Activity Lull (Music Monday added)

To all of you that tune in,

Sorry for the lack of real activity on here out side of the match analyses. It has been a long couple of week as I have started thinking of life after university and applying for jobs while keeping up with classes and activities. It feels good to be busy again though.

Joe Biden was on campus Friday and I saw his speech (as shown in the caption). Being someone interested in science and in education, I was happy with the large focus of the speech being on these topics. It should be worrying that Romney/Ryan rarely talk about plans for future generations to an even remotely productive level. We will see, given an Obama/Biden win, if America can rise above 16th in the world in education as stated by Biden.

As far as Music Monday, I have three pretty chill albums to look at. One is An Awesome Wave by alt-J because it's quite an adventure of an album. The intro (titled "Intro") is a very good and eclectic one. The second album is I Bet On Sky by Dinosaur Jr. The third album is Allah-Las by Allah-Las in what appears to be their first album. Give these three a try because their definitely worth at least a listen if you're into somewhat calm or alternative music.

Daniel

Chelsea vs Stoke City Match Analysis

Chelsea Starting XI: Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Luiz, Cole; Ramires, Mikel; Mata, Oscar, Hazard; Torres

Formation: 4-2-3-1

First Half:

Formation is one people have been looking forward to with Ramires back central and Oscar in that starting midfield 3 with Hazard and Mata

10 Min

20 min

Chelsea playing with 67% possession and 6 shots (to Stoke's 3)

30 min

Possession has proven to still not be a problem (65%)

Ramires doing a fine job at holding midfielder (74% passing accuracy, 3 tackles)

Luiz being adventurous and making his way to the other penalty box which shows the dominance in possession right now

40 min

Final ball still a problem

Looks like all the defenders want a piece of the attacking action

HALF TIME: CFC 0-0 Stoke

• People on Twitter likening Chelsea to Arsenal
• 10 shots to Stoke's 5
• 65% possession
• Fox Halftime Report says faster passing in the final third and Chelsea have it

Second Half:

50 min: Oscar Yellow card; diving

Cahill and Luiz outside Stoke's box

60 min

62 Min: Moses IN Hazard OUT

Owen on for Stoke as Stoke aim to increase the attack

Great connections between Moses, Torres Mata

Moses has opened up the game as predicted

70 Min: Oscar with 90% passing and 4 shots is having a very active match

80 Min

81 Min: Lampard ON Mikel OFF

85 Min: GOAL Ashley Cole; Lifted over keeper off a Mata flick

CFC 1-0 Stoke

88 Min: Terry ON Mata OFF

93 Min: Luiz yellow card

FULL TIME: CFC 1-0 Stoke

• Possession: CFC 60% Stoke 40%
• Shots: CFC 16 Stoke 10

Positives

• Oscar starts and keeps much of his same form from the Juventus match even if he didn't score
• Moses showed abilities again and adds to width
• Clean sheet

Negatives

• Would like more goals from Torres or people to make runs past him for goals

MOTM: Ashley Cole

• 94% passing accuracy
• 1 goal
• 3 shots
• 2 tackles
• Late game saving goal put Cole at MOTM today

Queens Park Rangers vs Chelsea Match Analysis

Chelsea Starting XI: Cech; Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry (c), Cole; Mikel, Lampard; Ramires, Hazard, Bertrand; Torres

Formation: 4-2-3-1

First Half:

10 Min

14 Min: Yellow card Ramires for tackle on breakaway

Ramires sloppy tackles becoming a problem

20 Min

Hazard has been quiet so far

27 Min: Yellow card Bertrand

30 Min: QPR leading in possession (53%) but Chelsea with more shots (CFC 4 – QPR 1)

40 Min

Many people on Twitter calling for Moses

HALF TIME: QPR 0-0 CFC

Second Half:

50 Min: Not a lot going on the match both teams not very effective in final third

58 Min Moses ON Bertrand OFF

60 Min: QPR picking up on attack

70 Min: Shots are now equal

Torres getting taken down often but most aren't called until now

80 Min: Sturridge ON Torres OFF

Torres walks straight through tunnel

Sturridge does well on his first few touches.

