Merry Christmas Darling

Friends

Kati said today that she wanted to know more about kyle's and my friends...I will try to update you on the one's that I am closest to, since there are so many. This is Ben, by the way.

First, the girls


Amanda Oliver-she is a really nice girl who is very talkative and seems to know everyone on Dordt's Campus. She works in the food service and serves our food sometimes. She likes to run and she also shares interest with us on musical aspects. She enjoys listening to a song or two on the record player with us. She is from Washington

Rachel Delcid-She is from Denver and is also a very nice girl. She made everyone a little stocking for christmas and filled it with puppy chow! She listens to everyone and is great to have a deep conversation with.

Hannah Yoder-She is crazy, but also very funny. She has some pretty funny jokes even though she takes the jokes one step too far sometimes. She is very outgoing. From Iowa

Katie Monsma-From Idaho, she is really nice and one of the first girls that we hung out with here. She enjoys just spending time with friends. She is a great friend to hang out with.

Kayla VanderStelt-We came really good friends when we had a music jam session. She plays guitar and is a good singer, so it's fun to talk about and play music with her.

The Western Girls-This is a group of girls that all went to Western Christian High School in Iowa, and we just recently started to hang out with them more often.

                         Here is a group shot of a bunch of our friends!

Now on to the guys

Darin Lammers-He is on my praise team, he plays the drums and very well. He is very outgoing and likes to have a good time. He is also very into music and collects his own records! He is kind of a punk kid, he has earings and seems to be rebellious at times.

Matt De Jong-He also is on my praise team and is very talented musically. He plays the piano and the guitar and is also a great singer. We have jam sessions and sing with harmonies all the time. Occasionally, Matt and I will serenade the girls in Covenant Hall with our harmonic voices singing love songs. It is quite fun. He is also good at basketball

Austin Herrema- He is also musically gifted and plays the electric guitar and acoustic guitar. He is a great guy. He cares about people deeply, not that my other friends don't, but you can tell more right away with Austin. He is going into Engineering, so he studies alot.

David Spencer-He is on the basketball team with me and is very strange, we call him strange dave. It is very funny the things that he does, just watch the video of him laughing at me!

Kevin Fopma-He is my assistant coach, but i am also very good friends with him and hang out with him all the time. He is a great guy and loves basketball. He is also a Secondary Ed. History major like me, so we share alot of the same classes.

Tom Lenderink-He is a crazy fun kid. He is always making other people smile and is just a weird awesome kid. He is good at basketball so it's fun to play for fun with him. He is a great guy and is easy to have deep conversations with.

Jon Lenderink-This is tom's brother, and I actually met Jon first. The first day i was at dordt I shot around with Jon in the rec center, and he was a great guy to talk to. I became friends with him and Tom quite early. Jon is getting married this summer!

Jacob Richards-Sweet guy, him and tom have a little bit too close of a relationship, it is rare to seem them apart, haha. But he is a sweet guy, really into movies.

Obviously,  Jeff and Barry are close friends as well! But you guys know them. 

I think that that is about it. Wow, just making this is showing me that I really need to meet some more girls, haha. Well, that is all for tonight

Ben Sytsma

Examinations

So this is my (Kyle's) last week of the first semester of my freshman year. It seemed to go extremely fast, but that's what they always say. So I'm going to tell you that it seemed to go extremely slow, even though you know better. This semester seemed to go really slow.

In order for it to all be over, first we must pass through the fires of exams. This week is going to be a lot of studying and test taking until Thursday. And it's going to be painful. But in the end, it will be quite worth it. Or that's the idea. Anyway, in order to help um...anyone that would be taking exams anytime soon, here is a list of tips for successful study sessions.

Find a Study Buddy

Ol' Jeff.

Jeff is my study buddy for Bible class. It's somebody you have the class with that you can work through a seemingly impossible amount of reviewing through. Jeff and I are great at staying on task as well!...yeah. Just keep at it, and before long you will know more than your teacher even does. (This is probably an unlikely result.)

Study in Advance

Don't wait until the last minute! Get started studying for a test you have two days from now, then you will be more prepared. However, it seems to be harder to motivate yourself if you start earlier, so do your best. If all else fails, just throw your books under your pillow the night before the test or some mumbo jumbo like that.

Take Breaks

Don't coop yourself up in a room for 10 hours straight studying. We all need to relax every now and then, and if you just study on and on you will die. Probably literally. So if your friend runs into the room and says, "Good news! It's raining applesauce outside and it tastes delicious! Come on!" you don't say, "I have to study...blah blah blah...I'm lame." That's the wrong answer. The right answer is, "Wow! I'm coming right away! We should play football in the applesauce!" Bingo.

So that's all I got for now. I'm going to leave you with a video that my friend Darin used to describe how he feels during exam week. I think it sums everything up pretty well. Bye bye.

Football-The Real American Sport

It's BEN!!! I know that your all happy to see me blog...just kidding, you pry like kyle's blog's better. He is a much better writer than me. Anyways, to the topic of the actual blog. American Football. Ever since the beginning of the 20th century colleges have had american football introduced as the real man's sport. Today, 30 people at Dordt College decided to continue that college tradition by playing football in a foot of snow and in the middle of a blizzard.

It was completely epic. Men tackling eachother and all for the sake of getting a pigskin across a line, this sport is truely american.

Before I played football, I was in 55th with some friends including Kyle and we listened to some awesome live music while drinking hot chocolate. It was excellent. Hot cocoa is always good on a cold blizzardy day. The live music was fantastic! They played many christmas songs and even included "Earth Angel" by the penguins in their song choices, I was very impressed.

David Spencer is sleeping over tonight with me and kyle, so I must be off.

Ben Sytsma

The Happenings of College

It has come to my (Kyle's) attention that this blog hasn't really talked about what exactly it is that we are doing here at college. Sure Ben can talk about playing the Piano and I can talk about playing Snake, and then Ben can talk about...um...Kaden.

Yeah.

But what does that really tell you, hm? Not much in my opinion. As we near the close of this semester, I think it's time we give an actual rundown about what has been going on in this strange place called college. I'm going to attempt to sum up activities done this semester in ONE blog post, whilst highlighting significant or noteworthy moments. On your mark, get set, and gopher! Aha! Got you! You see, you thought I was going to say go, but I said gopher, which means that you can't go yet because I didn't say go! Anyway, GO!

So, where to begin? We take classes. Um...we do homework. Okay, this is the obvious stuff. What else? We watch a lot of movies. For example, I just returned from a viewing of The Two Towers. Quite good. Last night, I watched Inception. Also good. Mostly good movies, sometimes maybe not so much.

