Miami... Uh... Yea...

So I've been told I don't write enough so I'll fill that void with our trip to Oxford. Getting there was like going through back country lanes. We started passing buildings that were for the university and continued to pass them for the next 10-15 minutes until we reached the stadium. I've never seen a campus with so much grass and buildings so spread out. We passed three "Welcome to Oxford" signs so I'm not sure when we really were in it. When we realized we were on campus, we started to play the 'count the popped collar BMW' game. In on city block, there were three BMWs and seven Cadillac SUVs. There were zero around the whole campus of UC. In the same city block there were also fourteen popped collars.

We finally arrive at the stadium twenty minutes after passing the second "Welcome to Oxford" sign. The stadium was like a really big high school stadium. It was exactly like that one OF played out near Sandusky where it was all cement. Like that, only taller. After getting seated the first thing we notice is the Miami student section. They had a white out. For those who do not know what this is, it's when a cheering side plans to all wear the same color. A few days ago there was a black out and that was fine because the team they were cheering for wore black. Miami's student side was a sea of white. Everywhere you looked, white. But UC was in white... Miami was in red... They had the wrong color... Wearing the colors of your opponent completely defeat the purpose of doing that. So essentially, the ENTIRE student section for Miami was supporting UC in what they were wearing. Nice.

It was also band day and a bunch of local high school bands came to play along and watch the game. The Miami band came out and they were about ten bigger than us. It sounded like half of them were playing which amazes me because in order to be in their college of music, you need two years of marching band. So in theory, they should be amazing. Let's put it this way, both college bands did a concert for the high schoolers before the game and during one song of Miami's, you are suppose to shout 'MI-A-MI.' Instead, the high schoolers, clear as day, were shouting 'Lets Go Cats.' Equally nice.

The Miami band takes the field for pre-game the exact same way OSU does. They come marching in from behind the middle bleachers (there isn't a corridor like there is at the shoe). They then make the huge Michigan 'M' on the field. If OSU and Michigan's pregame merged, you had Miami. They made the state of Ohio and a tuba dotted the I, I mean, marked where Oxford was. Only he was probably about five yards away from where it really was. He then did the OSU tuba wave, salute, and bow. Speaking of OSU, we saw more OSU jerseys then Miami jerseys (they have the same colors and look). Our guess was the OSU ones were cheaper. They then played their alma mater. During it, all you could hear was the UC student section (which was only one seating section big) singing the UC Alma Mater on top of Miami's band. Their singing was louder.

Pre-game is over and on to the field comes this big brand new Hummer. It parks itself and in it is the new mascot that was going to be unveiled. Ok, fine. The mascot (a red hawk) comes out of the Hummer and starts running around but then his shoe/slipper came off. So this bird is running around the field missing on of his shoe/slipper things. He notices that it fell off and tries to go slip it back on but couldn't so just kept running around and left the big red shoe/slipper on the ground. The applause quickly turned to laughter. Nice unveiling.

Game starts. Woo hoo. First quarter, it is 16-0 UC. Second quarter, it is 26-3 UC. At half time, the Miami fans started leaving. You could see a constant stream of people leaving. Third quarter, 33- 10 UC. UC let up the first touchdown all season. Dang. Now even more people are leaving and the entire UC student section starts singing 'Na na na na... na na na na... hey hey hey... good bye.' This went on for several minutes and again, the student section was all you could hear. The people leaving were turning around and waving good bye. That was priceless. It then took us a hour to get out of there because there is only one major road into and out of campus. 

Final score, 47-10 UC. UC is now ranked 29th nationally.

Go Cats. 

THe End Of Harry Potter (no spoiler, don't worry)

     I have read all of the HP books many times over and remember getting the first three books back in 8th grade. I had all seven ordered before the fourth one was even written and have remained up to speed with everything that has happened in the world of Harry. Many people have been asking me how I think the book will end and with so much talk of HP on these posts, I thought I'd just throw this out there. This is NOT a spoiler. I have not gotten my copy yet (but am anxiously awaiting). This is only a guess. We'll see how close I am. If you do not want to be influenced by other people's ideas while reading the book, do not read the next paragraph.

     From the very beginning of the series to the Half-Blood Prince, there have been less than obvious talks of Horcruxes. The name only really appeared in the 6th book but the theme ran through out the series beginning with the diary of Tom Riddle. There were seven, two of which have been destroyed and one which had gone missing and replaced with a fake with the initals R.A.B. on it. My guess is Harry will track down and destroy the remaining four only to discover that the last one (minus the missing one) is the scar on his forehead. He decides that by killing himself he can destroy the last Horcruxes (minus the missing one) but before he gets farther in his thinking, unlikely aid comes from Snape who is a master of the dark arts. I think Snape will an alternate solution and that is Harry becoming a muggle. By giving up his magic, he can not have any magical curses/Horcruxes on him, thus destroying it. By doing this, all but one Horcruxe remain. My only guess with who R.A.B. is would be Regulus Black, Sirius Black's younger brother who has been mentioned several times throughout the series, espically the third book. Sirius mentioned he thought his brother got in a little too deep with the dark arts and Voldermort and I think he may possible be in league with Snape. Between the two of them, I think they will destroy the last Horcruxe after Harry becomes non-magical and then destroy the last Horcruxe in front of Voldermort before finishing him off.

