Saturday, January 31, 2009

Into the YouTube Generation!














Hello everyone, and good evening/morning whenever you read this. I have introduced a new feature, I will be joining the YouTube generation. Yes, once a month I will create a video blog for you all to enjoy. I have some ideas on how I am going to create it, and I hope y'all are going to like the finished products. Some sarcastic humor, and basically my rants and raves for the month. Welcome to the show my friends. The channel on YouTube is The Amos Channel, I am user amos1335. This is a short blog, just getting information out there. Cya on YouTube!

Amos 13

Friday, January 30, 2009

Fear

What are you afraid of? Take a second to think about it. What gives you the hebe-gebees? Take a second to think of the scariest thing you could possibly experience. Not failing a course, or spiders, please do not say spiders, I'll punch you if you say something lame like that. What is the one thing you would never want to go through? Where am I going with all these questions?? You'll see.

Fear creates a rush in you that barely anything else can come close to. It is a physiological fact. Humans love to be scared. Why do you think franchises like Saw, The Exorcist, Halloween, Friday the 13th, etc. all make extremely vast amount of box-office sales, and a huge cult-following.

Everyone likes a good scare, most stories told after a weekend of camping or drinking are about the sketchiest moments. I love being scared, well to an extent, not fear for my life scared. But that barrier between haunted houses and piss your pants afraid. This will sound really lame and childish, but I'm afraid of the dark. I always feel something is going to grab me, and I have my reasons for that, but I won't go into the details. Not the dark of my room, or basements, but in a large building or open space alone, or in the woods. Probably the scariest place I have ever been to (and kind of weirdly) was my old church. This building, when the lights were off and you were alone, just felt this "presence" of something unfriendly. Sounds bad I know, but it always gave me the creepy-crawly feeling. 

But why do people love to be afraid? Fear stimulates the fight-or flight response, which sends adrenaline into the blood stream to raise heart rate, breathing, your muscles work harder, and generally have a "clearer" thought process of what to do. All this makes you feel good. It is an euphoric experience, a fear high. Why did I ask you to think of your greatest fear? Well once you know your fear, you can deal with it. Personally, my greatest fears are, being alone, and not knowing what I am doing next, I have to have a plan. What helps me is breathing, but what helps you? Think of 5 strategies that could help you deal with this fear, and next time it comes up, use them. It actually works, try it out.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,

Amos13

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Wake-up People!

Okay, so I was with my leader Jean, and his two cohorts....

Just kidding.

In all seriousness, this is not a serious blog entry. This is a wake-up call to those who follow this blog. I want to know what you personally want to hear about, write in the discussion board, message me, comment on the blogs. PLEASE COMMENT ON THE BLOGS! You don't have to be a member I don't think, and it would be nice to get some feedback. Am I doing a good job? What do I need to improve on? Do I come across as some looney? I'm posting another poll so you can rate how I am doing. Could more than 6 people (well 5, I voted last time) participate in the poll?

That aside. Today I went to a Edmonton Rush Lacrosse game. It was actually pretty sweet. Music blaring the entire time, Yukon Jack as the announcer, and the Crush Dance team. The mascots are basically Wookies, which doesn't really make sense. For the second time in three days, a Buffalo team broke into double digits against an Edmonton team. As much as our attempts to start a fire MacT chant going, our efforts were in vain, we were the only ones chanting. It was pretty fun, and would definitely go to another game.


Grace and Peace,


Amos13

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Unrealism

Why does society drive unrealistic images down teen's throats? They all know that nobody should, or can healthily look like Barbie, but it consistently is at the top of little girls christmas and birthday lists. The proportions Barbie sports are completely unrealistic. A person with her measurements wouldn't survive, she would run out of energy within one hour of waking, and her body couldn't support her upper body. Yes it is up to the parents to guide and instruct their children on what healthy bodies look like, but when kids reach the times of saturday morning cartoons, every commercial drives the message through. You need this, look like this, think like this. See Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Nicole Ritchie, Mary-Kate Olsen, Christina Agulaira. I am a staunch capitalist, but driving unhealthy images and ideals into people's mind is wrong. It all starts with commercialism, if it sells, it's promoted.

