Man Vs. Wild (rawr!)

Tagged as: Amazing, Amusing, Entertainment, Gross, Television May 29

Have you seen Man vs Wild on the Discovery Channel?

If you don’t know, it’s a show that follows one man as he tries to overcome the challenge of surviving in the wilderness with little more than what a traveler might have.

I love this show. It’s amazing while also being hilarious. First off, the man’s name is Bear. That’s not a nickname. That’s just his name. You know that he’s gotta be awesome if his name is “Bear.” In any case, a cameraman (okay maybe a crew?) follows him as he does whatever it takes to survive in various harsh climates. I’ve seen him in places like the Rockies, a volcano crater in Hawaii, the African desert, and other such fun places.

7 Favorite Moments From Man vs Wild

1. When he eats a live snake by biting off the head (which according to Bear would taste disgusting) and slurping the rest of it through his mouth like a spaghetti noodle.
2. Eating maggots from an animal that was killed in an avalanche. Apparently the actual animal flesh would be dangerous to eat because it’s rotten. But the maggots that eat the rotten flesh? They’re just fine. Who would’ve thought?
3. When he tries to ride a wild horse but fails miserably because he tries to mount it after only being around it for a little bit. I think that because he’s so good, it’s pretty funny when he fails.
4. Catching and taking a big bite out of a live fish. He looked like Gollum. It was disgustingly awesome.
5. Finding a zebra that was killed by lions and then picked by vultures. The bones are clean. So what does Bear do? He cuts off the skin near the neck and eats the zebra meat raw. And then he puts some in his pocket to eat later!
6. Talking about how rattlesnakes are dangerous and how you shouldn’t get close to them. All the while walking closer and closer to the rattlesnake right in front of him.
7. Finding a mound of ants, talking about how he only eats the abdomen of the ants because the bite hurts, and then allowing an ant to bite his tongue so that you can see how much it must hurt. And the ants are actually a “sweet treat” to him.

Isn’t it amazing what people will do to survive? I don’t think that this kind of brutal living is ever hardly seen by many of us because we are in “civilized” locations.

I think that a great part of the appeal to the show is that he (seemingly) actually enjoys all of it. Oh and for some reason the British accent makes it that much more interesting and authentic.

I could learn a lot from this show. Perhaps even more than just the survival techniques. But even if I couldn’t, at least I’d have a great time being grossed out, amazed, and entertained.

NBA Playoffs (Thus Far Commentary #2)

Tagged as: Entertainment, NBA, Sports, Television May 16

Well of course things go on, so I wanted to write my thoughts at this junction about the NBA Playoffs 2007.

I was hoping that the Golden State Warriors would get farther than the second round. However I became ambivalent as Baron Davis’ personality (as well as Stephen Jackson’s) came out. That elbow to Derek Fisher’s face? Unnecessary to the extreme. To say that I gained a lot and lost a lot of respect for the Warriors would be fair to say. I enjoyed their playing because they were passionate and energetic. I started to disapprove of them because many of them turned out to be a bunch of no-class, cocky-without-rights-to, complaining-to-no-end players. And that is not a team that I want to cheer for. So they’re out, and good riddance.

A lot of people disliked Derek Fisher when he was on the Lakers. I never felt as strongly about him. In fact, I kind of liked him. He had spirit and he played hard. Plus we share the same first name. He’s by no means the best at his position, but he’s definitely shown in the Jazz vs Warriors series that he’s got lots left in that tank. To see him also having to deal with everything going on with his daughter makes him an especially easy-to-cheer-for player. Bravo on being an impact player in the series.

There sure has been a lot of testiness in these playoffs. Is it just me or does it seem like there is more this year than in recent history? Pretty much every series has had some episode of a flareup. LeBron is stepping up, the Pistons are never exactly clean, the aforementioned Warriors and Jazz got it on, and of course the Suns and the Spurs have no love lost for their fellow Texans. It all makes for exciting and emotional games, but I kind of wonder why this year is so.

