24 Is Cancelled

This isn't news. I actually said it was coming back in January on this blog. It's really unfortunate, because I believe that 24 has been one of the best action shows over the past 8-9 years. Sure, it strays a bit too far from reality (how many bad days can Jack Bauer/America really have in a few years?) but that's part of the excitement of the show.

The show is being cut because it's not bringing in the ratings it used to. How could it - the storylines are getting weaker because they're running out of things to do. There's a mole on the inside every season because it's so hard to string 24 episodes together. They need something to carry it over. Most TV shows are only 15-18 episodes (even less if your on Premium channels) so 24 being 24 episodes really pushes it towards its limit. The story has to stay within the realm of "real" but not necessarily "conventional."

The other interesting thing about 24 was how the first season happened after 9/11 - obviously the worst terrorist attack our country has and hopefully will ever see. I don't like to get too metaphorical and read into something that isn't there, but it wasn't a secret that the American psyche was shaken. It needed it's confidence back. I'm not saying that Jack Bauer/24 was that hope, but they definitely were a positive light during a negative time. (Of course, The Rising was the best positive thing to come from 9/11 - thanks Bruce!)

Regardless, Jack Bauer is awesome. He is always able to overcome any and every situation for his country. Things that have happened to Jack while on the job:

He lost his wife.
His daughter constantly is getting into trouble and endangering her life.
Jack became addicted to heroin.
He played Russian Roulette trying to save a prisoner that he would be a double agent for.
He faked his own death and had to hide it from his daughter and the woman he loved (Audrey)
His best friends Tony Almeida, David Palmer, and Michelle Dessler were slain because of him.
Entered Chinese Consulate to capture terrorist containing information of national security.
He captured and tortured the President of the United States to reveal him as a fraud, but was taken away by Chinese consulate and tortuted for a few years.
After being bartered for to return to the US, he was handed over to terrorists who were to kill him had he not escaped. His country gave him away.
Following his return, he learns his brother and father are involved in a conspiracy plot against the United States, and leaves his father to die while having to save his nephew.
Secretary of Defense told him he would have to leave his love alone because of the torture and life he put her through.
Was tried and arrested for breaking interrogation rules in attempts to save his country from terrorist attacks.
Almost sacrificed his life several times on behalf of his country to save the President.
Was infected with a pathogen bomb and could barely function.

Sure, it's not all real. It all can't possibly happen to one man. But it's awesome. Jack is the best example of a patriot. Someone who gives everything he can and has for his country. He lost it all and still is playing the game. Unfortunately, this season will be the last go around, although there is a supposed movie.

I'm starting to ramble, but I'm just trying to emphasize how great 24 is and was and how great Jack Bauer has been for America.

LOST - What Richard Alpert Taught Us

Wow, what an episode. Easily the episode that reveals the most about any single character (and the Island) and answers some of the questions we've been curious about now for quite some time. In that sense, I would argue it was the best & most revealing single episode we've seen.

However, as always, there's still more questions to be answered.

First a continuity error that I question:

At the beginning of the Incident, we see the Black Rock on the outskirts of the Island. MiB and Jacob sit and converse, talking about humans coming etc. The sea is calm, it's a beautiful day. But when the Black Rock actually comes, it comes in a gigantic storm, powerful enough for it to run into Jacob's statue. While it's easy to see that happen (can Jacob/MiB control the weather?) it didn't seem to make sense. In the long run, it's not as big of a deal, but it's still interesting to note.

Okay, so now it's game time - What we learned and new theories:

The cork-in-the-bottle metaphor that Jacob was the single best explanation we've ever had regarding the island, Jacob, and the Man In Black. But what exactly is the cork? Is the cork Jacob? Because one would think that since Jacob is dead, Man In Black would be gone by now. Or maybe his cause is to kill all candidates (but it seems like he personally cannot do that) before he can be free. That is who's "coming" in reference to the end of Season 5.

It's abhorrently apparent that MiB is lying and manipulating about everything and always has. He tried to manipulate Richard, and he's done the same thing to Claire, Sayid, and trying to reach out to Kate and Sawyer. He promises something to accomplish his means, following Jacob's statement that MiB tries to tempt others and prove that human are corruptible. What does this mean when he gets off the Island? Because as we already know, humans are corruptible (see Anthony Cooper, Sawyer, etc.)