If you are anything like me, you absolutely hate infomercials. At least some commercials are funny, but I have yet to watch an infomercial that has held my attention for longer than 30 seconds. The abominations take up 10 minutes of time you could be watching your show, and they usually have some sort of celebrity endorsing their product. Or better yet, some annoying shmuck who's sole purpose in life is to annoy the hell out of you. There is always something better that is actually $60 in value, but going for $19.95, and two for the price of one. Oh and my personal favorite infomercial, snuggies. They are this blanket thing that's supposedly is perfect for reading a book, or watching a movie. I personally think they are just colour-coded druid robes. Join some Harry Potter, or Warcraft fan club, and you should get one that looks much cooler, for free. Infomercials set-up the audience to think that this product is amazing, and for such a great deal as well, when really the company paid $0.10 to make it. They sell junk to suckers waiting to buy it. As much as I loathe infomercials, I have to admit that capitalism enables such practices, and therefore benefits society as a whole. Even though much of what it sells are garbage, the act of buying and selling is what has made our society great.

That has been my ranting on unrealistic details of society for today.


Amos13





Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Card Tricks

Card tricks are an amazing thing. Even though most of them turn out to be a simple slight of hand (well 100% of them) they never seem to amaze people. I have tried to learn a few, but just don't have that talent. Below is a pretty sweet magician...








Amos 13

Monday, January 26, 2009

Oops, I forgot yesterday was....

Recommendation day! Seeing how my momentary lack of memory cost you one day of a 7 day cycle I will recommend double the amount of songs for you to download:

Over the Hills and Far Away - Led Zeppelin
Get on Your Boots - U2
One Red Thread - Blind Pilot
Have a Nice Day - Stereophonics
Road Trippin' - The Red Hot Chili Peppers
Taj Mahal - Sam Roberts
Change the World - Finger Eleven
Lenny - Stevie Ray Vaughn

There's 8 great songs to enjoy for the week. I feel it's a pretty good list.

"Where there is health there is hope, those who have hope, have everything" - Arabic Proverb



Amos13

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Vincent Lecavalier Trade Talk

Now everyone with a logical mind sees that the Tampa Bay Lightning can't afford their superstar captain Vincent Lecavalier and his $85 million dollar, 11 year contract. Especially seeing how they can't fill the building. And because of this logical insight, there are logical, and completely illogical trade rumours spiraling about in the hockey universe. It's common knowledge that Montreal is wanting a long awaited French-Canadian hero for their beloved Habs. But today, as reported in the Edmonton Sun, that the Edmonton Oilers are in the Lecavalier sweepstakes. According to the article, the offer dealt by the Oilers are 3 players, 2 prospects, 2 No. one draft choices, and a third rounder. I can only imagine who will be going, but my thoughts are: Nilsson, Grebeshkov, Smid, Schremp, and Trukhno. Seems like a big chunk, but that would make our lines look like this:

Penner - Lecavalier - Hemsky
Cole - Horcoff - Gagner
Brule - Cogliano - Potulny
Moreau - Brodziak - Stortini/Macintyre

Souray - Gilbert
Staios - Vishnovsky
Chorney - Strudwick

I like Smid, but to get quality, you have to give quality. Also Tampa Bay is badly needing to build up there D, and Grebeshkov and Smid could do the trick, both are extremely talented, Smid being the defensive defenseman (with un-tapped offensive potential) and Grebeshkov (future powerplay quarterback). I look at that line-up and I can't help but think of cup contender for many years to come. Our defense looks sound and the forwards would no doubt score a ton of goals.

Saying all those points though, I think this deal will never happen, and if it does, it will probably involve people I don't want to be dealt. A lot could go wrong with this deal, because the cap is going to drop, and Lecavalier's contract could seriously handcuff the organization. If done right though, the benefits would be astronomical.

Crazy days for hockey fans every where.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

NHL Allstar Game

It's NHL All-Star weekend everyone! I'm a big fan of having the elite players come together and showcase the best that the NHL can offer. What I am not a fan of, is the current selection process that the NHL has.

