Stop Glorifying Meal Prep!

Stop glorifying meal prep!
It's awesome that people are planning their food for the busy work week, but this is also a sad indicator that work-life balance is non-existent in our society. We all need to eat, so food shouldn't be something we manage but rather something that is supported and enjoyed.
Stop glorifying meal prep and demand you be treated like a human being. We are more productive than ever and compensation has not kept up. 

John Oliver's Show is a Gem!

John Oliver embodies, with actual success, all of my failed comedic endeavors. I've praised him before, but I still don't think he gets enough credit.
I grew up thinking I was going to be an "artist," but slowly learned I was no good at that. The creatives I looked up to always taught me that artists have a social responsibility to comment on the world around them. I hope I was able to capture that sentiment with whatever I did. John Oliver & Team does it with nuance, intelligence, humility, care, and while being incredibly funny.
In this episode he interviews Monica Lewinsky. How she was able to put her life together after going through a meat grinder is beyond me — I know I am not strong enough to have withstood what she went through. What an incredible individual with a great sense of humor.

Privilege & Fraud — Academia Is Still Important!

Academia is still a very important institution — it's a place where we: test ideas; gather & share knowledge; challenge each other; and give people the tools to navigate the complicated world around them. That is why the recent news about admissions fraud is even more disappointing. Those that value academia need not turn their back on it, but should be critical & honest about the ethical failures of these schools.

My parents worked multiple jobs and saved for years so that we could move to a nicer school district. In the end, I wasn't able to attend Wayzata High School because they re-did district borders (because you can't have the poorer part of Plymouth coming to such a pristine school). It all worked out for me because I met some of my best friends and had some of the best teachers at Osseo Senior High School. But this is why my professional career will be about breaking down barriers, giving people more access, and helping people to see privilege.

Donald Trump: A Catch 22

I really wanted to see Donald Trump succeed as president because we all thrive if he does a good job. I remained pretty quiet during the onset of his tenure because even Donald Trump deserves a chance. Also, it’s not like I have any real influence on a large, or even moderate, scale. However – minus Nazis, Klan members, and members of the alt-right – I think we have all seen an immense degradation in morality and ethics in the White House and the political space due to President Trump. This is to say I support and believe we need to strengthen the resistance against this failed experiment. But there is a catch 22 to keep in mind when correcting President Trump’s wrongs – even when we win, we lose.

Politics is often a game of optics. If we let President Trump and his team do what they want and we let them run this vehicle into a burning ditch then we get to point at the wreckage at the end of this and feel validated. Yes, we’ll have to put the fire out and clean the mess up, but at least we get to say, “I told you so.” We’ll have some cleaning up to do to a certain degree regardless – we have a lot of apologizing to do in the international space, marginalized groups domestically, and to the future generations of this country and world. However, if the resistance is successful and we are able to mitigate the damage this administration plans to enact history will be able to claim Trump’s efforts weren’t so bad. History will also be able to claim that the resistance overacted. Even if we win, we lose.

Hitler gets a lot of ink in your high school history book. What doesn’t get a lot of ink are the numerous alternative timelines that did not occur because a good group of people prevented a tyrannical leader from burning the house down. A negative occurrence – present & absent and not benevolent & malevolent – doesn’t get any ink because it’s a non-occurrence. You might prevent the ship from sinking, but you won’t get any credit for it because a floating ship looks like business as usual.

So should we prevent President Trump from enacting horrible ideas? Of course, but I wouldn’t expect a lot of praise for doing that work because most of it will be invisible. This notion will be disappointing to some, but it’s important to keep in mind. Cheers to a better tomorrow.

Millennials Need To Step The F Up

Fellow Millennials,
Like with any failed episode there ought to be a sound exit strategy in place. We are going to have to answer a lot of questions and do a lot of cleaning up after Trump. We better start planning how we are going to mend our relationships with the rest world, with marginalized groups, and how we are going to explain all this to our children. I doubt, "I thought grandma, grandpa, and my cranky neighbor knew what they were doing," is going to satisfy our children when they see the world they have inherited. Let us organize.

