Quick “Pace” Preparation

Traveling overseas is something that people dream of doing, but put aside for later in life. The problem comes when “later in life” turns into “never”. The older you get, the more wrapped up in life and responsibility you are. If traveling is something you want to do, then do it now. At the age of 18 years old I have saved my money and decided to backpack across Europe with a couple fellow Pace family members, including my sister and two cousins. Some people might say it is impossilbe for four college students to have enough money, responsibility, and knowledge to journey across a foreign country alone. This is how we did it.

We decided to call our adventure PEE ‘08, not only because it is fun to say, but it also stands for Pace European Extravaganza 2008! Deciding where to visit was easy. Every place seemed interesting to us, so we went to the website statravel.com and found different Eurail routes. The Eurail is the most common form of travel in Europe. This train touches almost every country in Europe and reminds me of the train in Harry Potter, if that paints a better picture. The route we decided to take stopped at London, Germany, Italy, Poland, Autria, and Czech Republic. With the student discounts from the website, the cost for airfair and Eurail tickets was around $1,800 for one person.

After we decided what places we were visiting, we went to Wal-Mart and bought a Travel Book for $15. This book included attractions, food, and lodging for each country we were visiting. We made a rough agenda for the three days we were staying in each country. After finding all the free attractions, we picked some that have an entrance fee but we really wanted to see. Then for lodging we decided to stay at all Hostels. A Hostel is a cheaper hotel for traveling young people. We picked our Hostels based on safety first, then overall rating.

The week before we left was intense. We got togheter our passports, notified our banks for the overseas spending in the next month, and began packing. We found a discount for backpacks at our local college recreation center. They only cost us $50 each. Our packing was light since we would have to carry our luggage on our backs for the entire trip.

However, putting the backpacks on the day of the flight was a challenge to say the least. My sister, Cindy, straped hers on first while sitting down. When she stood up, she quickly realized she had packed unevenly. Watching the oversized pack drag her 5′3 self downward was hilarious… I mean tragic. Luckily, however, we evevtually mangaged to fix both our packs to where they fit comfortably.

We arrived to the Nashville airport three hours before our flight was scheduled to depart, just incase we had problems with our electronic tickets. No problems occurred, so Cindy and I played many,many card games while we waited in the terminal.

Our first flight was to Canada, which was only a two hour flight. The next flight, however, would not be as quick and comfortable. This connecting flight was from Canada to London, an eight hour overnight flight. Only, due to the six hour time change, night never came. It was the craziest thing to look out the window at what should have been 12 am our time only to see the sun rising over the clouds!

I did not sleep much during that flight, one reason was because the sun was beaming in through the airplane windows, the other reason was a fear of Cindy repeating her all too well known motion sickness episodes. The last time she flew, she did not make it to the bathroom in time. Let’s just say neither the first class nor the airflight attendants were her best friends that day. However, thanks to Cindy’s new best friend, Dramanine, she lasted through an entire flight without history repeating itself.

After what felt like an eternity, the plane started to descent. I looked out the window and could barely see a tiny version of the Big Ben. The turbulance started to build as we got closer to the runway. A loud rumble let us know that the wheels had touched ground, and we were finally in Europe.

Break out the inaugural tight pants and funny colored sunglasses — Jay-Z just got indie cred.

What has the music world baptizing the rap’s CEO into the complicated world of vintage sweaters, mosh pits, and obscure rock? Only one of the most legendary festival performances this side of the equator: Jay-Z played the headlining slot at Glastonbury, the world’s largest (usually guitar rock) music festival.

His set was soaked in buzz and controversy months before he stepped foot on Glasto’s famous Pyramid state. Besides lacking the usual “big name” bands of the past, the booking of a hip hop artist to a festival famous for hosting the likes of Oasis and The Who seemed awkward at best. Ticket sales were slow and many blamed Jay-Z for turning off rock and indie fans, the festival’s bread-and-butter crowd.

Even rock loud-mouth (and personal hero) Noel Gallagher of Oasis pointed out what everyone was thinking: Jay-Z just didn’t fit in.
The moment of truth came that Saturday night when Jay came on to the stage in front of a sea-size crowd…strumming along to Oasis’s hit “Wonderwall”. Who knew American’s could be cheeky too? (Watch Jay-Z’s “metaphorical middle-finger” HERE).

