Final Blog

If this blog was a magazine subscription, I am ready to cancel my subscription. So here is my final blog post. To all my fans and the 700+ page views that I have logged over the year, I am sorry, but I have to do whats best for me and retire from the blog game. I dont know what I will do with all this time on a thursday from around 8-8:30, but I know I will use all that nee time wisely. I have enjoyed writing for nickobblock, and I appreciate the oppurtunity, but I am ready to move on. 

So whats next? In the immediate future, I will just be hanging out, enjoying my new half hour of free time, far away from this blog. But dont get me wrong, it's been real, it's been fun, it just hasn't been real fun.

Insider Info of Car Mirrors

I have an aunt who is an engineer for the US Department of Transportation. She does many interesting things involving technologies that can do incredible things like prevent car crashes by allowing the vehicles to communicate with each other. Those technologies are already in some cars and they are now standard in all new cars. She also told me about some of the ideas they have for the future. She told me that in a short time, side view mirrors will be obsolete and off all cars. Instead, a camera will be pointed backwards from the side of the car, and the picture will appear on a high technology wind shield. This will save on gas mileage by making the cars more aerodynamic, and it will also prevent mirrors from being sideswiped and broken off, because they will no longer be there. This is something currently in the works, and, in fact, on the day I talked to her, she had the privilege of test driving with mirrors on the windshield in the fancy simulator below at the US Department of Transportation at the Volpe Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She personally was not a fan of this but she recognizes it can save a lot of money by giving cars better gas mileage, and she knows she just has to get used to a major change like that.

The Aztecs

Thinking back to the last time I was about to graduate on to a new school, I found myself trying to remember what it was like a the end of 8th grade at Parker Middle School. Those were great times being the top dogs ready to go on to high school, but I can remember my history teacher making us learn about the Aztecs right up until the final bell. Those Aztec were actually a very interesting people. Some compare them to the greatest of earl civilizations like Rome, but I am not sure I agree. I know that they could really take care of themselves, and they were excellent at building structures and farming, but those were some WILD dudes. Human sacrifice was actually the number one thing in their religion. Every day the priest would just rip a bunch of people hearts out then roll them down the stairs of the temple, and no one would bat an eye. Sure they were advanced, but that is some savage behavior.

Robot Games

An article on USA Today titled Are robots the future of the Olympics? Talks about plans started by the Government of Dubai announced last month to host the first "World Future Sports Games" in December of 2017. The event would feature sports games between robots. The events include ping pong, running, driverless car racing, drone racing, robot soccer, and even swimming.
As a sports fan, I really hope that robots are not the future of sports. The thing that makes sports so intriguing is the human aspects within them. A robot will not let its emotion take over in crunch time and perform at any higher or lower level. It is also hard to root for a player who you can not identify with on an emotional level. I think that robot competitions like the one RMHS recently hosted are very interesting, but there are still human faces behind the robots that I know personally. A robot olympics would not be something that could interest me after the novelty of the incredible technologies on display wears off.

Random

This is my twenty third blog post of the year for this class. It is also three days late. I have a bad case of senioritis. I am tired. I would not mind eating something right now. I certainly have writers block. I just figured out what I am going to write about. I will type whatever I am thinking as my mind wanders. Kanye West's new album "Life of Pablo" is a very impressive work. He is still kind of a jack ass though. "Ultralight Beam" is the best song on it. Chance the rapper has a fantastic verse on it. I do not think that my audience for this blog listens to rap music, but I would certainly recommend listening to "Ultralight Beam." In fact, I will link to it in this blog. As I reread what I have written, it seems that my mind focused on Kane West and it was not as random as I would have hoped, but that is okay. Instead, I am spreading the word of "Yeezus." I kind of hate myself for saying that "I am spreading the word of Yeezus," but whatever, I will keep it to keep the integrity of this blog that is my stream of conscience.

Spring

Dear Spring,

I'm sorry. I don't know what I did to drive you away but I'm sorry. Please just come back. My old roommate winter moved back into your vacant seat, and that guy really sucks.  He already dumped like six inches of snow on the ground. He just makes me feel cold too. But that's the opposite when I'm with you. The week or so that we spent together was magical; consistent 60 degree days, outdoor basketball, street hockey. But apparent I was just a fool being toyed with. Is that how your going to treat me? I just remembered that you bring allergies back. You know what... don't come back because I hate you.
...
I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. You know I love you. It's probably just stupid winter getting me riled up. I need a spring breeze to warm my icy hart. So come on home, Spring, I miss you.

NCAA Tournament Again

As a write this, the 'Elite 8' is set. There are only 8 teams remaining in college basketball, and this tournament has certainly been madness. My two brackets have been busted but I am okay with that because there has been some great basketball. Emotions are running as high as ever as teams, especially the seniors, play for their basketball lives. These seniors have been working hard for the past four or five years of their life on their college team, and this is their last chance for basketball glory unless they find their way onto an NBA roster, which is only the case for the elite. It is sad to watch dreams and careers be crushed on a full court shot, but it is equally amazing to see careers get extended and possibly ensure they will never die by hitting an iconic buzzer beater.

