Author: Portfolioso
Thoughts on Election Day
Before you call me an anarchist, by all means, go out and vote for the candidate (national, local or whatever) whose viewpoints you support. It is a freedom and privilege in this country that many do not have, and if you agree with someone, by all means support them. This does not mean you should be going around criticizing those choosing not to participate in the election, or telling people they must vote. First of all, support someone you agree with completely. Even if this candidate is third party and has no chance at winning at all, you need to go with your beliefs. Which brings me to my next points: the way voting works in America is completely broken:
- What kind of country do we live in where the majority of citizens vote for one person, yet he loses the election? That’s right, welcome to the Electoral College. It makes tons of sense to vote for a group of people who then pick the candidate they want to see in the White House. Any reason for a middleman in 2008? This may have made sense in 1800 when people had to ride a horse 150 miles to go vote, but in today’s day and age, it is completely useless. Fix it.
- Political parties are useless. There is a monopoly in this country, and there needs to be a revolution to overthrow it. Democrats and Republicans have lost their ways. The Constitution and much advice from our founding fathers (cough, no alliances) has been ignored and replaced with corporate interest. That’s right, in case you haven’t realized, Democrats and Republicans may have different views on such issues as abortion and taxation, but in reality these are only things on the surface. Major lobbyists and huge corporations will always get what they want because every politician is a bitch and can’t stand up to them.
- Why is there no standardized voting system? Everything should be the same across all states. But no… In Florida, we have punch ballots. New York has 1960s lever voting machines. Connecticut now has a fill-in the bubble form. Other states have gone electronic and have exploitable systems, or bad touch screens that need calibration. Why can’t we find something that works, and implement it across all states. This is America and it’s 2008. Not 1930. You think we’d be a little more advanced.
“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” Voting will do nothing for you, America. Whether you vote McCain or Obama, the elite will get their way. Enjoy your election, no matter what happens, only time will tell.
Townhouse 12 Spotlight + Postseason Picks
Welcome to the first annual house-wide MLB postseason bracket tournament. This year, me, Tom, Keith, Eric and Jon will be guiding us through the 2008 postseason. Here is the blatant Mirror 3×5 ripoff, Portfolioso style (5×6 and not a grid):
Joe
- Nickname(s): Dr. Joe, Sivvvvv, Portfolioso, etc.
- Hometown Area Code: 914
- MLB Team of choice: NY Yankees
- Campus Job(s): Best Buddies CBD, Manor Sports Editor, CNS’s Worst Enemy
- Highlight of your week: Let’s just say it involved a coat hanger (no, not like that you sicko)
- Best TH 12 Moment (so far): Pres Ball before and after festivities (Probably would have been E’s birthday but the Mets made me miss 95% of it.)
- On your mind now: Shit’s weak. WIIIIZEEEEEEAK.
- Bracket:
Keith
- Nickname(s): Azamat (it’s really not, but that’s what he said when I asked him what he wanted here)
- Hometown Area Code: 201
- MLB Team of choice: NY Yankees
- Campus Job: Mirror Sports Editor
- Highlight of your week: Handing in my finance test (the rest of the week is a jokefest)
- Best TH 12 Moment (so far): Come on Eileen
- On your mind now: And boom there goes the dynamite!
- Bracket:
Tom
- Nickname(s): T.C, Clear Dogg
- Hometown Area Code: 860
- MLB Team of choice: Boston Red Sox
- Campus Job: Mirror Managing Editor
- Highlight of your week: Finishing the Mirror at 12:30
- Best TH 12 Moment (so far): Eric’s 21st
- On your mind now: Chris Simmons
- Bracket:
Eric
- Nickname(s): E, Big Red, Shoota
- Hometown Area Code: 781
- MLB Team of choice: Boston Red Sox
- Campus Job: Basketball Manager
- Highlight of your week: My birthday
- Best TH 12 Moment (so far): Thirsty Thursdays, TH 12
- On your mind now: Cheeseburgers
- Bracket:
Jon
- Nickname(s): J Money
- Hometown Area Code: 908
- MLB Team of choice: All I do is sail
- Campus Job(s): Mirror Photo Editor
- Highlight of your week: ???
- Best TH 12 Moment (so far): ???
- On your mind now: “Have a good one Joe, I’m taking off. See you tomorrow night.”
- Bracket: Jon doesn’t do brackets, or football suicide pools, or any of that
So there you have it. Here’s my opinion of postseason 2008. It would be wonderful to see Joe Torre beat the Red Sox (see Keith’s picks) but I highly doubt that will happen. Keith’s picks are really ballsy – but anything can happen. I’m also a Lou Pinella fan, and the Cubs have a decent team, but the whole 100 years thing makes everyone laugh. Time will tell.
Update 1 10/5 8:45AM: Thanks for making me look like an idiot, Lou. I swear I’m not this dumb, I did the whole 2004 bracket correctly (minus the Red Sox – which is kind of the important part.) Way to ruin my whole bracket. Once the entire media jumped on the Cubs bandwagon, I knew I’d be done. I’ll be going for Joe Torre all the way I guess.
Remembering Yankee Stadium
There is way too much history to go over everything that happened here. It’s not my job to write about it. There is a sweet article in Sports Illustrated that everyone needs to read. It goes over the history and secrets of the stadium. Anyway, as a kid, you will never forget your first time out to the stadium: May 16, 1999. 15-20 rows back between home and third. Andy Pettite was on the mound and pitched a gem, closed out by Mo. The Yankees won 2-1 on a Chili Davis home run. This summer, I got out to the stadium a lot and had a package of 8 games in the bleachers. My final game at the stadium was July 30, 2008. Section 39, bleachers. Joba Chamberlain started and the Yankees ended a 3 game skid by winning 13-3 against the Orioles. It did not hit me at the time that it would be my last time there. It actually wasn’t until today (the second to last game at the stadium) where the reality sunk in. I will be watching the final coverage on ESPN and YES that goes over the history of it all. I’m sure tomorrow will be a day that I’ll be remembering the rest of my life.
The original:
Today:
posting from a blackberry storm
November 25, 2008
Useless Update
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Portfolioso
This is difficult. Full review later
Edit 2: As you can see I had some typing difficulty from the Storm. So… Verizon’s latest iPhone weapon (following the LG Dare and LG Voyager ). Looking at the feature list, it seems like a sweet smartphone. I think that RIM had the right idea behind it, but they didn’t come through. First of all, there is no wifi. The browser does not have flash. The scrolling is really annoying and it doesn’t support multi touch zooming, like the iPod touch/ iPhone. In general, scrolling and zooming was very clunky. The keyboard is impossible to use. I liked where they were going with the clicking touchscreen where you actually have to push the keys, but it really doesn’t work well at all. It took me a good 10 minutes to be able to log into this blog and post the one line of text you see on top. Oh, and did I mention lag lag lag? When you rotate the phone, it takes a good 2-3 seconds to realize that and change the display angle. Starting apps is also laggy and it’s really difficult to navigate your way around the phone. The potential was there, and on paper, it looks sick. Actually, the whole phone looks good – it just doesn’t function well. Not worth it. Sorry.
Phones