He said, she said...

“You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”

- Dr. Seuss

Argument Hour - Writer's Strike

I'm not sure how many people are following this, but I NEED my TV shows. But with this writer's strike, not nearing any sort of compromise, it's time to voice my opinion. You may have your opinion, but I have mine, and that is what you are going to hear.

Now as a business major, I can see this in the business sense. And actually the studios are doing a pretty good job at keeping this on the low. It has made news, but no major headlines, no drama, just a strike. This is all working for the studio's favor, they get to hold out longer, and keep postponing resolution.

Here's how I feel:

• Right. The writer's deserve this. They are justified in their actions. They are asking for 3% of profits off of web content. They may not put the web content together, but they write it. How hard is it to give them 3% of what you make off of those things.
• Cost. How much more is it costing you to not pay these writers. Let's calculate this. There are tons of losses. Re-runs do not get any where near as much viewers, that means less demand for advertising space. This also means less views on the website, because of the lack of new material, which also results in a decrease in demand. You are losing viewers and also
• Losers. I took this one from my sister, but it seems that with this strike, you have to wonder, who are the real losers. The corporations and their profits? The writers? It might actually be hurting the little people. I don't mean me and you. But the unseen heroes in the studio. The camera people, the lighting and effects people. All these people are out of work. It's not like the corporations are crying over the loss of these employees.

Just some thoughts for today

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G76igEUtxCA&feature=related

E-race Racism!

Clever title from a bunch good hearted people. There is a marathon to "e-race" racism coming up this weekend. The marathon is either a 5K run, 10K run or walk, or a 1 mile walk. There is a fee to enter the marathon, it is $30 at the door. Proceeds benefit youth leadership programs of the NAACP. The marathon will be held at Lake Cunningham and the doors open at 7:30am. Come out and support! For more information, go to this link: http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?CHECKSSO=1&RESET=0&EVENT_ID=1462453

that good feeling.

all amazing artists on stage, wish i get to see a show like that some day. enjoy.

He said, she said...

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”

- Dr. Seuss

Movies - I'm Not Here

Well it's tough to describe in words, but it definitely is a must see. Let me try to explain my enthusiasm for this movie.

It is a very artistic film based on Bob Dylan. Now I know right there some people got a bit turned off, but so was I. When I heard what it was about I thought, "I'm not going to understand any of it, I don't know what Bob Dylan represented, what his music was like, shoot I don't even know the titles of any of his songs." But like it or not, he was a an artist of phenomenal magnitude.

The layout of the movie, isn't in your normal format. Basically, they take apart the life of Bob Dylan, his love, his friends, his thoughts, his idols, everything. And they characterize them. Each facet of Bob Dylan is depicted in a separate person, in a different way. Now given, you're going to go through perhaps the first 30-45 minutes thinking, "What am I watching?" But once you get through that, onto some of the more provoking scenes, you'll get hooked. Just like I was.

The film has a bit of an entourage, Christian Bale, Richard Gere, Cate Blanchett, and Heath Ledger are some of the people that get to portray Bob Dylan. And let me say, that they do not disappoint. If you know what Bob Dylan looks and sings like, then you'll be okay. Because believe it or not, in the clip I posted, Cate Blanchett is supposed to be Bob.

Now to the reason why I believe it is a great movie. It brought up a lot of really great points. Some that I actually plan on reviewing. For example, idolatry, poetry, lyrics and the masses. They spoke about how some people just listen to the sound, and do not really listen to the words. They also discuss, the concept of "selling out" and becoming something other than what you're viewed as.

Now, I liked this for personal reasons, and I saw the film in a way that may not be apparent in other people's view of the movie, but for me, I'm giving this movie an 8.5 out of 10. A point deduction for my complete loss at the beginning, and the .5 deduction because it is quite a lengthy movie. So go look up the trailer, or maybe a few clips, and if you like, check it out.

