Friday, December 4, 2009

I'd Like to Point Out How Cool my Friends are

First of all, I have had to change my default font (Lucida Grande) to a new one (Verdana). The new post editor doesn't have Lucida Grande anymore. Just a snippet.

So, I promised myself that I would not become one of those bloggers that neglects their blog for a month, then posts a really short thing to relieve their conscience, then ignores their blog for another month. But the truth is, I have a ridiculously small amount of free time right now, and what little time I DO spend blogging is usually my one-post-a-day photo blog, because apparently my photography is more interesting than the rest of my life (what I'm saying is that I have real followers on that blog, who expect a daily post).
Anyway, excuses, excuses. Here's what my friends commented on one of my status updates on Facebook.






Thank you Kurt, Destin, and Matt for making my life funnier.

Onward to another topic that I will cram into this post, even though it is completely unrelated.

My school does a Madrigal Dinner every December. If you don't know what that is, I won't try to explain it. Just come. I'll sell you tickets. But one of the quirks of being in the Chamber choir is that I don't have to serve people food. I just have to entertain them. This year, I specifically requested the role of "Master of the Salt." Why? Because I get to trade salt for action. Yes, to get salt, you must kiss me on the cheek. Unless you're a dude. Tonight, after the choir finished Madrigal Dinner, we went down to Orem to sing a gig for Tahitian Noni's annual company Christmas party. I got a ride with a friend, so my car sat in the Lone Peak lot for about an hour. Upon my return to Lone Peak, I noticed that someone had written in car marker on my rear windshield: "I was gonna lick your face."

Hilarious and awesome, yes. But I don't know who did it. Usually I could figure out who did something like that. But none of my suspects were there tonight. So if you know anything, let me know. I'm pretty curious.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Teen-to-English Dictionary

Sorry for going so long without updating. I've been very focused on my photography blog lately, but I don't intend to stop writing this blog.

We have dictionaries for everything. Except Teen-to-English. I plan to remedy that. It will be more useful than a Swahili-to-Navajo dictionary, anyway. The main difference between this dictionary and the rag Mr. Webster produces is that I not only include words with translations, but entire phrases! Here's the format:










Teenage WordTranslation thereof


Prepare to understand teenagers better.





























































Legit, Tight, Sick, RadGenerally positive
Weak, Lame, Crap, GayGenerally negative
LyfeLife
HateeeeeHate
"Shut up!""I disbelieve you."
"Music is my life.""I occasionally listen to the All-American Rejects."
"I like all kinds of music.""I occasionally listen to the All-American Rejects."
"I love photography.""I own a Nikon Coolpix because Ashton Kutcher is attractive."
"I hate drama.""I love drama."
"I am an open person.""If you say 'gay' in front of me, I will get mad at you."
"I don't judge people by the color of their skin.""If you voted for McCain, you're racist."
"I love poetry.""I write mediocre poetry, but don't read anyone else's."
"I love reading.""I love reading Twilight."
"I'm waiting for my Romeo to sweep me off my feet.""I'm antisocial and can't get a date, so I hide on social networking sites. Furthermore, I have never read Shakespeare."



That concludes the sneak-preview. I don't know why the formatting on the page is so screwed up. Stupid Blogger CSS. I'll end with another shameless advertisement for my photo blog.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Billy Mays

In honor of the late purveyor of OxiClean, Mighty Putty, Kaboom!, and many other household essentials, I decided to dedicate my 2009 Jack-o'-Lantern experience to none other than Billy Mays. May he rest in peace.



Notice the all-caps

In other news, I've started a photo blog. On the off chance that you care, it's been added to my links section.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Record Breakers

As we learned from Michael Phelps, every record, no matter how insane, will eventually be broken. We also learned that you won't get in that much trouble for experimenting with marijuana as long as you're famous, but I'll save the other applications of that lesson for another post.

Following my introduction is a short list of records I didn't think could be broken... and how they were.

#1. Most Bricks Karate-Chopped through

I imagine at one point, this record belonged to some neanderthal, who, in a drunken prehistoric rage, hit the wall of his rock hut, and brought it smashing down to the ground. His tribe-mates heard about the feat, and probably held some sort of contest to see who could smash the most rocks. I like to imagine that one of the larger, beefier cavemen (who also probably had the largest beard) won that contest, and was awarded the rock crown that symbolized leadership. Then all the other cavemen had to bring him mammoth meat while he sat on his stone throne, a rhyme which I'm sure neanderthals wouldn't appreciate. Eventually, the wheel was invented, and then iron, electricity, and Twitter. Somewhere along the line, this pastime became much more civilized, with contenders smashing bricks and cinder blocks rather than rough stones. But I digress. I'm here to show you some sick videos, so that's what I'm going to do.





As you can see, this man goes through 90 concrete blocks in 16 seconds. I'll be honest; I have nothing witty to say about that. Here's an even better video:




This video is all the more impressive because the man doesn't even hit the bricks. He first shouts at them, presumably to both weaken their structural integrity and instill deep in their souls a sense of fear. Then he taps the topmost brick with his hand, and the rest crumple in a comical, domino-like implosion of shame.

#2. Most Books Typed Backwards

Michele Santelia has typed 67 books backwards, using four unmarked keyboards (one with English characters, one with Hebrew, one Chinese, and one Etruscan). Here is an actual transcript of the phone call placed by Mr. Santelia to report his "success" to the good people at the Guinness Book of World Records.


Guinness Operator: Hello, and welcome to the Guinness Book of World Records claims hotline. We are currently not accepting claims of having broken the most consecutive pogo-stick jumps record, the largest gum bubble record, or longest fingernails record, due to the fact that nobody cares. How can I help you?
Santelia: Yes, I've just finished typing my 67th book backwards.
Guinness: You've... hang on, what?
Santelia: I typed 67 books backwards.
Guinness: Are you serious? You want in for something as stupid as that? Get a hobby, man! Go put snails on your face, or walk on coals for a mile, or... or something!
Santelia: So can I be in the book?
Guinness: Absolutely. I'll inform my superiors immediately. And how long did this take you, sir?
Santelia:
Don't worry about it.
Guinness:
Gotcha.

