Showing posts with label random. Show all posts
Showing posts with label random. Show all posts

04 October 2010

No. 29: You Should Know Better!

...and I do. That's kind of the problem. Let's be Grammar Nazis for a minute (mostly just cuz it's fun), and address something I've never heard anyone talk about.

I KNOW that a potential student visiting my university is a prospective student. Some people don't; I acknowledge that, and I'm not being judgy by pointing it out. But even thought I KNOW that this word is prospective and not perspective, I still say perspective, because I don't want other people to think I'm being pretentious or subtly correcting them by saying prOHspective, which is kind of unavoidable if you pronounce that "o."

Why are we afraid of doing things right? Why do I consciously pronounce this word wrong? Why do people who "know better" say things like "ain't"? (Although, admittedly, this is just kind of a regional thing, and it's pretty accepted now in some areas.) What other words do we say incorrectly, just so people won't think we're judging the way they talk? Just a thought: by doing this, we're admitting that we don't want them to judge the way we talk, right?

Ginger and I had a conversation last night about grammar in speech and stuff like that: we agreed that as long as you are understood, it doesn't really matter if you say "me and him" instead of "he and I." It just doesn't. In formal writing, sure, you're expected to be technically correct. But in everyday conversation, grammar isn't quite as important.

But what about the words themselves? If you've made up a word (ain't), or confused one word with another (prospective/perspective), can that be a hinderance to communication? Or is it more of a hindrance to use correct pronunciation and words that actually exist? If I say prospective, are people always going to know what I'm talking about? Or is it better, in that situation, to say it incorrectly?

What's more important? Being correct or being understood?

14 September 2010

No. 28: Razorback Football. (This one's all Hayley.)

Yay. :)
I know this is coming a little late, but we're currently NUMBER 12 with a 2-0 record! Yeehaw! Next game is at Georgia, 11am, on ESPN. So, naturally, I'll be out of town and not near a TV. Thank goodness for straight-to-your-phone quarterly updates. :)

Football - Schedule - University of Arkansas Athletics


DateOpponentAR RankLocationTime (CT)ResultsMedia
  Sat, Sep 04 Tennessee Tech17Fayetteville, Ark.  6 p.m.44 - 3 (W) 

PPV
RSN 
Live Stats
  Sat, Sep 11 Louisiana-Monroe14Little Rock, Ark.  6 p.m.31 - 7 (W) 

FSN, ESPN3 Live Stats
  Sat, Sep 18 Georgia *-at Athens, Ga.  11 a.m.
ESPN Live Audio Available
  Sat, Sep 25 Alabama *-Fayetteville, Ark.  2:30 p.m.
CBS Live Audio Available
  Sat, Oct 09 Texas A&M-at Arlington, Texas  TBA
Live Audio Available
  Sat, Oct 16 Auburn *-at Auburn, Ala.  TBA
Live Audio Available
  Sat, Oct 23 Ole Miss *-Fayetteville, Ark.  TBA
Live Audio Available
  Sat, Oct 30 Vanderbilt - Homecoming *-Fayetteville, Ark.  TBA
Live Audio Available
  Sat, Nov 06 South Carolina *-at Columbia, SC  TBA
Live Audio Available
  Sat, Nov 13 UTEP-Fayetteville, Ark.  TBA
Live Audio Available
  Sat, Nov 20 Mississippi State *-at Starkville, MS  TBA
Live Audio Available
  Sat, Nov 27 LSU *-Little Rock, Ark.  TBA
Live Audio Available
* Conference Games




01 August 2010

No. 26: International Justice Mission

Okay, let's be serious for a sec. Millions--tens of millions--of people around the world are victims of "injustice." Not injustice like getting passed up for a promotion or getting cut off in traffic--that's more the trivially unfair. "Injustice" is a sin. An act of violence, oppression, or abuse of power by those who have the upper hand. Injustice is what happens when innocent people are denied justice, and God is not a fan.

