Beware of the Hockey Mom

Sarah Palin drops the opening faceoff for the Philadelphia Flyers season opener on October 11th.

Sarah Palin is scheduled to drop the opening faceoff puck at the St. Louis Blues game this Thursday, October 24th against the Los Angeles Kings in St. Louis.

Now, I know she’s the biggest hockey mom in the entire country and St. Louis lies within a state that’s leaning for John McCain, but the Blues have overlooked one terrifying fact: Sarah Palin also dropped the opening faceoff puck for the Philadelphia Flyers season (and home) opener on October 11. The Flyers have yet to win a game, going 0-3-2 with 22 goals against, and have yet to record a point at home, 0-2-0.

The Blues are currently leading the competitive Central Division with 8 points and a record of 4-1-0, going undefeated 3-0-0 at home. Hopefully, the Blues season won’t be headed for a nosedive, but looking at what’s happening in Philadelphia with a team full of talent, it’s hard to say what effect Sarah Palin will have on them.

(On a side note, I’m personally sick of Detroit winning the Central Division; they’ve won 11 out of 14 seasons since the realignment, and when not winning the division, they finished second to Dallas in 1997 and 1998 and second to St. Louis in 2000. Ironically, the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup both years they finished second to Dallas, but that’s not important.)

Part Two

Stephen Colbert just lost his Emmy to Jon Stewart.

I wonder how much this is going to be featured in tomorrow night’s show…

EDIT: Pre-quote from Stephen Colbert: “RICKLESSSSS!”

I’m gonna call it now…

John McCain is giving his nomination acceptance speech in front of a completely green background. Let me say it now: Stephen Colbert is going to go to town with this. The “Make McCain Exciting” segment is going to be immensely popular very soon. Maybe by Monday even. There’s going to be over a half hour of footage, far surpassing the previous green-screen speech and of course, plenty of opportunities to pull out of context.

I look forward to the day when I, like Stephen Colbert, can say with exclamation: “I CALLED IT!”

Atheism

I don’t believe in god, but if there is one, I’m sure it would understand where I’m coming from.

Sedatives

College is quite the transition. So is preparing for Student Orientation. The thing those two have most in common right off the bat is that they require a physical relocation of both person and possessions into a new living place. While dealing with moving into my new rooms (Bray 109, LXA 208, and Nugent 312 for SO) I often found it difficult to fall asleep.

Luckily for me, music is the first thing that comes to mind when looking for a solution to any problem. I’ve found several albums that work wondrously as sedatives.

Nighttime in Bray was lively and I often thought that even though I wasn’t tired, I should get sleep. In retrospect it was a good choice, since my 8AM classes would have been torture without a decent rest. But I digress; the first album I used for my insomnia was:

We Were Here, by Joshua Radin

Radin’s signature breathy voice combined with melodious acoustic guitar and soaring harmonies is enough to put down a racehorse. That’s not to insult the music; the album is excellent and I have fond memories of the first time I heard it. I’ve even developed new memories regarding my room in Bray thanks to its other uses.

The next album is from a band I got into sometime into my freshman year. I’m not sure exactly what compelled me to download their music. I was (still am) a fan of House MD and one night I got the theme music stuck in my head so I looked it up. The rest is history. It took a while for this album to grow on me, but now (9 or so months later) trip-hop has become one of my most listened to genres, especially in the field of sedation.

Mezzanine, by Massive Attack

Possibly the best album of its genre, Mezzanine combines dark undercurrents with the beats that brought the band to the forefront of trip-hop in the early 90s. Many of its tracks are featured in films, such as Angel (Pi, Snatch., Flight of the Phoenix), Teardrop (House MD), and also Dissolved Girl (The Matrix, briefly). This album never fails to knock me out. Even when I’ve gotten all the way up to Group Four without falling asleep, I’ll wake up two hours later to find that it worked. Still, my exploration with sedative music gets better.

This next band was a revelation in college. I’d heard of them, but never had the thought to listen to any of their music. One random day I was subjected to a concert DVD…and the rest is history! (I have to stop saying that…) One album in particular does the trick for me. It’s 2 CDs, almost 2 hours long and both full of complicated tracks and those that are quiet and drawn out enough to tranquilize me.

The Fragile, by Nine Inch Nails

Unlike The Downward Spiral, The Fragile is much more relaxed. Many of the tracks blend into each other seamlessly, creating one long sonic atmosphere to get sucked into. Some of the tracks rock pretty hard, but I find that I get lost trying to follow their beats as with Massive Attack. I first discovered this album in January trying to sleep on an uncomfortable couch and I found that I fell asleep after only 6 tracks out of 23. It seems that the sheer volume of continuous sound is enough to lull me away.

