Most recent edit on 2005-12-11 14:32:52 by ElwoodBlues
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December 11, 2005
To any who will be taking this class in the future, I would say just enjoy it. Use it as a chance to hone in on your writing skills. Writing is an essential skill to master if you want to become successful. This class allowed me to become a much better writer than I was in the beginning of the semester. This class was also a lot of work. At times it seemed to be too much work, but all of that work did eventually pay off as I saw myself becoming a stronger writer who writes with far more clarity and purpose than ever before. I would definitely recommend this class to anyone who wants to make themselves more effective writers.
Edited on 2005-12-08 02:15:16 by ElwoodBlues
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December 7, 2005
Today was the 64th anniversary of The Japanese surprise attack on Pearle Harbor. I feel that it is essential for us as Americans to always remember all of those who made the ultimate sacrifice that day. It is important that we as Americans never forget the mistakes made by us that led to the destruction of that day. If we cannot learn from history we are only doomed to repeat it. We must also continue to honor all of those who continue to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Also, on a side note, the Michael Bay film, Pearle Harbor, was terrible and completely missed the point. It had elements that could have made it a great tribute to those heroes, but Michael Bay decided to take it in a completely different direction, thus making an awful film, and wasting my time. I really don’t like that movie.
Edited on 2005-12-06 19:50:47 by ElwoodBlues
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December 6, 2005
What ever happened to cartoons? When we were kids our cartoon shows were way better than what’s on T.V. and in the movies today. Our cartoons were funny these used real we had quality. No longer does Disney put out films that are the caliber of The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and so on. Now the films produced by Disney are only an attempt to mimic those classics which we all grew up with. The shows put on nickelodeon are also sub-par at best when compared to what we had as children. We had programs with actual humor to them. Today children do not even get exposed to the old Looney Tunes that we got to see. I feel that it is a shame that children will not get the joy of seeing the quality programs that did as children.
Edited on 2005-11-30 10:32:48 by ElwoodBlues
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November 30, 2005
I just realized how much I really miss playing high school football. Now don’t read too much into that statement. It’s not that I miss high school, because I don’t. I just miss playing the game of football. It was the only time and place where I could hit someone and not only would it be alright to do so but it was even encouraged. And the harder you hit the person the better. The best part of football isn’t even the hitting, but just the pure perfection of the game. The concept of eleven guys working together to accomplish one goal as a team is what I love. I love just the mental part of thinking about how I’m going to beat the guy across from me on this play. I loved every week learning about a new team and trying to figure out what they did and what their weaknesses were. And then game day would come and there is no better feeling than stepping onto a football field under the lights on a Friday night. Another thing about football which was great was the team. Each member of the team was willing to die on that field for any other teammate. Most of my best friends from high school were on the team. We all would always be hanging out together. I remember one time we all decided to go see the movie Friday Night Lights (an awesome movie if you haven’t seen it yet), well there ended up being about thirty of us all going to the movie together. No matter how hard playing football got, I never regret playing for one moment. Because some of the best parts came out of the sweat, blood, pain, and tears.
Edited on 2005-11-30 09:24:09 by EschaTon
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It should be Assael & Keiting, as they both wrote the article. - EschaTon
Edited on 2005-11-30 01:38:42 by ElwoodBlues
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November 29, 2005
Here's my example of a citation:
Assael, Shaun and Peter Keiting. “Who Knew?.” ESPN.com. 8 Nov. 2005. 10 Nov. 2005. <http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=steroids&num=1∞∞>
“Brogna says he opted against injectable steroids in 1991 and again in 2000 for the same reason he’d declined to pump them into that teammate: he hated needles.” (Assael).
Edited on 2005-11-20 16:17:37 by ElwoodBlues
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1997
http://www.skylinepictures.com/San_Francisco_Barry_Bonds_s20_large.jpg∞
So I got these pictures of Barry Bonds at different points in his career. These pictures offer proof that Barry Bonds has used steroids throughout his career. Over a span of eighteen years he completely altered his body and his style of play. Even in the picture from 1997 he is still relatively the same size as he was in 1986.
Deletions:
1996
http://members.tripod.com/~protherj/bblimages/bonds.jpg∞
http://rain.prohosting.com/~bgy11/allstar-barry-nikolai.jpg∞
So I got these pictures of Barry Bonds at different points in his career. These pictures offer proof that Barry Bonds has used steroids throughout his career. Over a span of eighteen years he completely altered his body and his style of play. Even in the picture from 1996 he is still relatively the same size as he was in 1986.
Edited on 2005-11-20 16:12:30 by ElwoodBlues
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November 18, 2005
1986
http://www.homeruncards.com/imagesrc/1986-topps-bonds.jpg∞
1996
http://members.tripod.com/~protherj/bblimages/bonds.jpg∞
2004
http://www.jefflewisphotography.com/adm/photo/171_BarryBonds.jpg∞
http://rain.prohosting.com/~bgy11/allstar-barry-nikolai.jpg∞
So I got these pictures of Barry Bonds at different points in his career. These pictures offer proof that Barry Bonds has used steroids throughout his career. Over a span of eighteen years he completely altered his body and his style of play. Even in the picture from 1996 he is still relatively the same size as he was in 1986.
Edited on 2005-11-15 22:03:55 by PatSmith
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I know...this week has been rough for me too. Scheduling definately is a pain in the ass. At least next Tuesday is our last day of classes for awhile...PatSmith
Edited on 2005-11-15 15:48:17 by ElwoodBlues
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November 15, 2005
I can’t wait for the weekend. I had two exams already this week, yesterday I had to go through the hell of scheduling my classes for next semester, I have a paper due tomorrow, and some other stupid assignments. I am sick of school work I am exhausted and I’m not done yet.
