Best Albums of 2012

Looking back at the previous year in music is one of my absolute favorite things to do every year dating back to even before I worked at Record Time. With 2012 being the best year for music in a long long while (since at least 2005 that I can remember) it has been super fun and also extremely difficult to come up with an actual ranked list. My top album of the year is a reissue so I felt guilty having it top my list, BUT when you look at my Last.fm chart of the previous 12 months you will see why I felt so compelled to choose it for #1.

Either way here is my yearly list and I would encourage you to check them out!

Best & Worst Shows of 2012

Even though it isn't over, I like to start my "Best Of" lists early and I figured it was perfect timing to do my favorite shows of the year. Since I'm a smartphone picture addict, I will include digital folksy self shot images of each show, because I care.

1. The Weeknd
St. Andrew's Hall - Wednesday, June 20th, 2012

Within the past year there is no artist I have listened to more than The Weeknd, check here for proof of this. So to say I was excited for this show would be a ridiculous understatement. St. Andrew's was about 250 degrees and it was my last time being around someone I ended up developing true feelings for, so the evening remains bittersweet in that way. Forgetting personal drama, this show was unbelievable and not only my favorite show of the year, but one of my 3 favorite of all time. A perfect setlist, a crowd that sang along to EVERY WORD of EVERY SONG and so much talent that it was off the charts. This was the type of show that you know you will brag about being at in the future.

This didn't stop throughout the entire show. Leading to a performance of Drake's Crew Love that had everyone in attendance singing "This Ain't No Fuckin Singalong", it was a singalong and it was the best show of the year with a bullet.

Want to Hire/Woo Gen Y & Millennials? Ignore the Internet

I just read this piece from the Wall Street Journal describing how oXYGen Financial use stupid marketing tactics to attempt to appeal to younger consumers and it greatly emblematic of what's wrong with America. Yes, that statement is hyperbolic but it's 100% true, businesses have absolutely no clue anymore and have completely lost their shit. Just reading that article makes me wonder how successful their business model is, because it seems to me paying $90 for "investment advice" seems like bullshit from every angle.

People from my generation have been marked to 24/7 for our ENTIRE LIVES, so how does a company that clearly gets this fail so hard. If you look at the last sentence of the article it states "They want to know exactly how you're going to make money off of them and the last thing they want to hear is some slick sales speech" which is truthful, everything else contradicts this statement.

Fuck social media, fuck generational wall building, and fuck these internet business content mills that spout shit that business leaders believe. Why do none of these articles speak of the companies successes and failures? The point of a business is to make money, this is surprising news to maney.

So why do these companies spout nonsense about how attracting younger customers while also clearly missing the point? It's because there is only one way to get the "internet generation" which is a much better term I believe, and that is by offering a quality product or service. Apple is still growing because their products are great, people are cancelling their cable service because the product is shitty....does this make sense?  Apparently not because companies would rather drone on about social media and "fun events" rather than providing honest customer testimonials explaining why we should use their product.

Within the next few months I will be launching my own business, and I will use what I've learned from 15+ years as an internet addict to attempt to build and grow this business. Doing this won't be easy but it sure as hell will be more rewarding than watching assholes take advantage of younger customers and employees. So instead of figuring out how to value a "like", I will be charging for a product and utilizing Facebook and Twitter to promote said product. It seems alarmingly simple but it's something that most companies with 60+ year old leadership are failing at massively.

This blog has a lot of posts bitching about older generations, and I feel I should end this post with an explanation. I'm so upset about this because I know I'm a better employee/worker/person than most of you, but I am stuck in a rigid system of conformity and mindless merit-based hiring practices. This is shit you started and accepted. In my past work experience (note I said PAST and not current as my current employer is fantastic and progressive) here are some things that go on which I can't believe are still happening in 2012 (AND IT'S YOUR FUCKING FAULT). So if any of you manager types that are bored and reading this online because your employees are doing all of your work, here is why they hate your guts.

• Why are there 2 hour meetings that should only be 10 minutes? 

• Why are work shifts set in hours instead of task completion? If someone completes a task in 2 hours that takes someone else 10 and then has 8 hours of boredom, why are they punished for being a better employee?

• Why do you give a fuck what any employee looks like if they get the job done correctly and quickly? It's 2012 and your stupid dress codes and anti-tattoo/piercing shit is dying fast.

• Why should anyone respect you just because you are older? No one has EVER given me a good reason for this, as respect is always earned and not given based on arbitrary age requirements. Oh and most of the "wisdom" they think they possess, can be Googled.

• Why do we have to be your IT department and still get paid less than Everyone in the IT department?

These are all giant disconnects I have noticed in the new "generation gap" and I hope that the generation I am from stands up for themselves more and realizes they don't have to work in this system, they can change it by being outspoken or doing their own shit.

Life's Pet Peeves

There are issues that everyone has in life and some of them annoy me more than others, here are some of the things peeve me the most:

1. Slowness

This is my hands down top pet peeve of all time. Nothing in life angers me more than someone else slowing me down, and it seems that slowing me down is society's master goal.  I personally believe that slowness is one of the rudest things that a person can do.

