Goodbye.

This year has been interesting.  I'm not really sure what my blog ever ended up being about and I don't think it had a definite point.  My original idea kind of faded out pretty early on, and it ended up being more of just whatever I felt like writing about at the time.  I kind of wish it turned out differently, rather than simply writing anything to fill the word requirement.  But it is what it is.  I do think my blog has had some high points though.  I liked writing about the movie Cedar Rapids in this post.  I also enjoyed writing about a mash-up in this post, which got me a pretty large following from Denmark.  My favorite posts were those in which I could include a picture, video, link, or really anything to connect my post to others.  Those were also the most fun to write, such as this post.  But this is the end.  I probably won't be updating this blog anymore.  So to my readers, who I'm pretty sure are nonexistent, goodbye.  It was a good time, well kind of.

Body Language

No, I'm not talking about Jesse McCartney's song, although I am a fan of it.  Once again, StumbleUpon has directed me to an interesting link.  Now I can learn all the basics of body language.  What does it mean if someone is tapping their fingers?  They're bored or anxious.  But this site also offers an alternative description for every single one of its types of body language.  Fantastic.  Now I know rubbing your nose doesn't always mean you have a negative thought or doubt, you could just have a sore nose or be wearing glasses that don't fit.  Oh the internet, I feel like I've learned so much today.

Spells!

Thank you StumbleUpon for taking me to this.  I'm so glad I found out this exists, a list of every spell used in every Harry Potter book or movie.  This is fantastic.  Now if I ever need to know how to blast someone, I can easily find the spell, "confringo", along with it's Latin root, pronunciation, and where I can find it mentioned in Harry Potter.  Thanks Wikipedia, and the endless number of people adding to this page.  My life is complete.  Now if I ever am in the presence of someone with a broken nose, I can simply cast "Episkey" and they will be healed.  Fantastic.

The Christmas-Easter Family

Yeah.  My family has become one of those.  Only venturing out to the church twice a year, on the days everybody else goes, Christmas and Easter.  It hasn't always been this way, though, so how did it happen? A few years ago we were going more than twelve times a year, then all of a sudden we leveled off at two.  Maybe I'll never know, but the GirlGazette does feel the need to bash me for my recent practices.  

The writer of GirlGazette wrote this post earlier today.  "In all my life I’ve noticed that the two busiest days of the year for the church is Christmas and Easter, some even say Easter rules out Christmas. At my church, and churches I’ve been attended during Easter, the congregation/church body is practically doubled with “Easter only church-goers”, people who go to church on Easter Sunday, but don’t come back until next year and maybe Christmas if they feel like. So today, I sat down and put together a list of possible reasons for why people only go to church on Easter Sunday, do you fall into any of these?

• Just to say you went to church on Easter
• Your folks made you
• You don’t wanna disrespect the people who invited you
• There’s food
• There’s free food
• So and so is going
• You feel obliged
• You feel religious, as if you belong to something

If you got church for any of the reasons stated above that don’t include your desire to learn more about Christ, then this Easter you could live G.I.R.L. by going to church  and not for the reasons listed and open your heart and mind to what Christ has to offer you. Side note: the easiest place to glorify God, inspire and be inspired, read His word, and live accordingly is church no doubt."

Now from this post I have to believe this site has religious affiliations, but I think this girl's tone is a little rude for someone claiming to be a regular church-goer.  No need to frown down on the Christmas-Easter family.  We have good intentions, maybe we're just too busy to go every other day of the year.  And don't tell me make time for God, now you're just sassing me.  I guess the real reason is that we just stopped, but not on Christmas and Easter.  And there are plenty of others out their like us.  I know for a fact the whole church is isn't overfilled for three services on a regular Sunday.  

Here's a little review of her reasons.  "Just to say you went to church on Easter".  Huh?  Do people actually do that?  I've never heard of that before in my life, and that's probably because no one goes to church just to say they did.  If they wanted to do that they would lie and say they went, but actually stay home and do an egg-hunt secretly by themselves.  Discredited.

"Your folks made you".  More legitimate I guess, but I doubt anyone reading this ranting blog went to church only for this reason.  In fact, anyone reading this ranting blog probably goes to church every week even if they are deathly sick.  And just from the use of the word "folks" I bet this person is over 40, therefore they are the people forcing their children to church. GirlGazzete, I don't feel like I'm being forced to do anything.  You're wrong again.

"You don't want to disrespect the people who invited you".  The only people I've ever been invited to go to a church service with are in my family, and I'm sure I disrespect them all the time.  Sorry.  Wrong again.

"There's food."  Maybe, but it's not good food.  I didn't even eat any of it today, so clearly not the reason I went, and I don't think the church food brings in many people to the service.  Maybe a few sneak into the basement without going to the service, but they aren't contributing to the overflowing sanctuary.

"There's free food."  Did this girl really use both of these as reasons?  They need to be combined into one.  End of story.  And by the way, no, that's not why I went.

"So and so is going."  I would only do this if "so and so" happened to be Ryan Lochte or Barack Obama.  Not going to church for the sole reason that an old neighborhood friend will be there.  No thanks, I'll call them up if I want to reconnect, not pretend to be interested in church once a year so I can see them.  I'll go for another reason.

"You feel obliged."  Well, a little bit.  I mean, it is Jesus' resurrection day and all that.  Kind of important, I feel like I should be there.  I've been going to church forever, and always on Easter, (apart from the year my dad made me sit in pizza grease and half the relatives got lost), but it's more than that.  Out of all the church services I've been too, which is a lot, I've come to enjoy Easter and Christmas the most.  The sermon is always interesting and we sing songs I actually like.  It feels like a tradition to me, the same way Christmas church is, and I like it.  I think it's kind of pointless to go to church if you're bored the whole time and counting the minutes down, because what would you get out of that.  I go when I know that won't happen, so no, it's not because I feel obligated, it's because I want to.

So "You feel religious" is just completely out of the picture at this point.

Christmas-Easter Families, don't be offended.  You aren't all shallow for only going to church twice a year, you're practical.  When you go, you're getting everything out of it, not just going through the motions.  It's a fine way to have faith, despite what GirlGazette has to say.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Last week while I was in Florida for YNATS, one of the other swimmers and I went to see Harry Potter World after we were done at the meet (actually called "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter").  IT WAS SO COOL! Being a huge Harry Potter fan I probably would have found something to love even if it ended up being super lame, but it was fantastic.  After entering the park I had to take a quick detour through something to do with Dr. Suess, but once we entered the part of the park devoted to Harry Potter it was fantastic!  We walked through Hogsmeade to get to the first ride, Dueling Dragons, which was pretty good.  But the best part of the ride was probably the decorations they had along the way.  While we were walking up to where the line was supposed to begin there were flags that said things like "Go Fleur" and "Krum for Durmstrang", and other Triwizard Tournament related phrases.  Once we entered the indoor part of the wait (which was hardly anything, five minutes at most) the real cool stuff came.  We saw the Triwizard Cup and the Goblet of Fire, it was ridiculous.  And since there wasn't a big line, we could stand and enjoy the cool artifacts, and walk quickly past the inbetween spaces of the line.  So cool.

But the main attraction of the park was called Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.  The line for this line was much longer (75 minutes), but so worth it.  And the line for this ride was filled with adventure as well.  The line kept moving at a pretty steady pace, so we were walking slowly for almost the whole time as well.  The outside portion of the line began after a quick pass-by of the Mirror of Erised and a few other cool things from early books, like a site from Harry's battle with the Basilisk.  Once we were in the long stretch of line, there was less to look at, but we did pass by some Mandrakes and a few other Herbology Creatures.  And I found a guy wearing a Dunder Mifflin shirt, bringing a little of The Office into Harry Potter, a pretty nice combination.  The next indoor portion was by far the coolest, and obviously the most expensive.  The recreated a corridor with moving and talking portraits, and when we entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom Harry, Ron, and Hermione were in there too, and eventually showed off a little by going under the invisibility cloak, a demonstration of video project on glass of some sort.  We walked past the Fat Lady and had another portrait tell us the safety guidelines for the ride as we passed by the entrance to Dumbledore's office.

