Two Things to Close Out 2010

Thing, the first:

As a guy that counts the Back to the Future trilogy, Lost, Watchmen, and Slaughterhouse-Five among his cultural touchstones, time is a favorite subject of mine. This is especially true when books or movies or television shows play around with the concept of people's perception of time. The following is an animated lecture on how people perceive time, how that affects the way they live their lives and how the current generation's complete concept of time and perception has been completely changed by the Internet's influence on how we process information. If you have ten minutes, check it out because it made me question whether I was a past-positive or past-negative (probably the latter) and forced me to examine how I can help students to become more future-oriented.

Thing, the second:

Wake Up, Geek Culture. Time to Die

Along with Louis CK, Patton Oswalt is one of my favorite comedians because of the way he mixes intelligence with his humor. He also has the added benefit of showing an interest in things that I also enjoy, like comic books and sci-fi movies. In the above linked article, he writes an extended treatise on why the proliferation of the Internet, the way we interpret and process information, has changed the subset previously known as nerd or geek culture. 

Students often ask me why I don't freely download music from the Internet as opposed to paying for it. Besides the fact that it's technically stealing, I fall into Oswalt's camp of enjoying the idea of seeking out and earning my "street" cred for the things I enjoy. And here's a sentence that will begin with a phrase that really dates me. When I was a kid, I had to seek out the knowledge about Marvel and DC comics on my own. This meant that I spent every cent I earned with my meager allowance and lawn-mowing money on comic books and trade-paperbacks and consume them in such a way that I could hold my own as being an expert in those areas. There weren't opportunities to download an entire run of Superman or Spider-Man comics.

Trust me, there's no better boon to society than the idea that all information is instantly accessible. But, as Phillip Zimbardo stated above and as Patton Oswalt specifies to the geekier aspects of our culture, it has completely changed how we interact with and ingest information. Far be it from me to be that guy that complains about liking a band before it got big and then subsequently sold out, but the kinship one has to a pop culture landmark (be it a music act, character or movie) is special and unique partially because of the way we come to like it, not just because we like it.

I'm sure I'll have more to say on the subject later on because I plan to spend my New Year's Eve with the McBride brood where McB and I will inevitably discuss both of these concepts and ideas. I hope your ushering in of the new year involves similar thoughtful discussion and good times. And remember, it's pronounced "twenty-eleven," not "two-thousand eleven."

A Different Kind of Final

WEC 53 airs Thursday on Versus.

Besides making awkward jokes and talking about superheroes, one of my favorite areas of focus is MMA. That's why this Thursday will be somewhat bittersweet, as it is the final WEC on Versus show...ever.

A few years ago, Zuffa Inc., the company that owns UFC, in an effort to prevent the IFL, a competing organization, from getting a television deal on Versus, bought the regional promotion WEC, short for World Extreme Cagefighting. UFC already had a deal in place with Spike TV, so they did the next best thing to ensure their competition had nowhere to go but down by buying their way out of the problem. Some of the divisions between the two promotions overlapped, but what made WEC stand out was it's featherweight division, consisting of fighters at 145 lbs. Most notable among the smaller group of fighters was Urijah Faber, a dude that carried the promotion for years as the Featherweight Champion and had the most potential for superstar status along the lines of GSP, Chuck Liddell or Randy Couture.

Eventually, WEC decided to focus on the smaller fighters by keeping the light and featherweight divisions and starting a bantamweight division at 135 lbs, while UFC absorbed the welterweight, middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. In sharpening their focus, WEC started to put on the most entertaining fight cards, top to bottom. Lighter guys usually have bigger gas tanks, so they can keep up a faster pace for a longer period of time leading to more action-packed fights that are rarely boring. Unfortunately, while the cards were awesome, their shows were still stuck on Versus, a channel few have and even fewer know exists. While it was continually the most exciting promotion to watch, their ratings were poor and the fighters outside of Urijah Faber weren't becoming stars or making the kind of money that the UFC guys make. Despite being owned by the same company, their pay didn't quite reflect it.