The most disturbing part about the record listing, though, is its conspicuous lack of a time listing. They won't tell us how long it took Santelia to accomplish this task. Which forces me to assume it took well over a fortnight. I know that's an understatement, but I really wanted to use the word "fortnight." This automatically grants Santelia two further records: "Longest waste of time," and "Stupidest waste of time." Ironically, this also makes him a serious contender for the "Most Guinness Book of World Records awards held" record.

But wait! Did I say waste of time? No, as you can see here, Santelia has been selling his "works." What man who considers himself a serious scholar wouldn't want to add "The Tragedy of Macbeth Backwards" to his collection of refined literature? I can see it now... Stephen Hawking lovingly places his copy on the bookshelf, labeling that row "eraepsekahS mailliW" with a single, electronic chuckle. And somewhere in Italy, Santelia rolls around with $31.08 in $1 bills floating through the air around him.

#3. Stupidest Scammer Alive

After my first round of Senegal scammage, I have received numerous emails of the same variety. On a whim yesterday, I decided to answer another one for kicks. The reply was even more excellent than my last one. It was also significantly longer, so I'll only post highlights.


Like I said my name is Franca Aburey,I'm from Liberia in Monrovia the capital of my country in west Africa, I'm 26 years old,I'm fair in complexion, 1.62 feet in height.

Wow! I think you have... wait for it... BIGGER problems than your locked up finances.

i attach my picture here to show you who i am and i will also be expecting your own picture in your next mail.
So, here are the pictures Franca attached for me. I'm completely serious.




Excellent style, Franca. Once again, this screams "refugee in Senegal." Luckily, the hostel you're staying in has a professional photographer, and, evidently, a professional signature forger, who specializes in American photography company logos.

As excellent as this photo is, I believe the next one to be even more enlightening.





Um... what? Okay, I just added "professional florist" to the list of hostel employees, and Mr. Forgery has really been busy. All sarcasm aside, I honestly don't understand how this is supposed to give me any kind of information on what Franca looks like. Maybe she's trying to charm me with a picture of something vaguely feminine? I'm at a loss here.

Fortunately, I have a plan on exactly what to send back. As Franca expects a picture from me, the message will consist of just that... a picture. Here are some candidates.




I debated putting the "Royal"
signature on this one



Dramatization



Almost as vague as roses
and a candle

So, everyone (saying "everyone" makes it sound like I have a lot of readers), those are your choices. I need you to vote in the comments. More on this story later. I'm still hoping to troll one of these scammers into breaking their cover.

Do me proud.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

My Car is Home to a Squirrel

Okay. Story time. Gather around the metaphorical Blog rug. Everyone have your vanilla wafers? Here we go.

Once upon a time, I was trying to start my car this morning at about 6:15 so it could be warmed up and ready to go by 6:30, when I needed to leave for Seminary. Unfortunately, the engine wouldn't turn over. This was not particularly surprising, as the car is older than me, and held together with spit and prayers. So I popped the hood to take a look. Lo and behold, a LIVE TREE SQUIRREL was sitting on my engine block, staring me down.

"I dare you to do something about this," it said sassily. Except it couldn't really talk, except just pretend, okay?



"This is MY house."

I responded with a swift Z-Snap, and a resounding, "oh no you DITN'T!" I moon-walked to my garage to get on a pair of work gloves with which to remove the squirrel from my car with minimal risk of rabies and/or squirrel flu. When I came back, the squirrel scampered down into the undercarriage. It was out of reach, but I could still see its beady little eye. Staring at me. Mocking me. Right then, I almost got back in the car to make squirrel pâté. But my inner hippie vetoed this motion and I conceded defeat... for now. I took the Suburban to school.

When I got home, I checked out my engine block and my undercarriage carefully. It seemed squirrel-free, so I tried starting the car again. Nothing. The engine still wouldn't turn over. So. If the squirrel chewed through some wire or something else that would destroy my car... I'll just say I hope it was insta-fried down to a few moles of carbon, and blown by the wind right into Utah Lake.

The score stands at Squirrel: 2, Andrew: 0 right now. But I will have my revenge. And, heaven willing, get my car running again.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Adventures of a Senegal Scammer, Part II

My dear friend Grace Johnson wrote me back after a long bout of email silence. This is good; I was starting to lose faith that she would ever get back to me. How else would I heal the scars that losing both of my parents in a tragic safari accident caused? Here is the transcript of her email. My comments are in red.

hello dear.
am very happy to inform you about my sucCess in getting the money transfered by my new pertiner (partner?) from korea but Presently i am now in Japan for investment projects and building of an Orphanage home in Africa and 2 other countries. (Africa and 2 other countries? I presume those countries are Asia and South America, then?) meanwhile, i did not forget your past efforts and attempts to assist in transferring those funds despite that you failed me somehow because we loosed contact . (Hang on. Let's get the story straight. I emailed YOU back and YOU ignored me. This does not mean I failed YOU because we "s0mehow loosed contact.")

Now contact Rev Andrew Kuma on emai (catholicophanagehome@live.com ) and Tell.+22-1768417838 , ask him to send you a Barclays Bank Draft of $50 ,000.00 which i raised in your favour for your compensation for
all the past efforts and attempts to assist me in this matter. (Now we're talking.) I appreciated your efforts and the care at that time. Thank you very much .So feel free and get in touch with Rev Andrew Kuma and give him your address and your new contact telephone number where to send the draft to you. (I'll do that right away. Are you sure he doesn't need my social security and blood type as well?)

