11 Reality Shows That Prove The Apocalypse Is Upon Us

http://www.campussqueeze.com/post/11-Reality-Shows-That-Prove-The-Apocalypse-Is-Upon-Us.aspx

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Reality shows are difficult to understand. "Reality" refers to how "real" something is, so a television show labeled "reality" would have to be "realistic," right? And yet, you've never found yourself in a tuxedo handing roses to 28 year-old investment bankers with Ph.D's in neuroscience and years of training at a Tibetan Tantric-sex monastery. And you've probably never lived in a Hollywood mansion with the dad from Wonder Years and the fat, untalented Baldwin. With that in mind, check out our list of the reality shows that prove the Apocalypse is upon us.

11.) MTV’s A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila

What is this crap?
Disappointingly famous for no reason “Tila Tequila” (real name Tila Nguyen) is the star of this mind-bogglingly awful reality show in which contestants compete for her affection. BUT HERE’S THE KICKER! She’s bi-sexual**. The show follows around the sheep-like participants as they vie for the attention of someone not much more famous than they are.
**She isn’t bi-sexual as made evident by the fact that she has a boyfriend. And come on, tons of girls kiss other girls at parties for attention.

Moment That Proves The Apocalypse Is Upon Us:
After the first season ended, series winner Bobby Banhart didn’t actually get to fall in love with Tila, as is evident by his incoherent Kindergarten-esque writing style on MySpace when he wrote; “well everyone wants to know so here it is she never called me after the last show and no one would give me her number so pretty much I feel like and ass but we are not 2gather u cant have a realationship bye urself ya know so now you all know and sometimes no matter how bad you want things to work out they dont and theres nothing you can do i tryed… thank you all.” Yes, those are his actual words.

10.) Fox’s Trading Spouses

What is this crap?
The show seems like a great idea for men right off the bat: “Get rid of your wife for two weeks! But wait: you get another, a crazier one, in her place. And you thought it was hard not to punch your regular wife!” Fox decided to see how zany it would be if you switched moms with families completely different than their own. According to Fox producers, the “putting a conservative mom in a liberal household and visa versa” concept never gets old.

Moment That Proves The Apocalypse Is Upon Us:
God fearing and bat-shit insane Christian fundamentalists are always good for a laugh, and putting an especially insane (and grotesquely fat) one in a house that practices astrology and other pagan-esque worship techniques means some serious shit is gonna go down. When the woman named Margaret got home, she proceeded to scream and rant about “the dark side” and proclaimed she was “a God warrior.” She even went as far as to tear up the check Fox gave her family for their troubles, which is exactly how Jesus Christ used to act in any given situation.

9.) Bravo's Millionaire Matchmaker

What is this crap?
Bruce Wayne was a gazillionaire with all the coolest playthings; the Batcave, Batmobile, Bat utility belt, Robin. He knew how to keep it classy. The dude always had tons of chicks around him, and he was flaunting his money like a millionaire/superhero should. It was partly because he had to keep up a high-profile lifestyle, but also because he loved getting the D-wet, just like anyone. The millionaire's on Bravo's Millionaire Matchmaker are all idiots. They have all the money they could want, and no idea how to pick up chicks. "Hey babe, I have lots of money." Boom. She's in your car, and her boyfriend is left standing on the curb thinking, "When my bumper sticker company gets big, she'll come back."

Moment That Proves The Apocalypse Is Upon Us:
Dumb-ass millionaire Paul from Las Vegas showed us why he's got a pile of money and no women when he took out former Playboy cyber girl of the week Cidney. He used the classic equation for scoring chicks: He told her he's "not a risk taker" and is "afraid of heights." Logically, the first thing you should do is book a helicopter ride over Las Vegas. Another thing you should do to avoid looking like a desperately creepy super nerd stuck in a successful person's body is ask your date's family over the phone if it's ok to marry their daughter. And oh yeah, make sure you've known the girl for less than a day. With that in mind, take her back to your place and propose marriage to her as awkwardly as possible. Surely, she'll find your nervous demeanor and awkwardly sweaty palms endearing as she tearfully calls her friends to say she's bagged a million-dollar fuck up.

8.) VH1's Flavor of Love

What is this crap?
Remember that movie Cloverfield? The giant alien monster is walking around New York City ruining everyone's shit, and as if that's not bad enough, a ton of small, equally vicious monsters are falling off of it, killing everyone else? That's Flavor of Love. The Surreal Life is the giant Cloverfield monster that spawned Strange Love featuring Brigitte Nielsen and Flavor Flav, which in turned spawned the demon known as Flavor of Love.

Moment That Proves the Apocalypse is Upon Us:
The world was shocked when, after being eliminated, serious white trash slut "Pumkin" went toe-to-toe with the terrifying "New York." New York hurled insults at Pumkin as Pumkin walked out, which Pumkin responded to with a horrifying loogie.

7.) Bravo's Real Housewives of New York City

What is this crap?
This show follows around annoying and over privileged socialites who live in Manhattan and the Hamptons. They enjoy shopping, talking about shopping, driving to the mall, and discussing how the Calabi-Yau manifold has effected the advancement of pure mathematics. Imagine if you made $9 million more a year. Now, envision the things you would do with your $9,000,500; look at the places you would go, the house you'd buy, women you would bang. Isn't it interesting? That's exactly the opposite of this show. Instead of using their money for anything important, the women gossip and socialize like a bunch of sorority sluts, which they were 20 years ago.

Moment That Proves the Apocalypse is Upon Us:
RHWONYC has made a tremendous philanthropical donation to YOU! That's right, in one episode, the women provide an obnoxiously elitist list of ways to fit-in with Manhattan's high society. Is "be an incredibly stuck up whorebag whenever possible" one of them? Not in that many words, but each rule on the list implies that anyway. Some of our favorite tips include "Make a large philanthropical donation in your name...because we care about people...as long as they aren't poor and don't look at me or touch me or anything," and "Never wear the same outfit twice." One of the wives actually says "You know the only thing that makes me sad? That I can never wear this again." You know what makes a child in Darfur sad? Contemplating whether he should bury his best friend, or eat him.

