So I had a really good excuse...ah screw it, I just forgot to post last week

I gave up on the witty, apologetic title this week (not like you guys haven't seen one or two of those before) in favor of an admission of guilt. I have excuses for why it has now been a week since my last (rather meager) post, but none of them are good and most of the start with "I" and end with "forgot." That being said, the title is sort of witty in its unwittyness if I don't say so myself.

To make up for the lack of content, I'm going to try to create some sort of super-combined-omnibus post here that covers lots of sections and lots of content all in one magnificent segment of prose and graphics. Think of it as my blog bailout bill (with the alliterations!). Unfortunately, no one will be receiving any sort of handout, other than a handout of happiness as they read the best free content on the web (stop clicking over to USC Transcribed. It was updated yesterday...this is the best content on the web RIGHT now).

Editors Note: Do click over to USC Transcibed. Read it. Enjoy. Laura is much less bitter than I am. Must be something about California in winter vs. Milwaukee in Winter.

Okay, so here we go. A blog post in four segments of varying timeliness and interest. Section number one is...

Dateline, Jan 31, 2009. Bradley Center in Milwaukee Wisconsin.

Enter: #25 ranked Georgetown Basketball Team onto the Al McGuire Court.
Coach John Thompson III: "We are so awesome. Marquette is a backwater school way out west that doesn't know the first thing about basketball."
Players: "Yeah...we rock, even though we lost to Cincinnati this week. The turn around starts now! The Golden Eagles suck!

Staging note: At this point, lower Marquette basketball team from rafters of Bradley Center. A bright glowing light shines behind them, casting them in sharp contrast to the paleness of the Georgetown Team.

Jerel McNeal: "Welcome to Milwaukee...prepare to be taken to task."

Proceed with 40 minutes of basketball, 25 of which are dominated by Marquette, ending in a 94-82 Golden Eagles win. Fans go crazy. Bradley Center is about to collapse. Marquette improves to 8-0. A certain Alaskan has his picture taken and is shown on SI.com. General goodwill prevails.

If you're keeping score in the Big East Free Spirit blog/basketball showdown, that equals Chris 1, Caroline 0





Marquette game #2 was somewhat more recent. I watched the Golden Eagles take on the Depaul Blue Demons (part deux of this year's matchup against the hapless team from Chicago) in my room last night before settling down to engage my literary passions with the always thrilling Jane Austen. Jerel McNeal continues to make a case for Big East Player of the Year (last nights line? A pedestrian 28 pts, 4 boards, 6 assists, 4 blocks, and 5 steals in 38 minutes). They team looked great at the start of the first half, jumping out to an early 29-12 lead midway through the first. The rest of the half was sloppy and Marquette only went into the locker room up 5. By the 12:00 mark of the second, I had basically stopped watching, the game was well in hand and we cruised to the 9-0 mark.

Basketball updates = done. Time for the first appearance of "Now Playing:"



Today's now playing artist is a new discovery to me. Thanks to Caroline for tuning me into the sound of Bon Iver and his mellow, acoustic, and often haunting tracks. I picked up his first album, "For Emma, Forever Ago" last week and have been listening non-stop since then.

Bon Iver just seems to be one of those artists whose music somehow wiggles its way into whatever sort of emotional space you are working with. Equal parts moving, forlorn, and wistful; it seems the Wisconsin to North Carolina back to Wisconsin transplant has produced a soundtrack to winter, heartbreak, longing, celebration, and just a general sense of introspection.

The roots of the album are something out of the 70s. Songwriter Justin Vernon leaves Raleigh, NC to take some time off at his dad's hunting cabin in northern Wisconsin. Brings guitar and old recording equipment with the intention of just fooling around. Writes lyrics and music. Record emerges. Record meets with smashing success. The Dylan-esque nature is undeniable. I also hear similarities to some of Led Zepplin's recordings done in various remote locals (castles, etc).

In my mind, this sense of location is perhaps the record's most distinguishing trait. It doesn't feel studio produced because it wasn't, or, at least, the studio work was minimal. As you listen, you can almost close your eyes and sit next to Justin as the snow falls outside, surrounded by trees, with a fire going in the stove. Overly sentimental and romantic imagery? Yes. Also true? Yes.