Gary Haugen, who founded IJM in 1997, came and spoke at Fellowship Bible Church this morning. He talked about how he first discovered God's passion for justice in 1994, when he was the chief prosecutor of those who led the Rwandan genocide. His question to Fellowship was this: "Are Jesus and I really interested in the same things?" It's easy to know what you're interested in...you. Maybe family and friends, people you like. But God is interested in the whole world, and He is passionate about His world and justice in it. Gary Haugen told stories of children in slavery....how can they believe that God is good? If we look in the Bible the answer is clear: We show them. Matthew 5:14 says, "You are the light of the world" [emphasis mine]. The thing is, these people who are suffering and oppressed won't believe that God is good unless we show them how good He is, which has been God's plan all along.

All that to say, IJM works around the world to secure justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation, and other forms of violent oppression. (I stole that straight from the website.) After listening to Gary Haugen talk about what they do, I got his book, Good News about Injustice, to read here before I go back to school, and I'm currently looking into the possibility of an internship in their DC office in a year or two. I'm not passionate about much, but this is something I feel God has really laid on my heart, so please pray that I'll continue searching, learning, and getting involved.

~Hayley


If you want to learn more about International Justice Mission or get involved yourself, check out their website, Twitter, or Facebook.

03 May 2010

No. 21: This Friday

Finals are this week. I've been thinking a bit lately about the purpose of finals. Most of my professors treat "finals" as just the next test in a series of sectional exams.

The psychology final I just finished consisted of 45 multiple choice questions about the last three chapters of the semester. It was the easiest psych test by far.

My roommate's final today, however, was for human growth and development. They had a sectional exam on Wednesday, and then a comprehensive final this morning. I've been racking (literally, torturing, as in "on the rack") my brain trying to figure out the purpose behind this. Sarah's theory: education professors are sadists. I'm tempted to agree. The students have already been tested over this material. Some of it just three days ago!

Now, I have a Middle Ages exam on Wednesday (at 8 am!), and he told us we should be aware of previous material (since it's a history class, and history is by definition comprehensive), but that we would be primarily tested over what we've learned since our most recent exam.

So, my little rant on comprehensive college finals. Silly. Also, I think some professors weight the final and others don't. Why?

But with Thursday at midnight comes Iron Man 2 and the end of our first year of college. If we can survive until then. :)

~Hayley

17 February 2010

Well, everyone else is doing it...

...and since we probably care even more than a lot of people, we put TONS of thought into this.
So, without further ado, one of those "lame" YouTube slideshow videos (with music!) of our ideal Hunger Games cast:




***the video is cut off for some reason, so just click on it to watch the video on YouTube's site***


EXPLANATIONS:
Finnick--Zac Efron: Yes, we know Finnick isn't in the first book. But doesn't Zac just seem perfect? Lol.
Cato--Sebastian Stan: Also known as Carter Baizen and "that weirdo guy from The Covenant." Doesn't he just looook the part? And he's also extra-creepy. :)
Glimmer--Brittany Snow or Hayden Panettiere: Really, how hard is it for Hollywood to find a gorgeous blonde? :P
Thresh--Stanislav Ianevski: He just seems perfect. That's all there is to it. Watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire if you don't believe us.
Prim--Elle Fanning: 1) She's not Dakota. 2) She's adorable. 3) We liked her in Benjamin Button.
Cinna--Hugh Dancy: This is not a comment on Hugh...just his acting and cuteness. :)
Gale--Adam Gregory: Don't know much about him, other than the fact that he's super-cute and not soft-looking. :)
Effie--Amy Poehler: She's so funny and cute and awesome.
Haymitch--Hugh Laurie: We love him. And, he would just do a wonderful job here--he's a superb actor. (PS--It's not the end of the world if Haymitch isn't fatty-fat-mcfattykins, and he IS supposed to be about 40.)
Peeta--Alex Pettyfer: "Why," you ask? We shouldn't have to answer that. This is the one we really won't budge on.
Katniss--Lucy Hale: We thought she really looked the part...don't know much about her as an actress, though.