An example of not so much. NO, we didn't actually watch this movie here, but I don't think I need to see it to know it's quality.

Every Thursday, we have Praise and Worship which is great. Afterwords, heading to 55th Avenue is almost always certain. 55th is the coffee/snack shop here on campus. They have delicious smoothies, unless you ordered one there on October 21st and your name is Rachel DelCid. Then you may have drank a fermented smoothie. But hey, we got a contest to win an iPad out of it, so no hard feelings. Except for the part where I didn't win the iPad.

We've had a few dances, like the Christmas dance this past Thursday. It was pretty fun, but very tiring overall. Needed a breather after like 2 songs, it was pretty intense. The other dances were a Neon Dance, which I did go to, and a Halloween dance, which I didn't go to, but I honestly can't remember why. Anyway, lot's of fun overall.

An example of me at the aforementioned Christmas Dance. Straight up.

On Friday nights, except for this one (we were watching Lord of the Rings remember?) we will go on a midnight donut run. There's a place in Orange City, about 20 minutes away from Dordt, that has dollar donuts at midnight. They are fresh and quite delicious. It's always worth it, and a good time.

We had already eaten our donuts, but I swear they're real!

Let's see...what else? I'm just writing about what comes to mind right now, no particular reason or order...Tonight we played volleyball in the gym. Probably one of the most ridiculous games of volleyball ever played. I was laughing constantly, and I can't even begin to describe it. So I won't. Use your imaginations.

That's all I can think of right now. You may have heard that there is nothing to do out here in Iowa, but that most certainly isn't true. You make your own fun, and that's what we've done. There's tons of other stuff that we've done, I just am to tired to think of them. Goodnight my children. We shall be coming home soon, don't fear. 

Kaden Nesky

Today, Ben Diggidy, will be blogging about one of his best friends, Kaden Nesky.

Kaden, otherwise known as "the Stick" is one of the coolest persons that I know. I have very fond memories of this kid. The best of course being when I went out west with him for 2 weeks and saw some of the best of God's creation.

 

Kaden Nesky "Stick"

the Stick is also very interested in sports, and that is one of the greatest things about him. He is the one person that I hang out with that I can count on for knowing the score of the latest game, which is very helpful. Kaden if you are reading this, I challenge you to a NCAA bracket contest this year! Bring it on!

Here are some very famous Kaden quotes.

"I have two babies my laptop and my iPod"
"I just have one thing to say....really?"
Anything by Bo Burnham
Also, he has a great Brett Favre impersonation.

Kaden is also very in to settlers and Euchre. He is also pretty good at both of these things I guess. He is better at Euchre in my opinion, he seems to win that everytime he plays.

Ben Diggidy, signing off, have a good one folks!

Snake

So recently, I (Kyle) have had a new addiction. It's the stupid game Snake. Snake. Ugh. This is a love hate relationship we have. If you don't know what snake is, here is the description from the game on Facebook:

Snake is so basic, it feels strange to have to explain it. Basically, get the food without getting yourself.

Everytime you get a piece of food, your snake grows in length and eventually you will struggle to not run into yourself when making crazy turns. Every time you get piece of food you also get 10 points. My current high score is 520. I'm ranked 11th out of all my friends. However, a friend of mine named Austin has a high score of 1580. I am currently under the assumption that he is robot.

Austin.

I normally don't fall for these Facebook games, but something about this one got me. I don't know why. But, basically once I start playing, I feel like a can't stop. Don't get me wrong, I totally can if I really wanted to. This is sounding strangely like the words of a cigarette smoker... But in all seriousness, don't worry about me. I'm fine. Now to go to bed. But maybe I'll play a game of snake first.

No sleep tonight I suppose.

the Piano

 Today, Ben brings the blog of the day (don't worry, it will be more daily from now on).

 First, I have a shoutout...DAVID SPENCER!!! Add him on facebook and like his facebook page David Spencer.

 The one and only, David Spencer....just kidding guys, add him on facebook if you want a pic.

I have a new obsession. Don't worry, It's not John Stamos or Emma Watson today. My newest love is found in practice rooms all over Dordt College. I like it so much because it is music, and as you all know, I love music. I have finally found someone willing, my good pal Matt DeJong, to teach me how to play piano by Chords.

I have been going to a practice room to learn chords and specific chords for specific songs for the past three weeks now. It's really fun to experiment with new songs that you hear on the radio and making them into your own new version of that song. There are many songs that I can play now by reading chords off of a chord sheet, thanks to Matt. Today, at praise and worship I even practiced some of our praise songs on the piano before we started.

                 Matt is the one in the middle!                                     

Recently, I have become obsessed with Coldplay because their songs are so amazing to play on the piano. Their newest Christmas song, Christmas Lights, is my favorite to play right now, I've only practiced it once today actually, but my goal is to have it down pat so I can give you guys a performance when I get back.

Here is a video of that awesome song! It will be on Kyle's awesome CD!!!



This is Ben Diggidy, signing off for the night, cya folks!

the one and only Ben Sytsma.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1: Kyle's Review

Harry Potter has grown up. We have seen Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson portray Harry, Ron, and Hermonie since 2001, and this movie begins the final chapter of their story. What we get is a mature, sophisticated, yet slow-paced film that will please all fans of Harry Potter but might disappoint those looking for an action-packed film.

First of all, if you haven't seen the other Harry Potter movies, you will probably be confused for most of the film, and even more if you haven't read the books. We are thrown right into the story with little explanation of what exactly is going on.

This movie is quite different from the others because Harry and friends don't return Hogwarts this year. They are on a journey to search for the Horcruxes that contain pieces of Voldemort's soul in order to defeat him. We get all the set-up for what they have to do, but the films biggest problem is that we never really get a pay-off. Since the book was split into two movies, we have to wait until next July to get it. This can be frustrating, but it does allow the film to explore the book more than it could have if it hadn't been split. This is both a good and a bad thing, as it leads to some great scenes where we really see how the three lead actors have matured in their acting abilities, but it also causes the movie to move a bit slowly for most of it's running time.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the movie, but I also love Harry Potter, so I enjoy all of the time that is spent with the characters. Other more casual viewers may find this movie frustrating, but I commend the director David Yates for not following a lot of the cliches that can come with a big-budget Hollywood film. The movie is very serious and dark, and amazing to look at. The effect's are truly phenomenal, and I love the interpretation of J. K. Rowling's world. The film also has quite a bit of humor to balance out the truly hopeless and depressing vibe that it gives off, which I really appreciated.

