Monday, February 28, 2011

February Guest Blogger -- Anonymous


Anonymous of Dana and Victory

Hello Followers of the Hot and Bothered Effect.

As has been promised to you, once a month I will have a guest blogger from another blog come and post on the Hot and Bothered Effect so that you can get an appreciation for different writing styles, points of view, and blogs. It will also give other blogs operated by friends of mine to get some exposure for their blogs as well as exposing my readers to blogs that I like. This month's Guest Blogger will be an intentionally anonymous Xavier fan who operates Dana and Victory. His blog gives pre-game and post-game insights on every Xavier basketball game, as well as other pertinent information about all things Xavier Men's hoops. I've included both his pre-game and post-game posts of Xavier's recent handling of the Dayton University Flyers. I realize that this will be the second Guest Blogger on college basketball in the last three months, but March Madness is coming up so it's appropriate. And I read the blogs that I read and this is supposed to be a reflection of that...what's a college basketball fan to do. I promise to mix it up in the future. Here is Dana and Victory:

The Pregamer – Dayton

February 25, 2011 at 1:57 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments
Tags: , ,
Xavier (21-6, 12-1 A-10) vs. Dayton (19-9, 8-6 A-10)
University of Dayton Arena – Dayton, Ohio
Sunday, February 27 – 1:00 p.m.
TV:  ESPN2.
Formidable Opponent

Muskies extended the streak in January.

The Muskies probably earned themselves a little rest on Tuesday night – mollifying the coaching staff with a 100-62 throttling of hapless La Salle.  They’ll need it.  As is often the case, the shortest road trip of the conference schedule is the most daunting.  The Musketeers head to Dayton on Sunday.

On January 15, the Musketeers used clutch free-throw shooting and some big defensive stops to hold off Dayton at the Cintas Center.  The 81-76 game was one of the best-played contests in the Atlantic 10 this season.  Over the past five weeks, Xavier rode the momentum from that victory to a 12-1 league record, including wins over Temple, Richmond, Duquesne, and Georgia.  Dayton’s road has not been as smooth.

The Flyers lost four of their next seven games after the Cintas Center barnburner, basically honking away any chance they had at an A-10 run and putting themselves in a desperate situation vis-à-vis a first-round bye in the conference tournament.  But last Saturday’s impressive comeback win over flailing Duquesne has resuscitated UD’s season.  At 19-9 and 7-6 in the league, some Flyer fans are starting to talk themselves into the possibility of a late-season push.  Still, if Dayton is to accomplish anything other than a defense of their NIT title, they’ll need a win Sunday.


I'm God. Well, not THE God, but A God.

Since 1984, Xavier is 40-16 against the Flyers, and has won 8 out of the last 10 in the rivalry.  Even so, Xavier’s recent dominance has not necessarily carried over to UD Arena.  Dayton’s 90-65 beating of the Musketeers last year was the worst conference loss X had absorbed in half a decade, and the 71-58 defeat the year before was only slightly less lopsided.

Both of those games followed a similar blueprint – the Flyers came out completely jacked up in front of a rabid home crowd (as far as I can tell, the Xavier game is one of the few that produces a real vintage UD Arena atmosphere) and the Muskies were unprepared for the onslaught.  Last year both of Xavier’s big men got in foul trouble early, Dayton shot a ridiculous percentage from the three, and everyone bar Jordan Crawford were looking at their watches four minutes in.

X is unquestionably a better team than Dayton, but they will have to match the Flyers’ intensity to give themselves a chance Sunday.

The HR Department

Sunday’s game will probably be the last Xavier matchup for Chris Wright, a player whose career sums up the growing frustration among UD fans with Brian Gregory’s tenure.  Wright was the most hyped prospect to join the Flyers in decades, a local kid with unlimited athleticism and a great attitude.  As a freshman, he was everywhere for the Flyers and showed the potential to be a transformative player.  To be sure, 12-13 ppg and 8-9 rebounds, plus the odd block, is nothing to sneeze at.  However, for a kid that was lauded as a surefire NBA first-round pick upon arrival, Wright’s career has been a bit like running a marathon on a treadmill – a lot of sweat and bluster and nothing really to show for it.