The actual ride was ridiculous, in a good way of course.  It began when we got on this conveyor belt of sorts and strapped ourselves into seats that moved along.  As we neared the end of the track Hermione began talking and all of a sudden we were flying!  We witnessed Harry and Draco playing a Quidditch match and  ran from a dragon (who blew nasty smoke in my face).  We watched the spiders and the family of Aragog come dangerously close to eating us, close enough to spit on us, and flew through the Chamber of Secrets to see the decomposing Basilisk.  Perhaps the most terrifying part of the ride was the dementors, close enough for us to reach out and touch, and they could have sucked out our souls!  The ride was a combination of digital effects projected on a screen and actual figures coming at you in real time.  A true Harry Potter experience.

After our adventure, we passed through one of the many gift shops scattered throughout the relatively small park.  It was pretty impressively stocked.  There was everything from golden snitches to dolls of Voldemort to most t-shirts imaginable (although there was no shirt with Malfoy on the back to my disappointment).  You could even buy the Harry Potter books there, but I can't imagine why anybody would want to.  As we passed through the streets of Hogsmeade there were a few stands where you could buy Butterbeer and Pumpkin Juice, it was all really authentic.  But then we saw a long line.  It was for the wand show!  We stood in this line for a good 45 minutes, but the show was so cool!  We entered the shop and Ollivander began talking, then all of a sudden picked someone out the the audience (who happened to be the sister of the girl on my relay) and she participated in the wand show.  He handed her wands and she pointed them at various things around the room, making it clear the wand was wrong for her.  When she tried to water a plant it died.  (We wanted her to try and hex him, and see what he would do, but she refused).  Then, when he finally handed her the wand she was best matched with, fans turned on and blew her hair back, and the room had a nice glow.  The wand had chosen her.  We were then directed into a gift shop where we could all buy our own wands, I obviously chose the Elder Wand, and then proceed back to the street.

The park also included other authentic attractions.  The restaurant, The Three Broomsticks and The Hogs Head, was stocked with things one might actually eat at Hogwarts, but were less than ideal for a day at an amusement park.  I wasn't exactly in the mood for real chicken or a roasted pig.  The candy shop, Honeydukes had quite a variety from Chocolate Frogs to Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans to Peppermint Toads and even more I can't remember.  It was attached to Zonko's Joke Shop, which really had Extendable Ears.  But everything was priced super high.  So we headed out to the final ride, something to do with a Hippogriff, promising to return for our Chocolate Frogs later.

The ride was pretty lame all around, it was described as a family ride, but we did get to see Hagrid's Hut and get a close up look at Buckbeak, and I felt slightly obligated to go on it.  I needed the true Harry Potter experience after all.  But by around noon we were ready to head out.  The park wasn't that big, although it was super cool.  We checked out the rest of Universal and came back later in the day for another ride on the Dueling Dragons and Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.  The park was great, and any Harry Potter fan would thoroughly enjoy everything from the Harry Potter soundtrack that can be heard throughout the park to the shops, although they were a combination of Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, yes I did catch that mistake.  Nice job overall, Universal, although I was slightly disappointed there wasn't anyone dressed as Voldemort running around.  The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was fantastic.

Looking Cool Update: Not so much anymore.

Just saw the boy walk by again carrying his skateboard.  He must have taken another tumble, and someone clearly saw him this time because he looked frazzled.  Maybe I'll keep my secret to myself this time.  He doesn't have to know I witnessed his embarrassment, as long as he pledges to give up skateboarding.  And it looks like that's what he is about to do, judging from the look on his face as he slowly walks home with his skateboard in his arms.  Not looking cool now, are we?

Looking Cool.

As I was looking out my window about one minute ago there was a little boy skateboarding.  I don't know what happened but somehow he fell off that skateboard and it rolled away from him.  He had to chase his own skateboard down part of a hill. I know he didn't think anyone saw, so he just hopped right back of that thing and kept going like nothing happened, but I'm onto you little boy, I saw that.  It's all about maintaining composure and pretending people don't see your embarrassing moments, I understand, I've had my share of trips up the stairs and quickly walking away, but someone always sees it.  Just thought you should know, sometimes people see these embarrassing things, so maybe in a few years I'll bring this up to him again, but for now he can just skateboard and pretend he's looking cool.

Milwaukee.

I guess I can thank the wonderful weather in Moline for my recent detour to Milwaukee.  When I was flying back from Florida yesterday we couldn't land in Moline, great, I know.  So we took a detour to Milwaukee of all places, not even Cedar Rapids, and landed and waited for about an hour and a half to fly right back to Moline.  I guess I got to love low clouds.  Thanks for taking me to Milwaukee for the first time ever.  I guess the inside of the airport is really nice.  I just would have preferred to be home, but at least it wasn't Detroit.

Maybe it has something to do with the feeling.

On Wednesday I swam the 100 Fly at YNATS, and I wasn't really expecting much.  I've been struggling with that race forever, so I just thought to myself, 1:05 will be good enough today, please a 1:05 (my best time was 1:01.53).  As I was warming up I was feeling better, and I swam the 50 earlier and it felt nice.  I thought "Hey, maybe I can do this.  Maybe this pool is fast.  Maybe I'll pull something out."  So as I'm swimming my race I finish the first 50 and I'm feeling good, I'm usually pretty tired by this point.  I reach the last 25 and I'm still up with everybody else.  When I finish the race I look up at the scoreboard, 1:01.37.  Killer.  Maybe it had something to do with the pool, probably a lot to do with the fact I'm not anemic anymore, but maybe it had something to do with the feeling.  Feeling good, and feeling fast.  Whatever it was, I liked it.

P.S. I'll write about my Harry Potter Adventures next week.

Some team unity would be nice.

I got home from my big swim meet in Ft. Lauderdale yesterday, and it was such much more than I expected.  When I arrived at the pool on Monday, the day before the meet began, I was in shock.  This pool was huge!  The actual competition pool had sixteen lanes, but I'm pretty sure it could have fit at least two more if the partition in the middle wasn't there.  There was also a warm-up pool with more than sixteen lanes and a diving pool that was open for warm-ups with another eight lanes.  It was crazy.  But what amazed me even more than the sheer size of the facility was the amount of people they packed into it.  There were 1700 swimmers total, which in and of itself was crazy, but even weirder was that only seven of them were from Iowa.  I was under the impression that my relay was going to be the only people there, but there were also a few people from the Walnut Creek YMCA that ended up participating as well.  In fact, I've swam with one of them multiple times before and was even next to her during the 100 Fly at the High School State Swim Meet.

The few people from Iowa made me realize that swimming really isn't very big in Iowa compared to other states.  My teams has never even had a national team before, and other teams have been going to this meet with a large group for years.  One team in New Jersey had 29 people who qualified.  I don't even think my team has 29 people old enough to qualify, let alone make the difficult cuts.  They must be breeding them differently over there, or their training technique is just A LOT better than ours, and they're more motivated to work.  (See how I just used all there versions of there, their, and they're in that sentence.  Cool.)

But perhaps the biggest let down of the trip was how obviously unprepared we were for this meet.  My relay teams didn't even have the same caps.  Other more experienced teams had coordinating caps, t-shirts, and jackets that they all wore, and it gave them a sense of unity.  We just kind of walked in in our various t-shirts and sweatpants.  We had no team area, no banner, and NO JACKETS.  I think the jackets upsets me most, we are still ordering some even though the meet is done and over with.