The Quality Under Pressure Podcast

I started a new podcast and it's been great fun.
Please check it out if you have time.

Story of the Year - "The Black Swan"

In my opinion, Story of the Year's 2008 release, "The Black Swan," is the best album they put out. "Page Avenue" might have had more commercial success, but I do not think it stacks up against "The Black Swan." It's an album that looks at human existence while touching political and social topics. The album also has an interlude that includes an excerpt from Carl Sagan so that already scores many points in my book.
The album was released towards the end of the W. Bush era and it captures the tumultuous times in 13 beautiful tracks. The album begins with Bush speaking and the first word we get from frontman Dan Marsala is "liar." The album continues by urging listeners to wake up, think, organize, unite, and take action.
I still come back to this album 10 years later and it's still great. In fact, the album seems to have taken on new meaning considering the actions our current president is taking.

To The Old Man Above

So you’re probably thinking — “why air out our beef on social media?” — but you’re probably not actually thinking that because you’re not a millennial with all history (false or correct) at your THUMB (none of this FINGERTIPS crap! The thumb is underappreciated sometimes — separate post to come — maybe).

But dude, can I listen to this jazz music at a volume I can appreciate? Admit it, you actually kind of enjoy that I like smooth jazz just like you once used to. In fact, come on down, there’s no reason we can’t enjoy the sounds of Miles Davis together.

But are you actually typing on your smart phone with your fingertips? No, you’re not — you’re probably wondering how quickly you can thumb through this pretentious post with your thumb right now! You’re likely only using fingertips if you’re using the tip of your ring finger because your other fingertips are too busy with food and baby poop — and you can’t get Doritos dust on your phone! Your pinky is just there to act as a counter weight — because, well, you know — physics, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and blah blah blah.

The old man above isn’t a god. The old man above isn’t even a grumpy old man that lives 20 feet above me. The old man is me.

The Super Bowl: A Cacophony for the Deaf

That is an image of Mercedes-Benz’s marketing campaign involving Che Guevara. That is not from a The Onion article — it was a real thing which you can read more about HERE. More on this later.

I have been a fan of sports since the fourth grade. I was first introduced to the National Basketball Association (N.B.A) by someone at church which acted as my gateway to baseball which lead me to football. I love playing and following sports, but the Super Bowl is easily the most exaggerated event on the planet. It’s less about football and more about spectacle. I’ve seriously been to “football parties,” although I try to avoid these now, where the people attending do everything but watch the football game. There are moments at these parties when I get excited about a splash play and literally everyone else will look up from their phones and ask me, “What happened?” At a “football party.” Where people gather to watch football.

Super Bowl 52 happened to be a really entertaining game. It was a well played, relatively penalty free, back and forth game that came down to the end. However, it was still overhyped. And to make things worse, the commercials were really atrocious. Take for example, this BUDWEISER COMMERCIAL. Now, I am not knocking their effort to help people — that is a wonderful thing. What I am knocking is how they spent north of 5 million dollars to pat themselves on the back for helping people when they could have used those 5 million dollars to actually help people. The only thing valuable to emerge from this commercial is that Budweiser has finally admitted that their beer is water.

Then take this well thought out DODGE RAM COMMERCIAL. And by well thought out I mean mind numbingly stupid. Who thought using content from a Dr. Martin Luther King Junior speech to sell a horrible truck was a good idea? If it wasn’t the person involved in the Che Guevara Mercedes-Benz campaign, here’s what needs to happen — the person behind the MLK commercial and the person behind the Che Guevara idea need to sit in a cold, dark, isolated room together and slap each other in the face until something semi-intelligent materializes.

