Up yours, Pandora!

Dear Pandora:

I'm sorry that I listened to your stupid advertisements for my allotted time this month...

I will not pay money to listen to your music. The only reason I suffer through your stupid advertisements is because I was listening to it for free. If I was interested in paying for music to listen to, I would buy the stupid music.

You are a stupid, stupid website that I will probably continue to use next month for 40 hours.... jerks.

Yours,

Lewis

Mastercard Commercial

Wedding ring: a few thousand dollars

Wedding: A few more thousand dollars

Rent for a year at Wymount: $7200

Realizing your wife is as big of a geek as you are: Priceless

Football v. Rugby

I'm no stranger to the BYU student newspaper, the Daily Universe's letters to the editor. Every once in a while, an article like last Tuesday's attack on the BYU Football team will inspire me to put something together... So this was my response; I don't know if it will be published or not.

Tackle Football

American Gridiron Tackle Football is under attack, and I won’t stand for it. Tuesday’s letter to the editor claimed that the BYU Rugby club team deserves as much attention and funding as the BYU Football team. They cited the 2009 National Championship team as proof that they deserve a place at the table next to Bronco and company. This is more than just a slap in the face to the BYU Football team, but a roundhouse kick to the American people, a wedgie to the Declaration of Independence, and a purple nurple to the Constitution!

Men fought and died to keep us out of the British Empire, and the popularity of rugby in this country is disrespectful to those men. International rugby powerhouses include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Wales and even England. What do those countries have in common? They are all apart of the Commonwealth. Why isn’t rugby popular in America? Why doesn’t ESPN ever cover intercollegiate rugby? Why doesn’t the BYU Athletic department add rugby to our line of already successful sports?

There is neither interest nor money in rugby in America because we won that war. American football may have roots in rugby; but with the invention of the forward pass, American football set itself apart as the greatest sport in the history of mankind. Putting rugby and American football on the same level is wrong, and is dishonoring 223 years of independence this great country has enjoyed. So enjoy rugby as a novelty, but do not mess with American Gridiron Tackle Football.

Lewis Young

Provo, UT

I pledge...

KSL reported a few weeks ago about how angry they were about a movie about Hollywood actors pledging to do their part for the environment, or helping the president meet his goals, or whatever. The movie wasn't the most tactful thing ever, but had a good message: students can improve their lives, and make a difference. The Eagle Forum had a field day with the whole thing, because they felt that showing support for the president in the schools was promoting a liberal agenda. That is reason 403 I think the Eagle Forum full of a bunch of idiots.

Today I saw one of those stupid facebook applications that everybody wants me to see by sending it to my mini-feed. I honestly don't know why some people think I care about which Disney princess they were in a previous life, which WWF superstar from the early 90's their personality reflects, or what month they should get married. I just don't care. If you think I do, I don't. Every once in a while I'll see one that makes me chuckle, but 9,999 times out of 10,000 I roll my eyes and wonder aloud, "Do you honestly think I care?" Sometimes I'm more colorful than that...

Today I saw one, and before I ignored the poster, I took a screen shot of it because I wondered how many people in the country HONESTLY see the world the way the guy that wrote this quiz does.

Let me tell you what bugs me. In the quiz it says "should the pledge be brought back..." In order to be brought back, it would have needed to leave first.

***NEWS FLASH*****

The pledge hasn't gone anywhere. Sure there have been lawsuits and "liberal" judges have ruled that children can opt out of reciting the pledge of allegiance, schools still regularly recite it. To phrase it "be brought back" is language that incites fear into people, and encourages them to complain that they want their America back....

... I hadn't realized America went anywhere.

The pledge has gone through several changes to conform to current events. In the 1950's the U.S. was in a cold war with the U.S.S.R., and to show our strength and connection to Christian ideals, we added "under God" to our pledge. I believe in God, and have no problem with "under God" being in the pledge, but I don't think it is wrong for someone else to have a problem with it. The pledge changed to serve a purpose before, could it change again to serve a new purpose? If a student feels stronglyabout the pledge in my classroom, I would respect their request and invite them to sit out, or stand respectfully.

Anyway, my point is that in America we still say the pledge. If you haven't been in a classroom since you were there as a student, go volunteer. You'll see that classrooms still take part in the pledge once a week, or daily. If volunteering at a school is against your beliefs, then you can feel free to sit out.

The Risen and Shouted.

This was a great weekend. DallyLamma and I discussed how College Football Kickoff Weekend is better than Christmas and Thanksgiving. While Christmas and Thanksgiving each only get one day per year, College Football is the gift that keeps giving from September until January.

