Note Kanye…. We Don’t Care!!!
Surprise, surprise. Once again rapper Kanye West has forced his opinion on us. Is anyone else getting tired of his constant nattering and opinionated outbursts? Sure he is a talented artist and has had a very successful career, but does that mean we should have to listen to ALL his bullshit? If he feels that passionate about Beyonce not winning one of the MTV Video Music Awards she was nominated for, then maybe he should write a song about it. At least this way only people who actually care will have to listen.
I for one don’t even know why he was sticking his nose into something that doesn’t really involve him in the slightest sense. I don’t know what his stunt was supposed to prove or achieve, but it certainly did confirm the fact he is an ass. Perhaps he was just upset about the fact that he didn’t win an award this year. After all he does consider himself to be ‘Amazing’, but after this latest stunt I don’t think many others will agree with him.
Another way to look at it is maybe Kenya has become Beyonce’s publicist. He certainly created a situation that made her look good in the eyes of everyone watching. It was certainly nice to have her acknowledge the fact that being up for an MTV Video Music Award at a young age is a big deal. After quickly accepting her award Beyonce invited Taylor Swift back on stage allowing her to finish the speech Kanye had so rudely interrupted. Bravo to her!
You have to feel bad for Taylor Swift though. She’s worked so hard and has done so well for herself through out her career but this is truly her moment in the spot light. She’s had so many amazing triumphs this year and has won so many awards all of which mean the world to her. She’s finally gained mass popularity after a couple year of success in country. Not yet ruined by Hollywood, this young starlet is gracious and appreciative of every award she wins and to have someone ruin her moment of recognition was obviously hard to handle. It was easy to see in her face that she was upset by what happened and that she didn’t know what to do. My congratulations go out her for all her success and I know she’ll have many more awards coming to her in the future.
Chicken Friendly KFC
I haven’t been a vegetarian for long, but I have always been a firm believer in the fight against animal cruelty. I became a vegetarian because, like so many others, I love animals and don’t see the need to eat them. I also have a passion for the environment and meat production creates a lot of pollution thanks to factory farms and processing plants.
Recently KFC Canada made the an agreement with PETA, changing the way they slaughter their chickens and adding a vegan “chicken” options to the menu. These changes came after the company, owned by Priszm Income Fund based in Vaughan, Ont., suffered losses when dubbed “Kentucky Fried Cruelty” during a national boycott involving stars such as Pamela Anderson and Paul McCartney. In the past the fast food-chain used suppliers which slaughtered chickens in cruel methods such as stomping , kicking , and violently slamming them against floors and walls. The raising of chickens by the suppliers were not much better with cramped cages stuffed wit dozens of chickens unable to move or spread their wings. Chickens were also being fed steroids which caused unnatural growth which often crippled the birds.
The US chain of KFC have not made such agreements and still face boycotts across the country.
As I mentioned before Canadian KFCs will now be offering a vegan option, which I hope will be fried in separate broilers. In the past I have seen restaurants cook and store veggie burgers with regular beef burgers. I asked why they’d do it that way, the response I got was that Health and Safety says they can. What? Being a vegetarian and ordering vegetarian food has nothing to do with health and safety regulations. Either way I’m interested to see how the vegan “chicken” tastes. I personally would love to see A&W come up with a veggie/vegan “chicken“, cause their actually chicken is soooo much better* Lol.
Although I haven’t been a vegetarian long, I am very disappointed in how North american inspired restaurants and food companies make meat free meals. I find they tend to lack flavour. I think it’s because they think vegetable and often treat them as a side dish and don’t make them the same way they would meat. I believe this is the mistake. Part of the reason meat tastes so good is because of the herbs, spices, sauces and other ingredients used to prepare them for a meal. When I make my meals I cook the veggie “meat” exactly how I would regular meat, minus anything that contains any animal by-products. There are even spices that taste much like chicken broth that are made out of vegetables, such as Vegeta.
So my advice to and chef who might be reading this, treat it like meat but don’t mix it up with meat.
*Opinion based on when I ate there while not a vegetarian.