I am very busy here in japan because of the investment projects which i and the new friend Mr. Kaito Yamato and Mr.Allen Smith Jr are having at hand, I remembered that I had forwarded instruction to Rev Andrew Kuma on your behalf to receive that money, so feel free to get in touch with him without any delay. You might not hear from me in 3 months or more from now for security reasons . (Because the hackers don't read your emails if you space them out over three month increments.)

Best regards,
Grace

So enlightening. Well it sounds like our young hero has nothing left to do but claim his 50 grand from the mysterious reverend in Africa. Or does he?

Dear Grace,

I'm so happy for you! Thank Cthulu for your sucCess in transferring the funds to Korea. I'm proud of you for choosing to spend your money on orphanages in countries like Africa, such as and.

I cannot accept the $50,000, but will happily donate it to this Reverend Andrew Kuma. I'm sure he will put it to excellent use.

And Grace, there is one more thing... I think I am in love with you. I cannot put my emotions to words now, but I will wait the three months with bated breath, hoping, nay, praying for your reply.

Be safe.

Love,
Andrew

P.S. Cute pix lol!

Hopefully I'll be able to get back to you on this story in about three months. But realistically, I doubt it. "Grace" is most likely some old greasy man who speaks very little English, but wants to make a buck off of those stupid Americans.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Random Video Game Name Generator

Ah, Internet. How you never let me down. I have, once again, found a new source of humor. It comes in the form of the Random Video Game Name Generator. Go check it out.

Now that you see what the site does, you will understand my immediate and automatic desire to throw together artwork for the game boxes in Photoshop. Here are my 3 best ones:

#3. Magic Train Crime Scene Investigation





In this game, you would play the role of a young, creepily animated boy who didn't believe in Christmas... until he finds that Santa was behind the explosion on the Polar Express! Rated E for Everyone.

#2. Frankenstein's Beat Dance Mix





This game would consist of a Guitar Hero-esque gameplay, but the controller is a 1/2 size version of a Frankenstein doll. Make him dance right, and your acceptance bar goes up. When it gets full, the townspeople are finally able to look past your physical deformities and see you for what you really are: lord of the dance! Rated T for Teen.

#1. Guitar Trampoline Choreographer




This game needs no petty descriptions from me. The Wii-ish game art tells you everything you need to know. Rated W for Way too Freaking Awesome.

So now that I've enlightened you as to the existence of this wonderful site, go check it out. Make some 500x500 album covers of your own! Just make sure I see them. This has tremendous potential.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Yahoo Answers: Fails and Wins

If you haven't been introduced to the wonderful, 75% troll population of the Yahoo Answers community yet, you are missing out. Where else could people ask leading questions about other people's religions or political beliefs, and conversely, state their own opinions as fact? (Besides the rest of the internet.) Here I have compiled a list of Yahoo Answers fails and wins for your enjoyment. I have found that every dumb question falls into one of five basic categories: Standard Stupid, Too Much Information, English as a Secondary Language, Facepalm Worthy, and Trolling.

Standard Stupid:



Really?

As you can see, the 4th graders of today are smart enough to figure out Yahoo Answers, but lack the common sense of a 9-year-old. Wait...

Too Much Information:



I'm more concerned with what a "Ginny" is

Another sad example of how comfortable people feel being gross behind the shield of anonymity the internet affords.

English as a Secondary Language:



In Vlad's defense, this question
doesn't make sense in Russian,
either

I could make fun of this, but that would be like kicking a crippled puppy down the street: way too easy to be fun, and anyone can do it.

Facepalm Worthy:



I thought metal was more about
ripping hearts out.

And I would have to say that Megadeth has caused me to cry more than any other metal band.

Trolling:




For those of you who are blissfully unaware of what trolling is, let me pop that bubble of happiness. Trolls are people who scream racist, sexist, or generally offensive crap in public internet outlets hoping only to get emotional responses from others. Yahoo Answers trolls have evolved (mutated?) into people who ask questions designed to get people riled up, so that when they post their answer, the troll can report them for not answering the question correctly, and get them banned. We have internet anonymity to thank, once again.

Luckily, Yahoo Answers is only 99% a repository for idiots, trolls, etc. The lucky explorer can find gems of wit near the bottom of the swamp on occasion.




Honest question



Even more honest answer

In case you couldn't read that, it says "Set it on a windowsill where the sun hits it. Pick it back up in 135 years and it will have that yellow parchment appearance." I offer my congratulations and respect to the brave crusader for intelligent sarcasm risking his life in the dangerous territory that is Yahoo Answers.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

A Letter to the CEO of GEICO

To whom it may concern:

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your professionalism. Truly I have been inspired by your extraordinary capacity for judgment of the human race as a whole. And how you have applied that to your business practices only serves to demonstrate your immense wisdom.

How could a mere mortal hope to achieve the same level of prudence as the man, nay, divine being, who discovered that all teenagers are terrible drivers? Indeed, those monsters unquestionably pose an untold threat to all the responsible, adult drivers on the roads of this country. It logically follows, then, that their insurance should cost twice the normal amount; only then can the universe be in perfect fiscal balance.

But under no circumstances should those blights against the human race, those scourges of mortals everywhere, those... teenage boys be afforded the same measure of decency as their relatively tolerable female counterparts. No, Baal himself demands that they be charged no less than four times the regular sum for auto insurance.

It behooves you to realize that not a single one of these savage barbarians deserves the chance to prove their skill and competence at driving safely. Let there be no possible mercy on those of them who avoid even the merest accident for the entire duration of their driving career. It matters not if he follows the speed limit more zealously than the SUV-owning mothers of Utah Valley who come to you for auto coverage. It matters not if he has never texted while driving, as is the custom of 95% of the 16 to 25-year-old girls you insure. It matters not if he uses his turn signal more often than the collective population of Provo. He is a teenage boy, and the bottom line is, he must not prevail!