This is the last album I’ve used more than 5 times. It’s again by Massive Attack, but took me until June to get into. I don’t understand why, it’s just as good as the others. However, for the purposes of going to sleep, it definitely beats out Mezzanine. I’ve never made it past track 2 before passing out.

100th Window, by Massive Attack

Essential a solo project by Robert ‘3D’ Del Naja, this album continues the trend of heavy beats over dark undercurrents started by Mezzanine. Although similar in style, this album features more atmosphere including stretched tranquil introductions to just about every song. That combined with the soft vocals and hypnotizing beats makes for an album impossible to stay awake to late at night.

Honorable mentions:

Maxinquaye, by Tricky

In Rainbows, by Radiohead

Grace, by Jeff Buckley

Watchfires, by Braddigan

SO Part 6: Overview and Final Thoughts

Often I heard that being a Student Orientation Advisor is the best job that you’ll never want to do again. Now that it’s over, I both agree and disagree with that statement. I loved doing SO. I loved it so much that I wish it was still going on right now. I was sleep-deprived, dealing with students and I didn’t know, and dealing with parents that could be crazy at times, but the people who surrounded me (advisors, staff) kept me going. We all fed off of each others energy and created an atmosphere for everyone to thrive in. I became pretty close with most of the advisors and I know we’re going to be friends for a long time. To sum things up: I agree with the above statment because of the sheer work load; disagree because I got to know so many extraordinary people and I love each and every one of them.

There’s just so much I’ll remember about this group forever.

CAN I HAVE YOUR NUMBAH? – annoying as hell, but it didn’t matter
Darryl JoNathan Po-Tato – same as above, but with kidnapping and search party included. very fun night
I’m into nuggets, yo. – annoying, but fun to do
NSC: Soulja boy, the lollipop song, BEAT IT – all of these songs would suck if not for the people I was with
Movies – taking the Megavan to see The Dark Night, watching Batman Begins in the game room of Barton
MEGAVAN! – we did so much with that van…movies, Snowman’s, Brown’s
Phone Tree! – either as a wake-up tool or a prank
Mafia – I’d never heard of this game before, so much fun especially when the killer is a good liar
Catchphrase – I started with 2nd floor Bray, but I’ll remember playing after training the most
Volleyball – Nugent had everyone playing at Grafton and it was awesome
Almost all-nighter – I was up for 24 hours straight after getting 4 hours of sleep. Totally worth it
Rummikub – 4 of us in Nugent played it every night of training… (i lost every game but the last one)
Laser tag! – Nugison had a kickass team. We lost the second game but won overall in points…cause we’re awesome
Bang, Umbrella, Black Magic, Picnic etc. – all games that took me a while to get, but once I did everyone was happy for me =D
CONTACT! – the best game to play if you love crossword puzzles and are with at least 3 other people. The subtitle of the game is “The Pastime of Help Desk.”
OH SNAP! – self-explanatory
Mitch Hedberg, Demetri Martin, and Steven Wright – telling their jokes over and over and over and over…
Davison Action Team, Nugent Lifeguards, Barton Superheroes – again, only for NSC, but it showed how creative we can be even with no sleep.
BANANA HAMMOCK! – and our high-fives too =]
Co-Hoes! – during co check, started when someone’s co was from Cohoes.

That’s a pretty bitchin’ list. Of course, if I remember anything else, it’s going up here. I’m just going to close with the same thing I’ve been saying all along:

I love all of you! Thanks for making this the best summer I’ve ever had and I can not wait to see you all again in August!

SO Part 5: The End

On Saturday we wrapped things up rather quickly. Following Salsa Soul and Struggling to Stand Up Spirit, we ate lunch in the room next door. Dr. Knowles, VP for Student Life, came in to give us outstanding praise, and it sure as hell made me feel like we really did something great. We also heard comments from our fellow advisors about how well we pulled it off, how well we get along after just 2 short weeks, and how we’re going to miss everyone so much when we all go back to our normal lives. In order to make our day that much better, we all wrote each other anonymous appreciative comments; I haven’t read mine yet but I think I will soon. After that, we were done. That was it.

Bam! It’s way to soon to be depressed, there’s still people here!

So the few of us left go back to our rooms to pack. I was blasting U2’s The Joshua Tree on my speakers as loud as they could go. Apparently it was heard in Davison (awesome!). Anyways, I packed up my car and took the stuff back to LXA where I was greeted by the loud annoying voice of one of my least favorite brothers. Welcome home, I guess. It was a warning of a bad night to come (it was pretty bad) so I got back down to freshmen hill as soon as I was done. Of course everyone was exhausted from SO so almost everyone left was asleep in Barton. However, I did get to say goodbye to several of the advisors before they were gone, so I was very happy about that.

