Thin Slicing

After reading Malcolm Gladwell's Blink, his sequel to his Tipping Point, and thoroughly enjoying it, I started to think about one of the main themes of the book a little more. Gladwell asserts that there is an ability that humans possess in their unconscious mind, which is the ability to thin slice.

He describes thin slicing as, "the ability of our unconscious to find patterns in situations and behavior based on very narrow slices of experience," (Gladwell, 23). He goes on to argue that thin slicing is a skill that people gain through life experiences , social surroundings, and personal character that allows them to make snap judgments about situations in the, pardon the pun, blink of an eye. He also goes on to say that these snap judgments are for the most part, on the money.

So why am I bringing this up? Well I have been thinking about college and about going out in general. Why is it that people subject themselves to spending money to pregame before going to the bar, paying cover to get into the bar, and then shelling out even more money for drinks at the bar? Why is it that people do this multiple evenings in a week?

I think it has something to do with Gladwell's theory of thin slicing. We consciously decide to subside our subconscious ability to accurately thin slice by going to the bars, clubs or parties. By purposely sequestering our ability to make decisions and snap judgments about other people, through the vehicle of alcohol nonetheless, we allow ourselves to become more "social" and have more "fun" overall.

Bars and other institutions are set up in a way so that it maximizes first impressions and opportunities to engage in thin slicing. The dim lighting, the large amounts of people, the alcohol, and the loud music make prolonged interactions very hard to establish, and also make thin slicing properly less accurate. By taking away many of the sensual aspects and mental cognition that is required for thin slicing, we are less capable of feeling the "vibe" with other people and are more prone to making bad decisions.

So why is it that I, along with a majority of college students, continue to go about our drinking binges, and bar going ways? Since thin slicing is right a majority of the time, it has the ability to inhibit the number of social interactions that we may have or pursue. This is because most people naturally put their guard up and are aware of the sketchiness or ulterior motives that are roaming around bar situations. When the ability to thin slice is inhibited however, people are more free flowing, social, and more prone to have shorter term relationships. If you ever go to the bar sober, you're much less likely to interact with strangers, bartenders, acquaintances or anybody else outside of your immediate circle of comfortable friends because you can use thin slicing to eliminate anybody you do not want to interact with. As the drunk bargoer, it is much more likely you end up in the morning, with a phone number with a strange name that you would have never gotten if your ability to thin slice was still present.

So what this leads me to conclude is that bars are not necessarily where the scum of the earth congregates, it is just a place where you're less likely to weed out the scum from the people you want to carry out meaningful relationships with. There is probably an even dispersal of "seedy" and "wholesome" types all around, but only in situations where thin slicing is subdued, do bad decisions and wrongful judgments usually arise. As young college students, many of us are actively trying to subdue or ability to thin slicing without even knowing it. It's the risk taking mentality in many of us.

That is all.

-ydollar

Counter Programming

Sunday is a day of religion, relaxation and football. As I was sitting around doing nothing too productive and flipping through the outlandish number of channels available on digital cable looking for the best football game playing, I realized that the thing that stuck out in my mind the most was what was playing on NBC. Fox had a football game. CBS had a football game also. Since NBC doesn't have rights to broadcast afternoon football games for the NFL, they were stuck with their counter programming which in this case happened to be CURLING or more specifically the Korbel Elite Challenge. Curling has sponsors. Who knew?

These are some of the programs available during the football broadcasts:
Bowling on ESPN
Figure Skating on ESPN2
9 Ball Competitive Billiards on Fox Sports Net
Triathlon on Versus
LPGA on ABC

This got me to thinking about counter programming and its prevalence. Have we become so structured and predicable that we can be segmented into the football watchers and the non football watchers? More specifically, has it reached the point where advertisers have ruled out that football watchers are willing or even able to watch something remotely considered to be "masculine" during football time slots?

I mean it is a key marketing principle to segment your target audience, but I feel that there is an oversimplification of human complexity. Yes, there are correlations that can be made to beer advertising and football games. Yes, it may make sense to advertise "feminine products" during a Lifetime movie. But, I feel that most people watching television do not operate on the extreme and fit somewhere in between the drastic ends. Kind of like Anthony Down's aggregation model, but without the politics.