The NHL has a Vote Now - Vote Often online voting system, and the flaws of that were demonstrated two years ago when a website, www.voteforrory.com had journeyman Rory Fitzpatrick (who was slotted in Vancouver's 7th d-man role) outpace Nicklas Lidstrom and Chris Pronger in all-star voting. Another problem with the current system is that the ballot is based on performance in the previous year, and now J.S Giguere is the starting goalie for the western conference, when he has a 3.08 GAA (goals against average) which is hardly all-star like, and he is being out-performed by his back-up, Jonas Hillier who has a .930 save percentage, and a 2.06 GAA. The list of snubs this year is long, Scott Niedermayer who is a great hockey player, is a starter, but Dan Boyle is obviously having a better season, as is Sheldon Souray. Both were named as reserves, but 1 or both of them deserved a starting role. For goaltender, the person who should be starting is Niklas Backstrom. He has been everything for the Minnesota Wild this year, and has put up some insane numbers: 2.14 GAA and a .929 save percentage. Of the Wild's 23 wings, he has 19 of them.

Despite what is wrong with the NHL All-Star Game, I am still a supporter of it. All professional sports leagues have an all-star game, and it is important to show-off the very best of the best. It brings fans into the game and that is what matters most. My suggestion is to make a one vote per person rule, to avoid ballot stuffing. Enjoy the weekend readers!



Amos 13

Friday, January 23, 2009

Rocky and Bullwinkle

This was one cool show. I know the plots were cheesy, and the villains were a little, well lame. But this show broke down barriers in the cartoon world. Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons and Futurama for those who don't know) has said himself that if it weren't for Rocky and Bullwinkle, he would never have taken up being a cartoonist.
What impressed him with Rocky and Bullwinkle was that it was funny, had adult humor in it, and most importantly, the animation wasn't the greatest, even for it's time. You see, Matt Groening didn't think he was the greatest at drawing (see The Simpsons first season, and you'll agree) but it inspired Matt to create something that was truly funny, and pushed the limit to what could and could not be on television. Without Rocky and Bullwinkle, there would be no Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad, even Spongebob Squarepants.

I remember watching old re-runs of Rocky and Bullwinkle's crazy adventures against the blatantly anti-soviet villains Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale, who were from the fictional nation Pottsylvania. Boris and Natasha worked for Mr. Big and Fearless Leader. The plot was random and zany in variety, and it always had a message at the end of the show. The thing about Rocky and Bullwinkle is that it was crazy enough for kids to watch, but would have ridiculously funny puns and innuendos that appealed to an adult audience, so the whole family could watch it and have a good time.

Rocky and Bullwinkle broke the ice for The Simpsons, which in-turn brought about the cartoons we have today, and remains one of the funniest cartoons on television to date. What would TV look like without Rocky and Bullwinkle? We will never know, but I for one am glad it existed, oh and the movie doesn't count, I think that it sucked.





Cheers,


Amos13

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Top Ten List



Top Ten List of Everything:

10. Campfires
9. The smell after a big rain storm
8. Sleeping in
7. Chillen' with friends
6. Summer vacation
5. Saturday morning cartoons
4. Waffles
3. Watching a movie
2. Music
1. The last nine things all in the same day


There is a top ten list for everything today it seems, sports plays, songs, best-selling books, food institutions, education institutions, the top ten employers, places to live in the world (Canada sits 5th), places to travel to, celebrity whatever lists, etc. The one I can't stand hearing about/ watching on television is the last one, celebrity lists. Complete garbage. Yes I will watch the movies they make, but I could really care less about what they do in their personal lives. Let them have some freaking privacy, it's called a personal life for a reason, it's personal! How would you like to be followed everywhere, every day of your life? Probably wouldn't. I don't care what club they go to, just what movie are they in, or did they release a new album would suffice.

My favorite top ten list are sports bloopers, they crack me up every time. I feel bad almost cause they either messed up terribly (Patrick Stefan - Dallas Stars vs Edmonton Oilers) or they hurt themselves big time, but sports bloopers are impossible not to laugh at.

Go ahead make a top ten for yourself on a bad day, it'll make you feel better.






