Go Wings

Game 7 and I have to work. I think that's ok. I'm kind of scared to watch the game anyway. I just hope we get an Original Six Western Conference Finals with both Detroit and Chicago.

The beat goes on

I've made some good progress on Chapter 5 this so far this week. I've got about 8 pages already in about 2.5 days of work. Not too bad if I do say so myself. It's amazing how helpful a little outlining can be.

The most challenging thing as of late is trying to find some work for the summer. I managed to find a gig for the first 3 weeks of May proctoring law school exams at John Marshall and Loyola. Once that's done I've got contacts at two different temp agencies so hopefully one of those will provide something for the remainder of the summer. One of the agencies set up the proctoring gig and the other was a contact through one of my buddies.

The most important development of late has been, of course, the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Wings made short work of Columbus in the first round, but every series has been good so far. The Caps/Rangers series has been amazing. I'm looking forward to game 7 tonight. After Ovechkin's goal in game 5 I'm hoping for some more Russian fireworks. Out west the Ducks/Sharks series was a real surprise, simply because the Sharks were so terrible. The Ducks' forecheck and backcheck were too much for the Sharks to handle. I'm a little worried about facing Jonas Hiller in the next round, but at the same time the Ducks have been playing at such a high level for about 6 weeks now I don't know how long they can keep up that pace - especially with only 2-3 days rest between series. I'm looking forward to the next round and hoping that Lord Stanley makes its way back to hockeytown.

Rocky Mountain High

This past weekend I had the pleasure of going to Colorado to see my family out there. It's no small secret that when I finish my degree I want to move to Colorado and this trip only added fuel to that fire. The attraction of family (for both Katie and I) is strong, but I also like the climate there and the proximity to outdoors activities (both summer and winter) and the frequency of musical acts I like playing in and around the Denver area.

I flew in on Thursday evening and my cousin Peter picked me up at the airport. On our way to his house we stopped and picked up the skis I had reserved for the following day. We stopped at a liquor store that had an awesome selection of microbrews from all over the western united states. I settled on the Obsidian Stoute and Moose Drool brown ale. Both were delicious. After Peter's rec league basketball game (in which he provided the bulk of his team's scoring and was perfect from the line) we went to his neighbor's house (with beer in tow) to watch the BCS Championship game, which had been Tivo'd. I was disappointed that Florida won, but oh well.

Friday was spent skiing. We headed out to Loveland and spent almost an entire day out on the slopes. There was a lot of good powder and for the hack skier like myself, it was a pleasant and enjoyable day. I'm by no means a extreme skier, and at one point we got lost in an avalanche area. That took a while to get out of, and was quite strenuous work, but that just means the beer break afterwards was warranted.

Saturday we went up to Fort Collins to see my Grandma and my Aunt. For a frail old lady, my Grandma sure has an iron tight grip. After visiting with Grandma for about 30-45 minutes, we went over to my Aunt's house for lunch. After lunch we headed over to the New Belgium Brewery to try to get a tour, but once we got there all the day's tours had ended. We settled for the brief self-guided tour and the free samples. Not only was the beer good (this is the place that makes Fat Tire) but they brew house is really cool, and they give you a fair amount of each beer to try. Once we finished there we hurried back to Denver since we had tickets for the University of Denver/Michigan Tech hockey game. The game was really entertaining. It was tied 1-1 going into the third period, which was really the best one. The game got really fast and physical in the third, and DU came out on top 3-1. After the game we went to a karaoke bar and hung out. My cousin Adam was encouraging me to do a tune and I finally relented. I was one of the last folks to go at the end of the evening and did Paul Simon's "Late In The Evening," which seemed to go over well. After returning to Peter's house and raiding the cookie dough, we called it a night.

