Finding a Way to Deal...

Hello again, everyone…feels good to be back to a free-write.  These last couple of weeks have been pretty eventful.  I guess I’ll use this blog as a little vent session to make up for it.

In my first blog, I gave a brief history of the NBA Lockout and how it has affected my life.  Well, something pretty awful happened.  NBA commissioner David Stern announced the cancellation of the first two weeks of the NBA season.  There hasn’t really much else to say about that.

However, something pretty awesome happened.  Both the NBA TV and MSG networks have been playing classic NBA games from the early ‘90s (since it is considered illegal to play any games that contain any NBA players that are currently playing in the league because the lockout disallows it). 

There are a few ways of reacting to this.  While, on one hand, I am saddened that training camp hasn’t begun on time and the first two weeks are cancelled, I am happy to see that these networks are playing classic games from a time period that ultimately made me a fan.  The gritty-ness that these players displayed (before absurd player and TV contracts came into play) reminded me of why I became an obsessed fan. 

During this time, the league displayed players who placed commitment above all.  Their physical and mental makeup was designed around a team concept rather than any individual accolades.  These players would never pull a Lebron James and decide to join the “enemy.”  They remained committed to their cities, striving to give that city a time to remember through sports.

Leaving your respective cities, unless you were traded, was basically unheard of.  Players based their contracts around the success of their team, relating their contracts to other players on their team because they ultimately wanted to win in the city that they played in.  Were they still making millions of dollars?  Of course!  This is America, where famous people rule just about everything.  These players, though, gave their fans a different feel. 

So, while the league continues this absurd lockout, I’ve found a way to get my basketball fix.  I hope that, through this process, today’s players realize just how awesome that time was for basketball fans.  Maybe they can learn a thing or two.

Critical Lens Essay (Revised)

“Art is the lie that makes us realize the truth.”

Pablo Picasso

According to Pablo Picasso, “Art is the lie that makes us realize truth.”  In other words, all forms of art, including novels and plays, show us an ever-present reality that are ably seen through a work of art.  This is shown to be true in The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, where the author uses his experience in the Vietnam War to create fictional stories that craftily describes the feelings of war. This is also evident in the play, Death of a Salesman, written by Arthur Miller, where he skillfully uses his fictional play as a way to depict the lives of certain characters in postwar 1950’s America.  Both stories inherently portray usages of tone through their stories to help their audience see how art reveals truth through their works of art.

            In his fictional novel, The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien creates many different war stories during the Vietnam War.  While Tim O’Brien clarifies that he was in the Vietnam War, he creates these stories as a form of art to dexterously describe a soldier’s feelings during the war.  For example, in one chapter titled “The Man I Killed,” the author artfully describes the story about the Vietnamese soldier he killed.  In doing this, he describes the most intricate details, describing the soldier as a “dainty young man (p. 118).”  In the process, though, O’Brien later writes, “I want you to feel what I felt.  I want you to know why story-truth is truer than happening-truth” (p. 171).  Tone is represented here in a dreary state.  This allows the reader to experience something that may or may not have really happened.  While he admits to the story being a “lie,” he uses his words to make the reader feel this “truth” that often comes from the art of story telling. 

            Similarly, in Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller uses his fictional play to create a critique of 1950’s America. Willy Loman, the play’s main character, has a belief that someone who is “well liked” equates to success in the world.  He says, “The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want” (Act I).  However, as the play goes on, Willy begins to realize that happiness is something that one cannot attain simply through being “well-liked.” In this scene, the tone seems hopeful, but not quite believable.  Willy’s tone seems to be something that he does not necessarily believe, but he has used it in hopes of “getting ahead.” Ultimately, Willy kills himself by the end of the play, tragically unable to “get ahead.” Through his artful techniques, Arthur Miller reveals a character that lives by a concept that leaves him upset with the state of his life.  Being “liked” never helped Willy become successful; it only led to his demise. 

            Although two very different stories, both Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman reveal truth through clever techniques.  In The Things They Carried, the author uses creative language in his novel to portray gruesome events of a war.  In using the creative technique of describing a war that he was a part of, he ably describes events using his story-telling abilities to craft feelings of a soldier in the war.  Like Tim O’Brien, Arthur Miller uses his play to create characters that are affected by their surrounding world.  In his wonderful ability to create characters that define a time period, Miller allows his creative ability to resonate through his playwriting, a technique that ably defines truth through a fictional play.   

            “Art is the lie that makes us realize truth.”  In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, truth is realized through O’Brien’s war experience, especially his experience of “the man he killed,” is well described through his ability to describe a story that didn’t necessarily happen to him, but probably happened to a soldier in the war.  In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Miller writes of a character who slowly realizes how his philosophy that someone who is “well liked” is one who succeeds fails him, leading to his demise.  In the process, both stories use tone as a form of enhancing Picasso’s quote.  In the postwar state that America was in, Miller evokes a tragic character in search of deeper meaning in his life.  Both works of art, although quite different, portray art as a form of truth through the authors’ skilled ways of doing so.

The Five Paragraph Essay (Yikes)

“Art is the lie that makes us realize the truth.”