A few specific examples:

• Driving
• Not immediately going when a light turns from red to green
• Driving significantly under the speed limit and blocking me in when it’s clear I’m trying to pass
• Stopping in the middle of the road to turn around regardless of traffic situations
• Making unnecessary small talk with the cashier when a long line is behind you

2. The Telephone

I hate talking on the phone, part of it is that I have a hard time hearing after years of extremely loud rock concerts, the other part is that it is presumptuous and rude. If someone texts or e-mails me something I can send a reply at my convenience without interrupting any meeting, conversation or event that I may be at. A phone call, however, requires me to drop everything to speak with you at this given second. Phone calls should be used only in times where it is easier/more convenient than a text or e-mail. 

Telephone use is something that is very generational, in my workplace I have noticed that those over 40 are much more apt to communicate via phone, whereas those who are younger will use alternate methods. Under this umbrella are Voice-mails too, which are probably the most annoying thing on earth. They wouldn't bother me at all if people knew how to leave accurate, succinct messages. This however never happens and instead I have to listen to a minute or more of rambling, boring nonsense.

The next time you need to get ahold of someone and have the phone in your hand, THINK. Is this a message better suited for a text? Usually it is.

3. People Who Don't Google First

In 2012 it is unacceptable to ask me questions like "How do you spell this word?", "Give me directions to Warren from here" or "When is the Nine Inch Nails concert?"

This is another issue that is influenced highly by age, as those who grew up with the Internet generally know how to find information faster (although the Millennials are failing miserably at most aspects of Boolean Logic). If you want another reason that the young folks are bitter at older generations, it is that we are generally their personal library service, providing whatever information they request at the drop of a hat. This ability to do something they are too stubborn/lazy to do on their own usually results in no pay increase for us, instead just bitterness that the older generation can't figure out how to use Google.

4. Dress Codes

Another outdated custom that needs to go away for good. A good percentage of the population actually believes that there is a point to wearing a shirt and tie or "professional attire" to show professionalism. In reality all this attire does is mask incompetence.

Dress Codes are something enforced by old people who are bitter that our generation is changing a meaningless custom. It is important for us to break dress codes as often as possible to ensure future generations will not have this nonsense. It's important that young folks realize that these rules do not need to be respected and this can change if you FORCE these organizations to change.

5. Overhype

This is something that isn't going away and it has ruined many great things. There is nothing worse than people talking seemingly non-stop about something you love, because it will inevitably lead to disappointment and over-saturation. Ignoring all hype is the best first step to fixing this issue.

6. The Music/Media/Publishing/Film Industries

These industries HATE THEIR FANS. Filing lawsuits against fans, making it next to impossible to effectively use their digital products on the device of your choice because of DRM and of course there is the huge factor of being a complete rip off.

Record Labels love to waste money. They used to be able to waste as much as they wanted because of how much they gouged the end consumer who purchased their products. File sharing came along and then the record labels got angry that consumers were now able to say FUCK YOU to the greedy asshole labels. So now after failed legislation and an almost dead business model, the industry has ran out of good ideas.

Thankfully independent artists like The Weeknd, Odd Future, Danny Brown, Trent Reznor and Radiohead have realized that the economic value of pre-recorded music in 2012 is zero and it should be used as a tool for other revenue streams.

How To Get Free Or Cheap Textbooks, and why you should

Community Colleges offer a variety of classes in useful subjects for an extremely fair price to anyone in the community who wishes to learn. The quality of education is the same as a 4-Year college and it is a great help to the area. The only downfall of this is textbooks!

The part of the college experience that is (seemingly) a necessity at every level is a textbook. Inside this book is tons of information that you can find on the Internet for free, it's a good thing these books are very reasonably priced and usually ONLY cost between $100 and $200 each. In order to ensure maximum profits the textbook publishers make sure to release a new edition every year so that used booksellers can no longer sell the previous edition, therefore eliminating reselling. There is also the unspoken fact that the publishers often pay teachers to ensure that their books are used, this is all purely speculation of course.

Well all of this is known and it annoys/rips off anyone who has ever taken a college class. So while making ridiculous (how much money goes into a $200 16th edition of a Biology textbook?) profits on each new edition, the textbook guys realized that they weren't making enough money and thought that it's about time we make sure NO ONE is able to learn for free. The idea is students must buy an online access code to participate in the class, and if they do not purchase it then their grade is lowered. Makes you wonder why Gen Y believes that a degree is something you pay for and the means don't matter as long as the end result is that piece of paper, eh?

This is similar to the entire for-profit college experience where schools screw their athletes, screw their employees and most importantly screw the students. Societal norms however state that in order to become a success, a college degree is necessary and since these schools are "enlightening" the students, it is less likely they will ever be called out on their shit. To make sure that this post isn't just me bitching about the state of higher-education in America, I wanted to offer some good advice on how to get textbooks for nothing or next to nothing without resulting to piracy. Don't get me wrong, piracy of the textbook industry's product makes me very happy but rumor has it this archaic country still has stupid laws that must be followed.