Using the economy to your advantage, you have the power to end the auto-careers of these menaces on the road. I charge thee, therefore, to seal every loophole, caulk every legal gap, and prevent the continuation of the teenage-male-driver breed.

Viva la KGB!
Hugo Chavez

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

G-Force Review

Let me give you a little background on this post: I was sitting at my computer, writing a sample article for the newspaper, which was a movie review. Since the only new releases I've seen so far are HP6 and G-Force (don't ask), I decided to write on G-Force. Somewhere along the line, maybe four or five words into the review, I could no longer dam the veritable river of sarcasm screaming to pour out of my head onto the paper, and the review became an example of exactly what NOT to do while writing a newspaper article, to be shown to the class tomorrow. Now I'm not here to educate you all on correct journalistic writing. I'm here to make you laugh. And I figured this was blog material. Without further ado, here goes:

This summer's box office contains many hits, but none of them are quite like G-Force. This thrilling yet comical release will keep your eyes glued to the screen while scenes of rodent-ridden action excite and amaze you! Tracy Morgan's inspiring performance nearly moved me to tears. He certainly has not sunk to a new low in his comedic career by voicing an animated guinea pig in a children's film, not to mention co-starring in a movie with Nicolas Cage.


The story follows our four quadruped heroes as they traverse the big city in an attempt to foil the plans of mega-billionaire CEO, Leonard Saber. Through a completely unpredictable plot twist, the team's tech support mole (a brilliant pun), fondly referred to as "Speckles," turns out to be the supervillain behind Leonard Saber's appliance-turned-killing-machines.

After an absolutely heartrending emotional climax, where it is tragically revealed that the guinea pig secret agents are not, in fact, biologically engineered to be mentally superior to all other guinea pigs, the G-Force team spends 30 seconds reflecting before moving out again to shout clichés (or in Tracy Morgan's case, black clichés), blow stuff up, and make Will Arnett's character look like a real dimwit.

I won't ruin the movie for you, but don't expect everything to end happily without something unexpected happening first! So this summer, be sure to avoid seeing District 9 or G.I. Joe - opt for the better option: G-Force in 3D!

I don't have a whole lot else to say on the subject. If you haven't seen G-Force, save your money. If you have, this article is probably a little funnier to you. Also, sorry for not having any pictures this post. I was too lazy.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

I'm Bumping My Other Blog

This one will be a quickie.

Reader's Digest version: I'm building a guitar right now, and I want to document everything. Since I vowed to keep this blog strictly to topics on which I can easily write humorous posts, I'm creating a separate blog to follow my guitar-building progress. For those interested, I've put a link at the top of my sidebar. For those not interested, I've put a link at the top of my sidebar, but I want you to ignore it.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Adventures of a Senegal Scammer, Part I

Remember the 90s, back when cyberspace was this neat-o new invention that could be used for communication and business? Remember how approximately seven minutes after the internet was launched, some guy figured he could use it to scam people? Well that's one internet trend that has continued to be rampant, even in futuristic 2009. And finally, after years of waiting, the scam industry has decided to grace me with the privilige of receiving an email from a destitute African woman, whose father left her $2.3 million U.S. dollars. But she dares not attempt to access these funds from her refugee camp in Senegal. No, she needs a trustworthy soul in America to help her transfer the money to a U.S. bank account first.

This blog will spend a few posts following the progress of our journey together to transfer the funds to a U.S. bank account where she can safely withdraw it, and begin life anew in America, possibly rewarding the savior who assisted her in these transactions with a large sum of the money. Where will our adventures take us? Only time will tell.

Let's start with a transcript of the email I received.

"Hello my dearest
How are you today?
I am more than happy in your reply to my mail.
Mine is a little bit cold over here in Dakar senegal.
My name is Grace koneh from Ivory Coast in West Africa, i am 22yrs old, 5.3ft tall, fair in complexion and presently i am residing in the refugee camp here in dakar as a result of the civil war that was fought in my country.My late father Dr Oliver koneh was the personal advicer to the former head of state before the rebels attacked our house one early morning and killed my mother and my father in cold blood .it was only me that is alive now as the only child and I managed to make my way to a near by country senegal where i am leaving now In this camp .
Its just like one staying in the prison and i hope by God's grace i will come out here soon.i don't have any relatives now whom i can go to, all my relatives ran away in the middle of the war the only person i know here is Rev.father andrew kuma who is incharge of the church here in the camp ,

The rev, father's Tel number is (00221771703012) if you call and tell him that you want to speak with me then he will send for me from my hostel to come and speak with you . As a refugee here i don't have any right or privilege to any thing be it money or whatever because it is against the law of this country.I want to go back to my studies because i only attended my first year before the tragic incident that lead to my being in this situation now took place.

Please listen to this,when my father was alive he deposited some amount of money in one of the leading banks in europe which he used my name as the next of kin, the amount is $2.3M (Two million three Hundred Thousand Dollars),

I have my late father's Deposit Certificate and death Certificate here with me which i will send to you latter, So i will like you to help me transfer this money to your account and from it you can send some money for me to get my travelling documents and air ticket to come over to your place in order to further my studies, I kept this secret to people in the camp here because i don't want to loose the money or my life.

So in the light of above i will like you to keep it to yourself and don't tell it to anyone for i am afraid of loosing my life and the money if people gets to know about it.
Remember i am giving you all this information due to my beleive in GOD and hoping that you will not disappoint me.I like honest and understanding people,truthful and hardworking person.My local language is french but i speak English very fluently.

Please i will like you to answer me these questions:
1.What percentage of the money will be good for you after the money is transfered into your account?
2. can i trust you as a genuine friend ?

