#project 123

[stepsandstaircases]

scoreboard serendipity 

[prominence-prime]

[REVIEW - SPOILER ALERT!] Howls (dot) com, chatters among the anonymous

Judul: Howls (dot) com

Penulis: Ghyna Amanda Putri

Penerbit: De Teens

Cetakan: Maret 2014

Editor: ItaNovidyaa

Blurb:

#1515 November Today, 11:11 AM | Reply to How's life today? in General Talk:

Terima kasih telah membangunkanku. Terima kasih juga telah berbagi perhatian denganku. Tempat ini benar-benar sepi, sudah berapa lama aku tak kemari? Tapi, sudah kubaca seluruh history percakapan kalian. Kalian membuatku tertawa, menangis, merasa senang, juga sedih. Kupikir, sampai kapan pun kalian adalah orang-orang kurang kerjaan yang selalu berlebihan. Dulu aku sering berpikir, apa yang terjadi padaku kalau aku mati? Siapa yang akan menangis untukku? Apa masih ada orang yang mau datang menabur bunga di atas makamu? Sekarang, aku tahu... mereka mungkin adalah kalian.

Cerita tentang tujuh orang, dengan tujuh kehidupan berbeda, yang terangkum dalam sebuah portal forum bernama howls[dot]com.

Review:

Mengandung spoiler, seperti biasa *alah kayak udah sering ngereview ajah kamuh*

Kembali lagi saya mereview karya seorang penulis suppah-produktif satu ini. Dan tolong kata suppah-produktif-nya ditebelin dulu pake stabilo karena kalo hasil kepoan saya nggak salah, akhir bulan nanti kak Ghyna bakal mbrojolin dua buku lagi, yang artinya bakal ada tujuh buah novelnya yang beredar di pasaran. HAHAHAHAH GILA NGGAK SIH BELIAU INI DALAM JANGKA WAKTU SATU TAHUN UDAH NERBITIN TUJUH BUKU??? SAYA AJA NGOUTLINE SATU NOVEL KAGAK KELAR-KELAR! *minum dulu akua segalon biar agak kaleman dikit*

Anyway,

Howls(dot)com ini saya dapetin gretongan hadiah dari #HeartseaseQuiz yang diadain kak Ghyna di twitter. Begitu tahu hadiahnya adalah buku barunya yang berjudul Howls(dot)com, saya ikutin kuisnya serius-serius tuh, sampe stand by di Tweetdeck mantengin pertanyaannya. Kenapa saya kepengen baca buku ini? Di luar alasan karena saya kenal penulisnya karena kita temen maen bareng di forum RP (yup ini alasan jujur, ada temen sendiri yang produktif ngeluarin karya ya saya mau baca dong 8D), saya juga udah ngikutin karya-karya si penulis dari buku novel debut pertamanya (Haru no Tabi). Dari review saya tentang karya kak Ghyna sebelumnya (Heartsease), saya bilang kalau beliau ini selalu menunjukkan improvement dalam karya-karyanya. Makin ke sini novelnya makin bagus. Jadi saya penasaran dong pengen baca juga karyanya yang satu ini \8D/

Kita mulai dari covernya, yak. Menurut saya covernya kece. Kece berat, malah. Ilustrasinya simpel dan ngena. Yang paling saya suka, warna ijonya itu cantik banget. Ijo seger yang nggak norak, yang buat saya akan cukup menarik perhatian kalo ditaro di rak-rak toko buku. Yah, walaupun kayaknya saya harus mengampuni penggunaan font Comic Sans di back-cover buat blurb-nya :P #penting

Lalu soal alur ceritanya. Inti cerita buku ini berkisar pada interaksi tujuh orang dengan tujuh cerita dari tujuh kehidupan berbeda yang terangkum dalam sebuah portal forum bernama Howls(dot)com.

Tujuh orang ini adalah Frog Lady (wanita tiga puluh tahunan, seorang penulis, sering curhat masalah rumah tangganya), Matryoshka (mahasiswi asing yang ceria, sering curhat soal cowok yang menjadi penguntitnya), Butterfly (mahasiswa yang dicap "tidak normal"), Vermarine (HYSTRIX EVERGREEN XDDDD cowok 26 tahun yang punya pacar dokter), November (siswi SMP yang kecepetan dewasa, korban bully di sekolahnya), Windbell (seseorang yang punya masalah soal kehilangan di masa lalu), dan Mr. K (pria misterius yang tahu segalanya).