It was hard to feel depressed once everyone in Barton was awake. There were rainclouds looming after a beautifully sunny and hot morning, but it didn’t matter. We played random games and just talked for hours. I really wish that SO had a mandatory fun day AFTER session 4…that would have been perfect. Still, 11 of us (out of maybe 16 or so that were left) went to Brown’s for dinner. I didn’t care about the food (still good though) but that was one of the best dinner experiences I’ve ever had.

I felt so at home in this group.

SO Part 4: Sessions 3 & 4

Rain. It poured for SO3. The day began with a light drizzle, but at the height of check-in the buckets came pouring down. Being a resilient team, we adapted to meet the new conditions of our surroundings and coped well. Transit between buildings was easily achieved with minimal drenching somehow, and being a group leader I was incredibly surprised. My group was quiet in the morning. I attributed it mostly to the weather, though it obviously was very early. I set out to lighten their spirits, even going as far as memorizing all of their names right in front of them.

I spent the next few hours between Help Desk and the Union shuttling various materials before I settled into the McNeil room for family lunch. I collected meal tickets from the parents with a smile and then jetted off to Commons for some student interaction.

The rain gave up halfway through the day as I treked back to man Help Desk for a few hours. I was incredibly surprised with the efficiency and organization of the tours during SO3. I watched from the desk as people were lead out to Freshmen Hill in the pouring rain without chaos or confusion of any kind. I actually felt helpful there for once. I left there early to get a bite with parents before panel. I must say, the McNeil room has excellent tortellini. Parent panel went exceptionally well, catering to a much smaller group than my first experience. I received many more ‘thank yous’ than I ever had during any other time.

My evening meeting was easily the best meeting out of the four I ran. My group was nearly all talkative and open, a welcome change from the morning’s quiet. The New Student Celebration was not quite as good as SO2, but the adventure there in heavy pouring rain was exciting. Upon arrival, my group was one of the first and there was nobody out on the dance floor. Not to be outdone by the weather, a bunch of us advisors began to dance by ourselves on the floor. We eventually attracted a good sized crowd in there and the rest of the party went off without incident. The scheduling afterwards was extremely enjoyable despite the late night. I got to know several of my students well and I hope I get to see them more during the school year.

Thursday I ran Help Desk. Nothing much to say here. As a group leader, I enjoyed check-out more than I ever had; I really had a blast with my group and I’m glad I was their advisor. Thursday night was some of the most fun I’ve had all orientation: somebody kidnapped our mascot potato Darryl JoNathan Po-Tato and held him for ransom. We spent hours discussing possible suspects, searching through campus and just attempting to be smart. Things happened, but we haven’t solved the crime to this day.

SO4. B-e-a-utiful day. I got to stand out in front of the Union greeting parents as they came in. I’m not that outgoing, but a few fellow advisors got me in the right mindset for the job. They were incredible this morning. However, I was thrust into unfamiliar territory. I had to do Academic Escorts, meaning I’d take students to see their academic advisor for the day. I led a group to the Civil and Environmental Engineering session as well as to Undeclared. I sat in on CEE because UGS was pretty well staffed. The advisor covered hundreds of key points, but he did it in a way that almost put me to sleep. I don’t understand how the kids would pick up on these without my experience, but I hope to help them tonight.

Lunch was okay, but after eating the food for the fourth time, I felt pretty crappy. I also developed a headache somewhere before my second advising session. I took the parents of those Civil, Environmental and Undeclared students to the same rooms that their kids were in and sat in on an identical presentation as the first. I got to take Undeclared parents whose kids decided on a major to their proper advising rooms, but with everyone running late, it was a pretty stressful experience.

Upon returning to the Great Hall I was treated to several bad stories about parents among other things. It seemed like a great number of advisors were having just a really crappy day. My day wasn’t that great, even being on student panel for the first time, but I’m hoping that NSC tonight will change that. I’m just too tired to deal with the students anymore. I’m going to write a final overview of SO after it’s all done; I just hope that I can do it before I crash on Sunday.

Addendum: NSC4 is definitely 2nd to NSC2. Better music, better dances, I finally know most of the moves to everything, we got everyone to do the lollipop dance, Beat It was sick, and the students were all really into it. Okay day, awesome night. I love these people.

Addendum 2: Day 2 was pretty easy for me. I actually got to escort people to registration and then help them get their schedules. I wasn’t faced with any questions I didn’t know and I was thanked by nearly everyone there. It was a good morning.

