writer's block
So I have my first rough draft of my major paper due this coming monday and what a great time to be experiencing writer's block. For some reason the first 4 random papers we wrote flowed really easily for me, but I'm lost at how to go about this one. I feel like I'm back in HS english when they asked us to write about random stuff that I truly didn't care about. I guess the issue I'm writing about for this current paper is fairly open and free, but so much that I don't really know where to go with it. @_@ It's supposed to be about a "community of practice" (a group of people with a shared goal; any group really) and how their identity is formed and then whether or not commodity culture (advertising world that tries to make you buy, buy, buy...) has an effect on this community's identity.
I decided to write about something fairly near and dear to my heart, my Friday Night Basketball "group." Now having done this bball ordeal for almost 4-5 years now, you'd think that I know it very well. All the people who go and what it's all about, but that's actually where I'm kinda stuck. I really don't know all the people very well except for those friends of mine who I see at school already. And I'm more like a spectator because while this bball thing may sound like an exclusive area I ball at, the games are still mearly pick-up games that would happen anywhere else on any other court. What exactly makes "Friday Night basketball" so much different from any other game at, persay, the IMA? hrmmm...
Well, that last bit kinda got my juices going again, so I think I'm going to attempt a start on my paper now. =P
umm, right...
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You Are 22 Years Old |
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22
Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe.
13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world.
20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.
30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!
40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.
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So sad...
This past week my fantasy basketball teams have suffered severely due to injuries that have plagued my most important players. On one team, I lost both my star centers Brad Miller and Big Z (Zydrunus Ilgauskus). On the same team, I also lost Jamaal Tinsley midway through the season, Al Harrington just a few days ago, as well as Doneyll Marshall. Most recently I lost Big Z and donyell in this league, which has screwed me into using people like Lorenzo Wright and Reggie Miller as replacements. For the earlier players I had to replace, I was lucky enough to have picked up Andre Miller, who has just recently awoken back into all-star form, Joel Przybilla, who is a rebounding/shot blocking monster (read: the new Theo Ratliff), and Kenny Thomas (meh). This is really the only league I care about, even though I have no chance at first place because the first place team is ridicululously good.
In my other league, I was much more steady, as I did not draft as a good a team to begin with, but managed to finish the regular season 2nd. I was very bitter to have to drop Theo Ratliff half way through the season, and settle for half-assed replacements like Dampier who will only have a good game on a blue moon. I did get some luck in getting my hands on Stephen Jackson when he returned from suspension, probably my only consistant pickup. Two others that have recently played well consistantly these last few weeks are Ricky Davis and Anthony Johnson of the Pacers. AJ is a PG that is hardly ever used but due to the injury plagued Pacers lineup, the've exemplified their depth with guys like him picking up a lot of the slack. I also lost Big Z and donyell on this team unfortunately, and in this league, I don't think I'm going to be able to tough it out this next week to try for the championship. Kyle Korver just started sucking it up the past 2 weeks so I had to let him go. He wasn't helping at all. I actually resulted into using players like Ruben Patterson and Bob Sura who just happened to have better schedules. *sigh*
Alas, I'm going to be sad that this fantasy bball, along with the NBA season, will come to an end in the next week and month, respecitively. This was sadly, probably the thing I paid the most attention to in the past 8 months. I am a NBA junkie.
Sin City
Saw Sin City last night with a bunch of friends, so naturally, here comes my review. In the star-studded film Sin City, 3 short stories that all occur in the same city take place and have more violence, gratuitious nudity, and male-humor to leave any action movie lover leaving with a great sense of satisfaction. The movie was based off the graphic novel series by some author who I don't remember the name of, and the movie tried to emulate the scenes right out of the pictures. I thought that this was carried out quite well at some points and not very well in others. As a childhood comic book reader, I'd always remember some very vivid pictures of the heroes in battle and that was one of the great things about comics. This movie tries and for the most part succeeds in doing the same thing.
I've been told that there are about 6 short stories, and this movie covered 3 of them. One includes Bruce Willis as an old honest cop who's trying to make the most of the rest of his dying career as he gets older and older. The next talks of a huge badass that's just trying to find out who killed a beautiful prostitute that showed him the time of his life one night. The third is about Clive Owen and how he's tight with "Old Town's" army of hoes. Of course the movie is much more detailed than this, as I'm trying to give very simple summaries. But as you can already see, there's lots of reasons why this place is called Sin City. Each character fights for what he believes is right even though he may be going against the law, church, or their respective superiors. In a world full of corruption and the lack of the existence superheroes more apparent than ever, hope for a good world is hard to find. However, I say that man is not inherently bad. (actually i think this is what the movie says) He may do what's in his best interest at most times, but when things dearest to him are in jeoperdy, it is then when his conscious kicks in and tells him what's right. On the surface this may just seem to be another action movie, but I think the graphic novel actually has some underlying themes that ring true in society. I actually look forward to the next (if there's a next) movie as long as it is produced and directed by the same people.
All in all, I would recommend this movie to any action movie lover (obviously) but I caution that some of the goriness is a tad... excessive? This takes a decent stomach to watch. If you're enticed by my writing about the themes and crap in the previous paragraph, I'd also recommend it to you as it was a very well put together film. It seemed followed the graphic novel/comic very precisely so I would have to assume that it does a good job of portraying original author's story. So Jason, it sounds like you really liked this movie, would you call it one of your favorites? Hrmm... It does get close, but I haven't quite decided how much I liked it. A possible re-viewing in the future is to be scheduled. Not a favorite yet eh... what would you rate it on your ever-so-ambigous rating system? Ehh... how bout a 7.5, I was impressed with this movie. I feel like stopping now.
