Drew's Irrelevant and Time Killing Moment of the Week

With finals coming up all too soon, it's time we asked ourselves a critical question: what would it be like to see Chuck Norris kick Indiana Jones in the family jewels? Well, my friends, look no further than my Irrelevant and Time Killing moment of the week.

The Ultimate Showdown

The subject that this video really covers is a century long battle between the world's finest popculture heros. It's reached relative internet popularity, so don't be too surprised if you've already taken a gander. If not, then enjoy the cheesy bloodbath!

P.S.: Also look for a brief cameo by Arrested Development's Tobias Funke. Once again though, it's very brief.

Adios!

How about this: A song about the job search!

That's right- this recent summer job search has inspired me to write a tune about the promise of future employment. I came up with the idea after searching through Monster.com and seeing one ad that simply said, "WE ARE HIRING!" This ad's over the top nature quickly inspired me to write this song (which sounds like a Dixieland showtune if you could hear the music with it). All things aside though, it's an incredibly cynical song. Then again, it's a bit easier to be cynical about the workforce after having to clean up half eaten chimis at Casa Gallardo's :-)

I hope you enjoy this song!

We are hiring

We are hiring!/
What an opportunity/
We’ll offer pay and food and stay/
And derelict immunity/
Come as one/
Come as all/
Come you fat, short, thin, and tall/
We’re hiring/
We are hiring you!

We are hiring!/
But not just any Joe/
We’re looking for a soft and senseless/
Crow to mold like cookie dough/
Be a man/
Be top shelf/
Become our version of yourself/
We’re hiring/
We are hiring you!

We are hiring!/
With some very special perks/
We need a brain to ease our pain/
And extra arms to do the legwork/
Do some work/
Do a ton/
Just put our name down when you’re done/
We’re hiring/
We are hiring you!

We are hiring!/
We’re looking for a bolt/
To stay in place and run the race/
Then dance our civil pension waltz/
(slows down to dramatic, burlesque show tune ending)
It’s 50 K/
For 50 years/
Then best of luck at Wal Mart- CHEERS!
We’re hiring/
We are hiring/
We are hiring- YOU!

"What about Jobs?"

Considering I already have a summer job lined up, I decided to use this assignment to look for a job that looks fun and exciting. Searching through Monster.com, I found an open position for a company called Complete Music DJ Service. The job entitles becoming an emcee of sorts to work at private parties, weddings, and other overzealous events. Well what could be more fun and exciting than that?

CM Job Information

But the question remains: what am I going to do to increase my chances of getting this job? I'm glad I... uhm... asked myself. In my resume, I'll make sure to emphasize my experience as a restaurant host (dealing with customers and making them feel better) and my volunteer work as a post operate transporter at St. John's Mercy hospital (once again, I had to cheer up some incoherent people). I'll keep my resume brief but focused. Once I finish it, I'll throw it into the "employment hat" and see what happens.

All in all, I'm looking forward to this next assignment. Who knows, someone may actually make some money out of this :-).

Adios!

Looking for my Proposal?

Go two posts down. Sorry for the inconvenience (we're working on it, I swear :-)).

Response Paper: Sigmund Frued's "The Pleasure Principle"

Drew Stewart
English 1000
Varnes
9/10/05

The Pleasure Principle: Rubbing Freud the Right Way

“We believe, that is to say, that the course of [mental] events is invariably set in motion by an unpleasurable tension, and that it takes a direction such that its final outcome coincides with a lowering of that tension.”

~ Psycho-analyst and all around heavy thinker, Sigmund Freud.

In his 1962 work Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Sigmund Freud would outline a theory that English 1000 students are still mulling over today. True to the book’s title, the psychologist’s idea was coined “the pleasure principle.” Freud’s theory stated that the human mental process, as a whole, is driven by an urge to reach satisfaction of instinctual desires, or “pleasure.” Conversely, the author made the point that every action that initially leads the mind away from the fulfillment of its desires was to be defined as “unpleasure.” Throughout the text, Freud makes his point clear: every action of unpleasure- be it walking the dog, mowing the lawn, waiting in line at the DMV, or even switching through 300 channels on the television- were only made as a necessary step towards eventually realizing the pleasure that the psyche desired (e.g. eating, sleeping, killing your father and marrying your mother, etc.). Every action that wasn’t directly leading towards satisfaction was simply prolonging it, meaning that every conscious decision the mind made was one that was working towards the eventual fulfillment of pleasure. Quite pleasing, indeed.

