Weekly update 4-28-10: Another Lengthy one?

ok so here we go wiht this weeks update. it could be lenghty. it's gonna be posted tonight (tuesday).


The "intro"

first up, allergies. They suck. Last week i had the worst allergies ive had in awhile. we're talking head cold, massive congestion, red eyes, looking tired, itchy eyes and yea. and my meds for ti werent helping in the slightest. so happy thats over.

onwards!

the "meat and potatoes" section

Next on the docket is a couple school related things.

first up on that is this spring festival thing Ealrham does called springfest. theres a moonbounce, a bouncy playground thing a slip n slide, go karts thigns and other fun stuff. so yeah. This year it was inside cause of rain. well the slip n slide was stiill outside and was nice but wasnt nearly as fun as it woulda been had it been outside. At springfest and dinner, there was a guy named Norman Ng goign around and doign magic. HE was really good and a i really enjoyed his magic and comedy show later that night. he had great energy. the one thing that did bug me is there was a mind-reading trick where he had us believe that he went around spring fest and had us write random words on pieces of paper. i never saw him at springfest or when i was walkin around campus, so i think those words slips were pre-written. I still cant explain how he made a bowling ball appear from between sheets on a big posterboard thing.

a rant on a class now. foundations of EDU is fun but highlyh flawed as i have said before. the prof is a great guy, but the class is done at t abreakneck pace and is not good for an intro to the minor course because i dont think any of the topics covered in the class are mentioned i ;later courses for the minor, or are actively ebign taught in schoools. plus how many of us in that class are gonna be teachers, none unless we are goin thru the M.A.Teaching 5 year program, which idk if anyone in that class is. rant continuing: when were in our rushed unit on sustainability, not only was the text obnoxious and calling for a halt to everything that harmed the environment while onlyu makin 1-2 good points and not even mentioning schools, but also the discusssions were all centered around "wow this dude is right, we need to change ASAP" more or less. The entire time i couldnt help but think "Holy spin zone Batman!" Whatever happened to hoenst cynicism?

one last negative thing in this post i promise. So last friday, the 23rd, i get information on my 1 in class final, the heavily essay based one for intro to lit. yes it has a 4-5 page take home theory paper for the weeekend and then 2 theory papers to write in the 2 hour exam period, rhe 2 in class papers are each on a theory with a book we didnt present on. (i did psychological theory and frankenstein so i have to write essays on death of a salesman and a book called white tiger). ANyhowm the point of this paragraph is to say that people need to suck ti up and stop whihing once they figure out how hard a final is gonna be. i overheard some freshmen in the class whining about how the exam is literrally 3 essays all wokrin with a text and a theory. this greatly annoyed me. now i understand if you're whining because you'll have 3 other finals before that one and little time to study for the in class papers or do the take home paper, but if thats the only final you have period, or if its the only final you have that day after one of monday, you shouldnt whine or complain. Whatever happened to sucking it up, realizing its go time, and being resilient?

Rants done.

last thing i wanna cover this week: music. two bands you all should check out.

Civil Twilight: theyre and alt-rock outfit from i believe New Zealand. Theyre newish i think and they have a very U2 feel to them but with a splash of Springsteen and the Fray. I like them alot. Just think very good, slightly atmospheric alt-rock with impassioned lyrics and vocals

Secondly, if you like rock music, check out Slash's solo album. Yea, thats Slash from GNR and Velvet Revolver fame. Its a pretty ecletic and good solo album, lots of good guest vocals. the only issue i really have with it is that whoever mixed the album did a poor job on the tracks "Back from Cali" and "Starlight" which feature Myles Kennedy on vocals. The songs are nice, btu you can blantantly hear any secodn vocal track Miles recorded or any backup singers Slash recruited. This is kind of annoying in my mind cause its like 2 different vocal patterns of the same person singing together and not mxed well.

This same mixing issue is what made me not highly praise Serj Tankian's solo album from 2 years ago. Ugh, i want his main band System of a Down to come back!

see you next week.
--ZB