Poet's Demise - Text Messaging

Now once again, I'm going to admit, that I'm a bit of a hopeless romantic. I like the surprises, the highs and lows, everything. It's just grown on me. Chalk it up to spending all this time with my two sisters and my mom. But those dramatic displays of affection, no matter how corny, or how unrealistic were always my favorite part.

I've been coming up with new segments, and not really following up on them, but hopefully this one sticks, because I like this one.

I got the idea for this one, from a number of different places, and it kind of just evolved in my head. I take notes down in my phone, just random thoughts, or ideas and I see where it leads. Bomb$hell has sort of been my testing post for all these things.

Recently I was watching a show, and for the first time in a while, I saw a real romantic gesture. And I started to really think of why it seems that I have been seeing less and less of these things, in movies and in real life.

I used to love planning ways to surprise the person I liked. Understanding what they like, remembering specific phrases or quotes they used or just writing notes. So here it goes:

Text Messaging. Has taken the world by storm. Quick messages, whole conversations or whatever. The convenience of text messaging is overshadowing the connection of interaction and actual talking.

Admit it. We're all guilty of not wanting to talk to someone. So texts get used instead of phone calls. It just happens. I message in class when I'm bored, because shoot, I can't readily pick up my phone in the middle of lecture to chat about whatever hoo ha is going about. But I find that even after class, I continue with the same texts, too lazy to call or unwilling to converse for extended periods of time. Not that I don't want to talk to these people, but more that I'm just a naturally lazy person. But in far too many cases, so much is lost in these messages.

• Emotion - In text messages there is no way you can truly express real emotion. Emotions are hard to explain, and many times unexplainable by words.
  
• Length - We get 160 characters per text. At least I do, I think it varies between carriers but nontheless. How are we supposed to get anything really meaningful across in 160 characters. I think my last 2 sentences were that long.
• Distance - You can text from anywhere at anytime. Well almost, sorry Metro PCS, you're restricted. Haha. But I mean, romanticism is lost much of the time when a text message conversation wins over a perfectly appealing face to face interaction.

Here's my point. Text messages are nice. I love getting them, I love sending them. But in the end it's hard to beat a real, at the least, long letter. Because well, look at it this way, you're not limited to words, you can go over and deliver it and have a face to face conversation. You can express, without limit, what you want to get across. Romanticism occurs when the effort, stuggle and passion you experience, is expressed in a meaningful way. The willingness and effort for the sheer emotion you are feeling comes through is romantic. Ultimately, texting it is a truly effortless gesture. There lies the poet's demise.

He said, she said...

"A beautiful girl can make you dizzy, like you've been drinking Jack and Coke all morning. She can make you feel high full of the single greatest commodity known to man - promise. Promise of a better day. Promise of a greater hope. Promise of a new tomorrow. This particular aura can be found in the gait of a beautiful girl. In her smile, in her soul, the way she makes every rotten little thing about life seem like it's going to be okay."

-Beautiful Girls (Movie)

Consumer Perspective - Weed

Just because it was something different to put, and I got amazing epiphany watching TV yesterday, here is your job as a consumer. I'm applying this to weed, but feel free to apply it to any scenario. For example, drinks at the bar, food at a restaurant, things at a supermarket.

You cannot expect people to tell you everything about a product. They are going to give to you what sells. I had a interesting conversation a few weeks about, a musician and the way she was being marketed to the public. I am not going to name names because that's just rude, and you should not judge people based on what I say, but rather your own personal experience.

The conversation went a little something like this:

"I think it's disrespectful that they are marketing her as if she was just discovered off of myspace. That's all they say, she's a singer of the people, or she's big because of her fans, when the reality of the matter is that she has family in the music industry."

And that's the prompt for this installment.