Following a whirlwind Saturday, a restful Sunday was a welcome respite. We went to Church in the morning (my first time in years), the grocery store, and then watched football for the rest of the afternoon (a nice little Sunday indeed). In the evening my cousin Adrienne brought her kids over to Peter's so I'd get a chance to see them before I left the following morning. I helped Abby with her homework and spent some time reveling in the wonder of youth with both her and her brother Garrett. A couple of good kids there.

We woke up Monday morning to a mild blizzard, but luckily my plane wasn't delayed. Of course that same evening, we got pretty much the same weather in Chicago. Apparently it was inescapable. All-in-all, it was a whirlwind weekend, but it was a great opportunity to see my cousins, whose company I really enjoy, and for the state of Colorado to further endear itself to me.

Updates

It's been a while, but things have been relatively so and there's not a ton to relate. December, as a month-long vigil to consumerism, definitely has it's distractions, but I've still managed to get a some good work done on "chapter 2," which stands at 26 pages including today's efforts.

This month's activities have been numerous. Back-to-back Holiday parties, one for Katie's work and one for school took quite the toll, although the former did most of the damage. Katie didn't make it to the second one, if that's any indicator. Ha! For the holidays we went to Katie's Dad's house in Maryland. We left on Friday the 19th and had to fly back on Christmas Day, which is never a pleasant prospect, but it could have been worse. While in MD we took a couple of trips down to DC. On Monday, 22nd Katie and I went to the National Mall and checked out the Lincoln Memorial (always impressive) and then walked past the Washington Memorial on the way to find an ATM and the subway. The wind was blowing really hard and it was really cold, so I was kind of disappointed we didn't stop to look at the new WWII memorial that was unveiled a few years ago, but I know we'll be going back at some point and the prospect of frostbite wasn't that appealing at that time. The following day I found the WWI Victory column which is right next to the White House. Katie, her Dad, brother, and I went to see the National Christmas tree and all of the trees decorated from each state. I figured the Michigan tree would be full of pink slips and broken GM and UAW symbols, but instead is was some crappy decorations from elementary school kids in Three Rivers. Go figure. In general, it was nice to get out of the city and be able to stretch our legs for a few days. To say that every chance I get to leave our tiny 1BR place for the comforts of a larger venue fuels my desire to move is an understatement. I just need to crank out this dissertation faster.

One of the highlights of this holiday season is that Katie and I have managed to get rooftop tickets for the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field. Needless to say I am pretty pumped for the game and hope that the Wings put a good walloping on the Blackhawks, but really, it's just great to be able to witness such an historic event. I ordered the Wings' Winter Classic Toque, which arrived today; Coupled with my new Red Wings sweatshirt and Pavel Datsyuk jersey, I think I'm ready for the game. More details on that to follow though.

So much going on

A lot going on this weekend, but the main thing is that I'm back in Michigan this weekend visiting the old haunts, as it were. The most significant revelation game tonight with my buddy Joe. Both avid hockey fans, we sought a local game to attend since I was in town. The Wings were in Florida and everyone else seemed to have away games as well. Then Joe remembered the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL. Let me tell you, I understand the appeal of minor league baseball to baseball fans (which I certainly am not). The Whalers game was awesome. They play in an arena that seats probably 5000, have $5 tall boys of Labatt Blue, and a great on ice product. We had a lot of fun watching the game and the team played well. The Whale ended up winning 5-1, with the last two goals being real beauties. Needless to say, Joe and I are both hooked. The OHL is awesome. As much as I enjoy going to NHL games, I had a ton of fun at the OHL game tonight. It was so laid back, inexpensive, and enjoyable that I just had to mention it. So if you have minor league hockey in your area do yourself a favor and check it out. You won't regret it.

Fun Fact

Today in 1869 the very first intercollegiate football game was played between, what are today, Rutgers and Princeton. This has since led to the current college football season in which the University of Michigan has made a mockery of this American institution.

