all those named Marc or Mark. It is a combined perception of the world bringing together all of our viewpoints and ideas in order to better society through a Marcks' ist viewpoint.

Eventually this philosophy will develop into a full fledged document. There is a word file on my computer with a few lines defining the above basic principle.

But this post is not to describe our philosophy, but to admonish the hijacking and individualization of it. This former member of the community has created a blog, dubbing it "Marc's Ism"

What this man has done is seize this idea of brotherhood and make it his own. He used Marc in the singular possessive form, claiming the "ism" as his own. As a result we've taken drastic measures.

Sir you are now the first Marc to have been excommunicated from the Marcks' ism brotherhood of followers. Your attempts at seizing its good name for yourself will not go unpunished, you will be watched and spied upon with the full powers of the internet. We are willing to go all the way. You have instigated the Marcks' ist Wars, and we will not waver in our defiance towards your upstart rebellion.

By the way I linked you in the sidebar :-).

Home Opener Today!!

2008-04-26T00:34:00.000-04:00

Its on boys. My Carolina RailHawks are playing their home opener for their 2nd ever season. I'm pumped, I'm ready. I need a good camera to share photos.

I had an enlightening post written out in my head by I played Smash Bros. Brawl all night and well that killed any writing ambition I had for the night.

Maybe later!

2008-04-03T01:44:00.000-04:00

Update needed? Yes

Update coming? Yes. :-)

Pondering Thoughts and Kick-Ass Shoes

2008-03-05T00:05:00.003-05:00

So I'm done reffing for the evening in Fetzer Gym. I then went to Alpine Bagel to eat a triple club and drink. As I'm filling up my drink I see a sign next to the ice dispenser...

"Ice is water too! Please conserve"

My thought then went to "yeah but so is the carbonated water that they mix with the syrup to create the soda" And if i filled the cup up with ice cubes, wouldn't it use up less water since water expands when it goes from liquid to solid form? Last time I checked if I put a glass bottle filled with liquid in the freezer it cracks and sometimes explodes...

I then go to the Cobb deck where my car is parked on the 5th floor. Being lazy, tired, and carrying food I hit the elevator button. There is a little number on the top right that says which floor its on. It was on 3, it stayed on 3 for about 20 seconds... then went to 4.

Since when did elevators move so slowly and go the opposite direction from what you tell it? Fuck if I know.

And finally I went to the basketball game, and won these. Yeah man only 200 or so pairs (from what I hear at least).

I tried them on and they fit like a glove, problem is I don't play basketball. Hopefully they sell for a shit ton on Ebay and that might entice me to sell them. If they don't sell for more than retail I guess I'll start practicing.

Youth Soccer Kick Off

2008-02-13T23:35:00.002-05:00

About this time of year all the soccer mom's of the US are getting ready to kick off another season of taking their kids to and from practices and games, going to fields far away from home, and doing all these other soccer mom things that my mom didn't have to do.

That's the usual image of soccer season in this country. Normally I look forward to it because it means good weather for me to play with my buddies, and also the beginning of the RailHawks season later this spring. But this year I've waited for it with a new sort of anticipation.

This last weekend I officiated at the FVAA (Fuquay Varina Athletic Association) Presidential Classic. A weekend long soccer tournament at various fields in the Triangle area. Anyways I had an absolute blast refereeing the matches and felt completely comfortable. I had the opportunity to center a match between 2 of the top U12 premier teams in the state. Now of course you may thing "they're only 12 year olds" But I had to dish out a yellow and could have thrown out many more cards if I was feeling generous.

Anyways this last weekend I met some great people, and talked to them about their perspectives. I chatted to a very nice soccer mom, soccer dad, a U11 player on a Fuquay Varina team, a coach, and quite a few refs. What I loved is that we were all together involving ourselves in a sport we loved. Even though we can hate each other, (well the refs don't hate, we're just hated) we all get along when it boils down to appreciating the sport of soccer. Everyone was out having a good time in the gorgeous weather (well Saturday that is, the sustained winds of 39mph on Sunday made that day much more interesting).

Hopefully the rest of the season will be as splendid as it was this last weekend.

Dinner

2008-02-05T19:30:00.000-05:00

I cooked a spectacular German-style dinner tonight.

Buttered mash potatoes, along with some spicy Italian sausage. I then carmalized the sauerkraut in the oils and juices from the sausage. I then topped it off with a nice Miller Lite (ok it was the only beer I had in the fridge)

I'm really French though I promise :-)

My Mom is the Greatest

2008-01-27T23:59:00.000-05:00

So Mum finds out I'm sick, so when I went home this Sunday to study up for French with her help. I arrive to find that she prepared a package of goodies for me to take home and help me get better. Voila! Je vous presente...

- Le Petit Ecolier Dark Chocolate, some of my favorite cookies.
- A box of Kleenex along with a portable pouch to take to class
- A box of Celestial Seasonings Tea for me to drink to get better
- A jar of orange blossom honey to put in said tea
and to top it off...
- A small bottle of fine Jamaican Myers Dark Rum...... to put in said tea ;-)

How many Moms do that?!

Reflections of 2007

2008-01-01T18:24:00.000-05:00

I've been reusing this survey every year I've had a blog (including the one before this) to reflect upon the year. As 2007 takes a bow, 2008 enters the stage.

