Monday, August 27, 2012

Odd Numbers

Today on The Pioneer Woman's blog she was writing about stocking up on groceries and she posted a picture of a package of meat that she had gotten.

I thought her reaction was really funny, and it got me to thinking about the numbers I encounter in my life as a grocery checker.

Weird number combinations happen to me at the store all the time, every day. I'll usually get at least one, if not two orders a day with no change. For example an order will total out to $88 or just $15. Seemingly stranger, but not any rarer, I'll get something where the dollars and the change are the same. Like, $24.24. Or even palindrome numbers, like $34.43. Sometimes I'll get all the same too, such as $55.55, or $111.11. At first these number things were really odd, but now they seem normal to me. I still think it's cool when they happen though.

For the average shopper, these combinations are probably really rare, and if they get them, a more superstitious person might see them as a sign. Maybe as a sign from God, or something more sinister. I laugh to myself when I ring up an order and the result is exactly $6.66, but I'm still waiting for the day when someone freaks out. Someone told me once that they rang up someone's order and when it totaled out to $6.66 they refused to pay. They insisted on the checker just adding to the price because they did not want to pay "The number of the Beast."

Since I see so many prices in one day, it's much more probable that I'll get interesting results. So I really don't see any of this as any sort of a "Sign," from God or otherwise. It's just a statistical probability that every once in awhile something that looks unique will come up. When you think about it logically,  $176.32 is not really any more special than $222.22. It's just that one tends to catch your eye more and you see something special, even though it really isn't any rarer than the first one. They are both unique, one of a kind numbers.

Next time you go to the store, look at your receipt, and see how much you paid. It doesn't matter how much it was. The price you see is unique to you, no matter if it comes out to $3.54 or $6.66. The only difference between them is that Satan will roast you if you end up with three 6's. Just kidding. >:D (Maybe. :p)

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

School News and More

School has started again, so I don't expect I'll be able to do a whole lot of blogging. I have a whole bunch of posts started, it's just finding time to finish them that's the problem. This is my final semester at Iowa Western. After this I am not sure where I will be going. Sometime soon Joel and I will be talking to one of our teachers to discuss our options.

Mondays and Wednesdays Joel and I have Typography and Digital Imaging. Digital Imaging is basically a fancy way of saying Photoshop. It's a different kind of Photoshop class than the one we took before, this one is more for graphic designers, but we figured it would be beneficial to take it. I think we'll learn a lot of valuable things.

Typography is taught by the same teacher as last semester's Illustrator class. She's a really good teacher. A lot more relatable than most. This is another Graphic design class, but I think it's important to understand the fundamentals of type, because in some cases, words are just as important to art as pictures are. Graphic design is sure to come into play in our lives sometime in the future, even if that's not our ultimate career goal, so the more we know the better.

We also have... Math. 4 DAYS A WEEK! This is beyond horrific. I thought that by choosing an online statistics class we'd be getting by easy and we'd be able to do the lessons whenever we want. Well, technically we still can, but only if we work so far in advance that we beat the deadlines. Not cool online teacher, not cool. Aside from this, the statistics class has not been too terrible. So far it's actually been pretty easy, and most of the questions have been more common sense questions than actual math problems. Let's hope it stays this way, but I'm not holding my breath.

Friday we have a "Studio Practices" class. What this means I'm not quite sure yet. It's almost an experimental class that one of our art teachers is starting. its purpose is to prepare students for a career in their field of art work. This is the first time anything like this has ever been offered at Iowa Western, and from the looks of it, Joel and I are the only two students in the class. Hopefully this class will be a lot of fun.

I alone have one other online class which starts next week, Photography 2. It is taught by the same teacher as the Studio Practices class, but it all happens over the internet. He wants to get it changed to an "In Class" class, but so far he has been unsuccessful in convincing the Dean to let him do so.

That's all my school news for now. I'll try to keep my blog updated if there's any big new developments, but I will probably have a lot of homework, so don't expect too much.

