Please enjoy the music while your party is reached

The "Stonehenge Challenge" when pulling an all-nighter in college.

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 05:25:00 -0500

(Friday and Saturday nights are excluded due to weekend shenanigans)

Warning: This challenge takes up no less than 8 hours of the night and must be done with two to four people. Only the courageous, brave, and young at heart should ever attempt the Stonehenge Challenge.

1. Construct A Time Table. Know exactly when the night actually starts along with what time your first class is in the morning.

2. Rock Out. You will have very little time to complete this task due to your roommate’s sleeping habits (If your roommate is one that is attempting the challenge as well, this rule does not apply to you). Since the average college student goes to sleep at midnight, you have to have a music session for 2 hours. Just play your favorite tunes and enjoy. For every person playing a guitar, you can subtract 10 minutes from your final time. The music can only be off for 10 seconds for the song change but any longer and you must restart the task.

3. Wally-World. This can be done at any time during the night unless another task has already started. Drive to the nearest Walmart (if over 30 minutes away, a grocery store will do). You are required to walk around Walmart for 20 minutes, look for things you need (you will most likely find something to buy), and purchase at least two energy drinks per person. Do not drink them yet. Trust me, you will need them later.

4. Stargaze. After arriving back home from your trip to Walmart, you have to sit outside for an hour. This is the time to talk to one another, look at the stars, admire the fact that you are about to be one of the elite few to ever fully accomplish every task on this list, or just sit around and wait for the hour to pass. This gets most contestants due to the boredom and darkness outside. It is easy for one to fall asleep without even realizing it until it is too late.

5. Mario Cart. This is the best part of the challenge. It can be fun unless you get frustrated. You must sit down and play Mario Cart for any Nintendo game system for a minimum of 3 hours. That may sound like a long time, but if you have fun with it, the time will fly by. While racing you have to drink one energy drink and at least two people playing have to be Mario and Yoshi.

6. Study Session.You can use your room for this one but it is recommended that you go to a well lit room. Being near anything comfortable is a bad idea due to the fact that in 4 hours, it will be morning. You are required to study for at least an hour and a half. You can study for up to 3 hours if you just get into that deep study mood. Listening to music is permitted only if it is on your computer. Headphones are not allowed.

7. Get Ready.This will be the toughest part of your day (this is the time to chug any energy drinks if extra were bought at Walmart earlier in the night). You have to go to your room, get ready for the day, and get all homework ready to turn in. You have an hour time limit for this task. But you are not allowed to sit down for more than one minute at a time. Failure to complete this task in the allotted time leads to automatic disqualification. This means, the whole night is just useless now. Designate a place and time to meet once everyone is ready.

8. Wrap Up The Night.This is the final task and probably the easiest. You have to go eat at a place on campus. Eating at Sophies lets you subtract 30 minutes from your total time. You have to sit in the cafeteria/restaurant for 25 minutes. After finishing your breakfast (really dinner), you now head to class or do whatever is next on your agenda.

Congratulations on succeeding in attempting the Stonehenge Challenge! You can now post a comment (including the time it took to complete the list and the names of the people who succeeded) on this blog so you can go down in the record book.

Fastest Tmes Completing The Challenge:
1. 8hrs : 16mins : 42 secs - Jeremy V., Greg B.
2. 8hrs : 47mins: 12 secs - Jeremy V., Greg B., Sara S.
3. — : — : — (this could be you)

Nasa Spending Too Much Money?

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 09:31:15 -0500

An article title “Comet and Spacecraft: A Fleeting Meeting” was written November 4, 2010. The writer of this article is Jeffrey Kluger. He has been at Time since 1996 and in 1998, he was named a senior writer. This is very crucial information. It shows that the author has experience and writes for one of the prestigious magazines in the world. A very respected man whom someone can be confortable with knowing that these are just random facts that needed to fill space. There’s one thing that is at his fault. His tone in the article indicates that he is also interested in the mysteries of the universe, but not once did he mention anything about expenses. If money was involved in the article, do you think he would have been so open to Nasa sending spacecrafts into space? Think about it.

Nasa spent $333 million on creating a spacecraft, Deep Impact. It’s main mission is to take pictures of comets. In 2005 it was launched. Since that time, It has visited 2 comets and went to one site but the comet was not there due to it disenagrating in space (experts say). These are all cool facts with cool pictures about other objects in space, but what is it really doing? It’s wasting our taxes on a space program, instead of that money going towards something better for society like school funding for example. Hopefully one day our government will learn to put society first, instead of these explorations in space.