So since we don't want to break any laws, here are some legal ways to fuck the textbook publishing industry and save yourself potentially hundreds of dollars:

1. Buy Older Editions
This is by far the most preferred of the suggestions, it has never failed me and most likely saved me at least $2000. As I mentioned before publishers are notorious for releasing updates every year with next to no changes, because apparently Accounting changes so much from year to year that this is a necessity. Well the trick is to buy a used book of a previous edition, which you can usually find on Amazon.com for next to nothing. An example I will use this Accounting Textbook that is the 14th edition and an extremely affordable $195.92 to purchase new (WHY THE FUCK DOES IT COST MORE THAN AN XBOX 360!?!?!). If you were to purchase the 13th edition of the same textbook on Amazon.com used it would cost $11.21! The changes between editions are so minimal that it is unnoticeable and the extra software they often bundle in is rarely, if ever used. Plus there is the satisfaction that the little money you do spend is going toward someone who was fucked by the publishers.

2. Use Your School Library
Almost all school libraries keep at least one copy of a textbook on hand from each class it offers, these are usually free for students to use for a certain period of time. It's fairly simple to copy any of the information and often the only information needed that can't be found online are questions for homework or assignments.

3. Pool Your Money With Friends
If you are lucky enough to have multiple friends in a class, it's simple to just throw your money together and purchase a textbook which can be passed around as needed. This isn't the most convenient but it beats wasting money on an unnecessary book.

4. Just Don't Buy A Book
The content of about 60% of the courses I had in college were entirely based on the teacher's notes and lectures, with the book being unused. Whatever you do, don't buy the book before the first class! Wait until a few weeks go by and see if you really need it, because oftentimes you don't. Effective Google search techniques found any information I ever needed.

Remember, our unethical Government is mostly on the side of "Big Education" and often will create or modify legislation to protect whatever shady business dealings the industry participates in. When can someone from the Pearson or McGraw-Hill give an honest answer as to why the fuck a book costs $100+ in 2012? The answer is never because there isn't one. The industry is taking advantage of students and most of these students have no idea there are legal methods to avoid them.

In case you have ever pirated a textbook in the past (something we would never recommend here) don't feel too bad because it only cost the publisher about $4 to print, bind and ship. Of course publishers will state that this doesn't include the $15,000 spent on creating the "Professional PowerPoint" included with the book, the untold fortune spent on bland clip-art licensing and the costs of sending free sample books to every professor in the free world, all of which are completely necessary in order to create a textbook of course.

When spending money to support this corrupt industry, remember that Pearson is not just the largest textbook publisher but also the largest publisher period with revenue of over $9 billion dollars in 2011. The amount of money they are making and wasting is staggering, and that money is coming directly out of your pocket when you buy one of their products.

It's important to note that "Big Education" is the true culprit behind all of this and the blame is actually more on their shoulders than anyone else. The Open Textbook concept is one that should be integrated and utilized by every reputable educational institution in the world, yet it is finding resistance from professors, school administration and of course from their out of touch and greedy competition themselves.

I guess academia's misguided and naive opinion of Wikipedia is emblematic of why something like open textbooks have not grown. Throughout college professors would lambaste and ridicule Wikipedia, repeatedly claiming that it is not reputable and "anyone can edit it!" so it must not be any good. Well EDUCATORS, tell me a better, cheaper and more thorough resource than Wikipedia that currently or ever has existed? Every single paper I completed in school was done so using Wikipedia as my main resource, of course citing it would have caused World War 3 but it's funny that I used the sources provided by Wikipedia as my sources and all of a sudden I have a finely researched paper.

Wikipedia and Open Source Education in general are a bit similar to Economics, in that aspects of human behavior create an unknown balance resulting in an efficient system. When an article is edited incorrectly, it is usually fixed quickly and when a fact is provided that is not cited, it is made clear to the reader. This along with leaving the ability to add information open creates a virtually unlimited knowledge base it is possible to tap into. Open Source Textbooks have been criticized for quality by many and this is a valid criticism, but it is one that will be remedied in the near future as the knowledge base grows. There is no way a new work can compete with a 13th edition that has been refined for anywhere from 10 to 40 years. If you explain all the points I stated above to the average University Professor or Dean they would be completely unable to understand the concept because they are clueless to the shift in economic value of data.

I find it funny that Joseph Henry Vogel who filed the patent mentioned earlier is an Economics professor in Puerto Rico with a Doctorate in the field. While browsing his website I noticed that he values the spreading of information and also the fair market value of the work in providing that information. Unfortunately, Mr. Vogel fails to realize that the market value of that information is quickly dwindling and the medium to convey it is now free. The fact that this blog posting by a rather anonymous 27 year old will probably get more views than much of his work is a great (and terrifying) illustration of this point.

It also appears that Mr. Vogel views piracy of textbooks as a crime that has so far been unpunished, which comes across to me as arrogant, self-righteous and once again, naive. Joseph Henry Vogel has authored or co-authored 4 works listed on Amazon.com, since these are geared toward academia the cost of a new copy range from average to ridiculous ($110 for Genes For Sale) and while the high prices may be to an institution or publishing company owning the rights to the work, it is still an example of the issue at hand. There is absolutely no reason educational materials should be this expensive for the public to access, none. With all due respect to Mr. Vogel, in 2012 your ideas are simply not worth anywhere near the actual cost.

