Osama Bin Laden is dead

I can honestly say I didn’t expect to receive this news, at least not so soon. After almost 10 years of searching without finding, I thought he had escaped for good. This is a fairly huge chapter of my life that has now been closed. That man is in some way responsible for so many changes in modern American society, from the airport security changes, to an increase in anti-Muslim racism in the United States.

I would by lying if I said I wasn’t happy that he’s gone. He was a bad, bad man, and I think he probably deserved his death. I don’t know him personally and I don’t know enough about him to judge him on his character, but the fact that he took credit for killing over 3,000 completely innocent people cements him as a bad man in my mind. I will never forgive him for it. At the same time, I don’t celebrate his death. I’m not a religious man, but I don’t believe that you should ever celebrate the death of a human being. I think it’s morally wrong. While I was happy to hear that he was finally gone, (I may have cheered once or twice), I was very disappointed to see how the American public reacted. What makes America unique is the fact that America is held to a higher standard than the rest of the world. This is the land of the free, the home of the brave, and America prides itself on being a trend-setter. What America does, the rest of the world imitates. Where America goes, the rest of the world follows. So where will the rest of the world go no? These celebrations set a grisly tone for the future of warfare. How will Americans feel when one of it’s enemies celebrates the death of a prominent American soldier/general/leader? The American people will be furious, angry, violent, and enraged. But they’ll have no right, because they have done the exact same thing. And yes, I know Bin Laden is an awful, awful man. I realize that he has placed himself alongside Hitler, as one of the most hated men in American history. But this was an opportunity to show the rest of the world that America is still the moral leader of the world, and that Americans could be better. And Americans have failed. That said, I don’t blame anyone for cheering for Bin Laden’s death. I can’t imagine how it feels to be the widow of a 9/11 victim, and I respect their right to feel however they feel. I won’t ever tell another human how to feel, and I’m not doing it now.

This also has some serious implications for Obama. Immediately, he shuts up the Republican party in their quest to portray him as an “indecisive” leader. He has clearly outgrown that. He’s done what W couldn’t do. This also gives him a strong push for his re-election run. The next few months will be interesting. I can only hope that we will not see any retaliatory violence from Al-Queda or its allies.

Harry

The Portland Timbers

Wow. I watched the Timbers – Fire game last night, and I was blown away. As a European, and as a European soccer fan, I did not expect the atmosphere to be anything like what it was. Portland played their first ever franchise game at Jeld-Wen field, and it was incredible. Pre-game, the Timbers Army sang the national anthem, (quite well, actually), and at the end of it the Timbers unleashed a few huge banners.The game got off to a crazy start, a disallowed goal that shouldn’t have been disallowed, then Portland ran it up to 3-0, then two quick Fire goals and then a final goal from the Timbers to solidify the win at 4-2. The soccer was better than I thought it would be, although clearly a step down from European soccer. The touch simply isn’t there. The thing I really enjoy about the Timbers, is the players. They simply give 100% on every play. The crowd might have given them a huge boost, but watching the Timbers work so hard was inspiring. Things got a little testy, especially early on when Cooper took exception to a Fire tackle, and I must say I love to see that as well. A little grit, a little anger. Give the game some attitude.

 

On a macro note, seeing a professional soccer team in Portland is fantastic. I hope to live in Portland one day, and now I can plan on watching the Blazers and Timbers play. It’s something the city of Portland deserves, and watching the Timbers Army only cements my belief that the Portland has some of the most passionate sports fans in the United States. It was the inaugural game at the stadium, and those fans shouted themselves hoarse for the entire game. Yes, they may have been yelling just to yell. Yes, they may not have understood all the nuances of the game. But that doesn’t detract from the fact that the Timbers sold out season tickets before the Timbers had played a single game. Nor does it detract from the fact that the sold out crowd sat through an extremely wet evening to cheer on a team they had never seen before.

 

I love that city, I love that team. Timber Army!

Winter Term

It’s almost done. Easily the most difficult term I’ve experienced at the University of Oregon, both academically and personally. Life doesn’t stop though, and we’ll keep moving on. My classes have been thoroughly enjoyable. Business leadership is fantastic, but very exhausting class. Marketing was an eye-opener. Business statistics I can’t say I enjoyed, although I think I’m starting to piece together multiple regression. The final is in 9 days, so I better get it together soon. I’ve got a tough week coming up:

• Italian Exam
• Italian Oral Final
• Italian Final Project due
• The third of three Marketing midterms
• BA final

It’s going to be interesting. But like I said, the term is almost over. A few tough weeks, and then I’ll have a week to collect myself before we start all over with Spring term. And then it will be summer, hopefully interning somewhere, then back to my final year at UO. People have always told me, the older you get, the faster time flies by, and they are very correct. It feels like only yesterday I was a wide-eyed freshman, stepping onto the UO campus without any idea of what was going to happen. Over two and a half years later, I can say I’m having a good time, and learning a few things.