Steady as she goes

Just a few updates from the past week. On the dissertation front things are progressing steadily. I've been both going through material and starting to write. I put together a brief outline today about what I think the first chapter will look like based on everything I've seen the past few months. I'm trying to decided where to make a chapter break. The primary period of concern is the interwar period, but the entire project goes to the present. For the interwar period it seems easiest to just break down the chronology with one chapter for the 1920s and one for the 1930s. I could stretch the chronology of the first chapter from 1918-1932, and then the second from 1932-1939, with de Valera's ascension to power in 1932 as the watershed moment in the interwar years. I'm still trying to figure out which chronology to use. I'll have to look at the material from the 1930s more thoroughly before I made a final decision though. This week and last week I was going through the 1920s. So time will tell. Is it lazy to just break things down by decade?

What else has been going on? Let's see. The Michigan game on Saturday was an absolute travesty. Given the weather and the fact that ND weren't working with a brand new offense, I'm not terribly surprised that Michigan lost. Any team that fumbles the ball 7 (!!!) in a single game and loses 4 of them deserves to lose. Hopefully the bye this weekend will help big Blue to get their heads out of their collective asses against Wisconsin.

I'm also playing bass in a band now. We have a show this coming Sunday. Not the best night of the week to play a show, especially since it's at 11:15pm, but any excuse to play is fine with me. I'll probably have some reflections on the gig next week.

... and the band played on.

When I was overseas it became abundantly clear to me how people could spend a solid year in research. Now, it has become equally clear as to why it takes folks so long to go through everything. The dictation software I have works pretty well, however, I don't see myself relying on it exclusively. It's certainly helpful when taking notes on material, but there's something to be said for actually typing out text that necessitates thought. One other piece of advise I got this past week (or should I say, received again) was to start writing. Don't worry about going through every single little piece of research. As you write you'll have a better idea of what, exactly, you need, which prevents spending ungodly hours trolling through material you probably won't need. The goal is to chip away at the stone. And that's certainly what I'm trying to do!

In other news. The Red Bull Flutag was in Chicago this past weekend. I went down to check it out with some friends. It was entertaining, but we didn't stay for the whole thing. There were a ton of people there and the novelty wore off after a while. By attending the Flutag I missed a good portion of the Michigan game. They looked pretty good when I left, but as I read the game recap it seemed pretty clear that this was not maintained throughout the rest of the game. I watched a bit of the Notre Dame game, and they looked just as pathetic. Apparently a fourth quarter rally enabled them to beat a team they were trailing for most of the game and who had lost to Cal Poly the week before (my parent's alma mater; No offense Dad!). Hopefully, the UM quarterbacks will pull their heads out of their assess long enough to put together a win this week.

Finally, I actually watched sizable portions of both the Republican and Democratic national conventions. I have to admit that I tend to lean republican, but really consider myself a moderate. In the present election, however, I have no idea why anyone would want to vote for John McCain. I felt like writing something following his speech and that of his proposed veep, but refrained. Perhaps that was a good thing. It's disturbing that the republicans are trying to make this an election about personalities, again, while Obama addresses the issues and offers concrete proposals. As someone who hopes to work in the education field, I cannot understand how anyone in that industry would vote republican given the current education planks in their platform. Granted, I like the idea of small government, but in some sectors I think it's beneficial to have the backing of Uncle Sam: education, health care, and the environment. Those are areas I can support "big government." One might notice that all of these are long-term issues, that contribute to social well-being. Shouldn't be a surprise there. These are all areas that have systemic problems, need to be addressed quickly (i.e. the health care system needs to be blown up and started from scratch if you ask me), and, unfortunately, will probably continue to be ignored until it's too late. Anything beyond these issues, I prefer small government.

A long year for Michigan football

The Rich Rodriguez era did not start off well. For all the off-season hype about Rich Rod and his vaunted spread offense, when it came to game day the Wolverines did a massive face plant. Michigan fans knew this was coming. The exodus of players to graduation and the NFL draft after the 07-08 campaign would have made this season challenging for ANY coach. But to usher in a complete overhaul, most people knew that disaster would ensure despite their hopes that things might be deceptively better than projected.

