Competitive Edge

Fed Reserve Competition Post Mortem

I did not go on to the next round in my federal reserve competition. I was a one-person team, I hope I represented well and it spoke more to the issues of trusting in sources of financial power like the federal reserve and what will happen.  I thought it was interesting, I thought it would also help versus the average speech of possibly talking the same points as a paid group and claiming .25 will be a sizable change in the federal rate.

My point was at each level from us, to cities, states, federal, and even international the markets will react differently but no matter how they may take the moves in what directions because the finance game is essentially many layers of games on the same board. There was going to be a problem that if you are not trusted the moves made will not be held to the same value because trust is not as much in the reserve and the moves and people of it. My move was to take a year get the reserve to make itself a source of information for people about the reserve and finances and cut out a lot of the problems with people hearing about the reserve second or third hand.

It was a subject I thought was a good one, I did my best with it. I was ill when I had to speak, I was alone, but I also did it.  How many people can say that? It was a feast or famine presentation and it didn’t pay out.  I still would do it on that subject, I would still try to do a better presentation. Strategic Temporal Credibility in a Multi Level Reflexive Market. Could have workshopped the title more except when I had it that it felt like the best one.

Doing it on video and ill trying to speak through a rough throat the odds were long. I did something not many in my school have done and all I can hope that maybe they enjoyed something from it, that maybe they learned something. One can hope every time they enter a competition if they do well, but this time I was not enough to move to the next round.

Until the next one.

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Magic and Life Without It

Someone got mad once because I explained cooking as the last school of magic. For this we are going to pull the merriam webster definition.

“The use of means (such as charms or spells) believed to have supernatural power over natural forces.”

Now there is nothing more natural then grown food, whether animal or vegetable it is the natural force of the planet we can use to keep ourselves going.

For the sake of clarity supernatural is defined as “departing from what is usual or normal especially so as to appear to transcend the laws of nature”

Now this is a pork roulade by the freshman cook @ https://www.thefreshmancook.com/pork-roulade for those who are wondering, go check them out.

Can anyone tell me how this is a natural meal?

It is not. Nature does not come like this, we work with the materials to make our emotions, our senses, and our ideas come to life in away that is wholly without speaking but still a language all of its own. There are dishes that do something with us that scientifically we cannot explain. When your lover makes your favorite cookie after a long day of work. When your mother made you a dish after you cried from not making a sports team. The argument could be made that memory and all of that is neuroscience but even they do not understand to what degree it is or it isn’t.

Magic is something that can be holy or unholy, self-reflective or a pulse to the people around you, it can be something built out of the worst of emotions and be great, and be made from joy and be horrible for others. All it is, is a crack in the door that you do not understand the world as completely as you think. That’s it.

It took me years to believe in magic again after a lot of painful times because when you go through a lot of pain sometimes magic is the farthest thing you can believe in. It doesn’t feel like it can help you, like it can heft your weight of the mud of the situation or bandage wounds that have come from working.

Magic allows you to think you may be able, if the cards fall your way and the wind blows just right you can do things that maybe you wouldn’t be able to do as well before. Walking back to my apartment it dawned upon me that for all the people willing to shout down anyone doing well not one of them could see themselves doing the same successes they saw in others. It made me wonder why, and why they couldn’t just believe a little bit. Anywho.

Just a Thought.

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Final Round With A Rival

Let me tell you a story. Two fighters get into a ring. 15 rounds are on the clock and as the time runs you see these two fighters beat the holy hell out of each other. Swing, counter, swing planning, counter planning. Then sometimes they will just come together and beat the holy hell out of each other. After a while Other fighters look at that match and they go these two had something. Between them, whether it was respect or hatred or just there was something additional there, that’s a rivalry.

Five times. This will be. This month makes the fifth time me and my rival and Game of tones are competing against each other and the score is they have won twice against me. I have won twice against them. They got a third event where I could not compete, so they have three victories to two for me, but in competition against each other. Out of four times it’s evenly split two Vs two. So. This is the reason why I also had to come back. Now. There was part of me hoping I could get by and not have to deal with my rival. I am laughing as I write this because it’s almost poetic where I’ve wanted to get to three victories. They got to it first because I had to go to my schooling and focus more on that. They are now in the crosshairs and for me to get it, I have to get by someone who’s been essentially a thorn in my backside for this competition.

We will go to the final round. Both of us have lives that are moving faster. This may very well be the last time both of us can do this kind of an event against the other. Inside us is also that little bit that I know they have as well. They go “OK, can I do it a third time?”  I wonder the same.