Usually, those who bad mouth Oasis are dead to me — especially if they satirically head a mass sing-a-long with thousands of their own fans. But…

A) I dare you not to breakout in goose bumps when after a moment of silence and a thousand strong “JAY Z JAY Z JAY Z” chants, he breaks out into a blood-pumping version of “99 Problems”.

B) I’ll take a “Wonderwall” sing-a-long any way I can get it.

C) Nice to see someone has the guts (and the wits) to fight back a Gallagher.

D) Last but not least, seeing a bunch of British kids getting down Brooklyn-style is like watching a cat riding a bicycle: they don’t seem to go together but oh, when they do, it’s freakin’ awesome and mildly hilarious.

Jay-Z’s hit-packed, high energy set converted even the most devoted of headbangers (including myself). Though there were a few dips in my attention span as I watched his set (Note to Mr. Z: Unless every single person in the crowd knows the lyrics, avoid slow songs and acapellas at all costs), overall, I thought he hardly looked like the festival underdog he was supposed to be. It wasn’t just a win for him: his Glasto success proved fans are a lot more open-minded than snobby music mags painted us out to be.

I heard many great things about the Wii Fit for months before it was available on the market. Exercise and have fun at the same time with a video game console? Come on… Needless to say, I needed to find out if all the hype was warranted so I decided to get one for my very own. This did not prove to be an easy task however. Even the people that pre-ordered their Wii Fits were on back order, there were no games to be found anywhere, at any store, and some stores even admitted it may take months to fill their back orders before they can even start selling to the general public.

Lucky for me, I happened upon a particular GameStop whose UPS truck arrived just as I was pulling into the parking lot. Woohoo! I managed to be one of only two lucky individuals to get their paws on a Wii Fit in the area. Generally, each location is only shipped two Fits at a time. This definitely makes it hard for retailers and frustrated consumers when there is not enough supply to meet the evident demand. It seems to be a broken record when it comes to popular Wii games. There is just never enough gaming love to go around once it finally hits shelves — for the 1.3 seconds it actually stays on the shelf anyway.

Now that I have had the game since the weekend, and have had quite a bit of fun testing this out with friends, each of us trying to beat the other’s Wii Fit Age and balance abilities…I can honestly say this little guy really does pack in quite the workout if you go through each of the levels of training.

Whether Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobics or Balance Games, a combination of this well-rounded serving of fun and fitness will get your heart pumping, your feet and body moving, and your clothes drenched with sweat and stuck to you like melted cheese.

Using the Wii Fit, you can loose weight, tone your body, and have fun at the same time. It is a lot different than following boring DVDs or attempting to keep up in classes at a gym where everyone seems to be just a little bit better than you at getting the moves down at the right pace.

My biggest qualm is the constant banter of the trainer you work with (you can select either a male or a female). They repeat the same verbiage with every repeat of the exercise, so that does tend to wear on the nerves. Aside from this small quibble, the Wii Fit really does do what it sets out to do. There are even two-player games and exercises to increase the “family” element of the system. The more you do, the more new things you unlock to try.

If you like to exercise, but you like your game time too, this is great! If you have someone in your home that generally hates exercise, but loves video games — this may be the way to increase their interest in fitness.

Now, I am going to go and see if I can get my Wii Fit Age down to 10.

Apple, not content with slaughtering the CD music industry, has continued on to other murderous ventures that apparently involve killing the way you used to find new music. No need to swap mix tapes with a friend or sing the one line you remember from that one song the on radio to everyone who is willing to listen and possibly give you a title.

Because that’s what Apple ads are for.

A brief rundown of iPod ads backing music reads like Billboard Hot 100 List…Jet’s “Are you Gonna Be my Girl?”, Caesars “Jerk it Out”, Feist’s “1234”…and recently, Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida”. (You can check out the rest of Apple’s ad jukebox here).

No doubt Apple’s current marketing department consists of everybody whose ever excitedly yanked out one headphone and yelled “DUDE you GOT to hear this band!.” Yes, they have a knack for picking the perfect, most insanely catching song, and the occasional indie gem, sometimes to the anger of the “I liked them before they were cool!” crowd.