Jadi begitulah, ketujuh orang ini berkumpul di Howls(dot)com, saling berinteraksi ngobrolin banyak hal dari hal-hal yang nggak penting sampe yang penting banget. Tiap-tiap orang ini punya cerita dan masalahnya masing-masing dan satu sama lain pun saling nanggepin masalah-masalah itu, sekedar ngasih komentar, nasihat, semangat, atau malah ngasih saran-saran serius. Dari interaksi ini, mereka memperoleh kenyamanan tersendiri, seolah-olah sedang berbincang dengan teman dekat. Padahal kalau diliat-liat mereka ini tujuh orang asing yang sama sekali tidak mengenal, tapi rasanya seperti sudah saling mengenal. Dibilang tidak kenal juga kurang tepat karena hampir setiap hari mereka berkumpul di portal forum ini untuk saling menyapa dan bercerita.

Dari gambaran singkat di atas, menurut saya ide Howls(dot)com ini unik banget, beda dari novel-novel kebanyakan. Buat saya yang juga sering keluyuran di portal forum/komunitas di dunia maya, temanya menjadi sangat relatable :D Sebagian besar isi novelnya juga menggambarkan interaksi yang terjadi di Howls(dot)com dalam bentuk postingan di forum yang diselang-seling juga sama narasi dari tokoh-tokoh yang bersangkutan. Dan seperti biasa, kak Ghyna punya gaya bercerita yang sederhana dan to the point, ringan untuk buku yang saya baca jam 2 dini hari sambil menunggu pagi.

Tapi terus terang, dari tema ini saya bertanya-tanya sendiri, apa yang bakal dihadirkan kak Ghyna untuk membuat novel ini menarik nggak hanya dari temanya aja? Kalau ceritanya berkisar soal postingan di forum-forum gitu doang, tentu novelnya akan menjadi sangat membosankan (dan kalau boleh jujur, di bab-bab awal saya sempat dilanda kebosanan itu, muehehehe).

Tapi pertanyaan saya terjawab di bab-bab berikutnya, saat konflik-konflik kecil mulai dihadirkan. Konflik-konflik ini ada yang terjawab dan selesai, tapi lalu disusul oleh konflik-konflik lain yang lebih besar. Soal Butterfly yang sering mengeluhkan sakit kepala dan akhirnya ketahuan punya tumor di otaknya, sampai kisah November yang mendadak hilang sampe seforum-forum khawatir dan ngepoin kemana-mana. Yang saya suka, di bagian narasinya juga diselipkan fakta-fakta yang mengungkapkan bahwa sebenernya orang-orang ini tidak saling berhubungan di Howls(dot)com aja. Di dunia nyata pun ada benang merah tipis yang saling menghubungkan mereka. Ya anggeplah ini semacam twist kecil-kecilan yang trivial dan menurut saya cukup fun untuk mendukung plotnya. Buat saya sih udah cukup ngebikin, "OOOOOH JADI SI ANU INI ANUANNYA ANUNYA ANU TAPI DIA NGGAK NGANU!!" gitu lah #APAYANGGITULAH

Di ending akan terungkap sendiri siapa sebenernya mereka ini dan mengapa mereka bisa bertemu di Howls(dot)com. Mereka ternyata sengaja dikumpulkan oleh Mr. K, seorang psikiater. Iya, tujuh orang itu pasiennya Mr. K gitu deh. Saya sih suka sama ending-nya yang berupa pesan rekaman suara untuk membangunkan lagi November yang sedang koma :D Manis dan mengena.

