Doop for Sebastien Le Toux

Today Philadelphia Union announced that they traded Sebastien Le Toux to the Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

Excuse me for a moment while I bang angrily on my keyboard...

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Ahem.

Philadelphia Union has traded Sebastien Le Toux to the Vancouver Whitecaps FC in exchange for allocation money. To paraphrase Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, "There's plenty of money out there. They print more every day. But this [player], there's only [one] of [him] in the whole world, and that's all there's ever going to be. Only a dummy would give this up for something as common as money. Are you a dummy?"

Well the people behind this deal are. Nick Sakiewicz, Union CEO and operating partner, (who has a history of screwing over MLS teams, from what I gather from comments from a NY Red Bulls fan) says, "We ... believe the moves we have made and continue to make improve our roster and give us a better chance to advance past the semifinals" of the MLS playoffs. Yeah? WITHOUT the one and only player who played every single minute of every single game in the 2011 season? Yeah? Why'd you play him so much if you think you can do better without him, huh?

Le Toux is a hard worker. He never quits for those 90 minutes and he gives the proverbial one hundred and ten percent, chasing down balls anyone else would've given up on. Plus, he seems like a classy, genuinely nice guy (not that I've had the privilege to meet him, but I've heard he takes time for fans after games). He's never gotten carded. Let me say that again: He has never received a yellow card or a red card in his MLS career. Not one. And need I remind you he played the entire season last year? That's a lot of time on the pitch, so I'm sure he had plenty of opportunities. Also, he doesn't dive. Dives are the last resort of losers who can't win any other way. Le Toux plays the game the way it should be played, without reckless fouls or trying to trick refs. He won the MLS Individual Fair Play award both years he played for Philadelphia Union. He was voted to the MLS Best XI and was named Philadelphia’s first-ever All-Star selection in 2010. He scored 14 goals and had 11 assists for Philadelphia Union in 2010, and had 11 goals and 9 assists in 2011. He got a hat trick in Union's inaugural home game, for crying out loud! What part of these stats makes you think, "Meh. Ditch him"?!

There are some people out there saying that Le Toux is just one guy and we need to think about the team as a whole and that Philadelphia Union is more than just individual players and that we aren't being "real fans" of the team by being so upset about Le Toux. But Le Toux was the face of the team! And they just ripped it off and tossed it away. They want to "reinvest in our youth" and with the 30 pieces of silver they got for Sebastien, Union can afford to keep Roger Torres. Yes, I am a fan of Torres, and I'd like to keep him, but not at the expense of Le Toux! If Torres is so essential to the Union, why didn't you start him more? He's played 1,889 minutes, which, if I'm doing the math right, equals a whopping three full games. Are you kidding me? [CORRECTION: I'm not. It's actually 21. I misplaced my decimal. Shoulda known better than to try to do long division at 2 AM without a calculator. *Puts Bag of Shame on head*]

Manager Peter Nowak said “We have a very good foundation with youth pieces here. We want to keep the group intact and we think this [decision] will make them even stronger."

I can't say it better than a fan who commented, "Keep the team intact? Build a good foundation? Sebastien Le Toux was this team's foundation. No amount of allocation money is worth selling off the heart of the franchise."

Another commenter said "A team that makes it into the playoffs needs to be improved to get further, not ripped apart and sold for scrap as if it were in a rebuilding phase." How about instead of getting rid of your striker, you give him a little bit more help up front once in a while? So much was on Le Toux to score this season. I don't understand how they can go from depending on him to not needing him at all.

The really heart-breaking part is that Sebastien likes living in Philly and playing for the Union. He tweeted that today was the saddest day for him. He didn't want to go to stinking Vancouver. (I know what that's like--I was pissed off when Genuardi's transferred me to Audubon when I intended to work at Kimberton.) And the fans don't want Le Toux to go either.

So, with our leading scorer gone, that really messes up our offense, and as a bonus our defense took a hard hit too, since Faryd Mondragon chose to return to Columbia. I can respect that he wants to play for his home, but it's still very sad to see him go. He has a lot of experience as a keeper, and was Union's captain, so it's going to be hard to fill his cleats as well. Mondragon and Le Toux were my two favorite members, they were the leaders of the team, and they were the only two all-stars in Philadelphia Union's history, and we lost them both within 24 hours.

It is a very sad day to be a Son of Ben. We will miss you, #9.

The Whitecaps better freaking play him. The next time Philadelphia plays Vancouver, if Le Toux scores a goal against us, I will doop for him.

Read It 2nd

I recently bought The City of Ember, Inkheart, and Eragon, all of which I'd seen as movies but hadn't read the books (mostly because I didn't know they were books).

