the girl who loved joe ganz

[intertribal]

excerpted from the Stephen King novel, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon:

Pete liked Mo Vaughn, and their Mom was partial to Nomar Garciaparra, but Tom Gordon was Trisha's and her Dad's favorite Red Sox player. Tom Gordon was the Red Sox closer; he came on in the eighth or ninth inning when the game was close but the Sox were still on top. Her Dad admired Gordon because he never seemed to lose his nerve -- "Flash has got icewater in his veins," Larry McFarland liked to say -- and Trisha always said the same thing, sometimes adding that she liked Gordon because he had the guts to throw a curve on three-and-oh (this was something her father had read to her in a Boston Globe column). Only to Moanie Balogna and (once) to her girlfriend, Pepsi Robichaud, had she said more. She told Pepsi she thought Tom Gordon was "pretty good-looking." To Mona she threw caution entirely to the winds, saying that Number 36 was the handsomest man alive, and if he ever touched her hand she'd faint. If he ever kissed her, even on the cheek, she thought she'd probably die.

So I introduced my mom to Battlestar Galactica tonight - we watched the three-hour miniseries, all the way through.  It was wonderful.  My mom's not a sci-fi type exactly (neither am I for that matter) but she admits she got into it.  BSG is just impossible not to get into, not to sink your teeth into.  At the end when they reveal "Sharon" to be a Cylon model she was like, "ohhh" in a sad voice.  Ha ha ha, me and my mom.  I wish I had a huge television to watch it on, though.  The battles in the miniseries are amazing, especially lined with drums.  BSG is like a war dance; I think that's why I love it.

 Just a couple football bites today: 
1.  Go Eagles!  -- 1) Go Buckhalter, Husker pride!  2) Go Bradley, Husker pride!  3) Donovan McNabb, you are... insane.  But that's okay, because at least you don't advertise cologne in a cowboy hat.  Plus you say things like this about how you were told your team would qualify for the playoffs: "I was told by the janitor.  We have a pretty good relationship."  4) Sorry you had a sucky day, Eli.  I guess you and Peyton can watch the Super Bowl together at home?  I say that with well wishes, guys - this just wasn't your year.  

2.  Suh is staying at Nebraska for his senior year instead of going in for the NFL draft.  He was the only player that got any national recognition this year (the Seattle Times had his listed as one of the top 5 performances of the bowl season!).  Lucky for us, but a smart decision by the boy named Suh too.  The first reason he mentioned for coming back, though?  "You can’t put a price on graduating from college."  Good man.  

3.  Can you believe Tebow thanked his "players" after winning the national championship?  Not... not teammates.  He thanked his players.  And not "playas" in the gangster sense either (hey!  he's a good Christian boy!).  Just players.  His players.  Wow.  I am so glad he's coming back for his senior season.  *googly eyes*

Comments

[royinpink.livejournal.com]

lol at the bit about Donovan McNabb, even though I have no clue who that is.

I've never seen BSG, at least not in recent memory. I'd probably like it. I'm a sucker for that sort of thing.

[intertribal.livejournal.com]

All you can do at Donovan McNabb is LOL. He's the Philadelphia QB and he's freaking weird. The first thing he says after he wins the game is "God is good." He also advertises for Campbell's Soup with his mother and she's like, "Donovan!!" LOL.

Yeah, you probably would. I'm not really a sucker for that sort of thing (okay, so I've seen a lot of space sci-fi... doesn't mean I'm a sucker for it) and I just turned it on in Surabaya one day and was just like, hypnotized by the television. Ha ha.

[royinpink.livejournal.com]

I just watched the clip...he picked up the phone? Like while the game was going on? You get penalties for that? wtf.

Haha, I'm a sucker for certain aspects of sci-fi/fantasy. I'm just that kind of nerd, I guess. I used to just devour books like that, would read them instead of sleeping or working...and yet I knew all the time that most of them were complete crap. Sigh. Don't understand myself sometimes.

[intertribal.livejournal.com]

The Eagles were about to win the game. His run took him to the Giants sideline, and he picked up the Giants phone (the one the Giants coaches in the booth use to talk to Giants players to give them advice). It was posturing, and he got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Hey, if you like it, you like it. Me, I just don't devour books at all.

[royinpink.livejournal.com]

Ohhhh, I get it.

No, it must speak to the sins of my unconscious! Seriously, though, I think there's a reason I'm drawn to the things I am. The things I fall for and the ones I don't... That's interesting that you don't devour books (though I kinda knew this about you). I wonder what you mean, then, about finding movies enjoyable? Because that sort of captivation is what I mean...

[intertribal.livejournal.com]

The sins of your unconscious? Yeah, I think I'm drawn to some movies the way you're drawn (or were drawn) to some books. And I'm sure there is a reason for what we're drawn to.

I used to devour books, when I was in elementary school, but after I started watching better movies (i.e., not Indian/Chinese/Indonesian shit) that changed. That's part of the reason Jurassic Park has stayed with me, I think - it was the first movie I saw that was actually a good movie, that showed me what a good movie could be.