Jujur aja awalnya saya udah nebak sampe ke mana-mana *KEBANYAKAN NONTON PELEM ANU ANU SIH KAMU BLEK* Jangan-jangan ini buku soal penderita kepribadian ganda??? Jangan-jangan mereka ini nggak nyata??? Jangan-jangan ini mereka ini bagian dari khayalan Mr. K aja??? KAPAN SAYA WISUDA?? #LOH Tapi ending versi kak Ghyna udah pas banget menurut saya, lebih ngena dan gak selebay ending tebakan-tebakan saya di atas ( -_-)/|| Sekarang mari bicara soal beberapa kekurangan *dehem*

Terus terang di awal-awal novel saya harus bolak-balik melihat judul bab (judul babnya make username karakter yang sedang jadi sorotan, FYI) untuk tahu karakter siapa yang lagi ngomong/diceritakan di bab itu. Agak sulit membedakan mereka karena gaya bicara yang nyaris sama dan nama mereka nggak disebutkan di bagian narasi. Bahkan saat mereka sedang berinteraksi di forum pun saya harus berkali-kali lihat username yang lagi ngomong, karena gayanya hampir semua sama. Mungkin karena itulah saya sempet menduga kalau mereka bertujuh ini jangan-jangan satu orang =)) *tunjuk paragraf sebelumnya*

Yang paling gampang dibedakan tentu saja adalah Matryoshka, karena tiap dia ngomong pasti heboh dan selalu pake emot-emot lucu =)))) Yang kedua mungkin si Butterfly karena menjelang akhir dia jadi sering typo karena kehilangan penglihatannya (.....) Sisanya saya nggak bisa terlalu membedakan, meskipun pas di tengah sampe akhir-akhir jadi nggak terlalu masalah karena sudah hapal orang yang mana punya konflik apa. Oke, mungkin ini cuma kekurangan minor aja kali ya (.....)

Saya nggak begitu terganggu dengan penggunaan bahasa di forum yang cukup 'kaku' untuk style interaksi di forum yang (sejauh sepengetahuan saya) pake bahasa yang lebih santai, ringan, gaul, dan penuh kealayan *woi* Mungkin karena ini tetap sebuah novel, jadi mungkin style interaksinya sengaja dibuat formal gitu? Oh ya, saya nemu... apa ya namanya, bukan typo, mungkin inkonsistensi gaya penulisan tag bagian atas post di forum. Ya salah-salah minor doang sih, kayak lupa ditebelin atau digaris bawahi.

Akhir kata *berasa lagi pidato* apakah rasa penasaran saya di awal terjawab? Apakah buku ini kembali menunjukkan improvement penulisnya? Saya nggak kecewa kok karena novel ini benar-benar menampilkan sesuatu yang baru dari apa yang udah dibikin penulisnya di karya-karya sebelumnya :D Terlepas dari kelebihan dan kekurangannya, I enjoyed it a lot! Abis selesai baca langsung nyeplos, "Dayyummm that was good!" trus langsung siap-siap bobok karena emang udah pagi *krik* *jam tidurnya fakap*

BTW kak Ghyna, saya belum selesai ngelanjutin Mathryoshka T_T Padahal harusnya baca Matryoshka dulu sebelum baca ini kali ya, biar berurutan gitu. Mungkin karena saya udah kebaca spoiler soal endingnya jadinya masih kebayang-bayang T_T *BRB nemuin Mr. K* #DITABOK

[sigma7]

Project 123: Six new additions

Weather U Storms: Sundry atmospheric conditions

Berchtesgaden Germans: tons of odd German words (no grief-bacon)

Normandy Shepherds: Mass Effect characters (the team is spelled to mesh with the play-by-play vocabulary)

News Anchors: Newsreaders of note or notoriety (with a massive set of exceptions)

Skeleton Tech Bone Crushers: your favorite bones or bone-modifying terms

Organ State Heartbreakers: Based on a misspelling from the campus cable channel, organs, bodily structures, that sort of thing

Note: The content filter would not let me enter anything vaguely testicle-related.  It would, however, allow "Balls."  (I just skipped that guy.) 

Tomorrow looks like a slow day, and I have at least three more ready to go in my queue.

[sigma7]

Project 123: the first 75

I added this to the original entry, but just wanted to make sure it was properly propagated...

Gave up on the HTML table and just went with a text list.  Less pretty, less hassle.  Links may be wrong or (more likely) the EA server might be hammered since this is still the game's launch day.