6.) E!'s Keeping Up with the Kardashians

What is this crap?
This drivel follows the lives of the Kardashian family. Who are they, exactly? Exactly. They're no one. Does the name Robert Kardashian ring a bell? No? How about O.J. Simpson? Kardashian defended OJ in that little trial that OJ was involved in during the mid-90s. His family is still super rich, and deserve a reality show for some reason. Probably the only notable member of the cast is Kim Kardashian, whose sex tape has been masturbated to by many men across the country. The problem with the show? It isn't about anything. None of the people here are actually famous or talented or can give any credible reason why they deserve to continue living.

Moment That Proves the Apocalypse is Upon Us:
Kim purchases a Bentley, which causes friction among her less attractive sisters. The insults fly, and someone calls Kim "Mariah Carey," which would be funny if they were implying that Kim is bat-shit insane, but really it was to imply that she's a diva. Would have been hilarious 12 years ago, but hey, when you're dealing with the brainpower of the Kardashians, that's the best insult you get. The episode culminates in Kim LITERALLY throwing her Blackberry and crying on her bed while her sisters watch with little remorse. That'll show 'em. And that is how boring this show is...that is its most crazy moment.

5.) NBC's Celebrity Circus

What is this crap?
Some celebrities are lifetime celebrities for a reason. Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep win Academy Awards, John Mayer bangs Jessica Simpson, and Wee-Man joins the cast of celebrity reality shows. It's just how you get invited to the big parties. Anonymity is kryptonite to the semi-famous, and they'll do whatever it takes to stay in the limelight. This conversation has definitely taken place:

Christopher Knight: I'll do whatever it takes to be on TV sir, anything....(attempts to fellate producer)
Producer: (Pushes him away) Umm, how about you just live in a house with Da Brat and Verne Troyer, among other worthless former celebs?
Christopher Knight: Oh...well, that's fine too...(continues to attempt fellatio)

Moment That Proves The Apocalypse Is Upon Us:
A very large and muscular man gets into a wheel and spins on it for a really long time. Looks simple enough. That's why Christopher Knight of The Brady Bunch fame decides to get in. Does his spin go well? Thankfully, no. Immediately, Knight falls face first onto the ground, shattering his shoulder.

4.) The Oxygen Network's The Bad Girls Club

What is this crap?
The Bad Girls Club is a popular show on The Oxygen Network, which is a network similar to Lifetime, without all the made-for-TV movies about rape. The reason they made it? Oprah and some of her high-powered buddies wanted a network so that women could watch a channel they could relate to, unlike MTV, VH1, and the History Channel. (Insert image: Four women on a white sofa, wearing turtlenecks, holding glasses of red wine, giggling.) So where did The Bad Girls Club come from? It's basically a show about the slutty girls you knew in college who never woke up one day and said "I pledge to stop blowing guys just because they're on the football team." Oxygen threw them all into a house, gave them some booze, and waited for them to go nuts. After all the fighting and crying, the girls realized it was time to start drinking, and everything started all over again.

Moment That Proves the Apocalypse is Upon Us:
In episode 2 of the first season, self-proclaimed "black out queen" Ripsi, whose stupid name actually falls short of her real-life stupidity, goes on a Cosmopolitan induced rampage after her roommates threw her Ted Kennedy level drunk ass into a pool, which was a smart idea because severe drunkenness and swimming have a very rich and positive history. Unfortunately, some of the girls realized "Hey, what's that thing that happens when you don't breathe for a long time? What? Death? Pull her out, we're not even close to the season finale yet," and she was pulled out. She got up and went crazy, with all the hair pulling and awkwardly un-athletic open handed punches you can handle.

3.) Fox's Moment of Truth

What is this crap?
"Hey! Don't you hate your family, want to drown your wife, and fantasize about making love to wildlife? Oh, you'd rather not answer those questions? Well what if I gave you the chance to answer those questions and more on national television?!" That's Fox's Moment of Truth in a nutshell. It showcases America's unwavering dedication to the truth, as long as you're handsomely rewarded and your loved ones have the ability to instantly forget that they heard honest answers to the darkest secrets you hold. The more questions you answer, the more money you win, unless the lie detector finds you're lying, in which case, you go home with nothing but a pair of underpants loaded with the squishy feeling of regret. Want to make every Thanksgiving from now until your murder at the hands of your family impossibly awkward? Then Moment of Truth is for you.

Moment That Proves the Apocalypse is Upon Us:
Our nation's moral watering hole was severely poisoned by--not surprisingly--a New York housewife (no relation to above) named Lauren Cleri. Lauren's incredible honesty was hilariously overshadowed by revelations of her immoral behavior towards her marriage. She managed to answer honestly in front of her husband that she should have married her ex-boyfriend, and that she had cheated on him. But when it came down to the simple question of "Are you a good person?" the lie detector found that her answer of "Yes, I am" was shockingly false. Who knew?

2.) VH1's I Love Money

What is this crap?
"That's no moon...that's a space station." Much like the Death Star on Star Wars, this new creation by VH1 seems harmless from far away...but up close, it could easily destroy a planet. This is the show social scientists have been dreading since the dawn of television. It's a nice frothy glass of SARS, Ebola Virus, Bubonic Plague, and high fructose corn syrup mixed together. I Love Money takes the stars of other reality shows, and puts them together as they bathe and save the lives of impoverished children suffering from leprosy, and solve world hunger. Oh wait, it's the opposite of that. The cast of I Love Money is comprised of failures, not even the winners, from past shitty VH1 reality shows as they compete for the chance to win $250,000 by completing challenges like catching a turkey shot from a catapult, and building a tent. Seriously.

Moment That Proves The Apocalypse Is Upon Us:
Contestants compete in a game called "The Spit Olympics." It's pretty self explanatory. The contestants drink a colored beverage and then see how far they can spit it. Something tells us the ladies on the show will either win this competition by a landslide, or make themselves sick by swa...well, you get the idea.

1.) MTV's My Super Sweet 16

What is this crap?
My Super Sweet 16 is a show about all the girls you hated in high school. In the movies, the girls are rich, bitchy, and hot, but My Super Sweet 16 flips that stereotype on its ear, by utilizing girls who are rich, bitchy, and generally unattractive.