Wright

Gregory’s teams aim to play like those of his mentor, Tom Izzo.  The Flyers want to have a squad deep in long, quick, rangy athletes who can defend tenaciously, hit the glass hard, and score lots of points before the opponent can get into their defense.  The idea is that with enough athleticism you don’t need polished basketball players necessarily.  You hit a couple of threes, get a couple of individual drives, and then do your work on the offensive glass and in transition.  Izzo has made this work.  Gregory has not.

So this year’s UD team is pretty much an extension of Chris Wright.  The Flyers are deep and athletic in the backcourt and on the wings.  They hit the glass hard when they’re interested, and they’ve got three guys (Parker, Johnson, and Williams) that can be dangerous from the arc.  When their defensive effort is high, they can cause teams fits.  But when forced past the 20-second mark of the shotclock, or when teams are able to spread them out defensively, the Flyers struggle to adjust.

Projected Starters:
Juwan Staten (6-0 Fr) PG  – 8.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 5.8 apg
Chris Johnson (6-6 Jr) SF – 12 ppg, 5.8 rpg
Paul Williams (6-4 Jr) SG – 8.4 ppg, 40% FG, 2.5 rpg
Chris Wright (6-8 Sr) PF – 12.8 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 1.5 bpg
Devin Searcy (6-10 Sr) C – 4.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg

Gregory’s teams as always go way deeper than they should.  Backup point guard Parker is a Drake transfer and has no conscience (or reserve) from distance.  He can shoot the Flyers in to or out of a game.  Matt Kavanaugh has made strides as the latest in a series of plodding UD post guys with a little touch.  Josh Benson has the height and quickness to be an effective A-10 4 but is too slight physically to be consistently productive.  Luke Fabrizius is supposed to be Dayton’s answer to Brad Redford – a dead-eye three-point shooter with no other real ability – but doesn’t shoot well enough to justify the time he gets.  Freshmen Brandon Spearman and Devin Oliver have their moments.

Five Things To Watch


Robinson appears to be cradling the side of the backboard here.

1.  Curtain Rises.  Xavier has dug themselves massive holes in the opening minutes of the last two games at UD Arena and fell behind by 15 when they played the Flyers in AC last March.  X must begin the game by matching Dayton’s intensity and get some control over the crowd.

2.  Defense Wins Championships?  In the first game between these teams, Xavier and Dayton both averaged over 1.20 points per possession.  In terms of efficiency rating, it was the worst defensive performance of the season by either team.  This means that the final score will probably be 47-44.

3.  Senior (Tales of Yankee Power).  Both Jamel McLean and Dante Jackson were slowed by illness this week, and neither played particularly well against Fordham or La Salle.  Obviously, the Muskies are going to look to both players to step up in this one.

4.  Controlling the Glass.  Dayton is the only team in the Atlantic 10 that is clearly better on the glass than the Muskies.  UD’s dominance of the offensive glass kept them in the game in Cincinnati.  Xavier will have to work hard to match the Flyers’ effort because X’s frontline will be facing a mild athleticism gap.  A big game from Jeff Robinson would do wonders.

5.  Rest.  The Flyers enter this game having had a full week to recover from last Saturday’s home win over Duquesne.  Meanwhile, Xavier has played two home games.  This is exactly the situation that unfolded last year and Dayton boatraced the Musketeers.  An issue to ponder.

D&V-Approved Alumnus


THIS GUY LOVES THE UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON.  Man, Jaws, THIS GUY once drank thirty-seven Beast Ices on a porch on Kiefaber and puked all over a campus police car.  Classic veteran move – check out that IMPRESSIVE CONE OF SPEW.  I CALL HIM THE VOMINATOR.

