in all the hype after phelps’ 11th olympic gold medal, this question has been tossed around a little too lightly. is phelps the greatest olympian ever? everyone’s answer seems to be a resounding “yes.” i’m not about to argue that phelps isn’t great…even insanely great. my objection concerns the basis for this claim.

when stating that phelps is the greatest olympian ever, what is the evidence cited? 10 olympic gold medals…more than anyone else. ever. period. i cannot and will not argue that this is amazing. upon winning his 9th my roommate responded “9, that’s insane. i wish i could have 1!” yes, 11 olympic golds (with the hope of many more to come) are something worthy of a parade (maybe even 2 parades). this is the reason he is considered the greatest olympian ever. it was only after winning his 10th that broadcasters began addressing him with this title.
but is it fair to state that he’s the best olympian ever based solely on gold medal count? i argue that it’s not. medal count is a good indication of how good you are, but it shouldn’t be the sole indicator of “greatness” (at least all-around greatness). what about marathon runners? there is only one chance every four years for 1 medal. 1 medal per 4 years. same with soccer, field hockey, basketball, etc. there is only one gold up for grabs per sport every 4 years.

phelps? isn’t he going for something like 8 medals just in beijing? how is it fair to compare him to a marathon runner when he has the chance to win up to 8 medals every 4 years? it’s near impossible for a marathon runner or basketball player then to be considered for this lofty title. it just doesn’t work that way. it’s like comparing apples to oranges or a swingline stapler to a manila folder. it doesn’t make sense.

greatest olympian ever? it’s really impossible to assign that title…to anyone. he’s definitely one of the greatest olympians ever. perhaps even the greatest olympian swimmer ever. but i don’t think it’s fair to determine the greatest olympian ever based solely on medal count. thanks for playing. try again.

this summer’s motto of “denial and repression” is slowly being shot to shreds as my final fall semester looms in the near (very near) (undeniably near) future. i believe the count is at 3 weeks. this is all a facade to reality, however, as summer residents move into fall housing one week from today. though the semester has a few more weeks to slap me in the face and wake me up from this temporary hibernation of sorts, the crystal ball (or pickle if you’re from dillsburg, red rose if you’re from lancaster, or wrench if you’re from mechanicsburg) has begun its slow descent. time to switch gears.

on a positive note, let me mention a few things that have caught my attention the past few weeks.

the dark knight
i saw this movie at the beach a few weeks ago. awesome! i keep replaying parts of this movie in my head and can’t get over how fantastic this movie is. go see it NOW!

dusk and summer (by dashboard confessional)
i don’t think this cd got enough press when it was released in ‘06. i’m a huge dashboard confessional fan. i prefer the earlier acoustic stuff…so i didn’t pick this cd up until about 4 weeks ago (approximately 2 years late). i’m currently listening to it (which might now explain the dark undertone of the opening paragraph!) and would argue that this is one of their best cds. a must listen as the summer is reaching dusk.

spring cleaning
if you can have christmas in july, why can’t you have spring cleaning in august? that’s all i’m asking. yesterday the office i work in (marketing and pr) took the entire day and cleaned. it was amazing! if you don’t believe me, come for a visit and check out 3rd floor old main or ask any of the admissions work studies that enjoyed our little yard sale in the stairwell!

wikipedia
two days ago it was really slow at work so i had a chance to look up a few articles. the target of my search? the bombings of hiroshima and nagasaki and the accident at chernobyl. very interesting topics. check ‘em out!

cnn
i have been continually surprised how 5 minutes at cnn.com can make me feel like i’m updated w/ all the pressing issues within the states and internationally. my conclusion: the world is messed up (but still provides me w/ a good 5 minutes of action-packed entertainment).

lastly,
brett farve
i don’t know if you’ve followed this fiasco, but it’s been, well, almost as action-packed as cnn’s “latest news” section. my thoughts, shame on you green bay packers. it’s freakin’ brett farve. let the man play! how many times has he saved your organization? give the man his job back! to brett, i wish you the best w/ the jets. may your passing arm be strong and your side-step juke agile.

happy friday!

i can’t wait for monday to share this news…i’m officially done w/ classes for the summer. what, what!!! i also never have to take another science class…ever! time to relax…finally.