NCAA Tournament

Today is the first day of the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Division I Tournament, or more appropriately called March Madness. So far, it has certainly lived up to the Madness. As I write this, the first days games are not yet over, and there has been an upset in 4 out of 11 of the games. I believe that this day may possibly be the best day of the year in sports. Everybody is excited about their brackets because everyone believes they have filled out a perfect bracket, and they will easily win the bracket pool with their friends. Then when the game starts, everybody has their phone in their laps, live streaming a game between a couple of teams they may have never heard of, but they passionately root for who they picked. More often than I'd like to admit, my dreams of a perfect bracket almost always go out the door within the first two hours of the tournament, just like this year. However, my champion is still kicking, and I have to feel good about that. Go Huskies.

Haiku...In Japanese

天気がいい。春のシーズンはほとんどここです。葉は木々の緑の成長します。

Tenki ga ī. Haru no shīzun wa hotondo kokodesu. Ha wa kigi no midori no seichō shimasu.

Blog

Beautiful
Lengthy
Original
Genius

Mad Lib

Here is a mad lib I found online. Play along and comment your mad lib. 
Here are the missing words:

A Person
Adjective
A Place
Things (plural)
Things (plural)
Feeling
A Celebrity
Song Title
Verb 

Highlight the White Block below to reveal the paragraph you are filling in.




I just got back from a pizza party with Person. Can you believe we got to eat Adjective pizza in A Place?! Everyone got to choose their own toppings. I made 'Food and Things (plural)' pizza, which is my favorite! They even stuffed the crust with Things (plural). How Feeling! If that wasn't good enough already, A Celebrity was there singing Song Title. I was so inspired by the music, I had to get up out of my seat and Verb.

Shrek

Its an age old question that will spark debate between philosophers for years to come; is Shrek 2 better than Shrek 1? The obvious answer is of course not, the original is always better than the sequel. If you say that, it is only because you haven't seen either movie in many years. No one is going to say these two masterpieces are not examples of Hollywood's work, but no sequel is ever superior to predecessor. Unless, of course, we are talking Shrek.

Shrek 2 is non stop laughs right from the opening sequence that details Prince Charming’s epic journey to save Fiona, only to be informed by the big bad wolf in a women's night gown at the end of his journey that she is on her honeymoon. That’s called comedy. The writers were definitely familiar with it in 2001, but they were masters of it in 2004. what really puts Shrek 2 over Shrek 1 is the characters. Just about all of the old ones we fell in love with in the original are back, and we meet Prince Charming, Fairy Godmother, Fiona’s parents and the iconic Puss in Boots. You can add the giant Gingerbread man Mongo to the list of new characters as well. Now looking at the soundtracks, there is no doubt that “I’m a Believer” is the number 1 song in the series, and that is in Shrek 1. The number 2, 3, and 4 songs all belong to Shrek 2 (Holding out for a Hero, Changes, Funkytown, and throw Accidentally in Love in there too). What do you think? Which Shrek is best?

Skiing

Next weekend, I will finally be doing one of my favorite, if not the single favorite, winter activities; skiing. I would ski every day if I could and it would not get old in a million years. Beginning with the first glimpse of the mountain as you approach it from the car, it is a sight to be seen as small figures weave back and forth down the wide and steep trails like ants crawling down a wall. Once you finally get on the chairlift, there is nothing like the adrenaline rush you get when you zoom down the mountain. You can feel the fresh snow under your skis as you carve through it. The cold air and piercing winds that on your face is something that I welcome as I feel like a I am in flight, racing down the mountain. And when you want to slow things down, the view from the peaks is always breathtaking. Below is a picture I took of Lake Winnapesuakee atop Gunstock Mountain. On a clear day, Mount Washington can be seen in the distance. There truly is no better way to spend a winter's day, or any day at that.

End of an Era

As I was watching TV a few nights ago, I flipped on a documentary called Kobe Bryant's Muse. Kobe Bryant is a basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers and has played only there since he was 18 years old fresh out of high school. He is also considered one of the best players in league history, and he is the sole reason I have not seen two Celtics championships in my lifetime. As a die-hard Boston Celtics fan, I am obligated to hate him, but I truly respect and appreciate him. That is why it is sad for me to see that he can no longer play at a very high level, and he has decided to retire at the end of this year. This is now his 20th year in league, so he has been dominant since before I was born. More importantly, the era of Kobe Bryant, is the era I was born into as a fan, and the only era I have ever really known. It is strange and saddening to see that it is now officially over. I am happy that he can no longer rob any finals championships from my Celtics, but their is no greater show on TV than a finals match up between the Celtics and the Lakers. The greatest rivalry in sports will certainly live on, but it simply will not be the same when I can not boo at Kobe Bryant, the menace in purple and gold.