Overall this is a solid, but incomplete Harry Potter film. There is quite a bit of buildup, but no true finale. However, this still is one of the best-made Potter films to date, and the series promises to go with a bang come July.

8.6/10

Be sure to check out Ben's thoughts on the movie in the previous post!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1: Ben's Review

So recently, Kyle and I went to see the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. This movie was very good and I enjoyed it very much. We have seen all of the characters grow up and now, finally, we see Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint in their best acting to date.

Some things that I found interesting in the movie were the small changes that they made from the book to the movie. I thought that the few changes they made in the movie actually benefited and brought more clear the story line. There was added sense of humor throughout the movie and a very humorous seen after Ron leaves where Harry and Hermione dance. This is one of my favorite scenes in the movie because you get to see them trying to be happy, but the reality of what they need to accomplish is still always there. 

For all of you book lovers, this movie was the best Harry Potter movie in regards to following the book in detail. This is great for the viewers that are dedicated to reading the books. The downside of this is for those of you who didn’t read the books, is that the movie moves slow at some points and goes for extended amounts of time without action. The only other downside of the movie is that it ends very abruptly. I don’t agree with the spot that the producers decided to cut the film in half. Although, to be fair, there isn’t ever a good spot to stop telling the story of a book.

In all, the movie was very good. I think that the 6^th movie was actually better than this movie. However this movie sets up for a great end in part 2 of the Deathly Hallows.

Overall Rating: 8.9

TV to See: Glee - "The Substitute"

So today, I (Kyle) want to blog about Glee. Woah, hold on a sec Kyle! Isn't Glee that stupid singing show that only girls watch?

Sigh. That's a shame.

Let me say this: If you like music, clever writing, and really just generally having fun watching a television show, then science says you will enjoy this show. And there really isn't a better case for the show than last Tuesday's episode. The episode guest starred Gwyneth Paltrow, in which she played a substitute teacher named Holly Holiday. If you have never seen the show, you can probably still enjoy this quite a bit:



The best parts of the episode for me included a mini-performance of "Conjunction Junction" from Schoolhouse Rock!, the little kid versions of everyone when Will is hallucinating, Holly teaching class with her interesting "methods", Will's search for a Journey song they haven't done yet, the purse falling out of Kurt's mouth in Mercedes' daydream, the awesome mash-up between "Singing in the Rain" and "Umbrella", and this hilarious quote from Sue to Will:

“I suggest selling yourself on Craigslist under the heading of men seeking men with butt chins.”

Epic.

Anyway, check it out, and if you don't like it, you don't like it. That's just the way it is sometimes. But don't judge a book by it's cover, that's all I can say about this. Anyway, goodnight everyone. Thanksgiving is coming soon, and I'm ready to come home. Bye now.

A New Idea with a Cool Friend!

Hey, this is Ben today.

First things first. Beatles on iTunes??? What the??
Next, Kyle and I will be home very early on wednesday morning next week!

Now to actual blog...Kaden, you told me not to talk about girls or John Stamos. However, I must talk about music. Tonight, I had a praise team event where my praise team sang for high school youth groups, it was a really cool time to lead high schoolers in worship and to show them how awesome Dordt College is!

The one and only, Darin Lammers

While at the event, I was talking to Darin Lammers, a friend of Kylje and I and we decided that we are going to create a new radio station for the Sioux Center area. Sioux Center's radio stations consist of country, pop, country, hip hop, and did I mention they play country? We decided that it was a time to introduce a new stations with the best music around to the people of Sioux County. We will play Indie Rock, Alternative Rock, and everything that is good. We are going to do our best to create a station similar to 96.1, a station that played all kinds of music with lots variety, which now ceases to exist. Our plan is to call the station 99.5, the KYLE! Darin and I came up with that one!

We may be sitting there someday!

We don't know for sure if this will work. Our idea is to start an online station and to hopefully get lots of people to listen to our station online because of the awesome variety of music and quality of music that we will play. We will see how it goes, this isn't a for sure thing but I will keep you updated if it actually happens!

See you on Thanksgiving weekend!!!

The Dream Team

I (Kyle) wrote this Senior year of High School. It's a bit of a cop-out for a blog, but I think it's an enjoyable read. ENJOY IT.

             Every night, they roam the streets. Silent but deadly. Quiet but deathly. Hard to see yet so good looking. Who are they? What is their purpose? Will they help us, or will they be the end of civilization? The answers to these questions and more permeate tonight’s program. I invite you on a journey of discovery, of death and betrayal. I invite you to witness one of the greatest teams of our time. The Dream Team.

Hello, my name is Gerald. Take my hand as we weave together of tapestry of mystery. The Dream Team has been told in legends since the beginning of time. Scientists have found cave drawings of the quick footed group dating back to 1000000000000000000000000 B.C. But where did they come from, and more importantly, why?

The Dream Team is an elite fighting force hell-bent on keeping the likes of TP in the likes of trees. They have traveled the globe, stopping only for restroom breaks. They are known for their extreme sneakiness and love of inside jokes and nicknames. These nicknames are the only identification for the team, as their true identities have never been revealed. Let’s examine these names, shall we?

First up, we have Rambo. Legend tells of an unstoppable force that was birthed from the very caverns of the earth itself. He joined the Dream Team when he found no other challenge in life, as he had already killed all the dinosaurs and the dodo bird. He is the brawn of the team, and has been said to throw 100 rolls of TP per second.

Next up is a great mystery. The legend tells of legendary warrior whose Tibbeing skills are the stuff of legends. They call him The Stick. Why he is called The Stick is part of the mystery, although many believe it is because he is as thin as one. How did he become this thin? The legend continues to tell of how on one of the first Dream Team missions, he hid behind a bush to hide from an incoming car. And then a steamroller rolled over the bush.

Our next member is the giant behemoth known as Papa Bear. He towers over the rest of the team like some sort of giant or something. He is most recognized by his love for honey and singing songs all day long. However, these two loves have never combined in a moment of honey flavored music. Oh wells.

Onto our next (ahem) victim, Burgertime. Sometimes known as the Muh, or emitregrub. He is most recognizable for having a burger in hand and a tune on his lips. Not really, but whatevs. He’s really busy so I don’t even know this guy. NEXT!

Okay so, now is jolly old soul they call The Eye. Now for the obligatory explanation for how he got the name. That ol’ legend talks about the time that there were many ninjas waiting for the Dream Team to let their guard down. Fortunately, The Eye spotted these foes and the team lived to TP another day. Thanks, The Eye!