The Prediction

Lot of intrigue here.  Xavier’s in the driver’s seat for a tourney berth, Dayton is grasping to a filament of hope and a win is absolutely essential.  The Muskies need this one to secure the league’s regular season title, the Flyers think they can sneak into a bye if they can win out.  The Muskies have played great ball on the road over the last month, the Flyers are going to be jacked up in front of a boisterous home crowd.  It’s a big matchup.



On a neutral site I have no qualms about taking Xavier to beat the Flyers.  But UD Arena is always a hellhole for XU.  The Flyers and their fans have had this game circled since Rob Lowery’s ill-timed punch in Atlantic City, and view this as a last chance at a desperately-needed marquee win.

If Dayton shoots their typical percentage from the outside, I think Xavier should be able to win this game.  But the Flyers have three guys – Parker, Williams, and Johnson – who can get hot and change the complexion of a game in a hurry.  The Flyers also don’t have to go too far out of their comfort zone to craft a game plan meant to take advantage of Xavier’s lack of depth.  Look for Juwan Staten to penetrate early and often and for UD to try to get early fouls on McLean and Frease, especially on help defense and weakside rebounding.

On the other hand, Xavier can cause a ton of problems for Dayton on their end of the floor.  Searcy and Kavanaugh can’t cover Frease – if he can get the ball.  Holloway and Lyons can get around the Dayton guards.  The key men for X are going to be Jackson and Robinson.  The Muskies need Jeff to produce off the bench, even if he doesn’t score like he did against La Salle.  And by virtue of their defensive style, Jackson will get open looks and he will be called upon to make intelligent switches.  He’s got to be everywhere.

I envision a tough, low-scoring, hard-fought game.  But if the Muskies have proven anything since the Crosstown Shootout, it’s that they love the spotlight, love the challenge, and have the capacity to meet any obstacle.  They deserve the benefit of the doubt, even in a tough matchup like this one. 

Xavier 61, Dayton 58.


Tu Triumphant. Xavier 66, Dayton 62.

February 27, 2011 at 4:31 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments
Tags: , ,



HE JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER.

Last year when Jordan Crawford declared, XU fans were somewhat sanguine about the team’s ability to replace the numbers in the stat sheet.  “Well, Tu will get some, Lyons will get double figures, Dante and Jamel and Kenny will have expanded roles, Martin and Redford can chip in some,” etc.  But I don’t think anyone really believed that X would be able to replace Crawford’s intangibles — his preternatural calm in the clutch, his ability to manufacture something out of nothing with the game in the balance.  Turns out the guy next to him would be stepping into that role as well.  And, frankly, we should have seen it coming.  After all, it was Holloway that conjured up a last-second foul against Kansas State and drilled three foul shots to tie the game with the clock expired.  It was Holloway that stepped to the line again and again to edge Mizzou in his third collegiate game.  It was Holloway that found another gear against Pittsburgh.  Whatever “it” is, Tu has always had it.

The last two times the Muskies ventured up I-75* they returned on the wrong end of a beating, unable to match UD’s intensity from the opening tip.  Not an issue this year.  Xavier went on a 14-2 run bracketing the first TV timeout, and frankly could have killed the Flyers off before the break.  UD had one two-point basket and no FTs with 2:30 left in the first frame, and it was only Chris Johnson’s perimeter heroics that kept things close.

* In something called the “I-75 Rivalry”, which I’m convinced Jon Sciambi made up at breakfast.  I took a quick survey of the Intertrons on Twitter today and no one, X or UD fan alike, has ever called this game that.

This was way more impressive live.

