Justin Bieber strikes again: Calls a 'Belieber' a beached whale. But, it's ok, right??

Well, here I am, at class, dolled up for a mock-interview that I have to do today for class. I’ve been trying to figure out just what to write about today…

 

 Do I write about the stupid woman who brought her half-smoked joint into the classroom and forced the rest of us to smell it?? Nah.   

 

How about the idiot in my first aid class who cannot shut up and stop asking stupid questions, taking up everyone’s time?? Meh, nah.

 

Paul Walker? While tragic and ironic, it’s not something I need to talk about. And I don’t blog just for views.

 

So what?

 

Well, I read an article on The Stir, a Cafemom site, and it really, REALLY pissed me off. Here’s a link, in case you’re curious.

 

http://thestir.cafemom.com/entertainment/165256/justin_bieber_reportedly_hurls_cruel

 

Apparently, the Biebs has called one of his fans, a lovely curvy girl who is a size 14, a ‘beached whale’, while lounging poolside with his entourage. Really, Bieber? And people are ok with the shit he says??? Hasn’t that little mouth-breather, bottom-feeding jerk dug his own grave yet??

 

Are teenage girls REALLY still head over heels over this loser? Come ON ladies! Have some self-respect! I can see being a fan of his music, but saying he’s a decent person after his recent behavior… no. He SPIT on his fans, and laughed about it! He’s a little lowlife!

 

People like him make girls think that being treated like that is ok, and it’s NOT. If anything, it’s a detriment to society… It gives an unhealthy ideal of what a relationship should be, and that’s wrong.  Guys are not supposed to act like douchebags and get away with it, it’s NOT ok!

 

And yet, people think he’s above reprieve. That he is untouchable. That what he does is acceptable. It’s not. And the sooner we make him responsible for his actions, the fewer a-holes there will be in the world, thinking the behavior of these hip-hop / pop / rap musicians is ok and the way to act. Forget that. Hold these people to some standards… otherwise, you can’t complain about the jerk who cuts you off in traffic or the buttwad who gets in front of you in the check out lane. Either all jerks are bad, or none are. There is no middle ground.

Hobby Lobby vs Free Birth Control

Ok, so this is a topic that I’ve noticed a lot of mixed opinions on. Heck, my other half and I had a 30 minute discussion about this the other day and what we thought about it.  Hobby Lobby is fighting the Affordable Care Act and trying to make it so that they don’t have to cover Plan B and other similar forms of birth control. They say that, based on their religious beliefs, they should not have to cover this.

This time, I think religion should win.

Now, I’m not for having religion in schools and stuff like that. I don’t think kids should be forced into a religion at birth, and should have a broad exposure to religion as children to make their own choices when they are old enough to understand it.

But I am so against making a company, knowingly run by Christians, cover something that their religious beliefs are so completely against, that it’s not even funny. I could not even fathom forcing someone into doing what I think, just on the guise of ‘it’s the law now’. Just because it’s law, does not make it right.

Note, I’m not against ALL of the Affordable Healthcare Act; Just certain parts of it, like forcing people to get insurance, or else… and this… and other things.

I am huge on freedom of religion. I’m not a traditional religion myself, so seeing something forced on other religions really pisses me off. I even hate seeing things forced on Christians, and that is exactly what’s happening.

Tell me this… why do you NEED free birth control?

It costs 10 bucks at Walmart for the pill. The health department or Planned Parenthood has bowls of condoms to grab, for FREE, in their clinics.

Why should your Nuva-Ring, or Implanon, or other convenience birth control methods, be free of charge? Cheaper, yes, it should be cheaper. But not free.

My grandmother pays out the rear for her medications… and you think that your free birth control is more important than her getting her heart medicine for the same? Why should your convenience medication be free, when her life-sustaining medicine costs so much?

It shouldn’t.

And that is my biggest issue with all of this. We’re being entitled again. We think that our medicine to make us have safe sex, is more important than the elderly getting their medications with the same price tag. Why is no one protesting the fact that heart medications and diabetes medications and things of that nature are so expensive that our elderly are living in poor conditions and scrounging to get by? 

Because it doesn’t affect us directly, so we don’t care.

It’s wrong. And I personally am tired of it.

Do I think Hobby Lobby and Christianity has some tired ideals? Oh you better believe it. But I do think they should have the right to refuse paying for some birth control options, and I do think that we need to worry more about the elderly before we worry about something as trivial as birth control.

One day, you are going to need these expensive, life-saving medicines… and  then you’ll understand the reason that I’m so heated about this. Then, you’ll be protesting about those medicines going up in price. 

More Black Friday Rants...

So, yeah… more about Black Friday.

