Wowzers!

Amazing Dance!
I assumed that you've just clicked on the link above and just watched a video of some highly talented dancers. I just wanted to share this with you, and commend this kind of talent. I cannot imagine the time that must have been put in to clean all those quick moves. I really don't have much to say about it, I'm just in awe right now!

Wizard of Oz

"A few days a go, in my AP Lang class, we discussed an argument know as the straw man, (for those of you not familiar with the straw man, basically it's an argument that you make up a stance to argue against because they don't have the capacity to fight back), but ever since we've discussed this I've been seeing tons of examples of this.

For example, we have three show choirs at our school, a freshmen group, a prep, and a varsity. One girl, we'll call her Cake, was discussing show choir with someone who is not in show choir, we'll call him chip (I'm hungry if you can't tell). Anyway, well chip says "It's seems like you guys (as in the people in varsity show choir) are really mean to the prep group." Cake automatically gets defensive (even though she was totally just trashing a few specific people in the prep group) and says "No we're not, they just all think they're better than us!" So here's where the straw man comes in, "Everyone in the prep group says that they're going to beat the varsity, *blah, blah, blah* *mean, low blow about someone, etc*" First of all, saying 'everyone' can not possibly be true, you cannot sum up the views of an entire, diverse group of people with one statement. Second of all, since when has ANYONE said that. I would say, in general, our three show choirs get along pretty well, we support each other and cheer our loudest, and hope for them to win.

Another example, many commercials use the straw man, using the statement "Other *insert type of product here* don't have *insert special feature here*" What do you mean by other, how do you know they don't have that special ingredient? Did you illegally high-jack their recipe? Didn't think so.

It's weird how when someone points something out to you, that's all you see.

Like on Glee, when they introduced Sam, Finn made a comment about the largeness of his mouth, and now that's all I can see. (it's okay though I think his large mouth looks good on him)

Moment 4 life

Yes, the new Nicki Minaj video is out. It was way under my expectations, which means it's especially terrible, because my expectations weren't that high in the first place. First of all, the name. Ick. I hate when people don't use complete sentences when texting, but I find it even more annoying in titles. Anyway, the first few minutes is just Nicki awkwardly talking to her fairy godmother, it is terrible acting, and if I wasn't going to write a review on it, I would have quit watching it then. When the music starts I am very relieved only to be disappointed by the terrible rapping, the atrocious lyrics, and the awkward strutting/dancing. I stopped watching this video at three minutes and twenty-eight seconds. I couldn't bear any more of it. It just makes me sad to see what the music industry has gotten to.
Where are the good old days, with Men at Work, and Elton John, Billy Joel, and the Everly Brothers!

I don't enjoy butt cracks

wearabelt.com, I enjoy belts. They keep your pants up, and I can avoid looking at the flesh between your lower back and your thighs. 

Wear A Belt! Wear it at an appropriate level, usually somewhere above you're butt, and below you're natural waist. Belts should not be used to hold your pants up around your knees, as much as you would like us to believe, your legs are not a foot long, and your torso is not four and a half feet long. Respect the belt. Do not sit cross-legged, or squat, or do any sort of bending at all while not wearing a belt. Belts should not be worn as necklaces (crazy as it seems I've seen this), wearing a belt around your neck is a very easy way to be strangled, if someone just pulls on the end of it, you're dead. You're just asking to be mugged. Do not take your belt of in public, and definitely do not whip unsuspecting and innocent strangers with it. It's painful, and angering, you will most likely make enemies. Do not wear belts around you're biceps, I will assume you are about to shoot up. Wear a belt that fits, I do not enjoy muffin tops resulting from belts that are too tight. On the other hand, a belt that is too big defeats the purpose. 

Carbon Rally!

Carbonrally.com is a website that gives you creative (and easy) ideas to help you reduce your carbon footprint. It brings a competitive edge to the challenge by having you form teams and compete to be the team who reduced the most carbon. Groups such as colleges or companies create teams and compete against each other for a little friendly competition for a great cause.
You can also suggest challenges, and people vote for the best challenges, and if you're lucky you're challenge will become official.
I really appreciate the message this website is sending. It's easy and fun to go green! Even just the littlest things you do can help, and save money. Also being web based makes it very accessible, a lot of people wouldn't bother because it's too much work to find ideas on their own, and they don't get any recognition for it.

The man on the treadmill

So I'm at the gym, running on the treadmill, I'm going pretty fast, and blasting my music, so I'm not really aware of what's going on around me, but I see out of the corner of my eye that there is someone walking on to the treadmill next to me. This kind of irritates me, because there are plenty of treadmills empty, and he had to chose the one right next to me. I brush away my irritation and focus again, but over my music I can hear the obnoxious sound of the treadmill inclining. I still don't fully look at the man next to me, but I can see that he is wearing big blocky tennis shoes (I'm talking eighties tennis shoes) and has very hairy legs. I run a few minutes more when I hear a loud crinkling sound, and I look over at the man, and it's Richard Simmons eating trail mix. I mean this guy seriously looked like Richard Simmons. He was short and thick, he was wearing shorts too short for a man, especially for his age, and a tight under-armor shirt that his belly stuck out of just the slightest bit, and on top of his head was a curly brown afro. What really made him look like Richard Simmons is that he had a huge smile on his face as he was power walking.

