Thursday, October 27, 2011

Close Reading


Dr. Sheldon Cooper displays many socially awkward characteristics, with the most prevalent being his eagerness to remind others he is smarter then them. He often refers to himself as a "highly regarded physicist." In the episode titled "Rhinitis Revelation" Sheldon cannot understand why his mom does not want to go to the convention with him. He plans to ask a series of questions that will stump the Nobel Prize winning speaker. This episode gives the viewer a small peak into where this unusual behavior stems from. Sheldon is constantly trying to please and impress his mother. He is very concerned that she is paying to much attention to his friends, and not enough attention to him. Sheldon wants her to go to the convention with him because he has the opportunity to show off his intelligence by insulting the Nobel Prize winning speaker.

         This goal of always proving his intelligence to the people around makes his character very comical. In our society today it is not polite to be as blunt and brash as Sheldon is about his gift. His random outbursts and claims of being smarter, and more important, than the rest of his friends provide for an awkward situation that is in turn funny. The key to this is however that he does not see the awkwardness, or impoliteness. He simply thinks that this is acceptable and it is this combination of social taboos, and his inability to notice them that creates a character that is unlike any other on television. 

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions are off to their best start since 1956. This uncanny style has both wowed and thrilled Lions fans. These feisty felines of 2011 were the exact opposite in 2008. In a season most would love to forget, the Lions successfully completed the only 0-16 season in the history of the NFL. This was a time of sadness and sorrow. This atrocious season was the byproduct of many terrible decisions made my the upper level management over the previous decade. One can trace this downfall back to the draft of Joey Harrington out of the University of Oregon. Joey had potential, but ultimately was not cut out to be an NFL quarterback. This blockbuster pick conveniently led to a string of terrible draft picks consisting of Charles Rogers and Mike Williams. The Lions also went through a plethora of coaches in the past decade. These unfortunate drafts and hires were mostly thanks to Matt Millen. Luckily was fired after the 2007 season. The Lions miraculous turnaround started in 2009 when they hired Jim Schwartz from Tennessee. Schwartz has produced three improving seasons so far, and has made two key draft picks; Ndamakong Suh and Calvin Johnson. Jim is without a doubt the future of the Lions franchise.

The Detroit Lions started this season with easy wins over the Buccaneers and Chiefs. Next on the schedule was the Vikings and Cowboys, both of which the Lions defeated with huge second half comebacks. This past Monday was an especially thrilling game because it was the first time the Lions had had a Monday Night Football game since 2001. The Motor City was buzzing with excitement all weekend that ended with a packed house to see the Lions beat the rival Bears, 24-13. The intro to SportsCenter the next morning started with Scott Van Pelt asking, "Are the Lions SuperBowl bound?" A very valid question considering the strength the Lions possess on both offense and defense. A high powered offense lead by Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson (aka. Megatron) and a defense with Suh as its staple will be very tough to beat. This exciting start to the season has insured that the roar has been restored in Detroit.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Backwards

I wake up in a camper in the middle of the woods next to Lucas. Its cold, and I am thinking to myself what the hell happened last night? I slowly crawl in to bed unable to support myself, slamming into these random cupboards trying to find something soft to sleep on. "Kelsi! where are you sleeping at tonight?," I shout, to which she responds, "I am going home." Once I see the police walking back to their cars, I think to myself, "what a night, this is going to make one hell of a story," but for now I am going to bed. Joe says to the office, "yes sir we will."The policeman says to Joe, "alright this time I'm serious, you guys need to pack up camp and go to bed." I'm playing beer pong with Lucas, (we are winning of course) and all the sudden I see the officers coming back again. Nic says to me, "I guarantee you can't beat Joe and I" I am just chilling by the fire thinking man that was a close call, we should probably just go to bed so they don't come back. As I walk over to the fire I hear Lucas yell, "Oh my god Kelsi why did you shit in my truck!?" After this we walk away from the pong table, pretty disappointed and Lucas tells me he's going to go grab his hat from his truck. The police then walk away, trudging through the mud that leads to the dirt road about a quarter mile away. He says to us, "alright I just need you to quiet down and won't have any problems." Erric says to the police officer, ok thanks you won't have to come back." Next the female police officer hesitates but says "no we have to head out" Erric then responds, "why don't you show us how its done, and offers her the ping pong ball." I think to myself, "did she really just say that?" You guys need to quiet down and get a lot better at beer pong. We all shake our heads and smile as if to say yes, and then he says, "you guys are all 21 here right." To my surprise, I look up and see to police officers staring next to me with a flashlight, covered in mud up to the middle of their shins. They say, "Ok we aren't here to bust anyone, we just had to come check out what was going on, we had some neighbors call and complain." I then walk to the campfire and talk to Cassandra for a bit, but Lucas drags me over to play pong against Nic and Joe. A few minutes after that I pull up with Lucas in his truck and we see probably the coolest set up ever. There are people everywhere, music blasting and even a generator. Once we finally find this hidden path of the dirt trail I realize that my car will never make it so I hop in Lucas' truck. It seemed like we have been driving forever, I was about to leave and then I finally find the trail. I am pretty pumped to go to this party because it had been a long day, and a rough night at work. It took about 25 minutes to get from the party to my house, but I knew it would be worth it, after all it was Mikes birthday. The last thing my mom says to me is, "Ok have fun, but be safe and don't do anything stupid." I went to go say goodbye to my mom, and then I throw all my Michigan clothes on (just to remind everyone I am going there). It was a long night at work and I was glad to finally be home. I hop in my car and begin to drive. At then end of my break Erric called me on my break and told me about a party at Gaines Lake for Mike. I had just started my break and was trying to find something fun to do. Before I went to work, I thought to myself, "hmmm I haven't hung out with the guys in a while, I should try to see whats up tonight, they always know something fun to do."