Meanwhile i will like you to call me like i said, i have alot to tell you..
Have a nice day and think about my condition here
Attach here is my pictures for you,
With love, Grace"

Here are the pictures that were attached:





This screams "refugee camp"


Now, there are many routes I could take with this opportunity. I could play the role of the absolute sucker, and give her fake bank information that would lead to her frustration. I could play the role of the absolute sucker, and give her extremely fake bank information that would lead to her arrest. I could turn the tables on her and ask her about helping me move a large sum of money from these weak U.S. dollars into a more secure currency, like Communaute Financiere Africaine francs, which just happen to be the standard monetary unit in Senegal. But I think that what I have planned is far more amusing. The trick with these emails is to be annoying enough to entertain yourself without giving away the fact that you're aware this is a scam.

Here is the transcript of the email which I have sent back:

Hello dear,

I'm doing great today. I had no idea that the civil war of Côte d'Ivoire had reached so far as to force refugees into camps in Senegal. I can empathize with your situation all to well, as my parents were also killed in a freak accident while on a safari in Guinea-Bissau shortly after I was born. I was raised by a small convent of monks, but set out last year to make my own destiny. I was 16 at the time, and have been living happily in Utah for a year and a half since then.

I would be happy to help you transfer your inheritance to a U.S. bank so you can fly to America and live here in peace and happiness, further your studies, and live a long, successful life.

I cannot ask for any of the money that is rightfully yours, especially knowing how tragic your past has been. My only payment will be the satisfaction of knowing I've helped out somebody in need of my service.

I hope that you can trust me as a friend, I want only to help you reach the United States safely and happily.

Thank you for the pictures; were they taken before or after your parents' deaths?

Please contact me soon so we can get started,
Andrew

From here, we wait. What will happen next? Stay tuned to watch this story unfold.

Friday, July 31, 2009

Wisdom Tooth Wisdom

This post is to document the last three days of my wisdom tooth removal process. Also, to make you laugh.

Day 1:
At 8:00 on the morning of July 29, 2009, I arrived at the orthodontist in Lehi. After enduring many insensitive jibes about my looming surgery from the calloused, unfeeling nurses (I believe they were called Cruella and Jabba), I entered the room where the fateful destruction of my four extra molars was to take place. The oral surgeon entered, and imformed me that he was wearing his lucky wristband. I remarked dryly that I hoped he wasn't relying too much on luck. He said not to worry, as he had learned how to do this surgery pretty well the day before. I asked whether he had learned it on Wikipedia. He didn't answer, which I took as a bad omen. Shortly thereafter, they put me on Nitrous Oxide. I had previously instructed my mouth to stop moving at the mention of Nitrous Oxide, as other peoples' experiences have told me that the line between "witty" and "retarded" statements blurs alarmingly with the introduction of that particular gas.



Is this real life?


I inhaled the laughing gas with exceptional dignity, and vaguely felt an IV being inserted into my arm. Then I woke up on my couch at home. Subsisting on a steady diet of water and Lortab, my thoughts were not too clear that day. At one point, I decided to go check my FaceBook. Rising off the couch, I walked up the stairs and sat down at the computer. At that point, my vision went black and I only just managed to gently lower myself onto the floor before I lost consciousness. "Edward..." I moaned, as the hole in my chest overpowered me.




Day 2:
July 30, 2009. I woke up, and promptly went back to sleep. This event occurred with alarming regularity throughout the entire day. I read all of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. And I drank some Fuze. (Note: I finished that Fuze off today. It tasted like getting your wisdom teeth out.)





On the plus side, I was free to choose a position other than "laying down" without being forced to do Bella impersonations.

Day 3:
I had to go into work today for a while, until they could find someone to cover. A friend of mine who also works at Iceberg came in, took one look at me, and burst out laughing. Well, I'm glad one of us found humor in the situation.

And because I'm a rebel, I'm not even going to post a picture of my comically swollen face. That's right, I'm denying all seven of my readers that pleasure!

Friday, July 17, 2009

Harry Potter and Andrew

I stepped off the Hogwarts Express alongside Ron, Hermione, and Harry, shooting malevolent looks at Malfoy as he passed. It was our 5th year at Hogwarts, and I had spent the majority of the train ride listening to them groan about O.W.L. exams. They were going to take place this year, and though I felt I could have passed them easily last year, I said nothing about the exams, aside from perhaps slipping a dry, witty comment in once or twice. Possibly three times.

I walked up to the thestral-drawn carriages, Ron, Hermione, and Harry hurrying along in my wake. The thestrals were looking thinner, more gaunt somehow than usual. I, of course, had been able to see the thestrals ever since I killed that Death Eater in my first year. The familiar call of "firs' years, this way!" rang out from the lake. I smiled quietly to myself, wondering if even Hagrid had noticed how underfed the thestrals were looking. I made a mental note to myself to mention it to him next time he invited me, Hermione, Harry, and maybe even Ron down to his cottage for tea and rock cakes, as he inevitably would by owl the first week of term.

As I stepped onto my carriage, I heard a shout and whipped around at lightning speed, thinking that Seamus had once again blown something the heck up. What met my eyes, however, was the hulking figure of Crabbe, his gorilla arms holding his wand up in the sky. He was casting the dark mark, just for fun it seemed. With a lazy flick of my wand, I sent his spinning skyward. It landed with a satisfying plop in the lake. Quickly erasing the dark mark from the sky before anyone noticed, I made a dry, witty comment on how thick Crabbe was.





Harry, Hermione, and Ron laughed loudly at my humor, then began quibbling among themselves over who got to sit next to me in the carriage.

"Andrew, Harry got to sit next to you last year, and Ron was the year before that. Isn't it my turn?" begged Hermione.