Weed

• Knowledge. It is your job as a consumer to know what you like. In the case of weed, no what your favorite looks like. What the effect is, and what its name means. I met a guy yesterday, that could give you the name of what he was smoking just by its smell. You're going to need to know what you want, because if your provider doesn't carry it you can educate them on what you like, how to find it or maybe even how to produce it
  
• Alternatives. Know what else is out there. Names provide a lot of information. You think scientists go naming diseases randomly. NO! For example, the suffix -itis, infers inflammation. They have scientific names for this stuff, learn what it entails. So that you can find something with the same effect.
• Conviction. If you are not satisfied with what you get. Let them know. Hard when dealing with stuff of this nature, but you could always just go back and find someone else to get stuff from. I mean, if they refuse to offer the absolute best for your money, don't bother with them. There are many other places to go that's provide you with great service

Now once again, don't hesitate to apply this to any situation. You like Newcastle when you grab a beer? What makes it good, it's not just the color that determines the taste. Know your alternatives. As for now, I'm off. So be a smart consumer! Do your part

Just a Thought: Should and Ought

I should go on a diet.
I ought to do my paper.
I should spend more time with my parents.
I ought to learn how to dance.

Come on, we all do it. We seem to realize the struggles in life and know how to overcome them. Yet sometimes, it never seems to be in our grasp. Something so simple as to watching what we eat or signing up for dance lessons seems to slip our minds, despite the fact we repeat it over and over again to ourselves starting off with I should or I ought to. Of course we know what we want/have to do, but why, sometimes, it just doesn't get done.

I recently read an article about not saying should or ought to yourself. It seems that by telling ourselves that we should/ought to do something gives us relief on our guilt. We punish ourselves by saying we should/ought to do something, and our guilt is eased by our punishment, making ourselves able to live our life while never doing what we said we should do. "I should go on a diet." I know I should, I know I ought to eat less and excersise. By saying this to myself I am comforted in the fact that I know what I need to do and what I want to do. Realizing it makes me feel a little better. This gives me comfort even tho I actually never do it. And if I never do it, what is the point of realizing it.

I will go on a diet.
I will do my paper.
I am going to spend more time with my mom.
I will win 'So you think you can dance?' next season.
By saying will instead of should, you give yourself a push towards your goals. You actually give yourself confidence by saying will, leading you to actually doing something. Your mind is set with doing, so you are more likley to actually do it. By saying should and ought to yourself will make you a citizen of the biggest nation in the world. Procrastination. Well I know im a citizen, hell, I could be king. But maybe I can get away by listening to what I post. Maybe you should too.

Article.
I know it starts talking about relationships and dating and stuff. But hey, it works for anything.

He said, she said...

I know Thanksgiving passed but heres a good one.

"Be thankful."

- Bt

Thoughts: Thanksgiving

Here's a thought. Before you head off to dinner, think long and hard about what you're thankful for this year. After this thursday, we have exactly 39 days left in the year. What are you really thankful for? What's made you happy? Who's made your life that much more special? Why are you thankful for these things?

Let's give thanks, serious, much needed thanks. There are a lot of things I'm thankful for. And I'm not sure if I've thanked those people enough for it. Sometimes some of the drama in the world would be put aside if we begin to realize how much we are intertwined. That every friendship, every interaction and every second of every day contributes to what you have become. So thanks community, for reading, for commenting, for being who you are, we wouldn't be where we are without you.

Food for Thought: Mashed Potatoes

Since turkey day is coming up, I thought I would start a new segment. We will call it, Food for Thought. My aim is not only to teach you how to make something step by step, but also tell you why you are doing what you're doing. This will not be a recipe of the day kind of post, because you can find recipes anywhere. In fact, I will rarely have measurements posted because sometimes cooking requires more than just numbers. A simple example is, salt and pepper to taste. Who knows how much you will add? Well you do, till it taste good. Well lets get chopping.

Mashed Potatoes
Yessirrr. Let's start it off easy. And hey, if you have to cook something for thanksgiving, tell them you'll make the mashed potatoes.