(Yes, Daniel Radcliffe, I know you put Brenden Benson’s “What I’m Looking For” on your iTunes celebrity playlist a full three years before it became elevator music for an iTouch ad. I know, I know. It sickens me too. )

However, it’s their new Coldplay iTunes commercial that has the music purist in me frowning. Why? Just give the links a click and quick compare and contrast and perhaps you’ll see what I mean (Apple’s “Viva” Cut vs. Full Version). Frankly, I feel a little…deceived. The 30-second featuring “Viva La Vida”, a single off Coldplay’s new album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, is admittedly, fantastic. I was so smitten with its high energy, epic sound that I dug around for the full version and I was not disappointed — but that’s not to say I wasn’t confused.

Upon listening, I noticed Apple had obviously, yet seamlessly, cut and pasted two sections of the song that are nowhere near each other in the full version. More disturbing was the complete change in the song’s energy: in full, it is a softer, less “pop” musical ride, more eclectically interesting, and more sweeping epic than stadium rock. Think a broken (those are the most fun) merry-go-round that speeds and slows down at different intervals, minus the confused and probably terrified screams of children.

Yes, I know Coldplay approved the ad…since they were in it. And I will fully admit Apple is genius at picking songs. However, I can’t help but feel as if they butchered a song’s musical originality into easy-to-swallow pop bite-sized pieces because they think we’ll eat anything they feed us. Or maybe the music snob in me just runs rampant when I watch commercials at three in the morning.

We can only assume America was meant to stand for freedom in its purest form. Somewhere along the nation’s search for an identity on the global stage, we got sidetracked by shiny things on the road and soon became known for our God-given right to be ‘free to buy’. Let’s not hide iPods- we’re fairly guilt-free about being a nation of buyers. But thanks to Al Gore PowerPoint-ing his way into our conscience, the country is thinking twice about their easy mass consumerism in the face of a warming world; paper vs. plastic; the importance of light switches; and how much we’ll really miss polar bears. And we know if penguins had fingers, they’d be pointing the blame squarely at us. American’s are generally viewed as a wasteful people with more regard for getting what they want, now, rather than living in a watery wasteland, later.

The inevitable question arises: With the Green movement gaining momentum, can the U.S. (as well as many other industrialized nations) really move past the consumerism that has both come to define American culture and potentially damned the future? Certainly it’s a hard habit to break, but the influx of unofficial celebrity endorsements of going green definitely helps the more impressionable and trend-swept Americans to weed off their pre-”global warming is real” days.

However, even the most sincere of tree-huggers, the indie fans of nature, have to admit that saving the planet at hybrid-car prices may keep sea levels from rising, but our pockets might pray for a world flood just so they can fill themselves with something. Earth-friendly products, from organic to energy saving, are still on the banks of our nation’s mainstream flow, but essentially, still a lifestyle choice for the environmentally conscious rather than an institutionalized way of American life.

With the green life still out of our budget, the notions that our actions are insignificant to the world are more prevalent than ever. After all, its generally easier to stay the consumerist course: more options, cheaper prices.

If this is the key to changing our purchase habits, then it depends heavily on the companies to standardize green production and products to flood the market. It is by no means an easy job and we can’t exactly afford to wait until the ocean is lapping in Bakersfield for green-retail to be the norm.

In the meantime, we all know the story. We know all of the little things to help, but (myself included)for some reason, think earth saving is something bored rich people do because all real world issues were already taken up by Bono and George Clooney. The fact of the matter is that those wealthy faces have hardly ever been roots of change; they become insignificant when history looks back in retrospect and sees the bulk responsibility on grassroots support that spills momentum into the mainstream. The capitalistic machine was built on our brand-name backs, maybe its time we manipulate it for a good green cause.

With summer beginning, it’s time for all the spring cleaning to go back into the closet, last season’s clothes should be tossed into storage (they will be in style again…) as the new summer clothes come in. While spring featured African Zebra and Cheetah prints, summer is all about more mute, dark colors.

Focus on colors such as brown, black, and white — these will make you look skinnier. Large, over-sized sunglasses will protect your eyes in the sun, but they are also an important addition to large matching bags that you can use to stuff in extra summer essentials.