In unrelated news, I now have my Hunger Games Blu-Ray, but as you can probably tell from what I just wrote, I am very busy, so finding the time to sit down and watch a whole movie by myself without interruptions like school, or homework, or work will be kind of a challenge, so don't expect a review any time soon. I also just got two of my favorite movies from when I was a kid "The Rescuers," and "The Rescuers Down Under" and I thought it would be fun to do a review of them as well, but who knows when that will happen...

This weekend, when Joel and I get out of class, we will be off on a weekend road trip with our friends to both Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun. This could be a time of great fun or unimaginable terror. :p

My family never went to places like this when I was a kid, so I have not had any experience with thrill rides. A few years ago I road a single roller coaster and it was not fun at all. It was a wooden roller coaster, and it was a bone jarringly painful experience. I have been repeatedly told that that particular roller coaster was a terrible first roller coaster to go on, and I should not let that experience taint my perception of what most roller coasters are actually like. I am told I should try a different one that is not made of wood as it will be a lot smoother.

I hope they are right, because I really want to be the kind of person who likes going on thrill rides. I probably just need some good old-fashioned peer pressure to make me get on one. :p I think I will have a few people like that with me on this trip. :) I just hope we start out with something easy and work our way up to a roller coaster. I really don't want to get there and just go directly to the most extreme coaster and just jump right on without getting used to the others first.

Well, that's all for now. If I don't die this weekend, I will blog about the experience. :p

Sunday, August 19, 2012

The Hunger Games - With Beanie Babies?!

Wait, What?

For some reason my copy of The Hunger Games Movie has not shipped, and won't until next week. I'd be angry and depressed, but I just found this sort film on YouTube. The Hunger Games acted out with Beanie Babies! And it is hilarious! Not to mention VERY well done. Not just some kids with a camcorder, playing around, it's really a legitimately well-done film.

It's probably best if you've read the books or have seen the movie, but I suppose that's not a necessity. Still, it will help you get all the jokes. I about died laughing. :D



Even though I don't have my copy yet, I can watch the Amazon Instant Video version since I pre-ordered it, but I'm debating whether I want to deal with potential buffering issues over watching it seamlessly on Blu-Ray. I think I might stick it out till next week. I'll watch this again to tide me over. :p

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Hunger Games!

Saturday is a huge day for me. Hunger Games Blu-Ray/DVD release day!

This is even bigger than just a movie release day for me, because I haven't yet seen the movie, so I am very excited! :D I only read the books after the movie got so much hype, and by the time I was ready to watch it, it was out of theaters. I pre-ordered it the moment it was available, so I should get it on release day! The second I get a chance I will be watching it!

I probably should make sure I have a pile of Kleenex handy for the "Rue" scene. (I won't spoil anything for anyone who has yet to read the books, which I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!) I don't usually cry at movies, but that scene in the book... Well, it may or may not have caused... some emotion... I admit nothing. :p

From what I've heard the whole movie is incredibly faithful to the book, aside from the fact that they toned down the violence in order to get a PG-13 rating. To me anyway, that's a good thing. I would much rather have that stuff be left to my imagination than to have to actually see it.

Once I have seen the movie I will write a full review. I will probably have to watch it more than once to absorb it all. If it's half as good as the book, or even just a quarter epic as the trailer, it will require at least two viewings.



"May the odds be ever in your favor."

Sorry. That was cheesy of me. :p

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Julia Child

I knew this was coming!

After the Mr. Rodgers and Bob Ross videos, I thought to myself, what other PBS icons did I grow up watching that would make for a good remix video? The FIRST one that popped into my head was Julia Child. Lo and behold, that was the very next one. :)



Julia Child was another person I loved to watch when I was little. She was just so friendly, and she seemed to have a similar outlook on life as Bob Ross. Always positive and encouraging. Shows like hers are what made me love to cook.

So, what might PBS remix next? What I REALLY want to see is a Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop video. Marty Stouffer's Wild America would also be awesome. Whatever they do I'm sure it will be great. Hopefully it will be something that will bring back good childhood memories. :)

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Gravity Falls

Gravity Falls is my new favorite show. I have a lot of shows that I like to watch, but not many have struck me as so good I HAVE to write about them. Until this one.

