10 Minute Rule

Another long night of getting right for the semester. The beginning of a school year is a time of great stress and bonkers crazy chaos. I made it through the better part of the storm with my classes intact and my sanity as well. Tonight as  I prepare the second unit of my online class, I find myself thinking about planning for the rest of the school year. Seems high time to get back ahead of the game. Of course, I said that last week and I’m right back here again.

The culprit this time is fantasy football. I spent a bit of time preparing for and then drafting a  fantasy football squad that is primed to roast the competition. Of course, having three skill players from the same team might qualify for the stupidest move ever, but I saw a couple of opportunities in those three Eagles and I decided to fly with them. This season almost cannot be worse than last year’s 2-12 shellacking. I so bad that Rex Ryan called me up and offered to tattoo my jersey number on his arm. None of that this time around. I’m in the mood for dominance.

 

Yesterday I spent 10 minutes talking about the relationship between heroes and villains. Tonight I sat down and watched Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. with the kids followed by a few other shows that featured the great green one. I find the Hulk to be a prime example of a poorly designed character. Once upon a time the Hulk was a modern representation of Jekyll and Hyde. Today he is a washed out super who seems to fill the ‘adequate thug’ roll without any attention being paid to the nuance of character and character development that made the Hulk an attention grabbing character and someone, who at one point, could carry a TV series.

The Hulk I was raised on shared a body with scientist Bruce Banner. When Banner lost control the monster would come out. Hulk had little self control and a strength that had no ceiling. In fact, the angrier he became the stronger he grew. It was once said that the Hulk could destroy the Earth if he was pissed off enough. One day a bunch of heroes figured that out and launched him into space, figuring a preemptive strike was the best way to go. It wasn’t. Needless to say he was pissed when he came back and wreaked havoc upon the world. That World War Hulk highlighted the relationship between big green and Banner as well as creating a sense of character for the once unthinking beast. It showed that he was vulnerable emotionally.

Today’s cartoon Hulk is big and strong and occasionally stupid. All he wants is to be appreciated. As a bit character in every show but his own, he is treated like a character with a strength ceiling and one who is easily knocked down or knocked out to the point where he is defeated every episode. In essence, the Hulk has been degraded to a Green Man’s B.A. Baracus. That is not enough of a strong man character to make a difference.

I think it is time to bring back powerful characters whose power is their curse. I want to see a Hulk afraid to let go. I want to see the beast unchained and the beast that loves and fears and hunts. I want a character that is funny, thoughtful, and powerful. I guess I must not want the Hulk.

One of the hardest things for developing authors to grasp is the idea that the villain is inherently stronger than the hero. The reason this is so hard to swallow is because a story is supposedly about the hero, and most developing authors, particularly in the fantasy and sci-fi genres, are looking for heroes that are more than mere protagonists, but are unique and outstanding individuals who are probably misunderstood and definitely have a wealth of power or skill in them that cannot be matched by any individual.

This is where things get hard for the author. The heart wants what the heart wants, and if the heart desires a powerful protagonist it feels antithetical to that desire to create an even more powerful antagonist. It doesn’t have to. Of course, the other side of that coin is the David and Goliath/Tortoise and Hare conundrum. In these classic tales an obviously powerful antag is defeated by a protag with minimal skills and a lot of heart and patience. This dichotomy feels to me as false as the all powerful hero, and it is explained by Proverbs 16:18 which says something along the lines of Pride goes before destruction. In other words, the antag screwed up so royally that it left an opportunity for the underdog to succeed. Most writers I work with aren’t writing that story. The story they are writing is about the superman-esque character, and they cannot find their Luthor.

A villain has to be strong where the hero is weak. They need to be willing to take chances and do things a hero would never try. The reason the Joker is such a great foil for Batman (not the Affleck Batman, because that is just nonsense. Heath Ledger would kill himself again over that noise) is because he is willing to do and act in ways Batman ever could. So, even if your hero is powerful in one way, there is always a way they are weak. That is where you find the strengths of your villain.

And you better make those strengths more powerful than your hero can possibly imagine.

 

Recently Sportscenter ran a report on the work of the Make a Wish Foundation.

Sportcenter’s report followed a segment on Ryan Braun’s recent ‘revelation’ that he’s been using banned substances. Braun, a hero to many in this city of Milwaukee and beyond, stood before the cameras less than a year ago and blasted the world for accusing him of using banned substances. While we wait for the soon-to-be-ex-Yankee A-Rod to admit to his substance abuse, I started thinking about the old question of athletes as heroes.

The Sportscenter segment on Make a Wish showed a handful of top athletes from Football to NASCAR interacting with kids and providing them a glance into the public life of a pro athlete. In the segment you get to see athletes behaving like heroes to these young people and being the kind of people so many of us expect public figures and athletes to be. In an era where so much media attention is levied towards showing exactly how and when pubic figures screw up, it is nice to realize that heroism still exists.

