Randomness...

Just a couple of quick hits. First of all, this morning was street cleaning. So I move my car and double park like everyone else does. When I come back to move it I noticed there was a ticket it on it for being within 6 feet of a fire hydrant. Technically, I wasn't 6 feet from it if you measure out from the actual fire hydrant but if you're going by the yellow dash, then yes my bumper barely crossed the line. The worst part is that the ticket is $115 (don't plan on paying it anytime soon) but if I hadn't moved my car at all I would have only gotten a ticket for $40. It's asinine. And it pisses me off. It's only the fourth ticket I've gotten in NYC in a couple years which isn't so bad. I've only paid one before and that was $40. The other two were both 115, one for the same infraction above and one for literally parking for 3 minutes with my hazards on in a designated "bus zone" that was also for $115. I have paid none of those. And I don't plan to. They can't impound my car because I don't have NY plates (it's a silly rule but I'm not complaining) so I'll pay them after I win the lottery. Assh*les.

Also Halo 3: ODST came out today. It's pretty awesome. I'll save you the nerd review but if you like Halo then pick it up. Otherwise continue being lame.

That's it I guess. In case you were wondering why I didn't do a best dressed at the Emmys this year, it's because I didn't watch. After seeing pictures however, I think it would be once again Julia Louise Dreyfuss at the top although I think Sandra Oh would have taken the top spot. Elaine might just be in the top 5 of hottest celebs over 40 - she's right up there with Courtney Cox and Jennifer Aniston and Monica Belluci (though no one is as hot as MB).

Go big.

-M, p, z & shredder

oh ps - tfln: "(802): My social work teacher just told our class about her bicurios adventures in college
(516): is she hot?
(802): She is now"

Finally...

So this is the first time since I have been a State fan that we beat U of M. It feels great. Actually, my first year as a State fan was the first of 6 straight losses to Michigan. Call it my curse, or just chalk it up to the fact that we lost a couple close games, but I can't describe the joy I had saturday afternoon. I love sports and I love rivalries, but this is one of those rivalries that's not so friendly. The reason I stopped being a Michigan fan was because I couldn't stand the majority of the people at UofM and their attitude toward people that went to State. Not just when it came to football but life in general. Wow, you got better grades than me in high school, congrats. Doesn't really give you the right to be an asshole. Not to say they all are because I have many friends, classmates who went there who are awesome and met many people who are equally awesome.

Ever since I started to root for State I noticed more and more how much people at Michigan looked down at us and it made me go from just rooting for State, to also rooting against Michigan. I'm happy they have a 2-6 record. It's hilarious. It warms my heart. I feel like in this scenario, State is the nice kid in school and Michigan is the asshole jock who everyone hates and he just got the sh*t kicked out of him at his house even after he had help (fake touchdowns are lame). Rules.

Obviously it would have been nice to beat a better team than the one from this season but hey, a win's a win. The best part about this season is that if we can win our last three games (our last one is against Penn St.) and Texas and Alabama both lose at least once, then hopefully Penn St. will go to the BCS Championship game and State will get to rep the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl. That's sort of a pipe dream but still very much a possibility as we're tied for 2nd in the conference right now. Anyways just wanted to spread some Spartan love. Go big or go home...

-M, p, z & shredder

oh ps - speaking of Spartan love, if you love Halo and 300 re-mixes, check out this clip. Awesome. Also for you Halo fans out there, next fall there is going to be a new expansion called Halo 3: Recon. It's going to be awesome. Seriously.

Boys and Girl Club...of Halo?

Recently I had a discussion with my friend's girlfriend (and by discussion I mean I was right and she was definitely wrong) about online gaming. It started because another friend of mine was telling us a story of how he met this chick on World of Warcraft and how after spending a long time getting to know her on WoW, it escalated to myspace friends, then to talking on the phone, then to quasi-dating. Strange yes, but she was actually pretty hot. She contends that online gaming is not actually interacting with people and it is a downfall of society. She thinks people staying in to meet up with their online friends and play WoW or any other game online is a joke and that essentially people need to have real live contact with others to qualify it as interacting.

As an avid player of Halo I disagree. I feel that spending time with people online is just as much of an interaction as going to the bar with your friends if not more so. When I play Halo, I often meet up with real live friends of mine who play and we are put on teams with other people from around the world. You can't tell me that every time you go to a party or the bar or any in-person social gathering that you interact with people from around the world. People that don't even speak the same language as you, but are on your team to achieve a goal.

I bring this up because over the weekend I realized that aside from being the source of hours of endless enjoyment, it's also a haven for some people. My brother and I had a Halo weekend. We probably spent 30 hours playing online from Thursday-Sunday. On Saturday afternoon we met a couple of kids who were hilarious so we teamed up with them and spent the next couple hours with them killing other people. Later that evening when we got back online around 10, they had also happened to just get back on so we teamed up with them again. We started talking about where we were from and just general small talk. These kids, who were 17 and 18 seemed like pretty cool kids. They don't swear or throw around racial slurs like way too many 13 year old punk kids do. They live in Arizona and they might be the funniest high schoolers I have met since I was 17. I told them about me and since my brother isn't very good yet, I told them that he was a girl. After they found out I was 25, they jokingly asked me to mail them some alcohol. I then realized it was Saturday night and asked them why they aren't out at a party having fun doing the whole social high school thing. They told us that they don't live in the best neighborhood and all the people who go to parties are thugs who bring guns and do drugs. They also said there are a lot of gangs so they just stay in and play Halo.

These kids use Halo to stay out of gangs. That's probably the coolest thing I have ever heard. More useful than a Boys and Girls Club of America, Halo is now saving lives. If that doesn't prove me right, then I don't know what would. Go big...



-M, p, z & shredder

oh ps - new movies and dvds coming out. movie reviews soon, tomorrow the Futurama Movie comes out, go buy it. It will be hilarious. The Namesake also comes out on dvd so if you didn't get a chance to see it in theaters, hop on netflix or go rent it. If you loved the book as much as I did, go buy it. It's worth it for the last scene in the movie.