Gravity Falls is a new animated series on the Disney Channel about two kids who investigate and solve mysteries. The whole series basically takes any paranormal, magical, sci-fi idea ever invented, and turns it on its head. It spoofs not just ghosts and monsters, but also clones, time travelers, and conspiracy theories.

Dipper and Mable Pines are the main characters. They are sent to live with their Great Uncle, Stanford Pines, aka Grunkle Stan, in the strange town of Gravity Falls. Dipper begins to suspect that there is more to the town than meets the eye, and begins investigating the mysteries and unexplained events that occur all over the town and surrounding area. It is not known who, or what is behind all the mysteries, but it's implied that Grunkle Stan knows a lot more than he lets on.

When I was younger I would go to the library and check out every book I could get my hands on about paranormal stuff. Monsters, UFOs, Urban Legends, anything weird fascinated me. This, combined with the fact that the show's style of humor is so completely random and off the wall funny, and it's like they wrote the show just for me.

The show was created by Alex Hirsch, who is a writer for another animated series, Fish Hooks, who's sense of humor I find to be completely random and hilarious. In an interview he explained that the show is based on his childhood, with a lot of weirdness thrown in. Dipper and Mable are based on himself and his own twin sister, while Grunkle Stan is named for his Grandpa Stan. When he was younger, he was fascinated by all the same things that I was fascinated in, so when he went to make this show, he just incorporated anything that his twelve-year-old self would have wanted in the show.

This show is one of the funniest shows I have watched in a long time. It was hilarious from episode one. So far there has not been one episode that I would not want to rewatch, and I have. I can't say that about any other show. I have a few shows that I'll rewatch with my cousins, but there aren't that many episodes I would rewatch on my own. With Gravity Falls, though, I have watched some episodes up to three times, by myself, and I still laugh every time. They are a riot!

The writing on the show is better than on any other "Kids" show I've seen in a long time. It's right up there with my other favorite cartoon, Phineas and Ferb. Every joke is hilarious, and every sight gag works. The music is great, and the animation and effects in the action scenes are just amazing for the minimalistic design of the show. The shadows in the opening credits alone blow my mind every time with how life-like they move. It's just little details like that, that make me appreciate the show so much.

There is so much detail in the shows. Rewatching them is almost a necessity if you want to make sure you get all the jokes and references. There are always things happening in the backgrounds of scenes, and the artists actively hide things for the fans to look for. 

Great characters are one of the most important things in making a great show, and Gravity Falls is full of them. Dipper is a lot like who I would have wanted to be as a kid. I loved mysteries as a kid, Encyclopedia Brown, and The Boxcar Children were two of my favorite book series. I always wished I could investigate mysteries myself, and Dipper is like a projection of that wish.

Mabel is his twin sister. She is not nearly as smart as Dipper, though she can have her moments. She is however, one of the funniest characters. She is the Lucy to Dipper's Ricky. She wears outlandish sweaters and has random fantasies about ridiculous things, such as owning a giant human-sized hamster ball. In one episode she scribbled over some insulting graffiti and replaced it with a message that said "You look nice today!" and claimed that it was going to "Blow someone's mind!"

Grunkle Stan is a lazy, good-for-nothing, swindler. Why Dipper and Mabel's parent's thought it was a good idea to leave them with him is beyond me. He does seem to actually care for them at times, but he's one of those kinds of people who wouldn't want anyone to know that. He runs "The Mystery Shack" where they all live. It is a tourist trap that serves as a collection of oddities, as well as a gift shop that sells all sorts of weird, fake, paranormal, junk.

There are also two other main characters, Soos and Wendy. Soos is the handy-man at the mystery shack. He always means well, but is more of a bumbling idiot than anything. Wendy is the only other employee at the Mystery Shack. She "runs" the store for Grunkle Stan, but she really doesn't do a whole lot. She's a typical teenager.