Moment That Proves the Apocalypse is Upon Us:
On episode 3 of the first season, a young lady who you'd love to strangle named Ava is gearing up for her sweet 16 party. She is of Iranian descent, so she cleverly themes her party "An Arabian Night!" Wouldn't you love to see her attempt to survive for a night in the Middle East? Her parents are super rich, and prove the theorem that with money comes the inability to raise a child. Ava demands to wear a sexy dress for her party, although her body indicates she enjoys a pretty steady diet of the Bastani-e Za'farani. To find a dress, her parents fly her to fucking Paris, where not surprisingly, she finds nothing she likes. The horror culminates when her bitchy demeanor prompts her father to yell "If you stop whining, I'll get it for you!" about a custom made dress. In the end, he buys her a Range Rover despite declaring he wouldn't, which made her cry at dinner.

20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life

“I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it.” - Jack Handey

1. How to control impulse spending. If there’s anything that got me in trouble financially, it’s impulse spending. Buying clothes when I don’t need them. Buying gadgets because I gotta have them. Ordering stuff online because it’s so easy. Buying that new shiny SUV because … well, because it was going to help me with women. I’m not proud of any of that. I’ve learned to control my impulses, at least a little better. Now, I give myself some time to breathe. I think over my purchases, see if I’ve got the money, think about whether it’s a need or a want. That would have been a useful tool 15 years ago.
   
2. You gotta stay active. I was in track, cross country and basketball in high school, but once I started college, the running and basketball began to slowly fade away. Not right away — I played pick-up basketball for years after high school. But even that went away, until I became sedentary. Playing with my kids outdoors winded me. And I began to get fat. I’ve reversed that trend, and am very active now, but I’m still trying to burn the fat I gained in those inactive years.
   
3. How to plan finances. I always knew that I was supposed to budget and track my spending, when I became an adult. I just was too lazy to do it. And I didn’t have a good idea of how to actually do it. Now, I’ve learned how to plan, and how to stick to that plan. Sure, I deviate from my plan, but I’ve learned how to handle that too. Maybe that’s not a skill you can learn from book reading. You just gotta practice. Well, I hope to teach it to my children before they go out on their own.
   
4. Junk food will come back to bite you in the butt. Yeah, it wasn’t just the sedentary lifestyle that got me fat. It was all the damn junk food too. I would eat pizza and burgers and Twinkies and sugar cereal and desserts and donuts and … well, you get the picture. As someone used to being able to eat whatever I wanted, it never seemed like it would be a problem. Bad health was something to worry about when you got old. Well, my jeans began to get way too tight, and to my horror, I climbed several pants sizes and developed a gut that only now is going away. I wish someone had shown me an “after” picture when I was young and downing the Big Gulp sodas.
   
5. Smoking is just dumb. I didn’t start smoking until I was well into my adult years. I won’t go into why I started, but it didn’t seem like a problem, because I knew I could quit anytime I wanted. Or I thought I could, at least, until several years later I gave it a go and couldn’t do it. Five failed quits later and I realized with horror that my addiction was stronger than I was. Sure, I eventually beat the habit (quit date: Nov. 18, 2005) but it took a piece of my soul to do it.
   
6. Fund your retirement, son. And don’t withdraw it. This piece of wisdom, and probably all the ones above, might seem blisteringly obvious. And they are. Don’t think I didn’t know this when I was 18. I did. I just didn’t pay it serious attention. Retirement was something I could worry about when I was in my 30s. Well, I’m in my 30s now and I wish I could slap that little 18-year-old Leo around a bit. What money I could have invested by now! I had a retirement plan, but on the 3 occasions when I changed jobs, I withdrew that and spent it frivolously.
7. All the stuff you’re doing that seems hard — it will be of use. This is the first one that might not be as obvious. There were times in my life when work was hard, and I did it anyway, but hated it. I did it because I had to, but boy did it stress me out and leave me exhausted. Hard work isn’t as easy as I wanted it to be. But you know what? Every bit of hard work I did without knowing why I was doing it … it’s paid off for me in the long run. Maybe not right away, but I’m using skills and habits I learned during those times of high stress and long hours and tedious work — I use them all the time, and they’ve made me into the person I am today. Thank you, younger Leo!
   
8. Don’t buy that used van without checking it out closely. I thought I was being smart by buying used, but I didn’t check it out carefully enough. That dang van had loads of engine problems, a door that nearly fell off when I was driving, a door handle that snapped off, a side mirror that fell off, no spare tire despite three tires that were ready to blow (and did), windows that didn’t roll up, rattling noises, an eventual blown radiator … I could go on and on, but let’s just say that it wasn’t my best purchase. I still think buying used is smart, but check things out closely first.
   
9. That guy you’re going to sell your car to? On a gentleman’s agreement? He’s not gonna pay you. I sold another car to a friend of a friend, who I was sure would pay me even if I had nothing in writing. That was smart. I still see the guy once in awhile on the road, but I don’t have the energy to do a U-turn and chase after him.
10. Make time to pursue your passion, no matter how busy you are. I’ve always wanted to be a writer, and get a book published. I just never had time to write. With a family and school and a full-time job, there just weren’t enough hours in the day. Well, I’ve learned that you have to make those hours. Set aside a block of time to do what you love, cut out other stuff from your life that take up your time, and don’t let anything interfere with that work. If I had done that 15 years ago, I could have 15 books written by now. Not all would be great, but still.
11. All that stuff that’s stressing you out — it won’t matter in 5 years, let alone 15. When things are happening to you right now, they mean all the world. I had deadlines and projects and people breathing down my neck, and my stress levels went through the roof. I don’t regret the hard work (see above) but I think I would have been less stressed if I could have just realized that it wouldn’t matter a single bit just a few years down the road. Perspective is a good thing to learn.
12. The people you make friends with are so much more important than your job or the things you buy. I’ve had a few jobs, I’ve bought a lot of things, and I’ve made a few friends over these last 15 years. Of those, the only thing that still matter to me are the friends. And I wish I could have spent more time with friends (and family) than on the other things.
13. All that time you spend watching TV is a huge, huge waste of time. I don’t know how much TV I’ve watched over the years, but it’s a crapload. Hours and days and weeks I’ll never have back. Who cares what happens on reality TV, when reality is slipping by outside? Time is something you’ll never get back — don’t waste it on TV.
    