Screw this stupid piece of crap event. It’s leaked over past Freaking Friday now, and it’s started on Thanksgiving day now. THANKSGIVING DAY, PEOPLE! The very day where we’re supposed to be THANKFUL for what we already f**king have! For the love of he-who-must-not-be-named, people, seriously?!? Thanksgiving day is about family! Not about you getting your laptop at half price, or that TV for $600 bucks instead of $1000. It’s about being with your loved ones. MOST of us should know that.

So WHY are we so intent on prying people who work in retail away from THEIR families, just so we can get a chance for a cheap Ipod or new sneakers??

I’ll tell you why, because people nowadays are greedy f**ks who are incapable of being grateful for what they have.

In my hometown, someone got into a fight over a misunderstanding about a TV. The man got punched in the damn face over a TV the other man hadn’t even PAID for yet. And he had three new TVs in his shopping cart! THREE!!! So WHY is it a huge deal when someone mistakes your cart for an employee cart, and grabs ONE TV, thinking you’re re-stocking shelves? Why can you NOT say, politely, ‘Excuse me, that was in my cart, please give it back.” Why do we resort to violence and anger and hateful words??

Ugh.

We’re a society of entitled jerks. Look at things. We feel like our birth control is a right, that we shouldn’t have to pay for it. We think we NEED cable TV or satellite, and at least 50 channels to choose from. We NEED new game systems, phones with GPS and internet and other things.

Do we really NEED it though? No. We don’t. We think we do, and we think it’s our right to have those nice things. It’s a bit sickening to be honest.

Now do I think if you can afford these things, that you’re some nasty person? Not at all. But I do think that when you’re so desperate for a deal that you’ll throw punches over a TV or shoes or other MATERIAL items that you don’t need, then you’re pretty much a materialistic jerk. It’s not about THINGS we want, like I’ve said before… it’s about being grateful and thankful for what we already have. Period. And the people who are forcing others away from their families for a damn sale on Thanksgiving day?  SHAME ON YOU!! I doubt YOU would be as keen to spend time away from your families. So why force others away from theirs?? If it’s not a necessary business like a gas station, or grocery store, then you don’t need to be open. And even those places should be open only half a day.

Remember, you are NOT the only person on this planet, and others would like time with their loved ones as well. Be THANKFUL. Not GREEDY. 

Happy Thanksgiving, WTF is up with early Christmas stuff, and Black Friday

Well, it’s the holidays… Happy Holidays people! Long time no blogging! I’ve been so damn busy lately that it’s not funny… Yay for senior year of college, being pregnant, chasing a toddler around, and keeping up with the house.

So, this is my first Thanksgiving where I have been graced with the chance to make dishes for the big meal! I have been asking for YEARS to make dishes to go with Turkey Day for over 6 years, and have always been turned down. Well, this year, my grandmother is hurt, her back is messed up, and my mother has a broken ankle and leg. They can’t do a lot of cooking. Hence, I have been tapped.

I’m pretty excited, I have 3 dishes I’m making. One is my own take on my mother’s broccoli and cheese recipe. Another is homemade pumpkin pie. And the last one is a sweet potato casserole. And they look and sound delicious. I have been waiting to try and make some sides for this holiday for so long… I’m starting to bake around 3, since each pie takes an hour and the casserole takes an hour and 45 minutes total to finish.

I’d be panicking, if I wasn’t all but done with my college work. I mean seriously, I have my Reflection packet and my Presentation to do this weekend in my Internship class, and a book box to finish in my Teaching Literacy to Young Children class… other than that? Done. All of my other assignments are all finished. That stuff will literally take me 3 hours to do. Mind you, the month before that, before I sat and busted  my ass to get all of my assignments done, I had a TON to do. But, that’s the way senior year goes. Always busy.

Anyhow, has anyone else noticed that Christmas has already hit the stores?? Jeeze… a little early, people! And I admit, I get annoyed with Christmas coming as early as October 20^th. And yes, that’s when it hit the stores here. You know when, traditionally, my family puts up the tree? Black Friday. The day most hypocritical people are out trying to fight and bicker for the best deal on a TV, or an Ipod, the day after being thankful for what they already have. That’s the day I spend time with the family and put up the tree, decorate the house, etc.

So, is it that hard to go and wait to put up Christmas things? I don’t think so.

Do I wear Christmas shirts before December? Yep. But my house stays bare of all holiday decorations. Hell, I found a radio station that I usually listen to ALL the time, playing nothing but Christmas music. A week before Thanksgiving. Ugh.