Aside from these five main characters, there are many, many other bit characters around the town. Most of them just show up in the backgrounds of scenes, but when they have speaking parts they are hilarious. There is Manly Dan, who is a walking "Manly Lumberjack" Stereotype. In one episode he catches fish with his bare hands and punches them, while his children cheer him on. Later there are fish raining from the sky and he runs screaming in terror that the fish are coming for revenge.

Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland are the epitome of ridiculous policeman stereotypes. Barney Fife looks like a genius compared with these two. When they thought they were about to catch a murderer they started freaking out with excitement. Deputy Durland exclaimed, "I'M GONNA GET TO USE MY NIGHTSTICK!!!" and both officers began dueling with their sticks. Then they burst into the suspect's office, and for no reason, the deputy gleefully knocked over a lamp.

Old Man McGucket is the self described, "Local Kook," and one of the funniest side characters. In his first appearance he is dancing around a beach at the lake doing "A Jig of Grave Danger," and screaming about the legendary Gobblewonker, a lake monster he claims to have seen. A park ranger emerges from his ranger shack and starts treating him like a misbehaving kitten, squirting him with a little squirt bottle so he'd leave the beach-goers alone. That gag alone had me in stitches. I missed most of the dialogue in that scene the first time I watched it because I was laughing so hard.

Toby Determined is a reporter who runs a newspaper called "The Gravity Falls Gossiper." He uses a turkey baster as a microphone, and when that was pointed out to him, he just sadly replied, "It certainly is." He dresses like a stereotypical journalist, complete with a fedora, but instead of a tag that says "Press" the tag on his hat simply says "Hat."

These are just a few of the side characters, but there are many others. Most of them don't have many lines, if any, but they are there as something to look for in the background of the scenes, or as sight gags.

The last group of characters are the monsters, creatures, ghosts, and other weird things around the town. These are all just as funny as the regular people. Even when they are supposed to be terrifying, they're hilarious. The first episode featured little gnome creatures who looked like little lawn gnomes, but they lived in the woods and wanted to kidnap Mable and make her their queen. Another episode featured two elderly ghosts haunting a convenience store, specifically targeting teenagers to scare. In another episode Dipper discovers a race of Minotaur-like creatures called "MANotaurs" who are even more of a masculine stereotype than Manly Dan is.

These days there aren't many shows I would buy on DVD, but if Disney released a season set of Gravity Falls, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it. If you have access to this show I HIGHLY encourage you to watch it. It is WELL worth your time. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a brand new episode waiting, and I need to go watch it! :)

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Facebook Friends #6: Olympic Edition

Well, it has been a LONG time since I wrote one of these! Actually I had one started months ago, but when I switched over to my Mac it got left on the old hard drive, and with school going on, I just kind of forgot about it. I do plan to continue writing them, I just can't say how often.

This time I decided to do an Olympic themed post, as the Olympics are currently happening, and of course Facebook is talking about them. Let me know what you think. Hopefully these are as much fun for you to read as they are for me to write. :)




Frankie Sportsfreak
Every four years it's like the heavens open up and God Himself smiles down upon me, and all sports fans alike. He stretches forth His hands in love and showers all His children with over two solid weeks of more sports than we could ever hope to sit through.
Fanny LuvSports Likes This
Fanny LuvSports *Bliss*

Rainbow Sunshine
Anyone else tear up watching the Olympics last night?
Joyful Exclamations Totally!!! I was crying, and cheering, it was AWESOME!!! :D
Izzy Illiterate I was TOETALY  ballng lik a babby!! SO emoshunal!!!!!
Lorenzo Literate I was too busy reading. War and Peace is so much more intellectually stimulating than watching a bunch of starving people race around a pool.
Izzy Illiterate o go eat a libary card lorenzo.
Lurking Liker Likes This

Whiney McDramaPants
ths is Gavin! my sister left her fasebokk oppen again!!! shedownstars watching men swimming in theolimpiksand shes droolling all ovr th plas! it so gros! BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! FARTS!!!!
Lurking Liker Likes This
 Whiney McDramaPants Gavin Im gonna kill you!!!!

