EXPRESSIONS
- Impress her for less Laurel Wright
- New life only a click away Robert Orndoff
- Crowe brings a different kind of football to campus Ross Brooks and Matt Coleman
- Campus celebrates peace week with art, song, theater Laurel Wright
- Students outsource in search of a home team Alissa LaGesse
- 'Good Luck Chuck' falls short of already-low expectations Ross Brooks
- Recent study uncovers new global warming numbers The Environmental Magazine
- Oddball Antics Mike Pinree
Impress her for less
So you've found a beautiful lady, you've even worked up the nerve to ask her out, but now what?
You're no Hugh Hefner, so a pricy weekend getaway is out, and let's face it: The chances of making enough money to pay for a five-star meal are pretty slim.
But worry not, fellas: There are ways to impress your lady that won't leave you digging through the couch cushions looking for spare change.
Step one: Make a good impression
Start the date off by bringing her something that shows you care. Flowers are a good choice, said David Jackson, a senior English major.
"You can pick someone else's flowers, wrap them in something and give them to her," he suggested.
He also recommended making a card. And don't worry if art isn't your strong point, he said: It's the thought that counts.
Step two: Show her your skills - cooking skills, that is
While the McDonald's dollar menu probably isn't a good choice for a romantic dinner, there are food options that won't leave you with an
empty wallet.
Phil Finder, a junior fine arts major, said that on the first date with his fiancee they cooked a low-cost
spaghetti meal.
"Cooking together allowed us to have a connection," he said. "But we didn't concentrate on the spaghetti. It turned out overcooked."
Despite the over-done spaghetti his date turned into a success - he didn't spend much money and he had fun.
Step three: Spend time together
Now that you've shown her what a great guy you are, it's time you get to know each other.
Jackson suggests taking your date for a walk on the beach, which is free and will give you a chance to spend time together.
One option for those stormy nights is a movie. While going to the movies can be expensive, renting a movie is relativity cheap, and if you pick one that's scary enough, your date might even hold your hand. If you have completed steps one through three
and your lady isn't impressed, try
another approach.
You showed her your sweet, sensitive side, so maybe your next date should be to a free hardcore show to prove how tough and manly
you can be.
If that doesn't work, then maybe this girl isn't for you.
Don't worry, though - there's always that girl who writes for the newspaper.
Contact Laurel Wright at features@unfspinnaker.com -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE
New life only a click away
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Gamers can customize their online avatars to resemble their actual looks. |
So much of what we use today is made to be thrown away.
When we aren't happy with something anymore, we simply ditch it and find something that fits us better.
Now we can do this with
our lives.
For those of you who haven't seen either the "Leeroy Jenkins" YouTube video or the episode of "South Park" that takes place in the online "World of Warcraft," there is a new phenomenon
online.
It offers people a chance to live again through games like "World of Warcraft," "Final Fantasy XI: Online," and even - you got it - "Second Life."
These games take place online in alternate universes where people can log on, create and customize an in-game version of themselves, and begin living out
their fantasies.
But it isn't all dragon-slaying and army-crushing.
People also perform jobs and create commerce inside
the games.
And while they are at it, they tend to meet new friends and learn things about themselves along the way.
"I was not as outgoing in real-life situations involving strangers," said Chris Brickey, a senior international relations major.
"Playing the game [Final Fantasy XI: Online] has made me more outgoing in real life."
Junior business marketing major Blake Waddington can quantify the difference playing online role-playing games has made in his social life.
"One-sixth of the numbers in my phone are people I game with, and most of those I haven't met in real life."
While the age range of players typically falls between 10 and 50, college students' lifestyles can lead them to getting exceptionally immersed in these games.
Anthony Soulinthavong, a senior mathematics major and known as Tachyon by his gaming compatriots. He admits he had to quit playing online role-playing games because they were affecting his school work.
"I was almost failing," he said. "It cost me a year of my school."
Soulinthavong says the withdrawal took a full semester to
get over.
Though he has since returned to playing these games, he says he does not play them as often
as before.
Waddington confesses his grades could be better but knows others who have given up much more than him.
"I know people who lost their apartments, jobs and girlfriends," he said.
But for what these gamers
give up, some feel they get plenty in return in fame and fortune.
Soulinthavong made $250 when he sold his account.
