Whoa, I forgot about this one...

yes, its the famous..... MENTOS AND DIET COKE experiment! haha...if you haven't ever seen this or have no idea what this is about click here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=GM-vrmB6hIQ&mode=related&search=

Anyways...so yea, there are many different ways people have done this experiment. Some have it down to a science (which is kind of odd to say, because it is a science experiment). You can either drop mentos in the bottle, shoot them in with a rubber band, or shove them in really fast-fasten the cap back on-shake up the bottle-throw it in the air-and watch. Oh yea, and you guy puts the mentos in his mouth followed by diet coke-not smart. whatever way you do it...its gonna be good. Oh, how easily we are amazed by a simple scientific reaction of the mentos and the heavily carbonated soda, at least I am. So i hope that if you have never heard of or seen his experiment, you are humored.

Movies

So I went to see Talladega Nights and Jackass Two this week, I've been sick so all I can do is sit around, and whereas my boyfriend found them both hilarious my sister and me did not. I don't understand this. Within both movies there were some funny parts, but most of it was rather stupid or blatant trying to be funny which does not entertain me. During most of Jackass I had to turn my head rather than watching people hurt themselves. Although every boy that I have talked to that watched these movies found them to be extremely funny I have talked to many girls that agree many parts of them are very stupid, grant it some girls did also find it very funny. I do not recommend either movie when you are sick though, rent something and watch it on your couch.

Friday Links

Time magazine has a column by James Poniewozik about the new version of the classic board game Monopoly, and it contains a few points that relate to things we discussed this week:

If you want to understand the American attitude toward capitalism, look inside your hall closet. There's probably a Monopoly game in there somewhere. Monopoly is the most popular board game in history, with more than 250 million copies sold. You may never have taken a real estate seminar or cracked an economics textbook. But if you grew up in an American home, and at some point it rained, you played Monopoly.

Smarter writers than I have tried to figure out why Americans resist the regulation of business and markets, often even when we would personally stand to benefit from that regulation. But you could do worse than to start with the fact that for more than 70 years, we have played a game whose object is to corner a market and beggar our neighbors. Every year pundits decry video games like Bully or Grand Theft Auto, yet our first introduction to one of business's most predatory, illegal practices is through a widely loved game with adorable doggy and thimble pieces. It's as if someone had invented a children's board game called Racketeering or Usury.

The new game replaces the thimble, dog, and iron with a Motorola cell phone, New Balance sneaker, and a Starbucks coffee, but it's hard to complain about corporate product placement in something as rah-rah-capitalism! as Monopoly. Also, you now get $2 million for passing Go.

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I'm still way into watching web video. Two of the most popular vlogs (videoblogs) have become regular stops on my daily tour of the web. They are:

Rocketboom, news/documentary in content, comic in tone. (Here is an old Rocketboom on net neutrality.)

The Show with Ze Frank, zany, funny. (Here is a blog trying to explain some of Ze Frank's appeal--it has to do with how his head fills the screen, says the blogger.)

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And here is my media consumption forecast:

Movies:

UWM Union Theater has The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, one of the most acclaimed films of the past several years. The New York Times called it a masterpiece.

The Science of Sleep is playing at the Oriental. It was directed by Michel Gondry, who made many brilliant music videos before directing Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. (Review: Variety.)

Television:

Degrassi The Next Generation begins a new season tonight on The N. You can also watch online at the website.

Veronica Mars begins a new season on Tuesday on The CW. (You can already see this episode online here if you have Windows Media Player.)

jackass:2...hot for theaters?

So last week Friday, I went and saw the new Jackass movie. For those who have been out of touch with society for the past seven years, Jackass is about a bunch of guys who go around hurting themselves and their friends. Some people find their antics to be funny, while some find it to be immature and gross. Personally, I think they’re hilarious. However, there was one "stunt" in the movie that even I couldn’t stand to watch. I won’t really get into all the details, but during the “stunt” an enormous censor bar flashed across the movie screen. My first reaction was, “thank god they didn’t show it” Then I realized that this was an R rated movie, and shouldn’t they show everything??? Apparently, Paramount and MTV felt the “stunt” was too graphic for theaters. Maybe when they release the DVD they’ll show it uncensored, but I don’t know if I really want to see it uncensored. By the way, I heard Jackass: Number 2 opened number one at the box office opening weekend. What a great society we live in.