Scheduling classes yesterday was really awful. A lot of the classes that I wanted to take weren’t available or at least a time that didn’t interfere with another class that I had to take. Plus because I was taking so much time to decide on what class to take, I kept timing out of elion. What a pain in the ass that was. Not to mention the fact that I probably did terrible on those two exams. Man I really can’t wait for the weekend.
Edited on 2005-11-14 10:56:10 by ElwoodBlues
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November 14, 2005
This weekend for some reason I decided to go home. I really don’t understand why. But what I can tell you is that I was incredibly bored. I did absolutely nothing the entire weekend. It was by far one of the most boring times of my life. I literally didn’t move from the couch the whole weekend, which to some may seem like a good weekend, but personally I like to get out and do things, but honestly there was nothing to do. Now because I had so little going on socially I really should have done some school work, but I was even too bored to do that. I was basically just a vegetable all weekend.
The weekend wasn’t all bad. I mean I did get to eat good food for once, which was amazing. I had homemade lasagna, chili, pork roast, mashed potatoes (which unlike the ones in the commons, didn’t stick together or taste ridiculously dry). The best part is I took all of the leftovers back with me so I have some good food for a few days.
It was also nice to see my family. I mean sure they getting on my nerves after a while, but it’s still nice to see them every now and then.
Edited on 2005-11-12 20:13:11 by ElwoodBlues
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As I was saying today in class I just downloaded The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and that album is crazy and great. It hits so many different styles of music and at the same time transitions incredibly well. It also has some really popular songs that are major hits. I honestly can’t describe in words how good this album is, or even just describe it at all. The only thing that I can tell you is to please find a way to get your hand on this album and listen to it straight through.
Later. I’m going home for the weekend.
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As I was saying today in class I just downloaded The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and that album is crazy and great. It hits so many different styles of music and at the same time transitions incredibly well. It also has some really popular songs that are major hits. I honestly can’t describe in words how good this album is, or even just describe it at all. The only thing that I can tell you is to please find a way to get your hands on this album and listen to it straight through.
Later, I’m going home for the weekend.
Edited on 2005-11-11 15:30:01 by ElwoodBlues
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November 11, 2005
As I was saying today in class I just downloaded The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and that album is crazy and great. It hits so many different styles of music and at the same time transitions incredibly well. It also has some really popular songs that are major hits. I honestly can’t describe in words how good this album is, or even just describe it at all. The only thing that I can tell you is to please find a way to get your hands on this album and listen to it straight through.
Later, I’m going home for the weekend.
Edited on 2005-11-09 21:31:26 by ElwoodBlues
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November 9, 2005
I gave blood again today. I love giving blood, it’s a good thing. I really feel that you should give blood as often as you can. Especially right now, because we are in a competition with Michigan State to see who can collect the most blood in a period of time. Now I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t want to lose to Michigan State in anything, particularly something as easy as giving blood. SO GIVE BLOOD. I mean, why not? Also you get free food, which is always good. Any time you see the word “free”, unless it’s followed by the word “lobotomy”, it almost always means something good. So within the next week and a half, if you are able to, try to give blood. It’s a good thing to do, it doesn’t hurt much at all (despite what some say), free food, and I want to beat Michigan State.
Edited on 2005-11-07 19:41:20 by EschaTon
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One of the other things that really made it show shocking was, at the time, they replayed the clip of him getting hit about 20 times. - EschaTon
Edited on 2005-11-07 19:22:04 by ElwoodBlues
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November 7, 2005
For quite some time now I was trying to view a clip of Joe Theismann’s injury, and I finally found one on the internet last night. I had before I viewed it others who had seen it said that it was the most disgusting injury they had ever seen. Well not that I like to see people get hurt (cause I don’t), but that only made me want to see it more. I had to see what the hype was all about. So last night once I finally saw it ... I nearly threw-up right then and there and I am not that squeamish of a person. It was truly gruesome. What happens is that Theismann is in the pocket waiting for a receiver to get open when, he is sacked by Lawrence Taylor (the real L.T.). The first angle that it was shown in, you can’t see the injury. You just hear a snap and see L.T., who has the reputation of being one of the meanest football players ever, spring up in horror and call for the Redskin’s medical staff. So even before you can see the injury you know that it will be bad because L.T. would never do that unless it was that bad. After that you are able to see another camera angle which shows the injury. What happened is that while L.T. was tackling Theismann, he lands on Theismann’s leg and snaps Theismann’s shin in half. The leg literally snaps in half and the leg ends up pointing sideways. It was truly awful.
Now if you are still curious to see the injury here is the link to the clip that I found of the injury∞.
Edited on 2005-11-06 14:19:48 by ElwoodBlues
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ElwoodBluesOctoberArchieve
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October 31, 2005
So yesterday my roommate and I went for the full out cleaning of our room (well… sort of). We usually clean about every week or two. We have to, because our room is usually the place where we (my friends and I) usually “hang-out” before we go to parties or games and well stuff spills. So, at the end of a weekend both of desks are sticky and just generally disgusting. This weekend was even worse than normal for a combination of reasons. One of which was that we had friends from out of town staying in our rooms, and not that they are messy people, but we had a bunch of blankets that they slept on just bundled up and shoved off to the side of the room, so there was that mess. Another thing is that for some reason (definitely not because it was hard) decided that we weren’t going to put garbage bags in our garbage cans. This caused people to do one of two different things: either just left the cans of soda all over the, or put the half full cans of soda that no one finished in the garbage can. The latter one caused a large problem when we emptied or garbage cans out into trash bags because my garbage can is made of a meshed metal – which allowed the soda to spill all over me.
After we cleaned up the cans we realized how badly we had to mop off our desks. So we cleared all of our things off of them and just wiped off the desktops. After we did that for some reason (probably because it was definitely needed) we decided to clean our refrigerator, freezer, and microwave. I was appalled at how disgusting they were. The worst was that I think one of my friends somehow spilled soda inside of the freezer 9don’t ask me how that happened). So, we had to scrape out a bunch of frozen soda out of the freezer.