The person that will win this? We’ve had to go through hell as a writer because there was someone in your shadow pushing you just to do that little bit more, that extra repetition, that extra page, to put it how close we have been. For the four times we have competed against each other, we have never been more than 5000 words apart. 5000 sounds like a lot and for those who are new to this, it sounds Titanic. For those who are doing 500,000 that’s less than a couple hours. Three of the most recent times it’s been less than 2500 separating us. Anyone who does anything in competition. If you do something very well, let’s say you are a running back and you get 10,000 yards overseas and you make new records in your area. You do everything and when you look at the national records for the year, you realize you’re second by 10 yards.

Going into business, you have a rival business and they make $1,000,000. You are awarded as the best new business in the city because you made $1,001,000. The difference is  minuscule. It feels like inches and when you have gone miles to lose by inches hurts. It stings, it burns, it makes you swear. Funnily enough, we both have done it. Part of me wonders if I can do that again, and I cannot tell you that I can. Because if this is the last round, it would kill me if three separate times someone got by me for the sake of maybe an hour’s worth of work in a month-long competition.

What has to be the greatest piece of comedy in all of this is that neither one of us would be so strong in this kind of event, or writing on the whole, if it weren’t for the other across from us. Pushing us just to get that extra little bit more out of us. The reason I use dictation sometimes now is because of them. During the last event, we were together after the second week. Both of us had put in more than 50,000 words daily. We also made a novel. Both of us had made separate novels in a one-week time frame. Now you may hear me say 50,000 words and novel interchangeably. Some people may go that’s too short to be a novel. I use this because as it has been practiced from National Novel Writing Month, the idea the goal is to make a 50,000 word piece of writing. Now, depending on who you talk to, it could be more, it could be less, yeah. 50,000 in any case, is the goal that everyone understands.

One more time, one more challenge and one more chance to change the past. You get one bullet to do so and you ever find yourself in a position like mine, then you will do everything you can to make sure it goes to where it needs to go. How it is done though may be them ore interesting thing because win lose or draw there will be some changes. We will not be the same people we were when we started this challenge.

The final round is going to start and this is going to be the rubber match between me and my rival all for the sake of seeing not only who can do more but just as a point of pride between us. It will be tough but when the time starts working against you it is when we will start to see the test on the soul. It is never when things are going well, that you find your drive for something. It is only when things go badly, or you face an opponent worthy of it where you have to check your gut and see if there is enough there to get by them.

Part of me is also sad, when you have someone like that you expect them in other challenge to almost be there, especially if you put a lot of time into competing against them. Finality, that colors everything and it makes you see exactly where the story between the two of your ends. I guess in a couple weeks, we are going to find out.

Stay strong

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A Little Slamball

Some of the games have been played and it is time to go over what has been going on to this point, and because this is my blog we are going to the Slashers and the Ozone first. Both have had different luck but it is good to see that shakes and the slashers are at least doing well in third place. There has been a nuisance in the league that both of my teams have had to deal with and it is the only team still perfect. Ozone is closer to the bottom then to the top but there is more to be seen here.

Seeing the Mob do this to the rest of the league does not really shock me, it was going to be them or the Rumble by my guess. Both had been forces since day one currently as it stands the Mob Are causing Martial law by Slamball. It is Mob Rule and not many teams can handle them. On the other side of the standings we have the Lava and while only playing four games one would think they are getting blown out in all of them except look at the plus minus for them.

For those who do not know plus minus is the total of points they have scored in all of their games against the points scored against them in all their games. If it is positive then that means they are scoring more points then the league on average, and if it is minus then they are scoring less. Lava have played four games and have a plus minus of -12 one of the closest ones to zero. Mind you only two of eight have a positive plus minus. If my money has to go down, the lava may be waiting to erupt later down the line.

Something to back up the lava thought is that in all four games the biggest difference in scores between them and the opponent? Four points against the slashers in their first game. Which means they have lost by a total of eight points in the other three games, hopefully there are things to be tweaked and we can see some lava flow to some victories.

The Mob have caused damage to opponent after opponent and seemingly had the answer whenever a team has tried to change the questions bringing in new talent with sons of Slamball athletes ( Byrd has two sons, One a stopper for the Mob and the other a gunner for the Ozone.

George Byrd was on both the Hombres, Maulers, and the Riders of the past and was someone who could often surprise with the skill sometimes passing, sometimes shooting and sometimes trucking over those who stood in his way. He had the size to be a problem and when he was on the court one had to be careful for the big byrd was always ready to clear a path to the hoop. Here are a couple of clips of the father in action just so you understand during his years he was a defensive powerhouse but had some offensive flash.