The (Crappy) Future of Our Society

In another of my JMC classes, Advertising in American Society, we watched a short documentary about people and their obsessions with shopping called "Buy-ology." Prepare to grimace.

It started off fine, talking of a few ongoing experiments in various retail supermarkets (as it turns out, they really are using those damn cameras), but it quickly turned into something that kind of scared me. Evidently there is a chemical imbalance in certain peoples' brains that causes compulsive disorders, including compulsive shopping.

One lady that was followed had to erect an entire garage to store all the materials she had bought over time. I kid you not: she could have opened another JoAnn's fabric store, in her back yard. As it turns out, she's on the pill. No, not a birth control pill, but a pill to help her stop shopping.

What world are we living in when someone needs a pill, or better yet a medical excuse, to spend all their money? Is it the media making them buy all this? Is it the new pastime, just buying crap to satisfy ourselves? Is our society going completely commercial, even in their heads?

Pretty pathetic if you ask me, and not something I enjoy thinking about. What else are we going to need a pill for, breathing air? Anyway, it was an interesting film to watch and I enjoyed almost all of it, save for the seats in the lecture hall.

just like in "Top Gun"

So I recently recovered an npr interview that I heard late at night earlier this week. On Sept. 20th the NPR program "Fresh Air" had an interview with Frank Rich. He has a book about how the Bush administration uses all sorts of propaganda to sell the war on Iraq. The interesting thing he talked about was the famous "mission accomplished" speech that Bush gave aboard that aircraft carrier. The time of day, the position of the ship, and the horribly inaccurate "mission accomplished" banner were all more orchestrated that we thought. Apparently they arranged with ship personnel to position the ship just right so you couldn't see the city of San Diego in the near background - thus giving a "victory at sea" feel to the event. Probably the silliest thing that they did was dress up George W. in that bogus fighter pilot suit, as if he just walked off the set of "Top Gun." They really made a Hollywood style production out of the whole thing, even by waiting for the time of day that produced the perfect lighting. So beware the mass media tactics of the Bush administration. And I'm sure Bush's portrayal of a navy fighter pilot left 'Goose' spinning in his fictional grave.

Journal Sentinel

When I find myself with access to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel there are only a few sections I am interested in. Being a sports nerd I immediately pull out the Sports page. I rarely read the front page and first section because all I see is blah blah campaign finance blah blah republican/democrat blah blah. I next take a look at the Metro section because you can always read some stupid criminal stories and at least the others are relevant to my everyday life. Plus, the back page of the Metro is always a treat, Encore. This glorious section is full of interesting nuggets of entertainment news. For example today Shakira has been nominated for 5 Latin Grammys, charges have been filed against drunky Paris Hilton, and clebrating his 55th birthday....Meat Loaf!! This Bud's for you Meat. Once these sections are done its time to excercise my brain with the Good Morning section. Jumble first, Cryptoquip next, and finish up with the main event: Sudoku.(note:crossword puzzle way too hard) I guess my point is the Journal is sweet even if the "real news" isn't all that interesting or relevant.