Tracks on "For Emma" that require a listen are "Skinny Love," "Flume," and "Re: Stacks." Bon Iver's newer EP "Blood Bank" is also worth noting as a worthy pickup. If you thought Kanye had done everything possible on an autotuner, then listen to "Woods" off the EP. I didn't think anyone could make me enjoy that sound again after "Love Lockdown" and "Heartless" took over the radio, but " Woods' " measured rounds make it worth the electronic manipulation.

First foray into music criticism done. Let me know. Do you want to see more? Less? Better? Let's see those comments.

OneLost out, and out, and out one more time

Notre Domination

Marquette beats Notre Dame 71-64
And that was in South Bend at the Joyce Center no less. I should also probably mention at this point that I WAS THERE.

Yes, rather than attend German 40 and Math 81, the "Quad Squad" (plus Mike Z.) decided that a better use of our Monday was making the 3.5 hour drive from Milwaukee to South Bend, Indiana to witness first hand Jesuit Marquette's dismantling of "that other Catholic School."

The highlight of the trip there was a close tie between mad Chicago traffic (at 1:30 pm? Stupid high population density) and our time spent in stunning Gary, Indiana. As we drove through the latter, Brandon piloted his Toyota Camry through 15 minutes of smog, steel mills, and dilapidated, unpopulated public transit stops. Ain't the Midwest great?

Once in South Bend (after $24 of interstate tolls -- really Illinois?) and getting lost on campus (apparently left and right on Notre Dame Ave. are not interchangeable) we finally arrived at the Joyce Center for an exciting Free Spirit Reunion with...Catherine Miller of Montana!

Justin, Chris, and Catherine enjoy their Free Spirit Reunion

Nothing sweetens a reunion quite like extending the Domers' home losing streak to 2 games after UCONN ended their 45 game period of home domination.

Activities at the game included: making fun of Kyle McAlarney for getting suspended for smoking pot last year, pointing out how ugly Luke Harangody is, good natured back and forth with senior citizens, telling an 8 year old to check the scoreboard before he gloats, highfiving more random Marquette fans than I can remember, and making fun Notre Dame to Gary, Indiana comparisons.



This win was big for Marquette, who had just been announced as the #8 team in the good old US of A. The embarrassment of breaking into the Top 10 and then losing would have been too much for me to bear and could have precipitated a move to Gary.

Our sights now turn toward Saturday, when the Golden Eagles take on #25 Georgetown (the school of FS Caroline Klibanoff) at the Bradley Center. A win there would make us 8-0 in the Big East and in prime position to have a very special year.

OneLost out with an MU rah, rah

Eat, Nap, Work, Sleep, Repeat

So goes life as of late. I feel as if I am caught in a vicious cycle of ensuring my own physical survival and am currently barely hanging on in terms of fulfilling the necessities of biological existence.

Shelter: This is actually probably the most secure of my needs. The roof over Straz is still there, the heat still works, I have a bed (however hard) to sleep on. The roommates and I undertook a 4 hour cleaning blitz on Monday night to further improve the conditions of ol'1706. The floor is now visible from under all the bits of trash, the garbage is empty, no more mold in the shower, and the boxes that lay strewn in every corner of the room are either in the garbage or tucked away. The shower constituted a 2.5 hour struggle against the forces of mold, mildew, and water stains with only my ally Scrubbing Bubbles to come to my aid. After looking at the can I remarked,

"Finally, a cleaner as pissed off as I am."

Food: The break afforded me a much needed break of Sodoxo dorm food, a break that unfortunately has come to an end. Further compounding this problem is the fact that the offerings of the dining halls have undergone exactly zero change since first semester. I think I might have had potatoes tonight, but I don't remember potatoes being a fully liquefied, lumpy, pale heap of starch that oozed over the whole plate. Can tomorrow please by Mac & Nuggs day?

Clothing: The problem here isn't a lack of, but rather a surfeit of clothing. My drawers are literally busting open. I apparently didn't realize that I had about 25,000 T-Shirts at college with me and a matching number of undershirts to wear with them. Also, everytime I told my mom that boxers and socks make great gifts because, "I can never have enough of them," I was wrong. I can have enough. I have enough when they no longer all fit in the dresser. That point has been reached.