I guess our biggest difference is that you come from an era where the perception of college is the noble and upstanding pursuit of knowledge, which at that time it was. This credibility and perception, the view of someone with an advanced degree has not changed and that is where the problem lies. I and others consider myself more well read and informed than many "experts" in various fields of interest. But because I chose to not waste money and teach myself, I lack that line on my resume that says I'm an expert. Which in 2012 is what a degree means, a line on a resume.

I know what I like, and I know what I hate

Often folks get the idea that I'm always mad or depressed, this isn't the case at all. The truth is there are a severely limited few things that make me happy, a few things that piss me off and a TON of things I could care less about it. As I have aged it seemed obvious to cut out the things I hate and the things I don't care about from my life, therefore there are only about 4 or 5 things that truly make me happy.

I also know that pretty much every friend I have had in my life has fucked me over, some more than others. It seems that when people meet someone different from them (like me) they immediately want to change them into something they are not. I really don't care for most people, I fake it to get along in life but I am much happier alone. 

There is also the added fact that if you don't allow anyone to become your friend you will take away their ability to hurt you in the end. I recently made the mistake of allowing someone new to be a friend, I will NOT make this mistake again.

I will die alone, and that is EXACTLY how I want it :-)

So there's this girl....

Personally this has been a tough week for me for reasons I don't wish to go into here. Compounding this issue is one of realizing who gives a shit and who doesn't. There is this girl that I have been friends with for months, she became my best friend and it was obvious there was something there...although neither one of us could pinpoint it.

Well after a stressful week she proved that she did not care about me at all, all she cared about was getting fucked by some guy who will treat her like shit. Maybe this is the "nice guy syndrome" but fuck that, that's who I am and I don't give a shit if someone likes it or not. So I finally give someone a chance at my friendship and they completely fuck me over.

I can't think any less of you right now, I think you are a terrible person who takes advantage of people when they are low. I wish I could tell you this all to your face but it is for the best if I do not speak to you, so instead I will sit here lamenting losing my best friend during a trying time.

Baby Boomers & Millennials, and Mitch Albom is Terrible

After a very successful comment to one of Mitch Albom's horrible articles, a discussion started that I felt important to share my portion here:

Yeah the Baby Boomers are screwing over my generation, but they are also allowing us to live in their houses while times are tough for our generation....so at least it evens out somewhat. It's just too bad that the media (traditionally the type that skews older) LOVES to destroy the "millennial" generation without understanding the problems or issues. I also work in an office where I am by far the youngest person, and almost all of my co-workers and I get along great (it turned out to be a huge benefit to have significantly older parents) but there are some things I noticed throughout my organization...

To make a ridiculous sweeping generation like Mr. Albom does, many of the 50+ set who make a lot of money are TERRIBLE employees and aren't very smart. It's disheartening explaining how to use Microsoft Word to someone who makes $50,000+ a year and you are making $20,000, it's also disheartening being the only person in the office who can answer a question within seconds yet still being looked down upon because you are young. I have been told and I feel that I'm better at business writing, public speaking, computer assistance of all sorts, customer service and even at things like math and spelling than almost ALL of the 50+ year old employees who believe their skills are still relevant to do today's work.

From ridiculous stereotypes I have made these generalizations about the issues between generations:

Older Generations (50+ is about right):
- Believe they are "due respect" just because they have managed not to die yet.
- HATES that young people have the balls to wear what they want to work, moreso that the young folks will QUIT rather than follow their stupid dress codes and other useless rules
- Most are the kindest, nicest and warm hearted people you have met and working with these sort of folks is amazing. One of the 50+ ladies in the office has taught me more than anyone else in the organization and did it in a humble and sweet way. There is no way a millenial could be this nice consistently.
- Lack of basic understanding about many aspects of life for younger generations, this lack of understanding leads to perceptions that aren't true (is the employee on the phone texting or sending a work e-mail? is he taking notes on his phone in the meeting or playing angry birds?)
- Get extremely mad when things aren't done "their way" because they are not used to having their authority checked.
- Believe that processes and policies should be followed 100% regardless of how it is violated and if the end result is successful.
- Many will not speak with you if you say you are an Atheist, young folks do this too but nowhere near to the degree as the older generations.

Younger Generations (About 32 and under):
- Lack the ability to have a traditional face-to-face conversation in the same manner that the 50+ set so much loves. THIS ISN'T BAD! It's just different.
- Far too nice, our politeness (mine included) is what is hurting us the most. We are smarter than most of the people in charge of us but we are too polite and humble to say that. If we would start being more insistent maybe things would change for the better.
- Too idealistic and we find declaring specific goals to be difficult (Just look at Occupy). This has a lot to do with us being too "nice" as well.
- Accepting of other cultures, sexuality, nationalities and religions. This is good and bad, the bad part being we have been taught to be accepting for so long that we forgot there are some people we CANNOT accept (pedophiles, rapists, murderers, thieves, evil politicians)
- Some of us resent the older generations dismissal of things as "not important" when in reality it's extremely important to a good part of the population.

