daben’s posterous

Ok ok ok. You have to understand, that I was really glad to be
graduating and moving forward. Obviously, I like school a lot and plan
on going back, but just felt my time had come at Boston College (that,
and I also felt most were very pretentious individuals that lived the
high life off of daddy's credit card, but again, Ill yield with my
bias.). Anyway, I want nothing more than to go back to BC for these
intense gamedays, where thousands of people pregame and tailgate for
hours. Ah, that is nice.

Anyway, BC is not ranked according to the polls, and after losing
several starters (#12 :-( ), it should be fun to see this season take
off. Saturday, August 30th at 730 pm, BC v. Kent.

I just finished Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange. The novel is a
fairly short one, some 200+ pages. It begins slowly, as Burgess writes
in a futuristic "Nadsat" language (some editions have a glossary
attached to the text, similar to Irving Welch novels, but for a
portion of the reading, I just did a google search to find a Nadsat
dictionary.). So the first 20 pages or so, I felt I hated the book and
wanted to stop, but I was able to grasp the language and enjoy it
overall.

I have seen the movie. I just read Fight Club as well, after seeing
the movie. With both, I am glad to read them either way, and do not
believe it takes anything away from the books or movies. A Clockwork
Orange remains to be deliciously twisted and wicked, however, the 21st
chapter in the US edition (British editions only had 20 chapters) is
not a part of the movie.

A quick synapse: A young boy at 16 or so wreaks havoc on the city
streets with a few of his droogs (close friends). After being
convicted of murder, the main character (Alex), is imprisoned for 2
years, while his 3 friends are not even captured. There, he commits
murder again, and for the second time, is the sole recipient of the
punishment. Alex is then forced to watch torturous videos day after
day, associating an ill feeling with vicious acts. After trying to re
assimilate into the world, his previous victims seek revenge against
Alex, while others use him as a medium to fight the government (for
their harsh attempts to remove acts of violence from criminals).

On goodreads.com, I can only give the book a whole number from 0 to
5... If this was not the case, I would give it between a 4.2 and 4.4,
but I choose a 4. Check it out!

http://www.goodreads.com/profile/daben


until next time.

peace

daben.

"...giving them a chance to speak out, to tell what their message is.
and they are not even talking, all they are doing is screaming and
yelling..."

Another thought.

Amazon.com offers something called Amazon prime, where for a
membership fee of 80 dollars annually, you get free shipping on
typical products.

The following items are not eligible for expedited shipping under Amazon Prime:

* Amazon.com Gift Cards
* Oversize or heavy items*
* Items regulated as hazardous materials
* Other items with special shipping characteristics*
* Products sold by third parties, such as Target, or through
third-party areas, such as Amazon Marketplace.


So if you go to amazon.com, and try searching for a book... click
advanced search, and type in the name of the author and the title, if
you have something specific. After searching, change the setting to
order the items according to price, from lowest to highest, rather
than relevance, and there are many books that can be purchased for
under a dollar. I saw Catch 22, Catcher and the Rye, A Clockwork
Orange, Lord of the Flies, and so on. Additionally, a ton of Howard
Zinn books/ coauthored books.

However, these books are sold by third party sellers (only those that
say AMAZON as a seller are applicable I believe). How these third
parties do it, they charge 3.99 for standard shipping, and can sell
the book for a penny provided that it costs them less than 3.99 for
the book and mailing (which is easy when they buy them back for 50
cents, etc... plus the use of media mail greatly reduces price.)

In short, no, the penny books that are for sale on amazon cannot
benefit from the Amazon Prime Service. however, the 4 dollars will be
better than buying from a majority of the used book stores.

One of my good friends was talking to me about this, because if
several people chip in on the membership, it would definitely be worth
it. I figured I must do some investigating, and so it goes.

Until next time!

peace.

daben

I came across a link on twitter (check it out, follow me at
www.twitter.com/iamdaben .). It's a list of funny metaphors used in
high school essays.

http://help.com/post/124066-funny-metaphors-used-in-high-school

I enjoy these two the most:

6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.

hehe.

First, the Redeem Team has captured the gold for men's basketball.
Surprisingly, the results of the 2:30am EST game have yet to be posted
on DrudgeReport.com, and it is 11am here on the east coast now...
someone is slacking. For all of you that are not familiar with
DrudgeReport, it is a website that has a group of people monitoring
various news sources, and then they post their top choices onto the
drudge website, granting its users quicker access to much more.
Definitely check it out, its actually the most used internet news
source in the US (INTERNET source.).