Another color that is “in” this season is gold — gold will complement most colors (i.e. black), and give you a more bronzing look. If the dark, mute colors don’t suit you, go for more outrageous colors such as bright green, blue or red. Large hats will go perfectly with your outfit, especially if you go for a solid tan color. This season, wear a lot of jewelry that contrasts with your clothing to truly fit into the summer look.

For affordable shopping, check out H&M and Forever21.

Biofuels can be based on ethanol, vegetable oil and other renewable sources. Biofuels have become increasingly popular lately with our government as well as with environmentalists, because they believe biofuels are a way to reduce our fossil fuel dependence and they also lessen greenhouse gas emissions. Or do they?

A biologist at the University of Washington, Bothell, did research that found biofuel stocks might have the exact opposite impact than it is intended to have. The June edition of the Conservation Biology journal has a paper concerning biofuel. In it, there are a dozen policy recommendations on promoting sustainability and biodiversity using biofuel production.

Many people don’t think about the energy and cost that is needed to produce a renewable fuel source versus how much energy is produced, the impact on soil fertility and effects on our food supply when we take our corn and soybeans for fossil fuels versus food consumption. Looking at these factors, the study found that corn-based ethanol is the worst alternative overall.

All of these factors help to determine our ecological footprint. An ecological footprint is the comparison between the amount of human consumption of natural resources with Earth’s ecological capacity to regenerate them. There are different kinds of ecological footprints - an average ecological footprint for a certain area, be it a city, state, country or continent, or it could be an individual person, a family, or a certain way of doing something. The authors of the article argue that precise calculations are needed to determine the ecological footprints of large-scale cultivation of various crops used for biofuels.

“It’s foolish to say we should be developing a particular biofuel when that could mean that we’re just replacing one problem with another,” said lead author Martha Groom of the UW Bothell.

The amount of energy required to grow corn and convert it to ethanol is needed in large amounts, but only gives out a modest amount of fuel. But switchgrass, for example, which is a common forage for cattle, requires much less energy to grow and convert to fuel, and another possibility – algae – would require even less energy. Unfortunately, the technologies to produce fuels based on switchgrass and algae aren’t fully developed, and if there is enough support in changing the direction of how and where biofuels come from, there would need to be significant changes in biofuel policies.

The suggestions offered in the article aren’t definitive but more like questions to use as a starting point to find the answers. More people are questioning the way biofuels are being produced, given the rise in both food and fuel prices; if there is a way to make biofuel cheaper and more effective, people want that.

If farmers act too hastily, wanting to grow only corn due to it being suddenly profitable, they wouldn’t be rotating crops like soybeans, which would deplete their soil fertility and could limit crop growth as well as cause high amounts of soil erosion.

For any process used, energy is used as well. Some plants can absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere better than others. Some might need more cultivation, but to cultivate more means using more fossil fuel for farm equipment, fertilization, watering and harvesting.

Below are the policy recommendations the study has concerning biofuels:

• Calculate a biofuel’s ecological footprint
• Promote only biofuels that can be produced sustainably
• Select highly efficient species for biofuels
• Work to minimize land needed for biofuels
• Encourage reclamation of degraded areas
• Prohibit clearing areas for more cultivation
• Promote use of energy crops that require less fertilizer, pesticide and energy
• Promote native and perennial species
• Prohibit use of invasive species
• Promote crop rotation on cultivated lands
• Encourage soil conservation
• Promote only biofuels that are at least net carbon neutral

Clearly, there is still much to learn before we go one way or another…what about using windmills or water for energy?

There was big news a few weeks ago that Potter was leaving the NYT Bestseller List for the first time in ten years. Fans on the MuggleNet comment boards screamed their virtual “IT’S ALL OVER! POTTER IS LONG GONE!” cries. But, come on, is it REALLY dead because it leaves a bestseller list? If we didn’t post that news, people wouldn’t have even known and they’d continue on their merry way. So in response to those people, instead of complaining this week, let’s be positive and take a look at where the Potter fandom is, where it is going, and why it’s not even close to dead. Lots of people are worrying, so I’ll try to calm everyone down with the soothing sounds of reassurance.

It’s crazy to think that it has almost been a year since Deathly Hallows was released across the world. There are no more covers, release dates, and midnight releases to look forward to (maybe Jo’s encyclopedia, but it won’t compare to another year at Hogwarts). While the movies are still just as exciting as they’ve ever been, there’s something about big book news that really pulls the fandom together.