People who make accounts for the express purpose of selling them can make thousands from a single account.
"There was a picture of a wedding in the game [Ultima Online] that ended up in the Guiness World Book of Records,"
Waddington said.
"I attended that wedding and my character ended up in
the book."
Weddings aren't the only life events that bleed from the tangible world into the realm
of fantasy.
Another popular YouTube video shows an entire war party attacking a funeral ceremony full of unarmed players.
The funeral was for someone who had died in real life.
Contact Robert Orndoff at features@unfspinnaker.com -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE
Crowe brings a different kind of football to campus
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Crowe's Rabbitohs are named for men who once walked the streets of South Sydney selling skinned rabbits and calling "Rabbitoh, Rabbitoh." |
The Hodges Stadium men's locker room doesn't often host Academy Award-winning actors.
The "Gladiator" star and co-owner of the South Sydney Football Club Russell Crowe was on campus Sept. 24 to announce the University of North Florida as the site of a winter training camp for his rugby league team. The Leeds Rhinos of the English Super League will practice with the South Sydney Rabbitohs during the training camp, and the two teams will face-off in an open exhibition match Jan. 26.
Crowe said the scrimmage, which is scheduled for Australia Day, will be the first time a professional Australian rugby league team will play a professional English rugby league team on American soil.
The decision to schedule the training camp at UNF was made due to the university's prior associations with the Jacksonville Axemen rugby team and other English league teams. He said the facilities at UNF would fit the needs of his team during their two-week long stay.
"The university is incredibly well set up," Crowe said. "Everything is within walking distance. All of the facilities we need are right here."
Crowe decided to take ownership of the team alongside Australian businessman Peter Holmes a Court in June 2006 when club members voted for a change in management. A former ruby league powerhouse, the Rabbitohs haven't won a league championship since 1971.
"It's been a long time between drinks for us," Crowe said.
The team has a number of younger players, and Crowe said he is excited to give them a chance to play in a different part of the world.
"We have a few 17- and 18-year-old young bloods," Crowe said. "It's about educating them," Crowe said. "For me it's about how the players are affected, it's all about the young blokes."
In the spirit of educating Jacksonville residents unfamiliar with the intricacies of rugby league play, Crowe said he would be willing to open the training camp to the public.
He also said he might allow UNF rugby players to practice with the Rabbitohs. "Tackling pads are expensive," Crowe
said jokingly.
Tickets are now on sale through the Jacksonville Axemen at jaxaxe.com.
Campus celebrates peace week with art, song, theater
Peace awareness activities at the University of North Florida has grown this year. The sixth annual peace awareness celebration kicks off Sept. 30, expanding from its traditional day of activities to an entire week of peace-related events.
The goal of Peace Awareness Week is to make people aware of what has to happen for peace to be possible, said Dr. Candice Carter, chair of UNF Peace Education Partners.
"You need to make peace," she said. "Peace is easily lost. In order to not lose it, we need to work to keep it peaceful." The week is full of varied activities, Carter said.
"We are hoping people come to both activities they're interested in and the ones they know nothing about," she said.
Events include the musical "The Mountain of Peace," which features a cast from UNF and Jacksonville and tells the story of different families working together to achieve peace.
The play "ECHO BOOM!," which looks at violence in youth culture, will also take stage during the week-long effort to increase peace awareness.
There will also be a celebration of Mohandas Gandhi's birthday with a peace walk across campus, as well as a Peace Festival on the Green, which will have music, poetry, speeches, food and
activities.
A three-day Peace Symposium will wrap up the week, and will include keynote speakers, discussion and other peace-related
activities.
The downtown Jacksonville Library is hosting a Community Walk for Peace and Conflict Transformation as part of the closing ceremonies, and WJCT will be screening the documentary "The Power of Forgiveness."
Other events during include lectures, yoga, art exhibits illuminating peace, and a showing of Al Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth."
A complete calendar of events is available at www.unf.edu.
Contact Laurel Wright at features@unfspinnaker.com -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE
Students outsource in search of a home team
It's football season, and students at colleges and universities around the country are quick to support their favorite teams.
Yet there are schools like the University of North Florida that do not have football teams. So if students cannot support their own team, who do they support?
Many factors go into a person's support for a certain team. Jarrell Harris, a freshman studying music and psychology, likes the University of Florida because of their players.
