A white and soundless place

I'm reading this book, "Metal Cowboy", about this guy who tours on his bike all over the United States, Australia and New Zealand. He has all these incredible stories about his , people he met and wild situations he found himself in. Its a fun book to read, especially considering the x-country bike t that I am embarking on in a little more than two months.

There was one story where he references a work of fiction he read where a civilization of people had figured out how to live forever.

They had become immortal, suffered no pain or injury, and did not age. Free to build utopia, they lost the desire to do more than reach a certain level of comfort. They put off their dreams until tomorrow, because tomorrow was an unlimited resource. Then, for no apparent reason, one member of this world began to age normally, bleed and feel pain. Gradually, he became filled with passion, urgency, and the ability to see his dreams through. He also became the envy of the world. Because his time was limited, it held value.

The idea is that what makes life so special, so important, is the brevity of it, the implication that we only have so long and its all we have here. We do not have all the time in the world to do everything we might like to do, so choices must be made, some paths taken and others forgotten. If we were just allowed to live forever, the possibilities of what we could do would be endless, but the greatness of any one thing would be diminished by the fact that you wouldn't have to give up anything in order to do it.


I've really been thinking a lot about the idea of opportunity cost in life. When I learned about it in an economics class, I just shrugged it off as something academic and not really relevant to my life as I lived it. Now, the thought of having only so long to pursue all the things I dream of and wish to accomplish is frightening. I want to do and experience so many different things, and the realization that I am limited by sheer time is extremely frustrating. The scariest thing that I can imagine is doing just one thing for the rest of my life, not exploring all the opportunities, adventures and people that are out there for me to encounter.

Swimming in Orange

On the eve of the Big East Championship Tournament at MSG, I am anxiously anticipating the Cuse's game tomorrow against Pitt. After the epic meltdown 2 weeks ago at the Dome, the boys should be eager to prove that those scrubs from western Pennsylvania pulled off the fluke win of the year. The Orange are playing their best basketball of the year right now. The Belgian Blur, Kristof Ongenaet, is a one-man wrecking crew. Jimmy B's squad is finally rounding into form after incorporating 6 new players into a 7 man playing rotation this season. It is understandable that this team has taken some lumps over the course of a rugged Big East schedule, but the freshmen aren't playing like they are rookies anymore, and the rest of the league better be nervous about the prospect of facing the boys from upstate at the garden this week/ weekend. (I need to track down a tv at work tomorrow and steal away for 2 hours around noon.)

I now present to you the forecast for next year's squad written by my marvelous friend Loren Sutton. The man is an SU grad and the biggest SU fans I know. He rightly believes that if things pan out as they should, next years squad will be one for the story books. Note: this review of the squad was written a few weeks ago, before the emergence of the ongenaet turning into the new Stormin' Matt Gorman and Greene realizing he was indeed 6-11.

First.... I'm excited for this team to find some consistency. Perhaps with some luck they can work their way into one of the last spots. Next year's team will be unreal... every weakness of this year's team (lack of depth, experience) will be next year's strengths. The second team would be one of the better teams in the Big East on their own.
The Starters...
1) Jonny Flynn - will be one of the best PGs in the country, there's nothing on the basketball court that he can't do and if he's allowed to rest for a couple minutes a game he might be even better
2) Eric Devendorf - will have two years left with 3 years experience, hopefully will be much more mature and will let Flynn create his opportunities for him and play well within the offense if he spends some time perfecting his shot combined with his ability to get to the rim anytime he wants will be an unbelievable force playing off the ball
3) Paul Harris - lose a little bit by moving him off the 2 where he and Flynn are having so much success right now especially on defense...but with the depth can give Devo rest and switch to defensive mode by putting Harris at the top of the zone...plus Devendorf is big enough where he might be able to play underneath on the zone
4) Donte Greene - if Bernie Fine can help him bulk up and develop a little inside game will be an unstoppable force on the college level, too tall to stop the shot, too quick to stop underneath, needs to develop patience with his shot so he doesn't continue to jack up bad shots when he's off a little...but the confidence to keep shooting even when he is off is great
5) Arinze Onuaku - by next year could develop into one of the more dominant big men in the league...you know he's a hard worker and won't be satisfied with his results this year and will come back next year even better...possibly a 15 and 10 guy if he gets the minutes and his presence alone is so intimidating and one of the sweetest jump baby hooks in the game
The Bench
6) Andy Rautins - healthy and lethal, ready to come in and light it up whenever he's needed and won't have the ego to be bitter about losing what would have been a starting role for him...one of the more underrated weapons on the team last year, if Flynn, Devendorf, Greene and Rautins are on the floor together there is no way to stop it you can't cover 4 excellent shooters 7) Scoop Jardine - wasn't supposed to play very much this year but the injuries have allowed him to get time and he's developing nicely...still needs some patience and work on his shot but he's going to be solid in spelling Flynn for a little bit
8) Rick Jackson - also wasn't supposed to play much this year still very raw, you can see that he still gets nervous at times and makes some mistakes simply because he gets a little timid...has shown some real brilliance at times though, especially at the end of the Georgetown game after Onuaku fouled out...not having the threat of coming out seemed to give him the confidence to play full tilt made some nice blocks and had some strong rebounds...shows great athleticism for a guy at 6'8" and putting him on the floor with Scoop there is some real chemistry there
9) Kristof Ongennaut - scrappy and hard working...can come for 10 minutes a game and add an instant energy boost, plays great fundamental like a typical European and if he works