1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before? I supported a professional soccer club with the same passion that I support France and the US soccer teams. GO RAILHAWKS! I also voted in the French presidential elections.
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I was bad and didn't keep them after 2 months. They stay the same this year, work out and learn how to dance.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? No
4. Did anyone close to you die? No
5. What countries did you visit? This is probably the first year is 6-7 years I didn't leave the country...
6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007? Stamps in my passport :-).
7. What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Nothing really, I think back and no particular date stands out, in all honesty it was a dull year.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Becoming a USSF Referee.
9. What was your biggest failure? Screwing up in this one match as a referee :-).
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Nothing major.
11. What was the best thing you bought? A Wii!!!
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Jarrett Campbell, the founder of the Triangle Soccer Fanatics. He put his heart and soul into RailHawks and created a supporter's club where I met many new people.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Some of my nameless fellow Team Members at Target.
14. There was never a question 14 in this survey.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Having a professional soccer team in Cary.
16. What song will always remind you of 2007? You'll Never Fly Alone
17. Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder? Sadder, but only because this was a dull year compared to last year. It should get better, especially if I go study abroad.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Traveling. I went to New York City once and Charleston once for an away match. That's it.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Procrastination, I have never been worse than this last semester.
20. How will you be spending Christmas? I stayed with my parents and ate a nice meal consisting of king crab legs and lobster tail.
21. How will you be spending New Years Eve? I partied at James' house.
22. Did you fall in love in 2007? Maybe? I don't think so.
24. What was your favorite TV program? The Amazing Race, as always.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Yeah, I feel bad saying it but its true.
26. What was the best book you read? How Soccer Explains the World, an Unlikely Theory of Globalization.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery? The Annuals. A local Raleigh band who performed the greatest live show I have ever seen.... while jet lagged from their tour in Spain...
28. What did you want and get? A professional soccer team in Europe.
29. What did you want and not get? A stamp in my passport.
30. What was your favorite film(s) of this year? Trans-fucking-Formers. Also I saw Paris, Je t
aime but that didn't come out this year.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I went home, ate a nice Indian meal with my parents at this new Indian restaurant in Apex, and then went to bed. Next year will be more fun though :-).
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Going overseas (you can see how much this bothered me)
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007? I started wearing a cool referee uniform on Saturdays and Sundays :-).
34. What kept you sane? Working, family, friends, refereeing.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you admire the most? Nicolas Sarkozy. New president of France. The man is taking France is a new direction both internally and on the international scene. His ideas will make France more competitive and improve their international stature.
36. What political issue stirred you the most? Iranian Nukes. Do they have them? How long till they work? Will they allow weapons inspectors? Although it has died down now it is still an issue and really worried me a few months ago.
37. Who did (do) you miss? A few of my best friends from High School. I rarely see them anymore and feel like I've lost touch. I blame myself for that.
38. Who were the best new person/people you met? A couple crazy latinos in the Triangle Soccer Fanatics.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007: If you carry on with what you're doing, good things will come. 2008 looks like it'll be an excellent year.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: I always like to do this with some lyrics from a song that came out this year.

Back home i was so certain
The path was very clear
But now i have to wonder: "what are we doing here?"
I'm not counting on tomorrow
And i can't tell wrong from right
But i'd give anything to be there in your arms tonight

Weaving down the american highway
Through the litter and the wreckage and the cultural junk
Bloated with entitlement, loaded on propaganda
And now we're driving dazed and drunk

Been down the road to damascus,
The road to mandalay
Met the ghost of caesar on the appian way
He said, "it's hard to stop this bingeing, once you get a taste."
"but the road to empire is a bloody stupid waste."

~Eagles from their new album Long Road Out to Eden

2007 is one of those years that I will forget. Not because it was bad or anything, but because nothing major happened in my life. I continued with college, my cousin from England came to visit. The two biggest things in my life were moving into an apartment, and supporting the Carolina Railhawks. But when you put that into last year's perspective (going off to college for the first time and the World Cup), it doesn'y seem to great. But all in all it was a good year with nothing bad happening. Made some great new friends that I get along with very well, I lost other friends, either through dispute or losing touch. Love, Life, Knowledge, Understanding, Destiny. These things still elude me, but don''t they always?

2008 Promises to be a great year for me, and I can only hope to excel during it.

Over and Out,

BleuYank.

I have to gloat.

2007-12-12T00:11:00.001-05:00

Skip to second 40.

:-).

Feeling Thoughtful

2007-12-01T23:21:00.000-05:00

I just finished watching "Gettysburg", one of my favorite movies. This movie was one of the ones that got me into studying history. You would think it has to do with the explosives, artillery, destruction, and general war. All mischievous young boys are fascinated by those things. But after time I've come to realize that the men involved the movie focuses on were such great men. I don't specifically mean the big guys like Generals Lee and Longstreet, but the lesser officers. Men like Chamberlain, Buford, and Armistead. These men rose from relative obscurity and were true heroes. Men who were willing to sacrifice their lives, and many did, do die for a cause they believed in, whether just or not. Great men demonstrating traits such as intelligence, courage, friendship, self-sacrifice.