Jacob seemed different in this episode. He wasn't the calm, poised man we've seen. He was yelling at Richard, almost making fun of him, very much the Dexter side of him we've seen from Mark Pellegrino before. We learn about how Jacob doesn't want to interfere and allow humans to come to the Island "to have a second chance" - something almost all of the Losties needed on 815.

INTERESTING QUESTION: How do/did the others live on the Island? When the Black Rock was shipwrecked, Smokey killed everyone but Richard, and looked into him the same way he looked into Locke and Mr. Eko, then left, then takes the form of a loved one (but as far as we know Isabella was never on the Island, making it unusual for him to her shape - possibly changing the rules we previously thought) Regardless, if Smokey kills everyone when they get there, how did the others ever "survive"? And how do they/Ben get the ability to somewhat summon Smokey as a "security system" as we see in Season 4? Jacob mentions in last night's episode that everyone previously brought the the Island is dead, and I would assume that is because of Smokey. Maybe Richard was the beginning of human civilization on the Island (plus Jacob allowing Dharma to have the appropriate sonic fences to keep Smokey out.)

Another question: The killing of Jacob/MiB. We find out that Dogen was in fact not lying regarding letting them speak and it's over, as MiB says the same thing. So how is Ben able to kill Jacob? As leader? As he is inside the Temple? Need to know more about the rules here.

Overall, the episode confirmed much of previous speculation regarding Richard, although told through a compelling and somewhat heartwarming story that now re-focuses the effort for everyone to stop Locke from leaving the Island. I would love to see more episodes on even more of Jacob/MiB's history, during the Dharma period and so on, but we're just running out of time (que Jack Bauer)

Facebook = Social Media Spam AKA The New MySpace

I used to really like Facebook. Now I'm starting to see it more like just this random clutter. Literally, it's spam from your "friends."

Over the weekend I've gotten Fan Suggestions, Event & Group Invites to things like:

Vote for X at X High School
Can I have your phone numbers?
Have Jason Derulo come to my high school!!!!
Run for BU Student Office
Buy my condo!!!!
Qdoba Boston
New Product Survey
Please take my survey!
Some dumb politician
Become a fan of people who hate becoming fans of random events
Talking on the cellphone while on video chat!!!!!
ETC

You get my drift. About 98% of these don't interest me at all. I don't go to your high school. You didn't have my number in the first place, why would I give it to you now? I can't run for student elections, I'm a senior.

It's become such blind spam. Invite everyone you know, even if it doesn't relate to them at all. Invite your friends who are studying abroad to a birthday party next weekend in Boston. Heads up: they're not coming.

My biggest question is: why? Why invite me to an event that doesn't relate? I'm not coming to the sorority hottest man on campus event. I understand that it's a way of spreading the word about events, but wouldn't it be best to target your audience to people you know are interested and actually want to come? Put some effort and say "Yeah, Pat probably wouldn't want to come to the hottest men event, but instead my friend Jane likes men, I'll invite her." Wow! What brilliant thinking!

Or I have a better one. For BU's 100 days party, everyone was invited who was friends with the creators. Nothing against them, but it's supposed to be a seniors-only event. Don't invite juniors or people who have already graduated. That defeats the purpose of not only the event but also the invite. Or the 50 Day Party - It's called 50 days until graduation. I checked on the invite, people were invited that aren't seniors. STUPID.

My favorite funny thing is people who click not attending and then write on the wall "Sorry guys I can't make it!" Thanks for the update!

But then regarding the Fan pages. Why do I need to be a fan of Qdoba Boston? I eat there sparingly. Don't tell me to become a fan. By inviting me to become a fan of a politician, your essentially telling me your political views, and that I should follow them. Don't shove it down my throat. Let me have my own politics. That's also why I hate politics. I don't care at all about health care reform, but everyone's going nuts.

The worst thing about it, is that I'm being spammed by people who are my "friends." I can actually go through and see who sent it to me. And I scratch my head and say, 'why would I be invited to attend the bake sale?' And honestly the invite is from people who are just that - "friends" - not really my friends, just people who I'm "friends" with. They're basically using me to get a higher number of responses for their event. I'm being used by people who are my "friends."