"I like UF because I'm a fan of Kyle Jackson," Harris said.
Some, like Andrew Blalock, a freshman criminal justice major, gravitate toward certain teams because of the coaches.
Other students have family ties to their favorite teams.
"I like Florida because I grew up watching them and my mom went there," said Eric Bohn, a freshman sports medicine major.
Spencer Grier, a sophomore communications major, said he's a University of Miami fan because his dad and brother graduated from there.
Tucker Holmes, a freshman building construction management major, said he grew up a Gator because his uncle used to coach lacrosse there.
Other students feel loyalty to colleges in states they are
native to.
"I like the University of Southern California, because my dad went there and I was born in California - plus they're good," said Bethany Morgante, a freshman Communication major.
On the other hand, graduate accounting student Rico Thomas loves UF for a unique reason.
"I did my undergraduate work at the University of Florida, and I did security at the football games. I would walk around the parking lot and the tailgaters would give me food," Thomas said.
Andy Meehan, a sophomore construction major, said he chose his team based on their academic philosophy.
"I love [the University of] Notre Dame because I like what they stand for," he said.
Sophomore communications major Warren Braswell likes Ohio State University because of their cheerleaders.
Rick Middlebrook, a freshman political science major, said he likes his team for more practical reasons.
"I like the University of Texas because they have a really good system, many multitalented athletes, and a good defense,"
he said.
The fact that UNF does not have a football team may be news to some - students have been seen around campus sporting "UNF Football" T-shirts.
Contact Alissa LaGesse at features@unfspinnaker.com -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE
'Good Luck Chuck' falls short of already-low expectations
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The movie, much like this dinner scene and its following sex scene, will turn the stomachs of the hardiest viewers. |
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Good: In-depth refresher in female anatomy for those who skipped sex ed. |
Americans go to the movies for emotional fulfillment.
Whether it's a horror flick to get their hearts racing or a
family comedy for that much-needed "aww" factor, everyone visits the cinema hoping to feel something before the end
credits role.
Unfortunately for any one bringing these hopes to Liongate's newest film "Good Luck Chuck," the only thing
they are likely to feel is disappointment.
The once-funny Dane Cook stars as Charlie in this romantic comedy that desperately tries to keep itself from being pigeonholed as such.
The film is one part
slapstick, one part gross-out humor, and two parts softcore porn all wrapped up into one giant on-screen disaster. Even the good looks and star power of Jessica Alba as Cam Wexler aren't enough to save this film
from itself.
The plot is barely cohesive enough to be understood. Charlie has been cursed since childhood to be the last man any woman has sex with before she
is married.
Add this to a slew of overused staples of the romantic comedy genre, and you have a mildly entertaining way to waste a trip to the theater.
Take, for instance, a scene in which Charlie has to chase Cam down in an airport before she leaves for Antarctica.
He gets tangled up in airport security, shows up at the wrong plane, and finds Cam just as the plane is ready for takeoff - really trend-setting stuff.
Dan Fogler plays Charlie's life long friend Stu, one of the most token, hackneyed "best friends" in recent memory.
As an overweight, middle-age breast surgeon, Stu spouts misogynistic relationship advice that Charlie follows even though Stu hasn't had a relationship
in years.
The overall run time is about 96 minutes, which the producers manage to cram three montages into to gloss over developments too nonsensical for the film's writers to justify.
In between Cook's crazy antics, Alba's mild responses to them and Fogler's references to "baby gravy" and masturbation using a grapefruit, the otherwise empty-space is filled with gratuitous nudity. I counted more nipples than funny lines.
Aside from its use of stale conventions and toilet humor, the movie's most irritating moments come when Cook and Alba take the screen together.
Instead of appearing as an odd couple meant for one another, the duo's performances prove that acting requires more than just pretty faces and big names.
Alba performs at a level of mediocrity we've come to expect from her by virtue of other roles in films like "Honey" and "Into the Blue."
However - at the risk of sounding like a chauvinist - it has never been Alba's acquired acting skills that keep her
employed.
Rather, it is her more natural and inborn qualities which keep getting her re-cast.
As for Cook, the one good thing about his performance is that nothing from his stand-up routine is featured in the film. His acting is flat and uninspired overall, and his only truly funny moment comes 2 minutes into the
final credits.