Anyhow… be thankful for what you have this holiday season. Be grateful, if you do go out for Black Friday, or worse, Thanksgiving Day Shopping, that there’s anyone willing to take time away from their families to make sure you get that Xbox or PS4. Tell people Happy Holidays if nothing else. Be courteous. Don’t be an asshole and get rude to people who you’re never going to see again. But all in all, spend time with your loved ones, be merry, and enjoy your turkey, tofurkey, or whatever you eat on Thanksgiving. 

RoseVoxBox- Rimmel London Retro Looks

Ok, so after a long day of stuff, I've finally worked out the cutest retro look to discuss about. (Mind you, this is pretty much just a filler post... I've been pretty busy lately and have had no time for anything blogging related.)

So, Step 1. Foundation.

-Cover up those problem spots. This look requires a face that looks like porcelain almost.

Step 2- Eye shadow.

-Be very light with it, and use mostly white/pale colors. For the edges for a more smoky eye, use a grey.

Step 3- Eyeliner

-Lightly line the upper lashes ONLY. Nothing on the bottom unless you want a more dramatic look.

Step 4- Mascara

-Apply 2 coats of Rimmel London's Scandaleyes mascara. This stuff is badass, the brush is unique and the formula lengthens without clumps!

Step 5- Lips

-Apply a thin line of Lip Liner, in a bright red or pink. Then with a matching or slightly lighter shade of pink/red, apply lipstick.

Add your accessories and style your hair, and BOOM. A retro look that takes 10 minutes or less!

Super Mario Brothers 2 (NES game review)

So, for days I’ve been working on this game review. One day was just figuring out what I wanted to review, now that I’ve already done my favorite game. (See my review on the game Crystalis) Once I had a general consensus on what people wanted to see, I had to actually replay the game, something I have not done in YEARS. I gave it a new chance with a blank slate. No judgment until I had finished the game.

Oh my GOD. I had forgotten how much I cannot stand this game! Before the lynch mob comes out for me daring to talk trash about a Mario game (apparently a cardinal sin in the gaming world), let me explain.

The game itself is not only incredibly difficult, but it has no Mario feel to it. It really doesn’t. It’s a HUGE leap, both graphically and story-wise, from the first Mario game, and doesn’t even flow with the THIRD game. The way you destroy enemies is completely different from almost all of the other old-school Mario games. In the other games, you stomp your enemies. You jump on them and squish them, or you use fire flowers, raccoon feathers/leaves/whatever (Yeah I never got that one either.), frog suits, tanooki suits (which is the raccoon suit with the added feature of temporarily turning to stone), and hammer suits, to power yourself up and get rid of them with the various suit effects. There were NO fire flowers, all that was in SMB2 was Stars, and you didn’t jump on your enemies to kill them. You threw vegetables at them. Vegetables. Freaking turnips and junk like that.

 

Ugh.

Many enemies were flat out repeats of each other (Ostro TONS of times, Mouser twice, a three headed creature twice). In SMB3, you got a different Koopa Kid with every world. In SMB1, you fought the same enemy multiple times, but he was always guarding the useless toad up until the last castle. But this game’s bosses were completely outside the norm of the original SMB games. (No, I have not read the book insert for the backstory as to where this game was supposed to take place. I have a reason for that)

However, there’s a very good reason it doesn’t feel like SMB. It originally WASN’T SMB at ALL. Originally, this game was called Doki Doki Panic, and was released in Japan under that title. Japan’s SMB2 was similar to SMB1, with a few additional things, like new mushrooms, including the toxic mushroom. However, that game was deemed to be too hard for American audiences, hence, we got Doki Doki Panic with a new set of sprites. In fact, even the powers of the four main characters were exactly the same. All they did was change some of the things that got thrown, and the sprites of the four main characters. They even kept the most of the same music! How lazy can you get?!

I’ve actually played Doki Doki Panic, and because it’s not SMB, it’s GOOD. It’s a fun, challenging game! It had no business being marketed as a Super Mario game at ALL! It would have done fairly well in the US all by itself, but to make a quick buck, they slapped the title of SMB2 on it. Way to make a quick cash-in Nintendo.

Now, the REAL SMB2… We’ve actually seen it in the US. It was released on the SNES in the game Super Mario All Stars. And, while it is a PAIN to beat…it’s a HELL of a game. There’s new features, such as the wind gusts that can knock you off ledges, and the aforementioned poisoned mushrooms. It’s meant to be a game you play once you master the original SMB, and it fully succeeds! The music makes you feel right at home while you play, and the graphics are JUST enough of an upgrade to make you feel like it’s shiny and new.

So, the final score? Well, since I want to review and score the real SMB2 and not Doki Doki Panic… I’ll be giving what we know as ‘the lost levels’ a score.