Tabloids

So my older sister called me from FL last night and our conversation trailed to our usual unhealthy obsession; tabloid gossip. I'm still fixated on the Paris Hilton DUI scandal or a Brangelina fight here and there. But her conspiracy theories lie with the "suspiciously" labeled death of Anna Nicole's 20 year old son. I have to admit it is a pretty bizarre story with new details emergine daily. From what I understand, Anna's son Daniel died three days after his mother had a baby girl in her hospital room while he was asleep on chair next to his mother. Yes Anna has had her fair share of media stunts, many of which were not premeditated but instead inspired by drugs, alchohol or her unitelligent demeanor. My personal favorite was when she got up to present at a music award show and was completely whacked out on pills. She couldn't read the teleprompter and lets just say between her pills and lack of ability to think on the spot it was a train wreck. If you saw it then you know what I'm talking about. However, despite these bad career moves (I'm being nice) I am quite sure that she does not deserve the media circus that has began because of her son's death. People making jokes on late night TV shows and speculating whether she is to blame for putting him on medication is disgusting in my opinion. This is her son's death not a bad outfit. So my sister went on and on about all of the information that she knew and it occured to me that I had heard only 1/4th of what she was talking about. She barely took time to breath as she quoted information from Star Magazine, People, In Touch, Us, Life and Style and even the British magazine The Sun. "Betty" I asked, "do you buy each of these magazines on a weekly basis?" "Yes pretty much unless Tom Cruise is on the cover or something." "Betty" I said sharply, "do you realize that you are spending about 20 dollars a week, thats over a thousand dollars a year!?" There was silence on her side of the line until she reasoned "That is a lot of money but I give up other things so that I can keep buying my magazines, like by not getting car insurance". Wow isn't that a scary thought for the day.

So I recently began a brand spanking new job at a very large, nation-wide home electronics store. Should I say the name? Is that allowed? Oh whatever, it's Best Buy. I absolutely love it there! I'm in the wireless department, meaning I get to play around with cell phones and I-pods all day (jealous? yeah you are). Now, as the obsessed owner of an I-pod, I noticed something a tad odd the other week at work......

We had just gotten the first shipment of the new Christmas items in the store (meaning the remodeled 2, 4, and 8 GB nanos, and the 80 GB video I-pods), and myself and a co-worker were given the exciting task of organizing and displaying them on the shelves. Typically on the I-pod cases is displayed a picture of the device itself with a band's cd in the screen (a very clever advertising ploy might I ad--touché, Apple). However, picking up on of the new 80 GB video cases, the very attractive face of Johnny Depp in Pirates II attire was staring back at me on the I-pod screen. I asked my co-worker why Mr. Depp was on the box--he doesn't sing anything. I was told that people can now download full length movies from I-Tunes.com (in addition to songs) for their video I-pods.

Aha! So Johnny Depp isn't promoting his latest album, he now has the ability to promote his new movie via the boxes for the thousands of new I-pods we'll sell. AND HOW IRONIC that this change in box design comes just in time for the holiday shopping season this year!!!!!! I bet that someone at Apple is reaping the benefits from a huge raise right now for coming up with that gem. Geez. Sometimes this industry is so simple it amazes me......so that means I'll be able to get a sweet job with no problem.....right Michael? :-)

9 flicks

so i know everyone has heard of dane cook by now which is funny because i had no idea who he was until saturday. i've heard his name but i had no clue where he came from and why all of a sudden he was so damn popular. and then saturday came and made me realize that i'm in love with dane cook. so anyway, me and my friend were watching the insomniac comedy tour and dane (yes, i'm on a first name basis with him) came on last. he did this one skit that i thought was so hilarious. and the reason why i find him so funny is because everything he says is exactly what everyone is thinking but just never realized to be so true. like this skit for instance: so he was talking about cars at intersections and how you make that "you can go" motion with your hand when you're being nice and letting them go before you. so he said something like you make no more than 9 flicks with your hand and if the person hasn't gone yet those flicks immediately turn into the the presentation of the "fucking go!" gesture. this is so true and everyone knows it!

SNL

Last night i watched the 100 greatest moments of Saturday Night live, which contributed to me being up till 3:30 in the morning but it was awesome. It made me realize what a tremendous impact that SNL has had on todays culture and society. Some of the more memorable skits have been made so mainstream that movies, action figures, t-shirts posters etc. have spawned from these little five minute sketches which when they were written probably were never imagined to blow up the way they did.The show talked about the Blues Brothers and what a tremendous impact it has had on society. Dan Akroyd still tours with the Blues Brothers of course now minus the very funny late Jon Belushi. He also has made two movies and developed the House of Blues chain, which we know today is one of the premier venues for music in todays society. Wayne World also at the time enveloped itself into culture and has given popular phrases like, "party on" and "excellent" new hilarity. Furthurmore Waynes World introduced Queens legendary song Bohemian Rhapsody into young American culture. I remeber when I was in 7th grade and i saw that movie in the theater, everyone sang the crap outta that song and they still do, and people still reinact the headbanging scene in that movie when the song kicks in at the end.Anyway that was a cool show that is running on E! all month so check it out if you get a chance and are a fan of anything SNL.

