Ultimate Club

There are two groups of kids that go to Kennedy that play ultimate. One is the group I play with. We aren't very good, but we still have a lot of fun. Certain people who are very into it have insisted that the sport is no-contact, so we play close to that.

The other group actually has a club formed at Kennedy. They are the ultimate club. they sometimes play a little rougher, which I think I would rather prefer, but since I don't know many of them, I stay with my own group.

Today, the group I play with and I were playing at the Kennedy soccer field, when ultimate club came to play. There were only around 6 of them and about 10 of us, so we couldn't play a game against them, so we integrated and played a very large game.

It was very interesting, playing with people I didn't know. I had to quick figure out who could throw, catch, run, etc. Also, the captains, who picked the teams, weren't well informed on who the best players were. This made the teams come out uneven.

Of course, I was on the team that wasn't as good (as I always seem to be). I figured out a way to compete, however. I did the same thing as I did when I was playing on a team of 3 against a team of 5 (and all of the other team was better than most of our team). What I did was catch the disc after the kickoff, and then hold it until my teammates were in the end zone. I then threw the disc as far as I could, and my teammates usually would catch it for the point.

Playing with new people was very fun, I plan on doing it again soon.

Running, Online?

My goal is to run five times a week routinely, so that I improve my strength and endurance. In my search for ways to keep the habit and improve, I found online running logs. I wasn't sure how it would work, but I decided to check one out anyway.

I went to LogYourRun.com. I made an account, and found out that I can log other things than just running. These include swimming, biking, weightlifting, and many more options (even things like skiing and rowing). I logged some things I did this week, including the two times I ran and the four times I lifted weights. There is an option that asks how much I weigh and what my body fat percent is. I don't know what or how to find my body fat percent, but there is a link that will help me figure that out.

After entering my information, I found a few more options. There are pages that show you what you've done over your past week, month, or year. You can also look at graphs that show your speed, distance, weight, or BMI.

But even then I was a tad bit skeptical. I suppose I could see how much I've improved on paper (kind of), but that doesn't make me improve any better or faster. But then I discovered something else. There was a tab that said "Training". I had to click it. It went to a page that explains about goals and stuff, and then gives you an option of what you want to train for. In most cases, the goal is a certain race, at a certain time, and at a certain length. I don't have a race, however, so I clicked "beginning to run".

This one click brought me to around 20 links to training routines. Some focus on basics, some on weight loss, and some were "#"-week plans. I choose "Cool Running's Couch to 5k". Beside it said "2m", meaning two months, I think.

This led me to a calendar. It didn't seem threatening at all. It showed me that if I run about 3 times a week, I could be running 3 miles at a time in 9 weeks. It started out with weird letters and symbols that I had to try to figure out ("60sR/90sW"). It probably looks very obvious to you, but it confused me for about a minute. It means run for a minute, then walk for a minute and a half. After this, repeat for twenty minutes.

The calendar goes from running and walking to jogging and walking. In week 6, I will be doing "j5m/w3m/j8m/w3m/j3m" (j=jog, w=walk, m=minutes). It seems like it should be easy enough, but then in week 7 I am all of a sudden running 2.5 miles. I guess I would've preferred if I could stay on my walk/jog method, but then I looked at the times I was jogging. In week 6, I have to jog 8 minutes straight, and that is only a segment of the day's workout. I could run a mile in 8 minutes, I think. So then I realized that the schedule made lots of sense, and that it would probably work.

Now I think is an appropriate time for an official goal-statement.

By following this schedule strictly, by my birthday (May17th), I will be running at least three miles daily.

Running

I am planning on starting to run in the near future. I want to be better at running for a few reasons. My main reason is Phanic. Also, I plan to play a lot of ultimate (frisbee) and tennis.

Phanic is a lot like soccer. This is because the soccer field is used, soccer nets are used, but most importantly: there is a lot of running. On offense, I always have to run around to keep the ball. Also, running is important to get open, so that someone on my team can pass is to me. On defense, I have to chase the person with the ball. Also, if they pass it, I may have to run to guard them. Running is necessary for almost every aspect of phanic, and if I get good at it, I can increase my performance potential.

Ultimate also involves a lot of running. Often, we play on large fields, such as the soccer field. The biggest obstacle with this game is getting open. Since there is no moving with the frisbee, all plays are passing plays. Because of this, peolpe guard receivers (everyone on offense). Also, a strategy I use often is putting people in the endzone and throwing as hard as I can. If I was one of those designated people that was supposed to run to the endzone, the quicker I get there, the better.

Tennis is an obvious reason to need to run well. People who play tennis run all over their side of the court, and quickly too.

Running better is very important to me. I plan to take part in many activities that involve running, so I plan to run every morning before school. Only then, will I get better at phanic/tennis/ultimate.

Bananas

After working out in the mornings, I always eat a large breakfast. This breakfast includes a protein shake, two bananas, and two peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I drink the protein shake immediately after my workout, the bananas after I shower, and the sandwiches during classes. The bananas are important because they give energy throughout the whole day.

Bananas come in many shapes and colors. Colors when ripe include yellow, red, and purple. Plantains are a firmer, larger variety of bananas and are often eaten after being cooked. Bananas are grown in banana plants, but are often mistaken for banana trees because of their size and stature.

Bananas have many health benefits. They help to prevent many types of cancers, and can also help to treat kidney stones and high blood pressure. What I am looking for, however, is that there is a lot of vitamin B, vitamin C, and potassium. This means that they give athletes electrolytes quickly.