…the complete and utter disdain for anything that requires more than 5 minutes of your time, is beyond reach of your current physical location, or requires genuine neurological synapses between the extremities and the brain.

this is the first time i’ve stopped…totally stopped…since christmas. before that?…spring break of sophomore year.

happy vacation!

i wish bob dylan was wrong, but gosh darnit if he wasn’t a prophet as well as a talented musician.

if you haven’t caught wind of the new “times” in the office of marketing and pr (ompr), take a seat b/c you’re going to need it. it is true, there have been some personnel changes on 3rd floor old main. the casualties? our beloved scott trobaugh (graphic designer) and becky kasparek (editor).

the very talented scott trobaugh will soon begin a new job in lancaster (for you auslanders, that’s pronounced “layncuster” not “layncAster”) with a marketing firm. you might remember him from the redesign of the messiah college homepage, the front cover (and feature) of this past winter’s issue of the bridge (in which he did AMAZING illustrations), or from your first year t-shirt (just a few of the pieces scott recently designed). this particular change has struck a little too close to home. scott has been a mentor, role model, educator (mostly in the department of music and cultural studies-i owe my love of coldplay in part to him), and most importantly a friend. any attempt to say thank you will fall short. i wish him the best.

the departing of our editor, becky, comes with both a smile and a frown as well. becky is leaving us for a noble cause…her newborn daughter! fortunately, she won’t completely be leaving us as she begins her first semester as a messiah college faculty member. there are some very lucky first year students out there that will have the privilege of learning from becky in their first year seminar. so while this is technically goodbye, it’s more like “see ya around, professor!”

to end on a positive note, i would like to suggest that the annoying little redheaded actress may have been on to something. though yesterday was arguably the worst day of the summer so far, i’ll be darned if the sun didn’t come out today (until about an hour ago when the heavens unloaded in a fury). i must face the reality that we will mourn, regroup, and continue on. the little carrot top may have won this round (though i would argue that the mac and cheese at lottie helped a great deal)…but i shall live to die another day (did i mention it was cliche friday?).

so this is how the past 8 weeks or so have been…

7 am-wake up
8 am-start work
noon-lunch
12:30-do homework
1 pm-back to work
5 pm-dinner
5:30-do homework
11:30/midnight-go to sleep

that’s right…homework…and a lot of it. i apologize for not blogging in a while. i have had a lot of things to say, it’s just that i’ve been, well, insanely busy. subsequently, any writing that didn’t reward my task-oriented, selfish, and over-achieving mind with some flavor of an “a” ultimately went unwritten.

this summer i have been managing a schedule that has included a full-time job at messiah college and two online classes (a theology class at messiah and an ecology class at hacc). originally i was hoping to get a part-time job over the weekends too…i’m glad that didn’t work out! here’s a free tip: take classes over the summer, but don’t take two AND have a full-time job. i’m not sure what i have is “burnout”…but there’s this unquenchable “worn” feeling deep within what the hebrew language refers to as my nefesh (plainly understood-and butchered-in contemporary evangelical terms this means the whole body…both the body and soul). i’m not tired…just worn. it’s weird. so don’t say i didn’t warn you.

quick recap since i’ve blogged last (and really the only thing that matters): the release of the new coldplay cd viva la vida! if you aren’t currently listening to this cd as you read these very words, you’re priorities aren’t set right! i know the critics have come down kind of hard on this cd. here’s the reality: coldplay at their worst is still infinitely better than most bands at their best. it’s good stuff and you NEED to be listening to it about 2 hours ago (so that by now you could have listened to it once, let it sink in, and have the same mindset as I do right now)! i started listening to coldplay after my first year of college and haven’t stopped…and this cd is already in my well-worn coldplay playlist. listen to it until you can put my blog post’s title in context. listen to it NOW!

in other news: LISTEN TO THE NEW COLDPLAY CD VIVA LA VIDA!

that is all.

PEARY MANILOW!

limited engagements available (he’ll probably be thrown away by friday due to the heat).

this special concert series brings back all the favorite hits from the good old days, such as:

looks like we made it (into a fruit salad)
can’t take my leaves off of you
she’s a starfruit
rags to ratatouille
raindrops keep falling on my stem
it never rains in southern california (which is why i’m leaving)
there’s a kind of blush
baby, it’s cold outside
the long and winding row
bluer than blueberries
and of course:
copacabanana

don’t miss this once in a lifetime opportunity! visit old main 3rd floor to meet with singer and song writer peary manilow!

credits:
wardrobe, make-up, and hairdresser-brandie stonge
song writers-mackenzie martin, dan custer, barry manilow

last week i went over to my friend isaac’s house for dinner and to play in the back yard. it’s always a new adventure…that day it was a river. for some reason he wanted to create a river in the back yard down by the sand box. he liked it…but his parents didn’t seem to be too excited about it.

as the afternoon/evening continued, he decided he wanted to go for a drive. when isaac says he wants to go for a drive, he doesn’t mean he wants his parents to chauffeur him around central pa. he wants to drive his power wheels truck!

