You get what you pay for

Hello all,

I haven't been on here in too long. School and crew are keeping me busy, but I'm not complaining. Well, I am complaining, but not about something silly like hangnails or global warming. I guess I can bitch about the crew blisters a bit, but I'll get over it. It's just skin.

Allora. I am a psych major and as such am under the rule of the College of Arts and Sciences. Now, I'm happy to be a liberal arts major so that I can take a diverse class load and experience whatever I choose during my time at school, but there's a flip side that I had not anticipated. Each of my psych courses, extending to some 300 level courses, has a roughly 2 week period of introduction for the course, including most of the material learned in Psych 101.

If I have to learn about Phineas Gage or Sigmund Freud one more time, I'm going to shoot an iron rod through the teacher's mother.

I took Psych AP in high school, so I did not get to see the circus that is Introductory Psychology first person, but I have run experiments on many of the students in the class. Every time I get a group of students taking the course as an "easy A" for an accounting major or whatever, not caring about or remembering any of the information they payed to imbibe. These students then leave the 300 person lecture class and go off to find another psych class to not care about. Only about half of the students in the class are taking it for the subject matter as opposed to their credit or tier requirements.

I am all for diversity in education and feel that it is vital in school, but there must be a better way to accommodate the student. I have been denied entry to classes that I NEED to take for my major, and more than often several of the people in the class drop out anyway. There needs to be a class option for each course so that the students that already know the background info can jump right into the new material. I did a crossword in one of my classes and learned more from it than the lecture I've heard 3 times before.

It's difficult to accomplish this task with teaching budgets and class cuts, but it's just a thought for now. What is your major? Is there anything about the program you'd want to change?

I look forward to hearing from you, and tell your friends about me. I'll give them the same courtesy.
Flip out

Spring Break

Hello world.

I'll be in South Carolina for the next week for my Men's Crew camp. It should be a blast, but a lot of hard work. I won't be able to post anything cool for the week, but there will be plenty of embarrassing pictures when I get back.

Til then, flip out.

Zomtroller 1000

This is an advertisement project I had to do for my junior comp class. We were shooting for a cheesy 50's look and it took me all night to finish it.

This version only has the video and background music, but I will be recording my voice for a new version soon enough. The background music is "Crepe Suzzette" from the Ren and Stimpy production music.

Here is the script. The transitions are pretty clear. Hope you enjoy!

Announcer: Here is Mr. Johnson, relaxing on his day off from the factory.

Announcer: What a beautiful home he has…

… and some friendly neighbors…

… this is certainly living the American dream. But wait, there seems to be some trouble lurking in the backyard. You may want to look out of your kitchen window, Mr. Johnson.

Announcer: Yes Mr. Johnson, you have every right to be concerned. Do you know what that thing is in your backyard?

Announcer: (Chuckles) Oh no Mr. Johnson, that’s not a Communist. That’s a zombie, a flesh-eating monster with no mind of its own. You better take care of it quickly Mr. Johnson, or else that zombie could hurt you, your family, or this fine nation.

Announcer: Oh ho ho, there’s no need for that Mr. Johnson! Not with the brand-new Zomtroller 1000!  Yes, with the new Zomtroller 1000, you can turn those pesky zombies from a pain in your behind, into a new helpful, mind-less servant!

Announcer: It’s easy! Simply secure the collar on your undead guest, and let the Zomtroller do the rest!

Announcer: The brand-new Zomtroller 1000 provides a non-violent and non-messy (chuckles while saying non-messy) solution to your zombie infestation. And, it has the National Anti-Zombie Commission’s seal of approval on every one! It’s the #1 recommended zombie-controlling device around.

Announcer: With a simple voice command, your zombie will take out the garbage! Get the paper! Clean the dishes! Answer the door! Walk the dog! And it can even help out the missus with the laundry!

Announcer: Yes it can do all these and more. For the low, low price of 20 American dollars, it’s a no-brainer!

Announcer:  Your lives will certainly change for the better. When it comes to keeping your family safe, nothing is greater than the Zomtroller 1000.

Announcer: And that, is the American dream.

Flip out

All of the Lights

For non-epileptics who haven't seen this yet, it's worth a look-see. It reminds me of Justice's DVNO, which I like better.

J Flip out.

Burnt Popcorn

I sometimes wish that I could live in the Renaissance or even just the 50's so that I could see a patient world. Maybe just for a week.

There is literally nothing in my field of vision sitting at my desk that was not made with haste and purely for economic gain. The Bob Marley tapestry is nice and reminds me to lay back sometimes and let life happen, but even it was manufactured without love. This is why I would rather make a gift for someone with my own capable hands than to give them something made in China, there is more feeling to it.

I very much appreciate all that we have today and I am happy to be able to utilize technology to make my life simpler. That being said, there are too many privileged people in the US of A and elsewhere that seem to still be unhappy. John Q. Public can be woken up from his memory foam bed by his iHome alarm clock, groom himself, put on his suit, have a hot meal made in 20 seconds, and have a busy day at the office and still convince himself that he's unhappy with his life.

Hell, my AC was busted last week and I was upset, but I didn't get angry or flip out. Now that we have developed an astounded arsenal of devices to help us through our days we have become content. I can understand content, as I feel pretty content myself.

What I don't understand are the people complaining to someone on their Androids about having to wait 5 minutes to get their McDonald's.

There is an interesting psychological study about the delay of gratification, especially for children. It was shown that when a toddler was given an oreo and the option to eat it or wait for a few minutes and receive another oreo, the toddler would eat the cookie every time. For the child, gratification must happen as soon as possible regardless of incentive to wait.

This is exactly what I see with the vast majority of people today, the need for instant satisfaction. The Mona Lisa took many months of work to finish, but the Myth Busters crew have a machine that can paint it in 2 seconds. There's a reason why the original is in a museum.

Take some time to think about something silly you complained about today. Did that illegally downloaded movie have bad audio? Is youtube being slow today? Did that damned Starbuck's guy not put enough whipped cream on your mocha? Is it really worth getting mad about?

My popcorn burnt a little in the microwave. It tastes like ingenuity.

Lazy day, here's a good song.

http://soundcloud.com/wpahp/hans-zimmer-time-we-plants-are-happy-plants-remix-hq

Getting started

Hello world.

Just getting started, hoping to meet some interesting people and spread some knowledge. My head is teeming with useless knowledge, eager to find a place in the world. I suppose the internet is a great place to start.

Ocarina of Time is the best video game known to man.

Til next time, get some captain in you.