At the same time, UFC continued to explode in popularity. Many people seem to make the mistake that mixed martial arts is the popular thing nowadays, but that's not really the case. While MMA continues to grow in participants and general popularity, UFC is the organization that's successful. Few people get together to talk about or watch MMA; more often than not, they get together to watch UFC. Compare it to baseball or football. Outside of regional minor leagues, everyone watches Major League Baseball. Who watches the CFL or the AFL? Nobody (except McBride and his kids). The vast majority watch the NFL. Just like baseball and football are synonymous with the brands of MLB and the NFL, fighting or MMA only carries with it one brand: UFC.

It's no wonder that WEC couldn't get any traction. Dana White, the Fertitta brothers and the rest of the folks over at Zuffa were very much aware of this but couldn't do anything about it because of the aforementioned TV deal...until late last October. In a move that everyone knew was just a matter of time, White announced that UFC would absorb the featherweight and bantamweight divisions at the beginning of the year and that WEC would cease to exist. Huzzah for no longer confusing the marketplace with brand dilution!

While this is great news for the many fighters who will now be making UFC money and fighting for bigger bonuses than they've ever seen before, as a fan of WEC, I'm kind of sad. Their final show is on Thursday, and, true to form, it's packed to the gills with two championship matches and an undercard with tons of potential for a really great night of fighting. But after this show, gone are the days of nothing but lighter weight fighters going bell to bell with reckless abandon. Sure, each UFC card will have a few bantamweight and featherweight contests, but it'll be spread out between fights featuring the bigger guys.  Don't get me wrong, UFC is a tremendous organization that regularly puts on great cards, but the nature of the sport is such that they very rarely match the quality of each and every one of WEC's shows.

Anybody who's ever been curious about whether or not they'd be into watching MMA should really check out the show on Thursday at 6pm EST, 9pm PST. You won't be disappointed...and if you are, then it's probably not the sport for you, and that's okay.

Frosh
On Thursday, we finished our in-class discussion of Homer's Odyssey. You were tasked with finishing the story on your own and completing the plot point notechart.

Friday, we moved forward.

This last Monday was spent on review for the final, which consists of two tests: one is a department final that is a skills-based assessment, and the other deals with mythology and The Odyssey.


Seniors
Thursday and Friday were spent finishing up Pleasantville. There was a bonus opportunity on the backside of the note assignment that only one person decided to do.

Monday, you received your graded culminating papers. Those of you that did less than stellar have the chance to revise and rewrite them. Along with the Final Step, a short response assignment that asks you to reflect on the book, your performance on the culminating paper and the project as a whole, the rewrites will be due the day of your final.

Good luck to everyone on the rest of their finals. I know this comes a little late into the process, but getting a better night's sleep than I'm going to get tonight and eating a hearty breakfast will do wonders for your focus on any tests you still need to take. I hope everyone does well!

UFC 124

Despite being under a mountain of grading so large that if it were to tip over it might bury me for days on end, I really feel that it's important to express my level of excitement for the rematch between Josh Koscheck and Georges St. Pierre. I doubt we're going to see a full card that's at the level of this main event until February.

Thiago Alves vs. John Howard - This is supposed to be a welterweight bout, but you can never really tell with Alves as he has a long history of not making weight. Both are known for their stand-up, but Howard's has never been as consistent as Alves. I imagine it'll end by knock out in the third with Alves the winner.

Joe Stevenson vs. Mac Danzig - This is only the second time that two TUF winners have fought each other. Outside of Travis Lutter, you'd be hard pressed to find a TUF winner that's disappointed more than Mac Danzig. He tore through his competition on the show and won the season finale tournament, but he's had a less than stellar 2-4 record since then without ever having been able to string even a pair of wins in a row in the UFC. While his last loss was mired in controversy as the ref made a bad call in thinking that he was unconscious in a submission when he wasn't, he's still living on borrowed time; a loss here could mean that Danzig will get his walking papers since he's in an even more crowded division due to UFC's merger with WEC. Meanwhile, Joe Stevenson is also coming off a loss to George Sotiropoulos.  Of the two, Stevenson has shown an ability to adapt during a fight and in his training that Danzig has never been known to do, so I suspect that he'll get a TKO in second round.

