Col. Mustard, in the conservatory, with the lead pipe.

Have you all heard about The Murder Mystery? I went last year, and let me tell you, it was a blast. The setup was that we were all foreign dignitaries that had been invited to a party thrown by a Presidential candidate from the U.S. My cohort Landon seriously considered bringing a fake gun just to mix things up, and it would have too, they did a search on us, but he didn't end up bringing it. The premise is different this year, but the concept is the same, you get to live out Clue. They serve dinner, you get to try and solve the mystery, and they just put on a great show. And there's dancing for those who like to boogie. In the spirit of the Halloween...spirit, I suggest that everybody go. Now.

Three Reasons

In honor of Holloween, I give you, ladies and gentlemen, three reasons why zombies are awesome.
1. Michael Jackson's Thriller
2. The Half Life series of Games
3. Shaun of the Dead (I saw it back in the days of Clean Flicks)

Feel free to expand the list.

Classes everyone should take.

Some people insist on only taking classes that directly apply to their major. I laugh at them. The following list consists entirely of classes I took for no apparent reason, and they’re the best classes I’ve taken at BYU.

EXSC 125 – Flexibility
I’m in this class right now, and it’s perhaps my favorite ever. It’s a half-credit PE class, and so you get an A if you show up and sign the roll. The class consists of—I kid you not—stretching and power naps. Half the time you do a nice long routine of stretches, then the teacher turns out the lights and does a relaxation thing. It rocks. I think I’m going to take it again next semester, just because it’s that cool. I feel like a million bucks when I walk out of this class.

HIST 380 – History of Popular Culture in America
As far as I know, this class has met its demise because the professor (Dr. Fox) has retired. It was just like it sounds, though, a history of pop culture—movies, comic books, TV, cartoons, etc. We watched Marvin the Martian cartoons in class, and homework was watching movies and reading comic books. The lectures were brilliantly interesting, and the topics were actually things we cared about. I’m telling you, the class was dynamite.

TMA 150 – Public Speaking
I think the name of this class is deceiving, because the principles that I learned applied to way more than just speaking. It was about persuasion, and about gaining peoples’ trust… really, this is as close as I’ve found to a class that teaches you how to be charismatic. I know a bunch of people teach this class, and it’s probably different with each teacher, but I can recommend Kurt Mortensen without reservation.

ECON 110
I took this class for fun. For fun. It was so hard, but it was really cool. I had it from Mark Showalter, and he quickly became one of my favorite people ever. I’m also keenly aware that you might have to be the slightest bit nerdy, like me, to think this class is the cat’s pajamas.


That all being said, I've got one semester left, and I need to know what other classes rock. Any suggestions?

Googlefight

The Linguistics Department at BYU is utterly obsessed with www.Googlefight.com. I blame them for my current addiction.

The idea of Google fight is that you pit two words or phrases against each other to duke it out and see which appears more out in cyberspace. In class, we usually use it to see what words and phrases are standard in English (i.e. potatoes vs. potatos, who vs. whom, etc.) But don't be deceived. Googlefight not only features semi-amusing animation while it makes its search, but the fights you can concoct can be utterly brilliant, if you only use your imagination. So give it a try, boys and girls!

Fights to get you started:
Boys vs. Girls
Pen vs. Sword
Macs vs. PCs
President Bush vs. Bin Laden
Arnold Schwarzenegger vs. Your governor ( I told you my governor could beat up your governor)
Tom Cruise vs. Satan

Use your imagination and report your findings! If all problems were so easily solved, the world would be such a happier place. I propose showing Googlefight to our world leaders. You in?