Story/Plot:  4 /5 stars. Eh, the story is a lot of the same stuff from SMB1, but that’s what makes it great! It’s what fans wanted, not a game with sprites replaced renamed into SMB2. The story is simple… save the princess. It’s what we loved in SMB1, and it’s perfectly fine for SMB2.

Gameplay: 5 /5 stars. Fluid, familiar, and smooth, again, it’s what we wanted initially. It’s the real deal, and a lot of work went into it, and you can tell. It’s got new features that SMB1 didn’t have, and it feels like a Mario game SHOULD feel. You stomp or shoot fireballs at enemies. None of that turnip-tossing junk.

Music: 5 /5 stars. It’s classic Mario music at its finest. Enough said.

Graphics: 4 /5 stars. While it IS an improvement, it’s not a huge one, but it’s not detrimental to the gameplay. I think that has more to do with the fact that it was ready for release well before Doki Doki was, thus it didn’t have quite the graphical upgrade that it could have had.

Overall: Overall, I give it 18 out of 20 stars. If you’ve never played the real SMB2, you need to do it. It’s worth the hours you’ll spend trying to beat it, believe me. It’s fun and addicting, and makes you want to keep trying. You WANT to save the princess, just like before. And saving the princess is always so much fun!  

Crystalis (NES game Review)

Ok, people, this week’s game review is on a cult classic. It’s an RPG that didn’t get the recognition it deserved in a crowded gaming market. On the block today, is Crystalis.

Crystalis, also known as God Slayer: Sonata of the Far-Away Sky in Japan, is an action-adventure RPG produced by SNK for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It was released on April 13, 1990 in Japan, and later that July in the U.S.A. The game’s initial success prompted a release for the Game Boy Color by Nintendo Software Technology in 2000, a game that is considered more of a remake than a port of the original, and very inferior in many aspects.

Before the actual gameplay starts, you’re treated to the backstory of the game. This is a delight, because at the time this game came out, you didn’t see a ton of games offer up a big backstory in the game itself. Usually, the backstory was in the game manual. What we discover, is that war erupted October 1, 1997, also called the ‘End Day’. Civilization is destroyed from this savage war. The humans and animals who survived the war, were all changed. Humans evolved to use long buried magic powers, animals mutated. The survivors vowed to never make the same mistakes, and erected a large tower in the sky, intending to oppress evil forever.

100 years has passed since 1997 and the beginning of the game. Most of the earth is dominated by mutated creatures. The people worked together to rebuild villages and fix their lives, but they still lived in fear. As they feared the rebirth of evil, they remembered the tower and the consequences of activating it. They feared what would happen if evil emerged, but there was one last hope. That hope is you.

The game begins with the protagonist, a man in a cryogenic sleep, awakening and coming out of a cave in the town of Leaf, which is the first town you’ll see in the game.  You are given money and a sword, the first of4 main swords, and you begin your quest to discover your past. When you awaken, your memories have been damaged from the cryo-sleep, so you have no idea who you are or what your purpose is. As you travel, you meet many wise men, who help you gain magic abilities, and you gather up the four swords, to stop Emperor Draygon, save Mesia, who was also cryogenically frozen and awakened when you did in another part of the world, and in the end, stop the tower once and for all, and save the world.

Now, how did this game stand up to others of its time??

Story/Plot:  5 /5 stars. The story is mind-numbingly good. It sucks you in for HOURS at a time, and makes you come back for more and more. There’s always some new boss or some new magic power for you to get. There are twists to the story around every turn, and something bad happens fairly often for you to fix.

Gameplay: 4 /5 stars. It’s really fluid, smooth playing, but parts of it get repetitive. But, the thought and memory you have to put to getting around the dungeons and castles and caves really makes this game interesting and fun. And one of the biggest pluses to this game… you can save your progress almost anytime.  The menu for your items, swords, and magic is also simple and easy to use.

Music: 5 /5 stars. SNK really outdid themselves with this 8 bit soundtrack that almost sounded more powerful than it was. It added suspense, it added a sense of calm, and it added excitement to the game that other games of that could only dream of.

Graphics: 4 /5 stars. While the graphics were ok for their time, I have seen better. But, it really doesn’t detract from the gameplay, and the game runs smoothly. It’s good, just not quite ‘great’.

Overall: Overall, I give it 18 out of 20 stars. The good really does outweigh the bad with this game! The game, again, runs smoothly, it’s exciting, and it’s a great action RPG that gives you a hell of a challenge. The hidden items and puzzles make you really think. So, overall, it’s a great game that gives you hours of fun. I really suggest you give it a shot and try it out!