Jim Miller vs. Charles Oliveira - This is one of those rare occasions where there are a set of brothers fighting on the same card, as Jim Miller's older brother, Dan, is fighting in the prelims. Both of the Miller brothers are excellent wrestlers, known for grinding out wins. Jim Miller, in particular, has fired off a five fight win streak and his only loss in the UFC has come from number one contender, Gray Maynard. This is Charles Oliveira's biggest test to date, as he's been seen as a Brazilian wunderkind who is undefeated and only one of his fights has gone to a decision. I favor Miller by decision in this fight because he's going to be the bigger guy and he has an uncanny way of surviving and escaping submissions. However, don't be surprised if Oliveira manages to snake a choke in the latter rounds, especially based off his destruction of Efrain Escudero back in September.

Stefan Struve vs. Sean McCorkle - Both of these guys are gigantic, standing at 6'11'' and 6'6'' respectively. Struve is a guy that usually gets beat up really badly in the first round and then turns it on in the second and third. McCorkle is undefeated and engaged Struve in a war of words over Twitter. It's a big (ha!) fight for both guys, but especially so for McCorkle. He went from the opening prelim fight in his first UFC bout to the semi-main event in his second. McCorkle's strength, besides trash talking and a funny last name, is his ground game, but Struve is just as good there. Struve also has the reach and heart to pull this one out. Struve will take it by TKO in the second.

Josh Koscheck vs. Georges St. Pierre (c) for the UFC Welterweight Championship - Back in October, when I attended UFC 121, something amazing happened. During the Court McGee/Ryan Jensen fight, Josh Koscheck came out from backstage through the fighter entrance. Koscheck's trademark blonde afro is hard to miss, even in an arena that seats 15,000 people. The moment he came out, the fans in attendance booed him vociferously, loud enough for Joe Rogan to question it on air. A few minutes later, he came out a second time to an even louder reaction with thundering chants of GSP. Keep in mind that this is in Anaheim, California.

Saturday's fight, coming on the heels of 13 weeks of build-up on The Ultimate Fighter and an excellent Countdown show, emanates from St. Pierre's hometown of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. As rabid as the crowd was in hating Koscheck back in Anaheim will pale in comparison to how Montreal treats the guy. GSP is a hometown Canadian hero, and the last time Koscheck fought was in the same city, and they found him less than endearing.

That's where the hype of this fight has mostly centered: Koscheck is a jerk and GSP is a class-act in every way. During their stint as coaches for TUF, Kos did everything he could to get under GSP's skin, from childish pranks to physical altercations with GSP's training staff. While GSP never took the bait, it's been clear that Koscheck has gotten under the skin of the champion. St. Pierre has admitted to it, but to hear him tell it, getting under GSP's skin is just the sort of thing that motivates him instead of derailing him.

The other component of UFC's build-up has focused on the pair's first fight. Prior to that initial match, GSP's rep consisted of a guy with excellent stand up who was well-rounded everywhere else but didn't necessarily excel in those other areas. Koscheck earned his wins primarily using his incredible wrestling with occasional knockouts. While that fight two years ago was the last time GSP lost a round, the story that came out of the decision win was that St. Pierre beat Koscheck at his own game. GSP won the takedown battle and managed to beat him grappling.

Both fighters have evolved since then. However, I don't see a different outcome happening this time around. GSP was ahead of Koscheck in just about every area then, and the former's wrestling has become an even more prominent part of his game. Famed boxing trainer Freddie Roach has predicted a second round knockout by left hook after training with GSP and watching footage of Koscheck. I'm not sure if I'll go that far; the Paulo Thiago fight notwithstanding, Koscheck has a pretty good chin. Instead, I'm predicting a decision victory for GSP.

Backflip Success!

There's a view from another angle at the bottom of this entry.

And so it happened. The message from my wife after telling her about it was succinct: "Do not make promises like that again."

And I won't. Seriously, unless I start taking up parkour, which is a much younger and stupider man's hobby, this is my first, last and only backflip for any of my classes. Ever. I am not coordinated in the least to be undertaking these sorts of shenanigans. Besides, it took THREE PEOPLE to help me do two backflips and the second one can only be classified as a failure considering I kneed the poor girl in the head. Thankfully, she's an understanding trooper who spends time cheerleading, so she's used to getting nailed in the noggin.