Yes, these commercials are heinous and the Super Bowl is a joke, but what bothers me most is that it works. Common folk will irresponsibly spend a silly amount of money on the Super Bowl only to serve the wealthy. If these commercials didn’t cause people to go out and buy these stupid products, these companies wouldn’t spend 5 million dollars for a 30 second spot. Plain and simple, it works. The Super Bowl is a cacophony wasted on the deaf. It is such a wasted teachable moment and that is why it stings. If the deaf could hear, they would know that what looks like a beautiful symphony is in fact a cacophony that is so loud that we are all going deaf. 

There, however, was one good commercial — check out this GROUPON COMMERCIAL and watch a rich white dude get a football kicked into his nuts. 

Beer Pong - A Masochist's Game

Beer pong is a game enjoyed by adults (and naughty under aged teenagers) typically within a social context where the primary directive of the night is to become inebriated. In the game, when an individual or team succeeds, the opposing side is punished by having to consume alcohol. So, if the penalty of losing is also the primary objective of the evening -- like, WTF? The incentive scheme is backwards.

"Where To Invade Next" Review

Michael Moore's latest documentary, "Where To Invade Next," is a humorous, touching, and illuminating look at policies that have worked in other parts of the world. It's also a very positive documentary compared to Moore's previous works. It's a film anyone can watch and take something from regardless of political affiliation.
Many topics are discussed in the documentary. Moore visits Italy to look deeper into paid time off, and how this effects productivity, happiness and stress. While he is there, paternal and maternal leave is discussed. France is Moore's second destination, and there he sees how kids are fed at school. We learn that having better "food culture" not only changes how nutritious our foods are, but we also gain skills from learning etiquette. While in France, Moore asks about their sexual education curriculum. That transitions to Finland's top education system, and their immensely different view on education. And when talking about education, it's difficult not to talk about how expensive higher education is in America. That's when Moore takes us to Slovenia, and we are exposed to their debt free college student. Even at that point, we are not even half way done with the documentary. A handful of other countries are visited and with each new country we gain greater insight. I thoroughly enjoyed this documentary.

Amazing Couple To Spend Entire Year Exploring United States

Meet Carl and Anna. They started an amazing project called US ANYWHERE at the start of 2016 where they will explore every state in these United States. You can see some of the photos they took and videos they made here, but you'll want to follow their travels for the remainder of the year.


Introducing US Anywhere from US Anywhere on Vimeo.

Here is my interview with Carl:

Min: Could you please explain what this project is about and what sparked the idea for this project?
Carl: My wife Anna and I are both native Minnesotans. We both grew up camping and have cultivated a love of travel domestic and abroad. But despite being passionate about these things, we’ve had difficulty making time for them in our busy lives. I’m a filmmaker by trade, and have developed a body of work organically by filming projects in my spare time involving friends and nature. These personal projects have led to job opportunities, and I found myself working in advertising, most recently doing work for Minnesota tourism. The idea for this project struck me a couple of summers ago, when my friends and I drove out to Glacier National Park for a backpacking trip. On our way home, I got stuck with the red-eye shift driving through North Dakota. I was white-knuckled as I tried to avoid hitting the seeming thousands of deer- but as the sun started to come up, it dawned on me that North Dakota could be truly breathtaking. I realized that I would love to come back to shoot something. At the same time, I realized that if I could find something interesting to shoot in North Dakota, an oft-maligned state, I could probably find something to shoot in every state. I started doing the math about how long it would take to shoot a short video about a state- and I decided a week would be about right. From there, it works out almost perfectly.  If you spend a week per state, it rounds out to almost exactly a year (if you include a week for Washington DC and a week in case anything goes wrong.) The concept of spending an entire year on the road and visiting every state was too compelling to pass up. I told Anna what I was thinking about, and she was immediately on board. We spent the next year and a half saving up and planning before launching the project in 2016. Our aim is to have a great adventure in seeing all of the USA, but to make creative work in the process so that we can bring people (virtually) along for the ride.