Sleep: The battle for rest wages on, but I fear it is a war of attrition at this point and I only have a finite stock of provisions. I won't last long. 5:45 crew practice 3 times a week plus and 8:30 Saturday practice is really starting to grind on my ability to stay awake, be coherent, and behave like a human being. I almost fell asleep walking back to the dorm today after class. Naps have become less of a luxury and more of a daily necessity (2.5 hours today!). I'm beginning to realize that I would never be able to hack it working a night shift. One more thing to cross of the list of career options.

Work: Not actually a necessity for survival, but a requirement if I am to stay in college. With the exception of a bitter feud with one Danial Dafoe, this is actually going pretty well. My two credit drop in work load is seeming to make a HUGE difference in homework time, although I have yet to be assigned a paper or anything overly significant.

There is a basketball game against Depaul this Saturday, so I'll be sure to take pictures and put an update on that up this weekend. Also, Monday the roommates and I are roadtripping to South Bend to watch Marquette play Notre Dame on the road. Is this a good idea. Probably not, considering we probably won't get back until well after midnight and will have to "attend a class in absentia" (figure that one out...). I will take photos so long as beer does not get thrown on my camera.

OneLost out...

Ring Out Ahoya: Marquette Basketball Update v. University of Wisconsin

Yesterday was THE big day...Wisconsin-Madison, #22 in the polls, in Milwaukee, at OUR Bradley Center, playing THE Marquette Golden Eagles. Shall it suffice to say that mind mind was blown and will be for weeks to come after last night...let me begin the tale.

A prelude to this matchup. Wisconsin and Marquette are obviously rivals, being the only two BCS conference basketball schools (Big 10 and Big East respectively) in the state. The rivalry is historically rather nasty, with no love lost amongst neither fans nor players/coaches/ball boys/random people associated with the either programs. A popular cry during game day that I will paraphrase to keep this blog family rated is "Buck the Fadgers"...yeah...figure that one out all you savvy adult readers. To compound the drama, last year Marquette strolled into the Kohl Center in Madison and oh so causally ended UW's 28-game home win streak and recent dominance in the MU-UW game. This year we got them on our court: the task? Show that we are STILL the best basketball school in the state.

Now that you know the run-up, let me tell you my part of the story. My basketball odyssey began yesterday at 1:30 when I took my place in the back of the line that had already formed outside the Bradley Center. Some guys from my floor had been there since 12:30...am...as in...the night before. It was a warm and snuggley 10 degrees outside and underneath my undershirt, long sleeve shirt, short sleeve shirt, sweatshirt, and winter coat I was already getting excited.

Anticipation only built at around 2:30 when Head Coach Buzz Williams (who we all love) came out and shook everyone in line's hand, thanking us for our support. After he went back inside and we all calmed down he sent the ENTIRE team out to high five us and joke around. Highlight of this was when someone laid out a UM Badgers T-Shirt for all the players to wipe their feet on. Wes Matthews got us all riled up by throwing it up in the air and proclaiming that he was about to show his hometown why MU was the greatest (Matthews grew up in Madison and was Wisconsin's Mr. Basketball his senior year, beating out UW forward Marcus Landry...this still rubs UW people the wrong way).

Joe Fulce and Chris Otule greet the crowd

The line waiting game meets with Buzz

With all this excitement it felt like the wait until the 7:00 pm door opening would be quick, but alas, it was not to be. For the next five hours we basically just stood there, finding ways to pass the time (riddles, ordering Subway, a dramatic retelling of the Christmas story while huddled together for warmth). Finally, at around 6:30 they let us in, MU fans sprinting and slipping all over the floors to claim their lower bowl seats and free T-Shirts.

The almost two hour wait inside was a GODSEND. It felt so good to take off all the warm clothes and just sit, especially knowing that I had three hours of standing and jumping ahead of me. Introductions were highlighted by streams of blue and gold smoke and the loudest cheers the student section has produced this year. EVERY seat was full, all the way up to the top of the upper deck. Attendance count showed that there were, in all, over 18,00 people at last night's game, the vast majority of them in blue and gold.

The first half was...disappointing. After scoring the game's fist points, Marquette fell serious victim to an inability to shoot and UW's three point prowess. Only our ability to get to the foul line kept us in the game, MU 27, UW 33 at half.