Frosh

We continued reading The Odyssey. You continued filling out the Plot Point notechart. It's worth 75 points and due Monday.

Seniors

We switched our focus from Canterbury Tales to symbolism in film using Pleasantville for demonstration. There wasn't enough time to give anything but short shrift to the former, so we're turning our attention to the latter. 

Now back to the grading!

Can't blog. Grading.

Wrong Homer, guys.

And...go!


Frosh
Last Friday, we began reading the textbook's truncated version of Homer's Odyssey of which we'll be reading several excerpts. We covered most of Odysseus' exploits with Polyphemus and the latter's subsequent blinding at the hands of the former. While Odysseus is the hero of the story and represents the kind of person that the Greeks of that time aspire to be, I always find it funny that the whole debacle starts with him breaking into the cyclopes' home. That should be a lesson to everyone: never leave the giant boulder to the front of your home open, lest you want tiny men to ask for your hospitality.

This is a great place to also explain the Plot Point notechart you are creating while reading the story. Having folded your paper in half down the center, you will write a plot point in the left hand column (either a one sentence quote with the speaker and page number noted or a one sentence paraphrase/summary with a page number noted), and then in the right hand column explain in a sentence how said plot point embodies the values of Greek society. Since this is English class, all sentences must be complete. You will need to do a set number of plot points/value assessments for each section and here's that breakdown:

• The Cyclops - 5
• Circe - 2
• Land of the Dead - 3
• Sirens; Scylla & Charybdis - 4
• Cattle of the Sun God - 2
• Meeting of Father & Son - 3
• Beggar & Faithful Dog - 1
• Test of the Great Bow - 4
• Death at the Palace - 3
• Odysseus & Penelope - 2

Monday, we discussed Odysseus' encounter with the Sirens and how he and his men get stuck between a monster and another, bigger monster. You needed to finish the section titled Cattle of the Sun God. My favorite part of that section was actually cut out of our textbook, and we discussed how much I missed the zombie steaks in class today.

Today, we witnessed Odysseus' reunion with his son, Telemachus. He's a lot more forgiving than I would have been had my father been missing for 20 years, but Odysseus has a pretty good excuse.

Seniors
Friday, you turned in your culminating paper. I have a plan of attack in terms of grading them so as to return them to you on Monday, December 13. Of the papers I've graded so far, a few have been great and more than a few have missed the mark, at least in terms of credited sources. We explained this several times before, but a credited source is one where the source has a listed author. Gradesaver, Shmoop, Pinkmonkey and Sparknotes are not credited sources.

Monday, you received the opportunity to organize your portfolio, which was due today.

Today, you turned in the portfolios and we continued discussing the prologue to Canterbury Tales.

"I've made a huge mistake."

As the journalism adviser over the last few years, setbacks have come to be commonplace. No matter how great the staff -- and each year's staff has been great in its own way -- various things have happened, some the fault of the students, some the fault of me, some through nobody's fault but the fallibility of living in a technological age, that have forced the Brave Times to publish an issue after the scheduled deadline. It stinks, and nobody is ever happy when that occurs. This is why getting an issue out on time is considered a celebratory event. Everyone pulls together to create a product that close to 3000 people see on a regular basis and it takes a ton of hard work and dedication that doesn't always come together, so we rejoice when it does.

This is a result of a Google Image search for
"I've made a huge mistake." I don't understand
GOB Bluth's use of the Apple or Microsoft logo.

This year, I've had the most motivated group in all of my years as the Brave Times adviser. Part of this motivation exists intrinsically in each member of the editorial staff, as they are creative go-getters destined for success and great things. However, the other aspect of their motivation exists because I made a short-sighted promise, which is the reason for the Arrested Development quote that serves as the subject line. See, I knew these students were motivated, and I figured I could play on that by promising that if they made each of the first semester deadlines that I would do a backflip.

Adhering to a fairly regular work out schedule for the last five years or so has allowed me to get into decent shape, but the last time I played organized sports was back when I participated in Little League when I was still in middle school. Little League isn't really demanding or rigorous either, at least not the one in which I participated. Suffice to say, I am in shape, but I'm not athletic. Backflips are something athletes due: gymnasts and stuntmen and acrobats and mixed-martial artists after winning a fight; those guys do backflips. I've never attempted a backflip in my life save for when I was standing in a four foot deep swimming pool. Granted, it's been on my bucket list for awhile, but it's a frightening endeavor, what with paralysis a viable consequence of the attempt.