What do you need?
Ingredients

• Yukon Gold Potatoes - Ideal for mashed potatoes because they hold a good amount of starch and has a clean look. Russets hold a lot of starch and have a dirty outer layer that may cause your mash to be not as white as you would like. And red potatoes are to small to peel efficiently.
• Heavy (whipping) Cream - Let's face it, more fat, more flavor. Also the thickness of heavy cream will make for a smoother mash. Regular/nonfat milk is far to thin for a good mash. If you want to go a little lighter, you can use half and half.
• Butter - Not margarine. And also get the sweet unsalted butter. Using the salted butter will cause uncontrolled salting of your mash. You can always use salt to flavor later.
• Salt Pepper and Nutmeg (if you can get some) - In this case, you should use white pepper. If you use black pepper, you're mash will have a dirty look to them because of the black specs. Black pepper offers more flavor but white pepper gives a cleaner look. You're food should not only taste good, but look good too. Add a small amount of nutmeg. It's one of those things where you know its their, but you don't know what it is cause theres not enough in there to figure it out.
  

Tools - I will explain what you should use and what you need as a go along with the how to.

Procedure

1. Peel the potatoes. (How much you ask? As much as you or your family wants to eat. Roughly, 1 big potato will feed 2 people and 1 med/small potato will feed one person. Unless you eat a lot, then by all means, make up your own ratio. After peeling each potato, submerge into cold(tap) water. This will prevent the potato from turning (browning).
2. Cut into medium sized similiar sized pieces. This will make cooking faster and they will all cook at the same time, seeing they are the same size.
3. Boil potatoes in a large pot of salted water. The more potatoes, the larger the pot. If you use a small pot and dump a lot of potatoes in, you drastically change the water temperature and it will take a long time to boil again. Also salting the water adds flavor and seasons the potatoes during cooking.
4. Reduce (boil down) cream. On the stove put cream in a pot and wait till it comes to a boil. But, at that moment turn it down to medium heat. If left at a high heat, cream will boil over. What a mess. At this point you can add different ingredients to flavor the cream to create different mashes. I'll give a few examples later.
5. Check potatoes for doneness. To do this, stick a knife into potato. And if you can pull the knife out with out lifting the potato, it should be done. Strain water.
6. At this point, if you have a food mill, you can pass the potatoes through so it will become more smoother. If not, have a whisk in hand. In a big bowl and potatoes and some cream that you've reduced. Whisk hard as potatoes will break and "dissolve" into the cream. How much cream? How creamy do you want it? Add butter at this point. Have it cut up in small pieces so it can melt away in the potatoes easily. Salt and pepper to taste. And nutmeg.

Conclusion
You should end up with a white, creamy, buttery, fattening, mashed potatoes the whole family will enjoy. You can also add different stuff to personalize your mash.

• Garlic - Chop garlic very small. Put in a small pan with vegetable oil and butter. Under medium heat, stirring every now and then, wait till the garlic cooks and becomes a golden brown. Add oil, butter, and garlic into the mash potatoes while stirring to make garlic mashed potatoes.
  
• Herbs - Chop up some parsley, chives, scallion, or whatever you want and add at the end.
• Bacon - Cook bacon separately, chop and add at the end.
• Buttermilk mash - Instead of cream, use buttermilk.
• Healthy Mash Potatoes - Just eat a baked potato with nothing on it.
• Truffle - Add truffle oil at the end.

There are many other things you can add to specialize your mash. Have fun with it. If you have any questions, comments, or what not, feel free to comment this post or email me. Also if you did make mashed potatoes, send me feedback. How was it? What went wrong, if anything? Did the cream boil over? Tell us. And if you'd like to request a certain dish, just ask and email/myspace me. At bombshell , we write what you want to read. Well tell me what you want me to write about so you can read it, cook it, and hopefully, if it taste good, enjoy it.

Politics: Presidential Debate

Well, to be honest, I've been lagging on some things and maybe I should be more on point with this stuff, but I'm doing my best to muscle all these posts out there so you all can have something to read and to think about. I've been pushing you to think about the things that are affecting you and those around you and here's something positive to check out whenever you're free.

Presidential Debate

It's an easy way to get to know the people who could potentially run your country. They divide videos by topic, by candidate as well as see any media coverage. So when you're free, watch a video or two and see some of the issues being discussed.

Youtube

Here's another place you can go to watch a few videos about the election. Just in case you run out of things to watch on the other site.