1: 30th Century Legionnaires (Metropolis, NY) Coach: RJ Brande [names of Legion of Super-Heroes members] 2: Acorn University Squirrels (Marysville, KS) Coach: Rocky Squirrel [names of squirrels] 3: Alliance Rebels (Hollywood, CA) Coach: George Lucas [random Star-Wars-esque names] 4: American Democrats (Charlotte, NC) Coach: Franklin D Roosevelt [names of prominent Democrats] FDR is pulling double-duty 5: Apple Macs (Cupertino, CA) Coach: Steve Jobs [names of types of apple] 6: Balboa Banana Grabbers (Balboa, CA) Coach: Mitchell Hurwitz [needs one] 7: Baton Rouge Bees (Baton Rouge, LA) Coach: Brian Billick [randomly generated names with initials of BB] 8: Beacon Hats (Beacon, NY) Coach: Jervis Tetch [names of hats] 9: Bovine University Mad Cows (Columbus, OH) Coach: K Green [names of breeds of cow] 10: Butterfly State Monarchs (Coconut Creek, FL) Coach: Giacomo Puccini [names of butterflies] 11: Canine University Dogs (Atlanta, GA) Coach: Snoop Dogg [names of breeds of dog] 12: Chromatic Rainbows (Greensboro, NC) Coach: Roy G Biv [names of colors] 13: COBRA Rattlers (Springfield, MO) Coach: Cobra Commander [names of snakes] 14: Cybertron Autobots (Cybertron, CT) Coach: Sentinel Prime [names of Autobots from Transformers] 15: Empirical Scientists (Cambridge, MA) Coach: Stephen Hawking [names of famous scientists] needs diversity 16: Fabric Fierce (High Point, NC) Coach: Melissa Leapman [names of fabric] looks awful 17: Feline University Battle Cats (Wren, GA) Coach: Anne Hathaway [popular names of cats] 18: Florida Fish (Maitland, FL) Coach: Jacques Cousteau [names of fish] 19: Fort Knox Money (Fort Knox, KY) Coach: Ben Bernanke [names of world currencies] 20: Galactic Empire (Coruscant, NY) Coach: Darth Sidious [random stormtrooper-like names] Change school to Coruscant? 21: Galactica Colonials (Galactica, DC) Coach: William Adama [names of Battlestar Galactica characters] needs better city 22: GI Joes (Staten Island, NY) Coach: Larry Hama [names of GI Joes] 23: Golden State Worriers (Golden, CO) Coach: Alan Rickman [names of "negative" emotional states] 24: Gotham City Batmen (Gotham City, NJ) Coach: James Gordon [random names of superheroes] 25: Greek Philosophers (Athens, GA) Coach: Coach Sophocles [random Greek-esque names] 26: Greendale Human Beings (Greendale, CO) Coach: Dan Harmon [names of Community characters] 27: Hanover Fists (Hanover, KS) Coach: Rock Pyle [worst pun names physically possible] 28: Happy University Smileys (Boulder, CO) Coach: Matthieu Richard [names of "positive" emotional states] 29: Hogwarts Wizards (Salem, MA) Coach: JK Rowling [names of Harry Potter characters] 30: Ice Cream State Ice Angels (Le Mars, IA) Coach: Blue Bunny [flavors of ice cream] 31: Justice League (Happy Harbor, RI) Coach: Barbara Gordon [names of Justice League members] 32: Kansas Thunderbirds (Topeka, KS) Coach: Tiny Moo [names derived from Kansas cities/counties] …just "Birds?" 33: Kansas City Cheese (Kansas City, MO) Coach: Michael Palin [names of cheese] maybe Wisconsin, give KC the Chefs? 34: Kansas State Orange Barrels* (Manhattan, KS) Coach: Kirk Schulz [names of buildings on K-State Campus] not enthused with coach 35: Kappa U Pi Delta Sweethearts (Sheboygan, WI) Coach: Ashlee Tindleman [random sorority-girl names] 36: Lompoc Flowers (Lompoc, CA) Coach: Buddy Rose [names of flowers] 37: Meat University Sausages (Hereford, TX) Coach: Oscar Meyer [names of sausages] 38: Memphis Watchmen (Memphis, TN) Coach: Alan Moore [names of watch manufacturers] 39: Mendeleev U Elements (Oak Ridge, TN) Coach: Dmitri Mendeleev [names of elements] I