World Series of Beer Pong in Mesquite, NV

Chris and I have signed up to play against the elite members of beer pong. We have officially entered the World Series of Beer Pong in Mesquite, NV, which is taking place in early January of 2006. We will travel to the entertainment mecca of this fine country and compete against the best of the best in the greatest sport known to mankind. Beer pong has become such an integral part of my life that I feel that it is necessary to defend my hobby at every moment that arises. I look forward to squaring off against my peers in mankind's most competitive game since Twister. Along with 10 friends from the chbpl (http://www.chbpl.com/) we will represent not only our state, city and college, but also our need to play competitive sports. I now consider myself a professional athlete, seeing as how our league is organized to put the game ahead of fun. I will not stop until I have reached that unreachable plateau of beer pong; coming home with the World Series title and 1/2 of the $10,000 prize in my back pocket. Until that day comes (we'll certainly know on January 5th of 2006) I will keep practicing in hope of being the best. The countdown has begun! 34 days until I can emerge as one of the beer pong legends that will stand the test of time. I guess we'll just have to wait until January 2nd to see if this Cinderella story has a happy ending. Until then....MORTAL KOMBAT!!!!!

http://www.pookon.com/

You Got Served

Is it wrong to tell someone that they just got served? I was thinking about this at work today when handing (aka serving) the customer their food. Would it be wrong if I was to tell the customer that they just got served? According to the Urban Dictionary, "you got served" means "to be schooled or beaten very badly, A slang expression that is usually used when someone proves that they are better than someone else, Another way of saying 'You just got owned', or Colloquial vernacular to express the status of one who is the recipient of a subpoena, which more commonly would be expressed as 'You've been served' or 'Consider yourself served.'"

Having defined being served, telling a customer that they got served would mean me stating that I am superior to them, and that they are now owned by me. What are the social, ethical, and institutional ramifications of "serving" people? A lot of people, mostly the urban youth, throw this term around lightly, but they don't understand exactly what they are implying when they utter the line "you got served!" MTV and feature films such as You Got Served (2004, courtesy of Columbia Tristar, with Sony pumping out a hip hop soundtrack that will appeal to the lost youth of today and be forgotten in 3 months) have desensitized America's youth into believing that words have no power and cannot make an impact on their peers. When the unmindful younglings fail to recognize the denotative meaning of the word or phrase they are uttering, the meaning is forever lost and the phrase will become part of popular culture and assimilated into our language. When this does happen, all hope for the future of mankind is squandered, and the leaders of tomorrow will wander helplessly in search of the society that they have destroyed by their uneducated methods of information transfer. God help us all.

Oh, and by the way, y'all just got served.

www.pookon.com

Making an impact on this world

One of man's greatest thoughts is that when they leave this world, they will be remembered in some way, shape or form. Everyone wants to make a lasting impact, no matter how that is. Look at people like Albert Einstein or Michael Jordan; people that will be remembered until history is no longer taken because society itself has crumbled. Throughout time, people have struggled to leave their mark in this world, accomplishing such feats as painting a masterpiece on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel like Michelangelo or writing the framework for our country's behavior like John Hancock, these people will be remembered no matter what happens. That puts a lot of pressure on people like me who have nothing to offer to this world. Lynyrd Skynyrd had it right when they penned the song Freebird, "If I leave here tomorrow, will you still remember me?" Well, will you? What have I done in my life that people will talk about me in 20 years? Do I really mean anything to anyone? What could I possibly do to make myself stand out in front of these 6 billion people in this world? Unfortunately, I'll never know, and it will never get any easier. Geez...

I guess I'll keep on trying to accomplish something so spectacular that not even the failure to record history can keep my story from being passed down from generation to generation. And if I don't, I won't be any different than the billions of other names that time has forgotten. All I hope is that I've positively impacted the people that are a part of my life, and that they are better off because of what I've done...

www.pookon.com