M: Were you ever worried this project wouldn't be possible leading up to the start of it?
C: There were a lot of times that we doubted our ability to do something so time-consuming and costly. The logistics alone are so complicated and daunting. We’d never even trailer camped before, and were talking about doing it for an entire year! However, I have a stubborn streak- once I’ve made up my mind that I’m doing something, I’m doing it. It was going to take a lot to prevent us from going- and luckily, we managed to pull it off!



M: What has been the toughest thing about the project so far? 
C: We absolutely underestimated how hard it would be to travel so quickly. We knew the week-per-state framework was ambitious, but we didn’t understand just how ambitious until we learned how long it takes to set up and take down camp, and how traveling with a camper has its own unforseen delays (slower speeds, more frequent stops for gas, fewer accessible places, more difficulty parking, etc.). This also makes our logistics a bit trickier, since we want to be flexible- RV campsites are limited and fill up quickly, so we have to be more forward-thinking than we’d like when planning future states. Also, the lack of WiFi is killer! We’d assumed it would be easy to keep connected from the road, since we have such an easy time with it at home (if it’s not at your house, it’s at work, or at a coffee shop, library, etc.) We’ve quickly learned that public wifi can be hard to find when you’re not in a city, and connection speeds are slow to nonexistant at most campgrounds. This has made working and planning tough!



M: What has been the most fulfilling and coolest thing you've seen so far?
C: We took a risk by starting in Wisconsin- the first week in January isn’t the friendliest time to be there by a long shot (especially if you’re camping!) But the gorgeous sunsets in Door County, ice-covered branches and snowy landscapes turned out to be just as beautiful as we’d hoped. Even though we were freezing our butts off, we were experiencing midwestern winter at its best, and we knew the decision to start there had been worth it.


US Anywhere: Wisconsin from US Anywhere on Vimeo.

M: Have expectations changed now that you've been on the road for a while?
C: They definitely have. For one, we’d planned to release videos about each state as we went, weekly- alongside blogging and posting to other various social media. We’ve quickly realized that all of that on top of moving so quickly leaves almost no time for the actual experience of the trip, which should really be the main point! We’ve had to scale back on the videos (for now, it’s still the plan to release a video for every state, but they will be released as I finish editing them, and actual experience will be the focus.) That means I’ll have a fair amount left to edit when I get back, but it will be a fun way to extend the experience of the trip! We’ve also realized that (aside from the northeast) the states are really big! We’ve started to become more focused in our planning.  Honing in on specific areas within each state, so we can have more in-depth experiences.



M: Now that you've explored the country a bit, what is one thing, in general, that even citizens of the United States might not know/expect about our own country?
C: The United States is an incredibly accessible place. Even though it’s massive, it can be surprisingly easy to get around.  Having grown up in the middle of the country, I always thought of the coasts as being so far away. I had only ever flown to the oceans, but it’s entirely possible to drive there in just a few days. If you get some friends together and take turns driving, you can go anywhere. With the current price of gas, there’s never been a better time.



M: If people wanted to stay in touch, follow your journey, and/or contribute to your journey, how can they do that?
C: We keep our channels up-to-date with lots of photos, fun facts, state recaps, and videos. OUR WEBSITE (USANYWHERE.NET) is a great resource where everything is pooled (and links to our Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Vimeo and mailing list can all be found there, too). We can be reached on all of those channels, but the best way to reach us is to shoot us an email at us@usanywhere.net! The best way for people to contribute to our journey is to share it with others that might be interested and to pass along their knowledge and suggestions. We rely heavily on input and suggestions from others when deciding what to do in a particular state!

Encryption: The F.B.I vs. Apple

Lunch + Last Week Tonight With John Oliver. It's a great combo until you're taking a sip of your drink and Mr. Oliver drops a funny line.

Encryption is a concept that's been in the public light lately due to the F.B.I vs. Apple debate. I saw a lot of people post and share Apple's defense of their position when it was released. It was almost as if the F.B.I was completely out-of-bounds in this case. I, however, saw nuance in this discussion.