This post is based on this article from Time Magazine (link below): http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2029577,00.html

Favorites

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 21:06:00 -0400

Everyone has their own favorite actors, bands, athletes, etc… I’m the same. I’d like to share a couple of mine with you. Top Gun. Probably one of my favorite movies. The reason, Tom Cruise. I have watched several of his movies and just think he is a great actor. Definitely my favorite. After seeing him in movies like The Mission Impossible series, Top Gun, and Valkyrie, along with many others, I am one-hundred percent sure that he can act in pretty much any kind of role. Action, mystery, drama, comedy. This specific characteristic makes him brilliant in his films.

Elton John. Simply the best singer/artist ever to walk this Earth, in my opinion. I went to a concert where Billy Joel and Elton John performed in Nashville, TN. Blew me away. Ever since that concert, it is not possible to convince me that he isn’t the greatest. I have 3 albums of his. My favorite song he performs is Your Song. I will post a link at the end of this post so you can listen to the song. When you listen to this song, imagine your significant other, whether it be your wife, girlfriend, or even that girl you have a crush on. It’s just a nice, relaxing song that will be favorite for years and years to come.

Your Song - Elton John: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13GD78Bmo8s

Globalization - When did it begin?

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 00:59:44 -0400

I believe that globalization is occurring all over the world. Cultures from all sides of the Earth are changing annually and adapting to other cultures around the globe. I think this all started back after World War II. After WWII, countries began to transport goods from country to country due to the increase in technology and transportation. This made it a lot easier for countries to interact. Countries all around are importing and exporting new foods, technologies, and thousands of other products daily.

The process of globalization could take many decades but eventually all the continents and countries will become more and more alike. Having the same religions, foods, type of government. The only down side to all these changes is how countries react to it. Nuclear war is a phrase thrown around lately. Basically, if one person sets off a missile, countries will counteract and probably end the human race as we know it.

Nashville Predators

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 01:49:03 -0400

The National Hockey League (NHL) has been around for decades. The Nashville Predators entered the NHL in 1998 and changed the sport forever. I love the Predators more than Rosie O’Donnell loves food. Yeah, so that’s saying a lot. The Predators franchise started off slow because they were new to the league. But within the last six years, the Preds have matured greatly. And with so much incoming talent, the NHL is more competitive than ever.

The Predators are known mostly for their defense and speed. Being one of the youngest teams in the league, we are very dangerous with speed. In the offseason this past year, they decided to name a new captain, Shea Weber. He is my favorite player due to his defensive skills and his slap shot. He went to the Allstar games last year in Dallas and had the hardest shot in the league, clocking at over 100 miles an hour. This fact alone can intimidate any opponent.

As a team, the Predators are one of the best teams in the league. They started off this season with three wins and zero losses. They play Washington on Saturday, October 16 in Nashville where the Capitals will try to end the Preds’ streak. Every Nashville fan wants them to win the Stanley Cup, obviously. I believe that this year is different. We have never gone to the second round of the playoffs but this year it is looking very promising for our Predators. We don’t have the next Wayne Gretzky or anything like that, but they have probably the best chemistry in the NHL. I’m a proud fan of the Nashville Predators and I’m rooting for them to bring the Cup to Tennessee. Go Preds!

War in Afghanistan

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 20:38:49 -0400

When the elections roll around, there are always key topics an individual will base their vote off of. I look at what the new leading officer will do to help build our community. Nonetheless, the point that may sway the most is the war in Afghanistan. This issue is so close to me because of my grandfather, Bobby, whom was in the Navy and had to go overseas. I support the war in Afghanistan 100%. If the governor, mayor, or even president are for the war, it’s most likely going to push me to their side.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for all of our men and women fighting for the United States of America. I’ve heard stories and seen videos regarding what is happening in Afghanistan. It’s amazing what they go through. I was only nine years old when the World Trade Centers were attacked. Being so young and growing up watching reruns of the horrific attacks throughout the years, you bet i would put my life on hold to go fight for our freedom. After seeing the nation in such distress, no one wants to go through that again. So to wrap it all up, if you are for the war, you can count on my vote.