I rolled my eyes. Petrificus Totalus! The incantation emanated from my mouth thrice in quick succession. Hermione and Ron landed with their own respective thumps on the grass, and Harry swayed comically before crashing down on top of them both. He began attempting in vain to clutch at his scar like a loser, (because any time he clutches at his scar, he does so "like a loser"). He couldn't really move, but I could just tell.

I stood over the three. One of them, probably Ron, was whimpering quietly.

"Now you can all sit next to me at once!" I chortled, stacking them vertically next to me in the carriage. Harry stopped trying to grab his scar. Possibly he realized what a clever solution this was. He even smiled, a little. Except for he was paralyzed.

The thestrals started towards the castle. I gazed up at the many turrets and spires of Hogwarts, knowing that it would all be mine someday. The song The Circle of Life began playing, from Lion King.





Three years have passed since that day. Three long years, in which Harry helped me kill Voldemort, and I married both Ginny and Hermione. Ron protested at first, but after my Confundus charm, he seems to be quite happy with Lavender Brown. The sword of Gryffindor now rests in its scabbard at my side, because wearing a sword around makes me look super bad-a. The sorting hat resides in its proper place, on my head. It has to make a new song up for me each week. Harry has a spell placed on him that makes his forehead hurt (I have long since healed the scar) every time he says "blimey." Seamus has had a very successful career entertaining toddlers and the elderly by blowing things up in his face. Neville does crap with plants, or something. All is well.




Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Um, Animorphs

Okay. For those of you who have not experienced the joy of these books (hopefully as an elementary school age child), here is a short breakdown of the plot to explain things before I begin pitilessly mocking them.

Jake, Cassie, Marco, Rachel, and Tobias are 7th graders. They are walking home from school when AN ALIEN SHIP LANDS right by them. Out comes an Andalite, which is basically a blue deer with no mouth and a giant blade on its tail. Oh, and stalk eyes. It's dying. It tells them about these other aliens called Yeerks, which are little gray slugs, but they can take over other species by going into their ear canal and hijacking their brains. Every three days, the Yeerks have to come out and have a swim in the Yeerk Pool, which is this sludgy stuff that has nutrients and crap. The Andalite then gives them a glowy blue cube. Whoever touches it can morph into animals that they have acquired DNA from (just by touching the animals). But if they stay in a morph for more than two hours, they're stuck in it FOREVER! So the heroic middle school students must stop the Yeerks from taking over humanity! Also, like four books in, the little brother of the first Andalite, named Ax, crash lands in the ocean and they save him. Then he helps them fight the Yeerks.




Also, they look like this.
Just throwing that out there.

That's a super condensed version of the 54-book plot, but I'm more interested in ridiculing than summarizing.

Character breakdown.

Jake. Jake is the natural leader of the group. He's the "tall, dark, and handsome" type. He doesn't talk a whole lot. He is romantically involved with Cassie the entire time. If he was a Twilight character, he would be Edward.

Rachel. Rachel is Jake's cousin. She is the girl version of Rambo. She exists in the series not to provide any kind of plot or character development, but to humorously suggest the most violent possible plan for every situation that arises. If she was a director, she would be Michael Bay.

Marco. Marco is the comic relief for the series. Well, I should rephrase that. Marco is the intentional comic relief of the series. He exists to crack jokes, talk about 90's-esque gaming consoles, and use neat-o, hip, 90's lingo. If he was a decade, he would be the 90's.

Cassie. Cassie is a tree hugging hippie. She exists so that the Animorphs don't all have to be white. She is the opposite of Rachel in that she has too much personality, character development, etc. Reading books from Cassie's perspective is boring. All she does it talk about stupid feelings. If she was a talk show host, she would be Dr. Phil.

Tobias. Tobias is the boy version of Cassie. He's the picked on kid at school who's really artsy and comes from a messed up family. He exists so that K.A. Applegate can avoid the stereotype that boys are all G.I. Joe and girls are all Bella Swan. If he was a psychological disorder, he would be depression.

Ax. Ax is a blue freakin' deer. He exists to fill in plot holes with explanations derived from alien technology. And to have vaguely gay scenes with Tobias where they do strangely primitive alien rituals together to celebrate the sunset and crap. Like every book.

Plot Holes

Most of the logic flaws in the plot can be filled in with something Ax says. Oh, wait. I forgot he doesn't have a mouth, so he just telepathically projects his thoughts into everyone's mind. But there are a few things that just don't make sense.

First of all, the battle morphs they use are ridiculous.





Is it just me, or is that a little less intimidating than this?




I know which one could take more bullets. Or Dracon Beams, as it were.

Second, Tobias manages to get permanently trapped in his hawk morph in the very first book, during a raid on the Yeerk Pool. At first I questioned how he could be that stupid. But then a much more pertinent question arose: why the heck did he morph into a hawk to raid the Yeerk Pool?




Tobias' plan for attacking the
Yeerks in Arizona

Also, what did you plan on accomplishing by attacking the Yeerk Pool?



Even if you're a gorilla, you can't
just "destroy" a pool of liquid

Okay. I'm out of things to make fun of. I know it's been awhile since I blogged actively. Hopefully this summer I can get back into the groove of things. Word.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Not Overburdened with Subject

In keeping with my long tradition of making fun of Twilight, I found this article. Actually, Melissa showed it to me, and Brittany showed it to her. I took the best part, a parody, and will post it here.

The original post (along with the rest that I didn't re-post here) can be found with a short Google search for "Not Overburdened with Subject." It is your first result.

Without further ado:

Duskiness

Edward leaned toward me, his perfect face inches from mine. His sweet, delicious breath ghosted over my face. His golden eyes glowed with love.

“How do you like it?” he whispered, his velvet voice purring in my ear.

I couldn’t respond, so dazzled was I by his sparkling skin. He shone like a diamond in the sun, a godlike creature before me.

He smirked at my befuddlement, but then his face darkened and he thundered, “Don’t be difficult, Bella!”