Although Freud’s pleasure principal can be well understood through study of the text, perhaps its most easily digested through analogies and campy examples. A fine one is as follows: Meet Johnny College. Johnny has a full day of classes ahead of him but, regrettably, stayed out way too late the night before. Although Johnny is taking notes for his Psychology class, the only thing on his mind at the moment is sleep. Oh, what Johnny wouldn’t do to just pull the covers over his head and shack up for the rest of the day?! At the moment, sleep represents Johnny’s pleasure. But one may notice that Johnny isn’t snoozing. Quite contraire- he’s taking notes about ancient psycho-analysts. His long day of classes is keeping him away from his main desire, meaning that they represent Johnny’s unpleasure. But why does Johnny undergo all of this sleep deprived class work? According to Freud, the answer is quite simple. As pertaining to the pleasure principle, Johnny’s mind is working towards satisfying its major desire (snoozing); meaning that everything that is diverting him away from it is his unpleasure. Johnny’s subconscious psyche knows that if he can drag through the day, he can eventually fulfill his pleasure, even if that means suffering through a healthy amount of unpleasure along the way. Ultimately, every decision that Johnny makes (attending all of his labs and lectures) is simply prolonging his eventual satisfaction and, in turn, is a direct result of Freud’s pleasure principle. Satisfaction is always the end result. It just doesn’t get any simpler than that.

Even after nearly 50 years, Sigmund Freud’s pleasure principle still holds relevance to the modern mind. The fact that the human psyche is always working towards eventual fulfillment of desires is a concept that hardly seems farfetched amongst today’s society. Once one stops to evaluate their own personal motives and reasons why they sit in traffic, iron their culottes, and watch bad movies with their significant other, they may find Freud’s pleasure principle quite plausible. Sigmund would be very satisfied, indeed.

My Proposal: my Proposal

For whomever concerned (I'm lookin' at you, Marcia ;-)), here is my proposal and all the wonderful perks that go with it. Enjoy!

Proposal:
Final Proposal

Preliminary Drafts:
First Draft
Second Draft

Resources Used:*
Definition of a Blog

Peer Reviews:
Beau
Katie

* I know, I know- I barely have any sources for my proposal. I searched endlessly to find an example of another University that uses this system, but in conclusion, I don't think any ones do. You can take off the necessary points, but I just didn't want you to think I didn't try.

Adios!

My New Song: Another Reason why I'm Probably not a good Influence

Not because I write music, but because the subject of this song greatly condones skipping work. I wrote it for a song writing contest where the applicant's song had to include the word Monday. What resulted was the following. I hope you enjoy!

Monday Will be Sunday

Someone stop the presses/
And pull the ships to dock/
I’m cutting up the calendar/
I’m turning back the clock/
Life becomes too stressful/
And hope becomes too flat/
When work brings too much grievances/
And too much work, at that/

They say a man can’t travel time/
And that he never will/
But I can travel 24/
Just by sitting still

Chorus:
Monday will be Sunday/
If only for a day/
And we’ll hurry not to worry/
In every single way/
If you don’t tell a single soul/
I swear I’ll do the same/
And Monday will be Sunday/
If only for a day/

I think I’ll rest my weary bones/
And rest my worries too/
Then catch an early breakfast/
Sometime after 2:00/
There’s licorice ropes and daytime soaps/
And Pizza on the way/
All sitting in my schedule/
It’s a very busy day/

You may say I’m lazy/
From my ears down to my toes/
But even doing nothing/
Is doing something, I suppose/

Chorus

But now the sunlight’s fading/
And it seems our fun has passed/
Until the light bulb flickers on/
Aha! Oh my! At last!/
If Monday’s turned to Sunday/
And we’ve traded blues for greens/
Then Tuesday will be Monday/
And you know just what that means!/

Now you may work your whole life through/
But eventually you’ll find/
That your Monday will be Sunday/
It’s just a matter of time/

Chorus

Drew's Irrelevant and Ninja Related Moment of the Week

In this wacky world we live in, some questions just can't be answered. That is, unless you have a ninja at hand...

This week's tidbit's a pretty popular video, so if you've already seen it, then you have my permission to turn on Date my Mom, er something. Otherwise, enjoy learning about...

How to Become a Ninja!

If you like the video, make sure to check out this fellow's website (listed at the end of the vid). Until next time...

Hiya!