Pablo Picasso

            According to Pablo Picasso, “Art is the lie that makes us realize truth.”  In other words, all forms of art, including novels and plays, show us an ever-present reality that are ably seen through a work of art.  This is shown to be true in The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, where the author uses his experience in the Vietnam War to create fictional stories that craftily describes the feelings of war.  This is also evident in the play, Death of a Salesman, written by Arthur Miller, where he skillfully uses his fictional play as a way to depict the lives of certain characters in postwar 1950’s America.

            In his fictional novel, The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien creates many different war stories during the Vietnam War.  While Tim O’Brien clarifies that he was in the Vietnam War, he creates these stories as a form of art to dexterously describe a soldier’s feelings during the war.  For example, in one chapter titled “The Man I Killed,” the author artfully describes the story about the Vietnamese soldier he killed.  In doing this, he describes the most intricate details, describing the soldier as a “dainty young man” (p. 118).  In the process, though, O’Brien later writes, “I want you to feel what I felt.  I want you to know why story-truth is truer than happening-truth” (p. 171).  While he admits to the story being a “lie,” he uses his words to make the reader feel this “truth” that often comes from the art of story telling. 

            Similarly, in Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller uses his fictional play to create a critique of 1950’s America. Willy Loman, the play’s main character, has a belief that someone who is “well liked” means that they are a successful person in the world.  Her says, “The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want” (Act I).

However, as the play goes on, Willy begins to realize that happiness is something that one cannot attain simply through being “well-liked.” Ultimately, Willy kills himself by the end of the play, tragically unable to “get ahead.” Through his artful techniques, Arthur Miller reveals a character that lives by a concept that u leaves him upset with the state of his life.  Being “liked” never helped Willy become successful; it only led to his demise.

            Although two very different stories, both Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman reveal truth through clever techniques.  In The Things They Carried, the author uses creative language in his novel to portray gruesome events of a war.  In using the creative technique of describing a war that he was a part of, he ably describes events using his story-telling abilities to craft feelings of a soldier in the war.  Like Tim O’Brien, Arthur Miller uses his play to create characters that are affected by their surrounding world.  In his wonderful ability to create characters that define a time period, Miller allows his creative ability to resonate through his playwriting, a technique that ably defines truth through a fictional play.   

            “Art is the lie that makes us realize truth.”  In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, truth is realized through O’Brien’s war experience, especially his experience of “the man he killed,” is well described through his ability to describe a story that didn’t necessarily happen to him, but probably happened to a soldier in the war.  In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Miller writes of a character who slowly realizes how his philosophy that someone who is “well liked” is one who succeeds fails him, leading to his demise.  In the postwar state that America was in, Miller evokes a tragic character in search of deeper meaning in his life.  Both works of art, although quite different, portray art as a form of truth through the authors’ skilled ways of doing so.

To Write Or Not to Write

Hello again, all.

Tomorrow, my eldest brother is renewing his vows with his “soul mate.”  Although they married one another last year in a small ceremony, they decided to have a huge party with about 120 of their closest friends and family and have the wedding they felt was long overdue.

While I’m all about drinking and having a good time, I’m not too keen on being surrounded by people I have no interest in seeing or talking to for six hours.  I get through it with no problem, and usually come out of the whole experience avoiding any fake conversations, but I tend to make it the best experience I can.

With that, I’ve been asked to give a speech at my brother’s vow renewal.  This should be something that I plan beforehand so that I won’t make a fool of myself and just drunkenly rant about love’s ultimate meaning and how marriage culminates all of that and blah blah blah, right?

Well, it looks like I’m going to let the alcohol speak for itself. I’m not sure why, but I guess I feel like it’s more natural to speak when there isn’t a piece of paper in front of my face. What I want to tell them, though, will probably go something like this:

“I understand there are many in search of wicked adventures (and don’t get me wrong, I’m always down for some fun), but I think that we also all search for a form of contentment within ourselves that we can implement into our daily lives.  I guess this happiness has a way of finding itself through our growth as human beings living in this ever-changing world – a transformation that we all hope to share with someone else in our lives.

Anton Chekhov once said, ‘Perhaps the feelings that we experience when we are in love represent a normal state. Being in love shows a person who he should be.’  I believe that our journey is illuminated by the gratification that life has when we meet that special person.  Besides for the fact that I believe you two have found this, I am hopeful that everyone in the room can experience that. It’s a special feeling.  Cheers, all.”

Wow, maybe this blog helped me write my speech.  Maybe I’ll just drunkenly rant.  I guess we'll just have to see where the scotch takes me.

A "Real" Beginning

Recently, I took the time to read blogs of the other students in a graduate course of mine.  While most students chose to introduce their blog with a proper introduction, I realized how selfish I was by not introducing myself to every kind soul who takes the time to read this little blog of mine.  So first, let me write that I’m sorry about that.  Second, here goes:

To all you bloggers who care to know, my name is Alexander (Alex works just fine, though I tend to sign all of my papers as Alexander rather than Alex, a minor itch that I still can't seem to comprehend). I tend to have many of these little itches that I try and tolerate, mainly because of my need to have things work a certain way.

