The Cathedral Gallery

http://uvmemory.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-classic.html



GRAND THEFT QUARTERBACK

Here's the scenario. You're a 20-year-old guy in college. You come from a wealthy family and you've been raised to be an 'All American Boy.' You enjoy the lifestyle. Major Sporting Events are on your calendar. You regularly attend parties. You can pretty much do whatever you want, whenever you want to. As long as you do your school work and don't get caught breaking the laws too many times, you're golden. This is your life and you are Johnny Manziel.

I left out the part about being the QB for Texas A&M University only because that is what everyone knows Johnny Football for. What a great knickname too.
"Johnny Football." And he earned it. Manziel won the Heisman Trophy his freshman year, passing for over 3000 yds and rushing for over 1000 yds. He led A&M to victory over the eventual National Champion Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, and to a Cotton Bowl Classic victory over Oklahoma, finishing with a 11-2 record and a #5 AP ranking. Not bad for a freshman.

Johnny Manziel is the golden child. He has the World at his feet. He plays football great and football is what Americans love most. And boy does he enjoy the spotlight. And why shouldn't he? This is America. We're all born and raised to believe that one day we can be rich & famous. Johnny Football is just living the dream we all wish we could mirror. Give him the credit he deserves. He's not hurting anyone. He's going to school and playing football. He could be doing many things much worse than being cocky and drinking some alcohol.

Manziel is much more relevant than your 'typical' Heisman-winning college QB. TIME Magazine sure thought so when they put him on the cover of their September 2013 issue. Manziel was recently discovered signing autographs for several Ebay vendors, who claimed they paid him. Normally this type of activity would get you ruled ineligible by the NCAA. However, Manziel coming from a wealthy background was able to Lawyer-Up and got the charge dismissed. Afterall, why would the NCAA go after a player that in the next year or so is going to make them and his school upwards of 500 million dollars? TIME found this same issue relevant and decided to make Johnny Football the poster boy for their issue on Paying College Athletes.

So back to the scenario. You're a 2012 Heisman winner. You're probably going to win it again this year. You're a symbolic and cultural figure already at the age of twenty. You're going to play in the NFL very soon as long as you don't kill someone drinking and driving or rip up your knee. Now who would let a few traits like that go to their head?

Johnny Manziel is the All American Boy. He's doing what every guy wishes he could do. He's the Big Man on campus and the campus is the World, not just A&M. He's relevant for being Arrogant. He's relevant for making money when he's not allowed to. He's relevant for winning. He's relevant for laughing at the rules. He's relevant for playing Football. He's relevant for being a Quarterback. That's why he holds up his hands and rubs his thumbs to his fingers cuz Johnny Manziel is straight cash homey. He knows it. You know it. And everyone knows it. His Critics say he's selfish, too small and a spoiled prima donna. Well until he goes Pro and a Defense proves it, the negative critiques don't matter. Johnny Football is Money in the Vault because the Bank Ain't Big Enough.

HACKERS

Strap on your Rollerblades Dude!!!!!! It's 1995, the Internet is born, modems operate at 28.8 kilobits per second and the World is only 5.5 billion strong. Ah,
memories of a simpler time. NOT!!!! Oh yeah and that was still fresh.

HACKERS is a trippy time capsule look at the world 20 years ago(but more like a Hundred in iphone years) when recycling was cool, Saddam Hussein still sucked
and Angelina Jolie was in her sexual prime. The Kids were wearing baggy clothes, listening to gangsta rap & techno and Windows 95 was introducing us to easy computing and Internet exploring(Walkman's were still around too). Netscape!

Ok so all that stuff was in the background, but right up front in your 3 1/2 inch floppy drive was an uber-clever script with extravagant visuals & burgeoning characters still popping pimples on their pretty faces. HACKERS captures the essence of the IT Sub Culture of the 20th century. Say What??? The physical World has already been conquered. The Digital World is still vast and untapped so these hackers sail through cyberspace to discover places unfound. The Rules and Laws aren't even written yet, so hackers will do as they see fit to thrive. Afterall, "Hacking is more than just a crime. It's a survival trait."