The whole set-up of the meet was confusing.  Odd heats were swam in one pool, with the evens on the other side.  Prelims in the morning, time trials around noon, and finals at night.  Everyone there basically seemed to know what was going on, except us.  To make the whole thing even more confusing, for most of the time my coach was nowhere to be found.  Before our relay he didn't sit with us, he was downstairs doing something else. Before the time trials on the first day he wasn't even there, and we didn't find him until the races were postponed due to the approaching storm.

One other girl from my relay and I were scheduled to swim at prelims on the first day.  She was going to swim the 50 free, and I was supposed to do the 50 Fly.  About 20 minutes into the afternoon meet it started to get really windy.  People were in the pool swimming the 500, so we still had quite a bit of time before our race and we were just sitting around waiting for our turn.  All of a sudden the announcer says over the loud speaker that everyone needs to go inside and wait the storm out, but there are still people in the water.  They're allowed to finish their race, but the people already ready to go behind the blocks weren't as lucky.  All the races that were left for the day were to be postponed for later in the week and the time trials for the day cancelled, the pool reopening for finals.  I think the day really threw some people off, and a lot of people had to scratch their time trials because of conflicts later in the week, taking away one of their best chances to make the cut time for Nationals next year.  The other girl on my team was one of them.  I guess this is to be expected in an outdoor pool, the weather isn't always going to be perfect, but I don't think it should take away some people's chances to succeed.  Oh well, maybe next year.  The second day of trials didn't go much smoother.

On the second day of time trials when I was the only one from my team swimming, he didn't show up at all.  Having not done a time trial the day before I had to ask other coaches what to do, and ended up approaching the New Jersey team.  Embarrassing.  Our team looked like a joke.

I think our experience would have been a lot more positive if we would have had a coach there with us who would come to the meet, stay at the same hotel as us, have team dinners with us, and all around be there instead of across town.  Maybe that's why the other teams are so much better than us, but whatever the case, we're going back next year, and probably taking a different coach.  But that doesn't matter right now, because my relay of four and the other three from Walnut Creek represented Iowa at the meet, creating a presence I don't think it has seen in quite some time, and we'll be coming back.  Iowa is there to stay.  And with jackets next year.

Fun, fun, fun, fun.

Rebecca Black has gotten a lot of crap for her music video, Friday.  And yeah, it is pretty bad, but she doesn't deserve what she's gotten.  People have sent her death threats and YouTube comments are always pretty bad, but if you ever feel good about people in general, look at some of the comments on Friday and I promise your feelings will change. She understands she isn't a fantastic singer, and she has had a lot to deal with from the aftermath of this video.  And yeah, maybe she shouldn't have asked Justin Beiber to sing a duet with her, but she's a teenage girl, so you can't really blame her for that either.  I think the real people to blame are those who are threatening her.  That's not right.  No way is this the worst video on YouTube, but recently it has been under the most attack.  No one deserves that, and I'm pretty sure the YouTube commenters of the world are synonymous with the most insecure.  All Rebecca Black was trying to do was have a little "fun, fun, fun, fun" and she's been attacked for it.  She didn't even write the song.  I'd like to hear those YouTube commenters try and sing.

Twit.

This week I got a twitter account, but I feel like my motivation is different than others.  I know for a fact not many people (if anyone) really care what I have to say on an hourly or even daily basis, and that is just fine with me, because I didn't get a twitter to send out constant updates of my life.  Instead I got one so I could see what other people are saying, and I don't mean this in a creepy way.  I'm not stalking anyone.  I follow people who seem to have some of the funniest twitter feeds, and I have them sent to my phone.  This way, if I'm bored at school, having a bad day, or just not really doing anything at all, every once in a while I'll get a little piece of humor sent to my phone.  It makes me happy and sometimes even makes me laugh, which is good.

Recently I've gotten a series of bee related jokes that are pretty stupid, but just dumb enough to be funny.  I've also read some pretty good Charlie Sheen jokes, and almost any tweet I receive lifts my mood.  I think it's important to have little things like this to keep you relatively happy throughout the day, and I don't care what some people have to say about twitter, if someone can send me something truly funny I think it's a good thing.

We're kind of a big deal.

Tomorrow I'm going to Florida!  But probably the most important part is that on Tuesday I'm swimming my race.  For real.  Recently they've put up the psych sheet for the meet, and my relay is seeded 73rd (under Central Branch YMCA) out of 91 teams.  Not too bad, not great, but I really wasn't expecting that much.  But the crazy thing about this meet is how close everybody's time are.  There is one team seeded at 1:52.07, and we have a 1:52.06.  And if we were to drop two full seconds we would go from getting 73rd place to getting 26th, and the top 24 teams swim in finals later that night.  It's a bit of a long shot for us but hey, at least we are swimming in it at all.

There are some really cool things about this meet, apart from the fact that it is in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.  First, Peter Vanderkaay, gold medal winner in the 4 by 200 meter free relay in both Athens and Beijing.  Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, and Klete Keller swam on the relay with him in both of these winning races.  He's basically a pretty big deal.  And he's talking to all the athletes on the opening night of the meet (tomorrow night!).

Second, it is held at the Hall of Fame Pool in Ft. Lauderdale.  And this pool is outdoors.  Being from Iowa I do not do a lot of competitive swimming outdoors since you would freeze to death during most parts of the year, but I think it is going to be really cool.  Basically, when the pool is set to be short course (25 yards) this pool has a ridiculous amount of lanes.  And since the meet is so huge (over 200 entries in some events) the stands are going to be packed for much of the meet.  The picture to the left was taken at the YMCA National Swim Meet in 2009, so it's probably going to be crazy!  I can only guess how loud it's going to be, which will probably help us to get really excited for our race and swim a fast time.  We definitely have time to drop, and if we could do it at this meet and move up a few places that would be great.

Third, since it is the International Swimming Hall of Fame there are undoubtedly going to be some really rare and important swimming artifacts in the museum by the pool.  Yeah, it will probably be really crowded, but it's really convenient that we are so close by, and we may as well check out what there is inside.  Probably a lot of things related to Michael Phelps, which is always good.  But what I'm really hoping for is some Ryan Lochte souvenirs.  He's my boy and I would love a poster or something equally cool.  We'll see.

Fourth, I'm going to be swimming with some of the fastest high school level swimmers in the nation.  Some of the people at this meet are crazy fast and I'm excited to see someone swim that fast in person.  Iowa really isn't a powerhouse for swimming, we're pretty slow compared to most other states, so fast by my standards is probably pretty slow by other peoples.  For one, only five people from Iowa even qualified to swim at this meet at all, and the only four who ended up going are all on my relay.  And we are seeded 73rd.  So the other states must be picking up the slack because apparently Iowa isn't exactly holding it's ground at this meet.  And I don't think anyone from Iowa has gone, at least in the past few years.  So my coach is pretty excited about that.  We're kind of a big deal.  And yes, I know that sounds cocky, but clearly I'm not trying to be since I'm about to get seriously humbled at this meet.  We've made it through this season so far without losing this race once, and I don't exactly think that streak is going to continue into the next few days, unless we drop twelve seconds.  So I guess really, we're kind of a big deal (for Iowa).

Lastly, where this pool sits in the city of Ft. Lauderdale is incredible.  It sits in the middle of a strip of land, surrounded pretty closely by the ocean on both sides.  It looks like it is a really beautiful facility, and it will probably be a whole new swimming experience for all four of us.  We're usually stuck inside at the crusty YMCA in super hot water.  I think this will be good for us.

