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  • 24 Aug

    A Yoga Class for Cats

    Continuing the trend of digging through the CD archives, today I rocked out some Our Lady Peace on my drive to work.

    It took about three seconds for me to think about when the band played at Susquehanna University during the fall of my sophomore year. Here’s my ticket stub:

    If you’re not paying close attention, you may have missed the beautiful error I assume was made by someone working the Weber Chapel box office. Apparently Our Lady Peach was supposed to play. The question is, was it a bored work-study student who just made a mistake, or an adult who had never heard of the band in the first place? Hard to say. Unless of course you worked at the box office at the time, then please enlighten me.

    “The sign said: a yoga class for cats” is a line from the song “Carnival,” which unfortunately was not played that night. My memory is not that amazing–I actually was able to find a set list from the show online. How did people live with those sorts of minor questions without the Internet? I think my head would have exploded with all of the “I wonder…” types of questions I’ve had over the years that would have been unanswered.

    I do remember when they kicked into “Starseed.” I’m not sure it was actually on any of their albums, but it was on the “Armageddon” soundtrack. I also defy you to listen to it and not enjoy yourself. If you’re not familiar, here it is courtesy of our friends at YouTube.

    According to the set list, it was the last song before the encore. That would have been a pretty good way to end the evening, but they decided to come back and drop some “Somewhere Out There” and “4 a.m.” on us. Good times.

    It’s unfortunate that the opening act was so so so very bad though. You know you aren’t seeing Van Halen when only a few years later the band has changed its name and is no longer with their record label. They were Greenwheel. Apparently now they’re Go Van Gogh.

    The next year things were a lot better. Fuel came to Selinsgrove, and brought Breaking Benjamin to open. Now THAT was a good time. Better than when Michelle Branch came? Hard to say really…OK, not that hard to say. Though the MB concert was entertaining for the fact that about 75 percent of the crowd was college students more interested in seeing opener Pat McGee Band, and mixed in were tweens and their moms there for Michelle Branch.

    Good times.

    By cjhannas music Susquehanna Uncategorized
  • 12 Aug

    Now That’s a Rivalry

    It’s strange to look back on a goal that was really a struggle to accomplish just a year ago, and think that I’m demolishing that effort in 2009.

    Last year I wanted to read 20 books, and had to muster an epic run in the final two months to reach that level. This year, I’d be shocked if I don’t hit 20 before the end of August. In fact, if I do that I’ll be more than doubling my pace at that point in 2008.

    Today I polished off No. 17, John Feinstein’s “A Civil War: Army vs. Navy, a Year Inside College Football’s Purest Rivalry.” At 420 pages, it’s another in a long line of books this year that are not only fantastic, but also longer than their counterparts in ’08.

    It’s also one of the cheapest books I’ve ever purchased–$0.50–thanks to the Susquehanna University bookstore. If you’re a fan of college football, or sports in general, it’s certainly worth your time even though the events took place in 1995. It culminates in the yearly battle between the two service academies, but builds to that point by giving you an thorough understanding about why football there is different than anywhere else. Feinstein sums it up best by saying football practice is by far the easiest part of those players’ days–and the hardest part for players at other Division I schools.

    In my time at Susquehanna there wasn’t a football rivalry that came close to Army-Navy, or even Chips Deluxe-Chips Ahoy. In basketball we had a good stretch against Elizabethtown College, including this gem.

    The book stack so far:

    I’ve also been catching up on my “This American Life” podcasts. If you’re not familiar, go to iTunes and subscribe (free) right now. Check out the first 8.5 minutes of this show from a few weeks ago. Highly entertaining.

    By cjhannas books Susquehanna Uncategorized
  • 13 Mar

    Forced Sportsmanship

    Ahh, March Madness. It’s a wonderful time of year when we can focus on college athletes competing at the highest level, and can enjoy their spirited fans as well.

    There’s nothing like a college crowd to come up with clever ways to get under an opponent’s skin. Even simple stuff like yelling the guy’s name every time he touches the ball can add great enjoyment for fans at any game. Having never been that athlete, I can’t say for sure how it affects them.