SO Part 3: Time Off (sorta)

Sunday was our day of mandatory fun. It started off with rain. A resilient group, we decided to go on with it anyways and headed over to Grafton Lake for the day. There’s not much to be said for the whole day as it’s just a blur, but we played games of volleyball, capture the flag, Catchphrase, rugby, and contact for hours. Beach volleyball in light rain is amazing. Sunday night seven of us went to see The Dark Knight. I’m going to put this remark up here to show that it happened at one point: The Dark Knight is currently #1 on IMDb’s top 250. I thought it was amazing, but I can still think of more than 10 movies that I think are better. Still, it is one of those movies that I know I would like to see in theatres again (though I know I wont).

Monday was Transfer Orientation #1. I spent the whole day doing office work upstairs in the Union to get ready for SO 3 and 4. It took 8 hours; I’m so glad the SO advisors are so awesome because I would have been bored stiff if not for them. I’m gonna miss everyone like crazy when this is all over…

Tuesday was an uneventful day. We were allowed to sleep in late (8AM = late) because all we were doing was going over NRB. I picked a few activities to do in August, but I have no idea which one I’ll get chosen for. After all this SO work, I don’t really feel like doing any of these activities; I’d rather just keep doing SO for a while. The biggest thing about NRB is that we all split up for activities…I’d be on my own for it, which is something that never ever ever happens during SO. I probably shouldn’t worry. After all, I was nervous about SO before I started the training and that quickly changed. The rest of Tuesday was delegated to mandatory fun involving two groups, having been trained in tours of BARH and Quad respectively. My group lost the games, but I don’t remember the winners getting anything special anyways.

I’m really glad I found people I can talk to about almost everything, even after only knowing them for a week now. I don’t even know how it happened but I haven’t felt this way in a long time.

SO Part 2: Sessions 1 & 2

So I started SO#1 a little shakily. I was a little reluctant to socialize with the freshmen, yet somehow, with a little help from some friends, found it quite easy to do. I was a group leader for SO#1 and I must say it was a good group to start off with. None of them caused any problems, the ratio was 2 to 1, and they actually listened to what I said. As the day progressed, I settled into a more comfortable niche in general; I was openly talking to parents and giving private tours of the residence halls.

I found that I was much smarter than I thought. When I got my group of freshmen, I would lead them to the DCC while spouting off every fact I could think of during the short trip there. It was incredible; I never imagined I would be able to do that. Toward the end of the day I answer questions for parents to the best of my abilities. My fellow advisor there said I did a terrific job for a first time. I proceeded to have no trouble introducing myself in front of one-hundred strangers for the third time in the day, though I did end up missing dinner.

The New Student Celebration has become the highlight of SO, every night. SO#1 was amazing, though it was just the beginning of the NSCs to follow. I’ve never felt so comfortable among a group of people before.

The day after, I stood before a lecture hall of parents and answered questions. Somehow I wasn’t nervous at all. I don’t know what happened to me, but I’m enjoying every second.

SO#2 began with a hitch. I was MC for the parent check-in, but unlike the students, it seems that most parents will just keep on going with their conversations regardless of who is talking over the loud mic. I grew annoyed with the task and just waited it out until it was done. I spent the majority of the day at the Help Desk in the DCC. I really enjoy being able to answer parents’ questions, especially when I have complete confidence in the answer and they really seem to appreciate my direction. However, I was also the tour captain at the DCC and this crowd was just unbelievable. We sent out tours about every 15 minutes, but the parents refused to get into manageable groups. The residence halls were overloaded with parents pushing their futile attempt to see their child’s rooms. BARH was a mess. Quad is ridiculous because the stack being shown isn’t a freshmen residence hall. Most parents don’t seem to care that Barton Hall is designed to hold triples; all they want is what they think will make their child happy. Most of them are dead wrong, but refuse to admit it.

All this chaos led to a pretty crappy afternoon.

New Student Celebration is a lifesaver. SO#2’s easily beat #1’s; we had an almost 100 person tunnel as well as a conga line snaking throughout the entire Union. The music seemed a little better, especially since I know how to dance to most of them now. The talent of the classes never ceases to amaze me. I love when we open a circle into the packed floor and random people break dance in the middle. The best part was our costumes however; we went as lifeguards with sweet Sharpie’d and spray painted shirts accompanied with visors, sunglasses and sunscreen. I’m going to miss the Nugent community when July 26th rolls around.

So from a mediocre day, I’ve successfully had a turnaround. Now it’s 12:10 AM and I’m off to help my floormate’s students with their schedules. This might be a long night, but I’m gonna brave it just because.

Addendum: I stayed up until 5:30. Not doing schedules. I love SO.