In the second half we looked like a new team. Defensively the guess hustled their butts off and on offense we scrapped for every point we could get. The point margin stayed within one or two scores for most of the half (which meant the students were jumping, screaming, cheering, or dancing the entire half) until Jerel McNeal hit a 3 pointer at the 5:26 mark to give us the lead. The Eagles held that lead for the rest of the game until the final whistle blew and the whole state knew by a 61-58 margin that the best team in Wisconsin sits between 9th and 22nd streets in Milwaukee.

Not many photos from inside the BC (terrible lighting conditions for my poor camera), but here are two videos to give you a glimpse of the atmosphere.





Finals week starts now...which means One Lost will be hitting the books. That also means I might post more as a way to blow off finals stress.

OneLost out...to the library to hit the books one last time in 2008

A Holiday Miracle - With Basketball!

Wow, a whole lot of blogable material today! After morning class and such Joe and I decided to go the "Miracle on the Mall"- a holiday tree lighting and charity benefit for a shelter for women suffering from alcoholism. My friend, Leah Todd was singing with the Gold 'n Blues a capella group, so going over to the mall in support seemed worth it.

Boy was it COLD. I would estimate, unscientifically, that the wind chill was probably between 5 and 10 degrees. I'm certainly not looking forward to standing in that for 6 hours tomorrow...more on that later. Anyhow, speakers from the school and the shelter both gave short speechs in front of Joan of Arc Chapel before they blessed the tree (perk of being a Jesuit school) and flipped the switch. The choir sang some more songs before we all headed into Cudahy Hall for cider, hot chocolate, and holiday cookies. I think that I heard someone say the Residents Hall Assc. made a $278 donation to the shelter from its fundraiser...not bad for college students, but not great either.

The slideshow below is a product of my new fascination with multimedia(again, spurred by Laura Nelson) and fancy little viewers (with sound now!) Press play for a slideshow effect or push your mouse toward the left and right sides of the box to scroll through. If you hit play, you will be serenaded by the sweet sounds of the Gold 'n Blues sing a mash-up of 12 Days of Christmas and Toto's "Africa."



Immeaditly following gorging our selfs with cookies, Joe, Matt, Joe ("Bruno"), and I went over to the AMU to hit up the Spirit Shop for a holiday sale and meet and greet with the basketball team. I was able to pick up some x-mas gifts on sale and also get photos with almost
the entire team. Another slideshow viewer, same rules apply, but this time the song is the fight song: "Ring Out A'Hoya" by the Marquette Pep Band (thanks to the Marquette Sports Wiki).



As for the aforementioned standing in the cold. I will be heading over to the Bradley Center at 1 pm tomorrow to line up to get into the Wisconsin-Marquette game. Tip-off: 8:30 pm. Yes folks, that's over 6 hours of waiting outside in line for a 2 hour basketball game. It's also the biggest one of young season. Not only are we instate rivals, we are basically ranked the same. In the AP Poll, Marquette is #25 and Wisconsin in unranked. In the USA Today poll, Marquette is unranked and Wisconsin is #22 (tied with Miami, FL). This one is going to be nuts. Did I mention I get a free T-Shirt...yeah, it's that good.

I will be vigorously twittering from line tomorrow, some of which have the potential to be funny (college kids + boredom + booze). Keep checking back at OneLost or have my twitters sent to your phone (follow the link the twitter bar). If you don't know what twitter is, here is my earlier post.

More pics from late November to come...also, I will make a post after the UM-MU game with photos and other such multimedia.

One Lost out...to go stand in the cold for basketball

Ring Out Ahoya: Marquette Basketball Update v. HBU and CSU

Here to provide you with brief game summery and lots of great photos for the Marquette Basketball Games you might have missed this weekend.

Friday was the home opener against Houston Baptist University, a former D-II team that is making the jump up to D-I this year. The game was never really close, with Marquette coasting to an easy 95-64 victory over the Huskies (a nickname that led to some Alaska jokes within the student section). The most noteworthy aspect of the blowout was that it marks the first regular season win for Buzz Williams, our new head coach. Buzz was an assistant last year under Tom Crean until Crean -"Judas"- jumped ship for Indiana this summer. I'm sure he's having fun with an unranked team while the Golden Eagles are a comfortable #16 or #17. Here is the game recap story from Marquette's Athletic Department website.