I realize that being a professional athlete doesn’t automatically qualify you as a hero to everyone. A person’s background and their ability to overcome incredible odds or simply do the right thing in the face of pressure not to is what most likely defines individuals as heroes. For better or worse, we are most often treated to that hero’s journey in the form of a professional athlete. It is usually the young black or Hispanic player who grew up with a slew of brothers and sisters in a single or even no parent household located somewhere near the epicenter of ‘the hood’.

Rags to riches is what so many of us strive to emulate. To believe the media and the crime statistics, More of us go the ‘Avon Barksdale’ route than the Mike Vick route. Like Vick, once the hot glare of the spotlight strikes these newly formed stars, all of the desires and learned behaviors of yesteryear are expected to burn away. Vick grew up in a culture of dog fighting. Right or wrong it was what his parents did, his relatives did, his neighbors, the local cops, and everyone else who served as an agent of socialization in his life. The legality of the thing didn’t matter, even after his rise to fame. We implore athletes to remember where they came from, well he did remember where he came from and we vilified him for it. Jay-Z once rapped about expectations, quipping, “If you grew up with holes in your zapatos you’d be celebrating the minute you was having dough.” This is an overlooked truth about rags to riches. Those not raised with wealth have no idea how to manage wealth, so there is a learning process involved and there is also a learning process involved in managing public behaviors. The superstars that persist without becoming known as bad boys are the ones who quickly learn how to manage those behaviors. Still, it doesn’t mean the others have no heart.

For better or worse, our collective culture treats professional athletes as heroes. When we in the media tend to dwell on the stars that make athletes look bad, the players who truly give back and provide for their communities get overlooked.

At some point I became the poster boy for weight fluctuation. I’m not fat–at least by my standards. Much of the 214 is masked by height. 10 of the 214 wasn’t there a few months ago. A death, kid stresses, and a lazy summer saw the weight matriculate back around my gut in a most unflattering way. To hear it from my more fit friends, the solution is hard work and better eating. Others go under the knife, twist and tie the pounds away. I research. I scour the web looking for a compromise or even a boost to get me going and back on the road to 195. Nothing so far.

Don’t get me wrong, there are a million poser wonder cures out there. Everything from Hydroxycut to Green Tea claim to help. Unfortunately I cannot verify that any of this stuff, even teamed with an increase in physical activity, will help burn away that extra luggage and allow me to get back into the kind of physical shape that allows me to keep up with my kids.

I suppose if there was a magical bullet, everyone would take the shot.

Some Thoughts:

1. During the 1st week of school all thoughts of writing go away, and that is a terrible thing. I’ve barely had ten minutes to throw something up on the blog. Meanwhile, I have a ton of story ideas kicking around in here with no real opportunity to better my craft till at least tomorrow.
2. I enjoyed the 1st 4-5yr old soccer practice. I learned that this kids are hard to focus and if I want to keep their focus then I have to be fast about moving them through stations and not having them sit around or stand on line.

It is on now.

Considering how close we are to the regular season, I gotta get back into the normal routine of Wednesday peeks at the waiver wire to see who I gleaned and who was culled. Over time I’ve become more of a student of the game than I ever was in the past. I long dabbled in the idea of football, even played a little, but I don’t think I ever showed the level of effort to match how serious I thought I was about the game.

Age brings wisdom and renews effort. I recognize that I can’t be everything, and trying to be only dilutes my effectiveness at the things I want to be good at. So, I’ve lightened the load of psychological responsibility but left room for being very good at understanding, coaching, predicting, and even playing football. I’ve done what I should have done 20 years ago but didn’t. I’ve created a list of priorities that doesn’t leave room for nonsense. It makes me an effective coach and a dangerous fantasy leaguer.

What’s the next step? I won’t reveal too much about my draft plan, because interlopers may be listening. Suffice to say the number of sleepers available this year makes last year’s sleeperpalooza look lame. David Wilson was supposed to be part of that list, but given the sudden rash of injuries to the Giants O-Line, the 2^nd year running back may need to become a 3^rd year running back before gaining any significant traction. On the other hand, he is quite elusive. I think elusive is the magic word this year. I might even incorporate it into my team name…

There is no question that Egypt is in turmoil. On the surface it looks like a military coup by an American-backed army that is intent on murdering anyone remotely associated with the Muslim Brotherhood. I don’t know if that is true. I can only draw conclusions from what I see on the news and the inferences that arise from what I don’t see or am not specifically told. One thing for certain is that both sides are pointing at America as the bad guy. This is leading to a swell of anger from our populous and a desire to defund the region entirely. I don’t know everything about politics, but I do know a little bit about the hustle game, and I know that when people have a reason to stay calm, they do. I argue that the money we provide helps maintain stability in the region and goes a long way to ensuring that the violence doesn’t spread across the country and beyond its borders.