This meet is sure to be exciting, no matter how we do.  Obviously we're going to do our best, we have goals for time drops that probably would be insignificant to almost any reader, so I'm not going to bore you with them, but I think we can pull out a pretty fast time.  Maybe even win, maybe.  Haven't you heard?  We're kind of a big deal.

Greatest Movies of Our Time

This week on ABC there was a special called Best In Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time that took online votes and correspondents from both People Magazine and ABC.  The results covered everything from best film to greatest character to best line.  The results were overall pretty predictable, Gone With the Wind picked up quite a few awards.  The Wizard of Oz with Judy Garland also did pretty well overall.  But personally, I was surprised with how well Silence of the Lambs did.  Apparently the people who voted really like the movie because it did really well in the thriller category and Hannibal Lector won best character.  The special turned out some interesting results, even if they weren't all completely accurate.

Ghost Adventures!

I have a new favorite TV show for Friday and Saturday nights and it goes by the name of Ghost Adventures!  It is on the travel channel (channel 63 for us!) basically all night starting at seven on Fridays and Saturdays.  And there is a lot of comedic value to the show, along with the occasional interesting ghost adventure.

The show begins with an introduction to the location that the coming episode will focus on.  These locations are all hot spots for ghostly activity, and I have seen quite a large range of choices.  Some episodes focus on old mental asylums and poor houses that have long since been shut down.  I saw one episode on a house in Britain near Stonehenge where children's bones were found in the floor.  There was even an episode on a house in Salem that has been standing since the infamous witch trials.  Wherever the episode takes place the introduction is usually pretty interesting.  They review the historical significance of the haunted place and interview people who have had encounters with ghosts in these buildings.  All of this is pretty typical for a haunted show, but these men take a different approach to the last forty minutes of programming.

In each episode there are three main guys who explore the haunted venues, Zak, Nick, and Aaron.  Aaron is by far my favorite, but that's coming.  Zak is the main guy who does most of the voice overs and arranges for the team of three to be locked in that haunted building from nightfall to sunrise.  Throughout the night the team walks around in the dark looking a listening for signs of a ghostly presence anywhere.  Their whole goal is to prove that ghost exist on videotape.  Zak goes about this by attempting to provoke the ghosts, often shouting things at them like "You're a coward" or "I bet you couldn't hurt me if you wanted to".  He has a very interesting style, greased back hair and a lot of Ed Hardy as well.  He then examines his footage for EVPs (or something I can't remember, let's just say electronic voice phenomenons).  Often these EVPs come out sounding really muffled, but Zak can always translate them (really accurately I'm sure), and they usually are saying something hateful, like "Kill Zak" or "I hate Nick", pleasant material.  Zak makes a convincing argument, clearly.

But Aaron is a completely different story.  My friend and I like to joke that Aaron was into the show at first, hunting ghosts and being a rebel, but pretty soon he got really scared and he only stays on to fulfill his contract with the travel channel.  Zak and Nick (who usually runs the camera) like to scare Aaron.  Recently they locked him in the shower room of an old prison and left him alone.  He was scared out of his mind, and asked only trivial questions like "I heard the food here was good.  What was your favorite meal?  The spaghetti and meatballs?  I heard they're pretty good."  Once when locked in an attic he asked a spirit if they knew killing themselves was a sin and basically had a heart attack while he was trying to explain how sorry he was while running out of the room.  Aaron is often regarded as Zak and Nick's sacrifice to the ghosts, and he doesn't approve of his role.

Whatever is going on on Ghost Adventures, I'm sure to enjoy it, especially if Aaron is involved.  Great show, and even better if you put aside the ghost hunting and focus on the comedy and their crude translations of ghost speak.  Although I was frightened once by a flying brick a ghost threw.  Overall, a quality show and worth anyones time.

Quizzical

One of my favorite pass times has started to become quite a bit of a time killer.  You've probably heard of it.  It's called Sporcle.  Basically it is this killer website that has a whole bunch of quizzes created by users that anyone can take.  And the topics range from everything from the countries of the world to the lyrics of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song.  Whatever is on your mind there is probably a quiz on Sporcle about it.  But probably ten or more.  The variety is enormous.

And it also helps you to realize some of the things you never even knew you knew.  I took a quiz a couple of days ago about fonts.  That's right, fonts.  In this particular quiz it had Sporcle written in fonts from well known brands, like Google and ESPN, and you had to type in the company that matches the font.  I did pretty well, and it really made me realize some of the things a see everyday stick in my mind, and instead of the names of the companies being recognizable, the fonts are too.  You can play that amazing quiz here.

But one of the best features of this website is not the search feature where you can look for quizzes about things you know, or even browsing through all the quizzes about TV shows or sports, but the button that takes you to a random quiz.  It gives you a really happy feeling when you look down at the loading screen and realize you could in fact name all of the Disney Princesses.  Or maybe just miss one.  The correct answers are almost always shown to you when time runs out, or you can give up early to see the answers you did not know.  However there are some quizzes where that does not work quite as well. 

Some quizzes have answers that build off of each other.  This particular Harry Potter quiz requires you to know the previous answer before you can go onto the next question, and if you are a true Harry Potter expert, take it and you will see why.  It requires you to know things such as who killed Dumbledore and who is the headmaster or Victor Krum's wizarding school.  And one stumped answer is the end for you on this quiz.

There are also quizzes where one answer you don't know is nothing, because you'll probably never finish them anyways in the amount of time allotted.  Who could name all the countries in the world (especially spelled correctly) in just a few minutes.  Go ahead, try.  It is pretty difficult.  Or name the top 200 characters in the Harry Potter series by how many times their name is mentioned.  It really is quite difficult.  But to me the type of quiz I am taking does not really matter, as long as I know a few answers to the questions.  It really is a fun way to waste more than a few hours on end.

EverythingNothing

Last fall Amir Blumenfeld and Streeter Seidell started a new podcast entitled EverythingNothing.  They use the pseudonyms of Dannis O'Connell and and Dennis O'Connor respectively.  They even have their own twitter feed for the podcast, mostly consisting up of updates on new podcasts and extended jokes.  And this podcast is hilarious.  It has a different type of humor than Jake and Amir.  Their catchphrase is, "The only podcast in the known universe dedicated to arts, science, literature, philosophy and everythingnothing in between."  It also opens with some smooth jazz music.  But this podcast is far from the serious air they ironically put off.  One character (I get them mixed up but whichever one Streeter plays) was raised in a unconventional way and keeps track of time in lunar years.  He has interesting stories to frequently "interject".  Amir's character is seemingly more normal, but often does stupid things, like losing the use of his feet.  They both act as if they are extremely well-informed while in reality they are completely out of it, and it make for great comedy, especially when combined with a game of minesweeper (which is a whole different topic).  It's best if you start from the beginning, episode 401.  Highly recommended.

Prelims are enough

Well, my trip to Florida is approaching quickly, and we're finally starting to work out some of the finer details.  Everyone is allowed to swim one time trial per day, and I'm signing up for the 50 Fly and 100 Fly.  However, I'm a little bit nervous.  The last time I swam a decent 100 Fly was about six months ago, and I don't want to make a fool of myself in front of all these fantastic swimmers who can consistently kick my butt.  Hopefully I'll be able to avoid the shame of coming in last place (and I think I can) since the qualifying time is a few seconds slower than my best, but you never know what kind of shame might occur.  At least I'm not in the actual race, which you have to be able to swim in less than a minute simply to qualify for!  I can't even imagine what you have to do to win.  But, no matter how my race turns out I'm pretty sure I'll have a fun time in Ft. Lauderdale regardless.  I mean, it is Florida after all, and I can enjoy it while everyone else is sitting in school back in Iowa.  Ha ha ha.  And I'll have Harry Potter World to look forward to, which will definitely be the highlight of my trip even if my relay managed to win nationals, Harry Potter wins in my eyes.