It's movies and literature like this that make me want to get up off my ass and change something in the world for the better right now, but then I find that I'm not in a position to do it. I want to do something to help the world, but at the same time I'm a glory seeker. A prideful idealist. That's a poor combination if I've ever seen one. Then again if I continue my path, an opportunity might present itself. I doubt we'll ever see something like a WWII, or a Civil War. Where one or both sides for honorable ideals and justice.

Anyways that's my rant for the evening, if you can stomach more heres a good section of the movie I just viewed.

The Armisitice.

2007-11-11T23:30:00.001-05:00

To the soldiers of all nations who fought for their freedom and livelihood, or just because they were told to by some man with a metal hat.

We remember.

Why Travelling Alone is an Experience

2007-10-07T13:03:00.000-04:00

I went to go see Paris Je t'Aime the other day at the Student Union. For me I really enjoyed it as I was familiar with many of the sites in the city. The movie is actually a series of short films, each story was about love in some form, ranging from a Spanish immigrant worker singing to her child, to a gay guy hitting on an American, to Elijah Wood becoming a vampire (don't ask).

The final one was the most powerful, and it describes the feeling I get while I travel dead-on.

Frustration Abounds

2007-09-29T20:10:00.000-04:00

So you know how you make plans for the weekend that you've been looking forward to for a very long time.

And then things fall through and you can't do it.

And then you find yourself on a Saturday night with absolutely nothing to do.

Guess I'll clean up and do some homework :-/.

2007-09-24T16:42:00.000-04:00

From

To

2007-09-23T20:17:00.000-04:00

FRANCE 0 --- SCOTLAND 1

2007-09-12T23:26:00.000-04:00

So the scoreline makes me cry. France dominated the match, and scotland gets one shot on goal that looks like this.

I'm convinced the Scots sent these guys to sabotage the team.

9/11 and Fundamentalist Preachers

2007-09-11T17:53:00.000-04:00

Originally I was to go on a silent 5K run/walk in remembrance of today. Then I came to the realization that it was impossible for me to take a bus to get to this event on time. Maybe next year.

Anyways, on my way to class I noticed a memorial set up in front of Wilson Library. I'm trying to get in the habit of taking my camera with me everywhere, and luckily I brought it with me today so I could take this photo.

It makes me proud to see things like this, little things that people do so that we don't forget events such as 9/11 and Pearl Harbor. Of course as our generation gets older, and new ones come along, this day will mean as much for them as Pearl Harbor does to many of my peers. But so long as we remember, hopefully we can take action to prevent these sort of things from happening again.

My attitude of remembrance and solemnity ended when I went to the pit later today. For those of you who don't know, Carolina has been subject to a flood of open-air fundamentalist preachers. Now Carolina students have plenty of experience in dealing with these types of people. One of the traditional events of the university is when Gary Birdsong, or "the Pit Preacher" comes to preach to us that we are going to hell :-).

Lately though we've been visited by a horde of other preachers, some amusing, and some boring. But today what I saw just pissed me off. I swear if I see them tomorrow, I'm going to come up with something crazy to interrupt their hateful preaching. I took some snapshots to describe:

I figure if God is truly like this, I'd rather go to Hell.

Disgruntled Fan.

2007-09-07T00:55:00.001-04:00

http://carolinarailhawks.com/matches/railhawks-still-alive-as-they-lose-in-minnesota.html

I'm beginning to know how fans of various English clubs feel.

Railhawks are out of the US Open Cup.

2007-09-04T21:50:00.000-04:00

Lost 2-1 in Extra Time

Despite it being our first season, I still wanted us to win.

But really its OK. Our boys played tough, playing with 9 men at one point, and were in it to the very last second. If it weren't for a wonder save by Reis in the last few seconds, it would have gone down to PKs.

I love you guys, do us proud in Minnesota and California and bring us some playoff games!!

I really should rename this blog "Confessions of a Franco-American Soccer Junkie"

Screw you Spain

2007-09-04T16:51:00.000-04:00

http://www.yanks-abroad.com/get.php?mode=content&id=3379

So the Spanish Football Federation decided to act all tough and cancelled a match between Catalan and the USA. I was really looking forward to this game because the Catalonians, are so patriotic and intense, especially when Barca, or their national team (non-Fifa) are playing.

This game wasn't going to bother the Spanish schedule at all, and no Catalan/Spanish national team members were going to be called up for the game. This is just another instance of the Spanish stamping down on the many non-Fifa football associations in and around the nation (Catalan, Basque region, Gibralter).

And now I see the USA play one less match in Europe.

Thanks a lot Spain.

Fuck you.

School starts

2007-09-01T00:56:00.000-04:00

Lots of stuff has been happening.

I'm done with Target for now
I've reffed at two soccer tournaments (and had great times)
UNC has started back up, and I'm in great classes with great people
My apartment is looking good, and the neighbors are chill
The Railhawks control their playoff destiny and are in the Semis of the US Open Cup,
I just wrapped up a little party with some friends,

I should be very happy, but because of a stupid comment I've pissed off a friend, and that certainly takes away any joy from the 1st 2 weeks.

Hopefully we can come to terms.

A Soccer rant, and An Interesting Proposition

2007-07-29T13:01:00.000-04:00

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=223073&cc=5901

So Iraq wins the Asian Soccer Cup. Its certainly a great thing when an unheralded soccer nation wins a cup. it reminds me of the 2004 Euro cup a bit, where Greece won the trophy after beating France *cringe* the Czech Republic, and Portugal (TWICE, in the opener and the final). Iraq was able to beat S Korea on penalties, and Saudi Arabia in the final, 2 of the top 4-5 teams in Asia.