FLAVOR FLAV!!!

Ok, so i just got done watching The Flavor of Love with my roomates (we watch it every sunday). We are obsessed with this show. I don't know why I love making fun of it so much. Hm....maybe its the fact that Flavor Flav is the craziest most unattractive person who has a show that is based on...well, him getting some. This is the second season, and for both seasons he names the women that come on the show. Right now Crazy, New York, and Deeelicious are the three remaining contestants (Bootz jsut got the boot..pun intended). Why is this show so popular?...I don't understand it, but I do know i like it. Maybe because I want to secretly wear a clock around my neck, and have it be cool, OR i want to be able to wear horns on my head and a grill in my mouth...yes i think thats it. Well now that i spilled my guilty pleasure to everyone, i think ill go watch MTV's sweet 16!

Def Jam Fight For NY

OK, you can't tell too much from the trailer but you get the general idea.
Is getting your exaggerated self image personified in a video game synergy or what? Well, if you're on Def Jam it is. I suppose its not all that new, just like action figures in a way, heck I'd love to have my own action figure (there was a site that actually did this, but last I checked it was still rather expensive).

What I find most interesting is the level this takes the image of the hip hop "bad ass" really goes beyond what could otherwise be accomplished. On one hand violence is promoted, but on the other, by nature it admits its just a game. Don't get me wrong, I think its a great game. For better or worse, they do know their audience.

The fantasy is the game, and you buy bling so you can hype the crowd to pull big moves, you date porn stars, and live all sorts of shady lifestyles, but this is already the media image sold to kids. Why can't they play it out in a fantasy game at least? Granted, the violence is a bit much for young kids, but the sooner they stop thinking that kind of life is a (sustainable) reality the better in my opinion.

Scream is not a horror movie

I caught Scream on one of the premium movie channels the other night and it made me remember how shitty that movie is. I read that it was originally made as a comedy, but when it actually scared young people in test screenings they decided to release it as a horror film. As a parody of slasher films, Scream would have been average...but as an actual slasher film itself???? Rubish.

Just because this movie scared a bunch of little kids and made eleventy skagillion dollars at the box office, now they barely ever make a real slasher movie. All we get are sequels of remakes of Japanese horror movies; watered-down sequels, prequels, and remakes of older, real slasher movies; and psuedo-scary movies with a PG-13 rating and a bunch of actors from teen TV shows.

Biggie vs. Frank Sinatra

While scouraging across the internet looking for music, I found an interesting remix of an old Frank Sinatra song. To my surprise, the person who began rapping over it was the Notorious B.I.G. The person who mixed it was named DJ Cappel and the album is called Blue Eyes Meets Bed Stuys, referring to Frank Sinatra who was often called Old Blue Eyes, and Biggie who hailed from the Bed Stuys neighborhood in Brooklyn.

For anyone looking for an interesting mix, this DJ is quite good at mixing old and new music. Aside from this album, he mixed an old Marvin Gaye song with a Mos Def song and an album called Purple Reign which used the Prince album of the same semi-name. Anyway, I'm really tired of radio ready pop and hip-hop, or boring rock anthems by cry baby bands, so if you feel the same, I urge you to check this guy out. Biggie, Sinatra, Mos Def, Prince, and Marivin Gaye are all legends. How could you go wrong?