The President has come under fire for not declaring the situation in Egypt a coup, a thus ending all funding to the region. I applaud him for maneuvering around these obstacles like Adrien Peterson. Hard and fast rules are not always the answer for every possible scenario. We call this a coup and we legally must defund Egypt. We defund Egypt and their relationship with Isreal changes. The temperature in the region shifts from internal strife to one of a unified enemy that just happens to be our ally. It is easy to imagine that a country, like Syria, where the only thing everyone can agree on is the fact that Isreal needs to catch a missile. Our presence in the region prevents that missile from being launched. Our separation from Egypt prevents us from flying over the region freely to engage enemy targets, which is to say that missile gets launched.

I’m simplifying. There is a lot more complexity here and a lot more at stake than another Middle Eastern war. Oil moves through the region safely in part because of military power. There are more factors even beyond that. Clearly this issue is not as simple as saying ‘ooh, you couped!’ and pulling out all of our cash. There are going to be repercussions at every level and people are going to get hurt. Tough choices for tough times. The President is making the right one by continuing to walk the line and allow Egypt time to sort this mess out, even if we’re labeled as the bad guys for doing it.

Some Thoughts:

1. Helicopter parents and closed-minded individuals damage the value of education by creating situations in which the freedom to teach isn’t that free. I get why High School is useless short of rote memorization. You cannot teach someone how to be thinker when you’re busy protecting your right to be a teacher.

Every semester I struggle to get students to actually read their syllabus. Short of giving a test in class or reading it to them, getting them to read the syllabus is like getting them to shell out pocket money for textbooks they won’t use. Practical knowledge tells you to cover the syllabus on day one and make establishing these rules and regulations a priority. I don’t argue that point. I do argue that this needs to be done through a syllabus.

The Syllabus document is a reference tool designed to provide students a point of information and a point of contact for the course rules and the instructor information. However, the conversation that reveals, establishes, and even confirms the classroom environment is equally important. you cannot drop a syllabus on students, expect them to read it, and go about your business. In fact, a quiz is only good for ensuring that they can regurgitate facts–not interpret and apply the information to their behaviors.

I’m going to deliver a syllabus–I have to–however the 1st class is all about establishing that learning environment.

I went to a birthday party with my middle son today and it was fantastic. He roller-skated for hours and afterwards asked when he could go back. I don’t know how much the party cost, but I know that to do a party for my soon-to-be 9 yr old will cost more than a 50″ LCD   TV. Whatever happened to the days when parties were inviting a few friends over, putting on costumes and kicking back? Unfortunately we don’t have the backyard to do a legit kids party. In truth our house is set up for small-group engagement as opposed to 25 kids running around and parents watching. Instead we go elsewhere and elsewhere costs money.

I’ve been pouring through blogs, Yelp reviews, and storefront websites to find an experience my son will appreciate. Being 9, his priority is some form of acrobatic insanity, preferably trampoline aided. These things aren’t cheap and given his number of friends and the immediate relative of those friends, the number of required guests rises like high tide. So, I’m in the market for alternative solutions. We may stay local and put our money into a tribal solution. We may go unconventional and arrange a martial arts thing or a gymnastics thing. We may skip the party and do something small and private. Whatever we do, I gotta plan it fast, because he turns 9 in less than a month.

 

Some Thoughts:

1. Been thinking about response theory. Specifically I’ve been considering my dog and how he acts when I get home. Is he at the door because he cares or is he at the door because he knows I will pet him and he wants that? Hard to tell.
2. The Giants looked decent on D. The line has swagger again, but the secondary is still struggling for an identity. The LB corp was a big surprise. They played like these 19 practices really made an impact. Could be a good season. Given the depth the team has at multiple skill positions, Coughlin may have conquered the fact that he doesn’t have 16-week players. Then again, the offense failed to punch it in at all. We’ll see what sort of difference in play there is against the Jets next week.

I have the privilege of writing in the amazing world of Shadowrun, an urban fantasy/sci-fi genre where I get to explore the social ramifications of technology. One of the things I find the most engaging about the possible future is the cybernetic eye–specifically a device that records what you see and can provide internet-based data in a Heads up Display style. Imagine what we could do with that tech. Imagine a doctor working on a patient and sending a live feed to international experts who may assist her in the surgery or even pull down graphic overlays to guide the surgery. The possibilities are endless.

The possibilities are close to reality.

Google recently introduced Google Glass, an eyepiece device that serves as a HUD and a camera, a tool that takes pictures and videos and responds to voice commands. However, this isn’t a fanboy post on why the Glass is awesome. Actually it is more of a warning about what it could mean.

If we have all of the internet’s information only milliseconds away, what is the need for us to know anything? At some point in our near-future it is going to become more important to understand how to retrieve, discern, and apply information than it is to know, or to remember, information in any significant way. We may transition from a place where the signifiers of knowledge are PhD and MA to a place where knowledge is based on bandwidth and understanding of the specific situation. Expertise will be localized as information goes global. So, what does that mean to how we value intelligence?