The view from the student section


Even Alaskan Bears like MU basketball!


Jon Plaza: pumped as usual


Nick and Liz: "It's game time!"


Timeout Festivities


Monday's game against Chicago State was much more close, but much less fun to watch. First of all, the student section, and for that matter, the rest of the Bradley center, was much more empty. The Monday evening tip-off and recent snowfall really killed attendance. Chicago State is much more highly touted than HBU and it showed. For the first half they were able to hang with Marquette, to a point. The second half of the game was PAINFULLY slow. The referees decided that any contact on either side of the ball warranted a whistle, leading to a mind-bending 68 free throws being hoisted on 56 fouls. CSU was able to pull within 9 pts. late in the second half, but a run from Marquette locked things up and all they had to do was wait out the myriad whistles. Final result, Marquette = 2-0 in 2008 after a 106-87 victory.


Lazar (32), Wes (23), and Dwight (12) set up some D


Dominic James hoists up a FT

Saturday's game is a big one against cross town rival University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Rumor has it that the Bradley Center is sold out and should be pretty packed. The matchup hasn't been particularly competitive in recent years, but there is some history to the two teams meeting (and a rumor of free T-Shirts for students that show up early!)

One Lost Out

A Small Reminder of Home

I was awoken this morning by the harsh sounds of my cell alarm jolting me out of not just sleep but out of a weekend haze that had been utterly therapeutic. It was two days of utter unproductively and lack of commitment, which, as it turns out, was just what I needed to reenergize me for the final push until Thanksgiving Break. A brief breakdown of how "stressful" my Saturday and Sunday were.

Friday Night: Basketball game vs. Houston Baptist at 7:30 (our regular season home opener). I screamed and jumped until my legs and voice were soar and went back to Straz around 10:00, singing bad love songs at the top of my lungs the whole way home (with other people...not by myself...)

Saturday: Woke up at 8:00 for an 8:30 crew workout. Was utterly SLAUGHTERED by said workout (no comment as to whether Friday night had anything to do with this). We rowed two 30 minute pieces, which other than just destroying my legs, also gave me quite the butt soreness from sitting on that tiny, hard seat. Got back to my room at 11, went to bed for an hour nap....that lasted until 3. Called Dad (like a good little bear cub), went to Cobeen for pizza to celebrate a friend's birthday (official birthday wishes to Dani), then went and saw Dark Knight for $2 at Varsity Theater.

Sunday: Wake up bright and early at 11, go to the Annex to watch the Broncos (another WIN, the week can't be so bad now), cloister myself in the library to spend the rest of the night writing an English paper. Much to my surprise, the paper sort of pops itself out in just over an hour and a half. Go back to Straz, spend the rest of the night doing other work or lounging to celebrate my success.

Basically, the last few days have been perfect, until that damn alarm rung this morning. I know I'm feeling better, both in terms of sleep and this pesky 3 week cold breaking, because I can actually conceive of myself being able to get through the week, which is a marked improvement over last week.

This morning also brought a stunning realization that I made mental note to write of. Back in Alaska, I could wake up every morning, look outside, and no matter what I saw in the sky, I knew it would be cold. Up until now, the opposite was true in Milwaukee. If it was sunny when I woke up that meant sweatshirt and a nice day. If it was cloudy, jacket because it was going to be chilly and windy. Today was the first day that it has been sunny and also brutally cold and windy. From the cozy confines of the Raynor Bridge (where I am currently plopped) the day looks no different from all those perfect summer ones I got to experience in August, but my computer tells me its 32 degrees out.

It's good to be back home...at least in weather.

We have another basketball game tonight against Chicago State, a fact that is doing much to brighten my day. I will be sure to post recap and pictures of both that game and the Houston Baptist one in the next day or so.

One Lost out

In Fact You're Fanatical

That title is an excerpt from the song "Free Radicals," by one of my favorite bands, The Flaming Lips. This has no real bearing on this post, other than the fact that it is a moderately clever way to introduce a post about the first Marquette Basketball game of the season (the student section is called the Fanatics (get it fanatics...we are so clever here).