This healthy addition to my breakfast is also very tasty. Sometimes, I eat it with a Hershey's bar. Banana and chocolate go together very well, whether it is in smoothie form, or just eating the bar with the banana. Also, I sometimes add banana slices to my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The jelly-banana mixture isn't great, but the overall taste is pretty good. Most of the time, I just eat the bananas plain. I like the taste of bananas, and haven't gotten tired of it after a few weeks of the diet.

The taste, the health factor, and the exoticness all contribute to make the banana a great breakfast.

Ultimate

This weekend would have been boring if not for a certain sport: Ultimate. I played ultimate three times during the weekend, and had loads of fun. I also got to be with friends, and even meet some new people. Ultimate is a great way to enjoy being with friends, making friends, and exercising.

Firstly, I want to clarify as to what ultimate is. The name came from "ultimate frisbee", but as my spell check just informed me, frisbee is not a word. Frisbee is a brand name, but since it was so monopolizing over the disc industry, people started calling the discs frisbees. Another example of this is when I go and blow my nose in a "kleenex".

Playing ultimate is great exercise. This is because there is so much running. Most people, when describing ultimate to newcomers, explain that it is like football, but there is only one down. Also, whenever a pass is complete, the team gets a new first down, even if the pass is backwards. But since the person with the disc cannot run (also a rule), everyone else has to run to try to get open.

I met at least ten people when playing ultimate in one game. Many were college students, so I didn't know most of them. When playing a game like ultimate, people learn each others names quickly, because it is hard to get the attention of the person with the disc if you don't know their name.

Also, ultimate is fun. Exhilarating passes and touchdowns and throws make the game exciting for everyone. Ultimate is a great way to spend time with friends.

Ultimate is a great sport that should be played by more people. Since it is fun, people will love to play it. Meeting new people, having fun with friends, and getting exercise are just good side effects of playing ultimate.

Kevin Smith

Kevin Smith is a fat man (he admitted to it, many times) and director. He was kicked off of a plane for being too fat, and feels like he shouldn't have. Also, since he has an ongoing podcast site of his own, he was able to make a podcast, in which he explained what happened once and for all. This story is a potential story for my revised essay, and since it is as thourough as it is, I believe that I will use it often nd it will be effective.

It all started when I was reserching. I was looking for multiple examples of people getting kicked off of planes. When I found the one about Kevin Smith, the kid sitting next to me notified me of then "smodcasts" that Kevin Smith makes, and showed me the one about the incident. Later that night, I listened to it. I was not ready for an hour and a half podscast, but it was very informative. I learned what happened in detail, why Kevin is angry about it, and what he thinks should be done.

Mr. Smith says that anyone his size or larger should boycott Southwest Airlines. These airlines, in particular, are reletively cheap and build for saving money and space. Mr. smith claims that making seats for skinny people is unamerican, because the average size of a person is increasing.

I thought of maybe taking a stand close to where Kevin Smith did, but that would be rather hard. I thought of this because I have seen three incidents where Southwest Airlines have kicked people off of planes for possibly bad reasons. This, however, doesn't prove that they are more prone to kicking people off in general, or just that they get media about it. Also I couldn't argue the same argument that Mr. Smith is exactly, that fat people shouldn't ride Southwest Airlines, because I am not fat, and it would be degrading, whereas for Kevin Smith to do it wouldn't be.

I will contionue to pursue the topic about where airline companies should be qualified to kick people off of planes. Also I will try to explore how I could qualify this. By using Kevin Smith's podcast, I can add specific information about specific incidents, and make the paper seem much more real-life.

Revised Essay

I have decided that I will be switching my topic from criminal profiling (with a focus on statistics and the actuarial approach), to the rights airlines have to refuse people to fly. This topic was brought to my attention through a radio broadcast, where a talk show host claimed that someone had gotten kicked off of a plane because he smelled badly. So far, research for this topic has been very successful, and I imagine that it will be a good topic to switch to.

I started my reserach by googling "getting kicked off of a plane". My first few results were almost exactly what I was looking for. The first was a video clip and article about a Kyla Ebberts, who was asked to leave a plane because she was wearing too skimpy clothing. She then negotiated with the man to let her remain on the plane if she covered herself with a blanket and pulled her sweater together.

This article was exactly what I was looking for. A young woman, who wasn't a terrorist threat, was asked to leave a plane for a very minuscule problem. Also, after watching more of the video, I found out that there is no dress code for the airport Miss Ebberts was at. The problem in the case of this story wasn't that the woman couldn't ride the plane, but that she was embarrassed.

I then found another story about a Muslim family. They had been talking about which section of the plane would be the safest (by the wing, the front, or the rear), and someone must have reported their "dangerous" conversation. This article was not what I was looking for, however, because this family, though obviously innocent, were taken off the plane because of a potential terrorist threat.

The third article I found was a good one. A mother and her autistic son were kicked off of a plane because she couldn't make her boy keep quiet. Also the boy kept trying to crawl out of his seat belt. When the stewardess came to try to get the boy under control, she made him more upset. The mother claimed that she had brought games and toys for the boy, to settle him down, but the stewardess refused to let her use them. Since they had no under the seat storage (because they were in the first row), they were required to put the toys in the overhead compartment, where they couldn't get to them.

I think that this article could be used in my essay, because it addresses an issue that is partially the fault of the airline. Also, at the very end of the article, the woman says that she will never ride on those specific airlines again. I could use this as an argument for airlines being able to do whatever they want.

I plan on taking the side that the airlines should be able to kick people off of planes whenever they want. The way I see it, is that if the airlines kick people off frequently, people will stop going to those airports and they will go out of business or have to down-size. Also, by taking out people who are disturbing others, most of the population will have a much better experience.