But with their season on the line, Dayton responded early in the second half.  The Flyers started the session on a 7-0 run and X really struggled to get their legs underneath them.  Chris Mack shifted defenses a few times and had some luck with a swarming 3-2 zone, but X was settling for contested threes and making some dumb turnovers.  As the game got tighter, Chris Wright popped up with some big shots, Paul Williams drained a huge three out of the under-4 timeout, and the Flyers drew even at 59 on a pair of Johnson FTs.  A boneheaded foul by Josh Benson put Holloway on the line during XU’s next possession, and he duly gave X a lead they wouldn’t lose.  X then got a stop down the other end and Holloway buried a three from the left point.  The Muskies uncharacteristically mucked up the endgame, McLean bricking a foul shot, a lane violation, a stupid foul and a turnover gave Dayton some hope.  Then the Musketeers got the ball in Holloway’s hands and let him ice it.  Tu’s stat line was pretty typical of his efforts in conference play:  26 points on 8-17 shooting, 8-9 from the stripe, 6 boards, 5 assists.

Some random bullets:
  • Chris Johnson’s lefty jump shot in the first half was exceedingly wet.  I love Johnson’s game — but he seems to have a tendency to drift in and out.  This afternoon he was fully engaged and he’s a nice player for the Flyers.
  • I thought Xavier’s passing and movement in the first half was outstanding.  No particular player stood out for me, but it was just a very strong team basketball performance.  If the Muskies had any success from behind the arc, they would have run UD out of the gym before the half.
  • X’s 3-2 zone completely befuddled Juwan Staten.  I don’t think UD got a decent shot off on any of the possessions X went to the zone.
  • I thought Xavier’s scouting regarding Chris Wright was amazing.  Both McLean and Robinson laid way off him at the circle and completely sold out on the right handed drive.  Given that that is Wright’s only real move, he was completely confused.  Walked 3-4 times on spin moves, just completely out of his game.  With that said, Wright deserves a lot of credit for his second half performance — he knocked down some big jump shots as UD ate into the lead.
  • While we’re on the subject of Wright, and now that the game is over I can say this, his posterization of Mark Lyons on that baseline dunk attempt was one of the best blocks I have ever seen.  Unlimited athleticism.  Apparently a hard worker and good kid, too.  The Chris Wright Era has been more fart than poo, but I’m not sure it’s totally his fault.  If you’re the Dayton staff, how do you let this kid play four years without teaching him to go to his left or how to operate with his back to the basket?
  • Great defensive effort from X all-around.  I especially loved seeing Jackson and Robinson buying into the rebounding effort in the first half.  They picked up the slack after McLean had to sit with two fouls.  In fact, I believe Robinson played almost 15 minutes in the first half and was a constant threat.  Against a rangy, wing-centered team like Dayton, having a 6-9 gazelle like Robinson is a huge asset.  Jeff finished with 8 points, 6 rebounds, and did not get into a chair-tossing brawl with Tu Holloway at any point during the proceedings.
  • Not Kenny’s most productive day, but he mixed it up and definitely got the better of his matchup with Searcy and Benson.  I was a little surprised that Gregory kept Matt Kavanaugh bolted to the bench, as he had some success against Frease in the first matchup and has more weight to throw around in the post.  Curious.
  • Dante Jackson gave the UD Arena crowd one last memory as he went over and gave it large to the Red Scare afterwards.  He may have been pelted with a bottle or two for his troubles, I suspect he’ll take it.  Dante is 8-2 against UD in his career — with potentially one more matchup to go.
  • With the loss, Dayton drops to 7-7 in the Atlantic 10 and a three-way tie for seventh with UMass and St. Bonaventure.  UD has the tiebreaker on SBU, so they would be the eighth seed as things stand and would earn a quarterfinal game against the #1 seed, which (if they win one more game) is Xavier.  That’s probably a rematch both sides would just as soon skip.  We shall see.
  • Word on the street is that C.J. Anderson went completely ham during the game and absolutely crushed the Twitterverse into absolute submission.
  • Tu already should be a shoo-in for A-10 POY.  He ought to be a unanimous pick now.
Boxscore:

Xavier vs Dayton
02/27/11 1:00 PM ET at UD Arena (Dayton, OH)

Xavier 66





Total3-point
Rebounds
##Playerpfgm-fgafgm-fgaftm-ftaoff-deftotpftpatoblkstlmin
22 McLEAN, Jamel f 5-6 0-0 1-3 2-2 4 3 11 1 2 0 0 25
25 JACKSON, Dante’ f 1-5 1-3 0-0 2-4 6 1 3 1 2 1 0 38
32 FREASE, Kenny c 3-7 0-0 2-2 0-4 4 3 8 1 3 0 0 26
10 LYONS, Mark g 3-10 0-5 4-4 0-3 3 2 10 4 4 0 0 39
52 HOLLOWAY, Tu g 8-17 2-7 8-9 0-6 6 0 26 5 3 0 2 40
15 TAYLOR, Andrew - 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-2 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 11
21 ROBINSON, Jeff - 3-5 0-0 2-4 2-4 6 4 8 0 0 0 0 21
TM TEAM - - - - 2-0 2 - - - - - - -
Totals………….. - 23-50 3-15 17-22 9-25 34 15 66 12 14 1 2 200

46.0% 20.0% 77.3%

Team summary:
FG3FGFT

1st Half:
14-29 2-10 7-9

48.3% 20.0% 77.8%

2nd Half:
9-21 1-5 10-13

42.9% 20.0% 76.9%

Dayton 62





Total3-point
Rebounds
##Playerpfgm-fgafgm-fgaftm-ftaoff-deftotpftpatoblkstlmin
04 JOHNSON, Chris f 6-13 4-8 6-7 2-7 9 0 22 2 2 0 1 36
33 WRIGHT, Chris f 5-15 0-0 1-2 3-2 5 1 11 3 6 1 0 34
44 BENSON, Josh f 3-5 0-0 1-2 1-0 1 4 7 0 2 2 1 22
03 STATEN, Juwan g 3-7 0-1 0-0 0-1 1 2 6 7 1 0 1 30
22 WILLIAMS, Paul g 5-9 3-6 0-0 0-5 5 5 13 2 2 0 0 30
05 OLIVER, Devin - 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 8
12 PARKER, Josh - 1-3 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 3 2 1 0 0 10
23 FABRIZIUS, Luke - 0-1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 10
32 SPEARMAN, Brandon - 0-2 0-0 0-0 1-0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 6
34 SEARCY, Devin - 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-2 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 14
TM TEAM - - - - 2-1 3 - - - 1 - - -
Totals………….. - 23-56 8-19 8-11 11-20 31 19 62 16 16 3 3 200

41.1% 42.1% 72.7%

Team summary:
FG3FGFT

1st Half:
9-25 6-10 1-1

36.0% 60.0% 100 %

2nd Half:
14-31 2-9 7-10

45.2% 22.2% 70.0%


Score by Periods1st 2nd Total
Xavier 37 29 66 Record: (22-6, 13-1 A-10)
Dayton 25 37 62 Record: (19-10, 7-7 A-10)
Officials: D.J. Carstensen, Frank Scagliotta, Mike Roberts
Technical fouls: Xavier-None. Dayton-None.
Attendance: 13435


The Lush Life Chronicles - - Volume 6: The Clark



In the first of our People Pillars you were introduced to The Kelli. You'll notice that the actual Kelli was somehow absent from the Ray 100. The next three Pillars should not be. Many would consider The Clark to be the same as saying The Best Friend. I am here to tell you that it is far more complicated and sophisticated than that and that oftentimes this is not the case. I don't think we really know what a best friend is anymore. Just look at this article from the New York Times: found here. For those of you that aren't big link clickers...I shall summarize. Some study by school administrators in St. Louis has led to them recommending that children not have a best friend. This isn't the dumbest thing that I've ever heard out of St. Louis...but it's close. If you have a friend, then you have a best friend. That is instinctually the way humans work. We are beings that are capable of discerning the difference between things and ranking them. If you haven't yet learned that I like to rank things from the significant number of posts I do that are in list form, then you are either new to this blog or very dumb. I have a best a friend and I'm perfectly capable of telling people exactly where they fit into my life. That being said, I will still help out a friend in need even if they are my 450th best friend. If your run out of gas on a desolate road and you need somebody to bring you a gas can full of unleaded, give me a call. I don't care if we haven't seen each other since junior high. If I can be there, I will be there.