Anyways this brings about an interesting proposition. The Confederations cup is a small soccer tournament held the year before the World Cup, in the World Cup host country. It is pretty much a mini-world cup consisting of 8 teams. Each confederation (continent pretty much) sends their champion, the world champs also go, and the host nation plays. As of right now we know who 5 of the teams are.

Host - South Africa
World Champs - Italy
S. America - Brazil
N. America - USA
Asia - IRAQ

Now with the teams split into 2 groups for the first stage, and with 8 nations. That means a 50/50 chance of playing the country we are currently occupying. How is that for political tenseness. It would probably be the most politically tense soccer match since the 1982 World Cup match between England and Argentina.

I for one am happy the Iraqis won, because it is helping to unify the nation. Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurd are all cheering the team that has players from all these demographics.

Go Iraq! But if you happen to play the US or the future Euro Champs France, I hope you will bow down and cry to the might that are my national teams :-).

Sporting Events

2007-07-16T11:48:00.001-04:00

After last night I have come to the realization that there is one thing in life that everyone must experience, and that is the sheer ecstasy to arise from an amazing victory in a sporting event. When the atmosphere the crowd is enthusiastic, and the event exciting, it builds up an atmosphere that cannot be described in words, you must be there to experience it.

Of course since I'm blogging about it I'm going to try to put the joy of a spectator into words. I'm going to recall some of the greatest sports events I've been to in descending order

5. USA vs. Jamaica: International Soccer Friendly: Cary, NC
4. UNC vs. NC State: Football, Chapel Hill NC
3. Carolina Railhawks vs. Chicago Fire: Soccer, Cary NC
2. UNC vs. Ohio State: Basketball, Chapel Hill NC
1. USA vs. Ghana: World Cup 2006, Nuremberg, Germany

Happy Bastille Day!

2007-07-14T15:39:00.001-04:00

On this day last year, I woke up real early in the morning in Paris. I then went over to the Champs Elysees to watch the military parade.

I saw some tanks.

The travel channel interviewed me as well... hmm maybe I should be watching it today to see if I'm on a Bastille Day Program.

Travelling Withdrawel

2007-07-13T00:11:00.000-04:00

But it's not cancer. So that's good. No its a need to travel. This is the first summer in many years that I am not voyaging to another nation. The last time this happened though, I went out to Colorado though, and toured the romantic West of the USA. It is only know that I realize how much I am addicted to traveling.

The other day I was supposed to go to Washington DC. One of my favorite places in the world. You can walk up and down the mall and if you think about it, so much of the world is being run just around you. In almost every building in that area something big is going on that is affecting millions perhaps billions of people. I have this certain romantic fascination with places like that, with cities that have a unique personality and when I'm able to experience it.

Anyways I was supposed to go there with my cousin, but things came up and it didn't work. It was like a smoker trying to quit cold turkey on his or her first day. I felt like something was ripped out of me. I had been looking forward to visiting monuments, museums, and having lunch with one of my UNC friends, and then it was gone. I never thought I would have such a withdrawal but really it makes sense.

I'm one of those people that isn't happy sitting down for a long period of time. I desire to see the world, travel to new places, explore regions that few people go to. Of course this isn't easy, especially when one's budget is that of a college student, but it can be done. My thirst for exploration can be satiated even within this state. Once my cousin is gone, and I have some more time to myself, I'm going to the Cliffs of the Neuse State Park to go hike and camp up there. If anyone wants to tag along swell! but if not, its no big deal I'll be enjoying myself and seeing something I haven't seen before.

A life is too short to waste, and I don't have forever to do the things I want.

On another note, I'm sorry for the lack of updates, I really don't know why I don't update more often. I come up with ideas almost every other day to blog about, but when it comes time to sit down and write, I have trouble doing so. Regardless I'll do better.

My Beef With New Jersey

2007-06-15T17:19:00.000-04:00

I'm in New Jersey now visiting my family. It's a little quaint town called Gillette (photos to come later perhaps). Regardless I've come up with a few things that make me not appreciate the Garden State.

First thing, the traffic. Too many people live in this bloody state, but this issue isn't just a New Jersey problem, once you head North of Fredericksburg, Virginia traffic sucks. Too many people driving around.

The other thing is the people driving. There is no courtesy on the roads. It's one thing for everyone to responsibly speed (everyone going 80-85 in a 60 mile zone, obviously 80 in a neighborhood isn't responsible), but there is no courtesy whatsoever. If I want to change lanes back home I put my blinker on, people take notice and will react to make it easier to let me in. I didn't get any of that on the Turnpike or driving through neighborhoods today and yesterday.

That and my last and final reason why I have beef with New Jersey. I searched high and low in the Gillette area but was not able to find a sports bar that had Fox Soccer Channel. So I was unable to watch the Railhawks lose to Seatlle tonight. Gargh. Maybe next time.

A Great Soccer Pick-Up

2007-06-06T00:04:00.000-04:00

On Monday the Old Guard and I got together for one of our regular pick-up soccer games. Although it was a small initial turnout, we ended up having a great game. I wish I had took some pictures but I was so caught up in the match that I completely forgot.