Also, something I need to add there is also a 4 pt shot, and that is a shot made outside of the 28.5 foot arc. This was a new one to me, apologies for it, but it also brings some values to the long range game and there are players trying it. Just to put the Mob in perspective though here is the recap on the most recent match up between the Mob and the Rumble.

Mob is being disrespectful in dunk form, just outright mean. This is something that has not changed. Back in the first rounds of Slamball on TV there was one known as Sean ‘inches’ Jackson A man who looked at physics and went.

I am sure he is watching these games with a smile because that legacy is being protected. Dunkers go to the mob and the rest of the league gets some therapy. Hope this brought you a little more info on the Slamball. Watch them if you can on espn2 or at least on Youtube channel so they can see you like it.

Stay competitive.

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Slamball Teams I am Cheering For

(Midterms bad, this post late, writer cries.)

Today, the Slamball season starts and in Las Vegas so let me tell you who I will be cheering for. My reasons for my choices are really just home state pride and a mix of hoping some new combinations come up.

In the new teams there are two members from the great state of Oregon and those will be the teams I hope get to get some gold at the end of the season. First, is one of the new teams. Stopper for the Ozone, Vincent Boumann out of McMinnville. 6’9 and 285 he is going to be one of the bigger men in the league and hopefully with the resources, skills soon flourish. The Ozone will be coached by one Trevor Anderson, someone who is unknown to me, but there are reasons people are in the coaches positions. Anderson has to be the name that can send someone to the shadows, because if an Anderson doers not want to be found, they are not being found. Hopefully, this Anderson coaching wants to be found on a championship. In any case the Ozone are my number two team to cheer for because the number one team has part of my color scheme of purple and green and it has a member from Oregon.

https://www.instagram.com/boumann_vincent/

Slashers have a 6’3 gunner named Bradley Laubacher, a graduate of the University of Oregon and based out of Bend. Oregonians have the nasty habit of showing some magic when pushed with back to the wall. Laubacher may show some of the magic of the Pacific Northwest. On top of that there is a coach who has done a lot as a player, but not much as a coach. Laubacher can make a lot of headway because the position he is, was the one his coach shared in the first seasons. In any case there is a lot to see here, and I have a feeling this could be very good. Also the purple and red of the slashers would look sick with some dark designs. The artist in me is thrilled to see something like that, because outside of these guys only the Toronto raptors were brave enough to run those colors.

https://www.instagram.com/bradleylaubacher/

The other teams will be the Gryphons, Wrath, Buzzsaw, and Lava for the new teams and the Mob and Rumble will be returning from the first seasons to make sure people remember not to sleep on some history, or history will be made out of them. Slashers being one of the old and the ozone one of the new means I have my picks to get a little bit of everything, the teams you cheer for are like your favorite foods, sometimes you can try different things. Enjoy the spice of life as you find someone to cheer for, and who would you choose to cheer for? Let me know in the comments and as always

Stay competitive.

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Competitive Edge – Slamball 101

(Future Writer Note – this was supposed to go out before it started. Unfortunately, midterms exist.)

Something that when I want to write about sports or competitions that there is a place for it anything from hockey to Excel will be here just so long as people are competing actively against each other. One of the things to put here has got to be slamball.

Back in the saddle after some twenty years here are some things to keep you in the loop when you see it for the first time. Four people in three positions fill the court for both sides and it is these people that will be bouncing back and forth trying to score on the opposing hoop. Courts are smaller and equipped with Olympic level trampolines that can send someone high enough in the air to make a slam dunk, provided nothing stops them.

Which leads us to our positions on the court you got your Gunner, Stopper and Handler. Two gunners, one stopper, and one handler. All of what the titles mean are quite simple. Handlers handle the ball and get them to the gunners who take their shot for the hoop. Stoppers, do what it says on the word and try to stop the shots often bouncing off the tramps. Simple to understand, but hard to master there has been close to two decades of athletes plying their craft. Defending and attacking as one group shoots toward the hoop with contact not so shied away as it is asked for as can be seen by the pads they wear and the glass around the smaller court mirroring that off an ice hockey rink.

Slam dunks are three points, while all other shots are two. No slam dunks where it has to be thrown down, there are cameras on the rims to see if hand to rim contact was made and they will use it ot see if it is worth 3 or 2.