Delivery Required
However, there are products which delivery and the fees that go with it are not optional, for specifically hydro. I understand why they charge to deliver electricity, the fact we have to pay it is not my concern. What baffles me is the amount in which some companies will charge for this delivery. Unassure of how the determine the fee amounts I figure it should be much more then the amount of energy you use. I recently received a bill from Horizon Utilites for an apartment I have in Hamilton. My place is in an old building that the landlords tried to rewire. Unfortunately for them only portions of the building could be redone, so in the end I am only required to pay the hydro for my kitchen.
In my kitchen there are three products that consume energy that which I use often, the fridge, microwave and stove. So it’s easy to see that I would not use a lot of power, especially since I am not in the kitchen that often. Despite this my last bill was for the amount of $42.78, in which 78% of the charge was for delivery. For $6.15 worth of electricity I used, Horizon Utilities is charging my $32.50 for delivery. I don’t quite understand how you can charge that much for such a little amount of electricty. Which is why I will now call them.
***RING, RING… RING, RING***
So the verdict is my bill is correct. Reason for this is that they automatically charge $29 is delivery fees whether you use any hydro or not. The only way you could not get charged the $29 fee is if you disconnected the meter completely. These automatic fee is to maintain the lines and keep them working. Okay I understand that, but I still don’t agree that it should cost me more then 5x the amount of electricity I actually used. But hey, what do I know.
Marriage
This is a photo slide story about marriage. It features the views, experiences and advice of three couples at different stages of their relationship.
It’s not over until the boy band sings
I have good news for anyone starting their music career in a boy band… you MAY just make it. There IS hope for you yet… that is IF you have enough true talent to make it on your own.
In the late 90s early 2000s we saw a huge increase in both boy bands and girl bands. We saw such acts as the Backstreet Boys, N*Sync 98 degrees and many… many… MANY more. Most quickly disappeared when the boy band fad was over and we saw attempts by some group members trying to make it on their own. Sadly many failed but there are some who have what it takes to continue their career. We all know all know Justin Timberlake and how successful he is, but I personally have a new favorite, RyanDan. You all might remember them as the twins from former boy band B4-4… Just to refresh everyone’s memory here’s one of the music videos for one of their bigger songs.
The reason I enjoy RyanDan is not only because of their incredibly romantic lyrics, but they also have amazing voices which meld together perfectly. It’s hard to hear their songs and stop to listen and embrace the angelic radiance that comes from it. I don’t want to over exaggerate, but I’m sorry I love their voices. Lol. The song that won my heart over is ‘Like the sun’ because it actually reminds me of my boyfriend, and our relationship.
I encourage ALL guys to listen to this song. Listen carefully to all the words and take in the pure sentiment that comes from it. These are the types of things women love to hear and with their significant others could say to them. Many know that theirs couldn’t possibly piece something together with so much passion and love.
So to prove all these women wrong I propose a challenge to all men/boys/guys. Write a song/poem/letter to your girlfriend/wife/fiancé/significant other, which is as sweet and emotionally powerful as this one… come on… you can do it!!!
The Government knows what pays.
Tax season, whether you ingnore it or file, comes once a year. Many people like this time because they get money back; the key word there is back. This is already money you’ve paid in taxes, so you’ve actually already earned. There are however ways to get a little something. This is done by claiming things you’ve spent your earned money on through out the year, such as rent. There are several different things you can claim every year, but it’s your responsibility to find out what those are. The government keeps track of what it needs, it doesn’t care after that. Make sure you cover all bases and find out how much you’ll owe. If you fall short and have to pay more you only have until the end of the season to pay it back. Any balance owe after and you’ll owe even more.
Snow in Canada??? I’m shocked!
So I went to Toronto this weekend and was stuck there for the big “storm”. lol. Storm my ass, it snowed a lot (not too much) and was windy. As long as people took there time and adjusted to winter driving things were fine. i never understand how people seem to think this winter has been really bad, we only really started getting a decent amount of snow in the last 2 months. But hey, we’re all just a bunch of global warming lovers!
Another pointless holiday!