Attention Hogs

I like attention just as much as the next person, but some people can't step back and let others be in the lime light for awhile. 

For Example, two friends of mine were doing an impromptu performance of Michael Jackson's Thriller. They knew all the moves and everyone had created  a circle around them and were cheering them on. One girl, who had previously had a bunch of people watching her for numerous songs decided she wanted to try to get all the attention, she obviously didn't know all the moves, but that wasn't going to stop her. Apparently she wasn't able to give up three or four minutes of attention. 

Well anyway, my friends rocked it, and the other girl gave up trying to get attention by the end. I might add that what she was doing looked like she was having a seizure or humping the air. Which doesn't really deserve a lot of attention, (unless you are actually having a seizure, then you probably need medical attention.)

It was great seeing my friends get the attention they deserve, because they are pretty amazing. :)

Susan Sontag

I'm one of those weird people who get really into school projects, when I start reading about someone and hear of all the amazing things they've done, and all the tough things they've overcome, I just can't stop reading about them. For Example, there is Jane Adams, who founded the Hull House, she is truly an inspiration to me she spent  her whole life and all her money dedicated to helping the less fortunate. She allowed people to stay in her Hull House, she  took care of children so there parents could go out and make a living, she taught english to immigrants to make it easier for them to move up in the world, etc.
My recent obsession, if you want to call it so, is Susan Sontag. At first I was very frustrated with her, because I began reading her essay on camp, and it went completely over my head. But then I checked out her personal journals from the library, and I just can't wrap my head around what a complete genius she is. The beginning of the journal was written when she was around my age, and the deep philosophical entries just blow my mind. Even at 16 she had such a grasp on life and her intellect that some adults never achieve. Her struggles with being a  lesbian humanize her so much more, when I read her essay on camp she seemed like this high and mighty looming being that I couldn't place, but now I know more about her I feel that I can understand her writing so much more.
I began to research her on the internet, and found some youtube videos about her. One particular video made me admire her even more, for her sarcasm with a condescending man who obviously doesn't even have half the intellect that she does.

Foreigner

For christmas I received a record player (thanks mom and dad!) I was ecstatic because I have 98 records that I have previously not been able to listen to. The first one I played was Michael Jackson's Thriller. My family and I listen to a few songs on a bunch of different records and that is when I discovered Foreigner. They're quickly becoming my favorite group. They have such a distinctive sound, which I love, and their transitions from verse to chorus are so powerful, it has just the perfect amount of build. The energy in every song is refreshing, the clarity in the vocals and instrumentals are amazing, especially coming from a time when music was a lot less doctored, and when people with actual talent were famous.
Lou Gramm's vocals have the perfect tenor rock tone, added with Rick Wills and Mick Jones's background harmonies is just too good to be true.
Dennis Elliott is pretty much a drumming genius, a lot of drummers get too cocky and like to be the center of attention, but he blends so nicely, and gives every song that necessary pulse.
Mick Jones plays the lead guitar and keyboards, I just love when people are multi talented.
Rick Wills is probably my favorite bassist, he adds bends and a little 'funk' to every song.

Birds falling from the sky

A friend of mine informed me that birds have been falling from the sky, and that the world was going to end.
She asked, "Mr.B why are the birds falling from the sky." Mr.B thought this was a strange question, until she explained that around 1,000 birds were falling from the sky in Arkansas, According to Aol News, the death of the birds could have been caused from fire works that stress the birds out and cause them to die.

I have a couple of theories, mostly provided by Mr.B and my friend.

1. The world is ending. Maybe there is a slow moving gas that is creeping in from the sky, and will eventually kill all living things, those birds were flying a little too high, and ran into the destructive cloud.

2. The government is testing small scale bombs, and the birds happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

3. Because the birds are from America it would be reasonable to assume that they were overweight and all died from heart disease at the same time. Or diabetes that works too.

4. A homeless guy found a genie with a sense of humor. The homeless guy asked for food, and the genie made birds fall from the sky. Dig in homeless guy.

5. A homeless guy found a grumpy genie. The homeless guy wanted a pet bird for company. The genie said, "Here, take some dead birds" and bombarded the homeless man with birds.

6. A five year old with rich parents wanted to fly. So his parents hired 12 people to catch 1,000 birds and tie them together. The very plump five year old rode around on these birds for 15 minutes before losing interest. The bird were released and later died from exhaustion.

7. The birds partied too hard on New Year's Eve.

8. The were electrocuted when sitting on the power lines.

9. They were hit by a hot air ballon

10. Flew too close to the sun, they received a nasty case of sun burn, then skin cancer, then died from cancer.