on getting a little bit of a shot going can be a real catalyst for the team
10) Kris Joseph - big, versatile small forward freshmen won't get much time but will be competent back up if needed and will learn a lot with all the great SFs in front of him

And none of this even includes Sean Williams the ridiculous, raw and maybe a little crazy 6'11" center with a 7'5" wingspan. it's going to be a great year...even if Greene does happen to leave they'll be unbelievable and I hope we can get 3 years out of Flynn...if he stays that long his name is going in the rafters next to Douglas and Washington without a doubt.

(UPDATE: Cuse played Nova, not Pitt, today at the garden and got absolutely smoked. I missed the game and i'm kind of glad I did...)

WBFF- First Map of Route

Okay, so here is my first map attempt for our trip this summer. The distance is 3,171 miles. I didn't put in many stops or detours along the way, they will eventually be added as the details become more clear and we decide what things we want to see on our way across. Any ideas for places to stop/ things to see that wouldn't be too far off course?


View Larger Map

You'll find God in the church of your choice

My mom once told me that she would rather listen to a Bob Dylan album by herself than go see him in concert. At the time I was kind of shocked that she wouldn't want to see him perform in person, but she explained that there was a big difference for her in the way she was able to enjoy the music in these two settings.

When you are listening to music by yourself, you can make the music having a personal meaning to you. You can take the song and construe it in any way you like. It is up to the listener to connect with the music in a deeper sense without having any outside influence, pressure or assumptions.

At a concert, you are presented with a concrete version of the music and what it was originally meant to be. The presence of hundreds or thousands of other people listening to the same song, in the same venue, watching the same artist, there can be no distinct or personal interpretation. Each individual is force fed a publicly agreed upon version of the music.

I saw Dylan live less than two years ago, and it pains me to say it, but it was a let down. In the twilight of his career, no longer playing the guitar, and practically speaking the words instead of singing, the version of Bob Dylan that I was presented with was not in line with the way I saw him and his music in my mind.

I guess I still prefer to envision him as he was in the early 1960's, a renegade from Minnesota who moved to NYC and was able to channel the work and spirit of those folk musicians before him and produce a sound all his own. And I feel that if I want to, I should be able to conjure up any vision of him/his music I desire.

The way that I interpret and feel from listening to "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" isn't dependent on what a critic or some dude standing next to me at a concert or even Bob Dylan himself feels about the song. My relationship with the music needs to be untainted by outside speculation or influence.

So, what I have come to is the idea that the music is mine. I can enjoy, say, John Wesley Harding regardless of "how well it was received" or what some irrelevant critic said about it. All that matters is how I come to terms with what I hear and what it ends up meaning to me.

Tiny Tuna Tumbling Toward Tibet

The New York Knicks lose 124-84 to a mediocre Philadelphia team last night.
The Syracuse Orange shoot 29% from the field and lose by 11 in a practically must win game at Louisville.

As much as I want to believe, both of my squads seasons are for all intents and purposes over. Sure the cuse could go on a quick run to finish up the season, especially with a big game with Notre Dame coming up, but they are just too thin this year to really be much of a threat. Sure, they can win a big game here or there, as they did last saturday against Georgetown, but with all of their starters playing 30+ minutes a game, they don't seem to have the depth to compete with the top teams in the country. However, the future looks bright as they are getting two former starters, Devendorf and Rautins, back next year from injuries and a great assemblage of young talent. If Greene returns for his sophomore year, they will have an incredibly talented and deep squad that should definitely be in the hunt for a national championship.