Amos13

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Stance on Economic Policies

My opinion on economic stances:

My thoughts are that the revolutionizing of our out-dated industries is possible, and more attainable through capitalism. Through times of difficulty, old inefficient ways are thrown away, and replaced with newer, more advanced technologies and ideas. The time for that is right now. The time is now to invest in the future, and to buy shares in companies when prices are extremely low. I can't imagine oil staying as low as it is for much longer, and the price will shoot up again. This is why we must stay the course in developing more fuel-efficient vehicles, appliances, and alternative fuels (hopefully renewable ones).

Free education is great, but that comes at a cost of higher taxes, which I am not a fan. Take Japan for instance, this financial meltdown that North America is going through right now happened in Japan in the early 90's, and through smart and calculated ideas and plans, they modernized their financial system for the 21st century. What is happening in the market now, is that just the players are changing. Capitalism brings rapid technological advancement, but to be honest, I am not a laizze-faire believer. There is a need for government intervention, and social programs for a country to be truly successful, with a high standard of living. 

When studying successful socialist nations, Sweden is often mentioned, and for good reason, it rocks there. Free education, employment insurance, pensions are amazing, healthcare, the works. But what is often over-looked is that Sweden's economy is 90% free market. Sweden is the perfect example of "socialism". Much of the social programs they have are actually here in Canada as well, healthcare, pensions, employment insurance, crown corporations, etc, but since Mulroney, we have stepped back with crown corporations. Canada was actually ranked number 1 in the world for quality of life in the 90's and early 2000's. 

Capitalism is the "quickest" way to improve a countries living conditions. Since the industrial revolution, it has changed how we live faster than any other time period in history. Solving the world's many problems are closer to being solved with capitalism than any other political idea. Poverty, hunger, homelessness, disease, and countless other ailments. All it takes is for our perception generosity to change. If you were born in North America, you were born into the wealthiest 10% of the world. I read once that to solve hunger, all it would take would be $40 billion over 10 years to stop world hunger. Also, it would only take an estimated $100 billion to develop a suitable treatment/cure for HIV/AIDS. Considering the United States has committed $400 billion for relieve of defunct companies and banks, $140 billion doesn't sound as immense.

I think if we stay true to free market, and capitalistic ideals, all should be fine. All that needs to change is the selfishness of our society and generation. 


Grace and Peace


Amos13 

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Barack Obama Day!!!

It's Barack Obama day everyone!!! He is now officially the 44th president of the United States, and more importantly, their first African-American president. His inauguration happened at 11 AM MT today in front of 3 million attendees. This will probably go down as one of the most important days in history. As I promised, this would be the in-depth look at the president. 

Early Life
Barack Obama was born February 2, 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii. His parents divorced when he was 2 years old, and when his mother re-married, they moved to Indonesia until he was 10 years old. When he was 10, he returned to America to live with his grandparents on his mother's side. During his teenage years, he has wrote that used cocaine, marjuiana, and drank to deal with the difficulties of his heritage that he was faced with during that time period. He has refered to this as his "greatest moral failure".

Education
After high school, Obama first studied at Occidental college for two years, then he transferred to Colombia University where he majored in political science, and specialized in international relations.  In 1988, Obama started at Harvard Law. In his first year, he was selected as an editor of Harvard Law Review, by his second year, he was president of the journal.

Pre-Politics
Before entering the senate in 2004, he served as a professor at University of Chicago Law School for 12 years. 

Political Life
Barack Obama was first elected to the Illinois Senate at 1996, and from day one he was known for bipartisanship reforming ethics and health care laws. He also sponsered a law increasing tax-credits to low-income families, negotiated for welfare reform, and increased child-care subsidies. 

In 2004, Barack Obama was elected to the United States Senate. Where he served until November 16, 2008 he resigned his seat before a lame-duck session in the senate.

He was elected president-elect on November 4, 2008, and sworn in today, January 20, 2009, as the 44th president of the United States. This following election was the longest campaign in the history of the USA. He built his ground-roots campaign on change. His vocalized policies have been compared to Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. 