14. Your kids are going to grow up way faster than you think. Don’t waste a minute. I just had an Oh My God moment recently. My oldest daughter, Chloe, is 14 going on 15 next month. I have 3 years left with her before she leaves my house and becomes an adult. Three years! I am floored by that single fact, because it really doesn’t seem anywhere near enough time. I want to go back to my younger self and whack that younger Leo on the head and say Stop working so hard! Stop watching TV! Spend more time with your kids! These last 15 years with Chloe (and my other wonderful kids) have gone by much, much too fast.
15. Forget the drama. Focus on being happy. There have been many things that have happened to me, professionally and personally, that seem like the end of the world. And while these things were bad, they get blown up in our heads so that they become major drama. They caused me to be depressed from time to time. What a waste of time. If I realized that it was all in my head, and that I could be happy instead if I focused on the positive, on what I did have, and what I could be doing … I could have skipped all the moping about.
16. Pay more attention to blogs when you first hear about them. They’re more than just journals. I first read about blogs 7-8 years ago, but when I took a look at them they didn’t seem like anything of interest. Just some people’s journals about stuff they read on the web. Why would I want to read those? I have my own thoughts about the web, but I don’t need to share them with the world. I spent a lot of time on the Internet, on various sites and forums, but every time I happened upon a blog I would brush past it without interest. It wasn’t until a couple years ago that I discovered what wonderful things they could be (I mentioned some of my early favorites in my list of influences). If I had gotten into blogging years ago … well, I wouldn’t have been wasting all that time.
17. Speaking of which, keep a journal. Seriously. Your memory is extremely faulty. I forget things really easily. Not short-term stuff, but long-term. I don’t remember things about my kids’ early years, because I didn’t record any of it. I don’t remember things about my life. It’s like a lot of foggy memories that I’ll never have access to. I wish I had kept a journal.
18. Tequila is seriously evil. I won’t go into details, but it should suffice to say that I had some bad experiences, and I’m not sure I learned very much from them or benefited in any way except to learn that tequila is the drink of the Devil.
19. Yes, you can do a marathon. Don’t put this goal off — it’s extremely rewarding. Running a marathon had always been a dream of mine, since high school … something I wanted to do but thought was out of reach. Or if I ever did it, it would be years and years later. Well, I learned that it’s not only achievable, it’s incredibly rewarding. I wish I had started training when I was young and light and fit … I could have had some good finishing times!
20. All these mistakes you’re going to make, despite this advice? They’re worth it. My 18-year-old self would probably have read this post and said, “Good advice!” And then he would have proceeded to make the same mistakes, despite good intentions. I was a good kid, but I wasn’t good at following advice. I had to make my own mistakes, and live my own life. And that’s what I did, and I don’t regret a minute of it. Every experience I’ve had (even the tequila ones) have led me down the path of life to where I am today. I love where I am today, and wouldn’t trade it for another life for all the world. The pain, the stress, the drama, the hard work, the mistakes, the depression, the hangovers, the debt, the fat … it was all worth it.

“Let us so live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.” - Mark Twain

Ten things I want to teach my child

1. Don't let other people decide your future for you. Your dad is included in this list of "other people". I want what's best for you, but you have to decide what's best.

2. Beware of any group, political party, religion, or person who claim to have all the answers or to know the "true" way. No one has all the answers, and the is no one, true way. People who make claims of having special knowledge will only lead you into trouble.

3. Love your sister. You will have ups and downs throughout your lives, but if you let your sister be your best friend, then no matter what happens, you'll have someone to lean on.

4. Learn about the world. School will give you limited information, with most of it slanted a certain way. Learn as much as you can about other cultures and beliefs so that you can better understand both the world and yourself.

5. There are very few situations you'll encounter in life that can't be made more bearable by a Bruce Springsteen song.

6. Read everything you can, but definitely the following books: The Razor's Edge, The Shadow of the Wind, and You Gotta Play Hurt.

7. I'm always proud of you, even when you screw up.

8. The Dallas Cowboys are the only football team on the planet. On the flip side, we hate the Washington Redskins more than Communists, spinach, and math tests.

9. There's nothing you can't tell me or your mother.

10. Nothing I'll ever accomplish will be more important or more significant than being your dad. You'll feel the same way when you have kids...after you turn 40 and I let you start dating.

Top 10 Ways to Discover New Music

By Kyle Judkins | Nov 3, 2008

Most of my life I have strived to find new and interesting music, but I am often far too busy to really dig deep and find new artists everyday. Now that I am done with college and have a real job, I find that I have even less time to find new music or even stay up to date with all of the new bands.

I have, however, found some great resources that keep me in the loop with minimal time and effort.

Pandora

Pandora is an easy to use music discovery website that has been a favorite of mine for some time. Pandora allows you to create “stations” by putting in your favorite band or bands. Then, Pandora will play songs from that artist and artists that have a similar sound to your main artist. I like Pandora for its no frills approach, as it doesn’t throw a bunch of extra stuff at you.

Last.fm

Last.fm functions much the same way as Pandora, but focuses much more on the social network side of things. Of all the websites and services on the list, I use Last.fm the most. I have found that it has a huge library of tracks that doesn’t stop at the end of mainstream. Their library has exposed me to lots of unknown and underground gems.

StumbleAudio

StumbleAudio was covered in my previous post Discover New Music with StumbleAudio. It is a great service that is easy to use, but it has a smaller library that is mainly focuses around smaller unknown artists.

The Hype Machine

The Hype Machine is a very unique website, in that, it aggregates all kinds of MP3 blogs from across the Internet into one place. This way you can find out what bands everyone else is talking about and discover them for yourself.

Musicovery

Musicovery presents a much different experience than most of the other services on this list. At Musicovery, you choose genre, mood and timeframe in order to discover new music. This is definitely a very unique way to discover new music and is worth checking out.

Skreemr

Skreemr is an MP3 search engine that returns webpages where MP3’s of the artist you searched are posted. This allows you to easily listen to your favorite song by that artist. Skreemr also gives you the option to search for similar artists.

iLike

iLike is a music social network that is similar to Last.fm, but iLike integrates with your iTunes through a sidebar. This allows you to easily get recommendations from iLike and find more people with similar tastes in order to find find new artists.

thesixtyone

thesixtyone allows its users to “bump” up tracks by different artists. It functions in a way that is very similar to Digg, but it is only for music. This way you can find great songs and great artists by using the knowledge of the other users on the site.