Take fast food for example. After the Supersize Me expose came out, McDonalds offered "healthy" alternatives to its traditional Big Macs and McNuggets. It started promoting its salads and alternatives to french fries instead. They also implemented their Get Fit meals. So in order to grab market share away from the leader, McDonalds in this instance, Wendy's starts promoting its Baconator. I mean there isn't much to say about the Baconator except that it has six strips of bacon in it, not to mention three patties, and three slices of cheese. Counter programming. Burger King started offering 1000 calorie "breakfast" sandwiches.

Maybe people are that fickle and are that divided, but I would like to think otherwise. It is just frustrating to know that since advertisers and market principles get to decide what is available on television on Sundays and what we can eat at a fast food restaurant. I mean it just sucks that the decision has to be football or curling. If they offered real alternatives and decided to go out on the limb, maybe just maybe, they could capture the many who are sitting somewhere in between ordering a salad or a baconator.

That is all.

-ydollar

What If?

During my prolonged finals week, I have engaged in various activities to help me procrastinate at uncharted levels. Things that have enthralled me over the past week:

1. Facebook games such as Jetman and Traveller's IQ

Yes, Jetman is a complete ripoff of Copter, very simplistic and highly frustrating. But, since it keeps scores and engages in ranking you against your peers, I continue to frustrate myself while patrolling the blue cavern and avoiding the blue walls that are impeding my new high score.

Traveller's IQ just makes me realize that I know the location of probably seven African nations with a margin of error of about two countries. But, it also ranks you against your friends, so it's pretty addictive as well.

2. Tila Tequila rerun marathons

You know you've seen them too.

3. Morph Thing

Not since the Power Rangers yelled, "It's Morphing Time!" at the peek of my elementary school days has morphing been so much fun. The site allows you to upload pictures of yourself, your friends, and potentially your enemies and morph them with each other or with photos from their celebrity database. One of the "celebrities" available is Adolph Hitler, go figure.

Seeing as it is always better to aim high, here are my potential future lovechilds:

This is my starting image

Me and Alicia Keys

Me and Penelope Cruz

Me and Adriana Lima

Me and Rihanna


So after much experimentation, I have come to some saddening conclusions. I have the ability to make any potential celebrity offspring of a beautiful person seem absolutely hideous. There may be no hope for me. They say biracial children are supposed to end up gorgeous; I have proved that I am probably an outlier.

And just for kicks, Me and Chairman Mao


So for those of you looking for something to do to kill time, I highly suggest scouring Facebook of pictures of your friends and morphing them for your pleasure at:
http://wwww.morphthing.com

In the meantime, I will be trying to move up the Jetman and World Traveller's IQ hierarchy.

That is all

-ydollar

Graphical Representation of Rap

So have you wondered what would happen if you were to mix one part hit hip-hop track and one part mathematical graphic representation? Neither have I. But, if you were to have thought about it, it would probably resemble something like this:

Rick Ross
[Click to Enlarge]
Mike Jones

Nas

Jay-Z

Notorious BIG

Fort Minor
[Click to Enlarge]
Snoop Dogg

Jay-Z part 2
[Click to Enlarge]
Notorious BIG part 2


Haha.

Images courtesy of Freakanomics blog.

That is all.

-ydollar

New Marketing Phrases

Advertising is often misleading which is why I decided to rewrite some tag lines for some of the world's most recognizable brands:

iPod: You know it's going to break in a year but by that time they'll have a new generation iPod that you want instead.

White Castle: Destination for drunkards and potheads since 1921.

Jordan Brand: I haven't played since 2003 but you still pay 200 dollars for my shoes.

Myspace: Playground for high school boys and girls.

Facebook: Where having over 100 friends means you're not that popular.

Microsoft: Former owners of the world.

Google: Taking over the world one step at a time.

Blackberry: I should be called a Crackberry.