Fighting for the North

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 00:57:00 -0400

Dear Pa and Ma,

I’m heading off tonight to fight for the United States. I respect your opinions and do not want to offend you. Y’all have treated every slave like family, which is a lot better than everyone else does. I could not tell you about this face-to-face, so i decided to write a farewell letter. Explaining my departure may be hard for you to take in, but I think it will be better for you to know rather just wondering where I ran off to.

Tomorrow, I’m heading to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to fight for the Union. I believe they are fighting for human rights which I am for one-hundred percent. I’m not trying to say your thoughts are wrong, but I think their ways are better. I think no human should be held as a slave for any reasons. They deserve the freedom we live and get to experience every day. I think their should be a central government that regulates and sets everyone in the right direction. Once slavery is abolished, I believe the world be better as a whole, and hopefully other countries try and follow in our footsteps. I will miss y’all dearly and look forward to seeing you soon when the country is one nation again.

Love,
Little Sylvester

Living in the 1850s

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 02:25:01 -0400

If there was a way I could travel back in time to live in a particular decade, I would most definitely go back to the 1850s. Why? There are many reasons. Everything was less complicated back then. They didn’t have to deal with computers and credit cards. It was just natural hand-written mail and studying in books. School was done with books. These days 75% of schoolwork is done through the internet. There are pros and cons to doing everything on computers, but for me, I would like to do everything the “old” way. Plus back in the 1800s, they didn’t have to deal with all this garbage they call music in this generation. I would give 10 years of my life in a heartbeat so I didn’t have to listen to Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and all that head-banging, punk rock crap teens are listening to today.

But the number one reason I wish to live in the 1850s was The Gold Rush. We all know about the Gold Rush of 1849. Gold was founded in California by a great pioneer, John Sutter. I would do great in this decade do to the fact that finding gold is in my blood. My 7th great uncle was actually involved in the Gold Rush of ‘49. He helped start Sutters Mill. He is the reason i would flourish in such a decade. I would love to have met this uncle of mine and search for gold with him. Oh and my great uncle’s name you might ask…none other than the man who founded gold in ‘49…John Sutter.

John Augustus Sutter
(February 15, 1803 – June 18, 1880)

Armageddon

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 10:33:00 -0400

With just the right cast and the right script, you can create an experience the viewers won’t soon forget. This makes Armageddon one of the greatest movies of all time. Bruce Willis and Ben Afleck take the lead roles in this action-packed, sit on the edge of you seat thriller. This movie can be enjoyed easily, but dig deeper than just a film, and you can take much more from it. There are plenty of lessons you can learn and use in your day-to-day life in this flick. It makes you sit back and realize you need to live for the moment. No one is promised another day, hour, or even minute. It shows that you need to spend as much time as possible with the ones you love. Don’t let opportunities just slip through your hands, and when you find one you love, don’t hesitate and just act on pure emotion. Life is too short to procrastinate.

The film as a whole is just magnificent. It is a movie the whole family can enjoy. It is filled with action and explosions and even drama for all the women out there. It is hard not to like this movie. I have seen this film probably close to one hundred times, but yet everytime I watch it, it still strikes all the same emotions each time. Armageddon will always be a classic and one that stays in the minds of millions for years and years to come.

Cats In the Cradle by Harry Chapin

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 02:48:07 -0400

Cat’s In the Cradle is probably Harry Chapin’s most well-known song. This song definitely ranks as my favorite for one fact: that it is about a father and son’s relationship. As it brought fame and fortune to him, it brings back even more memories to me. It hits an emotion deep in my heart by the way it portrays the relationship between a father and son. You will never forget those moments when you realize what a strong bond you have with your dad. Sometimes these moments are huge, like when you swing your first bat or ride a bike for the first time. While others are just everyday things, as in sitting down and watching the sport you love or eating a plate of your favorite foods.

Another great thing about this song, is that it shows their relationship as time goes on. Eventually the father realizes his son had grown up to be just like him. I can relate to this because throughout my life I have tried to be more like my dad, and now, I catch myself, many times a week, doing something that my dad has done or still does. All of his great characteristics are, slowly but surely, showing up in my day-to-day life. I guess my father can now say, “He’d grown up just like me, My boy was just like me.” This quote from Harry’s “Cat’s In the Cradle” is the perfect ending for this magnificent song, as well as the perfect summary of a father and son’s relationship.

To listen, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUwjNBjqR-c&feature=related