I’m cheering for the Chicago Bulls to beat the Pistons. I’m not a huge Bulls fan, but I have enjoyed watching them play this year. Unfortunately they seem like they go very cold at times, and that led to the Pistons taking a (seemingly) insurmountable 3-0 series lead on them. They’ve fought back to 3-2, and everyone has been singing their praise. I’d like to see them down the vaunted Pistons myself.

I barely even hear or see much from the Cleveland Cavaliers side of the bracket. The Wizards series went down very quietly. It’s no surprise, but the West seems to definitely be the better conference.

Robert Horry’s forearm to Nash’s face was pretty poor. I always kind of liked Horry because I enjoyed his late-game heroics. I’m not really sure what the beef between the Suns and the Spurs is, but I know this: they don’t like each other. I’m not a fan of many of them myself. Many of them (Manu Ginobili, Bruce Bowen, Raja Bell to name a few) are aggressive bordering on extremely dirty. And that’s no good. But I like watching the series because both of these teams are pretty good. They have different styles but they both have multiple superstars who combine to do amazing things sometimes.

Conclusion

The NBA Playoffs 2007 are definitely interesting. I like seeing people get emotional, but there’s no need to be a jerk about things. Keep it coming. I’m going to enjoy watching more.

Music Piracy Makes People Stupid

Tagged as: Entertainment, Humor, Life, Money, Rant, Read-It, Ridiculous, Tip-For-Life May 14

In an article at Yahoo! about cracking down on college music pirates, I read about one Sarah Barg, a sophomore from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It portrayed her as a girl who was just taking part in what everyone else was doing. The article wanted to put her in the role of one who is definitely not the worst (I mean she only downloaded 381 songs when others were downloading thousands!). In response to it all, Barg says

Obviously I knew it was illegal, but no one got in trouble for it

Now, I know that all higher education is not equal. And I know that maybe not all of them are as good as the University of California, San Diego, but that does not allow for such ridiculous thoughts. I think that ignorance is not a good excuse for doing wrong. The onus is on you to do what’s right. However, I think that actually knowing that something is wrong and yet still doing it speaks of some darker black.

In any case, I don’t think that it’s a matter of intelligence. I think it’s a sign of the times.

Piracy does not just affect music as I wrote in Even Worse Than At First Glance, Cheain’ Chinese, and (in regards to cheating in general) Cheaters 4 Life. Wow I did not realize that I had so many entries devoted to ranting about cheaters! But I digress.

Reasons why you shouldn’t be a (music) pirate:

1. You can afford the music (or whatever it is that you’re pirating).
• If you can’t afford it, you don’t need it.
• If you really can’t afford it, you have things that you should be doing other than listening to music anyways.
2. You can support and encourage the artists that you like to keep making music. It’s kind of like writing a blog and getting encouraged by people leaving comments. Except for them it’s people giving them money. I’m applying my energy to the wrong thing.
3. You know it’s morally wrong.
4. It’s actually against the law.

Now I admit that I’m not perfect, but I would like to think that once I knew the truth then I would change my behavior to match what I know. Not everyone is like this. But they should be. It just makes sense to have your behavior in line with your opinions, does it not? Don’t be the person who gets laughed at for coming off as stupid. Nobody wants 15 minutes of infamy.

What? Ants?!

Tagged as: Amazing, Entertainment, Learn, Pictures, Read-It, Television May 11

I really like watching The Discovery Channel. That makes me think of another show that I really have started to enjoy: Man vs Wild but that is a whole different entry.

Tonight I watched parts of Killer Ants and Ant Wars on The Discovery Channel. Of the Formicidae family, ants are infamous around the world. Now I am definitely no fan of these pesky insects, but I am most comfortable watching them from the safety of my home.