My medley relay makes me nervous on a whole different level.  We aren't in a time trial.  It's the real thing.  We qualified nearly six months ago and we really need to pull out a good, no a great time to avoid the embarrassment of coming in LAST place.  That can not happen.  There was a bit of a confusion at our last championship meet and my whole relay didn't swim together, meaning I wasn't on it.  But the other three girls swam fast, which makes me pretty optimistic that we'll end up doing alright at the meet, as long as I can pull out a fast time, too.  I've been working a lot on my stroke lately, so I think it's manageable.  I don't really think there's a lot of pressure for us to do fantastic overall though.  We qualified with a time just a few tenths under the qualifying time, so we'll probably be one of the slowest seeds.  And that's okay.  There isn't a lot of expectations for us to do super well.  No one is expecting us to make it to the finals (the top 24 teams) when we'll probably be seeded somewhere around sixty, so I'm okay if we don't go.  The finals are in the afternoon and at night, and I'll spend that time on the beach if I'm not swimming.  However the meet turns out I'm okay, as long as we don't come in last place.  But recently is was questionable if we were going to be able to go at all.

Due to unfortunate circumstances I missed the state qualifying meet, sectionals, and that put us in a predicament. In order to swim at nationals you have to swim in the state meet, probably some rule to make sure the state meet stays a competition with competitors who still know how to swim, and it seemed like that wasn't going to happen for me.  My coach somehow worked it out so I could swim in the last relay (freestyle) and someone else could swim for me at sectionals.  So I got to the state meet and we realized that if our team got disqualified our national trip we had already planned would have to be cancelled.  So our coach talked to us, "slow, safe exchanges", and I guess we took it to heart.  I probably spent a good second and a half on the block after the person in front of me finished.  But we didn't get disqualified, and even ended up with sixth place (not very good), nonetheless, everything was okay.  Our sixth place meant more, we could go to nationals.  And now it doesn't really matter if we make it past prelims or not, the fact that we get to go to the meet at all is enough for me and my team.  And obviously Harry Potter is a big part of that

All about a baby deer with a dead mom

I was watching TV last night and there was a commercial for Disney's Bambi on DVD.  This is going to be the Diamond Edition Blu-Ray and DVD pack.  There will likely be a ridiculous amount of special features included in this package, but I don't see a problem with enhancing the movie watching experience.  What I do have an issue with is how these new advances are making my library of VHS's at home obsolete.  I don't even think I have a working VHS player in my house anymore.  So now I'm forced to buy a newer, better copy of the same movie I already have to be able to watch it.  Dumb.  I feel like this new Bambi is more about learning how to draw Thumper than watching a simple movie of a deer with a dead mom.  The main attention should be focused on the original plot and there should be less hype about the enhanced color and new interviews added to the bonus features.  I guess all I really want is for Disney to send me a free copy of this Diamond Edition DVD, considering I have the classic VHS version.  I'm not buying it again, simple as that.

In fact, I think I only own one movie with multiple copies at my house, and that movie would be White Christmas.  Last year we bought the colorized version on DVD (our old one a black and white VHS), and it was pretty cool.  I guess you could say it was worth it, we do watch this movie every year. But Bambi, how often would I really watch it?  Not that often.  And definitely not worth owning two copies of it.  If I really need to watch Bambi, I'll find a way to watch the original somewhere where there is a VHS player available.  Maybe these newer, better editions are just overrated.

I'm optimistic that my VHS will be enough for now.

TOY STORY!

Toy Story 3 has gotten quite a few Oscar nominations this year, but I feel like some of them are a bit of a stretch.  I personally love this movie, but I think it's unrealistic at best to expect it to win best picture.   I don't doubt it will snag best animated film, but when it's in a category with movies like 127 hours, Inception,  and Black Swan it doesn't have a chance.  I'm not suggesting that it's a bad movie by any means, it just isn't quite on the same level as the more serious contenders for best picture this year.  I'm still Toy Story all the way.  I'm optimistic that Toy Story 3 will take home an award, even if it isn't Best Picture.  I will always love Toy Story, all three of them, and there is no doubt about that

Mapquest has me lost

This week I used Mapquest to find my way to someones house, and I have to say it was probably the least helpful thing ever.  Somehow, it tried to make me turn on a road I'm relatively sure doesn't exist, so I ended up taking freeway miles out of the way and was forced to turn around in someones driveway midway between the farmland and city of Marion.  It was an overall creepy experience.  I only found my way when I called for help, and my fifteen minute trip ended up taking over half an hour.  Pretty dumb.  If I ever need directions again I'm using Google maps, end of story.

But something makes me optimistic still that there is a website out there capable of helping me find my way, even if it isn't Mapquest.

Harry Potter!

Lately my life has been pretty Harry Potter centered.  I've read the books recently and have all of them on CD as well.  I loved the seventh movie part two, and it's coming out on DVD on April 15th.  But perhaps the most exciting part of my spring will be my trip to the Harry Potter theme park in Orlando, Florida.  My relay qualified to go to a national swim meet down in Fort Lauderdale in a little over a month, and while we're down there my family and one of the other girl's families is going to take a trip to visit Hogwarts.  And boy am I excited.  Even though there are only three rides I'm sure there are going to be plenty of adventures down in Florida.  Although I'll have to be careful around the overpriced merchandise, I don't think those wand replicas are really worth more than a few dollars.   I can't wait!

I'm optimistic that Harry Potter World is going to be one of the coolest things ever!

Threat Level Midnight

The Office is a seven season running show that has it's loyal followers.  But last week's episode created something different entirely, and you need to see it to understand.  Threat Level Midnight.  It's supposedly a film Michael has been creating for years featuring Michael Scarn as the main character.  It brings back some really good office memories from the good old days.  Jim has his old haircut, Karen's in it, Michael and Jan are in a relationship, and Jim is still trying to get Pam's attention.  Overall just a really quality experience.  Probably the best part of the short film in the "Scarn" where Michael makes up his own dance and teaches it to the audience.  The directions are as follows.

Jump to the right, and shake a hand.  Jump to the left, and shake THAT hand.  Meet new friends, tie the yarn, and that's how you do the Scarn.  Repeat as many times as necessary.

Threat Level Midnight makes me optimistic that The Office will be cranking out classics for as long as it's around, and Michael Scott will never fail to entertain me.

Cedar Rapids: A Native's Perspective

So last night I saw Cedar Rapids, and since Cedar Rapids doubles as my native town I obviously have some opinions on the movie.  Of course I was upset that it wasn't actually filmed in Cedar Rapids, I mean, I could have been an extra!  Also, I could have gotten to meet Ed Helms, famous as Andy Bernard from The Office and his role in The Hangover.  However, there was good reason behind the Michigan filming.

Originally, Cedar Rapids was intended to be filmed in Cedar Rapids, but Iowa's film tax credit program faced some issues after it was abused and the money could no longer be awarded for filming in Iowa.  But that wasn't before the film had already been titled.  So we get a little fame out of it.  Also, there were quite a few exterior shots of Cedar Rapids, and they even had a heartfelt little scene involving the flood of 2008.  I think Quaker Oats probably took most of the glory in Cedar Rapids, and the scenes looked extremely fake when they through in the Cedar Rapids skyline so close to a little swing set.  But what really excites me about Cedar Rapids is the conversations it's going to spark for me.  Picture this, I'm at college in some other state and people will ask me, "Where are you from?", I'll respond with, "Cedar Rapids", and they'll say, "Wow, I saw that movie.  That's so cool.  You're so cool."  At least that's how I imagine this conversation going.  Finally my Iowa background is giving me some positive feedback.

