I've actually only been to one Braves game... and it was awful. I still regret it. I wasn't even suppose to even go; my brother was supposed to go with my dad... But I remember riding all the way up there in his truck and parking far away from the stadium. It probably wasn't that far, but I was nine so it was considered far if I wasn't able to see the gates. I remember carrying a tote bag full of junk, but I think we had to throw away some of it because we weren't allowed to have it with us.
We sat up high above the visitor's dugout. The Braves were playing the SF Giants, and I didn't know if we were suppose to win or lose. I don't remember most of the game... I remember Barry Bonds hit a home run. I remember we were losing for most of it, and it truly was a boring game. At the 7th inning stretch, my dad asks me if I want to go home because I'm sure I looked miserable.
On the way home he listens to game on the radio. We're not even far away from the stadium when we have back-to-back homeruns! And they hit two more home runs later in the game! I felt so bad because we should have been there... I truly regret leaving because it would have been amazing to watch.
I've been thinking of going to a few games this summer. I think I might buy a four-game packet thing because it'll be cheaper and I think you can get a yankee or red sox game in there with it. I'm not sure, but I know that you can't directly buy a ticket for a yankee/redsox game unless you're at the gates.... Oh man, yesterday's game was great. Braves won against the Reds 10-2. In one inning, this poor fellow had a rough inning in left feild. It was Dickinson on the Reds; and he missed two fly balls twice. Finally he got a flyball and the whole stadium cheered... and I did as well. But I mean he was having a rough day...
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
PAC's
What is a PAC? (Just so you know this was the other topic for my american government test, I figured why not?) No not as in PAC-man. Wait why is he called PAC-man. It must be some acronym or something...
anyways a PAC is a Political Action Committee, which is the "political arm" of an interest group that collects money/funds from people to give to another PAC or candidate. Example: the NRA is an interest group that has some PAC that collects money to give to a candidate that has the same views on guns as them...
The first PAC was created by the AFL-CIO (American Federal Laborers - Congress of Industrial Organizations) and it was called COPE (Committee of Political Education).
The FECA (Federal Elections Campaign Act)of 1971 created the FEC (Federal Elections Committee) which was to oversee federal elections (congressional and presidential) and it also created public financing in presidential elections.
The FECA of 1974 allowed unions and corporations to form PAC's. But there were some exceptions, an indvidual can only give up to $2000 to a PAC and only up to $37,500 per calendar year. A PAC can only give up to $10,000 to a candidate per election cycle. But there are loopholes: multiple memberships, giving money in other people's names, and bundling.
(Pac-Man? i still don't know where it came from... i sort of looked it up but no really... someone let me know if they know)
By the waym i think I did well on my essays on my american government test. For the PAC essay I sort of just wrote down facts, I don't think i really answered the question or even made sense. oh well, too late now.... but the downsian theory rocked. wow i never say rock.... that was weird. its a sign telling me to end blog.
anyways a PAC is a Political Action Committee, which is the "political arm" of an interest group that collects money/funds from people to give to another PAC or candidate. Example: the NRA is an interest group that has some PAC that collects money to give to a candidate that has the same views on guns as them...
The first PAC was created by the AFL-CIO (American Federal Laborers - Congress of Industrial Organizations) and it was called COPE (Committee of Political Education).
The FECA (Federal Elections Campaign Act)of 1971 created the FEC (Federal Elections Committee) which was to oversee federal elections (congressional and presidential) and it also created public financing in presidential elections.
The FECA of 1974 allowed unions and corporations to form PAC's. But there were some exceptions, an indvidual can only give up to $2000 to a PAC and only up to $37,500 per calendar year. A PAC can only give up to $10,000 to a candidate per election cycle. But there are loopholes: multiple memberships, giving money in other people's names, and bundling.
(Pac-Man? i still don't know where it came from... i sort of looked it up but no really... someone let me know if they know)
By the waym i think I did well on my essays on my american government test. For the PAC essay I sort of just wrote down facts, I don't think i really answered the question or even made sense. oh well, too late now.... but the downsian theory rocked. wow i never say rock.... that was weird. its a sign telling me to end blog.
MASH part 3
I think I should do a blog about classic episodes of MASH... like when I think of MASH what moments do I think of? These will most likely classic moments that everyone remembers...
1. "Abyssinia, Henry" This is the episode when Henry Blake is finally sent home, but his plane is shot down into the Sea of Japan. At the end of the episode, Radar stumbles into the OR to tell everyone. I remember the last time I watched it, I just started crying. Not because Henry Blake just died, but because I remembered that his son was born earlier in the season. He hadn't even seen his son, and his son will never meet his father. That idea just made me sob.
