72 is less than 74

Wolfmother released a new album a few days ago. I picked up a copy earlier today at Best Buy (curse them and their sale on video games that I don't have time to play) and gave it a listen.

My main complaint with the album has nothing at all to do with the music itself, but rather with how the album is being sold. I had my choice of two different versions. One version came on a single disc, and included twelve tracks. The deluxe edition came on two discs, and included four additional tracks that were mixed into the track order on disc two.

Making a separate version of an album with extra tracks doesn't bother me too much — I've been willing to forgive other bands for doing it before — but the packaging for the deluxe edition is simply baffling. Instead of a jewel case, you get a folded-up cardboard sleeve that I'm pretty sure is going to rot out within ten years. More irritatingly, the sixteen songs included on the deluxe edition only run for a total of just over 72 minutes. A standard CD can hold 74 minutes of content. There's no justifiable reason to split the album up, unless the band that thought the listener might need a break in the middle.

Do not try this at all

So, there's a somewhat well-known urban legend — or at least, one that I've heard mentioned by a few different people — that it is impossible for a human being to consume a gallon of milk in an hour. This legend is usually phrased in the form of a bet, such as, "I'll give you (pittance) dollars if you can drink a gallon of milk in an hour, without throwing up." Especially cruel/miserly people will often attach other stipulations to the bet, such as not being allowed to consume any other foods or liquids during the challenge period, or not being allowed to throw up for another hour or two after the initial time window has expired. The idea is apparently popular enough to have been christened the, "gallon challenge."

From the inbox

Snippet from an e-mail that was sent out to residents of the MSU University Apartments today:

--RAPE CULTURE FILM SERIES--

Join us at Michigan State University for the Rape Culture Film Series in
November. FREE ADMISSION & POPCORN!

*facepalm*

Commercials make me sad

How far is Chris Berman willing to go to trade his dignity for a quick buck?

HE. COULD. GO. ALL. THE. WAY.

I need to learn how to not talk

Background: when I'm nervous, I talk a lot. I do this because if I don't talk, my hands shake uncontrollably.

While at a haunted house last night, I think I may have deeply insulted a clown on a both personal and professional level — entirely unintentionally, mind you — and I feel absolutely terrible about it. I wish there were something that I could do, but going back to the haunted house and trying to apologize to the entire staff as I walk through seems like it would make me even more of a nuisance, and I can't think of any other options.

Honestly, I think the next week or so of my life is going to be completely ruined.

This is a large part of why I don't go out more.

Sweating Bullets

Things I noticed today:

• BloodRayne II doesn't deserve its 2.4 rating on IMDb. It's a bad movie, to be sure — bad acting, bad dialogue, bad cinematography, bad directing, etc. — but I've seen far worse movies with higher ratings. It certainly deserves more than a half-point lead on Santa with Muscles. Trying to step back from all the Uwe Boll hate, and think about what I was really watching, I realized that it was no worse than a typical mid-week made-for-TV movie. Since it was released direct-to-video, I don't see the problem.

One of those things

I'm feeling really stressed right now. My reason for feeling really stressed is that I have a lot of work to get done in the coming week. I'm choosing to deal with this stress by posting on my blog instead of actually taking care of the work that I have to get done in the coming week.

I'm glad we could have this talk.

Really, Norway? Really?

I suppose it isn't fair for me to blame a whole country, but still. Remember when it was a travesty that you could win a Peace Prize for filming yourself giving a PowerPoint presentation? Remember those times? Those were better times.

I know that the most likely explanation is that the Prize committee is trying to use its recognizability to influence global politics, and that through this endorsement, they hope to encourage leaders to at least claim to use diplomacy as the primary instrument of foreign policy. If that is the case, I disagree with what they're doing, but I can understand it. That said, I prefer to think that we, as a species, have come to a point where we indisputably suck at peace, and that the committee just couldn't do any better.

Worse than useless

I try.

I try to make an honest attempt at things that I think I'm capable of doing. I try to avoid doing things that I know I won't be able to handle.

Sometimes, though, I find myself making incredibly stupid mistakes. Sometimes, the stupid mistakes I make involve other people, and wonder if I would have been better off not trying to do anything at all. I would be valueless, I would contribute nothing to the rest of the world, but at the same time, I wonder if that would be better than actively breaking things, like I occasionally do now.

It's a good thing my GPA is high enough to survive the mess I made of my networks class today. I feel bad for the rest of my group, though.

For the sake of posting...

After months of study, I have concluded that the only justifiable reason why Italian restaurants are able to charge as much as they do for chicken parmigiana is that after the meal, they do the dishes. I can't see what else would sustain demand at that price when it's so cheap to make it yourself.

Also, hooray for MSU finally showing some semblance of the form it was supposed to have this season.

Happy 12th Anniversary of The END DAY!

... it's you ...

I had a dream I could strike it rich... But alas... I failed...

I was captured... by some strange people... they put me in a cave... I also saw people from Leaf... They were all being forced to work... But I escaped... And they found me... I cannot move...

Oh, to have tasted Nadare's food again... I... am... eh... aaah... ... ...