The Nintendo 64 is superior to all other gaming systems. If you have ever played the N64, then you know what I'm talking about. You cannot argue that any other system is better. This has been proven.
N64 revolutionized Mario bringing him into the 3D platform with Super Mario 64. Donkey Kong Country 64 is one of the best platforming games I have ever played. It seems like every game that came out for the system ended in 64. Now most Xbox gamertags just end in 69. Lame.
Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Star Fox, Yoshi, Kirby. Pretty much the first Super Smash Bros.
GoldenEye for the N64 is still considered to be one of the best multi-player shooters of all time.
This blog was going to be substantially longer, but then I realized two things. One is that I don't need to argue why the N64 is the best. It just is. The second is that I could be playing N64 right now.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
What Does God Eat?
Bacon. Bacon is delicious. Go have some bacon and then debate the previous sentence. You can't. It is a universal truth. God eats bacon. At least, He would if He existed. I say "He" because I am making reference to the scripture, not being sexist or non-politically correct.
I was raised Catholic. I went to a Catholic high school. My grandmother is devoutly Catholic (kinda). If you tell me that you were raised to be, and still are, a Catholic, that is the equivalent of telling me that you had help getting dressed this morning.
I have a theory that the Boston mafia was founded by the Catholic Church. The Pope is the biggest mob boss around, and people take his word as infallible! What the duck?! Last time I checked, which isn't too often, just whenever a priest touches too many kids and the Pope releases a statement, the Pope was human. Humans are flawed by nature. All of us.
The Catholic Church wrote the Bible, not the "Holy Spirit." Why are they called the books of the Bible? Because at the Council of Hippo, and Carthage, in the late 4th Century certain "holy scriptures" were collected and put into one big, heavily edited, collection. This is what the Bible is. A book of books. Who wrote the books? Not the people that they're named after. Oh hell no. Those people were dead well before the versions of the books of the Bible we have now were written. These books were written as books. To entertain and to teach, not to brainwash.
There are a lot of "holy scriptures" that were left out of the Bible. How come the Qu'ran was left out of the Bible? The Torah is in there, so why not Judaisms half-brother Islam? Both come from the House of Abraham, who reminds me a lot of Arnold Schwarzanegger. He had a wife and a maid. Had a kid with the maid, then the wife. Not saying anything is gonna happen with these kids, besides maybe Running Man 2, it just seems to happen a lot.
I could go on for quite some length about why Christianity is among the stupidest religions on Earth, but I'll conclude, for now, with this. Why isn't Christianity considered to be a sect of Judaism? Jesus was a Jew. He preached reform to the old ways, nothing new. Why the differences? Are we that determined to hate each other?
INTERPRETIVE DANCING!
Now that I've lost your attention let's (not) talk politics. I just had a very interesting conversation with my dad about why neither of us talk to anyone about politics, or religion, same thing. We shared pretty much the same point-of-view on everything, especially those dirty hippies (get a job!). Who would have known that my dad and I could have so much in common?
We came across some very interesting points settling upon the age old and time tested conclusion that politics are crooked man's ballgame. Whitey Bulger was caught in Santa Monica, California. If the last bit of the outside world before I was thrown in jail with some very large men and got pounded on a daily basis was Santa Monica, California, I probably wouldn't complain. Especially if my brother and I ran Boston, and the rest of Massachusetts for as long as the Bulgers did. And they got a movie based on them too! Lucky bastahds.
Basically my conversation with my dad confirmed two things for me. One: We will never get the ideal candidate we want, and if we did, they will never be voted into office. Two: Religion is like herpes. It's really something you should keep to yourself, but somehow it keeps spreading.
Politics: I'd like to see a philosopher get voted into office. Someone who is going to think very long and hard about, not the wiener joke I could make just now, but the decisions that they would have to make. This doesn't mean that this person is going to please everyone, that this person would do whatever turns out to be the greatest good for the greatest number, or that this person will leave office having improved the country. The philosopher will consider the consequences, feel bad about the wrong decisions they made, and maybe, just maybe, they'll try to make it right.
Religion: Shut the hell up. No one wants to hear about it. "One nation, under God, with liberty and just for all." That's what is was, is, and will be. If you try to put your religious beliefs into the government, you will never be respected, so help me God.
P.S. Also discovered that "medium" salsa is alright on a salami, pepperoni, and cheese sandwich on wheat bread. It tastes similar to mustard with a little extra spice.
We came across some very interesting points settling upon the age old and time tested conclusion that politics are crooked man's ballgame. Whitey Bulger was caught in Santa Monica, California. If the last bit of the outside world before I was thrown in jail with some very large men and got pounded on a daily basis was Santa Monica, California, I probably wouldn't complain. Especially if my brother and I ran Boston, and the rest of Massachusetts for as long as the Bulgers did. And they got a movie based on them too! Lucky bastahds.