2. "Goodbye Radar" Radar finally gets to go home... and he actually makes it there. But I remember the part about his going away party. They're all waiting to surprise him, but wounded soldiers are sent to their MASH. So while everyone is in the Or, Radar sees the party decorations. He walks by the OR door and looks at everyone for the last time. Hawkeye sees him and actually salutes him. It's one of my favorite moments.
3. "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" This is the finally of the series... Who doesn't remember this episode? This is THE most watch television show episode ever. The end with the rocks spelling out goodbye to Hawkeye and to us at the same time was just... good.
4. "The Interview" This was a great episode because a lot of it was improv with just the actors being in character with a reporter. It's shot in black and white and Father Mulcahy's interview is still imprinted into my brain. He talks about how doctors would warm themselves up in the steam that's rising off from the bodies during the cold winters...
5. "Run for the Money" The main storyline is about the race and bets with another MASH unit. Father Mulcahy has to run against some Olympic runner, but during the race he convinces the guy to loose the race so the orphanage could have a new roof. But the other part of the episode that I remember is the stuttering patient. A wounded soldier is bullied and called stupid for stuttering. Winchester stands up for the boy and tells him he is smart. He gives him his nice copy of Moby Dick to the guy who just reads comic book. At the end of the episode, Winchester is sitting and listening to his infamous "recorded letters." It happens to be that his own sister stutters.... I don't know, but I've always loved this episode.
1. "Abyssinia, Henry" This is the episode when Henry Blake is finally sent home, but his plane is shot down into the Sea of Japan. At the end of the episode, Radar stumbles into the OR to tell everyone. I remember the last time I watched it, I just started crying. Not because Henry Blake just died, but because I remembered that his son was born earlier in the season. He hadn't even seen his son, and his son will never meet his father. That idea just made me sob.
2. "Goodbye Radar" Radar finally gets to go home... and he actually makes it there. But I remember the part about his going away party. They're all waiting to surprise him, but wounded soldiers are sent to their MASH. So while everyone is in the Or, Radar sees the party decorations. He walks by the OR door and looks at everyone for the last time. Hawkeye sees him and actually salutes him. It's one of my favorite moments.
3. "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" This is the finally of the series... Who doesn't remember this episode? This is THE most watch television show episode ever. The end with the rocks spelling out goodbye to Hawkeye and to us at the same time was just... good.
4. "The Interview" This was a great episode because a lot of it was improv with just the actors being in character with a reporter. It's shot in black and white and Father Mulcahy's interview is still imprinted into my brain. He talks about how doctors would warm themselves up in the steam that's rising off from the bodies during the cold winters...
5. "Run for the Money" The main storyline is about the race and bets with another MASH unit. Father Mulcahy has to run against some Olympic runner, but during the race he convinces the guy to loose the race so the orphanage could have a new roof. But the other part of the episode that I remember is the stuttering patient. A wounded soldier is bullied and called stupid for stuttering. Winchester stands up for the boy and tells him he is smart. He gives him his nice copy of Moby Dick to the guy who just reads comic book. At the end of the episode, Winchester is sitting and listening to his infamous "recorded letters." It happens to be that his own sister stutters.... I don't know, but I've always loved this episode.
Wheat Cent
Have you ever seen a funny penny? One that doesn't have the Lincoln Memorial on the back? From 1909 to 1958, wheat pennies were produced with Lincoln on one side and "one cent" with two stalks of wheat on the other.
My dad likes to collect things, mainly baseball cards and coins. But he always tells us that he if we ever see this funny to give it to him. Now that I have an actually job that I deal with money regularly, I come across lots of wheat pennies. Somehow my brother and I have come to enjoy this too. When we find them, we get excited and look at the year to see if it's !1943!.... I made the mistake of telling my brother that if he ever finds a 1943 wheat penny, we'll be rich.
In 1943, twelve pennies were made out of copper instead of the silver by mistake. Copper was being used for war supplies - tanks and ammunition. But now these pennies are super rare and can be worth a fortune. I think in 2004, one was sold for $200,000. But now my brother will call everyone asking what the year was supposed to be... and its never the right one. But actually my dad's got some of the steel pennies. Actually he's got about 600 pennies..... that is only $6... to you at least. Some pennies are actually worth between 5-12 cents.
Actually the wheat penny was designed by Victor David Brenner - a sculptor. But on the wheat penny, you can see the initials, VDB, hidden on Lincoln's shoulder. Also there's supposed to be a controversy about the wheat on the penny or the initials... I'm not sure. But it's been 100 years since the lincoln penny was minted so there'll be 4 new designs releasing this year.