Finally, we come to the most mysterious member of the bunch. Some call him the Old Timer, others call him Nimbus. I call him awesome. He is known as the fastest creature alive, and has beaten NASCAR at its own game. Recently, however he has taken a small break, letting sound catch up to him after circling the globe. Get well soon, Nimbus. 

These people are our protectors. Without them, the trees remain TP-less forever. Obviously, that's a bad thing. Duh. If you ever hear a whisper on the wind in the dead of night, perhaps it was the mysterious team of legends roaming the streets. Or maybe it was just the wind. Stupid. Why does everything have to be so mysterious? The wind is the wind. And that was the point of this explanation. Don't ever forget it: THE WIND IS THE WIND.

So yeah, that's it. It's about the Dream Team, need I say more? If you don't understand it, then you don't need to. I have heard tiny rumors that the dream team may one day reunite. But when? Only time will tell. Unless time doesn't have a mouth, which as far as I know he doesn't. Goodnight my children. Sleep well until the morning brings you peace. TTFN.

How I Met Your Mother

If you are friends with me, you know that I occasionally make some your mom jokes. I am a bit weird like that and I like to be funny. This is Ben, bringing you the blog of...well today's blog.

I have found this new show that I have fell in love with recently. It is called, "How I met your mother." This show is all about a dad who is telling his kids the story of how he met their mother. It is a very humorous storyline about a guy in his 20's who wants to get married but can't find the girl that is right for him. It is really funny how his friends try to set him up and some of the mistakes that he makes in his relationships.

I think the main reason I enjoy this show so much is because I, not quite in the same way as him, want to find a girlfriend, and eventually a wife someday. It is easy for me to relate to him because some of the things that happen to him have happened to me in my past relationships. It is also relatable because we all long to find love in our lives, and that is the main theme of the show. The longing for love.

                                                       Neil Patrick Harris-Legen.....DARY

It's an awesome show, I advise any of our readers to try it out, I have almost finished the first season, and I love every episode of it.

The Failed Record Attempt

So recently, (this is Kyle by the way), my good friend Kaden Nesky and I decided while talking on Skype that we wanted to break the world record for longest Skype conversation. Internet searching led us to find that this record had never been officially recorded, so we thought it would be easy to break, right? WRONG! I'll get to why in a second.

So Kaden signed up for an account on the Guinness World Records website and submitted our fantastic idea for a new record for their books that we would perform for them. We waited for around 3-4 days before this little number popped up in Kaden's inbox:

Dear Mr Kaden Nesky,

Thank you for sending us the details of your recent record attempt for 'Longest Skype Call'. We are afraid to say that we are unable to accept this as a Guinness World Record.

We receive over 60,000 enquiries a year from which only a small proportion are approved by our experienced researchers to establish new categories. These are not 'made up' to suit an individual proposal, but rather 'evolve' as a result of international competition in a field, which naturally accommodates superlatives of the sort that we are interested in. We think you will appreciate that we are bound to favour those that reflect the greatest interest.

Guinness World Records has absolute discretion as to which Guinness World Record applications are accepted and our decision is final. Guinness World Records may at its discretion and for whatever reason identify some records as either no longer monitored by Guinness World Records or no longer viable.

As your record application has not been accepted, Guinness World Records is in no way associated with the activity relating to your record proposal and we in no way endorse this activity. If you choose to proceed with this activity then this is will be of your own volition and at your own risk.

Once again thank you for your interest in Guinness World Records.

Yours sincerely,

Julie Kocsis
Records Management Team

Well as you can see, we got rejected. Now there are a few problems with this. First of all, there IS a record for longest telephone call, so I don't see how having a record for Skype, or maybe just a record for "longest call over the Internet" would fail to meet whatever qualifications they have for a record. In fact, we would have even been okay with attempting to break the longest telephone call record (which happens to be 40 hours), through our medium: Skype.

This is the guy that hold the record for the phone call. Totally beatable.

Secondly, don't tell us that some of the records in their book our not just "made up" to fit an individual proposal, when they have records such as "Most Ferrero Rocher chocolates eaten in one minute", and "Fastest Time to Pluck a Turkey". Those are directly from their official website. Don't tell me that their is international competition and major interest in these things. Because nobody cares, Julie.

Except for the turkey.

So that brings me to my final statement. Kaden and I are going to find a way to get into that record book. We just haven't thought of how were going to do it yet. But just you wait. I really shouldn't be putting this on the Internet, because now if we don't come through there will be online record of me talking ourselves up about it. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to do it then...

One last thing. Starting at midnight tonight, I am beginning a three-day media fast for my Communications Class. No internet (except for homework), no TV, no music, no video games, you get the picture. So if anyone blogs it will be Ben. So until Friday, I'm Bob Villa. I mean Kyle Dykema.

A New Experiment

Today, Ben brings the blog yo diggity.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been working on stuff in garage band both by myself and with Kyle. We have created some pretty amazing and funny things over the last couple of weeks. One of my personal favorite things that I have done is recorded the song "In the still of the Night" by the Drifters. In this song I sing all 4 parts of the song and don't put any music to it. Another cool thing that kyle and I have done is create a song off the spot about needing a girl, we called it, "Girl, I need You" It's pretty hilarious. 

Im sure that everyone is wondering where I am going with this. Well here it goes. Two days ago, I wrote the lyrics to my very first song. I haven't given it a name yet, but it is definitely a work in progress. I began to write the song in hope of writing a love song. When I wrote, I guess I realized that it isn't right to write a love song when you don't truly love someone at the time, so it turned out to be more of a break up song. It's supposed to be about a guy who remembers things from the girl he dated, it is not referring to anything from my personal experience with relationships in the past. I am still changing the lyrics around as I go, and it definitely isn't a finished project yet seeing how I haven't written the music for it or finalized the lyrics. So here are the lyrics, let me know what you think!

Verse 1

Laying on the street

I look up at the stars.

I wish upon them every night

Remember when?

We would watch them,

Hoping to see shooting star’s lights.

I only wonder, what we could have been.

You were the only one that I loved in my life.

Chorus

When you walked into the room.

When you talked to me alone.

When I looked into your eyes.

I thought they were the ones for me.

Now I see that it was just a dream.

Verse 2

I listen to the song

That we sang together.

I sing along in hope to hear you join in.

Remember when?

We’d sing off key

You’d laugh and say, come on Ben

I can’t stop thinking about you girl

You were in my life and now you’re gone.

