1 Revenge is a dish best served on TV

A couple days ago, I was looking for something to watch on my streaming Netflix and in my very random  recommended section was the TV series Revenge.¹ I heard some things (not sure if the things were good or not) about the show and I clicked on it figuring worst-case I stop watching after 5 minutes and best case it is good enough to distract my roommate Emily and it causes her to lose to me in Scrabble. However, I soon realized I was wrong because the show is so amazingly ridiculous and over-the-top that it is great to watch. 8 episodes later it continues to be so over-the-top.

The basic plot for Revenge is that the Amanda Clarke's father, when she was young, was screwed by over by rich people from the Hamptons and was framed as a terrorist. Amanda grows up as a troubled youth because of course people hate daughter's of terrorists. Amanda hates her father until learning that her father was framed for a crime he didn't commit. Amanda's father doesn't tell her by normal communication but instead leaves her a locked wooden box full of information showing his innocence. Sadly, Amanda didn't learn of her father's innocence until after he died. Happily, Amanda's father invested in a multi-billionaire dollar tech company when it fist started, so Amanda becomes an instant billionaire. However, she also becomes obsessed with getting revenge for her father's incarceration and death. In order to obtain revenge, Amanda changes her name to Emily Thorne, becomes an expert on everything that rich white people do and befriends the same people who framed her father. Emily then uses the befriending to ruin the rich person's life.² Some of the methods used by Emily have been tame while others have been pretty ridiculous. Along the way we get to see how insanely messed up everyone in the Hamptons is, except of course for the good guy who of course happens to be poor and hard working. See pretty ridiculous set-up for a show. Trust me you need to watch to find out.

The trailer from the first season is a perfect illustration to the ridiculousness of the show:

Let's break the trailer down:
1. Slow motion scene with dramatic music and a voice-over from Emily. A go to move for the show. Voice-overs and dramatic music make everything seem so much more important. Just like the movie trailer voice guy can make any move look like an Oscar contender.  

2. Flashbacks illustrating important plot ideas. Never bad to rip off the best TV show ever, Lost.³
3. Close ups on characters face showing how intense their thoughts are at any given time.
4. Rich white people having #richwhitepeopleproblems.⁴

5. Shocking secretes aka the basis of the whole show.
6. Statements from Emily that have double meanings, which is basically the only way she talks.
7. Dramatic confrontations between two characters.
8. Violence. You aren't getting revenge properly, if you aren't spilling some blood along the way.

Revenge is so awesome that it's big time, which means it gets the first ever *Certified Big Time* stamp of approval on Jamie Dixon Cider. *Certified Big Time* means whatever is certified is awesome and you'd be crazy not to check it out.  

¹ One of the best things about streaming video is the ability to go on TV watching marathons. There is nothing better than rapidly watching a full season of a show like Game of Thrones because you don't have to spend an entire week wondering what is going to happen the cliffhanger.
² If I was a billionaire I'm pretty sure that I could come up with better and easier ways to ruin people's lives than becoming friends with them. Heck, I think you could pay to have them all killed if you really wanted to.
³ I don't care what the haters say, Lost is the best television show ever. The ending might have pissed some people off, but the journey to then ending was amazing. The pilot is one of the greatest pilots ever, Jack is a great troubled hero, Ben is one of the most devious villains, amazing musical scores, tons of draw dropping moments and the cliffhanger when Jack says "We have to go back, Kate" is the best season cliffhanger ever.  One day I will have a 20,000 word Lost entry.
⁴ I love any tweet that is #"fill-in-the-blank"problems like #firstworldproblems.

0 The Hunt

I have been looking for a new job since I knew I was moving to New York. With a brief 4 month hiatus for bar exam preparation and taking, I have been combing the electronic streets of the internet, looking for a job that I am qualified for. At the least, I have been looking for something to get me out of the house. It has been nice to have the luxury of working remotely/from home for the past 10 months, but the allure has worn off. I miss human contact (quite the revelation for an anti-social agoraphobe like me) and I miss the sense of purpose that comes with working. I also would not mind getting paid the going rate for NYC versus Pittsburgh. The cost of living difference is substantial.