FINAL POINT:
My final point is this, Old people are overwhelmingly against gay marriage, ending the war on drugs, "free" internet culture, lowering taxes, global warming and a billion other things that will actually progress society. It is this reason that my connotation of old people has always been a negative one, it's not our fault that we are better educated and have access to better tools than you did. Yes your generation helped us get these, and I know this will be an example of how we are "entitled" but it also is an example of how your generation needs to grow the hell up and quick.

Why Men Don't Want A Relationship

I'm 27 and the longest relationship I have ever been in was about 6 months, the reason for this is that I was (and probably still am) completely unable at having one. The easy to describe reason for this is that I'm really really into myself, not in a narcissistic shallow way, but in a "I want to do what I want, when I want" kind of way. The older I get the more I realize that wasting my life doing unenjoyable things is not fun, therefore why do it? This mindset has been one I've questioned a lot recently because of someone I met. I am notorious for only considering a relationshp after I've been friends with a girl for a long time, this always ends me up in the "friend zone" for better or worse. For me it was always a matter of actually enjoying spending time with a girl, so adding sex to the equation too soon will prohibit me from getting to know her better. Since most guys are into finding a hole as quickly as possible to bang, this leaves women with the perception that since I havent tried to sleep with you yet, I'm interested.

J Dilla's Record Collection and the Economics of Music

Earlier this week I had an opportunity to have a small chat with Scotty Hagen of UHF Records who lucked out and came across a good chunk of J Dilla's Record Collection while purchasing an old storage facility. In addition to the records he found TONS of beat tapes and unreleased recordings made before Dilla's passing. After this hit the net, the internet went apeshit angry about this for a reason I cannot begin to understand, especially because the folks at UHF did every single thing RIGHT in this situation. What better way to let Dilla's legacy live on than to spread his love to fans of his music?

The most hilarious response I heard was that these records should be in a museum, you know the vintage record museum we all visit to stare at records someone else owned 30 years ago, apparently attendance is booming.

UHF ended up in contact with Dilla's mother and returned the beat tapes to her, which clearly shows he isn't in the "fuck them, give me money camp" because those tapes were worth more than the entire record collection combined. The outrage persisted though as people were FURIOUS someone was selling A DEAD GUY'S old albums.

What I came to realize from this situation is that the music industry is the most dysfunctional business from top to bottom that I've seen (and this includes consumers). It's beyond obvious that the remnants of major labels are clueless, bands are so focused on the "art" they don't realize how much they get fucked financially to increase exposure and fans are the first to cry sell out when something doesn't fit their ideal of artistic integrity. This isn't even touching on the evil that is the RIAA or unlistenable terrestrial radio.

It's interesting that in this day of digital music ubiquity, the most honest and well meaning people at any level of the food chain, are those at your local mom & pop record store.

If you want to do real good, download a bunch of Dilla's music and donate money to the Ma Dukes fund to help pay off Dilla's huge medical expenses left after his death, or go to UHF Music and support a business that does what a business is supposed to do, serve it's customers.

My Male Manifesto

Whenever I read articles like this or this about the "downfall of men" it makes me laugh and cry at the same time. Being a man in 2012 is sort of shitty, but saying that apparently isn't politically correct so any time someone starts to say this, they are immediately shut down. Don't get me wrong, men have had it great for centuries upon centuries, so maybe it's the inevitable Darwinian shift among our species.

I believe the starting point for this "issue" is the massive feminization of curriculum in schools that has occurred in the past 20 to 30 years. As a young child I remember having no male teachers, I did not have my first one until 7th grade which is sort of shocking. Now the demographics of teaching have always skewed female but the curriculum shift went from a focus on the basics to a focus on making learning "fun" rather than strictly teaching necessary material. This works for some people, but for others like myself it put me off from learning for almost a DECADE. Rather than solving math problems, answering questions and writing essays, we were cutting and pasting pictures off magazines onto poster board and conducted hour long interactive exercises to confirm a simple easy-to-understand point. Either way the moment when learning division became learning a complicated song instead of learning the meaning behind it, that is the second we failed. There is also the fact that this leads to consensus building when problem solving is necessary, sometimes this works but often times it leads to wasted time and effort while providing those with stupid arguments validity.

The other main issue about education is the reduction of content taught that would actively appeal to guys. Oftentimes in the classroom opinions of students are treated equally as facts to encourage openness and respect while having a discussion. This usually results in a long, arduous and unnecessary discussion that bores many of the male students in the classroom who are thinking "just move the fuck along". If this happens once in a while it's fine because that is how the world works, but when it happens daily in multiple classes it is VERY easy to see why young male students get burned out so easily.

It didn't take me long to figure out to pass many classes taught by women, all that was necessary was thoughtfulness and being open minded. Needless to say I always fared much better with male teachers who did not care about anything but the knowledge retained. Is one more right than the other? Not really, but there are advantages to each that each gender possesses, unfortunately the male aspects are disappearing.

There is more than education to this; and the declining marriage rates which are seen as a problem to many are common sense to most men my age. Why would we want to get married and have kids? What benefit is there when the current system is set up for us to fail no matter which way we go? Divorce laws, child support laws and sexual harassment laws (while all good meaning and necessary at the time) have shown us plenty of examples of why marriage is a poor investment in our future. I would much rather be alone for the rest of my life being responsible only for myself.