Chorus

Verse 3

I think of the time

When I said I love you

I meant it with all of my heart.

I think of the time

When you said I love you

Why wouldn’t you tell the truth from the start.

I hoped that we would last forever.

That’s the one thing we never agreed on.

Chorus

Bridge

I thought that we had something special.

I thought that we could work together.

I thought that you loved me.

I thought wrong. I thought wrong. 

Late Night Blog Post...Just for You

Hello everyone, it's Kyle. I'm sitting here on a late October evening, listening to the sounds the state of Iowa through my slightly opened window. It's a balmy 48 degrees here in lovely Sioux Center, and I may or may not have a bit of insomnia right now. I haven't really tried to fall asleep yet, so I suppose I can't say that. But I'm not tired, so what better way to cure that than to blog right? The most boring thing ever!

Naw, just kiddin'. I enjoy this, otherwise I wouldn't do it. That and usually by the time I remember to actually blog, I'm ready to go to bed and just say, "Oh, I'll do it tomorrow," which we all know how that turns out, unless, of course, I said that yesterday because I actually am blogging today, but actually yesterday is Friday, since I'm blogging after midnight, so I technically never said it yesterday...Man, that was a lot of commas.

Well, if you haven't figured it out by now, I'm just rambling. Nothing much to see here folks. Let me think...went to a Dordt hockey game today. For the amount of Canadians here, you'd think we'd be good at hockey. Well, that last sentence explains itself. This is going to be another short blog post, because I actually am starting to be ready for bed. And I will try to make this a more regular occurrence from now on, really! I understand that for some of you, this is the only window you have into Ben and Kyle's life, but let me tell you: you've seen enough to last forever ever. But that won't stop us from giving you more.

Today, Ben brings the blog yo.

Today, I was thinking about life like I do sometimes when I'm bored, and I came up with some "goals" in my life. Some of the things I thought of weren't really good moral goals, per say, although, they definitely still are goals in my life. Here are some of the first things that I thought of while thinking of goals. First, I thought of Paul McCartney, I have always wanted to see him in concert. This is a huge goal in my life, although, it probably won't ever come true because tickets are only increasing in price.

Next, I obviously thought of the amazing John Stamos, and how awesome it would be to meet him (even though this will never happen.) When I was younger, my goal was to make it to the NBA, this goal isn't that realistic either, even though, at the time, I thought that it might be possible. Now I know that there is no chance. I asked Kyle what some of his goals were and the first thing that he said was that he wanted to create what he called "the next Lost". Not that it would be similar to Lost, but that it would captivate and involve viewers in the same way Lost did, and tell an incredible story.

Then, I started to actually think of what real goals I have in my life and what my life should really be about.   Why was it that when I first started to think of my goals that I immediately thought of things that I wanted, that were centered around me and me alone. I started to think deeper and what I really wanted my life to be like. I thought of what it might be like to be married, to have kids. It's starting to dawn on me that even though I'm not even dating right now that it is possible that I could be married within the next 5 to 10 years. 

I realized, finally, what my goals in life should really be about. First, I should try to honor God in everything and try to center my life around Him, and not myself. Second, my goals shouldn't be just about me and what I want, but about the greater things in life, the things that God blesses us that we take for granted. Instead of seeing Paul McCartney, my goal should be to go on mission trips and to give to the poor. 

I don't know if this really made that much sense, I guess I just wanted to say that we should think of our goals on a greater level and we shouldn't center our goals around ourselves. But around God first, and others second, then last, ourselves. 

Blog For Tori (aka A Day at Dordt)

So, it was recently brought to my (Kyle's) attention that this blog has not been updated in over a week? NOW WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS? Oh wait, it's me. Shoot.

Well, to make up for that, I took a special request from Tori Schreur for this blog post. She wanted me to describe a typical day at Dordt, so I will attempt to do just that. Here goes, Tori.


So, the first thing I do on a typical day at Dordt is wake up from a semi-sleepless night thanks to Ben's wonderful snoring. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I get up at 8, and at 7 or Tuesday and Thursday. For Ben it's the opposite, so that kinda sucks for him. But for me, it's great fun.


I climb down our unmovable ladder and stumble to the shower. After that, I decide whether I will go to breakfast or not. Mind you, I still eat breakfast, just not always at the commons. But I can save those meals up and use them at the grill later, so it's all good. Pop tarts are tasty.

Occasionally, kittens will find their way into my stash.

Anyway, so I go to classes in the morning do a little homework in between, go to chapel on Wednesday, and occasionally take a nap. It really all depends on what day it is, but I'm not going to get into that. Then it's time for lunch. I usually eat lunch in a hurry because I have class right after it, so that's not the best time for socializing. I'll sit at a table with my friends, but not be able to talk because I'm too busy scarfing down food so I'm not late.


After my afternoon classes are done, I'll relax a little bit. When Ben leaves for basketball, I sometimes go for a run. Or other days I just sit on the couch on my computer. One of those two. Then comes dinner, where we have a good time laughing about stupid and ridiculous things with friends.

Like this. Seriously, what?

 

After that, it's time for a little homework. Unless, of course, it is Wednesday or Thursday, because I work those nights. I have the "privilege" of calling alumni and friends of the college and asking for donations. It can be a very, ahem, humbling experience. I got cussed out the other night because I called a number and asked for someone who was apparently the ex-wife of the guy I was talking to. He wasn't very happy with me.


Late at night, I may just do homework, hang out with friends, or watch something online. And then it's time for bed. Rinse, and repeat. But, it's a lot of fun and is a little more exciting than what this may have made it out to be. I can't speak for Ben's day, as he is not here right now. But I would assume it's more or less the same.

Except Ben is accompanied by women wherever he goes.

We're Coming Home!

'Nuff said.

John Stamos

Today, Ben brings the blog.

John Stamos, most of us remember him from our childhood, on the sitcom full house. He was everyones favorite uncle, he sang, and he was the cool one. The one that always let us do what we wanted. I felt like I was a part of the show and I wanted to be like Jesse (who John played). Some of my favorite moments of him when I watched the show were when he sang with his group, the Rippers. I loved hearing the new songs and jingles that they came up with.

Little did I know that John Stamos, the man who plays Uncle Jesse, would appear on Glee. This only made me like the show more. From Brittany's hillarious comments to the rivalry of Mr. Scheuster and Sue Sylvester, and now the new arrival of funny, charming, and loveable John Stamos. How could the show get any better?