The staff of the Brave Times have been aware of these circumstances, and yet they've still hit every single deadline for the semester right on schedule with the final issue of the calendar year due to be put to bed tonight and published tomorrow.  This has never happened before in my tenure as adviser to the Brave Times. Ever. There were years that the staff stuck pretty closely to a schedule, but not one staff has managed to follow through on an entire semester's worth of deadlines. It's a commendable feat, and I'm pretty proud of them, even if their motivation has been to see me commit to a comic pratfall that might make me lose the feeling in my extremities. They've even gone so far as to label the checklist for the issue the "Backflip Deadline." Now I have to follow through with a backflip attempt. My wife is worried about me.

I've made a huge mistake.

Frosh
On Monday and Tuesday, you presented your individual mythology research projects. I was impressed with most, not so much with some, but never disappointed with the results.

Wednesday, we began to discuss the qualities of an epic in anticipation of reading excerpts from Homer's Odyssey. You needed to finish reading the introduction (ending on page 908) at home, which includes information on the build-up to Odysseus' journey back to Ithaca.

Today, you participated in a small group quiz by summarizing in 3 to 5 sentences an assigned section of last night's reading. We then went on to discuss your summaries. Next, our coverage of The Odyssey began. The layout of the story is surprisingly non-linear, as the first half is told in flashback as we join Odysseus towards the end of his journey home. We'll only be reading excerpts, the first of which is the one dealing with Polyphemus, the cyclops.

Seniors
You received the portfolio guidelines for the lit project on Monday. Hopefully, everyone has held on to their assignments from the lit project over these last few months as it was one of the big points I've harped on since its inception.

We then continued to read Beowulf, concluding it on Tuesday. Beowulf experienced the thrill of victory  by defeating on Grendel's mom and decapitating the already-dead Grendel and then experienced the agony of defeat by losing to the dragon. The guy deserves some slack, though, as he put up a valiant effort in his mid-70's and FOUGHT A DRAGON. It's pretty remarkable, really, and easy to see why the Anglo-Saxons revered the dude. Also, there's always the possibility of a Wiglaf spinoff. That guy has franchise potential written all over him.

There is a bonus assignment dealing with Beowulf on the Files page called Beowulf Revisited. It'll be due December 13 and have a value of up to 40 points. Last year, a student completed this assignment by re-imagining Beowulf's adventure as a series of tweets. Thinking outside the box like that is the best way to go.

Wednesday was reserved for peer editing. I gave those of you who brought a draft the Peer Edit Guide. Those who didn't bring a draft were labelled disappointments. Let me clarify here, too. This is not a difficult paper and should represent your best possible work. I would hope that bringing a draft to class is not completely out of the question, especially since the sole purpose is to improve what you have before turning it in for a grade. It's disappointing to me when students don't take advantage of the opportunities they have to improve, especially after hearing the question "How can I improve my grade?" so many times prior to the fall break. It's also the reason why I'm now more disinclined to offer bonus assignments through the blog. The Beowulf assignment will be a litmus test to see which students are really serious about improving prior to the end of the semester.

Today, we went over last minute questions for the big culminating paper due tomorrow. I am genuinely looking forward to reading these as it's as much a reflection of me as it is you. My goal is for everyone to  have improved over the course of the lit project, whether that's as a reader or a writer, preferably both. The plan is to get these papers graded by December 13, if not beforehand. My wife will be gone all day on Saturday for a work training, so in between stretches to limber myself up for my backflip attempt next week, I want to read as many of the papers as I possibly can that day.

After the Q&A, we started talking about Chaucer. He's often compared to Shakespeare, and I enjoy my basketball analogy enough to repeat it here: Chaucer is to Shakespeare as Dr. J is to Michael Jordan. The former introduced something to his respective fields (iambic pentameter and poetry to English, the slam dunk to basketball) while the latter perfected said something. While we won't be spending much time on Canterbury Tales, I really hope you take a liking to it because fart jokes never get old.