Anyways I guess I should tell you why the evening was so good. After a while our game was becoming lopsided, but then I noticed a couple of Latino kids showed up on the other side of the field. Chris asked me if we should invite them to play with us. So I did. Eventually one of their father's showed up along with his munchkin 5 year old. Needless to say they all had some serious skills compared to us.

What I was really impressed with was how my buddies and I really picked up our game when they showed up. Chris made some excellent passes, Dom and Stefan both made some excellent tackles, Nickolai (sp?) charged in there to win every 50-50 ball he saw, Kelly despite being the only girl played with the best of us, and I scored a one-touch goal (with my left foot!!!) off of a lobbed cross from one of the Latinos.

I really hope that one day we can all get together and play in a TASL league. Finances and lack of interest are the only barriers right now, but hopefully it'll change.

Until next time!

Already a Sophomore

2007-06-01T01:43:00.000-04:00

To say that it has been a while since my last post would be an understatement. Regardless here I am, and a lot of things have happened to me in the past few months. One of the biggest things is of course, the completion of my first year of college.

Already 1 year of my life at the University of North Carolina is done. I only plan to spend 2 more years here. My upcoming sophomore year, and my senior year. I plan on spending my junior year abroad, one semester in Bristol, England; and the other semester in Montpelier, France, or Paris, France. I'm very excited about my planned studies in Bristol though. Every time I go to England, I always stay at my aunt's in London. This time I'll be able to experience another city in England, and meet some other people.

Bristol seems to be quite an interesting city. Its more of a cricket than football/soccer city, but it does have 2 lower division soccer teams. Bristol City, and Bristol Rovers. I have a certain penchant for Bristol Rovers because I randomly selected them in my Fifa 2004 game and promoted them from Division 3 all the way to the Premiership. Besides the sports though, the city seems to have some neat sites, and it is located in the Eastern part, not far from Wales. Visit the Wiki page for more info.

Adventure to Durham

2007-02-26T00:52:00.000-05:00

So the other day (2 weeks ago) my roommate and I went on what can only be called a grand adventure filled with courage, ingenuity, endurance, spirit, and near-death situations.

We biked to Durham and back.

OK not all the way, but for a good deal. We are both reffing youth soccer in the area this spring so that we can make a few extra dollars. Anyways, the plan was to ride the TTA near the SE Branch library in Durham. From the bus stop, we would ride bikes (we placed them on the rack in front of the bus) to the library.

But we had a problem. The TTA never showed up. So in an example of quick thinking, we took grabbed the D route of the Chapel Hill bus service and rode it to county line between Orange and Durham counties. Now from here we had a 6-8 mile bike ride. Problem was, it was getting dark, and we were on 15-501 during rush hour traffic. To sum it up, it was scary. But we got there with no problems.

Despite the fact that this venture made me very disappointed in the punctuality of the Triangle Transit Authority, we did get to see a Triangle landmark...

Mark Jacobson's Toyota of Durham!!!

and that made the adventure worth it.

BAM!

2007-02-20T00:02:00.000-05:00

Heaven

2007-02-08T07:13:00.000-05:00

It's a bit odd that I care about the USA 2-0 win over Mexico last night more than the Carolina victory over Duke...

But watching Duke players cry makes me feel just as good :-D.

Since Captain Havoc Requested...

2007-02-05T14:08:00.000-05:00

This weekend, a low ranked North Carolina State University beat my 3rd ranked University of North Carolina. We were on a 6 game winning streak against the Wolfpack, but sadly all of our boys did not show up for the game, and their players stepped it up a notch scoring multiple 3 point shots. Final score, 83-79.

Now State played a great game and all, but to storm the court? This is where the rivalry gets out of hand. For you see in the words of many UNC students lately,

"When you win, you storm the court. When we win, we yawn and eat a sandwich."

This isn't just a State problem, Virginia Tech did it earlier this year. For us it is expected to beat these teams because we and everyone else knows that, overall, we are far superior in basketball. Storming the court is an activity reserved for those teams that win a national championship, or where the rivalry is equal on both sides (see UNC-Duke, UCLA-USC, Kansas-Missouri). We don't really care about State, but they seem to have this violent hatred of us that boils down to their very sweat.

Oh well, State did play a good game, but Wednesday is what matters (UNC v. Duke). And State, wait until you come to the Dean Dome on February 21, then we'll see how you can play against more than 3 players.

Damnit...

2007-02-05T01:54:00.000-05:00

Overdue again! And it's not like I don't mean to post. I actually think during the day, "Hey I should blog this later, or I should take a picture of this and share it with my friends" Of course by now none of you regularly come here anymore. I need to get my act in gear.

Speaking of gear this brings to mind the recent bike troubles I have had, particularly with the gears. Now a bicycle is not a complicated piece of machinery, but you do need tools to operate on one and the only thing I have in my dorm is a Swiss army knife and a laguiole. So it makes it a bit hard to fix one of the loudest and most aggravating squeaks I have ever heard come out of a chain and cog. I take it to our local bike shop The Bicycle Chain and they are great people there. They pointed me to some lubricant to oil up my chains and they took a quick look to see if my bike needed a tune up. Main parts had to do with brake alignment, the gears and to tighten a screw near the pedals (the only serious part and the cause of my squeaking). All this is minor stuff that I could fix with enough tinkering...