I guess I'm being cynical. They got my attention. That was the goal. I would think for 98% of the events/groups/fan pages, they don't actually get me to join. But now I'm skeptical about everything I'm invited to that is outside of my close group of friends. I'm not going to reward my "friend" who hit "invite all friends" to this page unless I really believe in the event. It takes no effort. It's impersonal. It's rude. If there was a way they could send a message along with it, a "Hey, this is so-and-so and it means alot to me if you became a fan of it because of X" then maybe I'd consider. But I don't even know what half the things I'm invited to are because no one explains them. I have no clue what TEDx at BU is, so how can I justify going? And I looked through trying to figure it out, and just got frustrated because nowhere does it tell me what exactly TED stands for. I need more than a broad, stock explanation of "changing the world ideas" - tell me more than that. Convince me that I should come and why I should care.

It reminds me of MySpace, which was cool when it first started in 2003, but it quickly became too much, for me anyway. I understand the power it has for musicians. But outside of that, I really see it as another case of spam. Fake accounts, making your page so random that you can't navigate it, it's obnoxious. So I got out of MySpace, as many people did, and switched to Facebook. It was cooler, at that time it was more exclusive, and it was more of a controlled environment. Remember when your wall was at the bottom right corner of your page, instead of the focal point of your entire profile? What a revolutionary concept.

Maybe it's our own fault. We all friend people we aren't really friends with to begin with. The people I was friends with freshman year aren't necessarily my friends today, but according to Facebook we are. Or I'm friends with my friends' friends who I've never met. I'm really considering going through and de-friending people I don't speak to, or people who I've never spoken to, or don't speak to anymore. What's the point? So we can mutually see pictures of each other? Do I really care what my freshman year floormates are doing? So they can randomly invite me to "Need phone #s please!" ? Maybe they can see that I'm single?

Part of the blame has to be on the people creating these pages however. Everyone says that their company needs to get on Facebook/Twitter/The next big thing - but to spam me? That's not how the game is supposed to work. I'm supposed to find them, after they generate good enough content worth my time to view it and become a fan. Not just to become a fan of a random company like a Qdoba Boston without telling me why. How many groups and pages are you a fan of where you have no participation in the group? Then what's the point? I can't say I'm not guilty of that too, but the system is flawed.

I still like Facebook. I like keeping in touch with friends that aren't in Boston. It's still fun, but I get easily annoyed by people who don't really know me or care what I think.

AS I TYPE THIS I GOT INVITED TO: BECOME A FAN OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY 2010 COMMENCEMENT. NO. PURELY BECAUSE IT'S SPAM. IT'S ALL SPAM.

Sorry for yelling, does anyone else feel my pain?

What Am I Paying For?

College has become commonplace for almost everyone to go, thanks to loans and the abundance of colleges. It's no longer for the "rich kids." I don't want to say that anyone can go, but it's gotten so much easier. So now, a college degree is common.

The concept of college is to learn about what you think your career path may be, then assuming you'll go get a job in that career, or some require further education. Mine is public relations - so I'm taking PR classes. BU's tuition is around $50k including room and board. So I'm paying $50,000 a year. For four years. $200,000.

So for $200,000 you would think that I would be getting so much more than I feel like I'm getting. Instead, I feel like BU is literally nickel-and-diming me every step of the way - and I'm still not getting my money's worth.

For example, I live in an on-campus apartment in South. It's a relatively nice place. Given how much it's rained this year, we've had some water leaking into our apartment. When me and my roommate called B&G, they said "We're getting a lot of complaints, we'll get to you when we can." When they came about 3 hours later, all the did was bring a bucket. We had a bucket. We didn't need another bucket.

A few days later another B&G guy came in and I showed him where it was leaking. Since it had stopped raining, it wasn't leaking. He said "I can't do anything about it if it's not leaking."