My dad likes to collect things, mainly baseball cards and coins. But he always tells us that he if we ever see this funny to give it to him. Now that I have an actually job that I deal with money regularly, I come across lots of wheat pennies. Somehow my brother and I have come to enjoy this too. When we find them, we get excited and look at the year to see if it's !1943!.... I made the mistake of telling my brother that if he ever finds a 1943 wheat penny, we'll be rich.
In 1943, twelve pennies were made out of copper instead of the silver by mistake. Copper was being used for war supplies - tanks and ammunition. But now these pennies are super rare and can be worth a fortune. I think in 2004, one was sold for $200,000. But now my brother will call everyone asking what the year was supposed to be... and its never the right one. But actually my dad's got some of the steel pennies. Actually he's got about 600 pennies..... that is only $6... to you at least. Some pennies are actually worth between 5-12 cents.
Actually the wheat penny was designed by Victor David Brenner - a sculptor. But on the wheat penny, you can see the initials, VDB, hidden on Lincoln's shoulder. Also there's supposed to be a controversy about the wheat on the penny or the initials... I'm not sure. But it's been 100 years since the lincoln penny was minted so there'll be 4 new designs releasing this year.
Friday, April 24, 2009
MASH Part 2
Because of my favorable 300 word limit I decided to use another blog on characters. Just to let you know my knowledge will becoming from my brain and not wikipedia... Gosh is this something I should be bragging about? No probably not. These are probably my favorite...
1. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce - (portrayed by Alan Alda) He was born in Crabapple Cove, Maine. His only family is his father who is also a doctor. Hawkeye often writes to him and mentions him. Hawkeye is a captain and the 4077th's chief of surgery. He lives in the Swamp - the name of the tent he lives in and is also where a homemade alcoholic still is. Between shifts, he can be seen drinking and joking around.
2. BJ Hunnicutt - (portrayed by Mike Farrell) He is from California where is family is. He has a wife who he's faithful to and a daughter Erin. He's aslo a captain and Hawkeye's best friend. One of my favorite things about him is his name. A whole episode was about Hawkeye finding out what the B and J stand for. Hawkeye even snuck into files to see that the BJ was still there. At the end it's revealed that he's named after his parents: Bea and Jay Hunnicutt. I thought that was just so clever.
3. Maxwell Klinger - (portrayed by Jamie Farr) He is a Lebanese-American from Toledo, Ohio. In the beginning of the series, he is a private trying to get a Section 8 (discharge for being insane) by dressing as a woman. Later he becomes more serious when he has to be the new company clerk. In the last episode, it's revealed that he is the only character staying behind in Korea with his new wife Soon Lee.
4. Walter "Radar" O'Reilly - (portrayed by Gary Burghoff) Radar is the company clerk and an innocent private from Iowa. Radar is young, naive, and innocent which is used often in story lines to show the effects of war. He gets his nickname for his impeccable hearing. He can hear the choppers (helicopter) coming to bring more wounded soldiers.
There are about ten more, but im tired.
1. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce - (portrayed by Alan Alda) He was born in Crabapple Cove, Maine. His only family is his father who is also a doctor. Hawkeye often writes to him and mentions him. Hawkeye is a captain and the 4077th's chief of surgery. He lives in the Swamp - the name of the tent he lives in and is also where a homemade alcoholic still is. Between shifts, he can be seen drinking and joking around.
2. BJ Hunnicutt - (portrayed by Mike Farrell) He is from California where is family is. He has a wife who he's faithful to and a daughter Erin. He's aslo a captain and Hawkeye's best friend. One of my favorite things about him is his name. A whole episode was about Hawkeye finding out what the B and J stand for. Hawkeye even snuck into files to see that the BJ was still there. At the end it's revealed that he's named after his parents: Bea and Jay Hunnicutt. I thought that was just so clever.
3. Maxwell Klinger - (portrayed by Jamie Farr) He is a Lebanese-American from Toledo, Ohio. In the beginning of the series, he is a private trying to get a Section 8 (discharge for being insane) by dressing as a woman. Later he becomes more serious when he has to be the new company clerk. In the last episode, it's revealed that he is the only character staying behind in Korea with his new wife Soon Lee.
4. Walter "Radar" O'Reilly - (portrayed by Gary Burghoff) Radar is the company clerk and an innocent private from Iowa. Radar is young, naive, and innocent which is used often in story lines to show the effects of war. He gets his nickname for his impeccable hearing. He can hear the choppers (helicopter) coming to bring more wounded soldiers.