Post Book 7, the biggest question I get asked is: What’s left? How much longer can this go on? I’ve answered this so many times now that it’s perfectly scripted in my head. “Well, we still have three movies to look forward to, and the last one is coming out in 2011, so that gives us 3 1/2 more years. There’s also the theme park opening in late 2009 early 2010, and JK Rowling has told us she’s working on an Encyclopedia that’ll be released when she’s ready to complete it.” That’s the dumbed-down version of my answer for everyone outside of the fandom, but those within the fandom know that there is so much more to come! The Sorcerer’s Stone Anniversary Edition is coming out in September with “special material” from Jo herself. She’s also written an 800-word Potter prequel for charity that we’ll all be able to see this summer. A Harry Potter Exhibition is going to start rolling through US cities in about a year from now, where fans will be able to check out items from the Potter film sets. And while we look forward to all of this, film news will continue to appear, live Wizard Rock shows will continue to entertain, and fans will continue to thrive off of the online Potter fandom through fan and social networking sites.

What started this huge fandom is the dedication of the fans, and nobody will tell you they’re ready to give up now. Sure, some of us have begun reading new fantasy series (my personal favorite right now is the Twilight saga), but that doesn’t mean we’re through with Potter. We’ll always be there to “fangirl” over the latest new picture or announcement from JK Rowing.

So, Mr. The-Potter-Fandom-Is-Over-Zomg-I-Give-Up, do you feel better now? Do you realize that there is still so much to look forward to? Good, ’cause it’s true… Potter is far… Far… FAR from over.

Out of any show that I have ever seen on television, none of them were more visually original than “Tom Goes to the Mayor”.

Airing on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim from 2004-2006, “Tom Goes to the Mayor” is a comedic take on the government. The series plays up the ideology that the government is corrupt by having the Mayor, played by Eric Wareheim, as being dull-witted. In each episode the Mayor is approached by Tom Peters (Tim Heidecker), who hopes that his new ideas will help to improve their town, Jefferton. The Mayor will then of course take Tom’s ideas and tweak them for the worse.

The animation style is actually amazing. The actors are photographed and then Photoshopped. The blue and white stencil-style portraits are placed onto an animated backdrop. “Tom Goes to the Mayor” also features a handful of live-action segments. If anyone watched “Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!” then the married news team, Jan and Wayned Skylar will be familiar.

“Tom Goes to the Mayor” features guest stars such as Jack Black, David Cross, and Michael Cera.

Yes. For those unaware, Rachael Ray shot a Dunkin’ Donuts commercial wearing a scarf that some apparently believed to be a keffiyeh. A keffiyeh is a traditional scarf that Arab men wear.

Some of the articles on the net posted titles on the subject like, Rachael Ray: Chef or Terrorist, Rachael’s Ad Arafat-ening, Rachael Gets it in the Neck, and one of my favorites: Rachel Ray Takes her Coffee with Islamic Jihad?

So Rachael Ray’s a terrorist. That’s what some people are turning out to believe. Michelle Malkin, a conservative Fox News commentator says what Rachael wore in the commercial was “the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad.”

Reports say that Rachael’s stylist picked out the cotton scarf for the shoot. Rachael can’t be a terrorist, but Malkin calls Rachael a terrorist sympathizer. Malkin calls Rachael’s outfit “clueless jihadi chic” and “hate couture.”

Malkin seems steadfast in her belief that Rachael Ray loves terrorism, and her outcry about this commercial must mean that only terrorists wear keffiyehs, right? Wrong – millions of men in the Middle East wear keffiyehs and they are not terrorists.

But do you know what happened? The commercial was scrapped. If anyone can find it, let me know, because I’d really like to see this “terrorist sympathizer” in action.

I mean, come on, what is this country coming to? What are your thoughts? Does Rachael Ray like her coffee hot with a side of terrorism, or not? You be the judge.

You can look at an image of Rachael Ray wearing a look alike keffiyeh here thanks to Newsday.

It’s a shame people don’t have anything better to do with their time other than make a ludicrous judgment over a silly scarf. I’m sure Miss America is a terrorist sympathizer, after all, some media schmo said it so it must be true right? Sad, sad people.