Everyone loves John Stamos. The girls thing that he is gorgeous, heck, even a lot of guys do. Guys want to be like him and girls want to be with him. He is the MAN. I can't wait to watch Glee again on tuesday and see him on the show with all my other favorite Glee stars.

Coming home on wednesday, as is Kyle...see you guys soon!!!

The Social Network Review

Tonight I, Kyle, got the pleasure of seeing the movie The Social Network. So I'm going to review it for you. Yes, you. And nobody else. Just you.

The Social Network may not be what you think it is. It's not Hollywood trying to capatalize on Facebook's success and making "Facebook: The Movie". It's an interesting dramatic film directed by David Fincher, and is based on the founders of Facebook and what went into getting the website to where it is today. Most of it is based on true events, although it can be assumed that the filmmakers made it a bit more exciting than it actually was. But hey, I wasn't complaining.

Jesse Eisenberg plays Mark Zuckerburg, the founder of Facebook, and while he may appear to be the main character, he isn't your typical protagonist. He doesn't really protray many likeable attributes, and is kind of a jerk to everyone he meets, albiet usually unintentionally. However, Eisenberg plays him almost perfectly, with just enough quiet sadness for the audience to sympathize with. How truthful this is to Zuckerburg's true character is uncertain, but it defiantly works for this film.

The film follows Mark from lowly nerd to the billionare he is today. His best friend Eduardo Saverin, played by future Spider-Man actor Andrew Garfield, helps him start Facebook. As Marks's website grows, Eduardo's role and influence diminishes. It doesn't help when Mark meets the creator of Napster Sean Parker, coincidently enough played by Justin Timberlake. Sean convinces Mark that he should move out to California and becomes his business partner. A rift eventually forms between Eduardo and Mark, and comes to a boiling point in an intense scene where both actors really get to show their stuff.

By the end of the movie, Mark has a lot more money, but just as few friends as before. Of course, the irony here being the founder of Facebook doesn't have very many friends. This movie shows that putting business and efficiancy before your relationships doesn't always end the best way. Mark obviously came out succesful, but at a cost.

Despite what you may think, this movie never ceased to entertain. The script is clever and occasionally quite funny, but never losing it's heart in the process. You may not necessarly care about all of these characters, but they are all well-developed and interesting. Even though you know where much of the film is headed, it never gets boring. I can give this a very high recommendation for anyone who has ever used Facebook, or really for anyone who loves a great character study.

9/10

Hello my prodigious readers, it is I. I Kyle. You reader. Go go gadget blog!

Now that we have that out of the way, it's time for my specific topic. I'm going to be talking about dreams. Not your dreams of being a juggling police officer who entertains and enforces the law, but the dreams you have at night. I have always been fascinated by dreams, and this blog has nothing to do with, and is not pertaining to a film called Inception. (You should watch a movie called Inception, it's pretty good or something.)

Essentially my reaction at the end of the film.

Unfortunately for you, I'm not going to be teaching you anything specific about dreams. This, however, is fortunate for me because I don't have to do research. Why would I do research for a blog I keep in my spare time when I have college to attend to!? Are you mad!? Ahem...so dreams.

Dreams are awesome. Everyone loves dreams. At least they should. Why wouldn't you? Every night for around 7 or 8 hours you get to exist in another world that is quite bizarre compared to your own. At least, most of my dreams are bizarre. Apparently Ben doesn't dream about anything to crazy, while I'm flying around in some jeep and playing music with flowers. Or Jeannie.

This must be a dream.

I've been working on trying to teach myself to have lucid dreams, which is when you have a dream and you know that you are dreaming. So basically, if I understand it correctly, I just do whatever I want in my dream. Yes please. I'm supposed to put dots on my hands with a pen, and then during the day every time I see the dots I ask myself if I'm dreaming. This is will apparently train my brain into constantly check if I'm dreaming or not, until I will actually be dreaming when I ask myself if I am. I keep forgetting the dots though...

OK, so this blog post is kinda lame. It's kinda hard to think of things to write about when your tired and you want to go to bed. And then I'll totally think of something great to write about right before I fall asleep and never remember what it was in the morning. But I might remember my dream...

The Best of the Best

Today, Ben brings the blog of the day. Some of you sports fans may think I am talking about Jahvid Best, the new Lions star after two weeks. However, this is not the case. Have you ever wondered what it would be like if Freddie Mercury, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and John Bonham were all in the same band? I have multiple times, how awesome would that be?

A couple of days ago I discovered a super group that was kind of similar to this, not quite as good as the group above me may have been, but it's still pretty amazing. The name of the group is the Traveling Wilbury's. Maybe some of you who are above the age of 30 who actually read our blog have heard of this group. They are pretty awesome. The group consists of George Harrison, who formed the group, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne.

The group was formed in the late 80's, so many of the group members were a little past their prime, but they still sound great in many songs. Their First album, titled Volume 1, was released in 1988, and was actually quite a success, it reached number 3 in US charts, and number 1 in British and Australia charts. Before the Second Album was released, Roy Orbison actually passed away, making the group only four members, the second album was much less of a success, but still hit the charts pretty well.

If you have time, check them out, they are pretty good, here is a link to one of their more popular songs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwqhdRs4jyA&ob=av2e

Flamingo Review

Hello gang, this is Kyle. I want to start this post off with an apology to the 9 of you who claim to read our blog. It's been about a week since we updated it, and we're sorry. With this being a time of first tests and other homework, we've just been a little busy. But let's get back into, eh?

Today I'm going to do something that you probably don't care about, but I care, so therefore I can write about it. I am going to review the new solo album by Brandon Flowers entitled Flamingo. If your interested, read on. And if not, read on anyway because you might become interested. Deal? Deal.

So first, a little background. Brandon Flowers is the lead singer of the band The Killers, which I'm sure most of you are familiar with. In late 2009, there were rumors that he was going to be doing a solo album and, of course, he did. The album is titled Flamingo and is named after the Flamingo Casino & Flamingo Road in Las Vegas where Flowers grew up. Let's get started going through the tracklisting. I'm going to write a little blurb on what I think of the song and I will bold the one's I feel are highlights.

1. Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas: The first track of the album kicks things off with an ode to Flower's hometown. It's very Bruce Springsteen-esque and has a bit of a country twang to it. The lyrics are a bit strange, as it's hard to tell whether he is painting the city in a good light or a bad one. With lines like “Give us your dreamers, your harlots and your sins” and “Disciples hand you catalogues of concubines as you stumble down the boulevard crying Hosanna”. Perhaps he is intending to show you the city as it is. However, it is a very epic song and I like the arrangement.
2. Only the Young: The second song is a little more subdued than the first, at it sets the tone for the rest of the album. It sports a more electronic and synth-based sound, with acoustic guitar. As far as I can tell, the song is about changing your ways when you are young, before it is to late. Also, something that is shown here as well as throughout the entire album is reflections of Flower's faith. “Father thy will be done” and “Redemption, keep my covers clean tonight” are examples of this.
3. Hard Enough: This brings back some of the country influence but keeps the tone pulled back for the most part. It's a song that basically is about two lovers that had to break up for an unknown reason. It features vocals from Jenny Lewis, the lead singer of a band called Rilo Kelly. She doesn't seem to add much to the song though, just providing harmonies during the chorus.
4. Jilted Lovers and Broken Hearts: This is the hardest rocker on the album, and it defiantly sounds the most like The Killers. However, the song is only so-so. It's basically about a guy finding out that his lover is cheating on him (there's a better Killers song about that, it's called Mr. Brightside). Flower's uses tons of gambling references here to go along with his Vegas theme, “You did a fine job of hiding that crooked ace up your sleeve” and “You're gonna wish you could go back and fold” to name a few. It's hard to say whether it's necessary or not, but it adds consistency.
5. Playing With Fire: This the quietist, longest, and in my opinion the best song lyrically on the album. It stretches close to six minutes and deals directly with Flower's beliefs and his life. It's a bit vague on exactly what it's about, but I like the interpretation of how he feels it's hard to keep his faith being a famous singer and living the life he is living. “I've got this burning belief in Salvation and love, this notion may be naive but when push comes to shove I will till this ground” really represents his message well. Possibly my favorite on the album.
6. Was it Something I Said?: This song is just really fun. It's got a kinda 80's pop feel to it, and is one of the more upbeat tracks on the album. The song is tells the story of a girl named Valentina, and how her lover doesn't know what he did to lose her (a theme going on here?) Just an overall bouncy and catchy song.
7. Magdalena: This song is quite confusing to me. It's very Spanish influenced, perhaps coming off of a song The Killers did for Christmas last year. I also really like it. But I have no idea what it is about. The most I can gather is this: Magdalena is either a city or church in Mexico, and the main character is making a journey there from San Francisco in order to go there to be forgiven. Or something like that. Just enjoy it, it's a good song.
8. Crossfire: This song was a toss-up for me. I really think that it's quite weak lyrically, but the arrangement and power behind Flower's vocals bring it up to a recommendation. I'm not the biggest fan of it, but it's certainly catchy and better than some songs on the album. It seems to me to be about temptation. It's worth a listen.
   
9. On the Floor: This is a slow building song. It begins with just Flowers and a quiet instrumentation and builds up to a full choir backing him up in the final chorus. It's a very religious song, about being humble and and asking for forgiveness. Definitely a keeper.
10. Swallow It: Not really a fan of this one. It seems so strange at the end of the album. I feel like any other song would have been better to end the album with than this one. It just kinda...stops. Doesn't feel right. It is somewhat catchy, but the lyrics are to silly for me to really get into. Not really fitting for this album if you ask me.
    
    
    So, there we go. I wrote way more than I anticipated, but if your interested I hope I gave you something to read. Overall, I think that this album is a good effort from Brandon Flowers, but his best work is still with The Killers. If your a fan of The Killers, picking this up should be a no-brainer. But if you haven't heard their work, you would be better of picking up Day & Age instead.
    7/10

23 Flavors

Ben's bringing the blog today.
Have you ever wanted a drink that could give you more than one flavor. I believe that Kyle and I have found that drink and we both seem to like it a lot, with the pile that is consuming our dorm room. I think by now most of you can guess what drink I am talking about, Dr. Pepper.

Dr. Pepper was created in 1880 by Charles Alderton, it was first served to the public in 1885. There are many myths of how it got its name from naming it after an actual Dr. Pepper to pepsin. No one knows for sure how it got its name. Some of their most popular slogans are "Drink a bite to eat at 10, 2, and 4 in the afternoon," "23 flavors," "Dr. Pepper, it makes the World taste better," and "Just what the doctor ordered."

Some famous people that like Dr. Pepper include Jimmy Fallon, Dr. Dre, Megan Fox, Dr. J, and Britney Spears just to name a few. After hearing names like this, you obviously know this drink is legit! So go out there and buy some. I heard it's good for you too! Not really, but seriously, whats the worst that could happen if you buy some?

You've Caught the Swine Flu

So today I (Kyle) am going to get a little self-promoting...but I think you guys will be okay with it. I'm not full of myself or anything I swear...

So, Swine Flu. It's an 8-part series I made, and it's on Facebook (except part 8, I'm sorry...I'm trying). If you haven't seen it, get your sit-part on over there and watch them son! I just got the pleasure of showing them to some friends of mine here and they really liked it, so it's on my mind right now. Let me give you a little history.

The Origin of Swine Flu
One spring day in 2009, I told some friends that I had an idea for a video. It was going to be about Swine Flu. None of them believed that I would actually make it for some reason, so I promised them that before the weekend was over, it would be finished. We started filming on Saturday afternoon, just making it up as we went. But we got halfway through it, and my brother Justin had to leave. Jerk. So we had to stop. Wanting to keep my promise, I edited it, called it Part 1, and put it on Facebook. We would just finish it the next chance we got.

The Next Chance We Got
We started on the second half of the movie, and just made it up as we went again. We couldn't decide how to end it, so we just ended on another cliffhanger. And the rest is history, or so I'm told. We filmed parts periodically whenever we had the time, and we only just finished it in August of 2010. It's been a crazy ride, but I loved every second of it. And I think my audience did too. (Hopefully.)

