Euphoria

I really did not want to start watching Euphoria. I don’t know why. My friends all pressured me to watch the show and I simply didn’t want to. It was a tough sell, nobody could really elaborate what was so special about it. I had watched the first episode and did not feel connected enough to the characters and decided the show wasn’t for me. That was until last weekend.

I went over to my friends house and she put the new episode on. It got me invested in the show.

I am so mad I waited this long. I am really invested in the lives of every character, even though not caring about the characters was the thing that put me off in the beginning. The storyline is impossible and outlandish by design, but it undoubtedly sucks you in.

Personally, I really like Fez.

It is impossible to write this blog post without spoilers, so I now understand how my friends felt trying to convince me to watch the show. I can’t say too much, as that would ruin it. I can’t say too little, as then you wouldn’t watch it.

All I will say is, the many storylines that weave together is incredibly entertaining and I implore you to watch the show.

Don’t go below the picture if you don’t want a spoiler

PC: Esquire

(P.S. I hope Fez and Lexi happens)

AFC & NFC Championships preview

Cincinnati Bengals at Kansas City Chiefs

Joe Brrrrrr, Joe Shiesty, Joe Burrow, and the Cincinnati Bengals will storm into Kansas City looking to stun the Chiefs. Last week Burrow threw for 348 passing yards, on 37 passing attempts (completing 28 of them). Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon ran for 54 yards and a tub as well, while Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins led the receiving game. The Bengals defense also snagged 3 interceptions. While rookie kicker Evan McPherson nailed 4 field goals, including the game-winner.

The Chief will aim for the 3rd consecutive Super Bowl appearance. Led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who torched the Buffalo Bills last week for 378 passing yards, 69 rushing yards, and 4 tubs. Alongside their elite passing offense, the Chiefs have a well-balanced rushing attack, having four players run for more than 20 yards. Star receiver Tyreek Hill had 150 receiving yards and a tub, Travis Kelce had 96 receiving yards and a tub(which was the game-winner in OT).

I hope the Bengals win because I dislike Mahome’s brother and wife because of their A-Hole manner. I think the Bengals win 27-20

gif credit: giphy.com

San Fransisco 49ers at Los Angeles Rams

The 49ers are led by a solid defense and DeeBo Samuel. DeeBo is a top receiver and running back this year for the 49ers. I honestly do not care about the 49ers.

Now let’s talk about the Rams. The Rams have the best player in football with Aaron Donald, the best cornerback in the league in Jalen Ramsey, the best receiver in football in Cooper Kupp, and elite veterans with Von Miller, OBJ, and Matthew Stafford. After beating the Tampa Bay Tom Brady’s last week I believe the Rams won’t stop playing at an elite level. Although the Rams are 0-2 against the 49ers this year I think that record will change to 1-2 with a win this weekend.

I’m taking the Rams over the 49ers by two tubs minimum with the final score being 38-24

pc: wsj.com

Reasons Why I Hate England

I’m from the U.S., so it shouldn’t be surprising that I have a vendetta against England. There’s literally no way to explain how it started other than that I’m from the U.S.. I’ve just uncontrollably despised England since I was born. Anyways, here we go.

They drive on the left side of the road

Driving on the left side of the road is just fundamentally wrong. It doesn’t make sense. The majority of people in the world are right-handed, so theoretically, people should drive on the right side of the road. Also, pretty much every country other than the ones that used to be controlled by England drive on the right side of the road. By the law of “majority rules,” England is incorrect.