We'll see what happens. I really have no idea. This was just the result of weeks of thinking and reviewing since I'm a nerd like that. Now, out to the front step to wait for the UPS guy to come with my book.

Updates From Down South

     So apparently I 'never write blogs' and many people are curious as to what I have been up to and how I am doing. Well  here it goes... College started back at the end of August when I left for an actual band camp in Indiana at a place called Higher Ground. It's about twenty minutes outside of Cincinnati. That was some are stuff. Had to be at practice at 8 everyday and it went until 9 at night. That's a lot of band and marching. Even though it was the hardest musical activity I've ever done it was still a lot of fun. Great way to meet almost everyone in the band in a matter of a week. We then returned to Cincy for a game or something and then went back to camp for another week. Woo hoo! 
     The week after that we had band camp at the University so it wasn't as long or concentrated. While there I stayed at some band kids' houses on a street surrounded by band houses. So that was great and I got to know even more people more personally. 

     School finally started on September 20th after being there for three weeks. I have a fun 19 credit hour schedule consisting of, get this, HONORS english. When I told Mrs. Capuano that she probably almost passed out. Calculus which is normal but the teacher is from Russia. Actually no, he is from FSU (Former Soviet Union) and his accent is great. One can understand him fine but the things he says. Like zero he says in Russian and cos is pronounced cah-sign. And the "square kills the root" only 'kills' is pronounced 'ke-als.' And things don't cancel out, they 'keal' each other. Chemistry is meh, chemistry. I don't like chemistry at all but oh well. This is the only quarter I have to take it. The class is in a lecture hall and it's close to full but it surprisingly isn't bad at all. You can hear and see what he's teaching and he stops to let anyone ask questions and answers all of them. And after chemistry and a couple days a small group of 25 or so meets with a TA to go over and everything that was taught and work on homework and study for exams. Apparently it works great cause I got a perfect score on the last exam so sweet. Fundamental Programming is fun because I know everything already due to that amazing man we call Mr. V. *ducks from the arm swing* So to make it challenging I contracted it which means I have an extra project to do by the end of the quarter and if I do it I get honors credit for the course which is cool cause to stay in honors I need 36 before I graduate which won't be a problem at all. I might get all of them in my first year which would be cool. I have some other classes but those are the only ones I have anything to really say.
     And for anyone that might be wondering what the heck I might be majoring in here it goes. For startes I'm going to be here for five years. In those five years I will be getting a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering (I'm an engineer) and a Master's Degree in Business Administration (I'm a boss engineer who can start off in high positions). I will also have what is basically a minor in leadership (that goes along with the boss thing and being able to lead others and being trained to do so). I will also have the Great Beginnings Certificate (being able to interacte and communitcate with others and is active in community), a certificate as a HTML Designer (self explanitory), and I am also looking into becoming Java Certified along with other languages. So yea, I'll be a busy person but I think in the end it will be worth it.

     As for how do I like it down here. It is amazing. I couldn't see myself anywhere else. The teachers are great. Everything is so close that one doesn't have to walk far. The food is amazing. By meal plan they don't mean just a meal, they mean an all you can eat buffet at one of the nation's top dining halls. In one day I had slow roasted roast beef, fried hen, whitetail, and tons of sides. Yes, it'd be awesome if someone from OF came here but oh well, take what one can get. I've met so many people and made so many new friends it's incredible. Band had a large part to do with that. The other was just how open and friendly our dorm is. And as for classes, I'm in what is called a Learning Community which means twice a week we meet with our leader and talk about our classes and get help from him on anything we need. There's a little under 20 people in there but all 20 have almost identical schedules. Which means you know all of those people and go to class with them and really get to know them. It's nice going to every class knowing there's that many people there that you know; espically when the classes are under 30 with the exception of the lecture hall. Amazing.
     Do I miss OF? Of course. I miss all of the people from there but because of AIM I've been able to keep in touch with many of them (SN is still summersurfer25, send an IM sometime). Mary was down to visit last week as was my family and Crystal. Casey is coming down in a couple weeks. Any one else who ever wants to make a trip down here is more than welcome to. Next weekend I am going to OF's homecoming and it will be great to see all of the now seniors and teachers that are going to be there.

     Just to fully update, Friday a group of us went to Fear Fest at King's Island (has nothing on Cedar Point) which was neat because everything happened at night and on the coasters when you looked over the park it was all covered in smoke and fog. Pretty neat. Yesterday was played Akron and started off horribly. But we managed to pull it together and won 20-14. Then we watched Animal House which is always a classic. Today, not sure what I'll do. Probably laundry tonight. Work on some programming projects. Continue to try and upload pictures to Facebook. Hope everyone is well and can't wait to see everyone again! I'm thinking of having a winter party at the German Club or somewhere similar for everyone that graduated with us. Let me know who is interested.