Starbucks: The same coffee for a dollar fifty more.

IKEA: Furniture for people who don't need real furniture yet.

Youtube: You're bored, kill time with us.

Taco Bell: Great idea until after you're done eating.

Old Navy: Because Salvation Army was taken already.

The Gap: Higher class old Navy.

Banana Republic: Higher class Gap.

Red Bull: Red Bull gives you bad aftertaste!

Siemens: Haha our name sounds like semen.

Comcast: We suck.

Time Warner: We also suck.

MTV: Irrelevant past the age of 16

VH1: Best bad television shows out there

MSN Messenger: I'm from Asia

AIM: LOLROFLHAHABRBWTF

Whatever?!?!?!?

Remember the days when the Spice Girls were queens of the pop and cultural world? The days of girl power and whatever are now long gone and has been replaced by other cries of individuality and self expression.

Every now and then however, nostalgia comes calling and has us thinking about the good old days.

This is that video:



If you have never wanted a kid, you might want one now if only for a couple of hours a day. That has to be one of the most adorable babies in the history of mankind. And mankind has been around for a long time.

Hopefully her youthful exuberance and outright hilarity will not be replaced by cynicism and downright bitchiness when she grows up, but for now watch the video and laugh, smile, and revel in her general obliviousness to the world around her.

Whatever?!?!?!?!

That is all.

-ydollar

Facebook Stalking

Facebook, and social networking in general, has become a part of the daily routine of most college students including mine. It's ability to offer information on friends, coworkers, classmates, acquaintances, and strangers alike has allowed us to satisfy our obsession with knowledge about others and our voyeuristic urges. The fact that the information we receive through Facebook is for the most part true because it is self created augments the value of the information.

Facebook however, has caught some flack for potentially allowing sexual predators, strangers, and employers access to information that its users want to be kept private. Although these all clearly vary in terms of severity, they all potentially can solicit information from unsuspecting users of Facebook. I understand that nothing is truly hidden on the internet, but Facebook further blurs the line of what is public and what is private.

What I believe is a greater problem however, is the ability that Facebook has to cater its advertising towards each individual user through the use of cookies, caches, and scripting. Although there are potential benefits to users seeing ads that are pertinent to their likes and desires, there is also great risk in allowing a singular site to aggregate so much information on so many people. As the user base for Facebook continues to expand, the potential for misuse by Facebook or others who illegally access Facebook will only increase. At what point does Facebook know too much and at what point does it need to impose some limits on itself?

This picture was not doctored and was posted recently online. Nothing about it is that uncommon really. It's about a girl who dumps her boyfriend via the Facebook status feature. That's commonplace in the Facebook generation.

What is not commonplace however, is the advertisement that recognized the status update instantly and placed an appropriate ad under the left column. That's just eerie.




Facebook stalking has become quite the popular thing and most often is nothing more than people perusing the site looking for attractive people or looking for gossip. It was something of a phenomenon that was more joke than mean spirited.

The problem now however, it's not only us stalking our cohorts, Facebook is stalking us and it's creeping me out.

That is all

-ydollar

Think Outside the Bun

Despite the likes of Fast Food Nation, Supersize Me, and health advocates everywhere speaking about the overall unhealthiness and negative that fast food has on people, I have grown quite fond of the fast food industry over the years. I along with millions of others of Americans have especially become quite fond of Taco Bell.

This is particularly startling in part for two main reasons:
1) There is at least an 80% chance that Taco Bell leads to either a trip to the restroom or an upset stomach within 15 minutes of consumption.
2) Every one of their food items is a combination of the following items: taco shell, pita, tortilla, meat (beef, chicken or steak), shredded cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, beans, sour cream, and guacamole.

How Taco Bell manages to overcome the first reason is simple, their food tastes good and the utility gained from the first 15 minutes of consumption outweighs the post consumption discomfort. The way Taco Bell manages to overcome the second reason is a bit trickier. People are fickle and always want something new. Taco Bell has found a way to address this problem. I believe it is best served to look at the product line history of Taco Bell to best examine Taco Bell's marketing genius.