Acknowledgements:
Special thanks to Sarah for assisting us with her valuable input (that is, agreeing with our choices. :P). Also, to all those other people who made similar videos--we checked a bunch out for inspiration. :)

01 February 2010

No. 11: Grammys 2010....aka, CMAs 2.0....aka, A Year Without Coldplay

May I begin by saying: how many different categories can one awards show have? It's like they've orchestrated it so that everyone can win something. For example, what's the difference between "Record of the Year" and "Song of the Year"? Cuz a song won for both of those....... Right?


So, a brief rundown, with commentary. (NOTE: This will not include everything. If I don't have an opinion, I won't include it. :D)


Taylor Swift & Beyonce ruled this year.
Tay-Tay: Album of the Year, Country Album, Female Country Vocal Performance (White Horse), Country Song (White Horse)
*I do like Taylor Swift. And I do think White Horse is a good song. However, (Ginger's opinion here), Kanye West was one of the best things that ever happened to her. Honestly. She's enjoyed a somewhat-unreasonable level of popularity since The Incident. You Belong With Me is definitely my go-to elliptical-machine-kick-butt-workout song, but I'm not so sure she deserved to sweep the Grammys. Check out this embarrassing live performance in Sydney. Just food for thought. 
Queen B: Song of the Year (Single Ladies), Female Pop Vocal Performance (Halo), Female R&B Vocal Performance (Single Ladies), Traditional R&B Vocal Performance (At Last), R&B Song (Singe Ladies), Contemporary R&B Album (I Am...Sasha Fierce)
*Not the biggest Beyonce fan.... Also, I think it's funny that "Single Ladies" is already pretty much a joke...and it still won Grammys. What does that tell us?

In other news, what is the distinction of "vocal performance"? Really, I'm dying to know.

In the category of ROCK...
Green Day got Album, Kings of Leon got Song & "performance by a duo or group with vocals," Jeff Beck got "instrumental performance." (PS--Kings of Leon also got "Record of the Year"...that elusive distinction.)
Bruce Springsteen (solo rock vocal performance) is considered rock...?
AC/DC (hard rock performance) is still in action...? As in, they're all still alive?
Also, I don't know who Judas Priest is. Heard the name, not the music. But then again, it's "metal" which isn't rock. It just isn't.

Lady Gaga got a few Grammys...in addition to her "most unsurprising outrageous costume" award.
In the DANCE category, she(?) cleaned up, since there are only two awards, and unless you consider the Black Eyed Peas dance music (which we apparently don't, even though it is), Gaga's really the only dance artist around.

I'm not sure what TRADITIONAL, ALTERNATIVE, and WORLD have in common, but they're all combined into one category, under which there are strange titles. The "Album" options include: Alternative Music, Americana, Bluegrass, Traditional Blues, Contemporary Folk, Hawaiian Music, Native American Music, Zydeco or Cajun Music, Reggae, Traditional World Music, Contemporary World Music, New Age. Three things: 1--why is there only an album option for these genres? do they not have any good songs? 2--And why are all these genres smushed together, when many are actually kind of popular? 3--Why is the labelling inconsistent (i.e., why do some awards have "music" explicitly in the title and others do not)?

VISUAL MEDIA
I'll address score awards here, which is ironic because movie score....is instrumental, so audial, not visual. But whatever.
Slumdog Millionaire and Michael Giacchino (Up) and West Side Story. I LOVE the first two, and am not familiar with this latter version of the classic musical that received 2010 awards. But anyway, A.R. Rahman and Michael Giacchino are both awesome, as is, at least, the original West Side Story. :) *Ginger singing* Ma-riiii-a! Ma-riii-a!

GOSPEL
That's not really an accurate term. And Rock/Rap are the same category. I remain in the dark.