$90 to fix all the little things.
$5 to tighten that screw

Needless to say I paid the $5 and I'll do the rest next time I go home. This $5 though was ridiculously overpriced. He pulled out a socket wrench and turned it 4 times... I paid $1.25 for each turn of a damned socket wrench...

At least now I can ride my bike without a screech that causes any living thing nearby to jump away in fear.

More regular updates about the random life of Marc in college to come on a more frequent basis!

Hopefully...

Spring Semester 2007 Preview

2007-01-17T22:41:00.000-05:00

Well with the start of a new semester comes the typical review of one's teachers and classes. So without any further ado...

Political Science/Peace War and Defense 150: International Relations and World Politics

As far as I can tell I am going to enjoy this class a lot. It is the survey course for the career that I plan to go in. The only downside is that it is far away and is one of those large 300 person lecture classes. I haven't had the recitation yet though so my opinions may change depending on how the TA is. Professor Crescenzi sounds like he is a cool guy though so at least half of it will be good.

French 260: Introduction to French Literature (in French)

The fact that I get to practice my French is good, the fact that I do not particularly enjoy literature analysis is bad. Let's hope that I can survive that 3-5 page paper in French. Miss Connolly is a good teacher and has won a teaching award, so hopefully it'll work out for the best.

English 102: English Composition and Rhetoric

The teacher, Miss Calcaterra seems very nice. The class seems entertaining, but unlike my English 101 class, this one is much more homogeneous. My last English class had students from Scotland, Argentina, Columbia, a South Korean girl who was raised in Peru, Australia, and Costa Rica. It blew my mind to be honest. Anyways the class should be good, the coursework not so much. That and it is at 8 AM. Bleh.

Life Fitness 108: Outdoor Sports

That damn required Health/PE class that follows you wherever you go. Right now it is in the mind-numbingly boring health part of the year. But on February 20th we start ultimate frisbee outside, and then move onto flag football, then soccer. Once that starts this class will become much better.

History/Peace War and Defense 281: Pacific War

Although professor Fletcher is a bit dull in his lectures, the man really knows his stuff. He's one of the leading researchers in Japanese History from the 1850's through WWII. The readings are going to be the best part of this class, and I'll definitely come out of it with a new knowledge of the Pacific War from 1937-1945.

On another note I woke up to this this morning as I walked to class, and it made me happy.

Whoops. Reflections of 2006

2007-01-03T21:45:00.000-05:00

Right so it has been a little over two months, but I'll try to be good and update on a weekly basis at the least.

Anyways it was a tradition on my older blog to reuse this survey every year at the dawn of the new one so here we go.

1. What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before? I'm going to cheat and say 2. Graduate and go to the World Cup.
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I kept about half of them. Working out on a regular basis is still on the list
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? No
4. Did anyone close to you die? Not anyone immediately
5. What countries did you visit? France, Germany, England.
6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006? A high college GPA.
7. What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? June 29. The day of the USA v. Ghana match. And although we lost, it was my first time ever at the World Cup.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Destroying all of my IB tests and my EE to get that bloody diploma.
9. What was your biggest failure? This was a year of ups to be honest, no real failures.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Well unless you count this at the camping adventure:

11. What was the best thing you bought? That Eurail pass that got me all over Europe. Or maybe the 34 pound round trip Paris-London Eurostar tickets. Those were pretty hot too.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My friends and accomplices for we finished high school to begin a new chapter of our lives.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Zinedine Zidane. The way he lost his cool at the World Cup was unacceptable.
14. There was never a question 14 in this survey?
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Must I answer this question? The World Cup if you didn't realize that fools.
16. What song will always remind you of 2006? Coup de Boule
17. Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder? Now that is tough, because I'm happy that I am pushing on with my life, but I can't help but feeling some sadness for the people I have left behind.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Traveling, I spent 2 weeks in the S of France doing nothing, I should have traveled somewhere else.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Facebooking, it eats your life!
20. How will you be spending Christmas? Well I spent part of it at home and then I went to work from 6 to close.
21. How will you be spending New Years Eve? It was a smashing party at Matt's house!
22. Did you fall in love in 2006? The heart was broken at the end of 2005 and I've only just fully recovered.
24. What was your favorite TV program? The Amazing Race, and all 64 matches of the World Cup.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? No
26. What was the best book you read? Paris 1919 by Margaret MacMillan
27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Like before this is because of Richie and the answer would have to be the Decemberists.
28. What did you want and get? A chance to travel Europe and go to the World Cup with one of my best buds (well I had to pay for a good deal of it)
29. What did you want and not get? Bragging rights for the next 4 years (God damn Italians).
30. What was your favorite film(s) of this year? As much as it hurts to say, the top films for me were Over the Hedge and Snakes on a Plane. No I never saw Casino Royale.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I was at UNC, and I was doing homework. Then my Gamecube was stolen. But that is another story.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? USA win over Ghana (and then beating Brazil in the next round). France world cup win.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006? I NEVER LIKED THIS QUESTION DAMNIT no idea really.
34. What kept you sane? Graduation from high school was just around the corner
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you admire the most? Like last year I'm going across the pond to talk about British politics here. David Cameron, head of the Conservatives in Britain. Although I prefer Labour in almost every situation, Cameron has taken a step forward to revolutionize the Conservative platform and has taken a much more moderate approach to politics as opposed to his Thatcherite precursors. He is the man and is doing what the politicians in the US should be doing.
36. What political issue stirred you the most? Vernon Robinson's extremist political attacks upon the Democratic candidate Brad Miller in one of the congressional races in NC. Although not my district, I was amazed at the brutality of his ads and the ignorant racist undertones (or more accurately in your face tones) of his comments. That is not how candidates should run for office. Thank god he lost.
37. Who did (do) you miss? I miss the day to day hanging out with my best buds, it is not the same in college.
38. Who were the best new person/people you met? Third floor Lewis guys. How can you not like a professional video gamer, an Asian with an Australian accent, and guys that have fake karate fights at 3 AM in your hall.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006:

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: I always like to do this with some lyrics from a song that came out this year.

Back to the start
Back to the start again I go
Back to the start
Back to the start again

And I don't know why
I feel this way
But I couldn't stay here for
One more day

~Razorlight from the album Razorlight

Like the survey talks about this was a very memorable year. 2006 was a year of completions and new beginnings. An intricate part of my life, the IB programme ended. All that work and effort for the classes and the Extended Essay paid off with an acceptance from UNC (well technically I was accepted before I finished it) and a fancy shiny sheet of paper. I graduated high school with my mates who suffered through four years of band. 2006 will also be remembered by me as the year I traveled Europe with Matt, I took him to Paris, London, Clermont-Ferrand, and the USA v. Ghana game. It was a promise we made back in middle school to travel Europe together after high school and we were able to do it. Also 2006 will be remembered as the year I went to the World Cup. Although the USA lost it was still the most impressive and amazing thing I have ever been to, and I will go to another one in the future and hopefully see either the USA or France win.

2006 is also the year I've started college, and its an amazing thing so far. Only the future will tell me what experiences that will bring to me.

19 Years, what have I done

2006-10-26T00:54:00.000-04:00

First thing first, my soccer team "Soccer Players Anonymous" won it's first game today by default! I got a voicemail in the middle of class telling me that the other team defaulted and we would be credited for the win. Now if we can win our game next week... Or they can default, either way.

I was walking back from a friend's on South Campus a little after midnight reflecting on what I have done in the past 19 years of my life. I've traveled the world, learned and experienced things that the common person wouldn't know a thing about. I know I'm a bit young to be feeling sentimental, but as always I turned around and looked towards the future. My ultimate goal in life is to do something big to change this world for the better, that is why I wish to enter the Foreign Service or Peace Corps. Anyways I realized that I have not done enough to change this world, small aid programs here and there, helping clean up the environment and all, but nothing big.

"Without hope for society's goodness, what reason is there to live?"

I came to that realization tonight on my walk back, another quote to more or less live by. Its amazing what cold late night walks on a deserted college campus will make you think of. I should just go outside and write papers in the cold.

Jeez I am bad

2006-10-23T20:53:00.000-04:00

Right my apologies for the massively delayed post. I promise I will get back into regular posting like I once did on my previous blog. College life is just so different from what I'm used to it has taken a while to get into the general flow of things.

My goal for this blog is every couple of days to describe some college life here at UNC, so for today...

Intramural Soccer!

Just a little while ago I added a few people to the roster of our team, Soccer Players Anonymous. Our team looks to be pretty amazing. We have six different nationalities on our team, hopefully with a combination of American hard work, Argentine Elegance, Scottish dominance, French finesse (too bad I can't do that), Italian defense (or diving), and some Chinese brilliance we can kick the asses of every other team in our group. Our first match is against some team called "At Least We Look Good". We're goning to make them look bad.

So for those of you who want to watch us! Come to Hooker Field #1 at 4:45 tomorow and cheer for us, just don't insult the other team because it will give us a bad sportsmanship rating according to the rules.

Updates at least every 3-4 days... if not you have permission to slap me upon next viewing

Whoops

2006-10-09T12:43:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the delay, I've been busy with school. I promise a solid update tomorow. In the meantime a question to ponder over...

Who would win in this fight...

VERSUS

Somewhere Else

2006-09-28T00:21:00.000-04:00

So I've been listening to this band a ton lately. A British band (what else do I listen to) that's starting to get a name for itself over here in the states. They recently released their second album which has earned some excellent reviews, but I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet so I can't tell you whether they are true or not. But I have been listening to their first album a bunch lately, and this song is like my anthem almost. Video is kinda blah but the song is awesome.

What's A Wonderwall Anyway?

2006-09-27T00:16:00.000-04:00

Seriously like everyone loves that song and says that they relate to it so much...

So since coming to Chapel Hill I've met some pretty interesting people. I've also come to befriend a few of them pretty well.

One of them is a dude from the middle of nowhere New Jersey. He's a cool dude who always seems to be in a cheerful mood and looks on the brighter side of things. He is also a big Germany fan soccer wise (better than an Italian fan at least) and used to live in Germany for a while.

Another is a girl from St. Louis. Really sweet girl, I honestly have never heard her say a bad thing about anyone or anything. Smart, cool and an avid outdoors lover. She also likes Jeeps. So an automatic 10 in my book haha.