Hank Green (of Vlogbrothers on YouTube) has started a movement to "Read It First," which I think is to prevent you from watching the movie, thinking it's crap, and never reading the book because you didn't like the movie. Example: Eragon. I think we can all agree that the movie was disappointing, including for people who didn't have any preconceived expectations from reading the book. As they say in the movie, "I was expecting...more."

Hank's website, readit1st.com, states "Don't let the movie ruin the book." I suppose part of Hank's reasons include trying to get people to read more. I am not one of those people who need to be encouraged to read more. I am not one of those people who will watch a movie and do their book report on that to get out of actually reading a book. And you, who took the time to read this blog, are probably not one of those people. Probably because we're nerds. But so is Nerdfighteria, the audience to whom Hank addressed this issue.

While Hank may have some valid reasons to advocate reading before watching, I feel the opposite. Here's my argument to watch it 1st, read it 2nd:

1) Watching it first gives you an idea of whether you'd want to read the book. You meet the characters, find out the plot, see if it's something that interests you. I don't know about you, but the two hours it takes to watch a movie is way less of a time commitment than what it takes to read a book. (The people who cop out on book reports know what I'm talking about.)

2) You may not have known it was a book. I've often watched the credits of something and been surprised it was a book. And I read all the time and worked in a library, so it's not like I'm unfamiliar with books. Example: When I started watching Legend of the Seeker on TV, which is exactly the sort of fantasy/adventure stuff I like, the show credits said it was based on the book Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind. Since I'd already determined I liked the story (see reason #1), it was a safe bet that I'd enjoy the books as well. (And I did.)

Also, a film will credit the book it was based on, but a book won't necessarily advertise that there's a movie too, so you might not be aware that you can continue the fun. Conveniently, readit1st.com allows you to sign up for the READ IT 1st newsletter to keep up to date on adaptations about to hit theaters. In a rather accomodating move, you can do that whether you pledge to read the book first or whenever you please.

3) Here's the biggie: The Changes. If you watch it first then you have an image of what the characters and locations look like to help you when you read the book, instead of being annoyed that the movie sets and actors don't match what you imagined or what the book described.

Sometimes books repeatedly mention a detail that is changed for the film. For example, Kahlan Amnell and Harry Potter are both frequently described as having green eyes, but the actors who play them have blue eyes. If you've read the books and had it drummed into your head that they have green eyes, it's going to bug you when you watch it and they don't. If you're reading it second you may not even remember the color of the actor's eyes, or else it's easier to say "Oh well, close enough."

If you're watching it first, you don't know what's been left out or changed. You're not distracted from the movie because you're making comparisons. It's less annoying to read a book and think "Oh, this is new" than to expect it to be completely faithful to the book and go a certain way.

Example: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Fans of the book were all "They skipped Tom Bombadil" and "Arwen's part is not supposed to be this big" and "Elijah Wood is too young to play Frodo," whereas I, who hadn't read the book yet, could just enjoy how awesome and epic and life changing the movie was.

The quote from Eragon is actually kinda pretty much my thesis not to read it first: You expect more than you would if you hadn't read it yet. As everyone know, the book is always better. So don't you want to save the best for last?

Celtic Thunder Update

A lot has happened since my last blog on Celtic Thunder back in August.

1. Damian on Glee
Damian McGinty was on a TV show called The Glee Project, in which the people who make Glee were looking for a new actor for a seven-episode arc on the next season of Glee. Damian managed to defy elimination and co-won the show, which means he (as well as another guy) will be on seven episodes of Glee!

I found out he was going to be in the fourth episode of the season which sounds early but was really hard to wait for. Especially since they aired the first three episodes and then took a break for three weeks!

Damian plays Rory, an Irish exchange student who is staying with Brittany's family. On The Glee Project they threw out the idea that Brittany wouldn't understand Rory's accent. That sounded perfect, so I was pleased when they opened the episode using that. They also had Brittany think Rory was a leprechan and had him grant her three wishes (which he played along with, to amusing effect.) I thought Damian performed quite well. He got not one but two solos in his first episode. In one of them he busted out a falsetto I didn't even know he had! For the other he sang "It's Not Easy Being Green" because the students were picking on him because he was new/Irish. That did not make sense to me. Come on, what American doesn't love an accent? (Well, I know girls dig them at least.) When a guy I know from Australia went to school in America for a while all the girls wanted to hear him talk. And one time in my college biology class a guy from Scotland sat at my lab table. BEST SCIENCE CLASS EVER! (Sadly, he never came back after that day.) So why are none of these kids excited to have a kid from Ireland at their school?