I’m pretty proud of my roommate and of myself. We did a real good job 9at least for two college males). We did everything except for run a vacuum cleaner, but that’s because we don’t have one (and we really do need one). But I’m still proud of myself. It’s nice having a clean desk. Too bad it’s not going to stay that way for long.
October 30, 2005
Satire is an essential part of most every art form. Often times we might not even notice, whether it is because we don’t notice it, or because we don’t know what it is that it is satirizing. Recently I watched a new episode of the TV show South Park, in which they were satirizing the ridiculousness that is The Day After Tomorrow. It was hilarious. I laughed for almost the whole half hour. I loved it because I both knew what it was talking about and I realized when it was satirizing. But there are many times when it certain forms of entertainment when it isn’t as easily noticed because it isn’t something as mainstream as The Day After Tomorrow. When these more obscure references are made and you notice them it makes the jokes so much better. What satire comes down too is that if you don’t get the joke being made by the satire perfectly, it should still be funny if the joke is executed properly. Satire is kind of like salt it isn’t necessary, but it can make things better.
October 26, 2005
My Microwave a Modern Enigma
So, I over my time here at Penn State I’ve noticed that the microwave in my dorm is messed up. First of all it has very little power and what power it does have varies. On Saturday night my friends and I cooked some chicken nuggets at two separate times both times cooking the same number of nuggets. The first time it took 5 minutes. The second batch time it took 2 minutes. Huh? But the worst part is, is that it should only take 1 minute. The second thing about it is that sometimes it decides not to spin the little dish inside of the microwave. I can’t figure it out. The third thing, and probably the strangest thing is that you can put in a time like 0:90 instead of just 1:30. Now I had never thought of doing something like that but one night my roommate accidentally pressed 1:80 when he was trying to press 1 minute (he was trying to make the chicken nuggets at the time that it is supposed to finish at). We were both stunned that something like this could happen. I mean why would anyone want to put something like that in? But I guess I’m just going to deal with it, because frankly there isn’t much that I can do about it.
that happened to me, and our fridge just stopped working. so we called down and got a new one :) PatSmith
October 25, 2005
O.K. so it snowed today, but I really can’t stand how everyone is making such a big deal about it snowing in October. Where I’m from (North-East Pennsylvania) we always seem to get snow around this time of the year. Each football season during the last week of the season it would snow a couple times that week (especially on the night the game). I just really don’t see why everyone is making such a big deal out of what is really nothing. I mean this really wasn’t even much snow at all.
Most of the people I met today had one of two reactions to the snow: extreme joy or extreme confusion (and almost anger). Some thought that the snow was honestly the greatest thing that had ever happened in there lives. You could spot these people because they were constantly saying things like, “hooray!” or the more obvious “I’m so happy, it’s snowing!” Others just simply couldn’t fathom the idea that it was snowing in October. These people spent a large portion of their day going up to people (often times ones that they didn’t know) and out of pure frustration saying something like, “Do you realize that it is SNOWING in OCTOBER (making sure that they stressed the words ‘snow’ and ‘October’)?” Personally I don’t understand either one of these reactions. For me snow is alright, but not great. I like more later on in the winter when I can go skiing on it, and, like I said, it doesn’t bother me that it’s snowing at this time of the year. On the other hand when I think about snow I think of all the years that I spent shoveling my sidewalks and rather large driveway. So, for me snow always meant one extra job that I had to do.
So really, I think everyone should calm down about the snow a little bit. I mean there is going to be plenty more snow these next two semesters. So you excited people, don’t waste all of your excitement already (don’t get me wrong it’s ok to have fun with snow, it’s perfectly normal – just don’t go crazy). And you angry people, get over it or else it’s going to be one long winter for you. Also on a side note make sure that you aren’t thinking that it’s cold outside because right now it’s just slightly chilly.
October 24, 2005
To be completely honest I can’t I can’t seem to make any sense out of The Red Wheelbarrow. I mean I could go through and B.S. my way through this posting, saying that it was the best poem and that it was so symbolic. But the truth is that it was not good and I can’t find any symbolism in it what so ever. To seems that the author decided to put together words with no reason to it whatsoever. There is only one instance where is any rhyming (which I know isn’t necessary in poetry but it does occur in quite a few of them), and the words that are being rhymed are ‘depends’ and ‘chickens’ (not exactly the best rhyme).
Though I am by no means an expert on poetry, and by no means do I mean any offense to William Carlos Williams, but it is my opinion that this is not even poetry. I feel that it is just a random collection of words, which in no way made me any better or smarter. In fact I may be even dumber for having read it.
October 19, 2005
Don Quixote, Holden Caulfield, Huck Finn, and George Costanza. That’s right, I mentioned George Costanza (from Seinfeld) in the same sentence as some of the other great characters of fiction. And why shouldn’t he be. He is a perfect character. Everything he does is so quirky and hilarious. He is the ultimate neurotic person taken to the extreme. George always seems to do something that is beyond normal logic but for him it always seems to make sense. Not to mention that Jason Alexander is a perfect fit to the character of George. He just has that look that I really can’t explain but it makes the character that he is. But in the end Seinfeld in general is great so if George Costanza wasn’t great Seinfeld wouldn’t even exist. Man I miss new episodes of Seinfeld.
http://audiofiles1.jerryseinfeld.nl/george4.jpg∞
October 18, 2005
I’m in a relatively good mood right now (despite what’s been happening in athletics – i.e. Penn State’s loss, Notre Dame’s loss, the Brown’s loss, and the Astro’s loss last night). This can mainly be attributed to three different factors. One is that Penn State is number ten in the BCS rankings and the team is being projected by experts to play in the Fiesta Bowl. Another factor is that it was a really nice day outside. The weather was absolutely perfect (maybe a little windy but it was really enjoyable). The third factor is that today I finally finished with the first wave of exams. To make it better it was Spanish, so I won’t have to be thinking about it as much for a while (for those of you who don’t know or forgot, I really hate Spanish class). Also to make things be even better the test wasn’t quite as difficult as I had expected it to be and I’m feeling too bad about how I did on it (which could be good or bad). So to be brief, I’m having not too bad of a day, which is always a good thing.
