Fuck This Shit

There is something wrong with a rule system that awards 15 yards and an automatic first down to a team when their punter pretends to get tripped up by another player, even when another look clearly proves nothing actually happened. This is exactly what happened in the Badgers' bowl game. Florida State's punter gets away a clean punt under pressure, and the Badger player dives for the ball, passes right underneath the guy's leg with a couple of feet of clearance, and slides by without ever touching the punter. Because the punter kicks up his other leg and falls on his back, though, the referees throw the flag and call the penalty without ever seeing a replay! For a possession-changing, potentially game-changing play like that, why can we not consult a replay to make sure the correct call is made? 

There's always the chant that you just have to let the kids play, don't get bogged down in all the replays making sure calls are correct and whatever. You know what? That is fucking bullshit. Completely ridiculous, idiotic bullshit. There is a reason those rules are in place! You don't just throw a flag when something looks suspicious, you throw it when there is clear evidence that a penalty occurred!

The mantra for football seems to be that the referees are the ones who decide when a penalty has occurred, while the replays are just there to show really big hits and cool catches, and occasionally fix a really close call. But what about a blatantly obvious call that is completely fucked up because some kid is clever enough to make it look like he got taken out at the knee. It's completely ridiculous, and it's completely inexcusable. Personally, I think the most important thing for the referees and cameras to do is make sure that the game is decided by the players on the field, and not the jackasses wearing pinstripes carrying yellow handkerchiefs. 

Now I can't say with certainty that if that call had been made correctly, it would have changed the outcome of the game. The Badgers were flat out bad this year. But I'm fairly certain that we wouldn't have been embarassed the way we were. People who watched the game know, and should admit (I'm talking to you Florida St. fans!) that the final score, and even the halftime score, didn't really reflect how close the game had been.

Two things need to be fixed:

1. The replay/review system, including what can be replayed/reviewed, and the basis for making posession-changing calls in any situation. This includes a decreased reliance on field-side officials, and increased reliance on recorded, reviewable game footage, which doesn't lie, doesn't make decisions without any confirmed evidence, and just flat out doesn't fuck shit up!
2. Badger Football. The time has come for classic Wisconsin smash-mouth football to get updated. First thing? Recruit some fucking skill players, first and foremost a quarterback who can take advantage of situations where teams stack 9 guys in the tackle box and give you single coverage in 3 reciever sets. Our running game is so fucking good most years, we can't continue to squander it by not seizing the opportunities it affords us in the air!

The Scraping!

There is no way the things they do to your mouth in a dentist's office are healthy. How can scraping and gouging teeth with a sharpened curved steel hook of death promote oral health? This is certainly one of the greatest conspiracies of our age. 

Introductory Biology

I am so glad to be done with the Introductory Biology 151-152 sequence. They were the WORST classes I have taken so far by a long shot. Poorly organized, poorly run, poorly graded, poorly defined, just all around bullshit classes. I wish I could get a copy of the class evaluations we had to fill out. I tore those things apart. I hated those classes so much. Thank God they're over.

1.5 Done

First semester done, I'm now sitting alone in my apartment while my parents go to the Basketball game vs. Coppin St. (who suck, btw.) It's nice to be done, and I'm looking forward to going home for a while and seeing my friends for the first time in months. 

After that, Mexico.

Hehehehe...

Mandark

After watching 5 minutes of the Polar Express on TV, I have learned four things:

1. I hate the Polar Express

2. I want to strangle the kid with the Mandark voice.

3. The true meaning of the spirit of the ultimate message of the beauty of the Jesus of Christmas lies in my heart (whatever the fuck that means).

4. Tom Hanks is lights-out with a hole-punch.

Stereotype

I am sure this stereotype doesn't even remotely hold true, but here is something I have observed over the last couple of weeks.

Stenographers who aid hearing-impaired college students are rude, creepy, and just generally disagreeable. Again, I am basing this of very few actual observations, namely just the two who transcribe lectures and discussions for a girl in my Philosophy class. They routinely snap at anyone who comes anywhere near their stuff, expecting us to haphazardly knock over and destroy everything. They constantly complain about the lack of left-handed desks in the room (apparently these are easier to use?). They stare at the person talking with an evil gaze, which evidently makes it easier to write what they are saying.

Maybe they just lead miserable lives because of the burden placed upon them by their ability to type 225 words per minute (the speed required by the American National Court Reporters Association). I don't doubt it is a stressful job. Maybe ill-tempered people are just drawn to the position because of the impersonality of the position. I don't know. All I'm saying is that in my experience, these people are to be avoided when they've got their stenotype in front of them.

Again, I'm sure this stereotype is completely unfounded. But just from my experience, they're scum. Filthy, worthless, scum.

Wall of Sound

Wall of Sound is a technique used by music producers to create a dense, layered, and reverberant sound. It was developed by record producer Phil Spector during the 1960's.

It is awesome.

Whenever me and anybody else try to get together to record something, I always end up coming back to this "wall of sound" idea. I've always been a fan of music that just seems to fill the room. Intricate solos, meaningful lyrics, I always feel like that stuff is secondary to making music that you can almost get lost in. That's probably why I like really full, layered, almost repetitive songs with clear melodies being played by multiple instruments at once. Effects like distortion, reverb, and delay can also add a lot of texture and kind of meld everything together (or they can totally destroy it if they are used poorly). If everything is constructed right, there is no sound I would rather hear.

All that being said, I think the song "Take A Picture" by Filter pulls it off really well. From my experience, people either really like the song, or they hate it. But if you want to hear a legitimate wall of sound, check it out.

I thought about that song because I just watched "The Girl Next Door." Incidentally, I would do absolutely anything for Elisha Cuthbert. She is the most perfect human being ever created.

Even if she is Canadian.

Noteworthy

Does anybody else realize it is very possible that for a second consecutive year, a sophomore will win the Heisman trophy? I say this because I feel that Sam Bradford deserves it more than anyone else. He leads the nation in touchdown passes, is second in passer rating, third in total yards, and has only 6 interceptions on the year. The kid is insane. He should get the Heisman. Tebow definitely should not get it again.

All this being said, Texas should still be guaranteed a spot in the national title game after getting through the schedule they had with the record they have. It is obscene. The BCS sucks. Everyone knows it, but nothing happens. Something has to give eventually.

Epic Win

The internets strike again.