I have had a number of interviews, on the phone and in person, but the result has been either silence or the "thanks, but..." that HR types seem to have memorized or at least permanently stashed on their clipboard. When I apply to a job and get a interview, I talk up the job in my head and think of how great it would be to get said job. This invariably leads to a certain level of disappointment when I don't get the job. As part of the job application process, I have been spreading a wide net. If I meet the qualifications for a job, I figure I can apply. It can't hurt, and with the arbitrary nature of my job it's a good idea to have options.

This has led to the following situation, that has led me to write this post. I have a phone interview tomorrow with a non-profit in lower Manhattan. This non-profit does a lot of advocacy work for juveniles and is an interested party, as compared to my current employer, basically a branch of the Federal government. I am not by any stretch of the imagination a passionate person prone to emotional outbursts or someone touched by emotional things. A cynic would call me a emotionless negative person. They would probably be right. How do I get excited for working at an advocacy place? How do you work at a job that is 180 degrees from what you are comfortable doing. I applied to this job because I had the credentials to get in the door, but I was reluctant to apply because advocacy work is something that you have to feel passionately about to do it well, and I knew I did not. At the same time, I needed a new job. My current job was stagnating and job security was not assured, especially with the impending election (I applied before Obama won) which could have resulted in drastic funding cuts.

So the phone interview is tomorrow. Who knows what will happen, but I'll have to see how that goes and what kind of vibe I get as well. I hate looking for jobs. It's exhausting and depressing as well.

0 Happy Holidays

I feel like it's been forever since I have written anything, and looking at the post timeline it has been quite some time. It's hard around the holidays, especially if you are travelling, to keep up to date with blogging. I would feel like a bum or like I was ignoring family if I was sitting there typing away about the weather, about Black Friday or about how the best part of thanksgiving dinner is stuffing (which it is). But now that I have a 3 week hiatus from vacation, I would like to opine about worthless stuff such as books, movies, food, sports, and pop culture tidbits like Taylor Swift's new bf de jour.

0 Thanksgiving Hiatus

Thanksgiving ended up being a difficult time for the Jamie Dixon Cider.  All my homemade apple sauce making and random family activities really cut into my rant making and random thought writing.  I'll be back soon with some nonsense...

And to get everyone into the Holiday spirit, a clip from the best man in late night Jimmy Fallon...

0 The Greatest Elimination ever...

This past week on the Challenge, there was the greatest elimination showdown ever. Undersized, love note writing CJ vs. arena football player, HGH using, Thor looking Zach, in a simple game that involved running through each other in a narrow corridor.  You would think that the huge football player would have won easily, but not so fast.  CJ did the impossible and won three straight times and came so close to pulling off the greatest upset ever.  It really needs to be watched to be appreciated.  Now would be the perfect time to include a clip, but it is basically impossible to find any good highlights of the Challenge online.  Thanks MTV.  This also made me realize that a recap of the Challenge without any clips is pretty lame.  So sadly, there will be no ongoing recaps.  Seriously though, watch the Challenge or CT will come for you...  

0 "The Passage"

I just finished The Passage, a post-apocalyptic novel by Justin Cronin. I am not exactly sure how I got turned onto it but I had just finished Cloud Atlas and I was looking for a new fiction book to read. The book is a lengthy read, clocking in at a little under 900 pages, but it went by pretty fast and I finished it in a little over a week. The plot focuses around a virus that the U.S. Army is developing and modifying to create a new super-soldier. Predictably, things go horribly wrong and the test subjects (death row inmates with nothing to lose) are turned into vampire like creatures with enhanced physical and mental powers who infect other humans, creating more vampires and destroying the country as we know it. Much of the early part of the book is focused on the two FBI agents responsible for collecting the death row inmates and their interactions with a young girl who they are responsible for collecting and bringing to the Army compound.