But men's basketball. Did anyone honestly doubt that? In Athens, keep
in mind Mr. James was only 19, and has clearly developed into a
dominant force in the NBA. As did Anthony. Additionally, Kobe Bryant
played, being freed of the lawsuits, trials, and personal issues from
several years ago. Anyway, found interesting.

The Yankees has covered ground! Carl Pavano pitched!!!! I know,
Astonishing in and of itself. 5 innings with 3 earned runs, it seems
as if the 2nd inning was the only troublesome inning for the 32 year
old that has pitched 19 games since signing with the yankees 4 years
ago (and at just below $40 million, I might add). really, without that
second inning, Pavano easily could have reached 6 innings, and I
believe Girardi would 100% allow that, keeping in mind he has been
throwing at Double A. While getting the first appearance jitters out,
I honestly feel Pavano will gain some tremendous control over his
pitches, and will be a huge asset for the ball club. Even if he
doesn't start constantly, where we stand now, Moose and Andy are 1 and
2. Personally, I hate Sidney Ponson, but so many people believe he's a
huge asset... so then why is his ERA over 4.5? And it's not because
Toronto knocked him up with like 7 earned runs over 2 innings... But
my bias aside, right now, I say Moose, Andy, and Pavano for 1-2-3
spots, let Ponson, Giese, Rasner, fight over what's left. And wait...
what's that? Taiwan at the doorstep? No, absolutely not. Sadly, Wang
will not be returning, but Joba will!!! Good news for everyone. With
Joba, Moose, and Andy, I would be confident in the playoffs. As
opposed to Moose, Andy, Ponson, and Rasner, which would be kind of
embarrassing. Keep in mind, it is still the yankees, Matsui has been
swinging well, past few issues come from Johnny Damon... Oh, and lack
of production from Arod and Giambi, but hey, things happen. Pitching
was our main issue, and I feel within the week, things are looking
much better! Beckett will not be pitching on tuesday in the Bronx, so
I am guessing it will be Lester, Byrd, and Dice-K. Maybe throw
Wakefield in for Lester.

Being 10 games out of first is rough. But the Wildcard is within
reach. Keep in mind, 6 more games against the Red Sox. 6 against TB.
Series against Toronto, Chicago, Seattle, Baltimore, and LA. Boston
will play the White Sox for 3, TB for 6, and Toronto for 3 (then
cleveland and texas, but eh.). Oh, and 6 v. the yankees :-)

White Sox plays Minnesota, LA, Boston, Toronto and NY, and I believe
they will be out of sight at the end. Then there is Toronto coming up
from below.

And for the NL, I don't really pay attention, but Arizona has a 3 game
lead over the dodgers. I hope LA makes a comeback and can ultimately
win a world series, and as Fox news covers the final game in the club
house, sees Joe Torre down a bottle of champaign, then begin to
defecate into a box which will later be sent to the Steinbrenner home.


I thought there was some more that I planned on writing, but I focused
on baseball. Fair enough.

Peace.

daben.

Duke Lacrosse Case

Crystal Mangum, the accuser of the Duke Lacrosse team rape case, is
planning to release a book depicting the story of her life, working as
an exotic dancer in order to pay for college. I imagine it will touch
base with the "incident" at one point. Apparently $1 per book sold
will be donated to help support battered women. The Last Dance for
Grace: The Crystal Mangum Story" is expected to come out this October.


Foreign Policy

On another note, George W. Bush has declared that his goal is to take
over the world, in an interview with the Associated Press.
kidding.

Until Next Time

Peace

daben.

i wanted to drop a song on everyone, my loyal followers (ok, that
might be somewhere between 2 and 5 people, but don't worry, O my
brothers.).

The band is Ugly Casanova, the song is Hotcha girls. the lead singer
will sound familiar, for it is Isaac Brock, the lead singer of Modest
Mouse. It's good stuff, check it out and let me know what you think!



Until next time.

Peace.

daben.

Well, I have found what I sought! The website is www.goodreads.com,
and my username is daben. I am still playing with it, but am under the
impression that it uses a similar algorithm as netflix, helping users
better choose future books etc. Check it out!

http://www.goodreads.com/profile/daben