October 18, 2005
This weekend I had the distinct pleasure of viewing the film The Fog, and may I say it simply the worst movie I have ever seen in my entire life. The movie actually made me feel sick inside. I mean the whole time I was wondering several things: (1) how could someone actually decide that financing this movie was a good idea? The plot line alone was enough to make me want to throw-up. It was so dull and predictable, not to mention just plain dumb. (2) How did whoever directed this movie have a job as a director? This movie was supposed to be a scary movie, but never once did it build any form of suspense. I jumped once during the entire movie and that was when I realized that I sat through the whole thing. Not to mention the fact that the movie never really made any sense (but I guess that that is also partly the fault of the script). (3) How did I ever pay $7.75 for to see this movie? I was pretty sure going into the movie that it would be terrible, I’d even told my friends that we should go see something else but they’d already bought their tickets and I was thinking to myself, “Who knows, it could be good.” How foolish of me. I lost almost two hours of my life watching that movie and I will never get that time back and that’s just sad, because life is too short.
I guess what comes down to is that you should listen to your instincts, they are occasionally right. Also, you should never let you should always try to get to the movie theatre before your friends so that you can try to convince them not to buy their tickets. Finally never see a horror movie before you hear that it is good because about 80% of the time the movie will stink!
October 11, 2005
Today I saw something that may have been both the craziest and most amazing thing that I have ever seen. I was leaving my Spanish class; it was about ten o’ clock in the morning, so I was still feeling quite a bit tired (and Spanish never really helps to wake me up – I hate Spanish class). As I was walking, I put began to put my iPod on. As I was choosing a song I passed a tree containing a squirrel, but this was no ordinary squirrel. This squirrel was making some sort of noise. Just like how dogs bark, this squirrel was making this strange yapping noise. Now, I didn’t believe it first either so I stopped and took a double take of this squirrel because I was still pretty tired and hadn’t woken up quite yet. But to my amazement, this squirrel was really yapping. I mean he wasn’t planning shutting up either. It was as if he had just learned how to make that noise and was making sure that everyone he encountered knew that noise.
I was so amazed. For a little while I thought about taking him with me and showing him to everyone that I met. I eventually deciding against it realizing that there was a good chance that he might bite me (not to mention it would be both weird and difficult to have a squirrel with me the whole day). But still even though it seems stupid and simple, it was so much fun to see that. I guess the best things in life really are free. I wonder why that squirrel was doing that. Oh well, that made my day.
October 10, 2005
In high school I was never assigned to read J. D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye. To make it worse many people told me that it was one of the best coming of age books ever. I felt cheated and decided that this summer id read it (even though I’m not really a fan of reading).
I must say, it was the best book I have ever read. I think Holden Caulfield is one of the best characters ever in literature. I found it so easy to relate to him. He shows exactly what it is like to be a teenage male. He is also a great example of an antihero because he doesn’t embody the ideals of society. Holden is a sixteen year-old who has just been kicked out of a second high school and he goes for a weekend on his own in New York City. The book tells what happens to him that weekend. I really enjoyed this book. At times I laughed, at times I cried. I couldn’t stop reading this book.
After I read the book I began to think about how cheap it was that the rest of my classmates in high school didn’t get to read it. But then that got me to thinking, “Would I have enjoyed this book as much if I’d been forced to read it?” The answer to that question is that though I would probably be that though I would still enjoy it, but probably not that much because it would be a chore.
But I’ve gotten away from my point. What I wanted to make sure was understood is that The Catcher in the Rye is one of the best books I have ever read and everyone really should try to read it.
October 9, 2005
The article that I found was titled The Killing Fields∞. The in humanities that occurred in Cambodia in the four years that the Khmer Rouge was one of the most terrible things to ever happen on this planet. Around two million people died in during that time period for no reason. The Khmer Rouge killed men, women, children, babies, the elderly, etc. One line stated that, “There are some cases where the KR would snatch the baby away from the mother and throw it in the air and shoot the baby or spear it with a bayonet. To save ammunition, they would smash one baby with another or smash them against a tree or a rock.” What happened in Cambodia was simply awful, and must never be forgotten.
October 8, 2005
Oh my God! Is this not set to be the best weekend ever? Last night I had so much fun at the O.A.R. concert was great. It was a really great show. I had an amazing time. Then after the concert I went out with my friends and just had a really good time. It was one of the best nights down here so far.
Now today we are playing Ohio State at a night game. I am so pumped its going to be a great game. I love football and I love Penn State games. They are the best. The atmosphere is passed by none.
Seriously, whoever planned this weekend is genius. This is really a great weekend.
LET’S GO STATE!
P.S. I just got back from the game and HELL YEAH we just messed up OSU. Somebody please try and tell me how this weekend could get better. Yo I'm out. Going to party my ass off.
October 7, 2005
You now who really pisses me off? The kid who plays his acoustic guitar while he sits outside to get girls pisses me off more than anyone. What a cheap bastard. The only quality that this kid possesses is his ability to play the guitar. Other than that this kid has absolutely no personality. So the only way he can talk to girls is if he’s playing his guitar. This kid is such a piece of garbage. I think Animal House summed it up the best in the scene where Bluto (John Belushi’s character) smashes the guitar of the kid who’s playing at the toga party.
http://dvdmedia.ign.com/dvd/image/ANIMAL_HOUSE-6.jpg∞
You know what the worst thing about this kid is? The worst part is that it works. There always seems to be like ten girls around this guy. What the hell is that? The guy contributes nothing to society except he plays (and not necessarily well) some simple acoustic song on a guitar and yet he has girls all over him. What kind of world do we live in? I can’t stand a guy like that. You know what’s also terrible? If I could play guitar, there I’d have to stop myself self from doing it because even though it does work (and it does), it is the cheapest way to attract girls and anyone who does it sucks.
