Villians

I might come off as a little cruel, but I love fictional villians. If I were to play a part in a movie, I would want to be a bad guy. Favorite character in Star Wars has and always will be the stormtrooper. The book that I want to write is actually going to be entitled VILLIAN. When I sit down and watch an action movie, I secretly find myself rooting for the villian. Why do I have this obsession...I don't know! All I know is that I go a little soft for a man/woman who isn't afraid to get their hands dirty and take care of business.

However, not all villians are created the same. There are some who are weak characters...unable to pull of the big heist or crime because they break rules. Now I know what you might be thinking...villians don't have rules, right? Wrong! There are several rules that a villian can not break if they want to do well. As I have nothing to blog about today, I will be discussing one of my favorite villians, and the rules that he broke!



































No villianous list is complete without the original Vader. Darth Vader is one of the most amazing villians in the world. His trick is easilly explained! He makes you root for him. As you go through the movie you begin to realize that there is something behind the mask. Something that makes you want him to succeed. When you find out he is Luke's daddy, you know what is was and then you hope, as Luke does, that he will turn away from the dark side. And, wouldn't you know it, he ends up turning away from the emperor and saving Luke. So, point goes to Vader!

Another reason Vader is awesome...he can use the force. It is your basic X-Man power, lift things with nothing but your mind, strangle subordinates, yadda yadda. His power seems to be unlimited, and when you throw in his lightsaber, you get an even stronger Sith.

Vader doesn't care about his subordinates. He doesn't rely on them to do his dirty work, making him a stronger villian. If they mess up, they die. He uses the previous losers for an example, striking the fear of God into the people working under him. Seriously! Would you mess up at your work if you knew your boss was going to choke the life out of you? Vader has no concern or fear for his subordinates, making him stronger. The Emperor failed in this category. He relied too much on Vader to do the work, leading to his downfall. Vader didn't have that problem, making him a better villian then the emperor.

So, where was Vaders mistake?















LOVE! Villians can not fall in love, be in love, or feel love for anyone. A true villian wouldn't care if his son were being electrecuted. In fact, he wouldn't have a son in the first place. Vader's mistake came because he had something to tie him to the world. Somebody connected him to the rest of humanity, and when you are a villian you can't afford that connection. If there were no Luke or Leiah, Vader would have continued on his path, eventually becoming the emperor himself, and possibly the best villain of all time. But his "Lovely" downfall takes him away from spot one.

So lets review. Vader was an amazing villian. He had power, he had the force, he could chop suey you with his light saber. His greatest success as a villian was his ability to make the audience root for him. His greatest flaw was having a connection to the world, that connection being love. He deffinately makes the top 5 for my list of villians, but he couldn't be in the number one spot because he breaks one of the rules.

Cards Vs. Saints

So...the Saints are coming into town today and I'm going to the game with Bill. Should be awesome...except for the fact that I am wearing my Cardinals stuff and we are sitting on the Saints side. I'm not too worried about it though. I mean...the team name is the Saints. How bad could their fans be? With a few beers in them I'm sure they will mellow right up!

If the Cardinals had any chance of winning, I would probably be in a worse position. They will probably just end up feeling sorry for me.

GO BIG RED!

Time With Dad

After a long hard day, that was kind of bad
I took some time to spend with dad
The tournament went sour and was kind of a "W"itch
so I headed on out to help him fill in a ditch
You see, he has an attitude that cheers you right up
He is fun to be around, like a newborn pup
He inspires you with his jokes and wit
and makes you feel like a number one hit
No matter how bad you mess up his stuff
or how many objects you accidently muff
He smiles and says, "Go play in the street"
Which if he were technologyical, I'm sure he would tweet
because thats the kind of guy he can be
knowing just what to say and do, cheering you and me
I love him to death, and with any luck
I'll get to go and and work with him, in mud and in muck

Thanks Dad!

Chess Tournament

We had an individual in Holbrook this last weekend. Now anytime that I host a tournament, I try to put on a good show...but this one didn't work out as well. I was behind from the get go. I came home and had two things on my mind...get ready for the tournament and do some dishes. As soon as I pulled in I was Bogarted away on another errand from the neighbors...which I don't mind in the least. So, I told her five minutes, got all of my stuff together, and had her hold the soup on the way to drop of her uniform. Of course we hit every bumpy street in Holbrook and she ended up wearing the soup. "It looks like I threw up...Ewwww!" I believe that was the correct phraseology...hilarious.