Amazon

Amazon is a site that just about everyone should be familiar with. Back before I knew all about the sites listed above, I would go to Amazon and see what else customers bought when they bought an album I liked. If you keep doing this, you start going down a rabbit hole and can find some great music. The little snippets that Amazon lets you listen to provide you with a great way to sample the artists as you come across them.

Blogs

What list of places to find music would be complete without blogs? There are lots of great music blogs out there that keep you up to date with current artists and events. I subscribe to Stereogum and Pitchfork in my RSS, and I highly recommend them.

lostintechnology.com

10 Most Amazing Concept Bikes

10 Most Amazing Concept Bikes

Everyone loves riding bikes and so do we. As technology evolves, we shall be seeing new concept bikes with some unique design anatomy. Though fascinating, these concept bikes share a common aptitude of never making into the real world.

Compiled below is a list of the most amazing concept bikes you will ever see. Some of them may even hit the roads of reality in coming future but most of them are just idealized for the imaginary world.

1. Honda V4


The Honda V4 concept which was revealed at the 2008 Intermot bike show in Germany is a stylish and futuristic sportbike which proposes a new design direction for the brand.

2. Suzuki G-Strider


The Suzuki G-Strider was first seen during the 2003 Tokyo Motorshow. This concept motorbike is best described as half scooter half cruiser motorcycle as it shares atributes with both.
3. I.Care



This concept bike, known as the I.Care, is the best example of modern-day technology mixed with design and speed. It is designed and visualized by a France-based company, Enzyme Design. The I.Care motorcycle is meant to be the Aston Martin of the two-wheeled world with a six-cyclinder 1.8 Honda engine

4. Victory Vision 800


The Victory Vision 800 is a true concept bike, designed to show just how radical Victory can think. Victory, a division of Polaris ATV’s has no intention of producing the Vision 800, but the design is important nonetheless.

5. Yamaha Tesseract


The Yamaha Tesseract Concept Bike was unveiled at the Yamaha 2008 Tokyo Auto Show. Yamaha has made this concept a hybrid, boasting both a V-Twin engine of undisclosed size along with an electric motor.

6. Peraves Monotracer


The Peraves Monotracer is a fully enclosed motorbike featuring a sporty, aerodynamic appearance and low fuel consumption. The Peraves Monotracer is a new, updated and more attractive version of the Swiss-made Ecomobile.

7. Bombadier Embrio


The Embrio is a robotic unicycle announced by Bombardier in 2003, it is currently only a conceptual design. If produced, it would not be available until 2025. It is designed to be a hydrogen fuel cell-powered motorized unicycle capable of reaching highway speeds.

8. Batpod


Seen this in the Dark Knight, Have we? The Batpod was designed for the movie by Nathan Crowley and is powered by a high-performance, water-cooled, single-cylinder engine - geared toward the lower end for faster acceleration and with no exhaust pipes.

9. Dodge Tomahawk


The Dodge Tomahawk is a concept vehicle which was produced by Dodge. The insane potential widowmaker Dodge conceived and subsequently named the Tomahawk was first seen in 2003 at the Detroit Auto Show.

10. Confederate Renovatio


The Renovatio concept motorbike from Confederate Motorcycles based in America is a radical concept bike designed by Confederate’s lead designer Ed Jacobs. It is extremely minimalistic with all the mechanical elements of the bike on show.

10 Things I Wish I Knew In High School

1. Math is important
I did not like math in high school. I earned decent grades, but never took the time to actually understand it. I wish someone would have told me how important learning algebra is and that if you take the time to learn it, you may not have to retake your college calculus class three times.

2. Popularity doesn’t affect your future
Actually, even if someone told me this in high school, I don’t think I would have believed them. Popularity is a matter of opinion anyway, and even the most popular kids may not have any real friends. It is much more important to look for quality of friends rather than quantity of friends.

3. Boys know that you eat
When you go to school dances or on a date with a boy, make sure you eat. You are alive and kicking, so they know that you consume food and eating your dinner won’t make you look fat. Also, you can stray from the salad menu every once in a while.

4. Respect your parents
Your parents may not be with the times, but they usually have your best interest in mind. Plus, they have been there before, so they have an idea of what you are going through. If you don’t like their rules, tell them why, but don’t break them just to prove a point. Getting grounded for the weekend only punishes you.

5. Don’t get involved with gossip
Seriously, stay out of all forms of gossip, rumors or spiteful venting - this will all come back to haunt you. Staying out of this will keep you from being the topic of discussion and will save a lot of friendships.

6. You probably won’t marry your high school boyfriend
This seems pretty obvious, but everything can seem so serious in high school. Don’t sweat the small things and just have fun with dating. Although a couple of my friends actually did marry quality guys they dated in high school, it isn’t all that common.

7. If you want to join the science club, then join the science club
Joining a “dorky” club will not ruin your reputation. It may take time away from socializing with your friends, but you will also make new friends and joining clubs looks good on college applications.

8. Don’t waste time being shy
I was really shy my freshman year and missed out on things because of it. People like when you share your thoughts and add to a conversation. If you are shy, try putting yourself out of your comfort zone, like trying a new sport, running for class office or taking a debate class.

9. Take driving school seriously
It is not cool to fail your written test and almost get a traffic violation during your driving test. When they give you the little booklet to read, you need to actually read it. Also, when you go to driving school classes, they are not nap times; you actually need to pay attention.

10. Keep in touch with good friends
Once you graduate from high school, be sure to keep in touch with good friends. There is nothing greater than getting together years later and laughing at stupid things you did together when you were teenagers.

Top Ten Transhumanist Technologies

The Lifeboat Foundation has a special report detailing their view of the top ten transhumanist technologies that have some probability of 25 to 30-year availability. Transhumanism is a movement devoted to using technologies to transcend biology and enhance human capabilities.

I am going to list out each of the ten technologies described in the report, provide my own assessment of high, medium, or low probability or mass-market availability by a given time horizon, and link to prior articles written on The Futurist about the subject.