Fast forward a few weeks later, when monsoon season hits Boston, and it's leaking in my apartment again. But not just the same location, literally in three different spots. Then it started to get moldy. I called B&G again, and no one's been here. It's been a week. Then I read in BU Today that there were over 600 on-campus leaks reported. I tweeted to Dean Elmore, he said "I'll have someone come over." Really? No one came. And the last time they did, they did nothing.

How can you have 600 on campus leaks? I understand the rain was much more than we've had in quite a while, but 600 seems too high. It's probably leaked last year, and they were told, and still did nothing. What the hell am I paying $50,000 dollars for when my place is disgusting.

Some other fun facts about my apartment - there is no internet port in my room. Or a cable port. They changed the window structure in my building so that air can't get in, making my room a hell hole even when it's 20 degrees out. The walls are so thin I can hear everyone. In every way. The fridge is smaller than the one we had last year. When we moved in, the fridge was broken and they didn't fix it for a few days. We didn't have a mirror. It took weeks to get a mirror in the bathroom. We kept calling and filing requests for a mirror and got none. We gave up and bought our own. The sunlight in my room lets me wake up at 7 am everyday. Everyday. EVERYDAY.

Or I could talk about the print quota fiasco, where BU, who last year gave us a 500 page quota this year, gave 100. Then, told the professors to not make copies of hand-outs, instead make us print them out, making us use our reduced print quota. In my political science class, our teacher had well over 20 uploaded articles that spanned as high as 56 pages. Half of my quota is spent on one article for one class. I took four classes and it was all the same. So therefore I have to pay money just to print my things that last year would have been free. But my tuition goes up. And all we get from BU is stock quote straight up bullshit. "We're going green" "We're cutting costs" "We found that students don't use their print quota." Then they removed the computer labs that were located at different locations on campus. They brought them all to the library, so it's still available, but it just seems inconvenient and inefficient.

Then I went to the Career Center, where I wasn't offered much help in finding a job. I said "How can I work for a Public Relations firm in Philadelphia?" Their response: Use CareerBuilder and Google. I'm so glad that I pay $50k to be told to use Google. I never would have thought about Google. Thanks guys. They did help with cover letters and my resume, but overall, I don't feel like it was all that helpful. I got better help from my internship in the fall. Their career fairs don't apply to my industry at all - but most of the people there seem to be worthless too. For instance, companies like the FBI and Abercrombie & Fitch would be there. That's not where I'm going. Call me picky. I know PR is kind of a different thing, but no help at all? Really?

It should be MANDATORY for every student to take a class about the job process. How it works. Resumes. Cover letters. Etc. Make it specific towards everyone's major. Give each student a CAREER ADVISOR. I have an academic advisor, but combine the two. Make some kind of mandatory check-in every few weeks. Talk about plans. Brainstorm. Help us. Isn't that what college is ultimately about? To learn and to use what you learned in the world. Help us see through the second part. I don't want my hand held, I want to meet half way. It shouldn't be totally on me to find a job on top of taking four classes and having an internship 2.5 days a week. There's too much going on for me to find a job too. But by incorporating it into class, it's helpful.

I have friends at PSU who have a career advisor and they help them have a plan for internships and jobs. I could go to PSU for $14k a year. Do the math.

To me, the college process has become much more of a business than an education. People can spin it any way they want. At the end of the day, it's about making a profit. The President of the University makes A LOT of money. I can't seem to find the number, but I found this article where the old President made $6.2 MILLION two years after he retired. WHAT THE HELL DOES HE NEED $6.2 MILLION DOLLARS FOR AFTER HE RETIRES.

I know that not all of my money goes into his severance pay and that BU has a pretty good endowment. But that seems absurd. Instead, if they spent $6.2 million, surely our tuition could be a little lower, or we would have something helpful. Nah, give one man $6.2. We don't need to help our students.

I pay $50,000 a year and honestly, what am I paying for? A leaky apartment? 100 pages to print with? Classes that aren't really teaching me anything? To be told to go to Google? I've learned so much more from my internships than from class. Am I paying to get a job? Indirectly, but BU isn't doing a damn thing to help me and act like they care.