I cringed, but he instantly softened, chuckled his bell-like laugh, and leaned toward me again. His cold, pale fingers brushed my cheek. I stopped breathing.

“Come here,” he said, bounding up in one of those blindingly-fast movements I’d grown accustomed to. “I want to show you something.”

He led me to a small creek and sank gracefully into the grass at its edge. I tripped over a pebble and landed on my face in the mud. Edward laughed. How could he love me? He was so beautiful, gorgeous, and perfect. Like the statue of David come alive. Like Adonis, a god, an angel.

Edward removed his shoes and rolled up the cuffs of his jeans, and I gasped at the sight of his white, smooth ankles. Sunlight reflected off his toenails, each an ivory glint of perfection. I’d never seen Edward’s feet before. I hadn’t realized he could be more beautiful than he was, but there seemed no end to his beauty.

My heart beat madly in my chest, bounced up into my throat, ricocheted off half a dozen ribs, and finally settled somewhere in the vicinity of my kneecap. I collapsed.

Faster than a speeding bullet, Edward had lifted me in his marble arms and cradled me to his granite chest. “Bella? Bella!” he screamed. “No!”

The sight of his perfect, glorious face so twisted in anguish sent waves of torture through my body. “Edward!” I gasped.

His cold, unyielding lips pressed to mine, but I dared not move for fear of breaking his control, so irresistible did he find the scent of my blood. I could not bear knowing I had caused Edward pain by forcing him to eat me. My heart fluttered around my kneecap.

The kiss done, Edward set me on my feet. Without moving, I tripped over a stick and would have fallen in the stream had Edward not caught me in his iron embrace.

“Will you answer a question?” I asked.

“Of course, my love, my life, my forever,” Edward said, casually tearing boulders apart with his toes. I watched, spellbound for a moment, before remembering myself.

“I once asked if you could turn into a bat, and you just laughed.”

Edward smirked. “Because it was a stupid question. We don’t turn into bats. Why would we want to turn into bats?”

“But can you turn into something?”

“Of course.” He stood, stretched, and his shirt rose enough for me to catch a glimpse of his sculpted abs above his waistband. I hyperventilated and passed out.

When I awoke, Edward was speaking.

“—for disguise.”

“What?” I asked breathlessly.

“I said, we turn into fruit. It’s great for disguising yourself.” He watched me carefully, to see if this revelation would finally be the one that convinced me he was a monster, that sent me screaming from him.

“Oh.” I said. “What kind of fruit?”

He looked frustrated, annoyed, euphoric, scared, nervous, grumpy, amused, sleepy, and sad. Like an archangel come down from heaven to bless me with his presence. “An apple.”

“Oh. Can I see?”

Rage colored his features. “No! Why can’t you understand? I’m a danger to you! I could kill you! I should leave you forever!” He threw himself forward and wrapped his arms around me. “I should go – right now! It’s the only way to keep you safe!”

Despair settled over me, so thick and heavy I could hardly see. “No, Edward! Don’t leave me! I know we’ve only been together for three hours, but I want to spend forever with you! Please!”

He pulled back and looked at me, thousands of emotions roiling in his liquid topaz eyes. “Do you mean that, Bella?”

“Yes.”

“Very well.”

His perfect, glorious, heavenly face dipped toward me, and he touched his cold lips to my neck. He growled deep in his throat, a sound that traveled up and down my spine like lightning.

Then came a sharp pain. His grip tightened. I gasped his name. My sight dimmed until all I could see was the sparkle of his skin, calling me to paradise.

Then nothing.

****

Edward looked down at the body of Bella Swan, pale and lifeless in his pale and lifeless arms.

“Oops.”

His sobs shook the forest for six long seconds, and then he stood, wiping a drop of blood from the corner of his mouth.

“Yum.”

He sprinted for the edge of the forest, moving faster than any living creature, and wondered if that Angela girl would be his new lab partner.

The End!

I could not have written a better parody myself. Thank you, whoever wrote that, for including the words "liquid topaz." Best part of the entire article: "Oops." (six seconds later) "Yum."

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

The Next 4 Hit Songs by Popular Artists of Today

I was talking to my good friend Micah on FaceBook today, and the conversation turned to music. I have met few people who I agree with more on music than Micah. Which is cool, because I'm super picky. Then my brain had some kind of breakthrough and the idea for this post spontaneously popped into my head. I'm not going to try and explain it. But I think Micah gets some credit. Check out his blog, by the way. Funny cake sauce.

Without further ado, I present to you (that rhymed):

#4. "All of My Fans are White" by Kanye West.

From the album
:



#3. "Somebody Pay Attention to Me" by Britney Spears.

From the album:




#2. "Still Don't Have Lung Cancer Yet" by Nickelback.

On the album:




#1. "Song #693" by Dragonforce

On the album:




That concludes today's post. Until next time, keep verbally ridiculing popular music!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

3 Reasons why New York is Cooler than Utah

There are certain things that everyone does after going somewhere cool. For instance, after going to EFY, 95% of people on FaceBook post roughly eighty six hundred pictures.

Well for me, whenever I go to NYC, I post roughly 200 pictures on FaceBook, and then write a blog. So here we go.

#1. Food

This is the first thing that came to mind. In New York, if you ask for a gyro (pronounced like "euro"), you will get one of these for about $4:




Delicious

In Utah, if you ask for a gyro, you will get this:



"I thought there were just dollars...
Do you have gum?"


And since that is less than delicious, we have NYC: 1 and Utah: 0.

#2. In New York, there is more than one black person.

Yeah.




No.

New York: 2. Utah: 0.

#3. Times Square

Here is New York's version of Times Square:




Delicious


Here is Utah's bid:



Notice how there's... a car.


New York: 3. Utah: still 0.

On the other hand, in Utah, you can breathe air instead of secondhand smoke, buy a candy bar for less than eight dollars, enjoy free water in more than two locations, and wear this in public for significantly longer before being stabbed.