Ferdie Foodie
OH YEAH! TWO WHOLE PIZZAS AND A CASE OF MOUNTAIN DEW!!! WHAT COULD BE BETTER OLYMPICS FOOD!?
Fiona Foodie Maybe some carrot sticks and celery, with a little ranch on the side, and a glass of unsweetened iced tea? That would be quite a bit better for you, I believe.
Ferdie Foodie Thanks, mom… I really wasn’t looking for dietary advice though.
Fiona Foodie Well, I just don’t want to see you wind up like your father. I still don’t know how they managed to get his recliner onto that hospital forklift after he went into his Dorito coma.

Marty McMacho
I could wipe the floor with all those girly men doing all their fancy gymnastics. All they need is a tutu and they could join the ballet. Pathetic! Why don't they go lift weights and punch stuff like a REAL man! What's next, Men's synchronized swimming?
Mitch Morebuff Likes This


Ima Bean
GOLYMPIC TEEMZ!!!!
Lurking Liker Likes This
Lorenzo Literate You are either a troll, or you are seriously disturbed.
Ima Bean swiimmiinnz pooollzz liimpikk riingzz.
Lorenzo Literate I vote troll.
Ima Bean heh, heh, heh.... >:-D

Mamma Frazzled
I never dreamed that letting my children watch the Olympics would result in the tree-house being burned to the ground.
Grammie Happy Oh no! What did my precious, misunderstood angels do this time?
Mamma Frazzled They made a torch out of a yardstick, three pairs of underwear, and a bottle of my hairspray, then they lit the birdhouse on fire for the start of their own "Opening Ceremonies." The fire went up the tree and that was the end of the tree-house.
Crazy Uncle I'm sorry, but I just can't hold back the laughter this time! BA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!
Aunty Uncle Craig! I warned you about this! I'll be making your bed on the floor tonight! Sorry about him, Martha. I think I'll send him over tomorrow to help John rebuild your tree-house.
Mamma Frazzled Well, you can send him over to help clean up, but I don't think we'll be rebuilding any time soon. Next week, they'd probably just build a cannon and shoot it out of the tree.

Winston Q. Eyeglasses
Why all this fuss over the Olympics? No one gets excited over games that I like! Why don't they have weeks of coverage on TV for D&D Tournaments or Magic the Gathering? That's so much more exciting than watching a bunch of people in their pajamas dangling from some rings! I'll watch the Olympics once they start having Halo tournaments and they all play World of Warcraft.


Mitch Morebuff
Pumpin' Iron @ the gym! I could totally beat all those pansies at the Olimpics!
Tony Triceps Likes This
Lorenzo Literate Please tell me that you spelled it that way intentionally...
Mitch Morebuff Huh?
Lurking Liker Likes This
 Lorenzo Literate I'll just shake my head sadly and be on my way.

Gloom Lyrical
SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING IS 'DA BOMB!!!!!!
Joy Lyrical Likes This
Gloom Lyrical I swear to everyone reading this that I did NOT write this!!!!
Joy Lyrical Tee Hee! *Look of pure angelic innocence*
Gloom Lyrical STAY OFF MY COMPUTER JOY!!!!! WHAT ARE YOU, 6???
Joy Lyrical No, but my inspiration is. Thanks littlest McDramaPants! :D

T. M. Info
My Dearest Friend Toilet, I am afraid I must deeply apologize for the events of last night. The horrors I brought upon you were entirely my own fault. I never dreamed that an innocent night of watching the Olympics with Ferdie would tun into a massive pizza and hot-wing eating contest. I'm sorry that you had to be the first to learn that I lost miserably. Sincerely, Me.
Mrs. Info To everyone so utterly misfortunate to have witnessed the utter atrocity of this status, I sincerely apologize for my son’s willingness to publicly shame the formerly good name of his family. However, as he is a grown man, and no longer under his mother’s control, I can not promise that it will not happen again. In fact, it probably will, so I’ll just apologize again in advance right now. I am so, so sorry.
Lurking Liker Likes This
T. M. Info Thanks for your care and concern, Mom. I love you too.