 

In the film, the hackers come to find there are some obstacles they must learn to circumvent in order to stop a greed-hungry one of their own, whom found his way into a government systems security job. Hackers need 9 to 5s too, so this hired gun chose to utilize his talents to advise the Powers he used to evade. A hacker engages in reconnaissance & espionage all the time to gain intel. The "Hacker Manifesto," written by The Mentor aka Lloyd Blankenship is quoted several times, stating the noble purpose behind hacking. Check it out http://www.mithral.com/~beberg/manifesto.html

Ok so the technology is severely outdated. But like any great film the story, characters, music, plot, visuals and the principles are timeless. Information is Power, and that is what every hacker seeks. Actually that is what every human seeks. Life, Liberty, the pursuit of Happiness & Information:) Mess with the Best, Die like the Rest!!! HACKERS is a Cool-Ass-Flick.

Remember The Replacement Refs?

Last year we met some referees from the Lingerie Football League, CFL and various Farm Show Leagues from across the country. They call a great game by the way;) They were a temporary fix for the NFL Referee lockout, which lasted from June 2012 through Week 3 of the regular season. The "Fail Mary" was the play that convinced NFL owners to give in to the demands of the Ref's Union. Coupled with the sloppy officiating and embarrassing calls, the infamous blunder took place on Monday Night Football in front of a national audience, creating such a fuss the NFL was forced to end the public relations nightmare. Seriously, a 9-billion dollar a year business doesn't want to pay a little more for retirement benefits and salaries for the best Referees? Well only after they were humiliated on national television, making a mockery of their precious NFL shield. Anyway it was all pretty entertaining and inspired me to Welcome Back a few of the good, old Zebras.

On Ice

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251335977114?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Dedicated to my school, Steelton-Highspire

Today Friday, September 13, 2013 there was a shooting at 250 Reynders St at the Steelton-Highspire High School in Steelton, Pennsylvania. 9 people, including six students and three teachers were gunned down by an as of yet unidentified, current student of the school. Law Enforcement and School Administrators have secured the crime scene and closed the institution until further notice.

This is what the first paragraph of a School Shooting report looks like. It gives the time, location, amount of people killed, instructions as to a future date and a
brief description of the perpetrator of the crime. We've all seen this kind of report by now. The majority of us have only seen it on TV or read about it in the news, but some have witnessed and experienced a real life shooting before. By writing this, I am hoping to prevent another one from happening in the future. I am hoping to touch as many people as possible with these words.

Nobody wants to be apart of another Columbine shooting. No parent wants to hear a report on the radio or get a sudden phone call about an incident at their
child's school. And no child ever wants their school to become a war zone, where the Library, Cafeteria and Auditorium become bunkers for cover rather than safe havens for learning and positive congregating.

 

I've asked myself, "What can be done?" What can we do to prevent people from continuing this awful trend? Since when did Schools become the place to bring
violence? I remember when I was in school, a fight between two students was the worst thing that could happen or if one of my friends or someone I knew got
in big trouble they got suspended. Now kids have to worry about being shot by a fellow classmate!? I named this post 'School Shooting at Steelton-Highspire,'
because that is where I attended high school. And that is where I hope to never hear about a school shooting or a violent incident, in the news.

I want as many people as possible to read this and think about what if it would ever happen at my school? What if I was shot in school? What if I was the one
doing the shooting? What would happen? People would die. Families would be destroyed. Students, Children and Teachers would be killed and witness death. The place where I met friends, learned algebra, had my first kiss, my first dance, my Prom and the place where I built the foundation for my future would become a burial ground and the place that the worst moment of my life occurred.

The Answer to this Riddle is simple; Communicate. Students need to learn about each other. Administrators & Teachers need to know their students, not just as
educators but as surrogate parents. Classes need to be geared towards not just the fundamentals of learning, but also the human side of who we are. Have your
class write a paper about "A Great Day I had this Summer." Or create an assignment that requires students to learn something about each other. Have a Journal Day where the students write an entry and then everyone trades Journals so each student can read what another student wrote. Or even better, how about a project on the school grounds where the students and teachers build something together to commemorate & celebrate their time together, like the Steel-High Class of 1996 did with Project O.S.C.A.R. or Outdoor School and Community Activity for the Rollers:)

We can't all just be faces in the crowd. We have to be human beings with families and stories. We have to communicate with each other and let one another know that it's going to be okay. We Are All In This Together.....