10. Cryonics : 2025 - Low, 2050 - Moderate

I can see the value in someone who is severely maimed or crippled opting to freeze themselves until better technologies become available for full restoration. But outside of that, the problem with cryonics is that very few young people will opt to risk missing their present lives to go into freezing, and elderly people can only benefit after revival when or if age-reversal technologies become available. Since going into cryonic freezing requires someone else to decide when to revive you, and any cryonic 'will' may not anticipate numerous future variables that could complicate execution of your instructions, this is a bit too risky, even if it were possible.

9. Virtual Reality : 2012 - Moderate, 2020 - High

The Technological Progression of Video Games

The Next Big Thing in Entertainment, Part I, II, and III

The Mainstreaming of Virtual Reality

8. Gene Therapy : 2015 - Moderate, 2025 - High

The good news here is that gene sequencing techniques continue to become faster due to the computers used in the process themselves benefiting from Moore's Law. In the late 1980s, it was thought that the human genome would take decades to sequence. It ended up taking only years by the late 1990s, and today, would take only months. Soon, it will be cost-effective for every middle-class person to get their own personal genome sequenced, and get customized medicines made just for them.

Are you Prepared to Live to 100?

7. Space Colonization : 2025 - Low, 2050 - Moderate

While this is a staple premise of most science fiction, I do not think that space colonization may ever take the form that is popularly imagined. Technology #2 on this list, mind uploading, and technology #5, self-replicating robots, will probably appear sooner than any capability to build cities on Mars. Thus, a large spaceship and human crew becomes far less efficient than entire human minds loaded into tiny or even microscopic robots that can self-replicate. A human body may never visit another star system, but copies of human minds could very well do so.

Nonetheless, if other transhumanist technologies do not happen, advances in transportation speed may enable space exploration in upcoming centuries.

6. Cybernetics : 2015 - High

Artificial limbs, ears, and organs are already available, and continue to improve. Artificial and enhanced muscle, skin, and eyes are not far.

5. Autonomous Self-Replicating Robots : 2030 - Moderate

This is a technology that is frightening, due to the ease at which humans could be quickly driven to extinction through a malfunction that replicates rouge robots. Assuming a disaster does not occur, this is the most practical means of space exploration and colonization, particular if the robots contain uploads of human minds, as per #2.

4. Molecular Manufacturing : 2020 - Moderate, 2030 - High

This is entirely predictable through the Milli, Micro, Nano, Pico curves.

3. Megascale Engineering (in space) : 2040 - Moderate

From the Great Wall of China in ancient times to Dubai's Palm Islands today, man-made structures are already visible from space. But to achieve transhumanism, the same must be done in space. Eventually, elevators extending hundreds of miles into space, space stations much larger than the current ISS (240 feet), and vast orbital solar reflectors will be built. But, as stated in item #7, I don't think true megascale projects (over 1000 km in width) will happen before other transhumanist technologies render the need for them obsolete.

2. Mind Uploading : 2050 - Moderate

This is what I believe to be the most important technology on this list. Today, when a person's hardware dies, their software in the form of their thoughts, memories, and humor, necessarily must also die. This is impractical in a world where software files in the form of video, music, spreadsheets, documents, etc. can be copied to an indefinite number of hardware objects.

If human thoughts can reside on a substrate other than human brain matter, then the 'files' can be backed up. That is all there is to it.

1. Artificial General Intelligence : 2050 - Moderate

This is too vast of a subject to discuss here. Some evidence of progress appears in unexpected places, such as when, in 1997, IBM's Deep Blue defeated Gary Kasparov in a chess game. Ray Kurzweil believes that an artificial intelligence will pass the Turing Test (a bellwether test of AI) by 2029. We will have to wait and see, but expect the unexpected, when you least expect it.

http://www.singularity2050.com/2007/08/top-ten-transhu.html

10 Signs That You Are Still Rich!

1. You didn’t go to sleep hungry last night.
2. You didn’t go to sleep outside.
3. You had a choice of what clothes to wear this morning.
4. You hardly broke a sweat today.
5. You didn’t spend a minute in fear.
6. You have access to clean drinking water.
7. You have access to medical care.
8. You have access to the Internet.
9. You can read.
10. You have the right to vote.

10 (More) Bizarre Deaths in History

Steve Irwin (1962 - 2006): Death by Stingray

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Irwin was an Australian wildlife expert and a well-loved TV personality, who gained worldwide fame from his internationally broadcast wildlife documentary program "The Crocodile Hunter," which he co-hosted with his wife Terri. While filming the documentary "Ocean's Deadliest" at the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Irwin swam too close above one of the stingrays with the cameraman directly right in front of it. Threatened by their presence, the ordinarily harmless stingray instinctively responded by flexing upward its razor-sharp, barbed tail which pierced Irwin's chest and into his heart, an injury that brought about his untimely demise at only 44 years of age.
Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626): Death by Stuffing Chicken

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One of the leading figures of the English Rennaisance, Bacon was a statesman, philosopher, scientist and author, whose celebrated works "Novum Organum" (1620) and "The New Atlantis" (1626) contributed significantly to the European scientific revolution. During a particularly heavy snowstorm in 1626, Bacon suddenly came up with the thought of possibly using snow to preserve meat. Desirous of finding out, he went to nearby marketplace to buy a fowl and had its internal organs removed. Standing outside in the snow, he immediately began stuffing the fowl to freeze it. However, the fowl never froze, but he did. He contracted pneumonia and died a few days after.
Gregori Rasputin (1869 - 1916): Death by Poison, Gunshot, Beating and Drowning

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Rasputin was a Russian mystic and monk who gained considerable influence on Tsar Nicholas II due to his unusual ability to use hypnosis to control the hemophilia suffered by Alexei, the heir to the throne. Rasputin survived being fed cakes laced with potassium cyanide and being shot through the heart. He was shot three more times by his assassins who found him to be alive and struggling to get up as they drew near to his body. He was then beaten with clubs and thrown into the freezing Neva River. When his body was recovered, an autopsy revealed that the cause of death to be hypothermia.
Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632 - 1687): Death by Conductor's Staff