It all started with the basic taco with the standard hard taco shell, meat, lettuce and cheese:

They then realized that hey we can put the same meat, lettuce and cheese in a tortilla and call it a soft taco:

Then they realized hey, guess what we can roll up this soft taco into a stick and call it a burrito. The beauty of repackaging:

Oh wait! Maybe if we just fold the soft tortilla in half and melt the cheese inside, we can tell people it's actually different. Let's call it a quesadilla:

Somebody must have been smart enough to realize that if you take that same quesadila and roll it up into a stick, you can call it a Grilled Chicken Taquito and the public won't even know what hit them. That's "thinking outside the bun"

When the public started clamoring for more alternatives to the standard hard taco, soft taco and burrito, they decided that they can put a hard taco inside of a soft taco and create a new food item all together. Low and behold we have a Cheesy Gordita Crunch:

Not yet satisfied, the great minds at Taco Bell had to once again find alternative means to package the same ingredients into each and every one of its products. Some higher up at Taco Bell must have thought, "Hey everybody loves pizza, let's make a pizza and call it Mexican. That'll be a hit." So by placing two hard tacos on top of each other, the Mexican pizza was born:

And just when you thought Taco Bell could not possibly come up with any more concoctions for their ingredients and all signs pointed towards exhaustion of all potential marketing gimmicks, Taco Bell comes up with something so genius that we all must just nod our heads in amazement. I mean who would have thought, "Maybe if we put all our ingredients and make it in the shape of a pentagon, people will love it." Well Taco Bell thought that, and we should be thankful because we now have the six-sided delight we call the Crunch Wrap Supreme:

The next logical step is an eight sided all in one invention. Might I suggest naming it the "Stop Sign"? You never know though, Taco Bell might throw us a curve ball and skip the logical progression and jump right to dodecahedron shaped food.

What will they think of next?

PS: This is always good for a cheap laugh:


That is all

-ydollar

Freedom of Speech

As hip hop culture continues to phase towards mainstream culture, urban vernacular (or ebonics) has also increasingly become a part of everyday conversation. This is interesting not only because urban slang is commonly looked down upon by structural powers, authority figures, and academics alike even though it is a cultural phenomenon. The slang that these authority figures look down upon, is the same slang that their children probably throw around in the playgrounds, listen to on top 40 radio, or watch on television. Even Google's spell checker highlights the word ebonics with a red line because it is not considered to be a real English word. For a quick audio learning experience about ebonics, you can listen to Big L's appropriately titled song "Ebonics" or read the lyrics here at Lyrics freak. Many of these sayings are now out of date which is the beauty of the English language, it is always evolving. Contrary to what many say, urban vernacular is not a bastardization of the language. It is actually a portrayal in the ever changing structure and fluidity of youth and urban culture that should be embraced for what it is, a form of individual expression.

This is how slang gets phased into society:

Phrase first uttered in neighborhoods such as the South Bronx, Brownsville, Compton, East St. Louis, or other center of urban culture.

Becomes the code name for an illicit drug in previously mentioned neighborhood.

Mentioned in a HOT 97 shout-out past midnight.

Mentioned in a HOT 97 shout-out before midnight.

Becomes the nickname for a basketball player on the And 1 Mixtape Tour.

Used in a rap mixtape CD song that sells for five dollars.

Becomes the main phrase in the chorus of a mainstream rap song.

Is used in a Sportscenter highlight.

People start asking others what the phrase means.

Has one definition on urbandictionary.com

Has multiple definitions on urbandictionary.com

Makes it onto Wikipedia.

Makes it into movies such as Malibu's Most Wanted that are meant to poke fun at urban culture and others' obsession with it.

Your grandmother knows what it means.

Your grandmother rolls her eyes when somebody says it.

For Example: bling bling; phat; crunk

People such as the teacher in this video have even tried to address the cultural disconnect between urban slang and accepted "white" speech.