Enter Utah. As we saw in 2004 with Urban Meyer calling the shots and Alex Smith (and his small hands) under center, Utah is not just a schlep of a mid-major. They're a solid team similar to App State last year (a team that was coming off of a Div 1A championship, a fact that got lost in the upset rhetoric). That said I'm not surprised that Michigan lost on Saturday. However, watching the game was very painful. Not just because my beloved Wolverines looked anemic on offense, but because of the commentators. I could rant and rave about my distaste for sports commentators for hours. The most annoying moment, to me, occurred during the first half when the commentators were slurping Michigan's offense, which had never really gotten off the ground, at the same time that the producers put up a graphic of both teams' total yardage. Utah had well over 100 yards total offense and Michigan had 35. If it weren't for penalties committed by the Utes, Michigan's 4th quarter comeback would have been for naught. It's foolish to think that Big Blue will get those kinds of breaks every week. Personally, I wanted to seem more Sam McGuffie. When he did get the ball he looked alright. Granted he's no Mike Hart, but he's not running behind the same offensive line either. I'm intrigued to see how he develops in Ann Arbor. But right now, we need a quarterback. Sheridan threw A LOT of near interceptions, and Threet was a bit better, but not a whole lot. I wouldn't be surprised if Threet starts next week though, based on his 4th quarter performance. Sheridan looked like he was trying to be Pat White out there instead of just managing the game. Before the season started Michigan fans knew that a QB would be at the top of the list for next year's recruiting crop. Frankly, I'm surprised Pryor DIDN'T come to UM. It's one thing to sign on to a program that's already winning, but it's another to be the spark, or the cornerstone, that brings a team back to their rightful place of prominence.

I do have to give props to Utah's offensive line. They protected their quarterback really well and allowed him to thread the needle with his passing. It's not a stretch for Utah to win the Mountain West title this year, assuming they stay healthy.

Hopefully next week, when we play a weak Miami, Ohio, team Big Blue will settle into their offense a bit more so they're ready for Notre Dame in week three. After the absolute domination we've had over ND the past few years, it would suck to let that get away now. In reality, we're still at least another year or two away from getting back to being a consistent top 5 or top 10 team. So long as that happens, these growing pains will be worth it. As for this year, I'll be happy with 7-5 or 8-4.

Don't Mess With... Cork?

Cork is rebel country. The People's Republic of Cork. I gotta get me one of them t-shirts. It should come as no surprise that a large number of men from Cork enlisted in the British Army during the First World War given Cork's role as Ireland's "second city." Furthermore, it is also not surprising that there is little information here on the men who served in the British Army. At least little that I've found so far. The strength of Republicanism in Cork would probably prevent veterans with weak political allegiances from vocalizing their past service for fear of reprisal, especially in the early 1920s.

Oh well. Such is life. I spent two days at the Cork City and County Archive and have about 7 pages worth of typed notes to show for it. None of which is very meaty. I did get an idea for another project based on one of the sources there, but that does me little good for the current undertaking. Instead of wasting more time at the CCCA, I'm moving on and by moving on I mean going back to newspapers. This time I'll head to the Cork County Library because I can get more time on the microfilm readers. It's about a 15-20 minute walk from where I'm staying, so it's probably a little bit closer than the city library. Plus you don't have to pay to use their computers there. What library makes people pay to use their computers? Isn't that the point of the library, to get those basic services for free? (Ok, so libraries serve a much broader and significant purpose, but you know what I mean.)

On the bright side, the weather here in Cork was much improved over yesterday when all it did was rain whenever I set foot outside with 20mph winds to boot. I think tomorrow is going to be crappy too, but I believe things should shape up a bit on Saturday when I go see Christy Moore perform. Now THAT will definitely be a good time.