On the shows that I watched, I learned about an ant that I had not heard much of: the Siafu Ant. Apparently this is a very well-known ant from Africa. Why is it well-known? Well here are some highlights:

• They do not stay in the same place for very long, they have to up and move more than once a month. Imagine having to do that!
• They form highways before they actually move. The lead parties will stake out a new location and lay a chemical trail for others to follow. They will then clear the path of obstacles and actually create a trench for the new highway so that it will be easier for the large mass to navigate.
• There are at least 3 different classes of Siafu besides the queen and the male. They are differently sized and have different strengths. They range from the large soldier ants with crushing jaws to the small utilitarian ant that can perform any number of duties including cleaning larvae, hunting, and forming the walls of the colonies!
• They have to hunt in order to feed the millions of larvae that are produced by the queen monthly. Millions!
• To hunt, they will basically spread out along the forest floor and sweep around the area near the colony. They sense the carbon dioxide that living beings emit in order to find them! As soon as one ant encounters prey, it will release a chemical signal so that others will immediately come to help. They win by sheer power in numbers.
• Oh yes, and many of them do not have eyes. They do all of these things just using chemical signals.
• Not on the show, but reading about them online I found that they can intentionally hunt and prey on much larger (well larger than insects) animals! It’s not necessarily common, but it also definitely seems like it happens. Rabbits, vipers, and even a drunk with a broken leg were stories that I read about.

The bulldog ants are not as prominent in the world perhaps, but they are still pretty well known in their native Australia. They are large and independent ants that are in many ways opposite of the Siafu. One of the most interesting things about them is that they have venom that can cause anaphylactic shock! Apparently their venom is one of the most potent of any insect! (Of course this means that it doesn’t include snakes, spiders, etc) However, their nests are small and they will hunt almost strictly individually. However, because they are unafraid of human interaction, there can be literally once a week hospital emergencies on account of a bite.

Why??

Why do I care about all of this? Well besides the fact that it is simply amazing to see these creations doing what they do, I feel like there is so much to learn from them!

1. They are diligent in their work. You don’t see slackers messing around when they should be working.
2. They are willing to give their all for something bigger than themselves.
3. Trust is something that they can inherently do with ease.
4. Aspiration to be the greatest (although an admirable trait in some humans) is nonexistent with these creatures. We can learn to be a bit more satisfied with who we are, what we have, and so on instead of always being dissatisfied with every aspect of our lives.
5. They get their friends to help them out. Okay so that is just the Siafu…
6. But the bulldog ants are also good as they are so aptly named because they will refuse to let go once they bite. Once you get something good, you don’t let that go.
7. Don’t be afraid to up and change things around if it’s not working. When the ants run out of food, they will move. Just because you do something that you’ve always done does not mean that you are constrained to continue doing it.

There are many more I am sure. I enjoy finding life lessons where there are seemingly none. I also enjoy watching The Discovery Channel.

Cheatin’ Chinese

Tagged as: Amazing, Amusing, Entertainment, Humor, Life, Outrageous, Political, Read-It, The-News May 04

Sometimes Chinese people do good things. Sometimes Chinese people do bad things. And sometimes Chinese people sure do some stupid things.

Get this: Chinese people copied Disneyland. As in, they made a Disneyland park. Are you kidding me?!

I read an Engadget article about the fake Disneyland that got me to searching for more information. Amusingly, they have characters that closely mimic the Disney ones as well as rides that indicate how much of a fake it is. Their slogan (according to this other article) is that “Disneyland is too far.” Wow, that is unbelievable. I think that actually the most amusing thing about Beijing’s Shijingshan Amusement Park is that its website is http://www.bs-amusement-park.com. Haha you read that right, it’s the BS amusement park.

Although pretty humorous, this actually touches on a more serious issue (which was touched on at Even Worse Than At First Glance). And that issue is copyright infringement (or in this case complete disregard for copyrights whatsoever).

links:
The Standard (Chinese business newspaper) article - Touches the most on the significant copyright issues
Engadget article - Amusing pictures
Roller Coaster Database - Park information, list of rides, etc
Actual Disneyland-clone website - I don’t know Chinese (the language), but if you do then the story might get even more amusing for you