So we ran the uniform down to the field, dropped neighbor back off, got the rest of the stuff, headed into Safeway and bought the last thing I needed...ice...and headed over to the tournament where the tables were in a different arrangement than I am used to. I started to set up and continued getting texts that kept dropping everyone from the tournament play...so I had to change all of my line-ups like three times.

So the tournament finally starts and we had 8 upsets in the first two rounds. That never happens. In fact, the number one player in the region lost 3 of 5 games. It was insane.

Then one of my players had a chance to take fourth, and ended up losing because he didn't remember to put his notation away in the last five minutes of the game. I was furious!

So...it was pretty bad...and I didn't even mention the fire alarms going off and going to each building to turn them off before the players arrived on Saturday morning, the football game going on at the same time and the fireworks blasting through the rounds on Friday night, or the fact that there are two kids who just don't know when to shut up...every single tournament.

What can you do?

Its Just a Piece of Cloth!

Anytime parents are going to be coming to school, I try to wear a tie. It is professional and shows a little more respect for the parents...kind of like a, "I care enough about your child to put a piece of cloth around my neck."

Yesterday was day one of parent teacher conference, so I wore a tie. In the first 20 minutes, I was told that I looked good, great, handsome...multiple times. I looked at my clothes and realized that I had changed nothing from the normal days that I just work. I had on slacks...that I wear everyday. I had on a dress shirt...that I wear everyday. The only difference was that I had a tie on. A TIE! If I had known that I would have gotten more play wearing a tie, I would have worn one more when in High School.

So I guess Barney got it right. If you want to impress, you have to suit up! Today is TIEFEST 2, as we have one more parent teacher conference, and then we go back to "causual" (no tie) wear. We'll see how it goes.

PS I love irony and turn around! Good Luck Jr. Runners!

I Wonder

So....I wonder if the school realizes that they are paying me to sit around and do nothing right now? Yesterday I got some parent/teacher stuff done in the morning, and then I went back to the classroom and....did something. I don't even remember what I did. I know that I spent part of the day folding wrappers for my starburst chain, and part of the day doing a logic problem...but that is about it. I wonder if they realize I am doing nothing.

On the other hand, everytime I leave my classroom I get more work! People see me in the hallway and have a computer question, or something else to that effect. I run errands, or substitute for people's classes while they are going or gone. It is kind of annoying, but better than sitting around my my tush.

Funny thing that happened...Mrs. Tomlin was teaching about the vikings, and how they came across the waters, pillaged, stole...all that fun stuff, you know. Well, she started talking about the theories of that time, with the edge of the world and sea monsters, and mentioned the Catholic Church persecuting Galileo. Then she asked a short review question, something like, "Who attacked the people in Vinland?" One of the kids responded, "The Catholic Vikings".

Guess I Better Blog

Aight, here is the deal and my official excuse. I haven't blogged because nobody is giving me rootbeer. As the title says, I will blog for rootbeer, and there has been a drought lately. However, in the past week I have been the recipient of two rootbeers. One from Lou during our Glee fest with Kim and Amy, and one from Andrea, my student teacher.

So lets talk about student teachers. They do everything for you...it is really awesome, but I have to say that I am a little bored. Not with Andrea's teaching, she is really, really good. I am bored because for a while she wouldn't let me do anything. I just sat around. Not only that, but now they are telling me that I have to leave my classroom. As laid back as I can be, I am not that person in the school. I am the master of my class, and they are getting rid of the master. It is sad.

But to end that conversation on a bright note, I am happy with Andrea. She does a great job and my year is going by really well.

Today Amy, Kim, and I are going to Flagstaff to eat sushi and do a movie. It is good to have friends who will eat sushi with you. There just aren't a lot of people who like the rolls. I am really excited about going up. It has been a while since Amy and I have had time to get out and do stuff, although we did make it down to the valley last week, and that was awesome.

Amy, Kim, and Alonna are also doing a pie blog...it should be posted. I love it. I get to taste a different pie each week. Score! This is almost as good as marrying a Canadian and getting two thanksgivings.

So, There is my life in a nutshell. My job is going well, my social life is rare, but fun when I have one, and I get excited about food. I will try to blog more as things happen.

Oh, and by the way, I went back and watched Buffy episodes. "I mock you with my monkey pants" is still one of the best lines this century!