    I am pretty sure, however, that it doesn’t scar them for life and is within the spirit of the game. A Wisconsin school district thinks even those simple taunts–including “airball,” “over-rated” and “what’s the score?”–are too much for kids to take. Those extremely hurtful attacks are now banned.

    Good thing the administrators are protecting those kids. I wonder what sort of things are said in the hallways of those schools. “Hello sir, how did you enjoy today’s math test?” “My your sweater and jeans combination is simply strapping today!” “Sir I respectfully disagree with your assessment that Britney Spears is an upstanding citizen!”

    Give me a break. This is the latest in over-reactions to benign actions of fans that don’t bother players two seconds after they are said.

    It brings to mind a string of incidents at Susquehanna basketball games when I covered our men’s basketball team. A few of our fans yelled out a guy’s name whenever he got the ball, or when they committed a turnover said “Hey, we worked on that in practice!” I bet the players were just fine after those incredibly hurtful taunts.

    But our athletic director had campus security go sit with the five or six guys and eventually they were asked to leave. Here’s an editorial I wrote back in Dec. 2004.

    The best part of that article was the day after it was published. We had a home game, and I was seated just behind the sports information director who was keeping score of the game. He had the paper on the desk as well, open to my editorial. During halftime, the athletic director came over to the SID. She picked up the paper and looked at it like it was completely made up and out of nowhere.

    Even better, I was still sitting three feet away. We had spoken on the phone during my time as the sports editor, but I’m fairly certain we had never spoken in person. So as she questioned my premise, I was able to hear all of her comments with complete anonymity. After she left, the SID turned around and I commended him on his ability to keep a straight face knowing exactly what was going on. Good times.

    By cjhannas basketball Susquehanna Uncategorized
  • 09 Dec

    Best Blog in the House

    Thanks to the fine folks at the Susquehanna University bookstore, I once purchased a bag of books for $0.50 a piece.

    Some of them were promising steals at clearance prices. Others were of the “why the heck not, they’re 50 cents” kinds of purchases. In the end, only one of them has been even slightly worth my time. It’s not “The Columnist,” which was one of the abysmal literary endeavors of my life.

    Spike Lee’s “Best Seat In The House” is the one that makes the cut, though I’m pretty sure having the late Ralph Wiley involved was instrumental in the experience. It’s a basketball memoir of his life as a Knicks fan. The book covers the Knicks from his early childhood until roughly 1997. That timeline, read 10 years later, is somewhat interesting to look back on based on his comments about certain players and teams.

    Penny Hardaway? Oh, there was a time he was supposed to be good. Juwan Howard, Chris Webber and Rod Strickland? Apparently they had promise for the Washington Wizards nee Bullets. Oh well.

    There’s only one anecdote I feel the need to pass on. When he was a kid, Spike used to ride his bike from Brooklyn into Manhattan with his brothers and some friends. On one such trip, his brother Chris’ bike gets a flat. Not wanting to walk the thing alllllll the way back home, Chris picks it up and throws it into the East River.

    There’s more than just straight basketball talk here. Spike brings in the chronology of his films to bring out certain points about the atmosphere surrounding sports and the country’s cultural status. It’s an effective way to mix worlds and widen the perspective of an otherwise possibly restrictive read.

    It’s also number 18 on the list. Now onto John Kennedy Toole’s “A Confederacy of Dunces”

    By cjhannas books Susquehanna Uncategorized
  • 29 Oct

    Oh Say Can You See?

    Should I be concerned that what I’m eating for dinner is supposed to feed four people according to the box? Eh, whatever. Maybe I’ll start eating like a normal person after the marathon. Probably not.

    Seeing the Giants play in Wembley Stadium yesterday was kind of neat, though the beginning was a bit disconcerting. There was just something askew about hearing God Save The Queen before an NFL football game. I’m used to hearing the Canadian anthem at some baseball games, which due to the peaceful nature of the Canadians is almost comforting. Maybe I need to watch more events where the English are involved.

    One thing I will never get tired of at sporting events is our national anthem. I mentioned the feeling in one of my newspaper columns three years ago. I don’t know why, but when it gets to O’er the land of the free…I get chills. Every time.

    In March I ran a half-marathon. Well, due to a partially torn tendon in my foot, I ran 3 miles and walked the rest. I planned on walking the entire thing until five minutes before the race started. That’s when they played the national anthem, and had three jets fly over head. If that doesn’t give you chills and make you run, nothing will.