I can see why so many people voiced their support for Apple. The tech giant is much sexier than the F.B.I and viewed favorably. Aside from style, there is substance to support Apple too. If someone held a gun up to my head and forced me to completely side with Apple or the F.B.I, I, too, would assemble on the Apple side of the debate. But this is not that easy. The conversation about security vs. privacy is a long and ongoing talk. I'm positive that the same people that swiftly and firmly sided with Apple would be equally outraged, at Apple, if a follow up incident occurred that the F.B.I could have prevented with encrypted information. You can't have both absolute freedom and absolute security.

When Someone Alters Your Life

On Thursday I learned that I will be starting a new chapter in my life later this year. It was a joyous day, but usually when one chapter begins, another one must end. As I begin to ink the first page of my new academic career, I might have punctuated the final period to my Christian career. I was born a Seventh-Day Adventist and I have been attending the same church for all 29-years of my life. Around the age of 21, I went on a spiritual journey that exposed me to many ups and downs. Over the last 5-years, I've grown into a comfortable atheist. I settled on being a huge skeptic about the physics of Yahweh, a lover of Jesus Christ's philosophies, and a continuing member of the church. The last remaining connective tissue between the church and I were long time members of my church and my pastor. This Saturday was my pastor's final day at the Minneapolis Korean Seventh-Day Adventist church. Pastor Kim came into my life at the perfect time. Had he not come when he did, I might have lost my connection to my church. My frustrations about religion were cooling, but hadn't completely hardened. He showed me that there is still space for love in religion and Christianity. He strengthened our youth group by opening the church doors wider than they had ever been opened, and by making his personal home, everyone's home. He never put himself above anyone, and treated everyone he interacted with like royalty. He was quick to nurture the ideas of other people (Without him A Night Back In Korea wouldn't have been possible). He embodied what Jesus Christ is to me.

With tearful goodbyes, we watched him and his wonderful family begin their new journey to Los Angeles. For every kind statement written about Pastor Kim, two equally great comments could be written about his wife. There will be an immense void at our church, but I am so happy for the church in L.A that will be adopting Pastor Kim. He will bring many great examples of love through his words and especially his actions. His children and his beautiful wife will enhance their new community exponentially. Thank you for changing my life, Kim Family, and I wish you nothing but the best.

Mission Accomplished! So, What's Next?

I sleep with my cell phone charging on my lamp stand. I do that so I have a fully charged phone to start my day, but also because I use my cell phone as my alarm clock. During weeks I abuse the snooze button, I will set my alarm song to something really aggressive. Imagine waking up to the sounds of Slipknot, As I Lay Dying, or Cradle of Filth. When I wake up, I normally shut my alarm off, and I check my e-mails. I have this horrible fear that I'll wake up and I'll have e-mails from people at work telling me I talked about something on-air that I wasn't supposed to talk about, or that I completely missed something. It's probably not a healthy thing to always be concerned about, but I'm not totally confident in my radio ability. In fact, feeling insufficient is probably an issue I will carry around with me for a long time. I guess the silver lining is that it always keeps me on my toes and open minded.

I move onto my personal inbox after I finish checking my iHeartMedia inbox. Yesterday, I had my usual spam, an e-mail from the Bernie Sanders campaign, and an e-mail that stuck out. It was from The University of Minnesota Graduate Admissions and the subject line was titled, "Subj: University of Minnesota - Application For Admission Decision". I locked my phone, stared at the ceiling for a second, and re-opened my phone. The e-mail was still there, and I didn't know what to do. A normal person might've quickly opened it, logged into their U of M account, and uncovered the University's decision, but not me. That lack of confidence slowly crept in again, and I thought, "Wouldn't it be awful to start your day with a rejection letter?" It's the sad way I approach everything that involves an appraisal of me (My job, girls, sports, etc).