didn't make this logo and I feel lazy 40: Metropolis Supermen (Metropolis, NY) Coach: Perry White [random names of superheroes] 41: Michigan Lakes (Lake City, MI) Coach: Veronica Lake [names of largest American lakes] needs better city; better logo? 42: Microsoft Windows (Redmond, WA) Coach: Bill Gates [names of PC manufacturers] one of the few schools with blue turf; they didn't intend it, it just happened and the grounds-crew can't change it back 43: Mystic Falls Vampires (Mystic Falls, VA) Coach: Damon Salvatore [random vampirey names] 44: NASA Astronauts (Houston, TX) Coach: Gene Kranz [names of NASA astronauts -1983 roughly] 45: New Orleans U Jazz (New Orleans, LA) Coach: Frank Sinatra [names of jazz musicians] should have Louis Armstrong coach; stole old NBA logo 46: New York Avengers (New York, NY) Coach: Stan Lee [names of Avengers] 47: Norwalk Fruit (Norwalk , IA) Coach: Chiquita Banana [names of fruit] 48: Oa Green Lantern (Evergreen City, WA) Coach: Guardian Ganthet [names of Green Lanterns] 49: Panem Hunger Force (Panem, CO) Coach: Suzanne Collins [random Hunger-Games-like names] 50: Pasta University Fightin Italians (Johnston, RI) Coach: Chef Boyardee [names of pasta] 51: Peace University Treehuggers (Austin, TX) Coach: Timothy Leary [random pseudo-hippie names] 52: Pharmaceutical Witch Doctors (Trenton, NJ) Coach: Gregory House [names of medications] 53: Pokemon Mudkips (Pallet Town, MT) Coach: Ash Ketchum [names of Pokemons] 54: Post-Apocalyptic Vault Boys (Los Ybanez, TX) Coach: Stan Braun [random post-apocalyptic-ish names] I don't remember why coach/location 55: Presque Isle Lobsters (Presque Isle, ME) Coach: George Wells [names of natives of Maine] 56: Reznor University Nailers (Mercer, PA) Coach: Trent Reznor [needs one (goths?)] need to fix logo 57: Rock n Roll Hard Rockers (Cleveland, OH) Coach: Elvis Presley [names of rock 'n roll musicians] 58: Roman Centurions (Rome, GA) Coach: Julius Caesar [random Roman-esque names] 59: Russian Unicorns (Moscow, CA) Coach: Michael Buble [random Russian-ish-ish names] 60: Sci-Fi Writing Classics (Vancouver, WA) Coach: CS Lewis [names of sci-fi writers] better diversity 61: Seattle Coffee (Seattle, WA) Coach: Juan Valdez [names of types of coffee] 62: Secret Society Supervillains (San Francisco, CA) Coach: Lex Luthor [DC supervillains] new location? 63: Starfleet Redshirts (San Francisco, CA) Coach: Zephrem Cochrane [names of Star Trek characters] 64: Symphony Band (Cleveland, OH) Coach: John P Souza [names of musical instruments] 65: Toronto Pilgrims (Toronto, CA) Coach: Bryan L Omalley [names of native Torontoists] 66: Typographic Caps (Cupertino, CA) Coach: Johannes Guterberg [names of fonts] 67: Unicron Decepticons (Kolkular, ND) Coach: Sentinel Prime [names of Decepticons from Transformers] coach: ? 68: United States Republicans (Tampa, FL) Coach: Ronald Reagan [names of prominent Republicans] 69: Vehicular Hot Rods (Pontiac, MI) Coach: Henry Ford [makes/models of cars] 70: Victorian Footballers (Victoria, VA) Coach: Queen Victoria [random Victorian-era-esque names] 71: Washington Volcanos (St Helens, WA) Coach: David Johnston [names of volcanos] too dark? 72: White House Presidents (Washington, DC) Coach: Franklin D Roosevelt [names of POTUS and VPOTUS] FDR is pulling double-duty 73: Winterfall Dragon Slayers (Winterfall, MA) Coach: King Torygg [characters from Skyrim] 74: Xavier Institute Mutants (Salem Center, NY) Coach: Charles Xavier [names of X-Men and ancillary groups] 75: Yoyodyne Reds (Grovers Mills, NJ) Coach: John Worphin [names of Red Lectroids from Buckaroo Banzai]