-I'm a girl, and I play guitar. If I play outside, does that automatically mean I'm trying to attract guys? Or is it just when the guy plays?-TrinFuff
- Hay, can anyone teach ME how to play the guitar??? Also, I heard that smashing the guitar was all Belushi. He just did it one take and it stayed in - Squad514
October 6, 2005
Last night me and my friend watched the movie Wayne’s World, and say what you will but, I think it was “Excellent” (to quote the movie). I really do like it. It has many great pop-culture references which they use hilariously. Also it is just a really funny and under rated. When I was younger I used to laugh at a lot of parts, but now, I still laugh at those part, plus some parts which I find funny now. Those are the best movies, the ones that you get some more of the jokes as you get older. I also like it because Dana Carvey is by far the coolest and funniest nerd ever. I love the part where he is talking about women to Wayne (Mike Meyer’s character), if you don’t see any other part of the movie see that one. It is hilarious. But really, go see Wayne’s World if you haven’t already. You won’t regret it.
Wayne's World is one of the all-time greatest movies.--MichaelNiffeneggerTestUser
October 4, 2005
Today I’m going to vent. First off, there is this kid in my Spanish class who brown noses like it is his job. He knows a lot of Spanish words, so he feels it necessary to have some banter with our professor in Spanish. Who does that? Seriously, good job on making the rest of us look bad. I’m sitting there not knowing how to conjugate a verb and this kid is giving our teacher gardening tips in Spanish. Does anyone else think this is just ridiculous?
I said earlier that this kid knows a lot of Spanish words, which I think is great (I really do), but there two problems with him knowing them. First off, he has terrible pronunciation, which is so annoying when someone is trying to sound smart. If he spent all that time on learning all those Spanish words, you think he would have spent a little time I learning how to say them. The other thing is that whenever you ask this kid for help in Spanish he refuses. What a waste of space! This kid is useless. If you do know all of that Spanish why would you not share it? What a nerd! I really hate this kid. I really hate him.
I'm kind of good at Spanish sometimes so if you need help I might be able to. Anywaysss I also wanted to say that writing about playing beer pong was pure genius...(me and my roomie are getting our pong table set up this weekend--you should probably come over and playyyy) -MikeJones
October 3, 2005
Last year I had the “distinct pleasure” to serve on the North Pocono School Board as a non-voting student member. It was a great chance to learn a lot of new things. What it came down to was that I learned what local politics was really about. But the experience also stunk because the reality of the situation was that I was put there to make it look like the school board gave a damn about what the students. Another lesson that I learned was that members of a school board don’t care what is really good for the students, but rather what they think is good for students, even if it is not really good the students. I was not aloud to vote so therefore I didn’t really matter to them. When I would speak I was looked at by members of the audience (at least the redneck ones) as though I wasn’t supposed to talk, even though, I was the student and probably would know best what was going on in the school. But that too was a lesson. Unfortunately I also learned about how ugly local politics was. I always knew how every board member would vote. There were to groups: one group, who all friends, would vote one way and the other group would vote the other. Because there were always more in the first group, the second group didn’t matter.
The only time I actually mattered on that school board, was when they were thinking about firing my old football coach. They were discussing it in a private meeting. I came in and spoke for my coach. I went through almost an interrogation by the board about my coach and why I felt he should stay even though in his only three years as North Pocono’s head coach, he had three one-win seasons in a row. But I answered every question as thoroughly as I could. In the end they decided to keep my coach and this season is currently 5-0.
In the end I learned that school boards are incredibly inefficient and in the end rather undemocratic. Many of the members really just acted like babies and would wine about nothing.
Edited on 2005-11-04 20:07:27 by EschaTon
Additions:
What four Beatles songs? - EschaTon
Edited on 2005-11-04 19:25:08 by ElwoodBlues
Additions:
November 4, 2005
Last week one of my friends downloaded Napster onto my computer (It wasn’t because I couldn’t; I was just too lazy to). At first I thought it was great I was downloading some things, really basic songs. Then I slowed down because between what I had on my i-Pod (which is a lot) and what I’d downloaded (which isn’t a lot), I had run out of ideas. But then today all of a sudden I just remembered a bunch of songs that I had wanted to download. At first everything was going good, I was really just kind of looking through some country songs and downloading what I wanted. Then I really started thinking about some great music. They only have FOUR songs by The Beatles, which is among the most ridiculous things that I’ve ever heard. So now I’m pretty pissed at Napster. I mean how hard is it to put good classic rock on there rather than a ton of obscure crap that no one really ever downloads. Why can’t anything ever be done right?
Oldest known version of this page was edited on 2005-11-02 23:13:53 by MichaelNiffeneggerTestUser []
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November 1, 2005
So, yeah wow, first BLOG of November.
I think I’ve get to get off my chest how much I hate the guys who walk around wearing polo shirts that have their collars “popped-up.” Wow I hate those guys. That whole look just really makes me mad. I mean I hate it. And the kids who are walking around doing it all have the exact same personality, which is that of a piece of garbage. These people go around thinking that because their collars on their polo shirts are in the improper, up-right position that they are somehow cooler and better than everyone else. Now can someone explain that logic to me? I feel that if you are a male and your collar is flipped-up, I should be allowed to hit you if I see you. I mean these guys really deserve a good beating. And why is it that they must always be wearing at least three or four shirts. They always have their two polo shorts (that’s right two polo shirts – I don’t understand it either), which obviously have the collars popped up, they also usually have at least one or two colored t-shirts. And you know what makes it worse is that at least on of those four shirts is always either pink or purple (sometimes both). What is wrong with these kids? I really think that these kids need a swift backhand to straighten them out.