Chart: Which Side Of The Road Do You Drive On? | Statista
http://cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/9261.jpeg

They use Celsius and kilometers per hour

Hear me out on this one. Yes, the metric system makes a lot more sense for generic measurements, HOWEVER– using kilometers per hour is stupid. I know that pretty much all of Europe uses kilometers per hour and Celsius, but this article is about England specifically so I’m gonna pick on them. Using Celsius and kilometers per hour is dumb because they have no standard of what’s too much or too little. Hang in there, I’ll explain. 0 degrees Fahrenheit is way too cold, and 100 degrees Fahrenheit is way too hot. And 0 miles per hour is too slow while 100 miles per hour is too fast. Celsius not only doesn’t apply to the human body, but it has no reasonable standard of being too hot or cold. Like 0 degrees Celsius isn’t incredibly cold, but a human would die at 100 degrees Celsius. Celsius was a measurement system created for water, not humans. And I think it’s convenient that there’s the same metric of what’s too big or too little between Fahrenheit and miles per hour. This reasoning might sound stupid, but I’m sticking by it.

Kilometres per hour - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Northern_Territory_130_speed_limit_sign_P6210051.JPG

They have weird accents

This one is really dumb. I’m not even gonna try to defend myself. I just think their accents are unattractive. Australian accents? Wonderful. Scottish accents? Great. German accents? Really pretty. English accents? Gross. The only good thing about their accents is that they’re really easy to mock.

Learntalk | Different English Accents From Around the World | Learntalk
https://learntalk.org/photos/blog/header_photo/219/Learntalk_BlogPosts_02-12-2018_Accent.jpg

They still have a monarchy

Like, in this economy? Something’s gotta be wrong with them if they think having a monarchy and a democracy at the same time is a smart idea. I mean, I don’t know much about how a monarchy works, but I know that it didn’t work out well for France, so I’m gonna assume it’s a bad idea overall. Plus, the royal family mostly works as a publicity stunt. They should just get rid of it.

British monarchy: The Modern Era, 1901-today - Discover Britain
https://www.discoverbritainmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/CROP-Winsdors.jpg

Their Prime Minister is the worst

Boris Johnson sucks so much. To be fair, I’m pretty sure that a good amount of people in England agree with me, but I’m still gonna hold it against them. I don’t like him.

Boris Johnson in Commons fight as No 10 parties report looms - BBC News
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Since I’ve already hated on them so much, I guess I’ll put in something I like about England.

Russell Howard is from England

Russell Howard is a comedian with his own show from England. He’s really funny. I love him. He’s probably the only good thing that came out of England.

Russell Howard storms out of comedy gig after five minutes because of woman  filming him | The Independent | The Independent
https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2020/08/13/15/russell-howard.jpg?width=1200

I hope you enjoyed reading my passionate ranting about hating England. I don’t get super patriotic very often, but I definitely whip out the stars and stripes when England comes up in conversation. I will never stop arguing for why I don’t like England.

Music of the month

I have a music taste that I wouldn’t consider to be super traditional to what people my age listen to, this being some form of rap or sad/calm music. I find that the music on my playlists falls into the categories of alt, melodic, and relaxed pop. This month at least I’ve been listening to a variety of songs that fall into these categories and then a couple that seeps out into other genres. For this month, I have been listening to a lot of a couple artists’ music that is different than last month.

The first artist is Jukebox the Ghost, who makes pop music that is not what I would consider being traditional pop because of the way that it’s delivered. The music is almost like jazzy melodic beat pop if that makes any sense at all. I stumbled across them while on the Spotify playlist It’s alt-good. I took a liking to their song Girl and found that I like their other music and have put them on my main playlist.

The next artist on my list is SonReal who makes pretty standard hip-hop, rap music but it has a soft feeling to some of the beats of the songs. The song that I found to link me to SonReal was Can I Get A Witness which has a nice beat and a background of a piano. I enjoy the consistency in good beats and relaxed attitudes in many of his songs.

Going into a blast from the past lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of Maroon 5 which is throwing me back to my childhood. Specifically, the album that I’m finding a lot of joy in is Songs About Jane. Songs About Jane has a bunch of bangers in its midst like Harder to breathe, and The Sun. The music that Maroon 5 makes is pop-rock/ neo-soul and has lovely beats that are paired with the vocals from Adam Levine making almost every song a banger.