The film did portray Cedar Rapids in a bit of a negative light at some points.  Helms was from small down Indiana or something like that, and he made Cedar Rapids out to be some huge city, which it clearly isn't.  Another character said something along the lines of "This is Cedar Rapids.  What I do here stays here."  It sounded a little bit like Las Vegas, but still, pretty cool.  There was a scene where Helms went to a party with a prostitute and it was at this really sketchy house in the middle of no where that was missing bits of walls.  They did meth together and Helms got in a fight.  This isn't quite the typical Cedar Rapids, but publicity is publicity I guess.

Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett and City Manager Jeff Pomeranz flew to Ann Arbor, Michigan for the premiere of the movie to represent Cedar Rapids.  They expect the movie to do good things for the city even though it wasn't actually filmed here.  Simply having Cedar Rapids on Marquees across the country is good advertisement.  Maybe someone will even make a vacation out of coming to Cedar Rapids.  You can view the whole KWWL story here.

Cedar Rapids is a bit of an Indie film, making it to theaters around the country because of its popularity at the Sundance Film Festival.  It got very good ratings overall, moving it on to a more national scale.

The targeted audience of Cedar Rapids is likely similar to that of The Hangover and Step Brothers.  The humor is a little juvenile, but I still thought it was hilarious.  It also is rated R, keeping the younger crowd out.  Usually movies like this don't attract an older crowd, but that's very different in Cedar Rapids (the city, this is getting a little confusing).  When I saw it the theater was packed with old people, but that might have been because I saw it at 4:20.  And they all seemed to enjoy the film, which is good for them.  They didn't even seem upset by the drug and prostitution scenes.  Good for them.  Cedar Rapids will probably get a lot of cash from us natives, we all just want to see our city gain a little fame.  And doesn't everyone.

This wasn't our first taste of the big screen though.  The horror movie The Crazies featured Cedar Rapids as a type of safe haven from all the murderous, zombie type.  Bruce Aune, our news anchor for KCRG even got a small part in the end of the movie, but that's nothing compared to our newest claim to fame.  Cedar Rapids is much bigger and focuses mainly on our city instead of creepy small town farming Iowa. We get a lot more out of this one, and it's a much better movie.  The Crazies was kind of stupid.

Cedar Rapids makes me optimistic that if my average sized city in Eastern Iowa can draw in a little fame of it's own, we all have a little bit of hope.

Bucket List

Okay, so I believe I've mentioned my favorite web series ever, Jake and Amir.  But man, they are really funny and I just feel like I need to share this.  Recently they came out with a video called "Bucket List", and the content is a little crude, but there are SO many quotable moments I can't even believe it.  Ridiculous.  I'm not going to say any of them right now because they would be completely misunderstood out of context, but just watch it.  Watch it.  Now. Really, I've linked it four times now so I think it's about time you tune in.  Anyways, I feel like after Amir Blumenfeld came up with such a spectacular, although incomplete, bucket list I could come up with one of my own.  But I tried.  And I can't.  So I found one.

• Break a world record.  This one seems a little bit unrealistic to me.  There are only so many records out there to break and chances are you don't have one.  Little bit crazy to expect this much from yourself I do believe.  And if you don't achieve it, your life seems incomplete.  I'd rather have a super easy bucket list so I can feel super fulfilled early on.
• Experience weightlessness.  Really?  This is even more unrealistic than the last one.  I thought bucket list items were along the lines of "run a marathon" or "do volunteer work", and unless you're an astronaut your basically setting yourself up for failure.  Sorry.
• Skydive.  Much more realistic and pretty daring.  I think this one is a pretty good item.  Just hope this bucket list item isn't the last thing you'll ever do...
• Own my own business.  That's a pretty good goal, except maybe they should add "own my own successful business", because no one wants their bucket list item making them go broke.  That would be unfortunate.
• Donate blood.  That's ridiculous.  If that's on your bucket list and you haven't already done it you're just plain lazy.  Simple as that.
• See the Top 100 Films of All Time.  Pretty decent.  Maybe I should do that one before I die.
• See AOL's List of Movies to See Before You Die.  Or that one.  Unless they meant just see the list, because that would be super easy and take about five second.  Life achieved.
• Host a family reunion and trip to Disney.  Kind of sad that your goal is to go to Disney World, but I kind of wish someone would have had this goal when I was growing up seeing as the closest thing I got to an amusement park before eighth grade was Camp Snoopy.  I could've used a trip to Disney World.
• Be a contestant on a game show.  I don't know about that one.  I usually end up either feeling really bad for contestants or just plain uncomfortable watching their awkward mannerisms on television.  I don't think I'd wish that upon anyone, unless I thought they could win Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
• Become a Millionaire.  I guess this one could be relatively easy if that whole game show thing works out for you.  And money is good I guess.  I'll take this one.
• Sell my craft on E-bay.  Sorry.  That is extremely easy.  I could make a friendship bracelet and sell it on e-bay easily.  Someone will want it.  This one isn't exactly shooting for the stars.
• Learn to drive a stick shift.  Yeah.  Me too.
• Write a book and publish it.  Hey, that was one of Amir's goals too.  But you would know that because you watched the clip.  Obviously.
• Go on a blind date.  Really.  That's your love goal.  That's sad.
• Go to all NASCAR races.  No thank you.  Plus I'm pretty sure that going to all of anything in unrealistic.  And what sane person wants to spend that much time watching NASCAR?
• Run a marathon.  Yeah.  That's what I thought.  A normal bucket list item.

This list also suggests adding a timeline, so maybe confine that e-bay goal to, sell my craft on e-bay within the next fifteen minutes.  That seems a little bit better.  This complete list can be seen here.

So that gave me very few suggestions for my own bucket list, but maybe it just takes time to come up with personal things that will really make your life feel fulfilling.  That sounds like something that might take a bit of time, but going to Disney World sounds like a good start.  Maybe I'll get around to my bucket list later, but for now I'm optimistic that there will be a later in which I can make and complete my bucket list.

Fantastically Random

So I was stumbling yesterday, as usual, and I came across one of the best websites I've ever seen.  This post on the site showed fifteen unique ice trays, all of which I would like to own.  I don't know what's better than having ice dinosaur bones floating around in your glass of water.  And considering I love eating ice plain, it's even more fun.  These simple ice cubes make me optimistic that simply drinking a glass of water could be the most entertaining part of my day.

Too Much Medical Drama

So I've been a fan of Grey's Anatomy for quite a while now, and when Private Practice jumped on board as a spin-off series I was pretty excited.  Now I have two quality medical dramas I can watch.  But recently the producers of Grey's Anatomy created yet another medical drama, this time entitled Off the Map, which premiered a little less than two weeks ago on ABC.

Now, Off the Map doesn't even have the same basis that Private Practice originated with: a character leaving Grey's Anatomy and moving to a new place to work in a completely different medical environment.  The writer's of Grey's Anatomy originally led us to believe that our beloved pediatrician Arizona Robins played by Jessica Capshaw would be on the show taking place in South America, but they pulled her back full-swing into Grey's Anatomy before Off the Map had its pilot.

Off the Map is a decent medical show, full of the drama and strange cases I've come to expect from the writers and producers of Grey's Anatomy.  But I feel like there are simply too many of the same type of shows right now.  I can see the writer's intentions, Grey's Anatomy has a pretty strong fan base and Private Practice had quite a bit of success, but I don't know if I can watch another medical show and I don't think I'm alone.  Seeing as Grey's Anatomy is currently on its seventh season I don't anticipate it being around much longer, so a spin-off might have been better received at the close of the series rather than at a time when the drama's still in full swing.

But Off the Map makes me optimistic that when Grey's Anatomy does come to an end, at least all have some other medical dramas to fall back on.

Stumbled.