Indie Pendant
I love watching the Olympics! It just goes to show that we can come together as a planet in peaceful unity and accomplish great things!
R.W. Republicrazy The Olympics are just a tool by the UN to try and force a one world government on us all! Don't drink the Kool-Aid!
Lefty T. Parrot Go crawl back under your rock you lunatic troll.
R.W. Republicrazy I'M a lunatic troll? Wasn't it just last week you said that Republicans had no right to tell you that you should have your cat spayed?
Lefty T. Parrot They don't!!!
R.W. Republicrazy That wasn't a Republican, that was your vet!!!
Lefty T. Parrot Yeah, but I think I know where she lives, and there was a Matt Bromney sign outside her house. Obviously Republicans are trying to infringe upon my cat's reproductive rights!
R.W. Republicrazy You're insane. I'm leaving before I catch your stupid.
Lefty T. Parrot You already did because you believe the Olympics is evil!
R.W. Republicrazy So you admit that you're stupid, because you say I cought yours!
Lefty T. Parrot You Stupid ing !!!!
Indie Pendant And this is why we can't post nice things...

BB Tween
Mitchel Felps is so dreamy!!!!
Joy Lyrical Mitchel?!?! NO WAY! Byron Locksmith all the way!!!

BB Tween No way yourself! And shut up! He looks like a little boy compared to Mitchel!!!
Joy Lyrical Whatever. Can we just agree to disagree, and agree that no matter who likes who better, that they're both Hottie McStudMuffins?
BB Tween I suppose. But I'm still rooting for Mitchel. Best. Swimma. Eva!!!!
Marty McMacho GAG! CHOKE! This conversation is making me sick!

BB Tween Nobody's forcing you to read this Marty.
Joy Lyrical Yeah, and Byron is twenty time more studmuffinly than you ever will be.
Marty McMacho I think I just puked myself.

Fanny LuvSports
Is it bad that I want the Olympics to be my new religion?
Frankie Sportsfreak Likes This
Frankie Sportsfreak I'll join it with you! :-)
Fanny LuvSports Yeah! Let's worship at the church of gymnastics tonight!
Frankie Sportsfreak Sorry, the goddess of volleyball has ALL my attention at the moment. ;-)
Fanny LuvSports Well forget you then! I'm watching men's high diving! ALONE! >:(
Frankie Sportsfreak What'd I do?
David Duvvie Dude, if you have to ask, you're already doomed. I recommend flowers. And lots of them.
Frankie Sportsfreak But we're not even dating!
Fanny LuvSports And with that attitude we never will either!!!
Nosey Nellie This is better than eavesdropping outside of windows!!! :D

Lill Sloshy
olypic praty at my place!!! ill bring th driks!!
Lurking Liker Likes This
T. M. Info Sorry, I'm Olympicly partied out. Maybe next time.
 
Angry McToiletMouth
ing Olympics! Why's ing everyone so ing obsessed over them anyway?! !!!
Rainbow Sunshine Awe! Poor Angry! Everyone needs to help cheer him up. Post some nice messages for him everyone!

Joyful Exclamations Totes and for reals! Cheer up Mr. Grumpy Guy! :D
Ima Bean Glootobyuraskits!  photo Heart-1_zps3ea61900.png photo Heart-1_zps3ea61900.png photo Heart-1_zps3ea61900.png
Joy Lyrical You can't hate the Olympics! It's so fun! You just need to get in the spirit! Let's sing the national anthem!
Gloom Lyrical Let's not.
Joy Lyrical OOOOO-oooohh say can You SEEEEE!!!!! BY THE DAWN's ear-ly light! What so PROUD-ly we hailed, at the Twi-light's last glea-ming. Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, o'er the RAM-parts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
Gloom Lyrical Good Gravy.
Joy Lyrical AND THE ROCKET'S RED GLARE!!!! THE BOMBS BURSTING IN AIR!!!!! GAVE PROOF THROUGH THE NIGHT, THAT OUR FLAG WAS STILL THERE!!!! O SAY, DOES THA-AT STAR-SPAN-GLED BA-AA-NNER YE-ET WA-AVE, ... O'ER THE LA-AND OF THE FREEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!! AND THE HOOOOOOOME OF THE BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVE!!!!!
Angry McToiletMouth I feel ing sick.