IC: inc.com

James Webb update

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has finally reached its orbit at Lagrange point 2. There it will stay in the shadow of Earth to take pictures. Now these won’t be ordinary pictures, while the Hubble Space Telescope has been taking photos in the visible light spectrum, the light we can see, the JWST will be taking photos in the ultraviolet spectrum. This will allow us to effectively see through any sort of cosmic clouds which have previously blocked our view. The photos will be taken in the ultraviolet, translated into black and white, and then colorized to give us some of the most incredible pictures we have ever seen. The telescope can’t take photos right away though, it will take about six months to cool (it needs to be -233 C to detect ultraviolet light) calibrate, and undergo incredible amounts of testing. When photos begin to be taken and released our understanding of our universe as we know it may very well be flipped on its head.

James Webb Space Telescope: How does it work and what will it see? - BBC  Science Focus Magazine
Photo credit: NASA

Goldilocks is a Hardened Criminal

In my Law and Society class, we have a mock trial in which we try to prosecute somebody for some crime. This mock trial happens to be the prosecution of Goldilocks, and I must say Goldilocks does not seem innocent in any way. Goldilocks broke into the house of three bears and decided to ransack the place. She ate all of their food, sat in and broke their rocking chairs, slept in their beds, and jumped through the bear’s window to run away, all throughout a pandemic. Despite being the age of 7, Goldilocks comprehends that what she had done was wrong, otherwise, why would she run? Under the basis of Goldilocks understanding her crimes, she would be tried as a minor, rather than her being pardoned due to infancy. Goldilocks will be facing time, with charges such as Vandalism, Larceny, and Burglary. I believe Goldilocks should rot in prison until the day she dies. Dirty criminals like her have no right to live among law-abiding citizens.

The Goldilocks Effect and How to Harness Social Influence | First Round  Review
https://assets.proof.pub/2056/firstround/BlnSbLcpQlmVGr2VVNF1_goldilocks%20-%20hires.jpg

Two Sides of the Same Coin-2

My last blog post was basically a mess of me trying to explain what Tokyo Ghoul is fundamentally whilst also trying to gush about the genius of part one. However, now that basically every piece of context has been laid out I can now gush about one of my favorite sections of Tokyo Ghoul, part 2. Originally, I had seen the anime before I had read the manga. In the anime, Kaneki joins Aogiri Tree, completely letting go of who he is as a person and becoming a cold-blooded killer so that he can become strong enough to protect the ones he loves. Although it does work into the story either way it is so far from what happens in the manga it’s comical.

What I forgot to explain in the first part is that the CCG rates ghouls based on their level of danger. If a ghoul is a rate A it means they’re generally pretty dangerous but not hardened killers. Some ghouls can go all the way up to SSS rating which means they have quite the body count when it comes to investigators.

Kaneki forms his own minor organization with the single goal of finding Dr. Kano, a ghoul researcher/doctor who planted Rize’s kahuo in Kaneki. Kaneki remains kind and fragile as he was in season one, but he now has the power necessary to get what he wants and he’s finally willing to use it. However, Kaneki still somewhat refuses to eat. Instead, he cannibalizes other ghouls, which greatly increases his already insane power. However, what Kaneki does not know is that if ghouls cannibalize, they become Kakuja which if translated means “awakened person”. Kakuja are immensely powerful ghouls who have multiple Kahuos, allowing them to control multiple Kagune at a time. However, should a ghoul awaken, they lose control, and only a very select few ghouls can maintain control when awakened.

About halfway through part one, the CCG ghoul prison known as cochlea is broken into and many high-ranking ghouls are released, putting the CCG in a very tough spot. Kaneki who was at Cochlea for reasons I can’t remember is confronted by an especially strong ghoul who was very close to Rize and is now set on killing him as he bears Rize’s scent. Being one of the strongest non-kakuja ghouls, this ghoul wipes the floor with Kaneki. Lying in the puddle of his own blood, Kaneki’s loss drives him to awaken. Unable to control his Kakuja powers, he mortally injures an investigator and barely escapes with his life. Kaneki, now being a Kakuja is a ticking time bomb. He still isn’t eating well and mostly eats ghouls as he knows it makes him stronger.