The book is full of biblical imagery and references. There are 12 test subjects and one, called Zero/Fanning that came before them. One of the main characters of the early part of the book is a nun in a convent. Much of the writing and the language that characters use has biblical overtones. The young girl, whose name is Amy is called an Ark by a nun. The vampires are created by a bite and a transmission of blood. The book is titled the passage, referencing (at least to me) the Israelite's passage out of Egypt, wandering in the desert and all of the trials and tribulations that happened before ending up in Israel. Presumably, the 12 test subjects are a reference to the 12 disciples. One of the protagonists is named Peter,  a character in the Bible who is called the rock that Jesus was to found his church on.  

The Passage is part of a trilogy, but much of the book provides a background on just a few of the main characters. Wolgast, Amy, and a few of the members in the 1st Colony are given much attention. I was hesitant reading the book at first, as things moved somewhat slowly, but it rapidly pulled me in and I was reading it whenever I had a free moment. An interesting picture is painted of the dystopian world that the characters live in AV (after the virus/virals), and much of the bulk of the book is a description of the lives of the people in the 1st colony. The eponymous Passage also describes the travels of 8 members of the colony who leave in search for answers, knowing that because of the failure of the lights that keep the virals away, their lives are about to change.

I liked this book a lot and it was hard for me to put down. I found myself staying up late and reading the book in  bed, curious to see what would happen to the characters. I wouldn't say I became invested, but I wanted to find out more of the back story and hear more about the world that the characters lived in; I was curious to see what relics still survived from the time before the virus (for example, calling pants "gaps", presumably after the store) and what had changed or adapted. The world that Cronin constructed became fleshed out, with gaps still in place left to tantalize the reader. I would recommend this book, but its a significant time suck.

0 Pitt is it

So I'm following my label-mate, and writing a post about Pitt basketball because I can't think of anything clever or unique. I am going to do a game by game prediction, but not venture into any post-season prognostications. So without further ado, here are my predictions. I am going to start with the first Big East game, since its hard to guess for the early season tournaments and most if not all of the non-conference games are cupcakes.


Monday, Dec. 31 *CINCINNATI (ESPN2) Petersen Events Center Noon  WIN (Cincy is a team to watch and Cronin is doing good things. However, the home court advantage, even with Pitt on winter break will carry them to victory)
Saturday, Jan. 5 at *Rutgers (ESPN2) Piscataway, N.J./RAC 11 a.m. WIN (Rutgers stinks. End of story)
Tuesday, Jan. 8 at *Georgetown (ESPNU)  Washington, D.C./Verizon Center 9 p.m. (A tough game, away late at night) LOSS
Saturday, Jan. 12 *MARQUETTE (ESPNU) Petersen Events Center Noon (Marquette always plays Pitt tough, but home court advantage can not be discounted) WIN
Wednesday, Jan. 16 at *Villanova (ESPNU) Villanova, Pa./The Pavilion 7 p.m.  (Villanova used to be an elite team in the Big East, but Jay Wright has fallen on hard times as of late. This used to be a guard-centric program, but no one has stepped up since Scottie Reynolds was still lacing them up) WIN
Saturday, Jan. 19 *CONNECTICUT (ESPN2) Petersen Events Center Noon (An interesting game and the first one without Jim Calhoun, either in person or his presence looming, coaching the team.) WIN
Tuesday, Jan. 22 at *Providence (ESPN2) Providence, R.I./Dunkin Donuts Center 7 p.m. WIN
Saturday, Jan. 26 *DEPAUL (ESPN-R/ROOT) Petersen Events Center 4 p.m. (You have to feel for Depaul. So much basketball talent comes out of Chicago, but it either heads down state to Champaign-Urbana or leaves the state entirely) WIN
Monday, Jan. 28 at *Louisville (ESPN) Louisville, Ky./KFC Yum! Center 7 p.m. (Louisville always plays Pitt tough. Pitt has trouble breaking the press and Rick Pitino teams are so well coached and generally very well disciplined. A nationally televised game on the road in front of an extremely hostile crowd, this will be the first big test for the Pitt Panthers. Beat Louisville and the sky is the limit) WIN!!
Saturday, Feb. 2 *SYRACUSE (ESPN)  Petersen Events Center Noon  (A tough game against an always tough team. Home court advantage, which has been my theme wins out) WIN
Monday, Feb. 4 *SETON HALL (ESPNU) Petersen Events Center 9 p.m. WIN
Saturday, Feb. 9 at *Cincinnati (ESPN2/ESPN) Cincinnati, Ohio/Fifth Third Arena 6/9 p.m. LOSS
Saturday, Feb. 16 at *Marquette (CBS) Milwaukee, Wis./Bradley Center 1 p.m.  WIN
Monday, Feb. 18 *NOTRE DAME (ESPN) Petersen Events Center 7 p.m. (Notre Dame always plays Pitt tough. Always. Mike Brey is an awesome coach and his players buy into whichever system he institutes.) LOSS
Sunday, Feb. 24 at *St. John’s (ESPN-R/ROOT)  New York, N.Y./Madison Square Garden Noon WIN
Wednesday, Feb. 27 *SOUTH FLORIDA (ESPN-R/ROOT) Petersen Events Center 7 p.m. WIN
Sunday, March 3 *VILLANOVA (ESPN-R/ROOT) Petersen Events Center Noon WIN
Saturday, March 9 at *DePaul (ESPN-R/WTAE) WIN