i was always envious of the kids in the commercials who had a power wheels car or truck. they always looked like so much fun. the idea of a kid driving was astounding. no longer did you have to wait till you were 16. you could have the enjoyment of driving even at a young age. It was awesome. But as the years passed, no power wheels truck arrived. it soon became clear that my childhood dream of driving one of those bad boys would never come true. then, a miracle occurred. his dad, scott (you remember him b/c he designed the new award winning messiah college homepage), turned to me and asked how much i weighed. at first i was a bit offended (not really), but then i saw what he was thinking. perhaps i still could realize my dream!as i hopped into the power wheels i realized that these things really aren’t made for adult sized people. in order to hit the gas pedal i had to reach down and use my hand. the rest is history. with isaac in the bed of the truck and me all sprawled out in the driver’s and passenger’s seats, we were burnin’ rubber and takin’ names. so thank you isaac, for making a dream come true.

all of these photos were taken by lisa trobaugh. thanks lisa!

as he threw his ticket to the floor in disgust, my friend’s first words were, “that was the biggest disappointment of my life!” though i won’t say it was the biggest disappointment, i feel obliged to politely object to this movie. be aware, there are spoilers in this post…though i would not call them “spoilers” simply because they’re not spoiling the plot…lucas and spielberg did a good enough job of that!

harrison ford is a legend. there is absolutely nothing he can do to fall from grace in my eyes. there’s just something about him that brings a smile to my face when i see him on the big screen. i need to say that up front so that it is understood that the following remarks are in no way directed toward him. mr. ford, you are a genius and i apologize if what i have to say offends you in any way. i have failed you.who has failed me and the global population? whoever’s brain child indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull was…this is directed at you! why?! why did you have to do this? indiana jones was a perfectly good trilogy…why would you do this to us?

as my coworkers know fully well as of this morning, i am very displeased with this movie. i had high hopes that it would be as awesome as the first 3, but the bottom line is that it wasn’t. very few movies would i consider to be a complete waste of my money and time, but this movie falls into that category.

first of all, who the heck is that kid? and who does he think he is? shia labeouf, you are not the successor to the indiana jones legacy. you try to touch that legendary hat one more time and i swear i will never watch a film you star in again. you hear me?! back off little boy! when harrison ford speaks to you, you say “yes, sir!”

secondly, aliens? really? come on! did you even try to be creative? not that any of the other three movies were actually believable, but give me a break! this movie wasn’t even on the charts of believability. this was their chance to weigh in on the much debated “city of gold.” this was their chance! they could have done anything! what did they choose to be the answer to this ancient riddle? aliens. give me a break.

the last thing i’ll comment on (however note that i’m trying to limit myself here…i could go on for a while) is the rediculous stunt/action sequences. like i said before, it’s not believable. indiana jones is a human. never in the first three movies did he pass into the “superhuman” or “superhero” realm. i liked that about the movies. it was different. he was more believable. this new installment attempted (but miserably failed) to bring indiana jones to a superhuman level. oh yeah, they tried to bring the shia guy to the same level. first of all, shia, know your role. secondly, i find it sad that the writers felt a need to make dr. jones into an unbelievable superhuman character. that isn’t in line with the series and that bothers me a great deal.

on a positive note, there were a few cute parts…shout out to the previous movies…witty one liners. would i say these few scenes made it worth watching? heavens no! don’t waste your time. wait for some of the clips to show up on youtube.com and safe yourself 9 bucks and two hours of pain and torture.

i will conclude with these final parting remarks. my issue with this movie stems from my complete and utter respect for harrison ford and the indiana jones movies. in my opinion, indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull disrespects the legacy the first three movies built. if you’re going to add a name to a movie, at least bring honor to what that name has stood for. add to the legacy. respect the past. what this movie represents is the lackluster state that hollywood is in. i feel bad for harrison ford. you’re so talented. why did you have to go and support this movie? you’re so much better than this! in my mind, this movie is completely divorced from the first three. this is a separate movie with little to no ties to the previous three. viewing it this way, i will be able to sleep at night.

1 out of 5 nalgenes (the 1 attributed to the fact that harrison ford was in the movie)

today is the first day it really hit me that my senior friends are leaving. yesterday, my girlfriend, liam (the tennis star), and i went to baltimore for the day. because of this, we weren’t on campus yesterday to pack our rooms up or watch others pack their rooms. we weren’t here to take part in the senior festivities (them, take part…me, tag along). though i have watched my fellow classmates leave, it is different. i’ll see them again, so there’s less “good-bye” talk going around. but those who are my senior friends…who knows?!

one of my good friends (liam, the tennis star) just got an apartment. i’m happy for him, but that means he really ISN’T going to be here next year. he really ISN’T going to be helping messiah’s tennis team win another mac championship. what the heck?! i don’t agree.

to all you seniors who somehow stumble upon my blog…may i appeal to you in the final hour? don’t leave. stay another year. please? what if i sneak stuff out of lottie for you? all i’m asking for is one more year. is that too much to ask?

no more good-bye’s. and i’m sticking to that!