 

Cheers

Business School

So I’ve almost completed two terms in the business school, and I got the urge to deliver a quick write up. I wouldn’t consider it a review, as I am not only unqualified to write a review, but I have absolutely nothing to compare it to.

The most striking thing about the business school, is the teachers themselves. I’ve had some absolutely fantastic teachers. I fully expected to be bored out of my mind, and it hasn’t happened. It’s possible that I’m going to end up being bored in my last 4 terms, but I highly doubt it. The teachers care, and they all show a clear passion for what they teach. Even my business statistics teacher, who admits it isn’t his favorite topic to teach, manages to bring a passion and excitement to the class. The classes also feel relevant. That might not mean much to you, but I’ve taken years of classes that barely pertain to myself or my future. It’s incredible to finally take classes and want to learn. Even when it’s difficult, I still want to learn.

My favorite class so far, might be the one I’m struggling in the most. It’s business leadership and communication, and it is not an easy course. The grading is extremely harsh, but I’m learning a lot about myself, as a leader and as a team member.

All in all, I’d say I’m enjoying the LCB. Until next time,

-Harry

Arsenal in Top Form

Arsenal beat West Ham 3-0 today, and while most reports today concerning these two teams will be over the apparently imminent sacking of WH boss Avram Grant, I’d like to focus on my favorite team, the Arsenal Gunners! They played a fantastic game today, which is a relief. We couldn’t score a goal against Man City, in a disappointing 0-0 tie. We barely recovered for a 1-1 tie with Leeds, and then we lost to Ipswich! Needless to say, it was a rough period for gooners, and the last thing we needed was a loss or a tie today. We needed all three points, and we got them. Yes, we played West Ham, but we played them magnificently. It was one of the better performances I’ve seen from Arsenal lately. Robin van Persie appears to be back in full form, which is crucial to Arsenals success. Walcott let us down a little bit today, especially with his huge chance in the first half. Nasri played well, dummying a defender to allow RvP’s first goal. Van Persie played a quick cross from the byline back to a speedy Walcott who tapped it up into the roof of the net for the second goal. And then in the second half, Walcott’s pace led to a penalty which RvP slotted in easily. It’s good to get a win, but there are still some problems Arsenal need to shore up.

1. Defenders need to improve. Djourou played an awful back pass to Sczesny, who was fantastic in his save to recover.
2. We need to be ruthless. Arsenal appear to lack that killer instinct at times. RvP was superb today in his chances, taking his first goal extremely well, and then nicking a later attempt off the post. Nasri could have taken a few opportunities, Eboue had a great chance and he froze up, and Walcott had a fantastic chance in the first half, (the one I linked to), which he completely missed.
3. What’s our goalkeeper situation? Almunia appears to be on the out, which is fine by me. Fabianski does not impress me. He makes silly mistakes, and he seems scared. It terrifies me when we’re defending and someone takes a shot at him. Sczesny is my favorite for the number one position, but Arsene Wenger knows better than I do!

If you didn’t catch this game, I recommend you attempt to watch a replay. It was a fun game to watch.

Matt Court Opening

So I just got back from the opening game in Matt Court. I have to admit, it’s amazing. I wasn’t quite as star struck as my friends when I heard we were getting a new arena here at UO, but after walking around and witnessing a game… Wow. It’s absolutely unbelievable. Lit up from outside, it’s gorgeous. Stepping inside, the wall murals are nostalgically impressive. When you finally step into a seating section, it’s flat out crazy. The basketball court is awesome. The built-in Duck Stores are sexy. The entire building screams class, inside and out. It’s an arena nicer than most professional venues, and if this doesn’t bring some 5-star basketball recruits to the University of Oregon, nothing will. It’s an experience.

The opening ceremonies were no slouch either. Pyrotechnics, Puddles the duck dropping from the ceiling, break dancers, cheer leaders, the dance squad, the band… Unexpectedly fun. Uncle Phil gave the opening speech, and was in tears before the beginning of the game.

Tyrone Nared had a jaw-dropping put back dunk before the half time buzzer sounded… I’m going to post that as soon as I find it online. Until next time, Go Ducks!

A Dedicated Minecraft Server?

So, in recent posts, I’ve discussed the breadth and severity of my Minecraft addiction. Quite simply, I just can’t stop. It’s mostly been single player, but since HT got into it, I’ve been considering purchasing a multiplayer server on a month-to-month price plan. It would only support us two players, and it would be a private server. No griefers messing anything up. It runs for $15 a month, so I’m not exactly breaking the bank, but its enough to make me think about it. The site I’ve been looking into is http://www.servercraft.co/. I haven’t made up my mind, there’s gonna be an H Squad meeting on it first. Just a little something to think about. The reason I write about it, because obviously no one that would ever read this would really care besides HT, is I’d definitely be updating this blog with what’s going on in the server. You shall witness what we create!