Although he thinks he's doing his students a favor by incorporating them with the rest of society, it is pretty racist and unfair to say that these children must fix something that they do not even know exists. Not surprisingly this "news" segment appeared on the fair and balanced Fox News. This is the equivalent of me wondering why certain folk say "howdy" as opposed to "whattup" or "hello."

Let people speak the way they speak. What is considered to be acceptable or unacceptable speech should be individual choices and not a societal one.

What it do.

That is all
-y

MH4H

Mike Hart for Heisman. Just thought I'd throw some school spirit in this morning. Show him some love and visit Hart4Heisman.



17 Seconds in. Made for TV run.

MH4H. Repping NY hard.

Enough Said.

That is all

-y

Myspacification

Once considered to be a passing fad among the likes of Pogs, trick yo-yo's and pet rocks, the internet startup has once again retaken and stirred public interest. Piggybacking on the hype of buzzwords such as Web 2.0 and "social networking," sites such as MySpace and Facebook have received many new devoted users, created a new form of online procrastination and have drawn the interest of potential investors. The Wall Street Journal recently valued Facebook at 15 billion dollars based largely in part to the number of people who are exposed to Facebook and the number of people who will eventually be exposed to Facebook.

This is an interesting turn of events because while MySpace has already been bought out by Rupert Murdoch for what now seems like a bargain at $580 million dollars, Facebook has yet to be overtaken by a larger entity. An interesting dissertation by Danah Boyd (2007), "Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace" which can be read here states how Facebook and Myspace creates a dichotomy of users with MySpace dominating younger and lower income individuals and Facebook dominating the college aged and higher income individuals. She uses the tools of ethnography and social anthropology to gather her research:

For example, I have analyzed over 10,000 MySpace profiles, clocked over 2000 hours surfing and observing what happens on MySpace, and formally interviewed 90 teens in 7 states with a variety of different backgrounds and demographics. But that's only the tip of the iceberg. I ride buses to observe teens; I hang out at fast food joints and malls. I talk to parents, teachers, marketers, politicians, pastors, and technology creators. I read, I observe, I document.

I for one have not logged nearly as much research and do not have a MySpace page but am partial to believing her thesis and her theory. Nearly every musician whether up and coming, established, or a bona fide superstar promotes and advertises themselves through a MySpace page. Politicians are much more likely to create a Facebook page before they are to venture into MySpace's domain. The advertisements that grace the homepage of Facebook usually have more to do with credit cards, student loans, and car advertisements than they do with music, pop culture, and celebrity gossip.

I do believe however, that even though Facebook has not been bought out by a larger corporate interest yet, that Facebook is going down the slippery slope that MySpace has already traversed. Whether or not this perpetuates or debunks Boyd's theory on class division among social networking users, it will, if it has not already, create a lowest denominator product that will result in much less networking and will devalue the utility of social networking sites. I am not saying that Facebook should be elitist, far from it, but there are certain boundaries that restrict the usefulness and usability of MySpace and Facebook that allows them to be where they are today.

In general as many teachers have said before: KISS (keep it simple stupid).

MySpace has always allowed for users to add their own pictures, music, videos, and anything other code that their users could cut and paste from others' sites and embed into their own. Although this grants much freedom of expression, autonomy and creativity, it also creates pages where users have to scroll over four pages because the user did not know how to scale his image correctly and white font on yellow backgrounds.

Although user generated content is great and adding new applications to Facebook was a cool and fun new thing to experiment with, the unnecessary cluttering of what was once a clean and minimalistic approach is more a detriment than a benefit. I do not need to know who your "Top Friends", "Where You've Been", your "Political Compass", "Who Sent you a Drink" and "What Level Ninja or Pirate" you are because to be honest, it shouldn't matter. Is it necessary to start the Myspacification of Facebook just because in order to be "innovative" you must continue to add stuff to your site? I just really hope Facebook remembers that it is a social networking site, and should remain so.

That is all
-y

Q & A

Since it's almost time for those exams that we all love and anticipate, I decided that I'd post some potential answers to some thought provoking questions to get us all in the test taking mood. Enjoy. I will actually post something that doesn't require just posting images in the future once I get better ideas and actually take time to update this blog.