Haha...my friend has a webpage in his profile making fun of kids like this, I will have to show it to you--
MichaelNiffeneggerTestUser
October 31, 2005
So yesterday my roommate and I went for the full out cleaning of our room (well… sort of). We usually clean about every week or two. We have to, because our room is usually the place where we (my friends and I) usually “hang-out” before we go to parties or games and well stuff spills. So, at the end of a weekend both of desks are sticky and just generally disgusting. This weekend was even worse than normal for a combination of reasons. One of which was that we had friends from out of town staying in our rooms, and not that they are messy people, but we had a bunch of blankets that they slept on just bundled up and shoved off to the side of the room, so there was that mess. Another thing is that for some reason (definitely not because it was hard) decided that we weren’t going to put garbage bags in our garbage cans. This caused people to do one of two different things: either just left the cans of soda all over the, or put the half full cans of soda that no one finished in the garbage can. The latter one caused a large problem when we emptied or garbage cans out into trash bags because my garbage can is made of a meshed metal – which allowed the soda to spill all over me.
After we cleaned up the cans we realized how badly we had to mop off our desks. So we cleared all of our things off of them and just wiped off the desktops. After we did that for some reason (probably because it was definitely needed) we decided to clean our refrigerator, freezer, and microwave. I was appalled at how disgusting they were. The worst was that I think one of my friends somehow spilled soda inside of the freezer 9don’t ask me how that happened). So, we had to scrape out a bunch of frozen soda out of the freezer.
I’m pretty proud of my roommate and of myself. We did a real good job 9at least for two college males). We did everything except for run a vacuum cleaner, but that’s because we don’t have one (and we really do need one). But I’m still proud of myself. It’s nice having a clean desk. Too bad it’s not going to stay that way for long.
October 30, 2005
Satire is an essential part of most every art form. Often times we might not even notice, whether it is because we don’t notice it, or because we don’t know what it is that it is satirizing. Recently I watched a new episode of the TV show
South Park, in which they were satirizing the ridiculousness that is
The Day After Tomorrow. It was hilarious. I laughed for almost the whole half hour. I loved it because I both knew what it was talking about and I realized when it was satirizing. But there are many times when it certain forms of entertainment when it isn’t as easily noticed because it isn’t something as mainstream as
The Day After Tomorrow. When these more obscure references are made and you notice them it makes the jokes so much better. What satire comes down too is that if you don’t get the joke being made by the satire perfectly, it should still be funny if the joke is executed properly. Satire is kind of like salt it isn’t necessary, but it can make things better.
October 26, 2005
My Microwave a Modern Enigma
So, I over my time here at Penn State I’ve noticed that the microwave in my dorm is messed up. First of all it has very little power and what power it does have varies. On Saturday night my friends and I cooked some chicken nuggets at two separate times both times cooking the same number of nuggets. The first time it took 5 minutes. The second batch time it took 2 minutes. Huh? But the worst part is, is that it should only take 1 minute. The second thing about it is that sometimes it decides not to spin the little dish inside of the microwave. I can’t figure it out. The third thing, and probably the strangest thing is that you can put in a time like 0:90 instead of just 1:30. Now I had never thought of doing something like that but one night my roommate accidentally pressed 1:80 when he was trying to press 1 minute (he was trying to make the chicken nuggets at the time that it is supposed to finish at). We were both stunned that something like this could happen. I mean why would anyone want to put something like that in? But I guess I’m just going to deal with it, because frankly there isn’t much that I can do about it.
that happened to me, and our fridge just stopped working. so we called down and got a new one :) PatSmith
October 25, 2005
O.K. so it snowed today, but I really can’t stand how everyone is making such a big deal about it snowing in October. Where I’m from (North-East Pennsylvania) we always seem to get snow around this time of the year. Each football season during the last week of the season it would snow a couple times that week (especially on the night the game). I just really don’t see why everyone is making such a big deal out of what is really nothing. I mean this really wasn’t even much snow at all.
Most of the people I met today had one of two reactions to the snow: extreme joy or extreme confusion (and almost anger). Some thought that the snow was honestly the greatest thing that had ever happened in there lives. You could spot these people because they were constantly saying things like, “hooray!” or the more obvious “I’m so happy, it’s snowing!” Others just simply couldn’t fathom the idea that it was snowing in October. These people spent a large portion of their day going up to people (often times ones that they didn’t know) and out of pure frustration saying something like, “Do you realize that it is SNOWING in OCTOBER (making sure that they stressed the words ‘snow’ and ‘October’)?” Personally I don’t understand either one of these reactions. For me snow is alright, but not great. I like more later on in the winter when I can go skiing on it, and, like I said, it doesn’t bother me that it’s snowing at this time of the year. On the other hand when I think about snow I think of all the years that I spent shoveling my sidewalks and rather large driveway. So, for me snow always meant one extra job that I had to do.
So really, I think everyone should calm down about the snow a little bit. I mean there is going to be plenty more snow these next two semesters. So you excited people, don’t waste all of your excitement already (don’t get me wrong it’s ok to have fun with snow, it’s perfectly normal – just don’t go crazy). And you angry people, get over it or else it’s going to be one long winter for you. Also on a side note make sure that you aren’t thinking that it’s cold outside because right now it’s just slightly chilly.