Another issue worth mentioning is the absolute confusion that exists when it comes to hitting on a girl, what was once something cut and dry is now a clusterfuck. Men are so concerned with not offending, not seeming creepy and not getting in trouble for harassment that we choose to instead say nothing to protect ourselves.

Throughout my life I have been told by virtually everyone to "follow my dreams", "find your passion" and "be yourself" which I have come to realize over time is not only absolute bullshit, but it is in fact harmful to the future of young people. Whenever I make TRUTHFUL statements contradicting these, immediately I am negative and a pessimist (something that people apparently don't like being around). This leads to someone getting older and not having a passion, having unrealistic dreams or not knowing how to communicate properly in society. They end up lost and apathetic, questioning the meaning behind everything they were taught seeking truth. It would be interesting to see the happiness level of the "successful" women that are always mentioned in the same breath with modern men, because I would venture to say they are just as unhappy and disillusioned as the male gender. The main difference is that the system is currently set up for women to succeed.

Women and men are different, so it's time we stop comparing them constantly and instead clearly identify each gender's strengths and weaknesses (something that has already been done) to ensure proper development without blatant focus on one.

DONATING TO A CHURCH IS NOT CHARITY!

Churches and religious organizations are the only businesses in America that can get get away without paying proper taxes.

It is also well known that donations to a religious organization can be written off as a charity.

Donating money to a church is not charity, it is not close to charity and the fact we let people get away with this is ridiculous. These churches pay nothing or next to nothing and expect to be given complete freedom in what they say and how they act (which is fine, if they paid their part). ALL religious institutions are businesses and market themselves to the public, therefore they should be forced to pay their part in taxes.

Whenever folks talk about how Mitt Romney is just a rich greedy asshole someone will defend him by stating his charitable constitutions. These charitable constitutions were to the Mormon Church, which isn't exactly into helping the poor and less fortunate with that money....instead they use it to fund "missions" to spread their idea of made up nonsense to others, in essence an Advertising Plan.

This also goes to the Catholics, Muslims, Jews, Hindus and any other religion that feels it's okay to accept money to promote your businesses but not pay their part. It's about time we stop giving these greedy con-men a pass for taking advantage of people who are more likely to believe in nonsense.

Religion is holding us back from success

People who know me know that I am extremely tolerant of what people believe, but also that I'm intolerant of Religion. Personal spiritual beliefs are just that and I have no statement on that, I do however find Religion to be a manipulative waste of time that is hurting humanity more than helping it. So I figured it would be prudent to discuss some reasons I hate Religion.

1. Donating money to your church IS NOT CHARITY!

2. In America if you are a Religion you are tax free. All religions should be taxed, not taxing their income is wrong and leads to financial shadiness.

3. Religious beliefs spread ridiculous, baseless "knowledge" about homosexuality, fornication and a bunch of other things that we are free to do.

4. People get mad when you bash their religion (note: ALL religions deserve to be bashed), as if you are bashing the person instead of their irrational belief pattern.

5. The three main worldwide religions are extremely sexist.

6. Many religious folks feel that their politics and religion should always go hand-in-hand, you don't have to be religious to see this is a terrible idea.

7. Because of Religion there are still ridiculous "blue laws", laws against atheists and agnostics holding office, anti-gay legislation among other prohibitions of personal freedom.

8. The acceptance of the supernatural has forced me to listen to tons of unproven stories about "spirits" and "ghosts" from otherwise smart people. It's a drag having to tell someone they are positive they saw something that didn't exist.

Music Class, Pep Rallys, Church and The Locker Room Saloon

One of the things that I loathe the most, the absolute most without question are events where useless forced participatory involvement is needed. I always feel stupid when doing whatever is requested, extremely stupid, so stupid that I can't escape the stupidity even though I look around and most people (or everyone) are doing the same thing. Here are some examples of the ones that have followed my life and why I hate them.

MUSIC CLASS - Grade School

Whenever I had classes I enjoyed the ones where I could sit and read, sit and do math or later sit and type up a paper. Any class that involved other things I hated, with the exception of maybe gym at points. Music wasn't the worst but I sure hated singing the lame songs. Even at 7 years old I knew the songs we were singing were fucking terrible juvenile shit, I laughed at the fact we had to sing this bullshit when I came home and listened to Danzig, Dr. Dre and Nine Inch Nails. The only cool song I remember singing was People Are People by Depeche Mode, which stood out so much because even at that age I hated being patronized for being young. Even though I was between 7 and 10 I knew that this class patronized my intelligence.

PEP RALLYS - High School

Thankfully I went to a small Catholic high school that had a strong sports culture but a very low excitement level in general for it by anyone who didn't play (about half the school). We only occasionally had pep rallys, and whenever we did they were mandatory.It was usually our goal to be as annoying as possible, and not in a loud way but in a "loud and obnoxious" way. Our only goal in doing this was because there was nothing else to do, we hated high school and had no school spirit whatsoever. I felt that it was ridiculous that we should feel obligated to care whether or not our sports teams win or not, much less expect us to act overly happy about it. Fuck these.