During the campaign, Obama gained the nickname "No Drama Obama" for his relentless deliberating on issues and his methodical speech writing process. This characteristic is exactly what America needs right now, methodical, rational thought on important issues, not rushed, hastey decisions that could cost America for years. 

The election of Barack Obama has brought a lot of hope for African-Americans everywhere, and as reported on CNN, James "Little Man" Presley refered to Obama as Moses. Obama has brought hope for almost everyone in the world as he takes on the role as Commander-in-Chief of the United States.




"I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream." - Martin Luther King Jr.

I wish the best of luck for his presidency, may he go down as one of the greatest presidents of all-time.

Amos13


picture courtesy of www.barack-obama.tv
infomation from www.wikipedia.com and www.cnn.com

Monday, January 19, 2009

Forgetful Day, and hand dancing wangster.

Today sucked, well to start with. Rough day for me. You wouldn't think that it would be with an extra hour of sleep, that it could be a bad day. I woke up around 6:30 (instead of the usual 5) and got ready for the day. By the time I am out of the door and on the bus it is 7:40 and on my daily trip to the northside to go to school. Then at about the halfway point, I wake up mentally and realize I forgot my keys to my locker, and for some reason last friday I had switched from my combination lock to keys, yeah stupid. Anyways, lucky for me I  had all my subjects for the day in my backpack, but along with my gym clothes. To make matters worse, my Organic Chemistry was in my locker, and my lab write-up and logbook preparation is due tomorrow. By a stroke of luck, my buddy had a scanner at home and I ended up getting what I needed. Thanks J.P. (but you probably don't read this blog seeing how it isn't a celebrity blog). My day went like that, mistake-filled, and terrible. 

Secondly, and this almost made up for my forgetting everything, I saw a hand-dancing white guy, wanna be gangster. It was hilarious. I felt like laughing, but my saner, smarter side vetoed that. But for crying out loud, everyone on the bus could hear his rap music, and crap rap, with no rhythm at all, just noise. And the best part, he was like dancing, with his hands, just his hands, the rest of his body was completely rigid. Then as his "dancing" continues, he takes off his baggy white shirt and is wearing a wife-beater, and it's only 9 degrees celsius and he walks off the bus like that! I think this must be my 3rd or 4th crazy person on the bus story. 

Well, that basically sums up my day. Oh and tomorrow will be an in-depth study of Barack Obama, so be sure to read the blog. Tomorrow is also his inauguration as the 44th president of the USA.


Grace and Peace

Sunday, January 18, 2009

A 1000 apologies and Glen Anderson Night

1000 apologizes everyone. I missed one day, and this is a daily blog. I know you avid readers out there are pretty cheesed off right now lol just kidding. But I must explain myself. I was basically bed ridden yesterday with the flu, I was only awake for a total of 4 hours between 9:30 am and 10 pm. And when I was awake, I could barely stand up, let alone come up with a topic to blog about.

Today I had the opportunity to volunteer and sell 50/50's for Dreams Take Flight at the Oilers game. Dreams Take Flight (DTF) takes sick kids to Disneyland California for a day in May. Awesome charity foundation. I had signed up a few months ago, and being me, I was stoked to go to an Oilers game for free. Only a month ago however did I realize that it was Glen Anderson night, where they retired his jersey. I got to go to an extremely important night. A ton of Edmonton Oilers from the glory days were there: Grant Fuhr, Craig Simpson, Mark Messier, Wayne Gretzky, Kevin Lowe, and of course, Craig Mactavish. Plus, they were wearing the throw-back jerseys and they are always sick.

Anyways, I sold a total of 869 50/50 tickets from before the retirement ceremony to the middle of the second period. The jackpot was $39,014 from a possible $40,000. Thats $10,000 more than any other Oilers game this season. I sold around one of those Mastercard booths and met two very cool girls there. 

After tonight, I can say I actually like volunteering. Especially something as easy as selling 50/50's, they sell themselves. 

Advice for the day:

"My advice to you is to get married; if you find a good wife, you'll be happy; it not, you'll become a philosopher." - Socrates


picture from oilers.nhl.com

Friday, January 16, 2009

Weird Looking People

Have you ever seen someone out in public and just thought "How'd they get out of the house like that?" Well I thought that today.