Mamma Frazzled
Well there went the TV. No more Olympics for us!
Grammie Happy Now what happened?
Mamma Frazzled A Nerf archery set.
Grammie Happy Nerf? Those soft, squishy little darts?
Mamma Frazzled Yes, Nerf. Somehow they got ahold of some marbles and then super-glued them to the darts. The triplets are covered in welts, three lamps are broken, and the TV is shooting sparks out of a giant hole in the screen. That's what I get for letting them watch archery on the Olympics. I should have known it would just be inspiration for more destruction.

Katie Catlover
There totally needs to be a cat Olympics. :)
Lorenzo Literate No. Way. Cat shows already have that territory covered.
Katie Catlover YAY CAT SHOWS!!! I wish there was cat shows in the Olympics!
Lorenzo Literate No. Just, no.
Izzy Illiterate yer such a parttypoopper lornzo
Lorenzo Literate And that's my cue to leave.

Lorie Luvvie
Watching the Olympics with my Wuvver-Smootchie-Pie.


David Duvvie
Watching the Olympics with my Sweet Little Crunch Muffin.
Lorie Luvvie OH SNUGGIE PIE! WE POSTED AT THE SAME TIME!!! WE'RE SO IN SYNC!!!
David Duvvie We sure are my suger-darlin'!!! Give me some nosie rubs!!!
Lorie Luvvie We totally just nosie rubbed!!!
David Duvvie We're sitting right next to each other! :D
Lorie Luvvie We totally are!!!!
Lorenzo Literate Why must you torture us?

Joyful Exclamations
Goodnight Facebook Friends! And Good Luck Team USA!!!! :D

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Judge Judy Justice

I love watching Judge Judy take down semi-illiterate, imbecilic, small-time criminals with her sharp deduction skills and rapid-fire wit. I could watch her cases for hours, and there have been times when I have done just that thanks to YouTube. If you don't have time to watch hours of cases, but you still want a heaping helping of Judge Judy Justice, then just watch this video. It's three and half minutes of awesome.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

U Spel bad

Facebook, YouTube’s comment sections, and just texting in general, bring out the worst spellers. In this blog post I decided to compile actual examples of grammar butchery that I found all over the internet. Weep for our illiterate nation, my friends. Weep mournfully.

Unsurprisingly, this list is far from complete. I actually have a lot more examples than this. This post was pretty fun to put together, so I'm planning to keep doing them. Once I have another 20 I'll do another post.

In case you can't figure out what a word might have been before it was butchered, I put most of them in bold for your convenience.


Polotition

I'm pretty sure the word you're looking for is POLITICIAN. Unless you're collecting signatures to ban polo ponies...


Rummer

There's a RUMOR going around that you flunked pre-school. I tend to believe it's true.


Violine

Yeah, I'll ask Lindsey Stirling, but I really don't think that's how you spell that.


Assume

If you assume your spelling is AWESOME, you assumed very wrong.


Patuintly

I’m waiting PATIENTLY for the people of the internet to learn how to spell. I think I will be waiting a very long time.


Tradgeties

Really? You really want to spell it that way? What a tragedy.


Dallors

I’ll give you a spelling lesson for 20 dallors. Trust me, that's a bargain for all the help you need...


watch u gonn a see?

Upon reading this, I immediately began weeping uncontrollably.


Happy Gropundhog Day!

This sounds like a very inappropriate holiday. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.


Whop! Whop!

Um... Despite your intended meaning, you do not sound like you are cheering because something great happened, instead, you sound like you are beating someone with a large, thoroughly soaked beach towel...


Evelotion

I believe you may have been referring to that theory where dinosaurs turned into birds, and monkeys turned into people, but it looks like you are recommending Eve's rash cream.