Basically my conversation with my dad confirmed two things for me. One: We will never get the ideal candidate we want, and if we did, they will never be voted into office. Two: Religion is like herpes. It's really something you should keep to yourself, but somehow it keeps spreading.
Politics: I'd like to see a philosopher get voted into office. Someone who is going to think very long and hard about, not the wiener joke I could make just now, but the decisions that they would have to make. This doesn't mean that this person is going to please everyone, that this person would do whatever turns out to be the greatest good for the greatest number, or that this person will leave office having improved the country. The philosopher will consider the consequences, feel bad about the wrong decisions they made, and maybe, just maybe, they'll try to make it right.
Religion: Shut the hell up. No one wants to hear about it. "One nation, under God, with liberty and just for all." That's what is was, is, and will be. If you try to put your religious beliefs into the government, you will never be respected, so help me God.
P.S. Also discovered that "medium" salsa is alright on a salami, pepperoni, and cheese sandwich on wheat bread. It tastes similar to mustard with a little extra spice.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Why?
Allegedly the greatest question ever asked is "Why?" So here is this. Why do we, as humans, feel the need to explain EVERYTHING?
String theory. Everything is made of tiny strings. No thanks. I prefer to stick with the thought that I am living hamburger meat, only more delicious. It seems that everyone is hell bent on me not being satisfied with just living my life and just enjoying it. You know why your head hurts when you think about complex things sometimes? Because you shouldn't think about those things. That's why it hurts. Ignorance is bliss.
I had to do some research for my COMM 221 class and I came across a chapter of a book about cooperation and the evolution of symbolic language. The book explained the fact that people think. It went in depth on things that should be obvious and made them not obvious, or unobvious, if you prefer.
I just want to go through life happy, just accepting things for what they appear to be. I don't care what cells are made of, nor do I care about the things that make up the things that make up the cells, nor do I care about the things that make up the things that make up the things that make up the cells, etc. See how stupid that just sounded. Quarks!? C'mon. Now someone's just being a prick. Yeah. Someone please explain to me why people feel the need to know about quarks or why anyone would want to try to theorize what makes up a quark. (If you don't know what a quark is, you're probably better off this way.)
String theory. Everything is made of tiny strings. No thanks. I prefer to stick with the thought that I am living hamburger meat, only more delicious. It seems that everyone is hell bent on me not being satisfied with just living my life and just enjoying it. You know why your head hurts when you think about complex things sometimes? Because you shouldn't think about those things. That's why it hurts. Ignorance is bliss.
I had to do some research for my COMM 221 class and I came across a chapter of a book about cooperation and the evolution of symbolic language. The book explained the fact that people think. It went in depth on things that should be obvious and made them not obvious, or unobvious, if you prefer.
I just want to go through life happy, just accepting things for what they appear to be. I don't care what cells are made of, nor do I care about the things that make up the things that make up the cells, nor do I care about the things that make up the things that make up the things that make up the cells, etc. See how stupid that just sounded. Quarks!? C'mon. Now someone's just being a prick. Yeah. Someone please explain to me why people feel the need to know about quarks or why anyone would want to try to theorize what makes up a quark. (If you don't know what a quark is, you're probably better off this way.)
Watch Your Tone
I worked some ridiculous hours this week. Maybe about 34. (It's ridiculous because I should only be working about 20.) Anyway, I learned a lot about indirect communication. By indirect communication I mean tone of voice and body language.
My co-workers and I deal with a lot of "lesser educated people" (effin' morons). We're generally pretty patient people, no one of us having a shorter fuse than the average person. That fuse usually gets lit in about the first half hour of work and keeps burning until that one customer comes along and we "explode." We don't get mean, it just gets harder and harder to keep what we say under our breath under our breath.
I am a supervisor, so I'm used to dealing with problems that my employees create for me, as well as the customers. This is nothing new. I watched my co-worker, another supervisor with 11 years of experience at the position, get very frustrated. She told me about her "one customer" and the experience that she had had with that customer while I was at lunch. Then the customer came back and I saw why that person was one that we consider to be "lesser educated." She had apparently had a long drive from Hull to Randolph and decided that she could park in front of the store's entrance, in the fire lane that says "NO PARKING", instead of in a parking spot. (There were two open spaces in the very front row, but she's too good for that.) My brain stumbled over the mountain of questions that this brought up that no one could answer and my tongue tied trying to form one.