Thoughts: Perception

You know to be honest. I want to be liked. Not more than anything, but I want to be friends with everyone. I want a lot in this world. I want to learn this, and I want to learn that. But one thing I want, is I want people to enjoy my company. I want to be able to talk to people and understand what they are going through. I want to feel the highs and the lows. It's just something that I've always wanted. No background story, it was just there.

This is random, but I've been watching some Nip Tuck lately, and it brought about a few thoughts.

Perception. How much thought do we put into the things we do? I heard this line, that went about the lines of, "you went to school, so that people would look at you differently" And it made me think. Why am I out here learning anything? How much of what I do is based on how I want to be perceived. I do a lot because I like to do it. But I think maybe somewhere along the lines, I might have lost direction. Started using the things I love, to inflate my self esteem. And perhaps, somewhere along the way, I lost this love.

Like I said. I want to be liked. But part of being liked, is being perceived as a person that you can relate to. Am I lost, in my constant need to be perceived this way? What is really me. Everyone has their own perception of everything else in this world How they view love, how they view truth or whatever. If not, then we wouldn't have so much to talk about during the argument hour. We can change the way we are perceived, in turn changing other people's perception.

We live every second of everyday around other people. Whether it be physical or mental. It directs us in ways we can't imagine. I may not achieve everything I plan on achieving, I've come to terms with that. But one thing we can all do, is realize this. Perception is not devoid of truth. Not all perceptions are true. Not all truth is perceived. But we can all exude a pattern of truth, honesty and outright goodness. Drama people is bullshit. Hope we can all do our best to cause the least damage possible

He said, she said...

"I tell you one lesson I learned, if you want to be something in life.
You ain't gonna get it unless, you give a little bit of sacrifice.
Ooohh, sometimes before you smile you got to cry.
You need a heart thats filled with music,
If you use it you can fly, if you want to be high."

- The Roots

The Struggle to Keep Pace

Are you comfortable where you are? Should you be? What is the argument for being content?

The world is constantly growing, constantly moving. Do you want to know about politics, history or the human genome? There's so much in the world. How are we suppose to consume all this information in the world. How do we decide what is important to us?

I heard someone say once. That we are standing on the shoulders of giants. In other words, that we don't need to start from the beginning because we have our past to work with. But if we are a part of these giants, how do we know ourselves. How well do we know our fellow giants.

Using this metaphor, these giants are constantly growing. And say we give the giants names. Like science, math, history, art etc. Can we ever be comfortable with where we are? With our place among giants?

The struggle to keep pace, is long and hard, are we ever supposed to stop wanting more? How much time are we supposed to spend trying to improve, trying to become more.

From now on, I dedicate myself to learning something new every week and teaching it to you. Whether it be small, or it be large. We are a part of these giants. Let's be the biggest part.

Premature Christmas

I've been busy with school work and what not. But Bomb$hell defiinitely has a lot of ideas. Since, the new year is coming in less than 2 months, I came up with a few things that our little community needs to discuss, just to get the new year started off right.

- Can we get our ideas together?
- Can we come up with some new ones?
- There has been some serious discussion about serious business. Who's serious?
- Anyone down for a Christmas present for Bomb$hell?
- Can we set at least 1 goal?

I don't want to keep pushing people if they do not want to be pushed, but personally, I am pushing myself or something more. So who's down for some serious brainstorming?

But as for everything else. Man guys, people been on point lately. Definitely proud member of this right here. Real proud!

For all you people lining up on Black Friday

This is a list of all the known sales that will be taking place on Black Friday at various stores. From Ace Hardware to Walmart, this spreadsheet covers it all. Enjoy! (Link)

Attack Of The Killer Kung Fu Wolf Bitch

One of my favorite shows, The Boondocks has it's episodes up and streaming on adultswim.com before they are aired on Mondays. This is the latest one, Enjoy! (Link)

He said, she said...

"Life is a beautiful struggle."

- Talib Kweli

Freestyle: Battle - Juice vs. Supernatural