Favorite thing equals stumbleupon.com.  I'm always looking for new methods of procrastination, and this is the best ever.  Just now I stumbled across a real life picture of Buzz Lightyear, and the randomness continues forever thanks to this nearly infinite source of stupid I like to call the internet.  And this website is super smart.  It knows exactly what I like.  When you first sign up you enter some of your basic interests, like elephants and mind games.  But lately I've been convinced that this site can read my mind.  Recently my Mac crashed for unknown reasons and I lost all of my iTunes.  All 2305 songs I've spent a long time collecting a quite a bit of money on.  Surprisingly, Apple has no way of taking your music off of your iPod and putting it back on iTunes, a major flaw in the system.  So on my new crappy lil PC I've been seriously lacking music, which is another one of my main forms of procrastination.  On my StumbleUpon account I check iPod as one of my interests, and within about three minutes of my background music free browsing what comes up but a website suggesting ways to pull music from your iPod to PC.

Now, I've tried a lot of these methods and I'll be the first to admit they are a little sketchy.  Some of them required plugging your iPod in, hitting a complicated key sequence to keep your iPod from syncing and clearing completely of music, and revealing "hidden files" that would magically show up in your iTunes minutes later.  But this method didn't work for me.  Apparently my computer is so incredibly smart it doesn't even recognize my iPod for what it is, but instead insists it's actually a digital camera.  It's not.  So I couldn't cheat Apple out this time, but Steve Jobs wasn't about to win that easily.  The website had some other options, and it suggested this software called Cucusoft so that when you plug your iPod in all the songs show up in this other program and you can transfer them all in one simple motion.  This program does make it sound like my computer is going to explode when it's pulling music off, but it works.  The downside is it costs thirty dollars, a little pricey for my frugal budget, but I bought it anyway.  And I guess it's better to spend thirty dollars on a simple software than to re-buy 2305 songs, because that would cost quite a bit more money.  So thank you StumbleUpon for that little chunk of cash, you are the best,

But besides solving all my music issues it can do so much more!  Want to interpret your dreams?  Go for it.  And if by chance I find something less than interesting, although this rarely happens, I can move onto the next quality piece of procrastination with the simple click of the "Stumble" button.  Will my homework get done tonight?  That's questionable if I somehow get on StumbleUpon.  I can waste hours reading Dr. Suess quotes.  A few of my favorites are, "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.  It's not."  "Today was good.  Today was fun.  Tomorrow is another one."  "And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed!  Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed."  And this ridiculously over used, "Don't cry because it's over.  Smile because it happened."  Dr. Suess will always amaze me in his ability to come up with inspiration quotes even when he is attempting to use less than 50 different words in his book.  And they rhyme.  What a genius.


Perhaps some of the greatest StumbleUpon treasures are the cute animal picture sites.  Who knew even a baby mouse is cute?  Well now I do and you can too.  And a turtle small enough to crawl on your finger does exist, so that's super exciting too.  I can even coordinate a horse quartet with the simple click of my mouse (even though these are cartoon horses and not real life baby horses it's still cool.)  So if you like animals of any type, check this thing out.


Finally, another equally entertaining feature of this website is it's links to complete time waster games.  I've spent longer than I need to admit on this game, and probably more time filling in colored squares than it took me to write this entire post.  But StumbleUpon has done me some good.  How would I have written this super-long blog post without spending time researching my website selections first.  So I've been entertained stumbling across the internet as I document my virtual journey.

I'm optimistic that websites like StumbleUpon are not only time wasters but can get people truly engaged in their interests, and yeah, maybe provide a much needed break from homework.  Now, I'm going back online, and maybe I'll get some homework done, but the way things are looking I'll be stumbling instead, and that's fine with me.

Optimistic Voices

I love The Wizard of Oz!  And I just remembered one of the less popular songs from the movie entitled "Optimistic Voices".  It's played after Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and Toto are out of the Poppies and reach the Emerald City.  Quality song.  And it makes me optimistic that even the writers of The Wizard of Oz understood that a little optimism goes a long way.  I can't embed it, but watch it here.

Tosh.0 gets 0 stars

Today, I think I may have seen one of the most unclassy things of my life, Tosh.0.  Hosted by Daniel Tosh, it would be an understatement to say I was disgusted.  Comedy Central usually has some pretty quality shows.  I really enjoy The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report, but Tosh.0 really disappointed me. In the episode I saw, not only did they make fun of rape, but also mental retardation.  I can understand making light of current events as many comedians do, but I think this show took it a little to far.  There's quite a difference between poking fun of 50 Cent for giving financial advice on Twitter, and joking about the fools who actually listened, and going out on a street corner "asking" to get raped.  Also, this episode featured a segment called "Is He Retarded?" where the audience watched a online clip and shouted out their response.  They all declared "He's Retarded" to this clip, when in reality he is not. I personally don't think that rape or mental disabilities are an acceptable topic to make light of, and Tosh.0 simply doesn't know where to draw the line between what's funny and what's offensive.

However, I'm not the only one who feels this show is a waste of time.  A reporter for Miami's The Examiner, wrote this review which exposes the true horrid humor of the show and gives a basic break down of the typical bad YouTube jokes.  At least this review can make me optimistic that there are quite a few people out there who agree with me in that Tosh's jokes are horrible and the show as a whole is disgusting.

Despicable You

Lately, Steve Carell has been on my list of top favorite people ever, mostly because of his wonderful ability to make me feel extremely sorry for him, and even love him, even when he is acting like the most obnoxious person in the entire world.  I have been loading up on all the Steve Carell I can dream of.  Last week I watch Despicable Me for the first time where Carell plays a super-villain intent on stealing the moon.  After all his loud rants and annoying schemes, all of which are incredibly funny, he develops a heart.  He learns to love three of the cutest animated orphans I have ever seen in my life.  Steve Carell can nearly bring me to tears when they are taken away from him and he misses their dance recital.  What a tragic situation!  The encore performance was way better though.  Agnes also blew my mind with her hilarious cuteness and attraction to unicorns.  And his little creepy green alienish friends will make me laugh every time I see them, even if Carell's character Gru did treat them unfavorably at times.  It's probably against some labor code to send your employees to outer space with no equipment.  But no matter what, Steve Carell blows me away even when I can't see his incredible acting skills, just hear the hilarious words coming out of his mouth.

Just today I watched another Steve Carell masterpiece, Dinner for Schmucks.  Yet another obnoxious character, Barry doesn't really seem to understand his place in the world.  In fact, he doesn't really seem to understand much about the world at all.  He is a mouse taxidermist who makes artistic scenes out of dead mice.  They are really quite cute, but borderline on depressing when they begin to clearly represent his own failed marriage.  Throughout the movie, Barry accidentally sabotages Tim's relationship with his girlfriend Julie and his career.  It's a little sad though, because everything he does is with the best intentions.  Barry is invited to a dinner for losers where at the end of the meal the biggest loser is crowned champion.  Even after he learns the true purpose of the dinner, he still wants to win because at least he would be winning something.  My favorite part of the movie was watching Barry grow, not only as his friendship with Tim strengthened, but as he became more hopeful.  At the beginning of the movie he quotes John Lennon's Imagine "You may say that I'm a dreamer but I'm not", but at the end he finishes it off with "You may say that I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one".  He also brings out a underlying goodness that the other characters in the movie lacked.  He would jump in front of a car to save a mouse, even if it is already dead.  Barry's goodness and ability to be honest and loving easily made me love him.

Date Night, a movie from early 2010, featured Carell in a slightly different light.  This time he was the always hilarious husband who had fallen into a routine with his wife and only really wanted to change things up.  Somehow they get roped into a night filled with adventure after they steal a dinner reservation, as they travel New York City looking for a flash drive that the fictitious Tripplehorns apparently have something to do with.  After a long night filled with danger and scandal, the suburban couple outsmarts the criminal masterminds and gets to walk free.  Carell uses his wit and commitment to having a night to remember to keep the movie enchanting throughout.  Still slightly obnoxious, Carell is hilarious as always.