But there are certain duties that we assume fall to the best friend within a relationship and I'm not sure that they always do. I want you to think of your best friend. This might be the person that you spend the most time with. It might be the person whose friendship you value the most. It is the Watson to your Sherlock Holmes (or the Sherlock Holmes to your Watson if you have low self-esteem and don't value yourself as the protagonist of your own life). However, I don't know that we really know what a best friend is in this new day and age. If I'm calling up somebody to go to a movie and I'm calling up somebody to go golfing, I'm probably calling two different people. Often times, best friends can be situational. To gauge who my best friend is, I simply consider whose door I would go to holding a bloody knife during a midnight rain storm that I am asking them to dispose of without fear of reprisal. That's why I consider Daniel Fishman to be my best friend. But if this were everybody's method...then people with moral scruples and continual fuck-ups wouldn't have best friends. Everybody has their own method of quantifying friendship. And many of you might read the description of this pillar over the next few paragraphs and think that The Clark is referring to a best friend. It's not. It can be your best friend, but it's something all it's own as well. It is simply The Clark.

Much like The Kelli was named after my hair stylist Kelli (who has stated that I may reveal her place of business as Mitchell's Salon for anybody looking for a sweet cut), The Clark is also named after a person. I never knew this person personally, but you may have heard of him. He may have even been mentioned in my History of Bromance post from last month. His name was William Clark and he was known to bro around town with another bro by the name of Meriwether Lewis. You see, Meriwether Lewis was a politician by nature. Which means he was good at connecting with people and probably had a good number of friends. His 19th Century Facebook account would be stacked. And history gives us little indication that William Clark was his best friend. William Clark wasn't there when Lewis died, Lewis wasn't the Best Man at Clark's wedding, and Lewis didn't invite Clark to join his Masonic lodge. But when you look back at them through that rosy lens of history, you see that their most important contributions to America came in each other's company. And let's look at their University. Lewis University is named after Frank J. Lewis, not Meriwether Lewis. Clark University is named after Jonas Gilman Clark, not William Clark. But Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon is named after both of them, to share, because of an epic little road trip that they took back in 1804 called The Lewis and Clark Expedition. 
 
And that is what the Clark really is. It's a travel buddy...an exploration mate. It's somebody who stimulates your sense of curiosity about new and exciting places and who is willing and able to venture towards them with you*. The first several Pillars of the Lush Life involve securing comforts for yourself. Well, much like Maslow's Hierarchary of Needs, once you achieve the lower rungs....you are then able to reach for the higher fruit. In this case, as we progress with the Pillars of the Lush Life this means stepping out of our comfort zones that we have worked so hard to achieve. In my freshman year at Xavier University I took a Rhetoric class. And for our first paper in this class we had to write about our home towns. For me this meant La Canada, California. I wrote a somewhat scathing review of La Canada, to much the same effect that Ariel of The Little Mermaid would write about the Baltic Sea or Jasmine of Aladdin would write about the Imperial Palace in Agrabah. It wasn't that it was a bad place to grow up. It's just that it's small town appeal inhibited my sense of adventure and need to explore. My life views on my home town can best be summed by two quotes. The first is from Belle in Beauty and the Beast, "There must be more than this provincial life.**" The second comes from Pocahontas in Pocahontas, "Why do all my dreams extend, just beyond the river bend?" If we've learned anything from this paragraph it's that Disney princesses love new and exciting adventures and that I have a little bit of Disney princess in me.
 