.





That is all
-y

Some Cartoons I Drew

So for various reasons I haven't really updated this thing in a while so I decided to just upload a few of the cartoons that I have recently drawn for the Michigan Daily (most of which have been published or will soon be). I hope you enjoy and if not give me better ideas. I'll give you credit too.

-y

WYMAN KHUU!!! Crank Dat Soulja Boy

So if you have spent any time anywhere near my new ring tone, listened to any hip hop and R&B station, or have watched multiple grown and not so grown folk break out into synchronized chanting and a dance step that involves breast stroking and pretending to be the man of steel, then you have probably heard the song, "Crank Dat," by Soulja Boy. The chorus goes something like this:

Soulja Boy Off In This Hoe
Watch Me Crank It
Watch Me Roll
Watch Me Crank Dat Soulja Boy
Then Super Man Dat Hoe
Now Watch Me Do
(Crank Dat Soulja Boy)
Now Watch Me Do
(Crank Dat Soulja Boy)
Now Watch Me Do
(Crank Dat Soulja Boy)
Now Watch Me Do
(Crank Dat Soulja Boy)

Now, how does this song warrant a blog post you ask? Well first off, since Soulja Boy slurs his words to the point of incomprehension, the line "Now Watch Me Do!" sounds like "Wyman Khuu!" which because it is my name makes it an awesome song. Secondly, the song has triggered a series of YouTube spinoffs that only add to the entertainment value of the song. Lastly, it comes packaged with a dance that is longer than one repeated gesture, ala the "Making it Rain" move, or the "Young Joc it's going down move."

I ignore the fact that the song makes no sense, probably took 10 minutes to record, is basically 4 lines repeated on loop as you all should as well. Now peep the videos below and laugh and Barney's gangster and CRANK DAT SOULJA BOY!!!

Sponge Bob cranking dat soulja boy


Barney cranking dat soulja boy

Take note of the Asian kid yelling over and over again to crank dat soulja boy.

Winnie the Pooh cranking dat soulja boy


Lion King cranking dat soulja boy


Family Guy cranking dat soulja boy


That is all

-ydollar

U S of A

So according to a poll (insert drum roll) 1 out of every 5 Americans is unable to locate the United States on a map. As ludicrous and unbelievable as that statistic may be - and I hope it is - even if the statistic was lets say... 1 out of every 205 Americans is unable to find America on a map, it is still equally embarrassing.

This is what one of the fine young women who has the honor of representing the fine state of South Carolina believes is a possible solution for the geographic catastrophe:



First off. Although it is very very very tempting, so tempting it warrants the three very's that precede it, to use this video as a segue for blond jokes, I will refrain for now.

Secondly this is absolutely brilliant. Not only is she a great social anthropologist and capable of noticing the utterly shocking fact that there is a serious shortage of cartographic images in America, but she is also a wonderful philanthropist who wants to extend her love to both Iraq and South Africa (twice). Not to mention, she also managed to work the phrase "build up our future for the children," into her answer. Brilliance I tell you. She is a both a wonderful representation of the state of South Carolina and of the United States education system.

You know what the scariest thing about this is... as of the time of this post, 9.5 million people have watched this video and 1 in 5... you do the math.

After reviewing all of this, and thinking about the problem at hand I have to ask: Where oh where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? Is it a coincidence that ever since Carmen and her entourage, "A Capella" have left the air, that one in five Americans cannot find America on a map let alone a spinning globe? I think not. I am utterly confident that she will be able to fill the void of geographic knowledge that a fifth of America supposedly has. She also has a catchy theme song. There is however, an underlying problem. If Carmen Sandiego is hiding in America, how are the geographically challenged ever going to find her? The world may never know; but they can sure laugh at us while we figure it out.



Once we master this game we can move on to such bigger and better things such as...
"Where in the Universe (gasp!) is Carmen Sandiego"

So... A dumb blond was bragging about her knowledge of the state capitals of the United States. She proudly announced, " go ahead, ask me any of the capitals, I know them all!"