    The anthem tells a story, of standing strong and persevering. It has low notes and high notes, a range that is threaded together through bombs bursting in air. What makes it even more beautiful is that it can evoke the same emotions whether it’s played by the Boston Pops or belted out by Carrie Underwood. A strong version of the anthem can be done with or without words and still raise the hairs on the back of your neck.

    It can even be a time for comedy. In the Baltimore/Washington area, there is a tradition of yelling O!!!!!!! when the song gets to O say does that… as an homage to the Baltimore Orioles. At a Washington Capitals game, a fan with great timing yelled out “Stop doing that!” at the pivotal moment. It was a great moment in anthem history. Here’s a Washington Post blog on the topic.

    Ok the meal for four has been consumed. O’er the laaaaaaaaaaaand of the freeeeeeeeeeee. And the hoooooooooome of theeeee braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaave!!!!!!

    By cjhannas football hockey running Susquehanna Uncategorized writing
  • 17 Aug

    Padilla, not Vick, is True Sports Loss

    While Michael Vick considers pleading guilty to federal charges concerning dog fighting, columnists, pundits and sports fans across the country are talking about what that means for his NFL future. Also at stake is the future of the Atlanta Falcons who will probably one way or another lose their star quarterback through imprisonment or having had enough of the Vick experience.

    It’s always sad to see a person throw their livelihood away for making bad choices, especially when you’re in a position that so many other people would give anything for. It’s also sad when the fallout from those actions affects so many other people, which in Vick’s case includes the franchise that has reinvented itself solely to fit his style of play.

    But today came news that an even bigger star has lost his freedom to excel on the field and carry his team to glory. That’s the story of Jose Padilla, also known as Justice Jose Padilla.

    Maybe you’ve heard the name. He was detained by the government as an enemy combatant in the war on terror. He was held under that status without a lawyer for several years in solitary confinement. He took his case–just to get access to the legal system–all the way to the United States Supreme Court, which said he should be tried in South Carolina. Ultimately, the United States changed tactics, dropping his original charges of planning to detonate a dirty bomb and instead going after new charges in federal court of conspiring to support jihad overseas.

    Yesterday he was convicted of those charges and faces life in prison.

    That is bad new for the Washington Nationals baseball team. Two years ago Padilla became their starting catcher. Not only is he the premier defensive catcher in the league, he’s also a top hitting talent. After seeing the Nats to several titles and leading the on-field charge for the outfitting of a brilliant new stadium, Padilla now faces an eternity of bars and concrete.

    Of couse, this didn’t happen in real life. Rather, it happened in the XBOX version of MVP baseball in a franchise created by my roommates and myself. We had some wonderful players named after ourselves, but also included players like Juan Rocker and Justice Padilla to put our talent over the top.

    Prior to living in that apartment, the three of us had lived together at lovely Susquehanna University. It was there that Jason and I took a class our senior year called Law & Politics. We discussed things like the Padilla case from the legal standpoint and how that affected, and was affected, by politics. Absolutely fascinating.

    The fall after taking the class there was an opening on the Supreme Court. While most people interested in the debate talked about real candidates, we instead went with more unconventional options. Our two favorite were George W. Bush and Jose Padilla–hence, Justice Padilla.

    Sadly, neither were nominated nor confirmed. I still think Bush would have been a great option. At least give it a shot. You’re in the second, and last possible, term as president. You are the guy who nominates candidates to the court. It’s a lifetime appointment with a good salary. Why not try?

    Of course after discussing the issue with the professor of Law & Politics, it became clear that President Bush is not a great candidate. To be confirmed he would need a huge supporting cast in the Senate (which was eroding at the time), and behind that would need a populous willing to support that decision. Oh and the whole giving up the presidency thing. But hey, there’s always hope for a future very popular president in the waning days of his term right?

    By cjhannas baseball football Supreme Court Susquehanna Uncategorized video games
  • 01 Feb

    Everything I Need to Know I Learned on the Way to Selinsgrove

    I’ve learned a lot of things during my time on this planet. The sky is blue. Oreos are tasty. Winter can be cold. Dodgeballs are usually red, though sometimes blue or green.