My co-worker's words were the same that we gave to any customer when the woman came back. She started arguing with us. We defended ourselves with "Store policy." We're not making this stuff up, it's quite legitimate. Anyone in the store, who knows what they're doing, would tell her the same thing. After a couple minutes, the tone of my co-worker's voice changed. It was angrier and angrier as the conversation went on. It wasn't an argument, it was very contained. Her tone reflected the adamancy of her sticking to store policy rather than anger. I could see a clear difference.
I watched the body language of the cashiers that I manage. The ones who had been there the longest seemed tired, worn. The newer, fresher ones had energy in the way they stood at their registers. Even the way they walked around as they picked things off the shelves that belonged elsewhere and the way they moved there arms were different. I kept track of my own body language as well
I drew the conclusion that when we start our shifts, we are very polite and formal with the ways we present ourselves. As time goes on, as slow as that may be, we become more informal, and borderline lackadaisical by the end. Sometimes we half-sleep by the end of the night. (Yes, I can do certain parts of my job with my eyes closed.)
It's very interesting to "people watch" and just see how they go about their individual days, in both the sense of communication as well as an anthropological sense. Try it next time you have some free time in a public place, like the food court at a mall. You'll see all kinds of people communicating, whether intentionally or not, without saying a word.
My co-workers and I deal with a lot of "lesser educated people" (effin' morons). We're generally pretty patient people, no one of us having a shorter fuse than the average person. That fuse usually gets lit in about the first half hour of work and keeps burning until that one customer comes along and we "explode." We don't get mean, it just gets harder and harder to keep what we say under our breath under our breath.
I am a supervisor, so I'm used to dealing with problems that my employees create for me, as well as the customers. This is nothing new. I watched my co-worker, another supervisor with 11 years of experience at the position, get very frustrated. She told me about her "one customer" and the experience that she had had with that customer while I was at lunch. Then the customer came back and I saw why that person was one that we consider to be "lesser educated." She had apparently had a long drive from Hull to Randolph and decided that she could park in front of the store's entrance, in the fire lane that says "NO PARKING", instead of in a parking spot. (There were two open spaces in the very front row, but she's too good for that.) My brain stumbled over the mountain of questions that this brought up that no one could answer and my tongue tied trying to form one.
My co-worker's words were the same that we gave to any customer when the woman came back. She started arguing with us. We defended ourselves with "Store policy." We're not making this stuff up, it's quite legitimate. Anyone in the store, who knows what they're doing, would tell her the same thing. After a couple minutes, the tone of my co-worker's voice changed. It was angrier and angrier as the conversation went on. It wasn't an argument, it was very contained. Her tone reflected the adamancy of her sticking to store policy rather than anger. I could see a clear difference.
I watched the body language of the cashiers that I manage. The ones who had been there the longest seemed tired, worn. The newer, fresher ones had energy in the way they stood at their registers. Even the way they walked around as they picked things off the shelves that belonged elsewhere and the way they moved there arms were different. I kept track of my own body language as well
I drew the conclusion that when we start our shifts, we are very polite and formal with the ways we present ourselves. As time goes on, as slow as that may be, we become more informal, and borderline lackadaisical by the end. Sometimes we half-sleep by the end of the night. (Yes, I can do certain parts of my job with my eyes closed.)
It's very interesting to "people watch" and just see how they go about their individual days, in both the sense of communication as well as an anthropological sense. Try it next time you have some free time in a public place, like the food court at a mall. You'll see all kinds of people communicating, whether intentionally or not, without saying a word.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
The Case of Pride v. Caution
I was doing some work with my degree audit today and playing around with my fall schedule. I discovered that, if I play my cards right, I could graduate a year early. I'm not sure how that happened with me transferring schools and majors and everything, but it works. I only need 7 more classes to graduate with a Bachelor's Degree in Communications. Maybe less if the Wheel of Fortune spins in my favor. I'm can be a very impatient person at times. I want to get started with my life, but I know it's got a number of drawbacks that come with it. Large number. I would like to graduate with my classmates that I graduated high school with, but I also now some people who are graduating when it would be early for me. Hopefully, I can argue with myself and have something good come out it for once. I will settle this the only way I know how. Two voices enter my head, one makes sense.
Voice #1: I feel like it would be impressive to graduate a year early. Makes me seem smart(er). I'd have my degree and could be out in the job market before I turn 21. I want a nice long career with plenty of room to grow professionally before I consider starting a family which will keep me tied down. I'm a minimalist, so mobility seems very doable. Is it getting my degree early or is it a fantasy of success? I want to move out to California and work in the movie industry as a writer/producer or something like that. Or move to Florida and work for Disney and work my way up through the system. Field experience versus classroom experience. Which one works in my favor?