[royinpink.livejournal.com]

this...this is why i must think about what i'm drawn to. LOL.

[intertribal.livejournal.com]

That's pretty funny.

But why would you not want an Aragorn??? It's ARAGORN.

[royinpink.livejournal.com]

I mean, Aragorn is hot and all, and as far as leads go, he's definitely more my sort, but remember how I'm a Piccolo sort of girl?

[intertribal.livejournal.com]

Granted. Isn't that funny how our preferences when we were 12 are still reflected now? But would you really choose Gandalf over Aragorn?

Ha ha, that's awesome that you think he's more your sort as far as leads go. He is actually rather unconventional for a lead, but I think that's because Viggo Mortensen is made of win.

[royinpink.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't say that. The girl in the video was, but of a "younger" Gandalf, whoever that is... Anyway, what actually disturbs me is the heroic, save-the-world, hot chicks yeah aspects of 'nerd' taste. If fantasy is an escape from reality, what does that say about me? But I clearly worry about this more than anybody else.

'Course I like Aragorn. How can you not like Aragorn? Liv Tyler, on the other hand, I hate.

[intertribal.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that disturbs me about "nerd" taste too. Which is why I don't consider myself a nerd and I don't generally befriend "nerds" as I would classify them. And why I don't really get into the whole revenge-of-the-nerds thing, because it's like, man, MUST you win the cheerleader? MUST YOU. It's all so vicarious. Uh... if fantasy is an escape from reality, I don't know what that says about you. That you secretly want to slay the dragon and save the princess the way all the cool kids do?

Really? I have no opinion on Liv Tyler the actress but I very much support the Aragorn/Arwen pairing. Is that what you mean by Liv Tyler? Because if so, we have a problem. LOL.

[royinpink.livejournal.com]

I can't not consider myself a nerd though...and then, they're so pathetic, that it hardly seems the same thing. Like, the cheerleader would own them. Of course, it still bothers me when guys buy into that, whatever the power dynamic. But I don't think all nerds necessarily go for that...but then, that's why the bit at the end of the video cracks me up. Lol, if only the cool kids slayed dragons! Ahaha. I mean...I definitely see how the misunderstood, nerdy, magical powers that secretly are capable of amazing things is totally my fantasy--'fuck you man, I'm awesome like you don't even know'. And I think as I've grown, it's become a bit more obvious that, well, I'm not going to achieve that by idolizing characters in books, now, am I.

Oh, it's just a Liv Tyler thing. I don't remember much about Arwen.

[royinpink.livejournal.com]

on the other hand, maybe it was good for me growing up. someone saying that you could be cool in an unconventional way. the thing is maturing enough that you don't need to 'be cool' anymore.

[intertribal.livejournal.com]

the thing is maturing enough that you don't need to 'be cool' anymore.

this.

[royinpink.livejournal.com]

it's amazing how few people, nerds and non-nerds alike, achieve this. or how long it takes them.

[intertribal.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's like that X-Files episode D.P.O. And Carrie, and all of that mess. Yeah, I like the end of the video too. The problem is the nerd guys can buy into that, but wtf do the nerd girls buy into? They're totally not marketed to at all.

Arwen's not very memorable, really.

[royinpink.livejournal.com]

D.P.O.?

Nerd girls? Hm...Sailor Moon. Ahahahahaha... I think nerd girls actually have more freedom in this respect. I'm glad they aren't marketed to.

Aw, poor thing.

[royinpink.livejournal.com]

This conversation reminds me of one of our last Prosody classes. There's this girl whose contributions to conference are really tangential and annoying, but she's very confident, one of the only girls who talks. Anyway...linguistics attracts nerds, you know. And we had a number of nerdy guys in the class. One of them has very long hair and almost always ties it back with a scrunchie.

Anyway, we were going around and telling Steve whether we planned to talk to him about our research or write a paper, and what about, because he was sick and delirious and class was pretty much shot. And Wes told the topic of his presentation, and this girl was like, "Ooh, I want in on that. Can I come?" then in that coquettish sort of voice, "I'll bring you a scrunchie, Wes." He was all like, "I have enough scrunchies, thanks." And Steve said, "You're in a mood today, aren't you." She did this to a couple other people too. It was odd.

[royinpink.livejournal.com]

i should add that she's pretty and fashionable, in a very eclectic hippie-ish but rich way. and yet, she's not quite like anybody else. also doesn't shave. always wears very bright colors. is insane.

[intertribal.livejournal.com]

she sounds like a migraine.

[intertribal.livejournal.com]

So she was trying to attract the nerd faction by being the hot girl? (in massively oversimplified terms)

That is odd, though.

[royinpink.livejournal.com]

oh, she was clearly teasing. i think she just wanted to get him to let her hear his presentation and/or do what she wanted him to.

she's bizarre.

[madali.livejournal.com]

Some of the scenes in BSG combined with the drum soundtrack just excite me so much.

[intertribal.livejournal.com]

It's the best battle soundtrack I've heard.