Making decisions has never been a strong suit of mine.  Growing up in a small town on the east end of Long Island, I had a tough time trying to figure out my “future.”  I think that, at that crossroad between high school and making a decision regarding what college we want to attend, we often times struggle to make any decision about our future on our own.  In doing this, I believe that we tend to make decisions that our parents would make rather than decisions that we actually want to make.

So, with that, I began my college career at Manhattan College in August of 2007 with a plan to graduate with a degree in Accounting by May of 2011.  Thankfully, I did graduate on time in the May of 2011.  However, my graduation robe had Adelphi University written on it, and my degree was in English Literature with a minor in Secondary Education.  Talk about opposites, eh?

During that experience, I both made and maintained friendships that have surely shaped much of myself today.  And, in that process, I was able to both keep and maintain passions of mine that have grown to new proportions in the process.

While my love of literature has always seemed to be an important part of me, it was only until college that I realized that I could make a career out of reading books. Pretty cool, right?  With some of the most professional beings I have ever met, Adelphi’s Professors enlightened my love for literature unlike anything I’d ever experienced, enhancing my love for thinking analytically just that much more.

Also, I was able to maintain my love for basketball as well (remember the first blog?!).  A perk of going to such a small university, I was able to be in charge of Adelphi University’s Club Basketball team as both the President and Head Coach.  During this process, I developed the knowledge of creating plays, running practice, and traveling to schools all over the east coast United States.  An experience I am ever-grateful for, I still maintain a close relationship with the new President and Vice-President, keeping the game close to myself as a mental escape.

With that, I have revealed some things about me with the hopes that you may get to know me a bit better.  My intentions for this blog seem to be a venting session, although that could change throughout this exciting process.  Ciao, all.

Locking Out: Football Begins With a Bang While Another Lockout’s Future Awaits

Roughly three weeks ago, fans all over the country were questioning if the NFL Lockout would end, leaving millions to wonder how they were going spend their Sunday afternoons without their beloved football to enjoy with friends, family, and a whole lot of beer.

This past Thursday, The National Football League (NFL) gave their fans a reason to rejoice, kicking off their season with a thrilling opener with two of the game’s best teams. In an exhilarating game that went back and forth from the very start, the defending Super Bowl Champion Green Pay Packers secured their first victory of the season with a goal line stance against the Super Bowl XLIV Champion New Orleans Saints, 42-34.  While Saints fans may have left the game upset that their precious team from New Orleans may have let one slip away, fans all over the nation exulted knowing that football was back.

Some 1,000 miles away from Green Bay, Wisconsin, as football fans began their celebrations of a new season in tact, players, owners, and executives of the National Basketball Association (NBA) met in New York City to discuss labor negotiations.  While the NBA’s owners have locked out their players since July 1^st, little progress has been made, making the chances of the NBA season beginning on time rather doubtful.

Though lockouts are often times rather confusing, the owners’ lockout on their players mostly comes down to financial disagreements.  As the old collective bargaining agreement expired, owners of NBA franchises had complained that they have lost, in total, roughly $400 million this past year alone.  However, the players have countered that, declaring that the league is only setting records with ticket sales and revenue, and that only few small market teams, if any, are losing money. 

In the old collective bargaining agreement, the owners claim that the salary’s old structure allowed for too many large contracts to be signed, resulting in absurd amounts of money being given to players who may be un-deserving of the contract given.  Because of the way the collective bargaining agreement is structured, owners are often times locked into these players even after the player is a useful asset to their team, losing millions of dollars per year.  In the process of disagreeing, both the league owners and Players’ Association have sued and counter-sued, respectively, claiming unjust practices on various issues throughout the process.

Though progress seems to have been made, the NBA season beginning on time (or at all) still seems in doubt, unlike the NFL season, which had to happen.  Recently, my friend Max and I had discussed the possible losses that both the NFL and the NBA would lose if their seasons had not begun.  With some research, I found that NFL games are the most lucrative and expensive rights of any American sport.  Considering that the games are only on two to three days a week, television networks bid billions upon billions of dollars in order to have certain NFL games broadcast on their television networks.  In an astounding difference, the NFL’s television market value is a whopping $20.4 Billion compared to the NBA’s deal worth roughly $3 Billion.  In essence, there was simply too much money to lose if there were no NFL season. The pressure to have a season begin on time rode on the NFL’s team owners and its players, knowing that any financial disagreements regarding a few million dollars were better to settle on right away than the billions of dollars that would have been lost otherwise.

Whereas progress seems to have been made, the search for an NBA season still keeps me searching ESPN.com daily in the hopes that the lockout will end.  Money aside, I love the game too much to see this season wear away because of financial disagreements that I still cannot understand.  I mean, what’s a $99 million salary versus $100 million one? To me, it doesn’t make any sense.  And although I was enlightened to see that the NFL season began with a bang (and that I am able to watch my beloved Giants this coming Sunday), I still cannot imagine these coming winter months without my NBA on TNT Thursday nights to keep me going to bed a contented man.