The final tally: Pitt finishes 13-3 in the Big East and earns a 2 or 3 seed in the NCAA Tourney

0 Pitt Basketball, I wish I knew how to quit you.

I am the eternal optimist when it comes to Pitt Basketball.  No matter how heart breaking of a loss, I always come back for more. Of the few times that my tear ducts have worked in my adult life, one was caused by the ending of this Pitt game:

Ugh. Then there was Pitt vs. Butler in the NCAA tournament, which had probably the dumbest foul in the history of basketball. Ugh. Then last year a CBI-Zebra Pen Championship. Ugh.  

Nonetheless, I'm back again this year.  But will this year be any different? This year's team is loaded with what you need to be successful in the NCAA tournament. A veteran point guard with no fear? Check. Tray Woodall knows scared money don't make money. Top freshman ready to come in and back an impact? Yep. Steven Adams and James Robinson are ready to go. Elite NBA talent? Oh yeah. Steven Adams is projected to be a lottery pick next year. Plenty of depth off the bench? They got that. J.J. Moore, Dante Taylor, Trey Zeigler and others all say hello. A coach who knows how to win? For sure. Jamie Dixon is one of the best coaches in the country.  Put this all together and this team will be ready to make a huge showing in March and hopefully April.  

So hot off my pretty successful election predictions, I am going out on a limb and predicting the Pitt 2012-2013 basketball team will finally make the NCAA Final Four. Hail to Pitt!

1 2012 Election

The showdown that has been years in the making, Obama vs. Romney, is finally upon us. Billions of dollars have been spent in order to convince the few undecided and independent voters in a few states that Obama or Romney is the right man for the job.

At first, I was going to go into a discussion of Obama and Romney, their differences, their similarities, why Obama is good and why Romney is evil alien robot sent to study and destroy humanity. However, I kept on thinking about how much money has been spent in this election. Both campaigns have raised and spent so much.  In Ohio, there was something along the lines of 26 straight political commercials. In fact, the Romney campaign started advertising in my state, Pennsylvania, because they had no where else to spend. Outside groups have flooded the airways with messages. And a man in Vegas spent 100 million of his own dollars to try to defeat Obama.

I honestly believe that the current campaign system is a complete and utter travesty. This vast amount of money is sickening, especially when this country needs jobs and new infrastructure for the 21st century.  Basically, the country needs campaign finance reform in the worst way. In my idea world, the Presidential campaign would be limited to six weeks in which any candidate who met a certain level of support would be entitled to the same amount of campaign funds and would get the same amount of time on television. This would give 3rd party candidates a fighting chance. The candidates would be required to participate in weekly debates where substantive issues would be discussed and talking points would be banned. This would prevent a foreign policy debate from turning into a discussion about taxes and the economy, which happened this year. Finally, outside spending would be banned. The less money in politics the better. I know there is absolutely no chance that this will occur but a man can always dream of a country in which ideas, and not money, matters the most.  