Good stuff.

Added Mobile Support

I just installed a new plug in which allows mobile users, most specifically Blackberry, Android, and iOS users, to browse the blog in an easier manner. I just tested it on my Droid X, I will probably steal a friends iPhone soon to check it out on the iOS platform.

So, anyone reading this on a mobile phone, hopefully it’s easier now.

What I Played – 2010

So, I’ve been posting a bit today and I really felt like writing up a yearly wrap-up to the gaming world. Now, I’ve got an Xbox 360 and Macbook Pro, so unfortunately, you won’t see any PS3 or Windows stuff on here. I do have a Wii, but it is embarrassingly under-utilized. I’ll work on that for the new year, I promise. Obviously, I can only review the games I played, so I will do that to the best of my ability.

Game of the Year: Without a doubt, it has to be the indie game that took the planet by storm. Minecraft. It’s a sandbox game, built around 16×16 blocks. The developer, Notch, did a few truly innovative things with the development of this game. Instead of working on it in Alpha, bug testing and limited release in Beta, and then eventually releasing the final product, he sold the game in Alpha status, and promised early adopters they would receive all future updates for free. He sold the game to Alpha purchasers, (myself included), for 10 Euros, or roughly $13. Now, this game was a huge success on Reddit, my favorite online community/site/aggregation device. The game just went Beta, and now retails for 15 Euros, I believe. I suppose his second innovation is a tie-in with the first… He listened to the community. He’s sold almost a million copies of the game, and many of those purchasers were active on twitter, reddit, or his website. They told him what they wanted, and for the most part he listened! They wanted texture support, they got it. Leaf decay bothered everyone, he fixed it. The game itself is immeasurably addictive. Minecraft features cross platform support, Windows, Mac, and Linux. You have to play it to understand. If you click one of the four options underneath the “Buy Now!” button on the website, you can get a little taste. But you don’t fully understand the depth of the possible obsession until you have built your own winter cabin or built a private resort.

XBOX 360 Game of the Year: I struggled with this one. I really, really did. In the end, I’ve got to go with Red Dead Redemption. The story was superb, beyond anything I’ve seen from Rockstar. I played GTA3, Vice City, and San Andreas, but this is the first sandbox-esque, (I say that because even though this game is somewhat like GTA: Old West, it really isn’t), game from Rockstar that really pulled me in and kept me there. The characters are real. They’re funny. The dialogue is believable. The story is gripping at times and hilarious at others. The game play is excellent. It controls exactly how it should, and it lets you do everything you want to do, without forcing you to do anything you don’t. The ending is better than almost any game I’ve ever played. I don’t want to give anything up, but I will say that it has affected how I play the game now, even after the story ended. If you haven’t played it, you need to.

Sports Game of the Year: Fifa ’11. I had to decide between Fifa ’11 and NCAA ’11, but it was never really a competition. NCAA was fun, don’t doubt that. It’s a must have for college football fans, absolutely. But if you enjoy soccer, there has never been a video game made that is as much fun to play, or as real as Fifa ’11. Even when I bought Assassins Creed: Brotherhood, I still spent the majority of my gaming time playing Fifa. It’s that good. Arsenal till I die!

Others Worth Mentioning: I don’t want to sit here and bore you, but I did play plenty of other games, and I’d like to give a brief round-up. Osmos on the Mac is pretty addictive. I haven’t played it on the iPad so I can’t vouch for that version. Civilization IV is on sale on Steam for under $7, with all three expansion packs included. It’s my first Civ game, and it’s a ton of fun. It’s worth a shot for anyone, at only 6 bucks. Basically, skip a trip to McDonalds and buy that game instead! Darksiders didn’t impress me. It wasn’t boring, but I got 3/5 of the way done with the game, and I just stopped playing… If you find it cheap, knock yourself out, but I really didn’t enjoy it that much. Assassins Creed: Brotherhood is awesome. If you enjoyed the first 2, especially the second, you have to check this game out. It’s everything you love about the second game, but better. The kills are better, the weapons are cooler, the game play is as solid as ever, and it’s a ton of fun. And I haven’t checked out multiplayer yet, but I’ve only heard good things. Bioshock 2 really disappointed me… I was addicted to the first. I couldn’t do anything until I beat it… But the second doesn’t live up to it at all. It’s just not fun. I wish it was, because Bioshock was one of the best games I’ve ever played.

That’s all for now! Maybe I’ll do a part 2 later.

New Theme on the Blog

I gotta say I like it. It’s a lot cleaner. I lost my blogroll on the side, but to be honest I’m cool with that.

Never gonna give you up
No matter how you treat me
Never gonna give you up
So don’t you think of leavin’

A little Black Keys for you

Edit: The blogroll is back… Thank the heavens, right!?