The "Cool" Hunt - The Coastie Culture

I really didn't have to sit in one place for my hunt to realize what I was going to write about. All one has to do is walk down the street here in Madison to see there is "cool" all around us.

We've all had that one clothing fad at one point. The Starter Jacket comes to mind. Where I grew up in northern Wisconsin, they were all the rage. If you were someone, you had the Green Bay Packers Starter Jacket in about 1995 or 1996. Akin to my previous post, I'm going to talk about things that make me shake my head in saddness. This would in deed be the Coastie. Coastie Culture is creating a war in our midst. While I am not the first person to appreciate the sense of "style" they bring, some locals have endorsed this trend. Personally, the Coastie look is a stereotype that will go the way of the Starter Jacket soon enough.

I specifically remember this all started with some celebrtiy. Exactly who I do not know, but they were wearing the Ugg boots. Those forsaken pieces of sheepskin or whatever they are made of (souls of lost children) were on the feet of this celebrity. As we were talking about in class tuesday, this was the hub of the Ugg boot frenzy to begin. Of course, acting like any fad that has come before, if one person that is cool begins wearing it, then of course, you have to have it if you want to be cool. This is no doubt how the huge sunglasses thing took off too. I think it may have been Paris Hilton that did that one. (Of course, this is speculation, and a lot of disgruntled tendencies towards Coasties are not because of their clothes but only add to the loathing I have for them.) My point is, fads, like viral videos, act in the same way. The fickle nature of man never rests on something that is purely functional, but adds to your status in society. I am not immune, I've taken part in a bandwagon or two.

All I'm saying is that the Midwest seems to be years behind the fads. The Coasties brought this fad with them. This is just like a virus. Once people get sick of the clothing, the new fad will begin. It happened with bell bottoms, it happened with parachute pants, it happened with Starter Jackets, and it will happen with the boots and the glasses. People will eventually realize they look like a moron wearing those boots with strech pants. People will realize that those sunglasses only cover most of your face. If you keep going with the fad as a virus gimmick, it's like an immunity will build for the virus. The virus will have anti-bodies built up against it. But remember, viruses mutate against the anti-bodies and become something new, just like a new fad will eventually come along. There will always be fads like there will always be new viruses.

In the frame of "cool," the Coastie look is rebellious for the Midwest. Like I said before, the Midwest gets fads 10 years too late. The Coastie look was new and different. But, at the same time, like all other fads, it's not "cool" because you begin to look like everyone else. Everyone else gets infected with the virus. So, a fad is only as cool as less than the majority follows it.

Free Time! - My Opinions on FF6

Free posts are sweet. It gives me chance to just talk, and ramble, and be as absolutely wordy as I want to be.

Lately, I've been playing a lot of Final Fantasy 12 as part of my "Senioritis Regimine." The newest incarnation of the rather ironically named series is slowly becoming one of my favorites. It's also lead me to wonder, which one is my favorite? Not counting Tactics and 11, which I have never played, there are aspect of each that I appreciate. But, on a whole, I would have to say 6 is my favorite.

Over the summer, in between work, differential equations, storm chasin, watching wrestling, and being as lazy I could possibly be, I played a lot of 6. What's great about the game is that there really isn't 1 main character. There are in actuality 14 playable characters, all of which have their own fleshed out story. Some stories are more interesting than others. Some of the characters involved are a king, a ninja, a kung fu artisit, a feral child abonded at birth, a half-human half-esper woman, a yeti, a mime, and a Moogle, a character native to the series. Each character has a story that is really interesting and adds to the total end of the story.

But, what really makes the game is the main villian of the game. In short, using the source of all magic in the world, destroys it. He is the only villian in the series history to do such. While he doesn't physically destroy the planet, he does end up rearranging continents, killing most of the denizens of the planet at the same time. Of course, the 14 main characters don't die (but one will if you don't save him), because that would ruin the game. But, as one character one year after the armageddon, you round up all of your friends (while riding an airship with the coolest overworld music of the series plays in the background) and defeat the villian, who has ascended to god-status.

Recently it has been re-released, but was first released on the SNES years ago. While its graphics aren't as good as they are now, the game plays better than most out today. The music is amazing, the gameplay is great, and the story is terrific. You owe it to yourself to play.

Sweet, Sweet #4 - When Dinosaurs Roamed!