Without further ado here is my map:

Popular Vote Obama 51% Romney 48%, 54-45-1 Democrats in the Senate and a 22 seat majority for Republicans in the House.  

Obama is my president, and he will your president for FOUR MORE YEARS! 

  

1 The election

So the Presidential election is tomorrow if you have been living in a cave for the last 18 months. It comes down to a couple of states. This is my biggest problem with the American system. I live in New York right now. My vote does not matter in the grand presidential scheme of things. New York is a blue state and it will vote for Obama. The 29 electoral votes are his. Basically, President Obama and Private Citizen Romney (Quick segue: I hate when people are called by titles they used to have. If you are no longer coaching football, you should not be called coach. If you are a ex-senator you are not Senator Smith. The only office I could see applying it to is the Presidency, since it is such an esteemed office) have to compete over 10 or so states, and these 10 states will decide the election. That is not democracy at it's finest. The end result is catering to the interests of those 10 states demographics. Presidential candidates should have to go to Montana and North Dakota and Alabama and California and Alaska to show why they would be a great President for all 50 states. Furthermore, there should be a national holiday on election day. If the franchise truly is so important, this should be recognized. Banks should be closed, as should most branches of government. The more people who vote, the more representative democracy is.

So all that being said, here is a link to my map. I predict a Obama win by 288 Electoral votes to 250 for Romney.

0 Getting old

I tweaked my back a week ago Friday. I am not sure what exactly happened, but I went to the gym on Friday and I was carrying around groceries and a new speaker system and the combination caused my back to start hurting on Friday. This was only exacerbated on Saturday by sitting on our extremely uncomfortable couch. On Sunday morning I woke up and I could barely walk. It felt like a pinched nerve in my back with pain shooting up and down the right side of my body from my lower back to my toes. It slowly got better over the course of the week, thanks to the application of a heating pad and walking around, which seemed to help things.

Things like that never used to happen to me. I never got hurt, never got injured and was never down and out for a long period of time. However, as I have aged, I notice my body slowly falling apart. I am not trying to be a naysayer or a person prophesying doom and gloom, but I wake up in the morning with a lot more aches and pains and creaking bones and joints than I used to. Playing a contact sport is pretty much out of the question at this point. I can't even imagine the misery of rehabilitation from a torn ligament. I need to save my body for when I have children so I can wrestle with them like my dad did with me. Even typing that makes me feel old.

0 America's next great sport... The Challenge

There is some reality television that is entertaining in a oh look at that crazy person, who thinks she is allergic to electromagnetic waves living in a cave of France, I'll watch for a little bit way, and then there is the Challenge on MTV. For the uninitiated, the Challenge is a competition pitting former cast members of Real World seasons against each other in random and often ridiculous events (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Challenge_(TV_series). Now you might be thinking, oh what's the big deal just your standard reality TV nonsense but the Challenge takes it to a different level.  Since I really enjoy lists here are just some of the many reasons why:

1. Drunken fights."What else do you have to say? You have fake boobs. You are anorexic. You can't get a f*cking husband.  You don't have kids.  You are ugly. Shut the f*ck up!"  

2. T.J. Lavin. The best host on television aka "You killed it."

3. CT.

4. Ridiculous events.  Last weeks episode involved pulling teammates in a cart while wearing a horse mask, catching eggs with a cone around your head and hitting the other team with a huge fish.  It doesn't get much better than that.

With my love of the Challenge, I'm going to be posting recaps of every episode. However, the Challenge the past week was interrupted by the Friday the 13th remake for Halloween, which means you will have to patiently wait one more week for debut of "America's 4th Sport." Sorry hockey fans, it's over. Too many lost games. The Challenge and T.J. are gunning for you.