I was on the bus, on my way home when this guy sat down right-beside me and proceeded to take over the seats. After about 10 minutes I realized what he was wearing. He was wearing rubber boots, blue long underwear, grey shorts, and a lumberjack coat. Talk about fashion eh? What possessed him to think that that could actually look normal? The rubber boots just completed the look I guess.

If you want to know how to make people think your crazy, ask this guy for tips. Plus his hygiene could of been better as well. Basic summary of ETS, crappy, and weird crazy people take it.

ETS friggen sucks. It takes forever to get anywhere, the buses are never on time, and the scheduling never makes sense. Instead of having buses going continually instead of all at once, maybe more people would be inclined to take it. And this doesn't even mean more buses, what ETS does now, is that they run each route at a similar time, so the buses go in spurts. Either you catch one, or you wait forever to catch the next bus (if you are that unlucky). ETS is so dysfunctional, it serves almost no purpose.

My rants and raves for the day,

Amos13

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Economic Ramblings

Have you ever noticed that you are completely fascinated with something new? And after a few months, scratches, and bumps later it is just another one of your things that hold little thought. You have already moved on to something new, bigger, better. It is quite the vicious cycle. But despite the difficulties this could cause some budgets, it is the best product of capitalism. 

Even though capitalism sometimes promote unneeded expenditures, through this advancements are made at a rapid pace, society as a whole benefits from the increase in the quality of life. Capitalism has created the western world as we know it. With this economic practice, humans are living longer, eating better, wealthier, and freer. 

The free market is controlled by "the invisible hand" where supply and demand compete to achieve the best price for a certain product. This theory was developed by Adam Smith. It is ironic that even though Adam Smith came up with this train of thought, and ultimately the emergence of a free, and wealthy world, did not believe in a completely free democratic society. He came up with this theory cause he was basically pissed off at the governments/monarchies of his current time. He thought that they were corrupt and evil, and that the even "more evil" people would make better decisions.

Adam Smith lived during the height of mercantilism, where a country such as Britain had many colonies, and they owned all the natural resources of that colony. The people who lived on one of the colonies would collect and harvest the raw materials and ship it to Britain, who would in turn manufacture good from it and sell it back to the colonies at a high price. 

Because of Adam Smith you are able to read this blog on the amazing feat of technology, the internet. But a few precautions with capitalism, there are countless advantages of it, but regulations are a must for a truly profitable, and healthy society. Minimum wage, healthcare, pensions, employment insurance, age requirements, and safe walls incase of emergency are a must. Before 1929, it was absolute capitalism, and through abuse, caused the great depression. 

I am a big believer in the free market, and even in this time of great uncertainty, we have to remain level headed before we slap restrictions and control into the economy. What we do have to do is realize where we went wrong in the first place. And that started at handing massive mortgages to people who cannot afford it. 

Banks in the USA and partly in Canada were awarding people with mortgages that they could never afford. This de-stabilized the banking system and was the first cause of this financial crisis. This reminds me of something similar in the 1920's with the playing of the stock market, which toppled the entire world economy. Much like at that time, the stock markets crashed globally and AIG almost fell. If it did, and still might, I would full on expect another depression like the Dirty Thirties. AIG is so massive, it holds billions of dollars worth of financial protection for millions of corporations around the world. If AIG falls, every developed and developing countries economies would be so severely crippled that it could very well be years to recover. After mistakes have been corrected, let the free market reign.

I know this blog kind of wanders, but I almost wanted it to be that way, if that makes any sense. Again, if they're any topics you wish to hear about that you think would be enjoyable, please suggest in the facebook group. This is Amos13 signing off....

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

ARGH! TESTS!!!

I am sure some (well probably most) find yourselves cramming before the big exam. Not going to lie, I'm guilty as well. But hopefully that is about to change. I plan on continually studying throughout the semester so when midterm and final time come around, it is just a simple review the flash cards I make.

I love making flash cards. You know why? Not only can you use them over and over again to quiz yourself, actually making them is studying, and by the time your finished, you know it! Take a cat skull for instance. This afternoon, I couldn't think of a name for one of the parts, let alone pronounce them. After making a few flash cards of the parts, I now can say I should pass the quiz on friday with flying colours. 