Episode #5 briefly had Damian in it as a small part in the school musical. (He sang one line.) That had better not count as his second episode, because we barely saw him! Either way, I'm excited to see a lot more of him this season. Episode #6 had him in for an average amount of time. He was still getting picked on and got beat up with dodgeballs though.

2. Band Member Changes
In my last post I mentioned that Paul and Ryan were leaving the group. That was half right. Paul announced his resignation Nov. 28, 2010. Ryan announced his May 12, 2011. But now that Damian is on Glee, he's not touring with Celtic Thunder anymore. He announced his resignation Aug. 21, 2011. The very next day, Ryan announced he was rejoing! Coincidence? I doubt it.

So instead of losing Ryan, we lost Damian. (No word yet on whether he'll come back after he's done Glee.) So now the members are Ryan, Keith, George, Neil, Emmet, and Daniel. Daniel Who? Ah yes, now that Damian is out, they replaced him with a new kid, Daniel Furlong, who is also Irish. (Why is George the only Scot?) He's around the same age Damian was when he joined, I think.

3. News CDs/Shows
I mentioned Heritage, which came out Feb. 22, 2011 (my birthday!), and Storm, which just released Sept. 20, 2011. I'm excited for the Storm DVD because it has a storyline! They usually just do a concert, but I think this will be more like a musical. I saw them in costumes. Next up will be Voyage, out in Spring 2012. They recorded some of these earlier, so past members will still be in some and the newer ones won't.

4. My Experience

Mike took me to one of Celtic Thunder's shows when they came to Philly. It was so cool to see them perform live and in person! We were fairly close to the stage. It was weird seeing them in person, having only seen them on TV or online. Also, I was able to definitively find out who is actually in the group now, since there's been so many changes lately. Since Paul left to go solo and Damian left to be on Glee, I sadly didn't get to see them. But Ryan still being there totally makes up for it. I hadn't seen the new boy, Daniel, at all before this show. He sang "Somewhere over the Rainbow," and "You've Got a Friend In Me" -- Keith was on the stage for that one, pretending to be annoyed by the kid, which was amusing. Keith sang "The Dutchman," Neil sang "Noreen," and together they sang "Whiskey In the Jar-O," which I love! George sang "500 miles" (another of my favorites), "Red Rose Cafe," and "Cats in the Cradle," which was cool. Just about every song Ryan does is my favorite. He did "Desperado" and "Black Is the Color," which were incredible to see live! For one song Ryan came out with a guitar--I didn't know he could play! In fact, a lot of them surprised me with instruments they were playing--and sang "Friends in Low Places," which surprised me because they don't usually cover country songs. Then there were some group songs, like "Ireland's Call," "A Place In the Chior," and "Galway Girl," all of which I adore. They performed a fair amount I didn't recognize as well. At one point a heckler called out something like "Sing something Irish" or "Don't you know any Irish songs?" right before they started singing "Danny Boy." Then he was like "Perfect. That's better."


After the show, we were hoping to see the guys, but that didn't seem likely. As we walked to the car we heard cheering, so we hurried back and joined the crowd oustide by the stage door and buses. Boy am I glad we came back! The guys were helping pack up, so after they stowed their luggage in the bus they came over to the fans. Keith was the first one I saw. I pulled out one of my Celtic Thunder CDs and I got it autographed by Keith Harkin! And then I got my picture taken with him, too! :D Next I really wanted to get Ryan Kelly (he and Keith are tied as my favorites since I just can't choose). So I got Ryan's signature and a photo with him too! After that I could've been content, but I kept going to collect as many as I could. So I got Emmet and Neil signatures and photos as well. I could've gotten Daniel but I didn't since I don't really know him. Last, I was waiting around to catch George. Finally he wandered by and I was able to complete my autograph and photo collection of the men of Celtic Thunder! That was such a fantastic experience to meet them, and now I have five great profile pictures for Facebook. :)

Stuff From Work

When you read, edit, and fact check articles all day, you come across the occasional interesting piece of information or cool website. The following is what I've collected lately:

Interesting Information

• A study found that chewing cinnamon-flavored gum or just smelling cinnamon enhanced cognitive processing. Test subjects had improved attention processes, virtual recognition memory, working memory, and visual-motor speed while working on a computer-based program. I now have Big Red in my desk drawer at work. (Yes, I think it helps!)


• Toxins like BPA and phthalates can make you gain weight. There are phthalates in recycled pizza boxes and fast-food wrappers. So it's the packaging that is making us fat, not the food, right? Right?


• You know how your fingers get wrinkly when they're wet? That gives us a better grip and allows the water to drain away.


