Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Newsflash... Who the Fuck Cares?

Dear Internet,

It has always surprised me how much Americans care about specific, generally pointless things. The new shoes so-and-so has, the swine flu or whether Michael Jackson is dead or not are perfect examples of traditional topics that nobody should give a flying fuck about.

Why you ask? Well the answer is simple. 80% of news is bullshit or non essential to daily life continuing to the next day.

Case numero uno (#1 for you non-spanish speakers): Swine flu.
-Do you remember when the first reports of swine flu came out? I sure don't, but I do remember one of the guys in my hall flipping shit about one guy in Spokane, where I was at the time, who (allegedly) had it. Safeway had sold out of the disposable paper masks that don't really do anything but prevent particles of wood entering your lungs . Anywhoo... chaos ensued for about... 30 minutes. That is, everyone else but me (probably some others too, but mainly just me). I heard what Jake said, and then calmly went back to what I was doing before so rudely interrupted. I wasn't afraid of the one man in Spokane (population 462,000) from giving me Swine flu, nor the fact that Swine flu is treatable especially in a young, physically fit person (damn attractive too).

So now you should be asking: "So why did everyone flip shit over the Swine flu?" The answer is...

Because the media told us we should.

In an era where I can tell anyone anything in less than 10 seconds, the media runs out of things to talk about. Why do you think that Swine flu, a disease that has only claimed 147 American lives, is being posterized by the media for being a mound of death and destruction?

So....What should we do?

Stop taking the news so Goddamn seriously.

Just because something is on the news, doesn't mean that it will affect you in any way shape or form. Specific news to your area, such as robberies in your neighborhood, incoming tsunamis, or sightings of the Legendary Manbearpig are basically the only news worth paying attention to. Mass media (CNN, MSNBC, FOX News) is only there to make money.

If you hear anything on the news, take it with a grain of salt. Most likely it isn't as important as it seems...

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Found Treasures

Hello internet,

Today I found myself going through my parent's vinyl collection. Small as it is, I found some strange articles.

Let me explain, my parents are pretty moderate people. My mom is a fan of the slower, melodic music a la John Denver (whom we own about 10 albums of) and Barbara Streisand. My dad does not own much vinyl but listens to the more classic rock such as Queen and Pink Floyd (playing at Oregon State Fair this year!!!!).

I haven't looked at the collection in a while, a couple years, and since then my music knowledge has increased significantly.

In the collection I found:

Air Supply- Lost in Love
-I tend to remember Air Supply in a negative way, however, this album is actually rather good. "All out of Love" and "Lost in Love" are a combo that most albums cannot beat.

Heart- Dreamboat Annie
-the queens of rock and roll in their first album. It quickly rose their popularity, way before "Barracuda" rose them to super-stardom.




Wild Cherry
-Yes, I will play that funky music, white boy.



Starland Vocal Band
-Features the song "Afternoon Delight" made famous by Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy



I often don't realize the musical tastes of my mom used to be good (or at least decent). Also found were some Carpenters albums and Queen album (I wish I could sing half as well as Freddy Mercury). I have a feeling that these albums are going to get some serious playtime on the ol' turntable this summer... many plays indeed.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Hello World!

Hello internet,

This is my very first blog on an official Blog-host (fuck LiveJournal). I really don't know what to do/write in this so I'll give a little synopsis of myself.

My name is Nathan (or Nate-dog as some of my friends call me), I am a sophomore mechanical engineer at Gonzaga University (Go Zags!). I am very involved in the sports world as well. I love Gonzaga athletics, especially basketball, Oregon State football and the Portland Trail Blazers. In High school I played soccer, wrestled and ran cross country. I currently am on the Gonzaga Club Ultimate Frisbee team, GURU, and was one of four freshman to make the A squad. Ultimate consumes me as much as a fat man consumes cake. This past season GURU made the regional tourney after a hard-fought game-to-go at WA/BC sectionals. We finished a decent 9th, breaking our #13 seed overall.

I am very interested in politics and try to have an open mind and a quick mouth. I consider myself a libertarian politically and feel like two party systems are flawed and too seperating.

I also am a nerd. I don't tabletop or anything like that (as of yet), but I am very interested in technologies such as new gadgets, computers, web memes and a plethora of other tech related topics.

Well, I do believe that this is a good stopping point for today. Tune in next time for something completely different.

Word out.