Why Why WHY would I want to give any money to BU as an alumni? For the BU Class Gift, they're asking for $20.10. While I understand and like the concept of a class gift, I believe you give gifts as a thank you or because you appreciate someone. What am I thanking them for? The advice of Google? I pay $50k a year. That's your thank you gift. I honestly don't know anything about my financial situation whether I'll be in loans or not, but I don't feel like this entire experience was worth it. Maybe I didn't make the most of it. Maybe I "settled." I made great friends and I had a great time - but I think that would happen anywhere. But I want my money back - because I'm paying for a product that isn't what it was advertised as. I didn't pay $50,000 to live in a moldy water logged apartment. Or to have to find my own job. Think of it as a customer client relationship. I'm a customer, and I'm being deceived.

I don't know if this posts counts as a rant, or maybe I'm just too frustrated with everything. I feel overwhelmed and just like a number.. It's leaving a sour taste in my mouth for the final weeks, and it's unfortunate. Everyday I say "I can't wait to be out of here" and everyday it gets closer and closer. But I've also realized that the world is a lot of shams and lies, and you have to wade your way through.

How MLB Could Realign the Teams

This post is copied from my other blog I'm doing for class "Texts from Left Field" - where I focus mainly on baseball and social media and the intersection they cross. I haven't decided if I'm keeping the blog, but thought this post would be a good one to share on both of my blogs.

The other day I read this story regarding MLB talking about a floating realignment for teams that aren’t “ready” to compete or whatever the case may be. So, as the article states, a team like Cleveland, who clearly isn’t in any position to win this year, would rotate into the “East” so they could benefit from the crowds that the Yankees and Red Sox. And they can choose which division they want to be in from year to year.

…………

Let it sink in for a minute…..

………….

I don’t know about you, but I think this program is asinine. Another example of the stroke of stupidity that is Bud Selig, the man who called a tie for an All Star Game.

Teams shouldn’t be able to just rotate whenever the hell they want. Instead, I’ve spent the past few days coming up with my idea for what would be a potentially better idea for teams and the playoffs. It makes sense in my head, I hope I can translate it out onto text here.

THE NEW PLAN

I don’t claim to know everything about the European Premier League Soccer, but I understand that it’s split into two divisions – the “elite” teams and the “non-elite” teams. At the end of the season, the bottom X elite teams rotate with the top X elite teams IF THE RECORD OF THE “NON-ELITE” TEAM IS BETTER THAN THE “ELITE” TEAM, assuming that they will be able to “compete” with the “elites.” So not every year a team may switch.

I think this could work with the MLB – with a twist.

So let’s break it down
AL has 14 teams. NL has 16. 7 and 8 for each.

Let’s do the 7 right now based off last years standings
AL Elite: NY Yankees, LA Angels, Boston, Texas, Minnesota, Detroit, and Seattle
AL Non-Elite: Tampa Bay, Chicago White Sox, Toronto, Oakland, Cleveland, Kansas City, and Baltimore.

Outside of Tampa/Seattle, that list shouldn’t surprise any of us. Maybe make an argument for the White Sox pre-2009 season.

NL Elite: LA Dodgers, Philadelphia, Colorado, St. Louis, San Francisco, Florida, Atlanta, Chicago Cubs
NL Non-Elite: Milwaukee, Cincinnati, San Diego, Houston, Arizona, NY Mets, Pittsburgh, Washington DC

Again, this list shouldn’t surprise us. The NL is also characteristically weaker than the AL in my opinion.

So here’s my suggestion:
Keep the teams in their current division for traveling purposes. BUT have less divisional games, and let the teams in their respective elite divisions play each other. So instead of the Nationals and Phillies meeting 19 times a year, they only meet for 10 times, and let the Nationals have three more series versus their non-elites, and make the Phillies play three more series against their elite peers (preferably not within their division I.E. Braves/Marlins)

So in this instance, the Nationals would have 30 less games against the ‘elite’ inner division competition, which one would assume should be another 15-25 losses for the Nationals. Instead, they play several more series against other teams that are more in their skill level.

Let’s also lower the amount of times that teams outside their division play each other – right now I believe it is at 3 series per year. Cut it to two per team – one series at home and one away. The remaining X series will be against teams in their “elite” or “non-elite” brackets. Even MORE games against equal competition.

So, let’s look at the past few years to see how this would have played out, using the AL as our petri dish.