OTHER
I love how there's an "other" category. I just do. It's strange, considering all the other accommodations made. Though full of very "other" type awards, so I guess it makes sense. Stephen Colbert won "Comedy Album." Fitting, I suppose. Was that category created for Weird Al?

In conclusion:
Whoever decided on the score awards has good taste in music.
I should probably listen to Kings of Leon.
Taylor Swift is a country singer. With pop appeal. I'm impressed, and Imma let her finish, but I still think Beyonce had the best country album of all time.
Coldplay needs to come out with a new album.

31 January 2010

No. 10: Adventures in Hill-Navigation

It snowed here Friday--all day! Ginger and Hayley, with friends Emily and Amy, went to the Honors House in search of good sledding hills--we found them! :)




29 January 2010

Lllllllllladies.

Y HELLO THAR. This post is brought to you by Sarah. And who is this Sarah person, you may ask? Well, I'm friends with the weirdos running this blog, and will be contributing random posts every so often. A short introduction: I'm a girl, I'm white, and I like stuff. Oh, and I'm also a dork.
So what kinds of things does this white girl like? Making fun of bad movies/books. Firefly and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Japanese Stuff. Too many authors and books to list. The Office. More Japanese stuff. Pixar, Disney (in the Lion King sense, not the High School Musical sense), and Studio Ghibli movies. The color blue. Reese's peanut butter cups. Flailing. Even more Japanese stuff. Basically the same things as Hayley and Ginger. Just with more Japan. And other super special awesome stuff. Or something.
And the first post I'll be sharing with you is an amazing commentary of the Twilight movie. That is, a commentary done by Rifftrax, the same geniuses behind MST3K. It's hilarious, and yes, we do have the lyrics to the spoofed "Edward's Song" memorized. And we quote lines. Oh yeah.





[Hayley and Ginger heartily approve this post. Heartily.]

No. 9: Fictional Fellows

Mr. Darcy (Pride & Prejudice) - Colin Firth























Draco Malfoy (Harry Potter) - Tom Felton


















Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl)









Jacob Black (Twilight) - Taylor Lautner

















Peter Pan (Peter Pan) - Jeremy Sumpter

















Neal Caffrey (White Collar) - Matt Bomer























Peeta Mellark (Hunger Games) - Alex Pettyfer (our choice!)

28 January 2010

No. 8: Stuff White Girls LOVE







mmm. mmhmm. 

So, if you had to choose...which one? Ginger's vote is on Alex. I think it's the school uniform that seals the deal.

(Hayley must concur. She really just must. But Matt is still pretty fine.)

No. 6: When the Razorbacks Win

Don't deny it.

27 January 2010

No. 5: Just So We're Clear

This is Hayley. I just wanted to make something abundantly clear to anyone who is bored enough to be reading this blog. There is one man in this world who is creepier even than our friend Emily. In fact, that's an understatement. If you looked up "creepy" in the dictionary-- if you Googled "creepy"-- if you typed in "creepy" on urbandictionary-- THIS IS THAT DUDE.

A round of nervous applause, please, for......
MISTER MICKEY ROURKE!


Now let me just ask you something.
Does this man look like he belongs on the red carpet?
Or in a back alley somewhere shooting heroin?










[This has been Hayley's rant. It may be mentioned again, in later posts. There's really no telling.]



[Ginger writing: This is obviously something that these two white girls do NOT like. JUST SO WE'RE CLEAR.]


**DISCLAIMER: Not every single item reported in this post is quantifiable fact. But that doesn't change the fact that it's true! :)**

25 January 2010

No. 2: Cutest Babies Ever?

We (well, mostly Hayley) had a theory about Hugh & Claire's babies. This is that theory.

The site didn't do them justice. Was this user error? Maybe. But we prefer to think it wasn't our fault.

Still a cute baby, just a little blurry.















Then again, we did tell them that Hugh was East Asian and Claire was African. :)

Welcome to our humble abode.







We think this is comic genius.




Judge us as you will.