So I ask, "So what's the capital of Wyoming?"

The Blond replies, "Oh, that's easy, 'W'."

Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

PS: For those who want a rather obsessive and simple geographic lesson in humility I recommend trying Geo Sense. It's a site that will show just how little you know about Central and South America, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asian countries that are not China, South Korea, Japan, or India. It's a site that will also conjure up such thoughts as "Madagascar? I know it's an animated movie, and it sounds African."

That is all

-ydollar

T's

Dem Franchize Boyz brought the "White T"along with purposeful misspellings of easy words to the masses. Who doesn't like an over sized clean pressed white t-shirt with the space meant for shoulders reaching down to the middle of your bicep? I sure like them. As long as they're not venturing towards night gown territory, White T's are "A okay" with me. Crisp white T = Class.



The hipsters, the East Village and the Urban Outfitters of the world however, have brought the graphic t-shirt into the forefront of American fashion. If you play the role of social sociologist and engage in enough people watching, you're sure to run into a set of t-shirts that repeat over and over again. MC Escher style. These types of T-shirts usually have novelty, are quite amusing for shorts periods of time and sometimes even invoke some type of response from others. They also fit into a few taxonomic groups and are available at the aforementioned Urban Outfitters or places that are equally "trendy":

Cultural icons that are before your time type of T-shirts: These include but are not exclusive to all the stuff that appears on VH1 specials such as I Love the 90's, I Love the 80's, I Love the 70's.... I Love How VH1 Loves the specials they make on each decade. Things people used to care about, and I guess kind of care about now, eh.... but really probably don't care about. They play to nostalgia, and memories of yesteryear or for some even pre-yesteryear. These include T-shirts that have logos such as Care Bears, Reese's peanut butter cups, Pacman, Nintendo...etc:

The "Everyone loves an [insert ethnic, religious, or racial group] shirts": They usually are worn by people who are of a certain ethnic, religious or racial group and refer to people of the same ethnic, religious or racial group. For example, if an Asian kid wore an "everyone loves an Asian girl" t-shirt, it would go over with people fine. If Kobe decided to wear an "everyone loves a white girl shirt," that would be a bad look.

The shirt that uses a geographic location, usually a state or obscure city name in some type of pun shirt: For example, "Getting lucky in Kentucky." Yes, they may originally be quite amusing, but the amusingness level deteriorates after lets say...3 minutes. These are the shirts that cause eye rolling.


The this shirt has a lot of obscure and abstract diagonals, curves, lines, circles, and intricate patterns that make it look quite expensive type of shirt because it probably is inexplicably expensive shirt: It probably is also very expensive. It also brings a lot of attention to the person wearing it. It usually is one size too small. Sometimes two. Kangol hats and silver chains are also highly recommended if you wear the aforementioned shirt type. It really makes other people ask why anybody would wear a shirt with so much flash, and so much going on. The biggest offenders are probably Armani Exchange and Guess.


Then there is this shirt:


Words cannot really describe this. Some might say this is hilarious, including myself...but I'll let you decide.

That is all.

-y

You Play to Win the Game...!

I remember the days when Sportscenter on ESPN was king. Now that ESPN is the king of sports, Sportscenter is nothing more than a figurehead for a massive barrage of advertisements and tied products. Whether it be the "Budweiser Hot Seat", the "Coors Cold Hard Facts", "Gatorade Cooler Talk", and most recently the "Hummer Press Pass", to sum it all up in a word; RIDICULOUS. I could go on and on about how the mighty have fallen from grace - but to be honest - Sportscenter and ESPN are not going to go away or revert back to its glory days any time soon. And it's a shame.

With the Home Run Heard around San Fransisco, the NBA cheating scandal, and the Little League World Series all taking place, there has not been enough coverage over something that should have been much bigger news. Steve Spurrier and the state of college athletics.

Steve Spurrier, the head football coach at the University of South Carolina, when told that two of the players that he actively recruited were denied admission into the university. Here is an excerpt from the main article (from ESPN no less, because hate it or love it, habit is hard to break):

Bearden and three other tenured professors make up the university's special admissions committee, which, according to provost Mark Becker, reviewed more than half of the Gamecocks' football signees. The committee denied admission to three of the players, one of whom was eventually admitted on appeal, The State reported.