But Carell's biggest success, in my opinion, comes not through the multitude of movies he has starred in, but the American rendition of the originally British show, The Office.  Carell, back to his typical annoying role, plays Michael Scott, regional manager of the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin, a paper company.  Michael struggles with issues a paper company would face in the age of computers, but also with a few more interesting problems.  He goes through his fair share of relationship issues and fights with co-workers who don't really understand him.  Seven seasons in, the show will soon be coming to an end, bringing with it a multitude of comedians other than Carell who have established careers in comedy.  Rainn Wilson, who plays Dwight Shrute, has landed roles in movies such as Juno and Monsters vs. Aliens since The Office piloted in 2005.  John Krasinski, otherwise known as Jim Haplert has been in Shrek the Third and It's Complicated.  Although none of these quite match Steve Carell's fourteen hit movies and two appearances on Saturday Night Live since the pilot of The Office, it's no doubt that Carell helped to launch others careers through the success he brought to the hit comedy.  And although The Office is coming to an end relatively soon, something I'll surely be sad to see, it's certain that we won't be seeing the end of the comedic success Steve Carell is known to produce anytime soon.

I'm optimistic that the end of The Office will by no means be the end of Steve Carell.  He has the comedic genius to star in movies for as long as he wants to.  And if you don't agree that Steve Carell is hilarious, Despicable You.

The Old Man and the Seymour

"The Old Man and the Seymour" is perhaps one of the most creative short films I've ever seen.  Starring CollegeHumor's Amir Blumenfeld (previously mentioned in Amir's video letter to Santa) and Streeter Seidell, the film follows the recent events is Lewis Plunkett's life.  He is a 47-year-old with a growth hormone deficiency that often leads to him being mistaken for a high-schooler.  When his brother dies, he reluctantly gains custody of his high-school nephew, and is mistaken for the new kid at school.  The film is hilariously taglined, "Over 90 million Americans use products or procedures to fight the visible signs of aging.  Lewis Plunkett isn't one of them."  It received a multitude of awards including, Director's Choice at the Sacramento Film and Music Festival 2009, Audience Award at the Portable Film Festival 2009, and Best Cinematography at the NYU First Run Film Festival 2009.  It also played at a series of other accredited film festivals.

Only 31 minutes in length, "The Old Man and the Seymour" focuses mainly on the jokes and less on the story line, but it still is hilarious, and any fan of Amir would enjoy it.  Even the trailers are hilarious.  Then second trailer featuring "Requiem for a Dream" can be found here.  The entire short film can be watched online, through Vimeo here.

This short film makes me optimistic that comedy can come in any form, even if the concept seems depressing at first, jokes can precede story, and Amir can make me laugh in any situation.

Love Never Dies

Andrew Lloyd Webber is one of the most well known composers of stage musicals.  His claim to fame includes such titles as "Cats", "Jesus the Superstar", and my personal favorite, "Phantom of the Opera".  Recently he has written a new musical, a sequel (although Webber refers to it as a stand alone piece) to The Phantom of the Opera entitled "Love Never Dies".  It opened at the Adelphi Theatre in London's West End.

Plans for this particualr musical began in 1990, although it didn't open until early 2010.  In "Love Never Dies", the Phantom is in New York ten years after the original "Phantom of the Opera" took place.  He created an attraction at Coney Island called Phantasma, but only really wants to hear Christine sing again.  Christine, Raoul and their son, Gustave, arrive at Coney Island, and shortly after the Phantom threaten Christine.  He tells her if she doesn't sing at Phantasma she will have to return home without her son.  With a dramatic twist at the end, Meg attempts to drown Gustave and holds a gun to the Phantom's head.  She accidentally shoots Christine, who then goes on to tell Gustave that the Phantom is his real father.  Christine then tells the Phantom that her love for him "will never die" and dies in his arms.  When Raoul returns, Christine is dead and his supposed son has left him to live with his real father.

As can be expected, the musical did not achieve good ratings.  In fact, on October 22 it was revealed the show would be closing and going through substancial rewrites.  Many of the musical numbers were to be changed.  Charles Hart, one of the lyricists, revealed the ending may even be completely rewritten.  The New York opening of "Love Never Dies" has been postponed and no clear date has been set for when the show will actually open.

This news may be positive to Phantom fans like myself, because the ending of "Love Never Dies" did sound quite disappointing.  I don't know if I would want to see a "sequel" with a sub-standard ending.  So for now I'll just stick to watching Gerard Butler play Phantom over and over again on Joel Schumacher's 2004 film adaptation of the originial musical.

But I'm optimistic that when Andrew Lloyd Weber's musical is done going through re-writes, it will be a worth sequel to the original "Phantom of the Opera".

Don't Stop the Pop

Every year since 2007 DJ Earworm creates a Mash-up of the top 25 songs of the year according to Billboard Magazine.  This year, Billboard online featured an article about DJ Earworm's annual mash-up.  Entitled, "Don't Stop the Pop" (one of the series of "The United State of Pop", it includes unmistakably recognizable hits from the past twelve months interwoven to complete one song.  The song is comprised of:

Ke$ha - Tik Tok

Lady Antebellum - Need You Now

Train - Hey, Soul Sister

Katy Perry Featuring Snoop Dogg - California Gurls

Usher Featuring will.i.am - OMG

B.O.B. Featuring Hayley Williams - Airplanes

Eminem Featuring Rihanna - Love the Way You Lie

Lady Gaga - Bad Romance

Taio Cruz - Dynamite

Taio Cruz Featuring Ludacris - Break Your Heart

B.O.B. Featuring Bruno Mars - Nothin’ On You

Enrique Iglesias Featuring Pitbull - I Like It

Young Money Featuring Lloyd - Bedrock

Jason Derulo - In My Head

Rihanna - Rude Boy

Lady Gaga Featuring Beyonce - Telephone

Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

Bruno Mars - Just the Way You Are

Mike Posner - Cooler Than Me

The Black Eyed Peas - Imma Be

Jay-Z + Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind

Usher Featuring Pitbull - DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love

Travie McCoy Featuring Bruno Mars - Billionaire

Eminem - Not Afraid

Iyaz - Replay

When describing the songs from this years mash-up, DJ Earworm writes,

In 2010, pop has gone into serious all-out party mode. In 2009 the music was encouraging us to pick ourselves back up after being knocked down again, and to rock out to some great dance music while you’re at it. This year’s music tells us to keep going now that we’re up and having fun. In fact, the fun seems to be in such overdrive that it borders on recklessness. Usher urges us to ‘dance like it’s the last night of your life”, and Katy Perry wants us to “run away and don’t ever look back”. Even the songs that aren’t about parties have parties in their videos, like this year’s entries from Mike Posner and Lady Antebellum.

It’s a great thing about music that you can leave your worries and lose yourself in the moment. In our current world of dance pop culture fantasy, this takes place at a club, where you can drink, meet the most amazing person you’ve ever met, and where as Ke$ha says, “the party don’t stop”.

Last year, the hit was just as good, entitled "Blame it on the Pop", it interwove hits like Jamie Foxx's "Blame It" featuring T-Pain, Keri Hilson's "Knock You Down" with Kanye West and Ne-Yo, Jay Sean's "Down" featuring Lil Wayne, and The Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow".  To watch the video and hear the song, click here.

2008's installment of the "United State of Pop", entitled "Viva La Pop" which predominately featured Coldplay's hit, "Viva la Vida", can be viewed here.  And the original from 2007, simply titled "The United State of Pop", is located here.

DJ Earworm makes me optimistic that the talent to truly recreate something from what they already have exists.