Tomorrow marks the official beginning of Reading Week for students in College. A lot of universities had there’s last week, as is the norm with the two levels of education. This is a short video blog on my thoughts about reading week and what my plans are for the time I have off of school. One thing i would like to comment about my video blog is the fact that I say “Today is February March 24th” ha ha ha! I’m awesome and didn’t notice until I had already posted it on Youtube. But hey, at least I tried.
Avoid people and sit at computers!
Social Networking is something that is constantly growing. It’s been big in the past but with RSS use made simple more people are connecting then ever. Facebook (or FB as I prefer to type), which originally used most for socializing, is the first of what will be many sites to attract just about every demographic out there. Now connected to other social networking sites, such as Digg, Twitter and del.icio.us, FB can be an incredible resource.
Unlike FB, the three previous mentioned sites connect and organize information from an array of sources. If you ever need to find a site or article on anything you can search key words and find all the info you need. Well I wouldn’t say anything as in everything; it’s in the beginning stage. The people who use them dictate the number of links and types of info available on these sites. Through tags and a number of different tools people leave a link between their profile and their favourite sites.
My favourite and probably most used out for the three sites is del.icio.us. It’s extremely simple to mark sites because of an icon that is loaded on to your toolbar. I’ve even added the del.icio.us application on Facebook. However, hi doesn’t mean I use the sites that often. I just can’t seem to get into the habit of using them, even as a research tool. Old habits die-hard I suppose, I’m so used to going to iGoogle for everything I need.
The good thing about many of the sites that are available now is that they’re simple to use. I personally find many of them to share the same basic design, but of course each has their own personality. I’m not one to try and pretend that I know a lot about computers, I know the basics that most students know how to use. So because the simplicity is there I believe that beyond FB social networking will continue to grow in popularity. People rely on the Internet for so much now and sites like del.icio.us, twitter and Digg, combine two basic needs in many fields of life: information and communication. Something that people need and use just about everyday of their life, now made a little more difficult and less social then in person.
Marilyn Manson was right!
“We’re all stars now in the dope show.” Drugs seem to be a very big aspect of society these days. From celebs going to rehab to medical marijuana vending machines, it really is everywhere. But is all of it bad?
Don’t get me wrong I do not support drug use in anyway. I think doing drugs such as heroin, crack cocaine and a long list of others is one thing… a way to destroy your life before you die alone or in pain. Looking around Hamilton it’s sad to see this very idea playing out in front of you. Drug abuse in Hamilton is a big problem, as it is in any big city. However, there is no way to be certain o the real number of affected because many can be homeless and there is no way of monitoring them.
The people who abuse aren’t the only problem though. I also don’t respect the people who sell drugs. Really cool you are, making a living off people killing themselves. At least with Euthanasia the suffering is ended and not prolonged. That’s why I never understand why some rappers seem to be so proud of the fact that they used to sell crack, like really? Do you want a hero cookie laced with arsenic? But seriously, why do we look up to those guys when they’re basically murdering people?
Now I’m not saint, nor do I try and pretend I am. I simply know when to say no and understand that nothing good can come from drugs. I’m a big fan of classic rock and it’s the perfect example of how dangerous drugs can be. Several big and highly influential artists died because of drugs, many times at an age that didn’t allow them to show the world the true extent of their talent. Even looking at celebrities today you can see how drugs take control and ruin lives. Although they aren’t all as talented as the drug user mentioned before, it still shows how drugs can so easily destroy a successful life.
There are however some “drugs” that I feel do not cause the harm that so many people believe it does. Marijuana is a natural plant that grows wild and can be used it many ways. Also referred to as weed, marijuana can be used to help people, as can its byproducts. Doctors admit and prescribe marijuana because it can relieve pain, decrease nausea, calm a person and the list goes on. More then ever we have celebrities and even politicians who admit to using the “drug” a one time. This is why I’m baffled that people say it’s so horrible. If weed ruins lives then how are there so many well-adjusted, professional, successful people who use or have used it? Demonize what you don’t understand I guess. After all, alcohol is a drug that does a lot more damage then marijuana and it’s legal. Does that make sense?