Porne

Please, please proofread, or you are PRONE to leave very unfortunate mistakes like this in your posts.


Grone

This horrendous misspelling of the word GROWN makes me groan.


i dont belive in that ****** fairy tale book calld bibble.

Apparently you don't believe in spelling or grammar either.


Torcher

Sometime it feels like TORTURE, reading all of these misspellings.


Apauled

I am APPALLED by what passes for spelling these days. It's like they don't even try.


Runned

You just RUINED a perfectly good word.


Obsest

I wish you had OBSESSED over your textbooks while you were in school.


Vrainwashing

A good BRAINWASHING would do you some good if it would make you realize the value of proofreading.


lol i hade so much laf

If you weren't being serious here, I would hade so much laf too. Instead, I hade so much cry.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Africa

Africa is one of my "Must visit" places. I probably won't get there until I'm an old man, but I still want to go there someday.

Two of my favorite YouTubers, Devin Graham and Lindsey Stirling, traveled to Africa recently to make a bunch of videos. They captured everything about the continent that makes me want to visit it so much. From the people, to the landscape, and most of all, the wildlife, these videos are just amazing. I've watched them multiple times, and I thought that others would enjoy seeing them all as well. :)

This first one may be my favorite. Africa is so often stereotyped as a poverty stricken nation where everyone is skin and bones, everyone is dying of AIDS, and everyone is miserable their entire lives until they die, usually while still in childhood. There may be some areas like that, but it is not the entire continent. There are plenty of happy places as well. No country (Or continent) is perfect. America has places that are just as miserable as Africa is stereotyped to be. We just don't like to think about it.
Anyway, the reason this video is so good, is that it completely disproves the misery myth. I love watching the little children as they interact with Devin and his camera. No one who watches this can help but smile. :)



Devin released a behind the scenes video just about this video to explain how he got the children to smile so much. It was well worth watching. :)



Lindsey's video is, of course, a music video with her playing her violin. The song is Rihanna's "We found Love" but with a beautiful African twist. I love it when when artists take a well know song and add their own twist to it. Especially an African twist.



While I'm writing about African music, I will link to another of my favorite videos, an African version of Coldplay's "Paradise" done by the Piano Guys. It is amazing.



This next video is everything I love about Africa all wrapped up in one amazing short film. I guess you could call it a music video as well, but it's not a specific song, it's just an instrumental with African vocals. But it is beautiful.



Devin made a much longer behind the scenes video that covered their whole trip and showed all the places they visited, and everything they did. It looks like an amazing experience!



At the end he teases that there is one more music video still to come. I can't wait to see it!

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Slacktivism

"Like and share this status to help fight Breast Cancer, Autism, Alzheimer's, AIDS, Childhood Obesity, Gingivitis, Athlete's Foot, Adult Diaper Rash, and Really Bad Boo-Boos."

Today's post is along the same lines as my annoyance with the Pink Ribbon Fad, but in this case it is limited to just Facebook users.

"If you know someone who is fighting, has fought, Is winning, or has won, is losing, or has lost, the battle of Bee-Sting allergies, then share this status for one hour. 99.9% of people refuse to share it. Will you?"

These posts annoy me because it implies that anyone who won't re-post it as their status is a heartless fiend who doesn't give rodent's rear about helpless Bee-Sting victims. It makes people feel guilty, then they re-post it, and then their friends see it, feel guilty, and also re-post it. In less than a day your Facebook news-feed has been transformed into an endless sea of guilt inducing drivel about Bee-Stings. This does absolutely nothing to help Bee-Sting victims and it makes you look like a sheep.

One of my favorite YouTube channels, Blimey Cow, made a video about this very thing, and I thought it was so funny, that it would make the perfect compliment to my post.



I didn't write this post to vilify people who legitimately care about any of these causes. If you or someone you love have been affected by one or more of the diseases that Facebook cares so much about, then by all means, get out there and spread the word! But changing your Facebook status doesn't do anything.