Whether you like it or not, I am going to give you some study tips:

1. Never study within one hour of your exam. This will actually hinder you causing your brain to stress. It will not hold this information well, and it could cause you forget something else that you had studied earlier

2. Study the subject throughout the entire semester. Just a review of the days notes would be fine, make a few flash cards/study notes. This is actually the most efficient way to study. Reviewing every night implants the knowledge into your mind and will help you stay nice and calm for the exam. If you haven't studied throughout the semester, try to study between 1-2 weeks before the actual test.

3. Have a good night sleep. Your mind will be well rested and will be able to think more quickly with a longer sleep period, and better quality sleep. NO RED BULL! (before a test).

4. Eat breakfast. Not a granola bar. Try for cereal and toast, or fruit. Eating breakfast wakes up your mind from it's sleep. Remember it has been 10-12 hours since you have last ate. Also this tip is healthy for you. Breakfast keeps your metabolism working great, skip it, and your metabolism is sluggish.

5. Breathe. Train yourself to stay cool and relaxed. Anxiety causes silly mistakes and will often cause you to second-guess your answers. Especially on multiple choice. Remember, on multiple choice, always go with your first instinct, as it is probably right.

Don't think I'm just preaching to the choir. I am trying to follow these steps as well. And with a little luck, I'll persevere and come out with some amazing marks, well the best I can achieve. If you try these suggestions, you will probably see some drastic mark improvement. But they are just suggestions, do whatever works best for you.



yours truly,

Amos13



picture courtesy of http://farm1.static.flickr.com.27/43939826_ed0f1c296d

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Just give me some space!

Have you ever rode on public transit and had some jerk who decides that he should have your seat as well? It seems to happen to me all the time. Like today for instance, actually it happened to me twice, to school, and home from school.

This morning I was just peachy. Listening to some tunes, sitting there, thinking and all that jazz. We stop at a transit centre and it was a pretty full bus, but I still had a free seat beside me so I lifted up my bag and let someone sit there. Little do I know that she is going to just decide that I was comfortable to fall asleep on. So I'd shift my weight a little to wake her up, and she did, just not for long. She'd be dosing off again in about a minute and I'm stuck with her. Not that great of a morning bus ride. 

I don't know what it was today, but I definitely woke up on the bad side of the bed this morning. I was grumpy, short of patience, and I was generally frustrated all day long. For one, I had forgotten to do some homework the night before and had to do it first thing. But on the way home oh my gosh.

This guy, sits right beside me, but he doesn't just sit, he drives his elbows into my side, sits with his legs wide open, and I am on one of the 3 person benches, and I am half sitting on it. This guy was terrible! Thinks he owns the bus or something. One of the many reasons I hate taking the bus, you have to deal with rude buggers, drivers, late busses, it takes forever, but that is for a different blog.

I hope all of you did not have quite the day I had. May you all have a good night sleep and come for a visit tomorrow.

Peace and love,

Amos13



image courtesy of www.nerdapproved.com

Monday, January 12, 2009

Coffee.

Most of you are addicts, not all, most. Coffee contains the most widely used and accepted drug ever, caffeine. I am quite content with this fact though. Coffee tastes good, it brings people together, conversations about politics, sports, life, philosophy, faith, and many more are topics that are discussed over coffee, when some of them could be awkward if in a different setting. 

For me, coffee always meant more time to spend with friends/family. Whenever my parents would say, "We're just having one more cup of coffee and then we're leaving!" I knew that it would be another 30 minutes to an hour before we actually left. Coffee is the wonder drink, not beer, wine, or any alcohol. 

But who were the first to drink coffee? How long has it been grown? What has coffee meant throughout history? I'll try and answer those questions.

- When was it first discovered?
Coffee was first discovered around 800 AD in the highlands of Ethiopia. Egypt followed Ethiopia, and then to Yemen. Coffee first caught on in the Middle East, from where it spread to Italy. After Italy all of Europe. Coffee followed the Europeans in their global exploration to the Americas and to Indonesia.