Just Some Fun Trivia to Close this Out
-None of this was planned from the beginning. We started to shape how it would end around Part 6.
-Chris got in trouble from his parents for laying on the pool table. They thought we would break it.
-In part 3, a mysterious person is following Chris and it is later revealed that it is Jared. When we filmed it, I had no idea who or what this person was, I just wanted someone in the woods.
-The "Don't call me Shirley" joke is from the movie "Airplane!" Go out and rent it, and stop giving me credit for the joke!
-The phrase "What The?" said in an exaggerated manner is actually taken from a Spongebob episode. It can be seen here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIiB-8Fus5A&feature=related
-The camera tripod can be seen in many scenes. It's our stupid mistake.
-In Part 5, Sam says he is a hunter, an idea which got changed further into the story. It doesn't make any sense now. Great.
-Part 6 took the longest, it was technically in production for over six months.
-Coincidentally, Part 6 contains the worst joke in the series: My phone call with the boss.
-In part 6, when Chris is kidnapped, some old footage was used from part 1 with new footage for 6.
-The Dream Sequence in Part 7 is inspired by the show Twin Peaks. You should all watch that show.
-The movie Derek and I argue about in part 7 is Avatar. Jared doesn't like it.
-The Three Tests were originally quite different. One involved time travel, and the other involved saving your friends lives by sacrificing yourself. To heady for Swine Flu. The girl was always the final test.
-Part 7 is the only episode that had a written script.
-The funniest scene ever, when Ben orbits the globe, was made up completely on the spot.
-The ending song makes me very sad. Just sayin'.
-Thanks guys.

Detroit Lions

Hey, today, Ben brings the blog.

The Detroit Lions have definitely had their rough patches over the last 10 years. Ever since the retirement of Barry Sanders, the Lions have not been a successful franchise. This year, I think things might take a turn for the better. With new additions Suh and Best, along with young players Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson, our offense is looking better than ever. With a new coach on his second year and finally with a new GM, we are heading in the right direction.

Tomorrow, the Lions will take on the Bears in the season opener. This is in my opinion a very winnable game for the Lions. They need to get off to a get start on offense so we can use our ability to pass rush well (with our new improved D-Line) and get pressure on the QB. This will be a tough matchup, and will be a great game because it is a great rivalry. My prediction, Lions-31 Bears 24, this will be a close game with the lions starting out in front, and then the bears coming back. I believe the lions will have a go ahead drive in the 4th quarter to pull it out.

On a season outlook, I think the lions will go 7-9 this year, and continue to improve as the year goes on.

I'm So Tired...

Okay so the truth is, the title is right. I really don't want to do this, so I'm going to have the Beatles say it for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxJOpr6Y5yI

Goodnight, sweet prince.

Tattoo You

Today, Ben brings the blog of the day.

Today, I want to do a review of a new album I just bought, it's called tattoo you, by the Rolling Stones.

The first track of this album "Start me up" starts the album in a great way. With a great guitar melody, everyone wants to keep listening to what the album is "starting up." As they open up into the second song, we are introduced to high harmonies, a new side of the Rolling Stones that we don't always see. Mick Jagger really sings in a new way, different than that of most of his songs. "Hang Fire" brings something new to the album. The third track "Slave" features many different instruments including a very cool saxophone solo (kyle and I enjoy sax solos very much!), as well as some organ being played in the background, not something you normally hear in a rock song. The next song, titled "Little T&A" is a slight humor break from the album, where co-songwriter Richards takes the serious level down and simply has fun with his listeners, singing about as he calls it "Every good time I've had with someone who I've only seen for a couple days, and then never seen again." After this humorous song, it opens up with some harmonica in "Black Limousine." This song is one of very few recorded "blues" song by the Rolling Stones, I very much like how they mix up the styles from song to song, it adds uniqueness to the album. The last song, "Neighbours," was written about how Richards was evicted from his house in NYC for playing music too loud. This definitely comes through in the sound of the song, one of the harder songs on the side, with a very strong beat (another sax solo!)

On to Side B. The first song, titled, "Worried About You," brings us to a new mellow side of the Rolling Stones which we don't here all that often, but that will continue to be a theme throughout the second side. This is probably my favorite song on the album, with a slow start, and a falsetto voice from Jagger, hitting some high notes in the song that I didn't know he was capable of. The progression of the song lyrically and musically make this song something special. Lyrically, he changes from worrying about a girl he is dating, to worrying about finding that girl someday (in the future that he hasn't met yet), this song brings in a "story," which we all love to here in songs. As the song goes on he carries emotion, getting more and more into, and truly putting his soul into this song.

The next song, "Tops," features the piano, leading into a good progression of music, very well written musically. As it progresses into the chorus, we hear some great high harmonies from the backing vocalists. This song continues with the slower heartfelt theme of the second side. "Heaven" gives us a new feel with multiple instruments, and somewhat distorted voice to make us feel like we are in a heavenly place. It is a very unique song that is very different from the rest of the album. Next, "No Use In Crying," brings us to a heartfelt message where Jagger writes a song to a girl saying, "There ain't no use in crying, I ain't never coming back." To close the album, "Waiting on a Friend," brings us to a close in a very good way. The song begins with dreamy qualities and soft guitars. It also starts in a unique Time Signature of 7/4, which gives a different beat to the song that you don't normally here. It also features a superb sax solo towards the end of the song, which gives us more of a heartfelt feeling. The song ends with the sax fading, leaving us with warm hearts. The song was written about friendships within the band members. This song concludes the side and the album perfectly, with one last heartfelt message to the listeners.

It was a great album! I really loved listening to it, and this is only what I observed on my first listen, Im sure that there is much more to enjoy about it! So go ahead, take a listen!

Moving Foward

Yo. It's Kyle this time. Can I get serious wit' y'all for a second? Okay I'll drop that, but really now...

Today in my Intro to Mass Communications class, we talked about books. Not a particular book, just books in general. The medium of books. We talked about how some people are choosing to replace their books with e-book readers. Like one of these:

Get out of mine.

We had a discussion in class about which we would prefer. The majority of the class said they would prefer to have an actual book instead of an e-book, myself included. One girl raised her hand and said something to the affect of "There's nothing like curling up with an actual book, turning the pages, and feeling intellectual." Now this got me thinking about something else that I have recently come to find out.

As someone who is a pretty big music fan, I couldn't help but notice some comparisons to how we get and listen to music to what is happening with books right now. I have recently taken up an affinity for vinyl records. I have found as a music lover that, like having an actual book, having an actual record to put on a turntable is somehow just more appealing and satisfying. Not to mention having the cover (the casing) to look at while you listen.

It's interesting that so many people in my generation would be uneasy giving up books, but most would never consider going back to records over an iPod. If you were really hardcore about it, you could go completely vinyl. Many quality artists still release albums in that format as well as on CD or digitally.

Here's proof, ladies.

Now, I have an iPod and I use it all the time. It's great to be able to have a huge library of songs that I can take anywhere I want very easily. The same would go for an e-reader. It's a perfect if you have many different books and are taking a trip. There are benefits to both.

Just my musings for a bit. You don't have to agree or anything, it's the point of a blog. We write whatever we want. Fool. So, um, like, I'll see you around...