    Most of these things were gleaned from observation of the world around me. Many of the other things I’ve learned came from a classroom. Some of the most interesting came as a combination of the two.

    I went to quaint Susquehanna University in the heart of central ….Pennsylvania….. It’s 169 miles and just under three hours from my house. I know those numbers from the quite numerous times I made the trip, either going to school in the fall, fall break, winter break, spring break, Easter break or going home for the summer.

    It would be hard to make so many trips on the same road–lovely Route 15–without noticing some of the things along the way.

    Here’s what I learned on the way to Selinsgrove:

    Bill loves Brandee. This declaration of love is spray-painted in green on a bridge overpass just as you enter ….Pennsylvania…. on Route 15. I don’t know who Bill is. I don’t know who Brandee is. I hope they are living a happy life together. The paint is faded, so it’s likely this relationship has had to face the test of time. Who knows, Bill could have been shot down in 1978 when asking Brandee to the prom. Maybe this was his way of proposing, “The Great Valentine’s Bridge Stunt of 1988,” where a stunned Brandee immediately called Bill to accept after seeing such an incredible showing of his commitment. Hard to say.

    Wal-Mart is not the only one-stop shop. North of Harrisburg, Route 15 shrinks to one lane in each direction as it winds through some small towns. There you’ll find a store on the right (going North) that bills itself as a sporting goods and produce market. This is one place I always told myself I’d visit one day, just for the experience, but sadly I never made the stop. From the road you can see a display of fruits and vegetables like any self-respecting farmer’s market. It’s only from the multiple signs near the entrance from the road that you learn about the availability of hunting boots and bullets. Maybe this is just a convenience for many nearby marksmen who like to shoot into cantaloupes. Hard to say.

    Verb agreement is optional. On the same stretch of narrowed Route 15 there is a butcher shop. Perhaps this blows my cantaloupe theory, but apparently people in the area have a need to have dead animals, um, dealt with in order to become food. The sign at this establishment is in the shape of a burly, plaid-wearing woodsman. In his stomach area there is a white sign that reads, “Meat cut, wrap & froze, $45.” I always laugh at that sign. I don’t even know where to begin. Maybe some day I’ll send them a little note, or maybe a copy of “Eats Shoots and Leaves.”

    ..Central Pennsylvania.. is very boring. Hence the need for a strip of half a dozen porn shops near the end of the trip. Including good old Adult World, an establishment rumored—sworn by many people I know, but never confirmed personally—to be owned by the head of the Communications Department at SU… ..

    Going south, you naturally hit all of the same locations, but are treated with one additional nugget of information.

    It is possible to go backwards on Route 15. About 10 minutes before reaching ….Harrisburg…. an incredible anomaly takes place that I feel is not being taken seriously enough by authorities and Stephen Hawking. On the side of the road is a sign that says “….Harrisburg…. 12 miles.” The sign is just before a bridge. Just after that bridge is an identical sign. That sign reads “….Harrisburg…. 14 miles.” So in crossing that bridge, you actually go back two miles. And nobody seems concerned.

    By cjhannas Susquehanna travel Uncategorized
  • 24 Jan

    Please Think Before Microwaving

    Urgent bulletin from the common sense department: Don’t put a dry sponge in the microwave for two minutes. Bad things will happen.

    Apparently a news story about a University of Florida study left out an important step requiring the sponge-microwaver to wet the thing first.

    “‘Just wanted you to know that your article on microwaving sponges and scrubbers aroused my interest. However, when I put my sponge/scrubber into the microwave, it caught fire, smoked up the house, ruined my microwave, and pissed me off,’ one correspondent wrote in an e-mail to Reuters.”

    Sure, Reuters should have included the detail. It is a somewhat important detail in the story about how microwaving the sponge can remove most of the bacteria. But at some point, common sense needs to kick in. Don’t put dry things in the microwave. Bad things happen.

    When I was a freshman in college I lived in an all-first-year dorm with about 300 of my closest friends. I lived on the third floor, just down the hall from my friend Shawn L.(not to be confused with my roommate Shawn R.). Shawn lived with a guy affectionately known as “Pinky.” I don’t want to get off track explaining why, and if you really need to know just ask.