Voice #2: I feel like I would be rushing into things. Sure it would be cool to graduate early, but is it advantageous or just kind of douchey? Am I screwing myself out of education and experience by rushing towards the finish line? Probably. I like the idea of having my youth, but I value the idea of preparation. Knowledge and time allow me to figure how to manage living on my own, as I still live with my parents because they don't hate me yet, and figure out a plan.
I was on schedule to graduate in Spring 2013 (if the world lasts long enough to see that semester). I think taking summer courses pushed me up by a semester or two. Maybe I'll just add a minor and take my time. It'd be time to graduate if I think about this any longer. I side with Voice #2.
Thank you, Voice #2.
Voice #2: I'm welcome.
Voice #1: I feel like it would be impressive to graduate a year early. Makes me seem smart(er). I'd have my degree and could be out in the job market before I turn 21. I want a nice long career with plenty of room to grow professionally before I consider starting a family which will keep me tied down. I'm a minimalist, so mobility seems very doable. Is it getting my degree early or is it a fantasy of success? I want to move out to California and work in the movie industry as a writer/producer or something like that. Or move to Florida and work for Disney and work my way up through the system. Field experience versus classroom experience. Which one works in my favor?
Voice #2: I feel like I would be rushing into things. Sure it would be cool to graduate early, but is it advantageous or just kind of douchey? Am I screwing myself out of education and experience by rushing towards the finish line? Probably. I like the idea of having my youth, but I value the idea of preparation. Knowledge and time allow me to figure how to manage living on my own, as I still live with my parents because they don't hate me yet, and figure out a plan.
I was on schedule to graduate in Spring 2013 (if the world lasts long enough to see that semester). I think taking summer courses pushed me up by a semester or two. Maybe I'll just add a minor and take my time. It'd be time to graduate if I think about this any longer. I side with Voice #2.
Thank you, Voice #2.
Voice #2: I'm welcome.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
I am going Insane
I have been losing weight at a comparatively rapid rate. It seems like with each day that passes, I lose a pound or two. Sure I'd like to be in better shape, but this is not the way that I want it to happen. When I was working out, my weight stayed the same. I haven't worked out in weeks, not really sure how long it's been, but it's been a while. To explain why I have been losing weight I must first give the reasons as to why I am upset about losing weight.
I am going insane. I am a college student with about a 3.3 GPA. I am taking three summer courses. One summer session takes one month. This means that each class fits a semester's worth of work into one month. This is multiplied by three. This, I can handle.
I am going insane. I hate my job, but then again, who doesn't? I am supposed to be part-time, but during my winter "break" from college I worked 44 hours in the course of seven straight days, one of them being a 12 hour work day. If not for a snow storm that knocked out the power to the store, it would have been 8 straight work days. My knees began to hurt to the point that it became unbearable. I had to buy a knee brace to make it through the day. That was December, it is now June and my knees still hurt. I think it may be psychological damage, more so than physical. Whenever I think about going into work, or just remember that I have to go to work later that day, or the next day, or at any point at all ever, my knees start to hurt. Now I work about 28 hours a week. Sometimes when I go out for lunch, people will ask where I'm going. When they ask me to get them stuff, I like them not hating, and have to get their lunch too, I get about four minutes out of my 30 minute break to eat a foot long sub or whatever I, and by I, I mean my fellow workers, decide to get for lunch. No time for me to breath. Damn this economy. This, I can handle.
I am going insane. My family obligations take up entirely too much time. I have other stuff that I need to do. Things that can't be avoided, like homework, going to class, going to work, and so on, and so on. They guilt trip me whenever they can, maybe not intentionally, but they do. I can only focus on homework when my immediate family is asleep. When I do get to sleep, I take melatonin to fall and stay asleep, and take energy shots just to open my eyes and roll out of bed.This, I can handle.
When you combine all this it takes up way too much time. School takes about 20 hours per week. Work takes a little more than 28 hours a week when you factor in preparation time and the drive. My family is a constant problem that needs to be attended to. Now let's do the math. I spend about 5-10 hours sleeping per night. That means 14-19 hours awake and going, just going, no rest, just going. That means 35-70 hours per week asleep and 98-133 hours awake. That's 98-133 hours I spend angry, wishing that I had some free time.
A lot of this non-free time is spent kind of hungry, if not very, very hungry. I have been spread so incredibly thin and so much time spent doing things that I have devalued food. I put off eating in order to do other things. I never really liked breakfast, but I'd eat it. Now I find myself avoiding breakfast foods altogether. The other day, I had to do some homework before going to class, went to class, ate some food, and then went to work. That food was the first time I ate that day and that wasn't until about 4:40 p.m. Am I happy that I'm losing weight? No. Am I happy that I'm forcing myself to go insane because I need money? No. Am I angry? Yes. Anger. This, I can handle. I wish the other voices in my head were handling this as well as I am.
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