I've got the remainder of this week to do research here and next week as well. I have a feeling that unless I find a real gold mine next week when I go to the Boole Library, I won't need to come back to Cork in the future - at least for research purposes. It's a shame. It's a nice city. I like it much better than Dublin. I'd rather work here, but the sources, or lack thereof I should say, makes such a proposition unrealistic.


On to another subject: sports. I've never really been a soccer fan. It's been growing on me since the last World Cup, but I can only get into "good" games. Some soccer games are like watching the 1995 New Jersey Devils, and that's just plain painful. Yes they won the Cup, but they set the NHL back 10 years in the process. See, nothing good comes from New Jersey. Anyway, like I mentioned before the European Cup, or Euro 2008, or whatever it's called is going on now. I've watched a handful of games and the number one thing that stick out to me are the announcers. It's no secret that I hate most sports announcers in the States. Outside of Mickey Redmond, I'm hard pressed to find someone I actually like. CBC is good for hockey because the commentators don't talk over the entire game. The same is true of soccer in Europe. The commentators basically tell you who has the ball. That's it. There is NO discussion of players' personal history, trade history, or any other hogwash your typical American commentator spouts off. There are no stupid graphics or sound clips of the player shown simultaneously with the game. No. It's just the game. The commentators respect the audience enough to let them watch in peace. It's a welcome change to the CONSTANT banter of sports commentary in the States. Since I watch a lot of hockey, I can say that the various teams on Versus are atrocious. The same is true of ESPN's coverage of lacrosse - professional and college. Most of that is due to the verbal vomiting of Quint Kessenich. For lax, I understand why they do it - not a lot of people are familiar with the sport and the players. But for those that ARE familiar, it's like running your ears over a cheese grater. Sportscasters pandering to the lowest common denominator gets really old, really quickly.

Futbol, not football (Otherwise known as soccer)

This weekend I decided to take it easy. The National Library was only open from 9:30-1pm, so I figured by the time I got there an got settled it'd be time for me to go anyway. Tomorrow will bring a full day there regardless. So I went into the city to knock a few things off of my To Do list. Namely, I went to Leo Burdock's Fish & Chips. I got a huge piece of fish and fries. It was amazing and was the first filling meal I've had in a week. Living off Peanut Butter & Jelly gets a bit old. (Even the Ramen noodles here are a rip off - almost $2US for a single package! Are you kidding me? $2 will get 20 in the States!!! But I digress.) Having gone to the city with my Finnish roommate, she wanted to get a pint after the Fish & Chips since Burdocks is a take-out only place. So we walked around Grafton St. and got a pint. Then we found our way to what is the closest thing to a sports bar in Dublin (I would assume) to watch the European Cup or whatever the current soccer (futbol, not football) tournament is called. Sweden was playing Spain and it was actually a pretty entertaining game. We had gone to watch The Netherlands vs. France on Friday evening and that game wasn't very exciting. But it was definitely an experience to watch soccer at a crowded bar in Europe. The people here really love their football. By the time the game was over we had spent enough time in the city and headed back to UCD. I spent the remainder of the evening looking through the Irish Times online archive and found some useful articles. So the day wasn't a complete academic waste!

Sunday looks like it will be pretty lazy. No real plans for the day, just taking it easy. We'll see.

Bring on Lord Stanley!

The Wings are back in the Stanley Cup finals! As one of about 10,384 who actually cares about the sport of hockey, I am pumped. The entire playoffs have been awesome this year and a Wings/Pens final should be a real show stopper. I think it's safe to say that Chris Osgood has solidified himself as a clutch goaltender and has proved he's a no. 1 guy in Detroit. Good man, Ozzie! Here's to another Stanley Cup in the Motor City!

Also, Syracuse men's lacrosse is back in the Final Four this upcoming weekend. They face Virginia in the semifinals - a team they lost to by one goal in overtime earlier this year. Hopefully the Orange can avenge their loss earlier in the season.