[sigma7]

Project 123: a work in progress

So I've been hammering away at this little project intermittently (and ignoring it for months on end), but I think I've finally hit a wall and need some help.

At the time the game shipped with 123 actual college teams.  And you could replace any of them.  You could replace all of them, you know, if you were an absolute masochist with hours of spare time to oh yeah that's me.

When I first started I only whipped up a logo and some colors and a vague school/team name and concept for each addition, but the more I thought about it, that seemed to easy, too superficial.  No, I wanted the entire roster customized for each team, too.  That's ~80 players per team (around 9840 players, in total), with those names thematically linked to the school.  The Greendale Human Beings were pretty easy to populate, and their logos aren't hard to find; ditto the Hogwarts Wizards.  It started getting a little tricky with colors, both finding enough of them and deciding to only replace the last name, which I think really helps flesh them out (so you get names that teeter on the edge of plausibility: Lance Gold, Glen Salmon, Wendell Grape, Kelvin Mint, Roy Goldenrod...).  For more than a few rosters I used random name generators -- some my own, some others' -- and Wikipedia gave invaluable lists of the most inane and commonplace things with which to fill the benches.

So as I began creating a pretty healthy pool of teams, trends were becoming noticeable, which is fantastic, because I'm going to have to create conferences for these guys anyway.  There's more than a few comic-book-based teams, some historical people, a lot of food-related teams, even more critter-based schools...and quite a few that simply elude classification at the moment (particularly the Hanover Fists, a team of horrible puns: Terry Dactyl, Amos Quito, Rod Eale, Jerry Atrick, Dwayne Pipe...and oh, it goes on).

But I've hit a wall at 75 teams.  I just got an idea the other day for a new team (Vegetative State), but I'm still fifty-odd behind where I need to be, not even counting the fact that NCAA Football 14 just came out today (and my copy hasn't been unwrapped yet), and I still can't find out how many teams have been added for this iteration.

My adaptation criteria have dried down from "Would that make a cool football team with a neat logo?" to "Is there any way I can squeeze 80+ distinct players out of this concept?"  Vegetative State is not going to be a team filled with famous coma patients (I don't think there's quite broad enough of a pool to draw from, but also, ew) but people with the last names of vegetables.  I'm looking forward to seeing Chad Broccoli make a drive for the Heisman.

The teams have recruiting pitches and offensive/defensive stats that are randomized, first with dice, then with my Teambuilder template built into my Rando-tools.  It tends toward a bell curve, with A+ scores not possible. So, anyway, if you have suggestions, I'm listening.  And here's what I've already got:

1: 30th Century Legionnaires (Metropolis, NY) Coach: RJ Brande [names of Legion of Super-Heroes members] 2: Acorn University Squirrels (Marysville, KS) Coach: Rocky Squirrel [names of squirrels] 3: Alliance Rebels (Hollywood, CA) Coach: George Lucas [random Star-Wars-esque names] 4: American Democrats (Charlotte, NC) Coach: Franklin D Roosevelt [names of prominent Democrats] FDR is pulling double-duty 5: Apple Macs (Cupertino, CA) Coach: Steve Jobs [names of types of apple] 6: Balboa Banana Grabbers (Balboa, CA) Coach: Mitchell Hurwitz [needs one] 7: Baton Rouge Bees (Baton Rouge, LA) Coach: Brian Billick [randomly generated names with initials of BB] 8: Beacon Hats (Beacon, NY) Coach: Jervis Tetch [names of hats] 9: Bovine University Mad Cows (Columbus, OH) Coach: K Green [names of breeds of cow] 10: Butterfly State Monarchs (Coconut Creek, FL) Coach: Giacomo Puccini [names of butterflies] 11: Canine University Dogs (Atlanta, GA) Coach: Snoop Dogg [names of breeds of dog] 12: Chromatic Rainbows (Greensboro, NC) Coach: Roy G Biv [names of colors] 13: COBRA Rattlers (Springfield, MO) Coach: Cobra Commander [names of snakes] 14: Cybertron Autobots (Cybertron, CT) Coach: Sentinel Prime [names of Autobots from Transformers] 15: Empirical Scientists (Cambridge, MA) Coach: Stephen Hawking [names of famous scientists] needs diversity 16: Fabric Fierce (High Point, NC) Coach: Melissa Leapman [names of fabric] looks awful 17: Feline University Battle Cats (Wren, GA) Coach: Anne Hathaway [popular names of cats] 18: Florida Fish (Maitland, FL) Coach: Jacques Cousteau [names of fish] 19: Fort Knox Money (Fort Knox, KY) Coach: Ben Bernanke [names of world currencies] 20: Galactic Empire (Coruscant, NY) Coach: Darth Sidious [random stormtrooper-like names] Change school to Coruscant? 21: Galactica Colonials (Galactica, DC) Coach: William Adama [names of Battlestar Galactica characters] needs better city 22: GI Joes (Staten Island, NY) Coach: Larry Hama [names of GI Joes] 23: Golden State Worriers (Golden, CO) Coach: Alan Rickman [names of "negative" emotional states] 24: Gotham City Batmen (Gotham City, NJ) Coach: James Gordon [random names of superheroes] 25: Greek Philosophers (Athens, GA) Coach: Coach Sophocles [random Greek-esque names] 26: Greendale Human Beings (Greendale, CO) Coach: Dan Harmon [names of Community characters] 27: Hanover Fists (Hanover, KS) Coach: Rock Pyle [worst pun names physically possible] 28: Happy University Smileys (Boulder, CO) Coach: Matthieu Richard [names of "positive" emotional states] 29: Hogwarts Wizards (Salem, MA) Coach: JK Rowling [names of Harry Potter characters] 30: Ice Cream State Ice Angels (Le Mars, IA) Coach: Blue Bunny [flavors of ice cream] 31: Justice League (Happy Harbor, RI) Coach: Barbara Gordon [names of Justice League members] 32: Kansas Thunderbirds (Topeka, KS) Coach: Tiny Moo [names derived from Kansas cities/counties] …just "Birds?" 33: Kansas City Cheese (Kansas City, MO) Coach: Michael Palin [names of cheese] maybe Wisconsin, give KC the Chefs? 34: Kansas State Orange Barrels* (Manhattan, KS) Coach: Kirk Schulz [names of buildings on K-State Campus] not enthused with coach 35: Kappa U Pi Delta Sweethearts (Sheboygan, WI) Coach: Ashlee Tindleman [random sorority-girl names] 36: Lompoc Flowers (Lompoc, CA) Coach: Buddy Rose [names of flowers] 37: Meat University Sausages (Hereford, TX) Coach: Oscar Meyer [names of sausages] 38: Memphis Watchmen (Memphis, TN) Coach: Alan Moore [names of watch manufacturers] 39: Mendeleev U Elements (Oak Ridge, TN) Coach: Dmitri Mendeleev [names of elements] I didn't make this logo and I feel lazy 40: Metropolis Supermen (Metropolis, NY) Coach: Perry White [random names of superheroes] 41: Michigan Lakes (Lake City, MI) Coach: Veronica Lake [names of largest American lakes] needs better city; better logo? 42: Microsoft Windows (Redmond, WA) Coach: Bill Gates [names of PC manufacturers] one of the few schools with blue turf; they didn't intend it, it just happened and the grounds-crew can't change it back 43: Mystic