2004 AL Elites: NY Yankees, Boston, LA Angels, Minnesota, Oakland, Texas, Chicago White Sox — Top 2 Non: Cleveland, Baltimore
2005 AL Elites: Chicago White Sox, Boston, LA Angels, NY Yankees, Cleveland, Oakland, Minnesota — Top 2 Non: Toronto and Texas
2006 Al Elites: NY Yankees, Minnesota, Detroit, Oakland, Chicago White Sox, LA Angels, Toronto — Top 2 Non – Boston and Texas
2007 AL Elites: Cleveland, Boston, NY Yankees, LA Angels, Detroit, Seattle, Toronto — Top 2 Non – Minnesota and Oakland
2008 AL Elites: LA Angels, Tampa, Boston, NY Yankees, White Sox, Minnesota, and Toronto — Top 2 Non — Cleveland and Texas
2009 AL Elites: NY Yankees, LA Angels, Boston, Texas, Minnesota, Detroit, and Seattle — Top 2 Non — Tampa and Chicago White Sox

There’s quite a few teams that are competing ALMOST EVERY YEAR (Angels, Yankees, Minnesota, Chicago White Sox, Boston.) Doesn’t it make sense that they should paly each other more during the year?

Let’s look at which teams would rotate in and out year to year – starting from the 2004 season record
After 2005: Cleveland would switch with Texas into the elites for the 2006 season.
After 2006: Cleveland is then knocked out – along with Boston – and replaced by Detroit & Toronto
After 2007: Minnesota and Oakland are knocked out and replaced by Cleveland and Seattle
After 2008: Cleveland, Detroit, and Seattle knocked out. In comes Minnesota, Chicago White Sox, and Tampa
After 2009: Tampa, Toronto, and Chicago White Sox are out. Texas, Seattle, and Detroit are in.

Now let’s talk about the playoffs.
Same rules apply as now – divisional leaders get in. The wildcard however comes from the best team in the “non-elite” division. If the winner of the division is not in the “elite” league (like Tampa in 2008) then the second best team in the “non-elites” (which would have been Cleveland) would take the wildcard spot. Playoffs still play out in the same way as they always have – DS, CS, then WS.

HEAR ME OUT AS TO WHY THIS WORKS: I understand and personally love how the wildcard has determined the playoffs from the past several years. In 15 years of the wildcard system, only 4 teams have won the whole thing (97 Marlins, 02 Angels, 03 Marlins, 04 Red Sox.) A little under 33%.

Now if the elite teams were to play each other more during the regular season, the teams would have clearly defined which team is better. No more scrub games for Minnesota against the Royals. The Cardinals don’t get to beat up on the Pirates anymore. Instead, the Twins have to play more games against the Angels and Red Sox. They literally will beat up on each other. Meanwhile, if using the 2010 season as our example, Tampa will get to play the Royals/Athletics/Indians, and prove that they are worthy of competing in the playoffs.

It’s hard to use history to demonstrate this, because the records of each team would be different if 20-30 of their games were played against better teams. Let’s try this though:
In 2007, the playoffs would of been this: Cleveland, Boston, LA Angels, and Minnesota. Minnesota can’t play Cleveland because they are in the same division, so it would be Cleveland versus the Angels and the Red Sox versus Minnesota. The end result may be the same, but that 2007 Minnesota team with Santana, Mauer, and Morneau stood a great chance.

Finally, the system would give more revenue to the non-elite teams. I’m not a business major so I don’t know the numbers very well, but something like 60% to non-elite and 40% to the elite. It’s conceivable that most of the non-elite teams could use the money more for free agents and to re-sign their own talent. Eventually, we wouldn’t need a premiere league and everyone would be equal.

So I know the system isn’t perfect. It could probably use some tweaks (which I’m hoping some comments will help me with) I think it would provide a better, more honest, champion. So in 2009, the Yankees would have to play more against better teams like Minnesota, LA Angels, the White Sox, etc. It would create a level playing field and still give a chance for the other teams to win.

It looks alot better on my paper I’ve drawn out, but I really believe it would work. I’m not convinced we need to change it, but if we did, I would be down.