Chelsea back in attack now; Hazard sends a sitter over

90 Min: Finishing has been poor for Chelsea

FULL TIME: QPR 0-0 CFC

Positives

• Moses debut
• Solid defending
• Still top of the table and no loss yet

Negatives

• Dropping first points of season
• Questionable reaction by Torres to being subbed off
• Poor finishing

MOTM: Ryan Nelsen (QPR)

• Was not an obvious pick to some but in a match where both defenses were on top of things and strikers were poor, the MOTM was likely to be a CB
• Statistically most tackles, most aerials won, no fouls, so a solid performance
• 89 % Passing accuracy
• 67 % Aerials won
• 57 touches

Thoughts After The DNC

I know these campaigns are steeped in rhetoric and I could really only handle a few speeches so I picked the biggest three (Michelle, Bill, and Barack). I consider myself generally a neutral and don't get too heavy into federal politics but I think this election really should be geared to an Obama second term. After the DNC, here are some big things for Obama's case that have come to my attention via television, social media and reflection.

Bill Clinton's Speech:
In my opinion, Bill Clinton did a tremendous job from a neutral's perspective. This is because he did something that I've really wished the candidates would do more often: accurate facts about what is important to people. Since the campaigns for 2012 started, I've been wondering both what the Republican party stood for and just how well Obama has Obama done given the childish behavior of the Republican Congress. Clinton's speech effectively cleared some things up and basically just showed that America is on the right track with Obama.

Obama's Speech:
Obama's speech had all the usual bells and whistles a Barack Obama speech would have and it was riveting to many. What really impressed me was the contrast in direction from Romney's speech. Both parties are planning on a substantial amount of spending (despite what the Republicans say) but Obama lays out investments that many less rich countries take for granted such as health and education. The incentive isn't to just make arbitrary jobs while cutting education and other long term benefits to society. From my understanding, the president is supposed to be thinking about the well-being of as many people in the country as possible and that seems to be an edge that Obama is socially more in touch with more demographics in American society.

What Republicans Stand For:
I don't see many reasons to vote for Romney/Ryan because they don't seem to propose many actual ideas and the few they do more often than not get deflated by non-partisans for serious inaccuracies. I also don't see how a party proposing small government wants to pass so much socially detrimental legislation. If government is meant to be small, why would it enact legislation denying marriage or abortions? It seems like Romney/Ryan are content on just not being Obama for this election but it says something that they can't even enlist an old Republican president to aid them. This seems to not be the case because the party is disjointed. They are not for much, just against a  lot of things. I have not heard many plans to better society or invest in the youth or sciences from the Republicans. It seems they rely on the naivety of their base more than actually pretending like they have ambition.

To sum it up, I really am interested in seeing the Republican response to the progress made in the DNC and also if the DNC will win over some undecideds. This is especially important since there is a huge movement to just not vote.

Food for thought,
Daniel

Music Monday: Easy Star's Thrillah by Easy Star All-Stars

Hi readers,

I have missed a couple Music Mondays and today is not Monday but I decided I would do one today. Today's star album was this reggae rendition of Michael Jackson's hit 1982 album Thriller. Covers of renowned artists are always tricky, especially when you change the genre but upon listening to this you can tell that these people know their genre and know Michael Jackson's music. I would not put a star track on this because it is a complete album. Definitely worth a listen.

Honorable Mentions:
A Thing Called Divine Fits by Divine Fits


This is the first album from super group Divine Fits, formed of Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade), Britt Daniel (Spoon), Sam Brown (New Born Turks). You can hear very direct influences from the two frontmen as the styles of Wolf Parade and Spoon are blended into a very comfortable and hip mix. Tracks to give a shot are "Would That Not Be Nice," "For Your Heart," "Shivers."

Circle Around The Sun by Dispatch


Not a lot to say about this one. The great jam band Dispatch is back with an album. They have been out for a while and a lot of people will be familiar with their style. The album opens with the title track "Circles Around The Sun"  which is a lot more produced than usual for a normal Dispatch album but then slowly shifts back into the kind of music that was really meant to played live, "Josaphine" is definitely one of those tracks. By the time you reach "Feels So Good," you know you've just listened to another Dispatch album. Overall, it is not quite a standard Dispatch album but has many of the traits. When a band can reunite like this it shows they have truly mastered their trade and genre.

On A Ride by Wax Poetic


To add to the unusually calm list this week is Wax Poetic's On A Ride. This album is smooth and seductive from the New York based trip-hop outfit. I especially like all the Sissy Clemens and Natalie Walker tracks. My faves have to be the opening track "No Escape," "Tonight," "Warm Night," and "East Side." I suggest just listening to all of it.

That is all for now. All these tracks are available on Spotify as are all the tracks and albums I recommend. Catch you all later,
Daniel