October 24, 2005
To be completely honest I can’t I can’t seem to make any sense out of
The Red Wheelbarrow. I mean I could go through and B.S. my way through this posting, saying that it was the best poem and that it was so symbolic. But the truth is that it was not good and I can’t find any symbolism in it what so ever. To seems that the author decided to put together words with no reason to it whatsoever. There is only one instance where is any rhyming (which I know isn’t necessary in poetry but it does occur in quite a few of them), and the words that are being rhymed are ‘depends’ and ‘chickens’ (not exactly the best rhyme).
Though I am by no means an expert on poetry, and by no means do I mean any offense to William Carlos Williams, but it is my opinion that this is not even poetry. I feel that it is just a random collection of words, which in no way made me any better or smarter. In fact I may be even dumber for having read it.
October 19, 2005
Don Quixote, Holden Caulfield, Huck Finn, and George Costanza. That’s right, I mentioned George Costanza (from
Seinfeld) in the same sentence as some of the other great characters of fiction. And why shouldn’t he be. He is a perfect character. Everything he does is so quirky and hilarious. He is the ultimate neurotic person taken to the extreme. George always seems to do something that is beyond normal logic but for him it always seems to make sense. Not to mention that Jason Alexander is a perfect fit to the character of George. He just has that look that I really can’t explain but it makes the character that he is. But in the end
Seinfeld in general is great so if George Costanza wasn’t great
Seinfeld wouldn’t even exist. Man I miss new episodes of
Seinfeld.
http://audiofiles1.jerryseinfeld.nl/george4.jpg∞
October 18, 2005
I’m in a relatively good mood right now (despite what’s been happening in athletics – i.e. Penn State’s loss, Notre Dame’s loss, the Brown’s loss, and the Astro’s loss last night). This can mainly be attributed to three different factors. One is that Penn State is number ten in the BCS rankings and the team is being projected by experts to play in the Fiesta Bowl. Another factor is that it was a really nice day outside. The weather was absolutely perfect (maybe a little windy but it was really enjoyable). The third factor is that today I finally finished with the first wave of exams. To make it better it was Spanish, so I won’t have to be thinking about it as much for a while (for those of you who don’t know or forgot, I really hate Spanish class). Also to make things be even better the test wasn’t quite as difficult as I had expected it to be and I’m feeling too bad about how I did on it (which could be good or bad). So to be brief, I’m having not too bad of a day, which is always a good thing.
October 18, 2005
This weekend I had the distinct pleasure of viewing the film
The Fog, and may I say it simply the worst movie I have ever seen in my entire life. The movie actually made me feel sick inside. I mean the whole time I was wondering several things: (1) how could someone actually decide that financing this movie was a good idea? The plot line alone was enough to make me want to throw-up. It was so dull and predictable, not to mention just plain dumb. (2) How did whoever directed this movie have a job as a director? This movie was
supposed to be a scary movie, but never once did it build any form of suspense. I jumped once during the entire movie and that was when I realized that I sat through the whole thing. Not to mention the fact that the movie never really made any sense (but I guess that that is also partly the fault of the script). (3) How did I ever pay $7.75 for to see this movie? I was pretty sure going into the movie that it would be terrible, I’d even told my friends that we should go see something else but they’d already bought their tickets and I was thinking to myself, “Who knows, it could be good.” How foolish of me. I lost almost two hours of my life watching that movie and I will never get that time back and that’s just sad, because life is too short.
I guess what comes down to is that you should listen to your instincts, they are occasionally right. Also, you should never let you should always try to get to the movie theatre before your friends so that you can try to convince them not to buy their tickets. Finally never see a horror movie before you hear that it is good because about 80% of the time the movie will stink!
October 11, 2005
Today I saw something that may have been both the craziest and most amazing thing that I have ever seen. I was leaving my Spanish class; it was about ten o’ clock in the morning, so I was still feeling quite a bit tired (and Spanish never really helps to wake me up – I hate Spanish class). As I was walking, I put began to put my iPod on. As I was choosing a song I passed a tree containing a squirrel, but this was no ordinary squirrel. This squirrel was making some sort of noise. Just like how dogs bark, this squirrel was making this strange yapping noise. Now, I didn’t believe it first either so I stopped and took a double take of this squirrel because I was still pretty tired and hadn’t woken up quite yet. But to my amazement, this squirrel was really yapping. I mean he wasn’t planning shutting up either. It was as if he had just learned how to make that noise and was making sure that everyone he encountered knew that noise.
I was so amazed. For a little while I thought about taking him with me and showing him to everyone that I met. I eventually deciding against it realizing that there was a good chance that he might bite me (not to mention it would be both weird and difficult to have a squirrel with me the whole day). But still even though it seems stupid and simple, it was so much fun to see that. I guess the best things in life really are free. I wonder why that squirrel was doing that. Oh well, that made my day.
October 10, 2005
In high school I was never assigned to read J. D. Salinger’s novel
The Catcher in the Rye. To make it worse many people told me that it was one of the best coming of age books ever. I felt cheated and decided that this summer id read it (even though I’m not really a fan of reading).
I must say, it was the best book I have ever read. I think Holden Caulfield is one of the best characters ever in literature. I found it so easy to relate to him. He shows exactly what it is like to be a teenage male. He is also a great example of an antihero because he doesn’t embody the ideals of society. Holden is a sixteen year-old who has just been kicked out of a second high school and he goes for a weekend on his own in New York City. The book tells what happens to him that weekend. I really enjoyed this book. At times I laughed, at times I cried. I couldn’t stop reading this book.
After I read the book I began to think about how cheap it was that the rest of my classmates in high school didn’t get to read it. But then that got me to thinking, “Would I have enjoyed this book as much if I’d been forced to read it?” The answer to that question is that though I would probably be that though I would still enjoy it, but probably not that much because it would be a chore.
But I’ve gotten away from my point. What I wanted to make sure was understood is that
The Catcher in the Rye is one of the best books I have ever read and everyone really should try to read it.