Alyssa and I didn't party in the streets like some of our fellow Provonians did, we drove up to Park City to wind down. We watched the game once on ESPN360.com while we were up there. If you failed to watch it, you should do all you can. We watched it again on Sunday night, and it was playing in the BYU Bookstore this morning as I walked through. Incredible game.

Anyway, I think my point is this: I like football lots.

She-Mullet

Before I cut my hair last week I thought it might be a good idea to see what kind of bad hair I could do with my hair. I see some pretty bad haircuts and styles at work, and I figured I might be able to duplicate the haircuts we saw at the demolition derby.

As you can see, the top of the hair is as high as possible, and the front, or "bangs" are curled on the top of the forehead. I've seen some at Home Depot where the bangs begin at one ear, and go all the way over to the other ear. They probably use a ridiculous amount of hairspray and spend a ridiculous amount of time achieving the effect. I did it in about 15 seconds.

While most women at Home Depot who wear this haircut don't have sideburns like I do, some do. They also flip the back of their hair up, some achieving a complete curl. Somehow most use enough hairspray or something to keep the lines from a comb or brush on the side of their head for a full 24 hour period. I don't know how they do this, but they do.

Another view of the flip in the back. Sometimes referred to the "duck butt".

I imagine some of the women who wear hairdo's like this spend close to an hour to put this together. I did the entire thing in less than one minute.

Tackle Football 2009

So we bought our season tickets yesterday for BYU Football 2009, and I've been thinking a lot about college football. Here are a few predictions and thoughts about college football.

1. The BCS is a mess. The hearings this summer didn't accomplish anything, and I doubt we see any change in the next decade. I think a playoff system would be best, but any change on the current system would be welcomed.

2. While we're talking about the BCS... Why is the Big East in the BCS? There are no good teams in that conference. I mean, West Virginia has had good teams, but they haven't earned their place in the BCS. Top to bottom the Mountain West is just as good as that conference, and probably better. I just don't get it.

3. BYU will probably lose to Oklahoma. But that doesn't mean I am not predicting the upset. BYU by 10. BYU was probably going to lose to Miami in 1990, Boise State was probably going to lose to OU, and Utah was probably going to lose to Alabama.. so even though our chances are slim, we still have a chance.

4. Old people suck. I just spent a bunch of money on tickets. One of the things that could ruin that for me is if I'm stuck in front of an old guy that yells at me for standing up. It seems to be an eternal struggle between generations... I don't care how many "procedures" you've had to have a blockage removed sir, this is a football game, and therefore I shall stand.

5. I'm excited for all Alyssa and my stupid superstitions and awesome traditions. We have some awesome ones.

• Shirts. I always wear my gray stretch Y t-shirt the day before a game. I always wear the "official gameday t-shirt" on the actual gameday. This is a newer tradition that only started during the "Fully Invested" year (2007).
• Night Before Game Meal. In 2007 me and a bunch of my friends ate at Del Taco the night before every game, except for the two that we lost. We decided that we needed to keep that tradition going last year. We moved to Village Inn, but after the TCU whooping we switched back to Del Taco. Even if we've lost using this superstition, going out late the night before the game is a ton of fun and we plan to keep this tradition going.
• Early arrival. We show up early to the games. I don't like to miss the Cougar Spell, but I will if I have to. On big games we like to tailgate before the games, and I plan to tailgate for most of the games this year. You are all invited, just bring something to contribute.
• CougarTail. The LaVell Edwards Stadium sells 24" long maple fritters called CougarTails. We always get and eat one before kickoff. They also sell some with a bratwurst in the middle and call it a BratTail... but I've never had enough guts to buy one.
• Lucky Urinal. I always stop by my lucky urinal before the game starts. This tradition goes back a few years. In 1996 when Texas A&M came to town, I drank like a gallon of water during the game. In the last minutes of the game I kept having to go take a leak. Any time I left, BYU seemed to score a touchdown. Each time I left, I used the same urinal. Now, before each game I make my pilgrimage to the Portal RR Men's room and use my Lucky Urinal.. you know, for luck.
• Stay to the End. The last game that I left early was the Utah game 2005. We lost in OT. I figure it has nothing to do with me, but it is important to me to stay to the end of the game, regardless of score. If we're getting a beatdown, I'll stay. If we're up 59-0 on UCLA... you bet I stuck around. I do not believe in the "Let's leave now and beat traffic" doctrine. I think it is weak, and Un-American.