• The word "vamoose" actually came from "vamos" which means "let's go" in Spanish. Those crazy Americans messed up the pronunciation and adopted it into the English language.

Editing Errors

• "Information can be stored in a variety of different mediums." I think you mean "media" there. Unless you are trying to sell an ad for psychics, in which case this is the wrong magazine for that!


• An ad said "Enjoy...whine country...There truly is something for everyone!" Enough said! That one speaks for itself.


• Another ad, this one about raisins, said "fiber containing fruits and vegetables" instead of "fiber-containing fruits and vegetables." Though the humble hyphen is but small, I think we can all agree that it makes a huge difference! I marked it, but I don't think the company bothered to fix it. (No wonder the grapes are humiliated!)


• M-W (the online dictionary) has a Word of the Day. One day I noticed that their word of the day was MISSPELLED! (That's awkward for a dictionary!) They left the "n" out of "preprandial." I emailed them about it so they could fix it, which they did, and they also thanked me and called me "sharp-eyed and correct." Booyah! And then they said "Thanks again for brining it to our attention." *facepalm* They must have a shortage of consonants over there.

Wicked Websites

• Extormity (www.extormity.com) is a website of a fictional company that is a satirical, hilarious parody of an EHR vendor. The whole site is great, including their press releases. Since our magazine For the Record talks about EHRs a lot, this was work-related. Oh, EHR stands for electronic health record.


• Uncyclopedia (http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page) is "the content-free encyclopedia." It parodies Wikipedia. They'll take a real topic or news item and make it funny and ridiculous. They have a new featured article everyday, so that's a fun one to check regularly. I discovered this one at work, but not because of work.


• www.unnecessaryquotes.com is the "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks. Haha! That is so "funny"! Hey, what's more fun than mocking people who abuse punctuation? Doing it in a public forum! Yay! Dear everyone, when you want to emphasize something, don't use quotation marks. That's what italic and bold or even ALL CAPS are for.


• While the last website points out writing errors, there's also a website for errors in my last job too. Cake Wrecks (www.cakewrecks.com) posts photos of cake decorating gone so very wrong. From innapropriate images to misspelled messages, this blog proves that not just anyone should be a cake decorator. But there are also photos of amazing, gorgeous, or adorable baked goods, so it's fun all around.


• www.dorkly.com/article/19437/the-four-houses-of-hogwarts-school-of-nerdery I discovered this article on the Four Houses of Hogwarts Nerdery, which are Larpindor, Ragenclaw, Nooblepuff, and Lulzerin. (I like Nooblepuff best.) I haven't checked out the rest of the website yet, but it's probably pretty cool.

College Boys Will Be Boys

I don't know what it is about going to college, but it seems that college students like acting like kids. Maybe it's because there's less adult supervision. Maybe it's an attempt to slow down the growing-up process. Whatever the reason, I'm sure you could get a whole psych thesis from this topic. While looking through some of my old papers from college, I found a page with the two following stories that make this point.

One winter day as I walked to class I saw a guy walking across campus with a board on his back.

"Is that...is that a snowboard?" I wondered. "Yes, yes, it's definitely a snowboard. What is he doing with that?"

Fortunately, my own curiosity was satisfied as the guy I was following plopped the board down and strapped one foot on. Clearly the boy was desperate for snowboarding because the snow covered ground he'd chosen was flat. Perhaps it was an experiment.

"You're gonna fall," a friend shouted as the guy pushed off, sliding along like he was getting a skateboard up to speed. For a moment it seemed he would succeed, then to the hilarious amusement of all watching, he fulfilled the prediction.

"That boy's insane," one spectator commented.

I continued to class with a smile on my face.

Another day as I came to the stairway in Old Main--my dorm--I noticed a boy standing watch near the bottom. I figured he was waiting for a friend, then I realized he was a lookout for his friend's antics when I caught a second guy with his leg straddling the stair rail, preparing to slide down. As soon as my presence and smile were noticed he announced, "I miss being a kid," to no one in general, presumably for my benefit in an attempt to explain his unusual behavior.

"Do it!" I thought. "Let's see this." But I just passed on.

It's true--what Bob Smiley said--you've gotta be quiet or else they'll see you and stop, and I wanna see this.

Why does it have to be spiders?

Arachnophobia.

A lot of us have it, me (and Ron Weasley) included. No matter how many times I read or watch Charlotte's Web, I do not come away with a love for spiders. Sure, Charlotte was a great friend to Wilbur, and I feel bad for him that he lost her, but she was a spider. Sure, spiders eat other bugs, but that doesn't mean I want them around any more than any other creepy insects.