When I think of academic writing, I think of one dreaded assignment: the essay. Quite literally the bane of my existence, the essay has drilled holes into my ever loving soul. I'm also beginning to see that the essay, to the advanced people of society, may partially be relegated to status of "dinosaur of the past" soon: extinct.

Let me explain. Already, in the few weeks I've taken this class, I'm beginning to think that conventional writing is going the way of the dodo. I mean, look at this assignment. It's not a classic, 5 paragraph essay. It's well thought out response (read: rant) in a blog, an unconventional electronic journal. Even in my weather classes, everything we do is web based: model data gathering and maintaining a website are key things we learn. My point is this: in every facet of our lives, we are dealing with new electronic media that wasn't around 10 years ago. If you want to be on the cutting edge, and excel in the many professions out there in that big, tough world of ours, you need to know the latest ways of communicating EFFICIENTLY.

Efficiency is key. In today's culture, many people in society cannot communicate efficiently. Whether it be poor grammar, poor spelling, poor vocabulary, or just being illiterate in general, so many in today's world do not excel in life. The key is not only teaching the new forms of communication, but fixing the problems with ESSENTIALS of communication. You know, like the difference between "its" and "it's." (Oh, it burns me up when people don't get that one.)

So, here's my solution to the proposed question. First, clean up the teaching plans of high school. Make grammar essential to passing. Then, when it comes to modes of conveying words, teach the old modes of communication, such as the essay. While the essay is still used in the science community, today's media is ruled by the blog and the website. Teach HTML and such in college, maintain a website, keep a blog, network with others. Admit it to yourself, the only people that make it FAR in life are college graduates, so teach advanced topics such as these in college, where only the advanced students learn them. Teach basics earlier, not in college. Today, I think to much time is dedicated in college to the basics... some of which are never fixed.

So there it is: the essay, my nemesis, is now relegated to a relic; it is now a basic idea taught to high school students to prepare them for today's world of high technology. We use the essay basics in all writing that we do, but lord know I never want to write an ACTUAL essay ever again.

My Ring Name is JC Superfreak

You know what I like? Seagram's 7. Other than that, I like pro wrestling. Yes, you read that correctly, pro wrestling. Now, many of you may remember the boom that most of us experienced in middle school, circa 1997-1999. Some of these names may ring a bell: Steve Austin, The Rock, Goldberg, Bret Hart. While most of us have fallen away from today's wrestling product, I have enjoyed it since seeing my first televised show in November 1999. My point is this: Don't critique a current day wrestling fan due to his or her enjoyment of it. I believe that wrestling is just as entertaining as any current day sitcom, and is much better than any of the schlock than what's on MTV. (If I see another 16 year old whiny girl want a freakin' massive party...)

First off, if your female, there's plenty of beefcake. Sounds shallow, but if I happen to be watching on a Monday night, and my girlfriend happens to be over, and a wrestler by the name of John Cena appears on the screen, she's quasi-hypnotized. The man isn't the best wrestler in the world (neither was Hulk Hogan, but look how that turned out), but he's got the look. There's plenty of fine looking guys out there for you to ogle.

Secondly, for the males out there, there are many scantily clad women. I think that's all that needs to be said.

But, for all people, there is the athletic prowess. Every non-wrestling fan schmo in the universe is going to tell you that "wrestling is fake." The correct thing to say is "wrestling is predetermined." Yes, the wrestlers know who will win at the end of the match, but in between, they ad-lib it. Some of the moves they do look cool, and are legitimately DANGEROUS. If you ever have the chance to see the Main Event of WCW Sin 2001 and see Sid Vicious break his tib and fib leg bones jumping off the top rope, don't do it. It is the WORST thing I have ever witnessed in my life. Absolutely disgusting. Sure, the punches don't land straight on, but if they did, everyone would be hurt all the time, and that doesn't leave much of a roster to work with.

My point is this: Wrestling, in its base form, as entertainment, is great. All you have to do is suspend your disbelief, just as you do for ANY drama, comedy, or movie, for a few hours, and let the entertainment overwhelm you. You can make any homo-erotic touching comment you like. Wrestling will always be something I make time for on my Monday nights.

Hold 'Back' for score

Well, guess I have to start somewhere. I've tried the whole blog/journal/xanga/whatever thing so many times. Now I have to do it for my English 201 class. Hopefully I will actually keep doing it afterward. Everyone should be privy to what I have to say. It's quite important.