Can you spot what's different?

unbelievable that a man with this kind of charisma didn't make it farther into the presidential election!

Witness

There is nothing that I would rather watch on television than this man.

I have discussed this on occasion with numerous people, and one of the things that I find myself being able to root for in an athlete/team, is the ability to make plays that I would never in my wildest dreams be able to make.  Lebron is a freak of nature, by far the most athletically gifted player in the NBA that I have ever seen in my 20 years.  He may not have the same killer instinct or the same supporting cast of a Michael Jordan or a Kobe Bryant, and as of right now he doesn't have the rings to back it up.  Despite all that, the fact that he could probably beat most players in the history of basketball in a game of one on one is pretty fuckin' impressive, right?  He can run a 4.4 forty, jump 44 inches vertically, and was still 6' 8" and 250 or so pounds.  Not even Bo Jackson, who was probably one of the most versatile athletes ever, had those gifts.  This is some shit to behold, people.  

Also, ballin' slogan Nike.  You are some lucky dudes to be able to market this guy.

no cure for the common birthday

all hype

hop up out the bed, turn my swag on

This is probably the sickest mashup mixtape I've heard ever before.  Thank you to Dan and Charley for showing me this while baking Charley's car out the other night.

Mashups are kind of a weird subject for me, I'm not exactly sure whether it warrants being called musical talent or whatever.  It's something that I certainly enjoy, and as far as music for partying goes, there probably isn't much better.  But whatever, it's a pretty moot point I guess. I suggest that everyone go download this, my personal favorite track is #4, the Soulja Boy, Lady Gaga and Killers combo.  Lady Gaga's pretty sweet, I'm not such a big fan of Poker Face, but Just Dance is super catchy and I can dig her general attitude about making music and being famous and all that.  I'd ride it for all it was worth too, and I think the fact that she's pretty unapologetic about totally exploiting herself for money and fame and exposure is, if nothing else, honest, so I can respect that.  Way to go, Lady Gaga.

So I went to make my deposit tonight for Bonnaroo, and much to my dismay, Paypal requires like some information on the bank statement before I can confirm that the debit card and bank account information that I gave them is valid.  This strikes me as pretty inefficient, especially in the days of instant online checking and all of that.  Why can't I just access the 4 digit code from an email or something?  The fact that I have to wait 2-3 days when I'm already pressed for time is really annoying and not helpful at all.  True, I probably should have planned ahead a little better, but I would never have imagined something like registering a debit card payment would have been so difficult.  Fuck you, Paypal.

New Jersey is a weird place, sometimes.

the boss!

I am very excited to be going to see this man for the first of two shows this summer tomorrow night.  Bruce Springsteen is a very New Jersey kind of guy, but unlike a musician like Bon Jovi, he has been able to transcend that sort of regional popularity and doesn't only sell out Giants Stadium and the Meadowlands.  I think there's something to be said for that, he clearly still loves playing concerts, and the Superbowl performance was a pretty good one, I though.  Definitely better than some of the more recent ones that I can remember.  Prince, for instance.  I am a big Prince fan, probably a bigger than I should be because I'm not sure what that says about me, but even as a fan, I couldn't get behind him playing the Superbowl halftime show.  Football is the masculinity of America, and the die-hard fans could rarely be described as individuals down with a metrosexual midget (I exaggerate), basically it was a recipe for disaster, in my eyes. THIS YEAR WAS COOL THOUGH. and I am very excited for tomorrow, and to be spending it with the Moryan family.  After that, it's off to the Sleaze for the rest of the holiday...I'd be very surprised if any other state takes this holiday and approaches it with the mindset and aggression that New Jersey does.  It certainly is a different breed.

pretty fucking cool

Galactic Center of Milky Way Rises over Texas Star Party from William Castleman on Vimeo.

Around 22 seconds this is pretty intense! Galactic Astronomy was definitely my favorite class so far, this has a lot to do with why.

star furs

This is more or less exactly what I imagine a planet full of Wookies to look like.  Chewbacca, is that you?

the right questions?

I got my grades today, and for the 2nd semester in a row I was a little underwhelmed, despite the expectations I had concerning my grades, going into finals at least.   I do well enough in school, and I'm in no danger of being in study hall or academic probation or anything like that, but still, it's a little disturbing to get some grades back that are significantly different than you expect.  I sent a couple of questions to my economics teacher because that is the only grade that really concerned/confused me.  It was also the only course that I took which really had a holistic and objective scoring policy, because it was all done with testing rather than papers and studies.  I don't have a very optimistic outlook on getting the grade changed, and maybe I did much poorer on the final than I thought I did?  If that's the case, then okay, but it bothers me if this is not the case because situations like this are exactly the reason I chose to be an Economics major, aside from my interest in the subject.  Oftentimes I don't see the validity in having my thoughts and opinions determined by a professor, who has a preconceived notion of intelligence a lot of the time, as intelligent/correct or not.  

In some ways, this might reflect a certain amount of insecurity on my part because maybe I'm just scared that my own opinions about my "cognitive abilities" are inflated.  It's certainly a possibility, but I'm not quite sure that's the case because I'm willing to participate in discussions with professors and friends in most sorts of subjects, and I try not to speak unless I have some inkling of knowledge about the subject being discussed.  In the end it doesn't matter because the difference between an A- and an A isn't that different I guess, but I am very interested in hearing the explanation for this grade.  I try not to usually complain about the grades that I get because I know I am far from the most diligent worker, but this would be the second time in a semester that there's been some discrepancy between the grade on the paper and the grade that my answers (according to the textbook and my notes) reflected. Oh well, dudes. We'll see.
IN THE MEANTIME, A SURPRISINGLY LEGITIMATE (AND ALSO RIDICULOUS) RAP VIDEO: 

ye ye

let's be real. i've done this a couple times before, and really only one or two of them have been successful.

it is summer, and i have far too much free time on my hands.

it was recently brought to my attention that a person who i used to (i dont really have any current contact with them) enjoy a lot has one of these, and after reading it i found it to be pretty interesting. so this is kind of what that has wrought. who knows.

i must say that i dont miss being in school, and while i do miss the people that are there, for the moment im enjoying the fact that i can relax on my own and know that i will see a lot of them later on in the summer, whether at bonnaroo or someplace else.  in the meantime, working at the club has filled most of my time, combined with swimming.

it is nice to be back working also, it seems like since other people have graduated high school it will be easier to get along with other guards there, perhaps the gap has been bridged.

in the meantime, funny new yorker article about bees on coke, enjoy