Silly Saturday

After finishing up my Popular Marathon, - I watched every episode of Popular I could find online - I found myself searching for other entertaining tidbits online. First of all, I was left unsatisfied by Popular as it ended strangely and got progressively worse with each episode I watched... yet I continued watching - just imagine how bad the last episode was.

So, Popular ended and I began my search for whatever silly, funny stuff I could find online. The following is a recount of the different stops along my online entertainment journey:

I enjoy stand - up comedy so I began looking for a few of my favorites on their own websites and on YouTube:

1. Lavell Crawford - My brother pointed him out to me a little while ago and there is a very funny skit available on YouTube. Chingle, Chingle Chingle. The graphic to the left was provoked by this skit. I was practicing my Photoshop skills. "Why you breathing so hard?" "So I can live". Hilarious

2. Jim Gaffigan - An actor and stand up comedian who I find funny most of the time. There are some skits of his available on YouTube as well. HotPocket.
In my search for funny Jim Gaffigan stuff, I found this interesting piece, Hogwarts does Jim Gaffigan, where someone must have spent a lot of time matching a Jim Gaffigan comedy routine to Harry Potter Clips - It's a bit long but good and funny. It's definitely worth taking a look at.

3. Lewis Black - I use to be more into Lewis Black, but he is still funny. I saw a special on tv about how he didn't become popular until he started acting angry.

4. Lastly, I watched an episode of This American Life. The first TV episode can be found on the Showtime site. 1st episode. This American Life is sort of a similar theme to my blog - all life is interesting and this show helps prove it. I only wish all the episodes were available online.

Hope these stops on my entertainment journey can provide others with some laughs. Have a good weekend!

Lesson #8: It's important to laugh. Laughing is not just enjoyable it's good for you! It can help boost your immune system, lower stress, improve brain function and foster relaxation - see here. So come on, laugh a little.

Fastbreak

In honor of the delicious candy bar I just consumed, I shall take a Fastbreak to post. The peanut-butter and chocolate combo is one of my favorite pairs to ever melt together. Give me a peanut butter cup, a reese's pieces or a fastbreak and we are sure to be fast friends. Give me most any candy and I'll take notice. Chocolate, sour, gummy, fruity, hard, chewy... candy candy candy.

I can understand why parents would want to regulate a child's candy intake. Of course, there's the sugar factor, but perhaps candy can also be addicting in a crave it, gotta have it kind of way. ah ha in comes candyaddict.com and according to them and scientific study - candy is addicting!

TGIF

Thank Goodness It's Friday! That's what many a working man or woman may be thinking today. My sad unemployed self however, does not get the luxury of appreciating TGIF. Now everyone with a job maybe thinking luxury?, my job isn't that great - what is c. molls smoking and how can I get some? Well, I'm not smoking anything and I think it would actually be pretty nice having a job - unemployment isn't all it's cracked up to be - perhaps if I was getting paid unemployment by the government this may change things a bit - but I doubt it. I would honestly like to be working. I went from going to college full-time and working about 20 hours a week to not working and not going to school - big difference.

I hope everyone who reads this has a job they enjoy. Finding a job that you can enjoy is an amazing accomplishment in my opinion. You should like something you do for 40 hours a week or more. A job you can smile at and be proud of is a luxury. That is the luxury I would like to have - and the TGIF feeling. Remember TGIF - Boy Meets World, Family Matters? Anyway, TGIF really is a feeling - it can be exciting, relaxing, or maybe a tad stressful - what am I going to wear out tonight? Is it warm enough to wear flip flops cause God knows I struggle in heels. Let me see that thooong (no not that kind) Flip flops are sweet.

But wait - is there any downside to wearing flip flops all day, everyday? I recently saw a "news" story on the local news that looked down right terrifying. The danger behind flip flops?! Not wanting to know what deadly disease I may have being a chronic flip flop offender, I changed the channel. But, now I am kind of curious and I haven't died yet, so let's investigate.

The Investigation unfolds... looking for some quick feedback on the flip flop issue I went to none other than Wikipedia. There I discovered a condition called pronation (From what I can gather this means your foot is rolling inward (more so than normal) when it hits the ground). Basically, flip flops provide little to no support for your feetsies - not a good thing. This information is quite devastating as I love flip flops. One article I found from Forbes goes so far to say Skip the flip flops! No not my flip flops. (Should be said like the ginger bread man in Shrek - "Not my gumdrop buttons") Skip them - I'll skip with them on! Oh well - at least I have educated myself on one of the dangers of flip flops (could be more dangers, but one is enough for me). Now how about the dangers of those other thongs?... no, I don't know and won't go there.

Trivia: What year did the Movie Thank God It's Friday (Yes, there is a TGIF movie) come out? - take a stab at it. Donna Summers was in it. Check out the Trivia part of the wikipedia article on TGIF

Lesson #7: I am sad and dismayed to announce wearing flip flops all day long may not be best for your precious soles. Will this new found information change my habits? Perhaps I'll just walk barefoot...everywhere... talk about dangers

Winding Down

It is now "late" and time for bed - depending on where in the world one is located. Since my last post was about getting energized, I thought I'd do a quick post on winding down at the end of the day. Alright well ironically, as I was thinking (and writing) about winding down, the appearance of a bug half a foot from my person has woken me up a bit. To squash or not to squash that is the question...