So, since I'm afraid of spiders, I don't want them around. BUT since I'm afraid of them, I'm usually too freaked out to get near enough to kill them. This is a problem. However, I've come to realize that spiders' creep factor increases exponentially according to size, so I've developed the following chart to determine how to deal with them.

Spider Scale

1. The smallest spider on the scale is about the size of the head of a pin. Obviously, this is the best size of spider to have. It can be dispatched of with a tissue without causing a significant amount of grief to the arachnophobic. Unless, of course, you happen to be driving a car at the time, and one of these is making its way along your steering wheel, like I had happen this week.

2. Next is the slightly larger size, approximately the diameter of pen or pencil. This size causes some concern to the arachnophobic, and requires the swift use of a shoe to dispose of the bane.

3. Now the spider is around the size of a quarter. This is where the arachnophobic begins to run out of options. You can actually see the hair on its disturbing body and long legs. No longer small enough to comfortably crush, you must resort to trapping the beast. Grab an empty cup, jar, or box and drop it over the creature. Now that it can't move and you can no longer see it, it becomes less worriesome. From here you can either let it remain in the trap until it dies, or carefully carry it away (slipping a piece of paper under the trap) and releasing it into The Wild. Of course, with the second option you have the possibility of accidentally releasing it before you get to The Wild, in which case you have to start all over again, provided the spider hasn't already successfully hidden itself from you. I currently have one of these under a box on my work table at home, which is really hindering my ability to work.

4. The Tarantula. This is something no arachnophobic should ever have to see in real life. If you do come across one that is not safely behind glass or on a computer/television screen, the only real option is to run over it with your car. Do not get out to look unless you are certain it got creamed.

5. The Acromantula. Pray that this giant spider only exists in books and movies like Harry Potter (Aragog) and Lord of the Rings (Shelob), because it will in fact eat you. I think the only way to kill them is with magic or an Elfin-made sword. And good luck getting your hands on one of those!

So, fellow arachnophobes, in the future when you are paralyzed with fear in the face of a spider, just refer back to my handy chart to determine on a scale of one to five how much you should be flipping out.

Nerdfighter Win!

Every year my family visits the Fricks during the first weekend in August, and on Saturday we go to the Blueberry Festival. After breakfast of blueberry pancakes, sausage, and fruit cups, we hit the used book sale. This year they had a record amount of books. Immediately after I entered the book tent, I spotted a couple of Monk books. (They are based on the TV show, which is about an obsessive compulsive detective.) When I picked one up, I realized right next to it was a copy of Paper Towns!

Here's some background so you understand why this is exciting: I follow vlogbrothers John and Hank Green on YouTube. After I knew that John was a YA author, I started looking for his books. I've searched several used book sales and shops and never saw any of his novels. I came to the conclusion that John's books are so good that no one would want to get rid of them. I was able to read them all by borrowing them from the library, but I still keep my eye out to buy them. Since I watch John's videos all the time, I feel like I know him. So I was pleasantly surprised to find a John Green book right away--I hadn't even started to hunt for anything specific yet.

Now, sometimes John or fans (aka Nerdfighters) will go to a bookstore and tuck a note inside one of John's books for whoever happens to buy that book. So I was thinking about that and opened the book just in case. And there was a note! Inside the front cover were two orange post-its that said this:

"To my dear Alisha: Make an adventure of it. <3 Amanda :)"

and

"Paper Towns: It's a signed copy. :) The girl reminds me of you. I <3ed it. :) It's different. I met the author, and his brother. Hope you enjoy it."

Wow! I'm surprised that after Amanda put a lot of thought into giving her friend this book, Alisha got rid of it, personal notes and all. What happened there?! Secondly, did she say signed?! Sure enough, there on the title page is "J Scribble"! No way, that is so cool! I lucked into a signed copy?

So then I flipped through to see if there were any other notes, and I discovered there are five more orange post-its stuck throughout the book! I like this one on page 22:

"Promise me you'll look up & listen to the "Black Santas" song by Hank Green on Youtube! I heard it live! Haha"

If you haven't read the book, there's a character whose parents have the world's largest collection of black Santas. I don't remember Hank singing about it, but I found this song by someone else from one of their live events. The video is shaky, but you can occasionally see John and Hank on the side cracking up. :P

Anyway, the best part is, I got this super awesome book for only $2! (The hardcover goes for $18 new). This particular novel has two different choices of art for the hardcover (and the paperback has a third completely different picture). The one I happened to get is happy Margo. :D


(Happy Margo didn't forget to be awesome. Sad Margo did.)