Now that La Canada has pulled me back into it's grasp, I can see that La Canada isn't an awful place. It has it's flaws, but the main problem was me and that my needs in life just didn't mesh with what La Canada could provide. I have always considered myself to be an optimist, but in this class of 24 people I was one of only two who wrote negatively of the town that hosted my upbringing. Yet as I read other people's papers, (we had to read everybody's paper and use them as citations for a later paper on "a sense of place") which talked about their town's quaintness and safety and comfort...I realized that I hated all of those places more than I hated La Canada. I spent my entire life up until I was 18 living in either La Canada or Glendale. And during that time not one of the ten best nights of my life occured in La Canada or Glendale. I had some good times, but it just seemed like the great times always happened when I ventured far from the fold. If I had to pick the five best nights of my life they occurred in Washington D.C., Phoenix, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, and New Orleans. Only one of those is within an hour of anywhere where I have ever lived for an extended period of time. I have my best times when I am out exploring, adventuring, and trying new things. And while I love to go new places and try new things, I like to meet new people. But I also like to have a "constant", to borrow from LOST. I like to have somebody to merge my traveling, adventuring side with my home life. And this is The Clark.
 
It would also be a misnomer to say that you can only have one of The Clark in your life. The lucky amongst us have multiple people who fill this role. I like to think that I do. Sure I lone wolf travel a lot. I constantly go places with only myself because as we get older it's hard to mesh other people's schedules into our plans. However, four of the aforementioned best nights of my life all featured The Clark. One even features multiple Clarks. Let's examine this one in particular. I am of course referring to the night in wonderful Cedarburg, Wisconsin that I mentioned earlier in The Ray 100. My friends and I would ritually go up to Cedarberg for the holidays. And on the first trip up there I went with Nick Rosati, Andrew Smith, and Erin Swietlik. These three are multiple examples of The Clark. They're adventurous, have an intellectual curiosity, and know how to have a good time. But there are dangers to having multiple The Clarks. That danger lies in you bringing too much of your comfort zone with you. The ease of communicating with people that you know can inhibit your ability to reach out towards new people. This wasn't a problem in this case. I got to meet several new and interesting people on all of my trips to the Great White North. But oversaturating your travel group with The Clarks does carry this inherant danger.
 
That's why when you travel you need to look for an ideal person or person(s) to be The Clark. In some ways it's as complicated as finding a mate. The Clark needs to be somebody who shares your interests. However, that needs to be balanced with their ability to make you do things that you wouldn't normally do. They need to be somebody who you know well and have a considerable history with, but they need to be somebody who is still capable of surprising you after all that time. You have to have space to explore and make new experiences and it is The Clark's job to create these new places. The Clark should be a planner, but should be somebody who leaves room for spontanaety and who reacts well when plans fall apart. Oftentimes on adventures you plan for certain occurances and others just happen. For instance, last time I went up to Cedarberg, Wisconsin I planned to gamble at their casinos, drink a lot of beer, and ogle their women. Check, check, and check. What I didn't plan was to serve pancakes dressed as a Milwaukee Brewers bratwurst with a dude that I had just met less than 24 hours earlier who was dressed as a Milwaukee Brewers Italian sausage. But that was the highlight of the trip...though the gambling, beer, and women were all great as well. And that dude now follows my blogs. Things happen on trips that you aren't accounting for, which is what makes trips worth doing. And certain people help facilitate this more than others. So have whoever you want as a best friend, but when you're looking to go exploring: make sure you bring The Clark.
 
Editor's Notes:
 
*I was always taught in English and Rhetoric classes that your thesis statement should come in your first paragraph. And here I put it in my 4th paragraph. Suck it, Grammar Jabronis.
 