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Lully was an Italian-born French composer who worked most of his life as the appointed musician in the court of Louis XIV of France. While conducting the Te Deum in honor of Louis XIV's recent recovery from sickness, Lully was so deeply engrossed on keeping the tempo by banging his long staff against the floor (as was the custom of the time before the baton came into common usage) that he struck his toe so hard that the would developed into an abscess. He refused to have his toe amputated even if the wound had turned gangrenous and had spread, leading to his death two months after the incident.
Sherwood Anderson (1876 - 1941): Death by Toothpick

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Anderson was an American author best known for his collection of short stories "Winesburg, Ohio" (1919) and the novel "Dark Laughter" (1925). He died in Panama of peritonitis that developed after accidentally swallowing a toothpick embedded in a martini olive at a party held on an ocean liner bound for Brazil.
George Allen (1918 - 1990): Death by Gatorade

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Allen was an American Football coach, who was showered by some of his Long Beach State players with an ice cold bucket of Gatorade in celebration of their season-ending win over the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on November 17, 1990. Afterwards, he even granted media interviews for some time under the cold weather with a piercing wind and boarded the bus back to Long Beach State still in his drenched clothing. Since then, he acknowledged that he had not been feeling completely well. He finally succumbed to pneumonia on December 31, 1990.
Alexander Litvinenko (1962 - 2006): Death by Radiation Poisoning

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Litvinenko was a former officer of the Russian State Security Services, who fled his country to the United Kingdom where he was granted political asylum in 2000. Litvinenko was hospitalized on November 1, 2001 when his health unexpectedly deteriorated. It was later discovered that he had been poisoned with significant amounts of the rare and extremely toxic radioactive element polonium-210. He died three weeks later, thus becoming the first known casualty of deliberate radiation poisoning. His murder marked the start of a new era of nuclear terrorism.
Jack Daniel (1850 - 1911): Death from Stubbed Toe

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In 1905, Jack Daniel, founder of Tennessee whiskey distillery, had trouble opening his safe early one day at work as he always had difficulty remembering the right combination. He kicked the safe in frustration resulting in a toe injury that later became infected; and eventually died (six years later) from blood poisoning attributable to the mishap. He could have just dipped his toe in his famous whiskey to ward off infection.
Isadora Duncan (1877 - 1927): Death by a Scarf

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Duncan was an American dancer, considered by many to be the mother of modern dance. Her extreme fondness for long flowing scarves was the cause of her death in a freak automobile accident in France at the age of 50. Duncan was strangled by her own scarf when it got caught in the rear wheel of a moving car.
Claude François (1939 - 1978): Death by a Light Bulb

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François was a French pop singer, best known for writing "Comme d'habitude," which was adapted for the English public by Paul Anka into the celebrated hit "My Way" famously sung by Frank Sinatra. François noticed a broken light bulb while standing in a bathtub filled with water in his Paris apartment. But being a stickler for orderliness and cleanliness, he cannot help but try to change the bulb, resulting in his death by electrocution.

http://www.purpleslinky.com/Trivia/History/10-More-Bizarre-Deaths-in-History.330669

10 Bizarre Deaths in History

We know that death comes to everyone sooner or later and it's not something that many would like to ponder on. Many times, death comes in very unusual ways. Here are some strange deaths that have happened throughout history.

Tennessee Williams (1911 - 1983): Death by Bottle Cap

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Williams was a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning American playwright known for psychological dramas such as "The Glass Menagerie" (1945), "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1948), and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1955). Williams died in his room at the Hotel Elysee in New York after accidentally choking on a bottle cap. He would customarily open the eyedrop bottle with his mouth, and then lean backwards to place eyedrops in each eye. According to the police report, his lack of gag response was largely the result of drugs and alcohol abuse.

Thomas Midgley, Jr. (1889 - 1944): Death by Strings and Pulleys

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Midgley was an American mechanical engineer turned chemist best known for his controversial discoveries of tetra-ethyl lead (TEL), a gasoline additive dubbed as ethyl by General Motors to avoid any mention of the highly toxic substance lead that prevents internal combustion engine from knocking; and Freon, a chlorinated fluorocarbon (CFC) used as a non-toxic refrigerant in household appliances. In 1941, Midgley contracted polio that left him severely handicapped, so he devised an intricate network of strings and pulleys to assist others lift him from bed. This system became the ultimate cause of his death when he got himself entangled and died of strangulation in 1944, some three decades prior to the discovery of the destructive effects of CFC on the ozone layer.

Attila the Hun (c.405 - 453): Death from Nosebleed

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Attila, the leader of the Huns, earned the nickname the "Scourge of God" for his brutality and rapacity. Under his leadership, his army conquered large areas of central and eastern Europe and ravaged Italy in the declining years of the Roman Empire. In spite of his fearsome reputation, Attila was well-known for being a light eater during large banquets. However, on his very own latest wedding feast, he let himself loose, stuffing himself heavily with food and drink. He suffered a severe nosebleed sometime during the night and drowned in his own blood in a stupor.

Tycho Brahe (1546 - 1601): Death from Failure to Heed Nature's Call

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Brahe was a Danish nobleman credited for the most accurate astronomical and planetary observations of his time, a remarkable achievement in the days before telescopes. Brahe, known for his immoderate drinking habits, already had bladder problems but was not able to relieve himself before the banquet started. However, he made his condition worse by drinking excessively during dinner that he had to hold his pee for the entire duration of the unusually long banquet for it was taken as an extreme insult to the host to leave an unfinished meal. His actions resulted in an infection caused by a severely strained bladder, ultimately leading to his painful death 11 days later.

Li Bai (701 - 762 AD): Death by Embracing the Moon's Reflection

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Li, considered as one of the greatest poets in the history of China, was well known for his love for alcoholic beverages and often created in his best poetries while intoxicated. One evening, Li Bai drowned in the Yangtze River, having fallen off his boat in his drunken attempt to embrace the moon's reflection in the water.

Adolf Frederick (1710 - 1771): Death by Favorite Dessert

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Adolf Frederick was the King of Sweden from 1751 until his death due to indigestion, after having overindulged himself with more than a dozen servings of his favorite dessert, semla served in a bowl of hot milk, on top of a meal comprising of lobster, sauerkraut, caviar, smoked herring and champagne. Accordingly, he is most remembered as "the king who ate himself to death" by Swedish schoolchildren.