The Knicks on the other hand are just plain miserable. Isiah Thomas has run this team into the ground. The roster is filled with malcontents and mismatched parts. Outside of Crawford, Lee, and Balkman (and maybe Nate), this team should just be gutted and start fresh. The payroll to wins ratio is off the charts. Hopefully Dolan will have an epiphany and give Isiah the ax sooner rather than later. He has proven without a shadow of a doubt that he can run a team straight into the ground. Congrats.
The only bright spot is that they finally should have a lottery pick this year and could pick up one of the stud college freshmen. Hopefully someone else will be dumb enough to fall in love with Randolph's double-double numbers and give us a couple players to work with for the future.

But I guess I can't really complain because...

THE GIANTS WON THE SUPERBOWL!

Malcom Gladwell

In my humble opinion, Malcom Gladwell is one of the most gifted writers of our generation. He wrote the bestselling books "The Tipping Point" and "Blink" and is also a writer for The New Yorker.

He has written about everything from the steroid scandal in the MLB to the issue of moral hazard in our healthcare system to ending homelessness in the US. He writes in a style that is unpretentious and straight forward. Lately I have been reading and rereading all of his archived articles and anything else I can find from him online.

I remember reading "The Tipping Point" last year while I should have been reading some obscure academic article for one of my classes. I just felt to frustrated by the way readings in academia were made to be as complicated and abstruse as possible. It was as if the writers felt that the more difficult and convoluted their writing was, the better it would be.

He writes in such an inventive and creative way, always looking for different ways to look at an issue and trying to find out what questions are not being asked. I still haven't figured out what about his writing is so appealing to me, but I am beginning to think that the way he uses a number of different lenses (psychological, sociological, economic, etc...) to figure out what is really at the crux of the social issues that he investigates is what makes him such a powerful and persuasive author. I want more people like him in charge of how our world is run.

I just wanted to clue my 3 loyal readers in to this great writer. I highly recommend checking him out. Also, he has a fresh afro.

expandable horizons

So, we are still working out how we are going to make this bike trip happen. Understandably there has not been a whole lot of people who have come out and expressed a strong interest in spending 2 glorious summer months on a bike. However, there have been a good number of individuals who have said that they would be willing to bike for a day, weekend, or week. Using this new knowledge, we're planning on tailoring out outlook for the expedition a little bit.

Some Facts-
1. We are going to be biking from Poughkeepsie, NY to the Pacific Ocean just west of Portland, OR.
2. The trip is going to take a little more than 2 months.
3. We are going to be biking on average 60 miles a day. Some days more, some days less.
4. The goal is to fund an organization that helps to provide basic necessities to those in the most need of them.
5.We are going to be using the trip to raise money for the United Way. The United Way is a national network of more than 1,300 locally governed organizations that work to create lasting positive changes in communities and people’s lives.
6. We are going to be reaching out to as many United Way chapters along the route as possible, hoping to raise money, pick up riders, and spread the word of what we are trying to accomplish.
7. The fundraising goal right now is going to be set at $15,000. I feel that this is not an unrealistic sight, but one that can be reached with a little help from our friends.

We had originally wanted each of our riders to raise $3,000 each. This was under the assumption that all of our riders would be with us for the whole journey. Since it appears most of the people who will be taking part in this trip will be with us for less than the full ride (roughly 3,000 miles), we are going to adjust this strategy.

If we can reach out to friends/families/neighbors/associates to support us, they can in turn tell their people about it. The possibilities are endless. The message of what we are doing is sure to reach the ears of people who are excited about it. These are the people that we want to get in touch with. Those that love the idea of spending the summer exploring this great land of ours and helping others at the same time. The only way that we can find out how great this could be is to go out and do it.


If you are interested in what we are doing there are a number of different things you could do.

1. Sign up to bike for however long or short you want to.
2. Pledge some amount of money towards the WBFF. ($10? $.10/mile? come on, you're loaded, now open up that damn wallet.)
3. Hand out our fliers/brochures out to anyone you meet/ Tell everyone you know what your friends Joe and Jer are trying to do this summer.
4. Email me and tell me what is on your mind. (josephsdward@gmail.com)