    Pinky was a star. Just an upstanding human being who repeatedly was seen urinating on the floor in our lounge, passed out drunk in front of his door and apparently snored like some sort of prehistoric animal.

    In this freshman dorm we had what seemed like nightly fire alarms. There were never fires. Usually some kid pulled the alarm for fun, or on a dare, mission or whatever. Other times, people microwaved popcorn too long and the over-sensitive smoke detectors sent us out into the cold.

    Then there was Pinky. He decided one night at about 3 a.m. that he wanted some Ramen noodles. No problem. His room was mere feet from the microwave. He placed the cup inside, set the timer for 10 minutes and walked away.

    When the fire alarm went off I cursed whatever I could think of in my sleep-deprived stupor. I slid on the shoes and sweatshirt I kept right next to the bed for just these situations. I grabbed my keys and stumbled out of the room.

    The smoke was visible. Holy cow, there is actually a fire. The smell was horrendous. Burnt plastic. Smoked noodles. Just bad.

    We went through the normal routine. Stumble down the three flights of stairs, laughing at each other’s 3 a.m. attire. We assemble in the cold, seeking out our friends in the dark. Our head resident came out and gave us the normal, shut up and listen, does anyone know what happened speech. He tells us that the sooner we come clean, the sooner we can go inside.

    Well, not really. Normally, we all get outside and they turn the alarm off. We get yelled at. We go back inside. This time, there was so much smoke that every time they turned the alarm off, it got tripped again.

    After an indistinguishable amount of time, we got to go back inside. Word spread quickly as we marched through the lounge looking at the damage. The microwave was toast. The Ramen cup was completely melted into a pool of plastic on the rotating tray inside the microwave. The whole thing was black and deformed. No more Easy Mac in there. Then we got the official story. It was Pinky, his Ramen, his stupidity. A girl watched him put the cup in. He didn’t use any water.

    No water. Ten minutes. Wow.

    More than 500 students graduated in the Class of 2005. Pinky was not among us.

    By cjhannas not smart Susquehanna Uncategorized
  • 01 Dec

    So Wrong, Yet So Right

    There’s something wrong about running in shorts and a t-shirt in December right by a Christmas tree lot.

    And Mission Cups, the infamous Smith Hall styrofoam cup prank is featured on a web site…and yes you should vote for it.

    By cjhannas Christmas running Susquehanna Uncategorized
  • 26 May

    Tiiiiime is on My Side

    So one of the things in life that truly fascinates me is time. Someone back in the day said “hey guys, this is time and this is how it works,” and now we have this thing that can provide so many interesting things.

    Think about your day. If you’re a typical person, you get up, get ready, go to work, do some work, finish work, head home, and do some other things before going to sleep. Within all of those things, there’s always a period of time where you are waiting on something or someone that keeps you from moving forward. Whether it’s waiting on a report so you can finish a project at work, someone had an accident on the highway and you can’t get by, or the water for your spaghetti hasn’t started boiling yet, there’s tons of time everyday where you are just waiting–time is not on your side.

    But what if you could condense all of that time? At my job, there’s a looot of time where I’m just standing in the store waiting for a customer to come in. In the same vein, there are busy days where a customer comes in and has to wait for me because I’m too busy handling 2 or 3 other people. If we could just get together better, that customer would come on that day where I’m just standing around, and both of us would be more efficient. Now multiply that by the rest of the world and just think about that potential.

    When I left work today I had a slight brain freeze and went the wrong way on the Beltway. Now before you call me a complete idiot, I spent the last few days at home in Virginia, and thus had gone south, but of course today was a Maryland day and North would have been far better. It took me a few minutes to get turned around and headed the right way, but time reared it’s somewhat interesting head to brighten the situation. As I neared the American Legion Bridge, I noticed a car in the right lane ahead of me had a long, bar-like sticker in the back window.

    I thought it looked a lot like the Susquehanna University sticker in my window. But surely it couldn’t be since there are like -5 people from this area who even know what SU is. However, it was in fact from good ole SU, an occurrence I would have completely missed had I not gone the wrong way in the first place. Of course I haven’t the slightest clue who that person is, but the event alone was worth it for pure intruigement.

    By cjhannas nerdness Susquehanna Uncategorized
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