October 9, 2005
The article that I found was titled
The Killing Fields∞. The in humanities that occurred in Cambodia in the four years that the Khmer Rouge was one of the most terrible things to ever happen on this planet. Around two million people died in during that time period for no reason. The Khmer Rouge killed men, women, children, babies, the elderly, etc. One line stated that, “There are some cases where the KR would snatch the baby away from the mother and throw it in the air and shoot the baby or spear it with a bayonet. To save ammunition, they would smash one baby with another or smash them against a tree or a rock.” What happened in Cambodia was simply awful, and must never be forgotten.
October 8, 2005
Oh my God! Is this not set to be the best weekend ever? Last night I had so much fun at the O.A.R. concert was great. It was a really great show. I had an amazing time. Then after the concert I went out with my friends and just had a really good time. It was one of the best nights down here so far.
Now today we are playing Ohio State at a night game. I am so pumped its going to be a great game. I love football and I love Penn State games. They are the best. The atmosphere is passed by none.
Seriously, whoever planned this weekend is genius. This is really a great weekend.
LET’S GO STATE!
P.S. I just got back from the game and HELL YEAH we just messed up OSU. Somebody please try and tell me how this weekend could get better. Yo I'm out. Going to party my ass off.
October 7, 2005
You now who really pisses me off? The kid who plays his acoustic guitar while he sits outside to get girls pisses me off more than anyone. What a cheap bastard. The only quality that this kid possesses is his ability to play the guitar. Other than that this kid has absolutely no personality. So the only way he can talk to girls is if he’s playing his guitar. This kid is such a piece of garbage. I think Animal House summed it up the best in the scene where Bluto (John Belushi’s character) smashes the guitar of the kid who’s playing at the toga party.
http://dvdmedia.ign.com/dvd/image/ANIMAL_HOUSE-6.jpg∞
You know what the worst thing about this kid is? The worst part is that it works. There always seems to be like ten girls around this guy. What the hell is that? The guy contributes nothing to society except he plays (and not necessarily well) some simple acoustic song on a guitar and yet he has girls all over him. What kind of world do we live in? I can’t stand a guy like that. You know what’s also terrible? If I could play guitar, there I’d have to stop myself self from doing it because even though it does work (and it does), it is the cheapest way to attract girls and anyone who does it sucks.
-
I'm a girl, and I play guitar. If I play outside, does that automatically mean I'm trying to attract guys? Or is it just when the guy plays?-TrinFuff
- Hay, can anyone teach ME how to play the guitar??? Also, I heard that smashing the guitar was all Belushi. He just did it one take and it stayed in - Squad514
October 6, 2005
Last night me and my friend watched the movie
Wayne’s World, and say what you will but, I think it was “Excellent” (to quote the movie). I really do like it. It has many great pop-culture references which they use hilariously. Also it is just a really funny and under rated. When I was younger I used to laugh at a lot of parts, but now, I still laugh at those part, plus some parts which I find funny now. Those are the best movies, the ones that you get some more of the jokes as you get older. I also like it because Dana Carvey is by far the coolest and funniest nerd ever. I love the part where he is talking about women to Wayne (Mike Meyer’s character), if you don’t see any other part of the movie see that one. It is hilarious. But really, go see
Wayne’s World if you haven’t already. You won’t regret it.
Wayne's World is one of the all-time greatest movies.--
MichaelNiffeneggerTestUser
October 4, 2005
Today I’m going to vent. First off, there is this kid in my Spanish class who brown noses like it is his job. He knows a lot of Spanish words, so he feels it necessary to have some banter with our professor in Spanish. Who does that? Seriously, good job on making the rest of us look bad. I’m sitting there not knowing how to conjugate a verb and this kid is giving our teacher gardening tips
in Spanish. Does anyone else think this is just ridiculous?
I said earlier that this kid knows a lot of Spanish words, which I think is great (I really do), but there two problems with him knowing them. First off, he has terrible pronunciation, which is so annoying when someone is trying to sound smart. If he spent all that time on learning all those Spanish words, you think he would have spent a little time I learning how to say them. The other thing is that whenever you ask this kid for help in Spanish he refuses. What a waste of space! This kid is useless. If you do know all of that Spanish why would you not share it?
What a nerd! I really hate this kid. I really hate him.
I'm kind of good at Spanish sometimes so if you need help I might be able to. Anywaysss I also wanted to say that writing about playing beer pong was pure genius...(me and my roomie are getting our pong table set up this weekend--you should probably come over and playyyy)
-
MikeJones
October 3, 2005
Last year I had the “distinct pleasure” to serve on the North Pocono School Board as a non-voting student member. It was a great chance to learn a lot of new things. What it came down to was that I learned what local politics was really about. But the experience also stunk because the reality of the situation was that I was put there to make it look like the school board gave a damn about what the students. Another lesson that I learned was that members of a school board don’t care what is really good for the students, but rather what they think is good for students, even if it is not really good the students. I was not aloud to vote so therefore I didn’t really matter to them. When I would speak I was looked at by members of the audience (at least the redneck ones) as though I wasn’t supposed to talk, even though, I was the student and probably would know best what was going on in the school. But that too was a lesson. Unfortunately I also learned about how ugly local politics was. I always knew how every board member would vote. There were to groups: one group, who all friends, would vote one way and the other group would vote the other. Because there were always more in the first group, the second group didn’t matter.
The only time I actually mattered on that school board, was when they were thinking about firing my old football coach. They were discussing it in a private meeting. I came in and spoke for my coach. I went through almost an interrogation by the board about my coach and why I felt he should stay even though in his only three years as North Pocono’s head coach, he had three one-win seasons in a row. But I answered every question as thoroughly as I could. In the end they decided to keep my coach and this season is currently 5-0.
In the end I learned that school boards are incredibly inefficient and in the end rather undemocratic. Many of the members really just acted like babies and would wine about nothing.
ElwoodBluesSeptemberArchive