CHURCH - 1st Grade - High School

Since I went to a Catholic school and had to go weekly for 12 damn years, I have almost all boring mass stories, I wouldn't have minded it so much if it were only sit and chill for 50 minutes every Tuesday while we talk nonsense at you. It was never that though, it was more like this:

Arrive:

SIT

STAND

SING

SIT

STAND

SING

SIT

STAND

SIT

STAND

SING

KNEEL

STAND

SING

SIT

STAND

SHAKE HANDS

SING

WALK UP FOR COOKIE

KNEEL

STAND

SIT

Leave

I know I didn't actually go into the whole mass, that would have taken five pages. It also is important to say that this is all done in the most boring and dull manner possible, ESPECIALLY the singing! There may be a couple old women singing really happily, but everyone else sounds like they are falling asleep. Also it is important to note that I am omitting the "repeat after me" stuff that happens constantly too. It's a terrible boring mess that you have to attend, and learn nothing from it other than how much you don't want to go back.

The worst part of having to do this every week is that you know it's a waste of time. Inefficiency is something that really bothered me in my childhood, it truly made me dislike a lot of things permanently.

The best part of being an adult is you get to cut down on a lot of the shit you hate, which is all the stuff that is force fed to you. The liberation is huge, and in college everything is optional which is the way it should be in a lot of cases for kids.

THE LOCKER ROOM SALOON - Adult

The first time I walked into this place, it felt like walking into a headache. Upon entering you receive two drumsticks which you are expected (sometimes YELLED at) to use. The moment I realized I needed to put this place on the permanent ban list occurred when the DJ played this classical deep gem by Poison named "Talk Dirty To Me". As the crowd was encouraged to sing along to one of the all time worst songs by one of the all time worst bands, a 5'6" ex jock who looked and acted a lot like the waiter from Office Space started yelling at me for not participating. This persisted throughout the song and I lost it and explained to him that I will not being doing that ever and he needs to leave me alone NOW. He thankfully stopped, as did I. I haven't been to Locker Room Balloon since.

Nintendo 3DS: One Year Later

It's been a year since I bought my Nintendo 3DS for a whopping $250 on the day it launched. At the time I felt as it wasn't the best purchase, since then some of my feelings have changed and I wanted to expand on them while I'm stuck at home sick.

How I Felt Then:
The system arrived with 1 good launch game and lacking an internet browser, eshop, a method to access more than 1 3D video and a terrible battery life. My first month or two of owning the 3DS were spent playing A LOT of Super Street Fighter IV Turbo 3D.

Now:
The retail games I own are Super Street Fighter IV Turbo 3D, BlazBlue 3D and Super Mario 3D Land. SSFIV is great, BlazBlue is underwhelming and Super Mario 3D Land is one of the greatest games I have played on any console ever, and quite possibly my favorite Mario game ever made. That last sentence says A LOT to why my impression changed.

The eStore games I own are Let's Gold 3D and Pushimo, both fantastic games that were well worth the $6.99 cost. Pushimo is actually an instant classic. There have also been a bunch of free games released such as Excitebike 3D Classics, Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition, a 3D Pokedex and some other stuff I will probably never use. They were free so no complaints here. I have also purchased Punch Out and Game Boy Tetris from the Virtual Console, which features a lackluster selection of ONLY Game Boy, Game Gear and original NES games.

Due to the price drop from $249.99 to $179.99 all of the buyers who overpaid were given 20 virtual console games, 10 from NES and 10 from GBA. The NES games feature classics like SMB, Legend of Zelda, Metroid and Adventures of Link along with average first party fare such as Ice Climber, Yoshi, Donkey Kong Jr. Baloon Fight and Wrecking Crew. The GBA games released I thought were overall much better as it included Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island (a 10/10 game), WarioWare Inc, Metroid Fusion, Mario Kart Super Circuit, F-Zero Maximum Velocity, Wario Land 4, Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, Mario vs. Donkey Kong and the only one of the bunch that definitely isn't for me: Fire Emblem.

Other applications that have found their way on my system and my opinions of them:
Netflix - Used once, I have much better options to watch Netflix content (8 minutes total use)
StreetPass Mii Plaza - Used once, seems stupid (8 minutes total use)
Mii Maker - Maybe a Mii for a certain game in the future, other than this useless (14 minutes total use)
Activity Log - Mostly using it for this, I don't travel with my 3DS so not for that (13 minutes total use)
Nintendo Video - Watched about 3 videos on it (total use unknown)
Nintendo Zone - What does this do? (3 minutes total use)
Swapnote - I haven't even finished setting up. (3 minutes total use)

I determined that there is one reason my opinion of the console has drastically improved:

What Other Dead People Need Holograms?

Yesterday, a hologram of Tupac Shakur performed with Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre at the Coachella Festival. I'm sure you have seen it, but you should see it again because it's amazing:

I am someone who is not easily impressed, but this blew me out of the fucking water more than anything I have ever seen in a concert. While I always enjoyed liked Snoop and LOVE Dr. Dre, I always felt Tupac was a wee bit overrated by almost everyone. That last statement by no means I don't think he's good, I just don't think he's the undisputed greatest of all time that most say. Even feeling this way, Tupac was the perfect first hologram performance. The audience at this crowd were the perfect age to see someone as iconic as Tupac actually performing in front of them. Well after this I thought of the possibilities! Here are some people that I would bring back from the dead if I had Dr. Dre's super expensive holographic technology:

THE BEATLES
This is obvious, while the issues being an aged Ringo and Paul performing with a younger looking George and John, the problem of the fact that they actually played instruments and then the problem of what era to use.