So Marquette is a really cool place. Lots of cool people, fun activities, good teachers; an all around great place to be. Basketball games, however, take this school to a whole new level. Maybe its our lack of a football team, maybe its the cold weather, but we all go CRAZY for Dominic James and Co. This season is especially exciting, what with the Golden Eagles being ranked #16 by the AP Poll, the return of what could possibly be the best starting backcourt in the nations, and the debut of our new coach, Buzz Williams. Predictions have us going to the Sweet 16, maybe even the Elite 8; but of course we all know that Marquette is National Championship caliber.

Saturday was just an exhibition, the team's only one of the season, and as you may have read before, we were playing a terribly intimidating and fearsome opponent: Colorado State...Pueblo. Yes, the Thunderwolves are a D-II team, and yes they aren't even that great of a D-II team, but it is a game nonetheless and after three months of not having a football team to cheer for the student body was ready to get behind the Eagles. I got to the Bradley Center around 12:30 for a 1:00 game. This was MUCH later than I would have liked to arrive, but thanks to a late crew practice and the Straz printer's inability to print my ticket I was running a little behind. Luckily, my roommates showed up at 10:15 and stood in line for two hours to save me a front row seat...thanks guys.

Being an exhibition, the game wasn't very well attended by non-students. Marquette games are usually fairly sold out, especially once Big East Conference play starts. They played a really cool video showing Marquette highlights throughout the ages (hearty cheers for Doc Rivers and Dwayne Wade...chorus of boos for Tom Crean). Father Wild, the University President, came by our section and said hi to my row, shaking some hands. I also got to be on the jumbo-tron before the game when the asked us to cheer really wildly for the camera. Forced enthusiasm? Yes. Very cool? Also yes.

The game was a blowout (94-73), through CSU-P was a really good 3 point shooting team, which made them look mildly more respectable. Some excitement at the end when it looked like we might break 100 points, but Buzz did the classy thing and reigned in the offense in the last few minutes rather than adding to the blowout. The team looked great for the most part, minus some spotty defensive play and the occasional rushed attempt on the offensive end. I'm sure its tough to play your game when you are more talented and athletic than your opponent, so I'm banking that when the competition is more even, the team will focus more and play up to their opponent.

The photos should give you an idea of what being a fanatic is like. Toward middle of the game I found a way to change my camera settings and make the photos lighter (thanks Justin).

A lot of standing, jumping, chanting, cheering, and "Ringing out Ahoya" for 2+ hours makes a fanatic tired, so we enjoyed a post-game victory sub at Potbelly's.

Next game is Friday. Its a regular season, non-conference game against Houston Baptist; another cupcake matchup. Nevertheless, you can guess who will be there.

One Lost Rings Out Ahoya with an MU RA-RA...and out.

Halloween, Hip Hop, and History

Drummed up a nice alliterative title to compensate for the lack of posts this weekend on Monday. Hopefully that makes up for all the abandonment issues all my readers have.

Halloween was GOOD. As previously stated, I planned to go as a unicorn, but when the all white long johns fell through and all that was available was red (for free...thanks to Katie from crew) I had to adapt. Solution: Thing One and Thing Two costumes with the Joe Marinelli. I was helped by the fact that the spirit shop sells perfect wigs for the costumes that will also be worn during basketball season (first game is Friday!). I was going to bring my camera but as you will see I didn't exactly have pockets to carry it in. Other costume highlights included: another set of Thing One and Thing Twos, Rod from Hot Rod, The Pope (fitting at a Catholic school), a whole rookery of penguins, and (the best part) NOT ONE SARAH PALIN!

Halloween was followed by an 8 am wake up to be at the boathouse by 9 to take the dock out of the water for the winter and clean of all the boats. Months of sitting in the Milwaukee River had made our launches (the motor boat the coach uses) DISGUSTING and it took several hours with high powered chemicals to scrub the grime off. That fun was followed by a good natured game of two-hand touch/"aggressive" two-hand touch football on the Quad with the 17th floor guys (plus a few others). Which brings me to Saturday night and ATMOSPHERE.