Photo Credit: Reddit

What makes the second part of Tokyo Ghoul so special to me is how much backstory and lore they give to characters that received very little attention in the anime. This happens all throughout the show as basically half the content that made the manga so special was surgically removed. Sui Ishida gives many side characters compelling and emotional backstories throughout part two which adds an immense amount of depth to the Tokyo Ghoul world, which I will definitely be getting into in another post.

Throughout the first half, one of the main roadblocks for the CCG is a ghoul known as the owl, who is responsible for the conception of Aogiri Tree. The owl is actually two ghouls, a father and his daughter who are both kakujas. Despite looking and fighting completely differently the owls are one of the biggest threats to the CCG. Mr. Yoshimura, the man who took in Kaneki is the owl, the founder of Aogiri tree, and one of the most feared ghouls in Tokyo.

Photo Credit: Tumblr

The CCG launches an operation into the 20th ward which is the worst possible situation for Kaneki as every ghoul he was training to protect was in the 20th ward. In a hurry, Kaneki goes to the 20th ward where he faces Special Investigator Kisho Arima. An extraordinary investigator who has a flawless record in the CCG and is the only investigator to have mortally injured the owl which he did when he was sixteen.

In one of the coolest scenes ever, Kaneki confronts Arima underground in a bed of Red Spider Lilies. Kaneki loses epically. He doesn’t even land a single hit on Arima and gets a quinque through the eye. Although Kaneki has an absurd amount of power, not even he can stand up to Arima. At this point, everyone believes Arima is the main villain, and in typical Tokyo Ghoul fashion, the first part ends, and seemingly so does the story of Ken Kaneki

Photo Credit: Tumblr

Shithousery

My favorite sport is football. Not the bloodsport played with the oval ball by yanks, but the beautiful game, joga bonito, or if you lack any sense of intelligence and cultural awareness “soccer”. Specifically the Barclays Premier League (also called the English Premier League).

The thing that sets footy apart is the fact that supporters of teams are allowed to be rowdy. Fans consistently scream obscenities, light flares, and heckle the players and opposition supporters.

Partizan Belgrade vs Red Star probably has the most heated rivalry (between fans) in European soccer. The clubs represent their fans’ political ideology and personal identities. These clubs’ fans have literally stabbed each other over support, and fights are a given outside every fixture. Most notably, fans light flares inside the stadium which seems like it should be illegal, but hey…it’s the Balkans.

VC: Copa 90

English fan culture is equally unique. Fans mostly just yell the most obscene and insulting things they can, oftentimes insulting dead relatives and getting into players’ heads. The chants they yell in support of their players are often touching and tailored to their players. For instance, Wolverhampton Wanderers supporters often chant, “Heeeeee’s Koreannn, He’s only on loan for a seasonnnnn, but we think he’s fookin brilliantttt, he’s Hwang Hee Channnnnnnn,” in honor of the Korean loaned star.

VC: The Wolfpack

These chants unite fans in ways unthinkable to American sports fans. Here is a foreign Man U fan leading the chants, known by all supporters, in a local pub.

VC: Football Away Days

I implore you to go explore the world of football chants, fair warning, it can get kind of raunchy.

VC: SommitSports

(THESE ARE THE RAUNCHY ONES PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!)

VC: SommitSports

These fan groups are stems for identity, FC St. Pauli fans broke away from Hamburg SV fans because of the racist, sexist, and all-around toxic supporters, forming their own group that stands for inclusion.

When fans or players are acting a little wild, it’s called “shithousery.” Here are a few examples.