Alba and Cook's lack of chemistry stems from the fact that neither holds real lead-role potential.
Both do well in movies where they have a few lines before the camera cuts to a different actor.
But as the camera's lenses focus mainly on them, their collective lack of experience and talent shines through.
In fairness to both this film and the Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, standards may have been held a bit too high in the weeks preceding the film's debut.
Viewers would have been better served remembering Lionsgate as the studio responsible for "Hostel," "Delta Farce" and "Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector," resulting in diminished expectations and a more enjoyable hour and a half.
Lionsgate would be better off sticking to its golden child, the "Saw" series, and you would do best to keep your $8, convert it into pennies, and count the 800 reasons why you didn't see 'Good Luck Chuck."
Contact Ross Brooks at features@unfspinnaker.com -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE
Recent study uncovers new global warming numbers
Sea level rise, and the accompanying loss of shoreline, promises to be one of the most devastating results of global warming.
A recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group of leading atmospheric scientists, forecasts a global sea level rise of between seven and 23 inches by 2100.
This they foresee due to the greenhouse gases we have already pumped into the atmosphere
- even if we start cutting back now.
Such dire but realistic predictions are based on computer models that factor in the heating and expansion of the ocean, the melting of polar ice sheets, and storm surges that can affect tides by a foot or more.
What does this mean for shorelines around the world?
Simply put, existing shorelines, especially in low-lying areas, will become submerged - a sea level rise of less than half an inch can cause shoreline retreat upwards of four feet - forcing inhabitants to relocate their homes, businesses and ways of life.
Perhaps the most striking example of this type of upheaval is already underway in Bangladesh, a low-lying country of 140 million people.
According to the World Bank, an international lending and development agency, sea level rise will likely inundate as much as 20 percent of the country's habitable land, affecting as many as 30 million people already living on the edge of survival.
Scientists fear that sea level rise, especially when combined with intense storms, could deliver a knock-out blow to areas already devastated by 2004's Indian Ocean tsunami. China, India and Egypt are also expected to experience major flooding.
Here in the U.S., scientists fear rising sea levels could put a recovered New Orleans back under water, but this time permanently.
In New York, stronger and more frequent hurricanes, also thanks to global warming, could combine with rising sea levels to essentially put most of Manhattan and outlying areas under water, wreaking untold havoc.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE
Oddball Antics
What are you lookin' at?!?
A man, waiting for a bus in St. Paul, Minn., got into an argument with two others there, shouted, "Why don't you show me some respect," and attacked them.
He was on his way to anger management class at the time. In fact, he hit one of the victims with his anger management folder.
Hey Guys! Basketball game, my house, hurry!
A woman in Riverside, Calif., became angry at the 14-year-old boy next door who was making too much noise playing basketball.
When he refused to stop, she went out onto her sundeck and took off all of her clothes, apparently to shock him.
She threatened to do the same every time the boy played basketball.
Though I do recall a white dress and a guy in a tux...
A woman won the Miss Ventura County beauty pageant, but was later disqualified because it was revealed that she was married at the time.
In her defense, she claimed that she was heavily intoxicated at her wedding and did not remember it.
Is there are problem officer?
A young man and woman in downtown Warsaw, Poland, ripped off their clothes and proceeded to make love on a busy sidewalk in broad daylight, because, they said, "They just couldn't help themselves."
Police arrested them, but had to let them go because nobody had actually complained.
Hold on, train coming, ok, all all clear, aieee!!!
A man, looking down at his cell phone and text messaging as he crossed some railroad tracks in Cincinnati, stopped as a southbound train went roaring by.
He then continued walking and was hit by a train going in the opposite direction. He survived.
Ohhhh the pain! The paaain!!
After a car containing three women collided with a police cruiser in Boca Raton, Fla., at four in the morning, a woman in another car jumped out of her vehicle and got into the crashed car with the victims.
When paramedics arrived, she screamed in pain and claimed her back was hurt. At the hospital, doctors determined that she had not been injured.
She fled when she learned that police had been called in.
This should prove that he knows how to ride.
A motorcyclist was arrested after leading Georgia State Police on a chase through two counties at speeds of up to 154 mph.
After he was pulled over, he explained that he was late for an appointment to get his motorcycle license.
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