Or hit on. By men.

Wow. Looks like good old Utah actually won 4 to 3. Sorry Jen.

Friday, March 27, 2009

The Most Disorganized Post Ever

Ok, first of all, here's a funny video about friends reminiscing I made tonight. It kind of reminds me of that time I was on LSD and tried to film a movie. Also, I did a really crappy job editing it because I was feeling lazy tonight. And during one scene with dialog, my camera decided not to capture any audio, so I voice overed for it. Unfortunately, it was Kaycie's voice that was not recorded. So that should be interesting. Here's the video:


Tanner, you may have noticed I forgot to put in the last part. Which sucks, because that was hilarious. But it's too late. Sorry.

Here's the weird thing that happened to me tonight (this has nothing to do with the video, by the way).

I had FaceBook in the background while editing the above movie, and was messaged by one "Loretta Shidt." Loretta Shidt falls into the category of, "friends on FaceBook that I don't know in real life, and added because they went to Lone Peak and had a ton of friends in common with me." I don't actually remember when I added her.

She started hitting on me. Normally, ok cool. New friend time. Then it became less of "playful flirting" and more of "really forward, I want to make out with you" flirting. I started checking out her profile. In it was a box that said:

"This facebook account is an ethical experiment to tell the world to be careful who you add to your friends list. And to show how easy it is for online predators to create illigitimate facebook accounts.."

I like to think that after much deliberation, the person who made this account omitted the final sentence, "And to prove that it is okay to type in fragments."

Anyway, long story short, it's a group of kids from LP whose parents undoubtedly belong to the "Social Networking is of the Devil" society in Utah. I guess if you hear it long enough, you get brainwashed into thinking it's true, and then... try to prove it? I dunno.

But here's the best excerpt from the entire conversation:

Loretta: lets get to the bottom line do you or do you not want to make out with me?

Me: On the off chance that this is even remotely real, perhaps I should direct you to http://www.lds.org.

Loretta: is this for seminary?

Me: Yes. I have an assignment to wait on FaceBook until a stranger starts hitting on me, then try to convert her.

Throughout the conversation, I was being tagged by her in various pictures of Barack Obama, Pope Benedict, and Emperor Palpatine (ok, I made up that last one). Shortly after the above exchange, I was tagged in this picture:




Seriously

Well it didn't take much time before I was informed by two separate people that the account was fake, which I started suspecting as soon as "she" began denying the presence of a box in "her" profile which outlined the entire purpose of the account.

I congratulate you, Loretta, on managing to trick me into adding you. But next time, perhaps you should budget more time than 1/2 hour into seducing a teenager from stranger to first base. What kind of amateur sexual predator are you, anyway? One more tip, for the road: usually there's no box that says, "The purpose of this account is to lure young children into my house so I can molest them" sitting under the profile picture of a real stalker.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Ode to Unnoticed Jokes

There are few things in life that frustrate me more than seeing a brilliant outburst of wit go un-laughed at by the general public. Particularly when I am the originator of the gem. Perhaps I should just yell all my jokes from now on. There are actually a few ways for this to happen, and here are some of them:

1. Auditory Failure or "Not hearing it"

This one used to happen to me a lot. Whether it's because I'm such a mild, soft-spoken person, or because the audience of my joke just broke his/her protest of Rihanna's music, the result is the same.




She did beat up Chris Brown
with her face...

Lately though, I've noticed it happening to other people more often. I guess my shout-jokes plan is working.



OK THIS IS THE PART WHERE YOU LAUGH

It irks me when someone rattles off some sarcastic one-liner under their breath and nobody hears it but me, ok? My solution is broadcasting their joke loudly, and sometimes even giving them credit for it! The danger is when they realize it was funny because I laughed at it, and then they tell it to another person in story form. As in, "and then I said..." This causes it to lose approximately 108% of its hilarity, and yes, there are actually people that do this. Like, all the time. Stop.

2. Under-education or "Not getting it"

Perhaps the most annoying way to lose a joke on this list is when people simply don't get it. Now, it's understandable when the joke only applies to a very specific group of people.




"And then the Night Elf was like,
'LOL! NooB!' "

But there are some jokes that should really be understood by everyone. It's even more frustrating when people laugh at it, but for a totally different reason. The best example I can think of is in the short that Pixar released on the DVD of The Incredibles, Jack-Jack Attack. If you'll recall, the baby begins discovering its powers and bursts into flame amid judgment-day-like music while the already moderately hysterical baby-sitter freaks out. Remember her?



"Hey! Mozart makes your baby fetching smarter!"

But here's what everyone misses: the doomsday music that begins playing as firebaby makes his appearance is Dies Irae... BY MOZART! The baby sitter was already playing Mozart music through the house. So it's not just an outside track for the benefit of the audience. The CD player happened to change to that song with ridiculously ironic timing, all within the bounds of the movie.

Unfortunately, now that I've explained it, it's no longer funny. Which brings me to the deadly mistake people make: spending 8 times as long explaining the context of a joke as they spend telling the actual joke. It's worse than unfunny, it's annoying.

3. Underdeveloped Sense of Humor or "Not thinking it's funny"

Now there's a fine line between not laughing at a tasteless (i.e. insulting or racist) joke, and just not having a sense of humor. Furthermore, I realize that there's a time for humor and a time to shut up and be serious. Here's the unofficial spectrum:




Fair game




Avoid at all costs

I also understand that some things take a rather special sense of humor to appreciate. Which I have. *cough*Hot Rod*choke* With all that said, some people I have encountered simply don't have a sense of humor. It's not that they don't get jokes, or that they don't view the world with humor goggles on. They simply insist on being serious, always. 100% of the time. And that,





is a mistake.

So you should laugh at funny people. It's nice.