Anyway, back to trying to wind down. Personally, I find the Internet and sometimes tv to be too stimulating for winding down purposes. I feel reading and talking help ease my brain into sleep mode. Curling into the fetal position and closing my eyes will soon follow and if all goes well I'm asleep shortly after. In my hopes of finding a visual for the fetal position I came across this interesting (strange maybe a better fitting adjective) website.

As winding down can also refer to relaxing in general how do you relax or get ready for bed?

Lesson #6: Although, one may hate nature (nature and I do not always get along), one should try and be nice to the creatures we share this earth with. So when presented with the choice to squash - try to exert the effort to save and release outdoors. I am a frequent violator of save over squash, but it's a nice thought.

Does anyone know how to get a toilet to stop making noise - like a flushing sound? I think our toilet is possessed!? Someone help please!

High Energy

After "overdosing" on coffee yesterday, I figured I would write an entry on the different concoctions people use to jump start their day. By "overdosing", I am referring to the tummy ache and headache I received after adding a soda to the 2 large cups of coffee I had - bad choice considering I don't normally drink half that much caffeine a day. With the number of energy drinks, coffee products, sodas, teas and caffeinated crazy products on the rise in recent times, don't you want to know a bit more? I did.

Is having too much caffeine bad for you? What about mixing alcohol and caffeinated drinks - such as red bull and vodka? Should you drink caffeine while working out? And what sort of drinks are out there - what's in them, how do they taste? These are questions I found to be interesting, with some having myths attached. So, I did a little research.

Interesting and educational info. on energy drinks from Brown University. Tidbits from the source: energy drinks can contain as much caffeine as a cup of coffee - around 80 mg. compared to the 23mg in coca cola classic (Wikipedia puts the amount of caffeine in a serving of coca cola a bit higher - 34mg). Everyone will react differently to energy drinks. Some possible results from drinking up the ccps (caffeinated crazy products) include: increasing one's heart rate and blood pressure, dehydrating the body and preventing sleep. I'm not saying you shouldn't drink caffeine - just providing a little info.

A bit about caffeine myths. An article about caffeine myths from the Asian food information center.

Other quick facts: Mixing exercise with caffeine - not such a good idea - drinking water to rehydrate yourself is best. Mixing alcohol and energy drinks may seem like a good idea in theory - but in actuality can leave you in rough shape.

For some more exciting info. check out this list of energy drinks on Wikipedia to see more about your favorite energy drinks.

Fun Quiz I made - please take this I wasted more time than I should have on this - meaning it's actually worth taking: What energy drink are you?

Lesson #5: Caffeine may give you a quick boost, but it's important to know the facts about anything you consume.

P.S. How about the energy drink Cocaine? What were marketers thinking with this one? I got a lot on my plate today, let me grab some cocaine...

Independence Day

I figured in the spirit of Independence Day I would in someway discuss what the day means to me - corny? yes. Now I wouldn't normally take the 4th of July to be anything too out of the ordinary except last night around midnight a song suddenly popped into my head and not just any song. A patriotic tune from my past. I kept singing along with the lyrics going through my head - "should all the quantence be forgot, keep your eye on the grand ole flag" The actual lyrics (just the chorus) to this song are:

" You're a grand old flag,

You're a high flying flag

And forever in peace may you wave.

You're the emblem of

The land I love.

The Home of the Free and The Brave.

Ev'ry heart beats true

'neath the Red, White and Blue,

Where there's never a boast or brag.

But should auld acquaintance be forgot,

Keep your eye on the grand old flag."

- written by George M. Cohan

Underlined is the part which I didn't quite know. Anyway, I know I must have learned this song sometime in Elementary school and for some reason it popped into my head last night.

This lyric thing reminds me of the commercials I have seen for the new gameshow that will test contestants knowledge of song lyrics. An interesting idea, yet not something I will mark on my calendar to ensure my viewage.

Lesson #4: Patriotism may creep up without warning, at any time. For we were all taught some ounce of patriotism along the way - in our young impressionable days no doubt.

PS Most of us were most likely taught the pledge of allegiance in our early days - how many of us can remember it all now? How about the scene from Supersize Me where people standing in front of the White House try to recall the pledge of allegiance - turns out its easy to remember the big mac jingle - how American

The Art of Grilling

Summer is upon us and with the 4th of July right around the corner what could be more American than GRILLING! Grilling is fun and easy (really it's easy). This Independence Day break out the charcoal (or gas) and grill up some hotdogs, veggies, hamburgers, whatever your palate craves. I know I'll be out in the yard grilling up some dogs before the fireworks. If steak is your meat, may I suggest a A1 Chicago marinade and perhaps a Chicago steak rub if you prefer - or why not go all out and do both.

The weather has been great around here. After a hot streak a week ago, I'm now living in the 70s... now if I could just get a job to squash my guilt about living an almost carefree life. Although, if I could hold off getting a job til August that would be sweet, as I would then be able to live the great life at the shore with my family for the last 2 weeks of July. Perhaps my subconscious has secretly been denying me the full effort I could exert towards acquiring employment because, as my subconscious, it is watching out for me - ensuring that I get my well-deserved vacation! Hey, just like the saying inside of the Father's Day card I got my Dad this year - "I'm worth it".

Envisioning the shoreline, of in this case NJ (trust me for anyone who disses NJ, you have never been to the southern shoreline), I wish I were living near the ocean all year long. That would be the life - cross my fingers - someday this shall be the case. Being able to walk to the beach, lay out in the sun, take in the ocean breeze... mmm just picture it - beautiful.


Lesson #3: Northern New Jersey maybe the armpit of American, but Southern New Jersey - bliss.