Falls Vampires (Mystic Falls, VA) Coach: Damon Salvatore [random vampirey names] 44: NASA Astronauts (Houston, TX) Coach: Gene Kranz [names of NASA astronauts -1983 roughly] 45: New Orleans U Jazz (New Orleans, LA) Coach: Frank Sinatra [names of jazz musicians] should have Louis Armstrong coach; stole old NBA logo 46: New York Avengers (New York, NY) Coach: Stan Lee [names of Avengers] 47: Norwalk Fruit (Norwalk , IA) Coach: Chiquita Banana [names of fruit] 48: Oa Green Lantern (Evergreen City, WA) Coach: Guardian Ganthet [names of Green Lanterns] 49: Panem Hunger Force (Panem, CO) Coach: Suzanne Collins [random Hunger-Games-like names] 50: Pasta University Fightin Italians (Johnston, RI) Coach: Chef Boyardee [names of pasta] 51: Peace University Treehuggers (Austin, TX) Coach: Timothy Leary [random pseudo-hippie names] 52: Pharmaceutical Witch Doctors (Trenton, NJ) Coach: Gregory House [names of medications] 53: Pokemon Mudkips (Pallet Town, MT) Coach: Ash Ketchum [names of Pokemons] 54: Post-Apocalyptic Vault Boys (Los Ybanez, TX) Coach: Stan Braun [random post-apocalyptic-ish names] I don't remember why coach/location 55: Presque Isle Lobsters (Presque Isle, ME) Coach: George Wells [names of natives of Maine] 56: Reznor University Nailers (Mercer, PA) Coach: Trent Reznor [needs one (goths?)] need to fix logo 57: Rock n Roll Hard Rockers (Cleveland, OH) Coach: Elvis Presley [names of rock 'n roll musicians] 58: Roman Centurions (Rome, GA) Coach: Julius Caesar [random Roman-esque names] 59: Russian Unicorns (Moscow, CA) Coach: Michael Buble [random Russian-ish-ish names] 60: Sci-Fi Writing Classics (Vancouver, WA) Coach: CS Lewis [names of sci-fi writers] better diversity 61: Seattle Coffee (Seattle, WA) Coach: Juan Valdez [names of types of coffee] 62: Secret Society Supervillains (San Francisco, CA) Coach: Lex Luthor [DC supervillains] new location? 63: Starfleet Redshirts (San Francisco, CA) Coach: Zephrem Cochrane [names of Star Trek characters] 64: Symphony Band (Cleveland, OH) Coach: John P Souza [names of musical instruments] 65: Toronto Pilgrims (Toronto, CA) Coach: Bryan L Omalley [names of native Torontoists] 66: Typographic Caps (Cupertino, CA) Coach: Johannes Guterberg [names of fonts] 67: Unicron Decepticons (Kolkular, ND) Coach: Sentinel Prime [names of Decepticons from Transformers] coach: ? 68: United States Republicans (Tampa, FL) Coach: Ronald Reagan [names of prominent Republicans] 69: Vehicular Hot Rods (Pontiac, MI) Coach: Henry Ford [makes/models of cars] 70: Victorian Footballers (Victoria, VA) Coach: Queen Victoria [random Victorian-era-esque names] 71: Washington Volcanos (St Helens, WA) Coach: David Johnston [names of volcanos] too dark? 72: White House Presidents (Washington, DC) Coach: Franklin D Roosevelt [names of POTUS and VPOTUS] FDR is pulling double-duty 73: Winterfall Dragon Slayers (Winterfall, MA) Coach: King Torygg [characters from Skyrim] 74: Xavier Institute Mutants (Salem Center, NY) Coach: Charles Xavier [names of X-Men and ancillary groups] 75: Yoyodyne Reds (Grovers Mills, NJ) Coach: John Worphin [names of Red Lectroids from Buckaroo Banzai]

There is a list of 4000+ teams that the announcers will actually say during a game, and every team listed above (save the Orange Barrels) is on that list.  "Green Lantern" is singular (or royal plural) for that reason. 

Note also that the list is old enough it doesn't reflect recent cultural shifts like the nu52, the Jean Grey school, or the advent of Snoop Lion. Problems: FDR is the coach of the Presidents and the Democrats.  Hank McCoy is both a Mutant and an Avenger.  Will add to this list as I find/remember them.

(Tried to post this to LJ first, got rejected, "Post too large."  Well, screw you, too, SUP.)

[177120minutes-blog]

A Summer Photo Diary

So yeah, I've basically created a daily photo blog to capture the memories (hurp) of my summer, I hope it goes well (and I hope I can keep it up). Still pondering on how it's going to work when I'm in the Gaeltacht for 3 weeks (26th June - 16th July) but ok.