All these can be figured out after we get Paul and Ringo to agree on this! It would be even better if it was the "almost happened" SNL Reunion when Lorne Michaels jokingly went on the air and offered the Beatles $3,000 to reunite on the show, then upping the price to $3,200! Apparently John and Paul were watching this together and considered going down there for fun. If you know me, you know how much I love The Beatles (like most people) so none of this should come as a surprise.

JIM MORRISON

The Doors have tried to do the reunion thing with Ian Astbury of The Cult, the shitty guy from the even shittier band Fuel, Travis Meeks from Days Of The New, Skrillex and about 50 other bands. Other than Travis Meeks who did decent covers they were all terrible. This could be a way for the final Doors reunion to go out without being a terrible failure. I like when good bands go out on terms that aren't embarassing.

GEORGE CARLIN

The hologram thing works great for comedians so for this I could have easily picked Pryor, Hicks, Hedberg, Bruce, etc. When the technology becomes more affordable there is actually a possibility this would take off.

MICHAEL JACKSON

Another artist perfect for a holographic career rejuvenation, in fact a holographic show may be the best possible way historically to see MJ live. There is no guilt for supporting an accused pedophile, no uber expensive tickets and you could most likely see him in a small venue. The other advantage is that he doesn't play instruments so that will not be a problem.

Why I don't believe

Those who know me well know that irrational thought is something I hate, this post is hopefully an explanation why I feel this way. This will give a bit of a background on myself and how I feel about this.

 I was raised by Christian parents who didn't take the church thing too seriously, but did have a firm belief in Christianity. My dad was an extremely lapsed Catholic and my mom was a Church of Christ member but did not attend a service in years. Due to my parents beliefs they felt it would not be fair to baptize me as a baby and if I chose to become baptized, I could when I would be old enough to make the decision on my own. I do remember being 6 and being certain there wasn’t a god, only to be chastised by friends so much that it seemed easier just to say there was.

Due to the less than desirable neighborhood I lived in as a child, I attended Catholic school for my entire life. This led to being baptized 2^nd grade, under what was tremendous pressure from the school and my classmates. I went along with the Catholic thing, fully thinking that it was all bullshit, until about 9^th grade. Around 9^th grade the world changed drastically for me, not only did I start high school (yes another Catholic one) but I also became a die-hard music fan and received my first computer!

Throughout high school my stance as a non-believer grew, while most of my friends would make similar claims, it now appears that these claims were nothing more than high school rebellion. I was extremely lucky that my teachers at this school were understanding with my lack of belief.

The real test of my atheism was the passing of my father, after this happened and my lack of belief remained the same, I knew that it would never change. I was confident there is no afterlife and that every day should be lived fully because there is no more after you die.

Until this part, everything I stated was just my religious history and not solid reasoning. I guess when it comes down to it, the reason I don’t believe is that I just can’t. My brain works in a logical way, where proof and scientific reasoning yield what I believe, and not superstition or non-first-hand knowledge.

Hearing the condescending phrases such as “it’s just a phase” or “I’m praying for you” does nothing but make me feel that you will never get it, regardless of how hard I try to explain. 

Funny how older generations hate us millennials

After reading this piece about griping how millennials make for terrible employees, I felt it would be a good idea to respond to these by providing some points from someone who is a millennial and it tired of the "system" that is screwing my generation over. I am only using my point of view on these matters (for the record I am a 27 year old male).

Kids Nowadays!

1. We don't respect you because you have a title over us, nor we do we respect someone because of their age, we respect someone based on the quality and quantity of work they complete.

2. Many of us are narcissistic and upset because there are people in our organizations who do less work at worse quality and make more money. We know we are better than them regardless of "experience level" so why should we work harder when it's not financially in our best interest?

3. We have seen the perils of being loyal to a company, so why should you expect us to have any loyalty at all?

4. Many of us feel that many corporate policies were created by previous generations to ensure job security. Instead of worrying about dollars and cents they are more concerned with insignificant petty bullshit.

5. How many people out there would rather be at work than doing something they love? I bet it's not many, so don't get upset when you ask this question and get an HONEST answer. Job Interviewers who ask this question are either A: Asking a potential employee to lie (in this case they answer right) or B: Answer the question honestly (in this case they don't get the job). It's a catch 22 that we see right through and wonder how someone who makes hiring decisions is stupid enough to ask this question.

6. We realize 90% of corporate America is bullshit

7. It bothers us that we help all of your fellow employees with technology questions yet we make significantly less money.

8. We know we are getting screwed by the boss, by the company, by the government, by schools and by society.

9. Just because we use our smartphones a lot doesn't mean we don't do work on them.

10. I know that I am a productivity machine when not bogged down by stupid policies and rules that serve no good at all, so why do they exist? It makes my job much more difficult without any clear benefit.