Spurrier was angered that receiver Michael Bowman of Wadesboro, N.C., and Arkee Smith of Jacksonville, Fla., were cleared by the NCAA to enroll, yet were turned down by the university.

"Hopefully, I truly believe this is the last year this is going to happen, because I can't operate like that," Spurrier said on Sunday. "I can't operate misleading young men."

Spurrier signed a contract extension, which included a raise of nearly a half-million dollars, that ties him to South Carolina through 2012. However, he said if things didn't change on admissions "then I have to go somewhere else, because I can't tell the young man that he's coming to school here," then not have him admitted.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2964254

Now if he really is that egotistical and hubris, this would all be understandable. But at some point three thoughts keep popping up in my mind:

1). It's misleading to tell them that they can go to school at USC if they're not qualified to attend. Everybody knows what the average ACT or SAT score, and GPA's are for every university and college. The Athletic Departments know the Athletic baselines. Work with them.

2). Does every school allow that much leeway for recruiting, and are perennial powerhouses of college athletics that inclined to bend the rules THAT much? I mean it's not quite the NFL yet - I know it's close - but not yet. So no need to listen to Herm Edwards yet. Seriously, you must be some student to get denied admission as a 4 star recruit. Snoop Minnis Stand UP!



3). Did Steve Spurrier do this type of "recruiting" at Florida all those years? Did Florida allow him to do this type of "recruiting" and turn a blind eye, or did they actively partipate? I'm assuming the latter because of nothing more than just speculation and a gut feeling. I think most people would agree with me. That's really sad because college sports as corrupt as it is, is probably the closest thing we have to pure sport left.

I just hope that college sports do not continue on this slippery slope. Long live the purity and beauty of sport where players play for pride, passion and university (big payday at the end of the tunnel, but I'll choose to ignore that for now). Long live college athletics.

That is all and GO BLUE!

-y

6 Wheel Drive

A quick picture for your morning pleasure just to remind those who think they're doing nothing at work that there are always people that can make you feel wonderfully productive. This woman being one of them.

How Cute....or Evil

I love the zoo and the aquarium. There is something about a place where you can see animals that you do not get to see on a regular basis all in one central location. One of my favorite animals in the entire world, and a favorite of many, would have to be the penguin. They have been Immortalized in such movies such as "Happy Feet" and "March of the Penguins". Penguins are genuinely just all around cute and not intimidating. For this very reason alone, penguins have won a place in the hearts of millions, including mine. I mean penguins have made it big not only in Hollywood, but through a variety of other mediums as well. They've won the hearts of nerds and geeks everywhere as the operating system of choice. A penguin has been the posterchild and has been made famous as the logo for their beloved Linux.



" I'm 1337!"





They've also fought for a place in the the hearts of millions upon millions of obsessed Asian people and entire Asian nations. What says more than the Japanese and their obsession with Hello Kitty and Sanrio related items than a gangster penguin.



"baby cause I'm a thug!"









Glorified pictures? I think not. Penguins have not been romanticized. They are genuinely just all around adorable. They have definitely won a place in my heart. When you think about what a penguin represents, you almost automatically have to think nice things. How can you not when penguines usually look like this?





















Awww....That's a fat and fuzzy penguin. How can anybody actually dislike something that is inclined to waddling or walking side to side. Clumsy in a human being is klutzy. Clumsy in a penguin is endearing. The problem is, they're really not as cute and innocent as they look. Deep down, they're just like you or me; EVIL!



I mean pretty startling. I used to have such a higher perception about the character of my favorite flightless bird. Oh well. That came crashing down harder than that poor penguin did. This hamster knows how I feel. I feel a little betrayed too. It's understandable. I thought so much higher of penguins before. The penguins of the world have let me down. Like I just said, this hamster knows where it's at.



They're evil I tell you. haha...

That is all

-y