http://www.djcappel.com/

Only Nurses Like Techno

I have to say that I honestly never knew why techo music was ever created. I mean, I really thought country was the lowest of the low. At least I have something to help me out when I'm feeling really naucious and I just can't seem to throw up. However, the funny thing about techno is that there really are people out there who listen to it. For instance, I was taking a publication design class last semester and being the nerd that I am, I was a newbie to photoshop. I would sit at the computer for hours just trying to figure out what one item could create. Well, this girl in my class, who was "of course, a pro" at photoshop decides that she's going to read her emails and listen to music the entire time. Now, I have no problem with Ipods, but please, just be generous when you're in class and don't turn them up. Anyways, this girl decides that not only is she going to share her passion of music with the class but she's also going to share with us the lovable sounds of techno. I really disliked her from that day on. Nevertheless, I made it through the semester and didn't hear techno for quite some time. Truly, I forgot the methodical droning noises stopped for good. So now it's been about 3 months and 5 days and I happened upon a radio ad for a company looking for CNAs and RNs. And what is in the backgroud.....TECHNO!!!! And then it hit me......that girl in my class was a nurse! Who else would listen to techno but a nurse. Every commercial for nurses I've heard since then have been with techno music. And thus is the conclusion of a lifetime.....only nurses like techno!

Project Runway

I'm currently getting ready to watch wednesday nights episode of Project Runway on TiVo. I figured before i fired it up i would come to the old computer and write about it a little bit. (As a side note, Time Warner finally got our internet working two days ago.) Anyways, Project Runway is seriously the most addicting show I've ever watched. It's not really like all of the other reality competition shows that are out there. The people on the show actually have talent. It is so amazing how you can be watching the show and half way through it i can't even image how the designers are going to be turning the materials they have into a hot outfit, but they always do! It's so awesome. They always have really cool challenges too. My favorite one so far was when they had to go to a recycling plant and turn the materials into an outfit. The designs that were created actually looked like something people would wear. They also had to create an outfit for an international jetsetter. Once the designers arrived at the runway show they were informed that they had to test the outfit out. All of the designers were flown to Paris to preform their next challenge. It was really awesome to watch them arrive in Paris and design over there.

My favorite designer is Michael. I hope that he wins because he always has the most creative and logical designs.
Here is a link to preview his line!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3viBHBMt_M

This is getting annoying. Does everyone have to be talking about the new iPods?
Yes, I’ve seen how tiny the Shuffle is; Yes, I’ve seen how they made the Nanos in the fabulous colors; And yes, I’ve seen that that apple will offer movies and games for the iPod.
Too all that I say, Blah!
Who care is the Shuffle is the size of a matchbook all that makes it is easier to loose and or brake. And second it’s still a iPod shuffle. As far as iPods go they are useless to the average consumer.
For the Nanos I am sick of those metallic colors. Way to go Apple you couldn’t be more creative and get a new color scheme. How about going back to the neon colors you used for the G3s back in there day. Do consumers really need pink or light blue still?
Now for the worst, Who really wants to watch a movie on an iPod screen? That’s slightly better than watching them on your phone, please people get a portable DVD player, or the semi waste-of-space the PSP.
And for games on an iPod, this is easy people, get an older iPod a first, second or third gen.. Then it’s called installing Linux on the Ipod. With this one can play all the games they want from Tetris to Wolfinstien. much better than the twelve or so choices that Apple give one.

Here's the sight to put Linux on an iPod Click Me

Over and Out

Tyra

As I wake up this morning I turn on the tv and since I have no cable in my room, I am resigned to watching the Tyra Banks Show. Normally I would turn the channel and take my chances with whatever is on the other networks but this particular episode has grabbed my attention. Today's guest is none other than Flava Flav. I don't know about the rest of you but his show, Flavor of Love, is one of my guilty pleasures. Despite the fact that Flav is one of the most repulsive people I've ever seen, for some reason i can't get enough of him. Why do these women go on a show and embarrass themselves for the chance to date Flav? Especially considering he comes right out and says he's not looking for love and he just wants to "have fun." The more I hear these women talk the more I understand. Check it out for yourself. FLAVA FLAV!!!

Grey's

The new season of Grey's Anatomy started last night, and yes I am addicted to that show. Looks like a new season full of the same drama, love triangles, and fast-paced emergency room action. I missed the season finale last year due to work so at first it was little hard to understand what was going on, but I picked it up and fell right into the drama fast. I am excited to share one hour every thursday night with the cast of Grey's Anatomy. If you have never watched the show I encourage you to try at least one episode.