**If Belle wants adventure and new experiences that why does she openly state in the same song that she likes reading the same book a half a dozen times? Try new things, girl.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Podcast: Ray's Oscar Season Extravaganza


The Hot and Bothered Effect Podcast is back, and I fully intend on this being a monthly thing. I love doing them and I got too very excellent and knowledgeable gals on this month to talk about the upcoming Academy Awards Ceremony. Once again the posts have been broken up into sections for your convenience with the time commitment and comment stated before each one.

Part I: The Best Picture Race

We discuss the Best Pictures including Ray's prejudice against British people, the difference between Crispin Glover and Cillian Murphy, and why we need Kanye West to attend the Oscars. - 12:49


 


Part II: The Best Animated Feature Race

We discuss the Best Animated Features including how to do 3-D right, the prospects of Z-Bots: The Movie, and disgust with cost of movie prices. - 4:55


 

Part III: The Best Director Race

We discuss the Best Directors including Ben Affleck working to his strengths, the transitive properties of pity, and the value of degree of difficulty. - 11:19


 

Part IV: The Best Actor Race

We discuss the Best Actors including similarities between Rooster Cogburn and The Dude, Rosie's fawning over Ryan Gosling, and an awkward segue into the most snubbed actor of all-time. - 8:20

 

Part V: The Best Actress Race

We discuss the Best Actresses including Annette Bening's 'Always a Bridesmaid' Syndrome, Show Me The Nipple!, and how Jen Clary doesn't know Ray at all. - 10:23


Part VI: The Best Supporting Actor Race

We discuss the Best Supporting Actors including what makes Vincent Cassel the ideal sleazy European, the Organic Food Agenda, and whether Christian Bale actually free-based crack. - 11:32

 

Part VII: The Best Supporting Actress Race

We discuss the Best Supporting Actresses including Mila Kunis's character's status as a fun slut, the stagnation of James Van der Beek, and Ray's man crush on Guy Pearce.

 

Part VIII: Extended Talk About Best Pictures

Alright, I need to note something here. Something odd happened and the last twenty minutes of the podcast got corrupted. Both files got corrupted at the same point despite the fact that they were recorded using totally different devices. There must have been some sort of freaky EMP that went off in the room at 1 hour and 18 minutes into the podcast. I was able to salvage our discussion on Oscar hosts below (though the audio will be slightly distorted). However, I was not able to salvage this 8 minute section...so I'll just re-cap:

- We all agree that we like The Town and that it should be a Best Picture nominee
- Jen speaks very pejoratively of the Western genre
- Ray defends Westerns and all genres with his movie version of the "I Have a Dream" speech
- Rosie brings up that she really liked the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo movies and wonders how they weren't in the mix for Best Foreign Film
- Ray continues his ethnically-offensive views against foreign white people by stating that the Swedish are by nature a lazy people and that they probably didn't fill out the paper work
- Ray accidentally kicks the leg of one of Jen's chairs, breaking it and solidifying his status as a total douche 
- Rosie states that she felt bad for Eduardo in the social network, whereas Ray re-iterates his early point that he doesn't feel bad for anybody in that movie because they are all "Ivy League pricks"
- Rosie discusses her Director/Actor Talkback about The Social Network which leads to Ray and Jen explaining how the Winklevoss Twins were played by two people but that one guys head (Armie Hammer) was super-imposed on the other guy's body
- Jen feels bad for the body double, Ray says he should have looked more like the Winklevosses
- They bring up that Ray's brother Matt celebrates something called Winklevoss Wednesday

Part IX: The Hosts

We discuss the Oscar Night hosting situation including Jen's admiration for Steve Martin, why Nicolas Cage hasn't had his Oscar taken away, and Ray puts sound editors in their place. - 10:48

 

It was an absolute pleasure having Jen and Rosie on the podcast. I will be doing these at least once a month and if you'd like to be on please e-mail me at raymond.v.obrien@gmail.com and I'll see if we can't get you on. Thanks for listening.