Now if some of you thought I was obsessed about soccer, imagine me X2 and about baseball. That's what this one girl from Winston-Salem is like. I mean like her life revolves around baseball. I thought I was obsessed with soccer and now I see I'm outclassed. She's really cool though and fun to talk to. And she take the British Home Front WWI WWII class, and anyone taking that class is automatically one of the coolest people on earth.

Just some thoughts on some of the people I've met. It's also really neat to see everyone's different backgrounds and why they decided to come to UNC. To Each his Own really...

Oh and the King of the Universe (my roommate) has decided to add a few verses to the Book of Genesis in the Bible...

1 So on the 7th day while God was resting on his bum, he realized that his work was not complete, for he wished something to curb his mighty sweet tooth
2 So God stated "I shall create a sugary snack that will vanquish sugar cravings while reenergizing someone after a hard week's work"
3 And God created the ice cream cone
4 God tasted the ice cream cone and said it was good
5 God then said it could be better
6 So God created the waffle cone and said it was good
7 God then tasted the waffle cone and said
8 This is DAMN good Cletus!!!

'Night all!

edit:

BleuYank: or he realized just how important the creation of the waffle cone was
Jaleis42: and he liked being attributed to creating it so he says ok whatev
BleuYank: but the real question is
BleuYank: WHO IS CLETUS!?
Jaleis42: my penis of course

The Glory of School Cafeteria Food

2006-09-25T15:58:00.000-04:00

Who would agree with the title? Not many, although decent the cafeterias here at UNC are not my normal fare. I admit I am normally spoiled when it comes to food (the advantages of having a French mother). But the other day while at Ram's Head I rediscovered one of the simplest American creations, and just how good one can be.

That's right I'm talking about a grilled cheese sandwich

Now this particular grilled cheese has stuff in it, which is not neccesary. But what is neccesary is that golden color in the bread upon completion. I had one of these oh so perfect sandwiches the other day and it was heaven in the form of two slices of buttered bread, cheese in between, and grilled to golden delight.

If you haven't had one of these in a while I urge you to do so.

TGIF

2006-09-22T14:12:00.000-04:00

Fridays are always so good. At least once classes are over (I still have one more today). I do need to apologize for the lack of posts, I have come up with some decent ideas since the last post, but I'll save them for the next post. Today is time for an observational stream of consciousness rant. First thing's first, we won against Furman last weekend! A glorious 45-42 game. Can we say no defense whatsoever? For both sides? Either way it was fun, I sat right on the 40 yard line. I love Kenan stadium, maybe if the US gets to host the World Cup in 2010 once South Africa screws themselves over by not building stadiums fast enough we can put a game here.
Or not because parking would be atrocious, and we have no efficient public transportation from the airport to here... I can dream though.

On another note, my friends may be coming up this evening for the UVA vs. UNC soccer match this afternoon. Should be a good one since it's against the current No 1. team in the nation. Bah we can take 'em! Afterwards then the plan is to play videogames until our brains rot... oh wait I'm in college...

GO TARHEELS!!

My Cousin's Cats

2006-09-17T20:19:00.000-04:00

So my cousins have a couple cats, Monet and Degas. Cute names. Anyways here they are caught on film doing one of their antics.

College Game Day

2006-09-16T16:47:00.000-04:00

Walking around a college campus is always a neat thing. Particualrly an old and gorgeous one like Chapel Hill (not to be biased or anything). But walking around Chapel Hill on a game day is even better. There is a buzz, in the air as everyone is wearing Carolina Blue, the sun is shining, the sky is reflective of our school colors. It reminds me a bit of the World Cup fever, not as insane (that might change once basketball season starts).

I went to go eat lunch up on Franklin street today, I saw tons of people in their Carolina Blue from all age groups. Loads of people were coming out for the game today hoping to see the Tar Heels win their first football game of the season against Furman. It was a neat thing to see grandfathers who were alumni here take their grandkids to a game. Now I only hope that we win so that the Tar Heel spirit will live on in them.

And as always...

GO TO HELL DUKE!

Five Years On

2006-09-11T23:54:00.000-04:00

I was reading some articles about 9/11 five years on. The world for Americans did change five years ago, and we are pressing on as hard as ever. However in my delvings through the various news sources online, I saw a few pictures that spoke to me, maybe they will for you.

Song of Now - America the Beautiful

A New Chapter, A New Blog

2006-09-10T23:45:00.000-04:00

I've decided to start up a new blog for college. Three years of regular blogging at Broughton High has made it impossible for me to kick the habit. However with this new blog I'll take it in another direction, and make myself a bit more reflective on such. Only time will tell where it will go.

Like the description said, this is my story, my trivialities, my activities, my thoughts, my opinions, my passions. I came across a realisation this summer while I was travelling in Europe. Everyone has their own story. In Germany I came across and met so many people from so many countries due to a little event called the World Cup. Stories ranged from dudes going to Germany just to get drunk at the World Cup parties (while buying tickets for a Trinidad game) to an Australian father taking his 10 year old son to Germany to watch Australia compete in their 3 group stage matches. Small conversations with various people about any little thing is the true way to see the world. This blog will document my life through college, the people I meet, and the thoughts I have. Oh and I may have the occasional soccer rant when the US or France has a game. Can't be helped!