VC: Vaulted

VC: Dan1S

Football > Ovalball. If this didn’t convince you I don’t know what will

NFL Divisional round predictions – AFC

Cincinnati Bengals vs Tennessee Titans

This match up should be a good ole fashioned shoot out. The Bengals have arguably the best receiving room in league with Tyler Boyd, Tee Higgins, and Ja’Marr Chase. Along side their excellent receivers the Bengals have a Pro-bowl running back in Joe Mixon. And the man that ties it all together, the gunslinger, Joe Shiesty, Joe Brrrrrr, Joe Burrow. Burrow is becoming a top QB in the league and a win over the 1 seed will solidify him as one of the best in the league.

pc: nfl.com

The Titans may be the least talked about 1 seed in recent memory, and for them, it may be a good thing. They get star running back Derrick Henry back for this match-up (the first time he’s played since week 8). With Henry back, their passing game might actually improve, QB Ryan Tannehill with King Henry in the backfield averages around 10 yards on play-action passes compared to abruptly 6 yards on play-action passes. The Bengals are also the 5th worse defense against play-action passes.

I have the Bengals nabbing the victory over the Titans 45-35.

Buffalo Bills vs Kansas City Chiefs

The Bills are coming into this game hottttttt. Last week they blew out the Patriots, scoring tuddies on their first 7 drives. Led by QB Josh Allen and elite receiver Stefon Diggs the Bills offense is scary and hungry. While their defense has played well as well, they will have a tough task at hand facing TikTok legend Jackson Mahomes’s older brother Patrick Mahomes.

Mahomes, who had struggled early this year, has been playing back at an elite level. Alongside Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce, this offense is poised to have another deep playoff but they need to get past Buffalo first.

With a rematch from last year, I believe the Bills taking the victory this year 31-21

pc: wsj.com

Pets I Want

I’m a big animal person. When I’m an adult, I’m probably going to have a ton of pets that I either own or am fostering. Here are some of the pets I want the most.

A cat (hairless or otherwise)

I’m allergic to cats, so if I get a cat in the next few years, it’ll probably have to be a hairless cat or a cat with hypoallergenic hair. I recently started allergy shots, but it’ll take a few years before I get to a point where I can actually have a non-hypoallergenic cat without problems. In the meantime, I’ll keep feeding my neighborhood cat so that my house is his favorite house on the block.

How to Care for a Hairless Cat
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A Study Linking 'Girls' and Cats Draws Jeers, Then Disappears
https://undark.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/GettyImages-1199242002-1-scaled.jpg

More dogs

I have one dog right now, but I want to have a lot more in the future. I really like bigger dogs like retrievers and shepherds, so I’d love to have a few when I have my own house. Small dogs are super cute too, though. Honestly, I love all dogs.

Labrador Retriever Dog Breed Information
https://www.akc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Labrador-Retrievers-three-colors.jpg

Opossums

This one shouldn’t be a surprise. I wouldn’t keep them as pets, but I would like to care for disabled opossums that can’t live in the wild. Besides, opossums actually live longer in captivity than they do in the wild. I’ll give them fun outfits.

Photo credit: @itsmesesame on Instagram

Rats

Rats are really cute, and they actually make pretty good pets. They usually have to live in bigger groups so they don’t get lonely, so I’ll have a rat colony. They don’t live super long, which is really sad, but I still want to give them good lives.

This photo really shows off the size difference between Charlie and  Ginger's ears. | Cute rats, Pet rats, Pet rodents
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8f/83/e0/8f83e01cd94af14f77f297f51eeff5ee.jpg

Lizards

My best friend has leopard geckos and crested geckos, and I’m in love with them. Most lizards actually live for a really long time– leopard geckos live about 15 years and crested geckos can live 15-20 years. They also have pretty dynamic personalities. Some of my friend’s lizards like to be left alone in their enclosures, and some like to be held and played with. I think they would make for really fun pets.

Honestly, I could keep going on about the pets I want, but I’ll probably have my hands completely full if I end up getting all of these animals.

74 Cute Leopard Gecko Compilation That Will Melt Your Heart - ExoPetGuides
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