There are about ten more, but im tired.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Practice Essay
Anthony Downs wrote An Economic Theory of Democracy, a book discussing his ideas about our political government. His questions why the US has a two party system and bases his answer on the normal distribution curve. A normal distribution curve is a propability distribution that describes data that clusters around a mean or average. It looks like a bell curve- actually it is a bell curve. There are four "assumptions" of Downs.
Four Assumptions of Downs
1. Two party systems provide stable and effective gov where society has a large measure of i ideological consensus.
2. In two party systems, it is “profitable” for parties to resemble one another; not in a multiparty system
3. In a society with ideological equilibrium, the number of parties and ideological positions will stabilize over time and perpetuate itself
4. In a two party system, it is rational for each party to encourage voters to behave irrationally (non-ideology) by making party platforms vague and ambiguous
In Actual Terms You'll Understand
(United States as Example)
(United States as Example)
1. Because the United States has a "large measure of ideological consesus" (most Americans are moderates) the two party system is stable and effective....enough. (We have a two party system - Republicans and Democrats)
2. It's profitable for the parties to resemble each other. Imagine the normal distribution curve. If the middle (the big hump) is the mean (moderate) and on either end is Republican and the other Democrat, half of the curve is Republican and the other Democrat. It would be profitable if each side tried to move toward the middle of the curve. Profitable as in gaining more voters.
3. The United States has been a two party system since the 1850's... I think it's stabilized over the last 150 years.
4. By making broad and vauge platforms, neither party is alienating voters.
Downs makes sense, but why we really care is a mystery to me.
2. It's profitable for the parties to resemble each other. Imagine the normal distribution curve. If the middle (the big hump) is the mean (moderate) and on either end is Republican and the other Democrat, half of the curve is Republican and the other Democrat. It would be profitable if each side tried to move toward the middle of the curve. Profitable as in gaining more voters.
3. The United States has been a two party system since the 1850's... I think it's stabilized over the last 150 years.
4. By making broad and vauge platforms, neither party is alienating voters.
Downs makes sense, but why we really care is a mystery to me.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
MASH
MASH is a televison series based off the movie that was based off the novel... It was/is still a good show. "Is" because I still watch the reruns that air on the Hallmark channel and now on TV land. According to Wikipedia, it's a 'black comedy'/medical drama which makes sense I guess. I've wondered its supposed to be a drama with bits of comedy or a comedy with bits of drama. I've decided that its a comedy with bits of drama, but only because it has a laugh track. Actually on the DVD you can watch episodes without the laugh track on. I would know this because I have seasons 1 and 10. I know random, but I got season 1 because it's the first season. When you start collecting things you start when the beginning. Then I got season 10 because it has Mike Farrell in them and at the time he was my favorite character.
The show is set in South Korea during the Korean War. Even though the war only lasted three years (1951-1953) the show lasted eleven seasons (1972-1983). It's about a group of doctors and military staff of the 4077th MASH trying to survive the war physically and mentally.
There is a large group of main characters, but i think that alan alda's character is the lead character because he's the only main character to appear in all 251 episodes of the series. His name is Benjamin Franklin Pierce, but he goes by "Hawkeye," a nickname his father gave him referring to The Last of the Mohicans. To pass the time between surgeries and patients, Hawkeye plays pranks on other characters.
There is also a lot of character changes through out the season. Trapper John leaves after three seasons and BJ Hunnicutt soon replaces him. Also Col. Henry Blake is released from his duties at the end of season 3 and a new colonel replaces him - Colonel Potter. In Season 5, Frank Burns leaves and Charles Winchester comes in. Radar O'Rieley leaves in the beginning of the 8th season and another character, Klinger, steps up to take his position of company clerk.
The show is set in South Korea during the Korean War. Even though the war only lasted three years (1951-1953) the show lasted eleven seasons (1972-1983). It's about a group of doctors and military staff of the 4077th MASH trying to survive the war physically and mentally.
There is a large group of main characters, but i think that alan alda's character is the lead character because he's the only main character to appear in all 251 episodes of the series. His name is Benjamin Franklin Pierce, but he goes by "Hawkeye," a nickname his father gave him referring to The Last of the Mohicans. To pass the time between surgeries and patients, Hawkeye plays pranks on other characters.
There is also a lot of character changes through out the season. Trapper John leaves after three seasons and BJ Hunnicutt soon replaces him. Also Col. Henry Blake is released from his duties at the end of season 3 and a new colonel replaces him - Colonel Potter. In Season 5, Frank Burns leaves and Charles Winchester comes in. Radar O'Rieley leaves in the beginning of the 8th season and another character, Klinger, steps up to take his position of company clerk.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