It is something that tells everyone that it will be a rough sport and unlike in Soccer where someone may roll around on the ground if someone steps on their tows one can full body check the opposing players everywhere except for someone jumping into the trampolines. It is something that means it will be a hard sport for many people and one only needs to look the ages of the teams to see that it is a young man’s game. Some of the old guard of the sport have come back in the leadership of the company and some of the teams. Here are the notes on a couple that will help your slamball IQ

Stan’ Shakes’ Fletcher. Here from the start he is one of the best to play it and watching the older seasons from his time in the Steal to the Maulers he had been a guy who took the rules and made it a game adding the spark of creativity often scoring more then anyone in a game and even holding the scoring record in different categories. He wasn’t a ball hog though he and Goldman became the one two punch for the Steal. Now he has come back as a coach, but the man was one of the few that did not need training to be a slamball player, with his skill, history in the sport and imagination, if he translates those talents well his team can see themselves taking some hardware with the Slashers.

Mason Gordon. The guy who started it all he was someone who believed in doing something right meant doing something yourself. He made his way working both the leadership for the company and the teams trying to get deals and get shown to more eyes in China, Italy, and America over the years, but do not get it twisted as he was a member for the Diablos in the first run on USA airwaves. He took it serious and made sure that if anyone thought going soft was going to curry favor he would body check him themselves. Fiery and technically minded, he had to run the court himself so he knows what people may need coming on to it for the first time.

Coach Carter. The one where a movie made about his struggle to show students the value of education and sports together where Samuel Jackson famously played him is in Slamball. In fact he has been a champion with the Rumble, and every time his team is in the playoffs or gunning for some gold there is something about the crafty coach that often makes the team a step ahead of competition. Winners win and the coach who held the Olympic torch has shown he does just that. In it since day 1 he has been able to show time after time his skill for the rules and capabilities and how to get the most of people on his team has been enough to show winners win no matter the time, or what else they have on their plate, and as anyone after a small search can attest. Coach Carter wins and will show others how to, whether the other teams like it or not.

Hope you enjoy the sport coming back.

Stay competitive.

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Enjoying A Game and a Time

One of the things that would catch your attention if you were channel surfing in the late 90’s is a sport called Slamball. A mix of physical rules, trampolines and basketball hoops that made it easier to understand and harder to figure how people would push things further. When I say trampolines, I mean the big ones you go somewhere and pay money to jump on to feel like you are weightless for a moment before coming back down with your heart in your chest. It was a kick to watch and instead of taking the lumps of trying to be a smaller sports league in the us they decided to go abroad. Getting more experience in different countries they had people of other countries and athletes join them to make the teams that we should be seeing soon. I was a huge fan of it there will be a post on that later in the day but, it is coming back.

For all the downs there has to be some things that give a little spirit. Some of the moments to get by could be something as simple as hoping a team has something more to have cheering for them. One is from the arena football league and while Portland, my home city, did not get the team, the capitol in the state did do something. Salem for those who do not know about my home state, Oregon, is the capitol and now it will have something that big brother Portland no longer has, an arena team.

It may not be something that will change the state around, and the capitol has many of the same problems. Homeless people seen everywhere, campsites all over the sidewalks, and more space open for lease. Not as bad as Portland, but still bad enough that anyone with a set of eyes and four brain cells to use with them will see. While it seems that everything in this state is taking the turn round the toilet bend, but a nice team event or some sports allows a lot of people who may be having a rough time to turn off their brain for a moment and be happy. Not saying people should do that all the time. I think we all know people who turned off their brain and forgot to reboot, but for what it is there are reasons to enjoy sports. Salem could use it and for those who have never been there are some places around the capitol where you can really see some beautiful things.


For example, there are some wineries that I had a chance to go to once. Traveling with someone who had been unused to professional wrestling there had been some time watching the people in the line as we waited for the start of the show. It was Impact wrestling and outside of seeing some of the fans who had been so passionate to the show and the craft, my traveling partner was not and did not enjoy the company of people who held homemade signs and belts for no reason other then money. Hours to spend we had to burn our time and the pair of us decided to take time so my travel colleague did not spend his time trying to cut a heel promo on everyone that annoyed him. Knowing him that list was going to be long enough and he could go long enough that everyone received a tongue lashing for free.

We got the chance to look around and on the backgrounds found quite a few wineries and cheese making places nestled in the fields and farmlands. Freshly made raw cheese with chives and blue berries and all sorts of different flavors while still being about a dollar over something similar in the store by eight. It would be much more expensive because these cheeses will make you want to eat it. It was a wonderful time despite being cheaper then a full meal at McDonalds and because of it we were able to get a wrestling shirt that my travel partner agreed with.

Enjoy the games and shows, you never know where the experience may take you.

Stay Strong

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