I went with Katie, Maggie, and Elise to see the man from Minnesota that makes all the people go crazy. For those of you not in the know, Atmosphere is a hip-hop group from Minneapolis that I like...a lot. He played a great show (4.5 hours with two opening acts!) and the energy in the theater was amazing. The only downside was the gigantic, thoroughly drunk man that kept shoving everyone and making an ass of himself (sorry for the language) until we got security to kick him out of the stage area. I returned to the room, legs and back completely dead to watch an episode or two of Battlestar Galactica (let the nerd jokes begin) on my computer.

To complete the trifecta promised in the title I now come to History. Dr. McMahon is officially the coolest professor ever. Monday and today have been B-E-A-UTIFUL; temps in the 60s and 70s without a cloud in the sky. McMahon according moved our history lecture outside to the garden-plaza-fountain area in front of St. Joan of Arc Chapel. There is something really cool about learning about the Hundred Years' War and Joan of Arc while sitting in the sun in front of a church she actually prayed at during that time. Probably one of the most surreal "Marquette Experiences" I've had to far."

But before I get too excited about my history class, another Marquette Experience starts on Saturday. BASKETBALL SEASON! I will be at the Bradley Center, ticket in hand, at one o'clock to watch the 16th ranked Marquette Golden Eagles take on...(drum roll)...the Colorado State-Peublo...um....whatever they are. We have a cupcake out of conference schedule, but it will still be fun to put on my wig and indulge in some good old fashioned school spirit (after all, no football here to care about).

More posts to follow. Time to go take a nap (6 am crew practice today = yuck)



One Lost out.

Wasting Away in Marquetteville

After such a productive Saturday (including a 2 pm wake up), I decided to take today easy and get NOTHING done. 12 pm wakeup, followed by volleyball, followed by a nap, dinner, and a TINY bit of homework that I am still trying to get through.

Now that the Basketball-induced haze has blown over, I remembered the brief anecdote I was hoping to share on Saturday. At Friday's crew practice we somehow managed to take out the boat that was rigged for a crew composed primarily of midgets. As Coach Mr. Jim Peters so articulately put it, "This Boat was made for a WAY smaller crew." After getting over the obvious knock on our weight, we tried to practice but it just wasn't happening. After deciding to come into the dock, we took a page out of Top Gun and tried to make a flyby at about 45 mph. The result was a near crash into the dock at hull-shattering speeds that was narrowly avoided with some quick thinking from crew and coxswain alike. Just a perfect way to cap off the world's worst week of practice (though at least this one was bad in a way we could laugh at).

Things happening this week that I am looking forward to:
1) Atmosphere concert on Saturday at the Pabst Riverside Theater
2) Halloween and the debut of my unicorn costume
3) Finding out what Dr. McMahon will dress as in History on Friday
4) The result of the Ted Stevens trial
5) Finding out the new levels of pettiness that both McCain and Obama will sink to in the days before the election.

That's two posts in two days...progress is being made on bringing this blog back up to speed.

Madness hits Marquette

Camera has arrived, pictures are now being displayed in full and amazing cyber-color for your enjoyment

Tonight was Marquette Madness--translation: high school basketball pep rally on crack.

Doors opened at 6- meaning we had to line up outside the Al McGuire Center at around 5:15 just to get a decent spot in line. After snagging a free poster (or two...or three) we got our T-Shirts (yep, another free T-Shirt) and then waited for 45 minutes and the wind and (semi)cold weather. The guys from my floor managed to grab seats in the bottom-middle of the upper deck, so we waited there for another 30 minutes before the actual festivities started.

In a somewhat surreal moment, all the lights dimmed and people in Halloween masks and zombie costumes came down from the stands and did a perfect rendition of the "Thriller" dance. Then, they all took off their masks and who was it? None other than the Marquette Lady Golden Eagles Basketball Team! Very creative and fun entrance. Formal introductions to the players and a 10 minute scrimmage followed.

After learning about the Men's team staff, we were introduced to the players one by one, complete with pillers that shot fire into the air and sm, smoke machine. The school debuted the new video that will play before games, viewable here, along with other info. The team then had a "Dunk Fest," highlighted by a Wes Matthews between-the-legs slam. I stayed for the first half of the scrimmage but bailed at halftime.

All in all, a great event, high production value, and plenty of free stuff. Enjoy the photos.