- Coffee's place in History 
Coffee has held different meanings since it's discovery. It was used in religious ceremonies in Africa and Yemen, and in the 17th century, it was even considered a rebellious activity in Europe. The Ethiopian Church actually banned it's consumption. Now coffee is consumed so much, that it is the second most traded commodity (below petroleum). Coffee nowadays is what gets people out of their beds, and social instances.

I was curious on how the world's favorite drink came to be. I hope these tidbits of information will help you in your next coffee discussion. 

Best Wishes.


picture courtesy of http://oip.georgetown.edu/

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Crazy-O's

Just so you know, I work at a grocery store, as a cashier. Today, multiple crazy things happened, I had about 6 or 7 crazy people come through my checkout, and I got hit in the back of the head with coca-cola that exploded two check-outs over (which I thought was pretty impressive and didn't get upset). I'll elaborate on 2 of the crazy people.

Crazy person #1: 

I don't know what was up with this guy, but he didn't know how to use his debit card. I completely had to walk him through it and give him step by step instructions for him to punch in his stuff to pay for his groceries. It took him 10 minutes to understand what to do (and before you say "Hey, you might not be explaining it to him very well" I explained it like I was talking to a 7 year old, and it was very simple).

Crazy person #2:

This person must have been on crack or something. She demanded a price inquiry for every item in her cart (which was full) after about 10 items I refused to do any more inquiries and I told her to look at the prices as she shopped if she wanted to know so bad. After that her phone goes off and what does she do? She did everything but answer it. She flailed in the air, yelled at it to leave her alone, and she gave it a time-out (literally). Then came time for her to pay for her groceries. She proceeded to give me every card in her wallet, thinking I could get her points. I told her I only could take her in store club card, and whatever she was using to pay. But she wouldn't leave. She stayed for about 5-7 minutes checking every detail of her receipt to see if I had made a mistake.

So my conclusion of the day was that I never should have taken a job in front-end at a grocery store. Everybody needs groceries, whether sane or insane.

Today is a special. Today I am recommending music!

Eagles of Death Metal - WannaBe In LA
Death Cab For Cutie - Cath...
Sam Roberts - Stripmall Religion
Incubus - Love Hurts


picture courtesy of http://www.hopelessromantic.com

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Oilers vs Sharks Game

Last night, I was able to go to the Oilers game. And to be truthful, I expected to see them lose. It's San Jose their playing, a team with a 30-5-5 record for 65 points in the first 40 games of the season. The Oilers on the other hand have a 19-18-3 record for 41 points in 40 games. They lost 4-1.
By the time it hit the middle of the first period though I was actually optimistic, they were skating with the Sharks, out-shooting them, forcing plays, and were generally taking the game to San Jose. Then it happened. Dwayne Roloson made a glove hand wiff, and the puck dribbled out of his glove and into the net, wasn't an overly hard shot to, and not from a great angle either. After that, I never saw the team that was outplaying the best team in the NHL. The Oilers had just scored on the powerplay as well. There was two things the team could of done at that moment, rally in front of their goaltender and let him know that he can have the odd mishap and the team will bounce back, or they could lose all heart and leave him high and dry. They did the latter I am afraid. 
Finally, I hate a policy at Rexall Place. If you buy a bottled water/pop at the concessions, they take off the cap, and don't give it to you. Like come on, yeah I am going to pop off the cap and hit myself in the eye, or swallow it. Now I was left with this open bottle sitting in the seats afraid I was going to spill it, and worse, it was getting flatter much faster. 

Cheers!

Friday, January 9, 2009

Welcome to My First Blog!


Welcome Welcome!


You are among the first readers of my first blog! Congratulations! I warmly welcome you to come back and enjoy/ disagree with what I have to say.
As this blog progresses, and hopefully gains many more readers, you will be treated to my opinion! How I see the world as it sits, and what seems to interest me most at the time I sit down to write at my computer. I will tend to write on music, books, my rants and raves, movies, college, sports, video games, politics/current events, and will possibly contain a daily bible verse and my thoughts on it.

I do not have a verse today, but I will leave you with a quote:

"We are all in the gutter, just some of us are looking up" - Oscar Wild