Clement Vallandigham (1820 - 1871): Death by Court Demonstration

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Vallandigham was a controversial Ohio politician who resumed his successful law practice after the American Civil War. He was one of the defense attorneys representing the murder suspect Thomas McGehan in a case for killing a certain Tom Myers during a barroom scuffle. He sought to demonstrate to the jury of the possibility that Myers accidentally killed himself while attempting to draw his pistol from a kneeling position. He reenacted the scene grabbing a gun he thought to be unloaded and ended up shooting himself. Though he died from his wound, he succeeded in convincing the jury and got his client acquitted.

Franz Reichelt (18?? - 1912): Death by Parachute-Overcoat Failure

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Reichelt was an Austrian tailor who attempted to combine his interest in tailoring and aviation by creating a garment that would serve both as an overcoat and a parachute. He desired to demonstrate his invention by jumping off the Eiffel Tower, which was the tallest man-made structure in the world at the time. He had informed the authorities that a dummy would first be used, but decided at the last minute to do it himself. On February 4, 1912, he stepped from a platform of the Eiffel Tower with unfounded confidence and fell to his death, all of which were recorded by the press cameras.

François Vatel (1631 - 1671): Death by Delayed Delivery

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Vatel, chef to Louis XIV of France, was famous for creating the sweet vanilla-flavored whipped cream known as the Chantilly cream, which was served at the banquet given by Louis II de Bourbon in honor of the king. At the very same banquet, Vatel was overly distressed over the tardiness of his seafood order that he ran himself through a sword as he could not bear the disgrace of a delayed meal. His body was discovered by his assistant, who was sent to inform him that his order had arrived.

James Creighton, Jr. (1841 - 1862): Death by Baseball Bat Swing

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Creighton, a baseball player regarded by sports historians to be the game's first superstar, was credited for throwing the first fastball and accomplishing the first recorded triple play. In 1862, the 21-year-old Creighton suddenly died in the middle of his greatest season yet. At the time, players swung huge bats almost completely with their upper body; and it was alleged that Creighton swung the bat too forcefully causing an internal injury, probably a ruptured bladder or inguinal hernia. He managed to continue playing despite the excruciating pain; and died a few days later at his parents' place.

http://www.purpleslinky.com/Trivia/History/10-Bizarre-Deaths-in-History.329555

10 Amazing Coincidences

We have all come across coincidences in our lives. To some they are amazing and worthy of note, to the skeptics, it is just the law of probability. Check out these 10 examples of coincidence and let me know what you think.

What's in a Name?

A computer error gave two women in America called Patricia the same social security number. When the two women were brought together in an office to rectify the blunder they discovered that

• They had both been born with the names Patricia Ann Campbell
• Both of their fathers were called Robert Campbell
• Their birthdays were on 13th March 1941
• They had both married military men in the year 1959 (within eleven days of each other)
• They each had two children aged 19 and 21
• They both had an interest in oil painting
• Both had studied cosmetics
• Both had worked as book-keepers

Bullet With Your Name on It

In 1893, Henry Ziegland ended a relationship with his girlfriend.

Tragically, his girlfriend took the news very badly, became distraught and took her own life.

Her distressed brother blamed his sister's death upon Henry, he went round to Henry's house, saw him out in the garden and tried to shoot him.

Luckily, the bullet only grazed Henry's face and embedded itself in a nearby tree.

In 1913, twenty years after this incident, Henry decided to use dynamite to uproot a tree in his garden. The explosion propelled the embedded bullet from the tree straight into Henry Ziegland's head - killing him immediately.

Lucky Hughs?

On December 5th 1660, a ship sank in the straights of Dover - the only survivor was noted to be Hugh Williams.

On 5th December 1767, another ship sank in the same waters - 127 lost their lives, the only survivor was noted to be Hugh Williams

On 8th August 1820, a picnic boat capsized on the Thames - there was one survivor - Hugh Williams.

On 10th July 1940, a British trawler was destroyed by a German mine - only two men survived, one man and his nephew - they were both called Hugh Williams.

With a Quack Quack Here

Mr McDonald was a farmer who lived in Canada - nothing extra-ordinary in that - until you learn that his postcode contained the letter sequence EIEIO.

'Til Death Did Them Part

In 1996, Paris police set out to investigate a late night, high speed car crash, both drivers had been killed instantly.

Investigations revealed that the deceased were in fact man and wife.

Police initially suspected some kind of murder or suicide pact but it became apparent that the pair had been separated for several months - neither could have known that the other would have been out driving that night - it was just a terrible coincidence.

She's Behind You!

Michael Dick had been travelling around the UK with his family to track down his daughter, Lisa - who he had lost contact with ten years earlier.

After a long fruitless search, he approached the Suffolk Free Press, who agreed to help him by putting an appeal in their newspaper.

Fortunately, his long lost daughter saw the appeal and the pair were reunited. The odd thing was, his daughter had been right behind him when the free paper took the photograph - shown in the photograph above. What are the chances of that!

Licensed To Thrill

A fifteen year old pupil at Argoed High School in North Wales was to sit his GCSE examinations in 1990.

His name was James Bond - his examination paper reference was 007.

What Goes Around….

In 1965, at the age of four, Roger Lausier was swimming off a beach in Salem - he got into difficulties and was saved from drowning by a woman called Alice Blaise.

In 1974, on the same beach, Roger was out on a raft when he pulled a drowning man from the water - amazingly, the man he saved was Alice Blaise's husband.

Lightning Never Strikes Twice?

British cavalry officer Major Summerford was fighting in the fields of Flanders in the last year of WW1, a flash of lightning knocked him off his horse and paralysed him from his waist down.

He moved to Vancouver, Canada, six years later, whilst out fishing, Major Summerfield was struck by lightning again and the right side of his body became paralysed.

After two years of recovery, it was a summers day and he was out in a local park, a summer storm blew up and Major Summerfield was struck by lightning again - permanently paralysing him.

He died two years after this incident.

However, four years after his death, his stone tomb was destroyed - it was struck by lightning!

Practice What You Preach

Businessman Danie de Toit made a speech to an audience in South Africa - the topic of his speech was - watch out because death can strike you down at any time.

At the end of his speech, he put a peppermint in his mouth, and choked to death on it!

http://www.purpleslinky.com/Offbeat/10-Amazing-Coincidences.230521