I rolled out of and made by bed, started my morning routine, but I couldn't get that e-mail off my mind. I booted my computer up, because everything on desktop is better than mobile. I'm not here to brag about my computer, but I have some pretty sweet specs, and my operating system is on a solid state drive, so I only have to wait seconds to use my computer. I opened the e-mail, logged into my U of M account, and clicked on a link to open the University's decision. I decided before I did all of this to not raise any expectations. That way the fall back to reality would hurt less on impact. How incredibly shocked I was when the first word I read was, "Congratulations."Well, technically, I first skimmed over the date, my name, my student ID, and then congratulations.

The feeling of being lifted away on cloud nine is not something you feel every day, and difficult to describe. If this gives you something to compare it to, it's the opposite of having your heart broken. That's a feeling I know better. Heartbreak starts in your chest, and you feel a ripple work its way out from there. It feels like your blood is being drained, your body temperature drops, and your soul feels heavy. I quickly picked up my phone and called my mother. She had been pressuring me over the last week to send an e-mail to inquire when a decision might be made on my application. In typical fashion, my call went to my mother's voice-mail. I followed that up by telling my dad, texting people that helped me with my application process (recommendation letters, proof reading my statement letter, etc.), and I thanked a few teachers that helped me with this journey. It was actually my high school civics teacher that put me on a path to public service. There was no way I could have appreciated his teaching methods at the time as my mental capacity wasn't all there yet. His non-indoctrinating, nurturing, and engaged way of teaching really unlocked my desire to connect to and help the world.


This idea of applying to the Humphrey School of Public Affairs started about a year ago at church. It was a couple of months into the new year, and like I do every year around that time, I assessed my life and attempted to project what the next year would look like. I shared some of my concerns with a lifelong friends. In actuality, she's more of a sister as I've known her since she was in elementary school. I listened to what she wanted to accomplish in 2015, and I told her how I felt about my prospects. I hit a wall at work, I was underemployed, I wasn't engaged in any creative freelance projects, and I really wasn't working toward anything. I felt like an idiot, but she peeked my interest by telling me that the Humphrey School of Public Affairs might be a good fit for me. Although I've known my friends for many years, and I adore her, I never deeply talked to her about politics nor policy (although I should have considering she had been attending the Humphrey School of Public Affairs). She probably assumed the school might be something that matches me because I can't seem to stop commenting on social issues on Facebook. The more she told me about their Master's in Public Policy program, the more I was intrigued. I took some time to think about all the information she had shared with me, and I followed up one day. After receiving more input from her I decided to at least apply. I mean, what's the harm in that? I e-mailed the fine people working in admissions, and of course the deadlines for the year had all passed. I was encouraged to still apply, but also warned about the limitations. My ignorant little boy mind also didn't factor in all the time, effort, and money that went into the application process. What's the harm in applying? Studying for the G.R.E exam after not doing anything school related for years, paying for the expensive test, reaching out to people for letters of recommendation, and crafting an application that gloats about your attributes without sounding like a jerk. I have never been all that good at self-promoting. When it was all said and done, it was too little, too late. I was told to try again in 2016, and I fully intended to do that.

What I lack in confidence, I might make up in determination. Confidence totes a line with arrogance, and determination a line with stubbornness. Given the option between arrogance and stubbornness, I take stubbornness every time. There is no way to disguise arrogance, but at least I can claim my stubbornness is conviction. I took a fresh approach, and started the entire process again. Things got a bit rocky in November with the passing of a close friend. My G.R.E exam was creeping up, but I had no desire to prepare for it as I tried to sort out the concept of death. It's the closest I've ever dealt with death, and I couldn't make sense of it for a long time. In fact, I still haven't, but I have gotten to a point where I can compartmentalize it enough to function.


Fast forward to yesterday. After learning I had been accepted to the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, I thanked everyone I needed to thank, and I skipped out the door to work. When I graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2009, I thought I would never call myself a student again. I'm always a student of life, but I never thought I would be a student in an institutional setting. Well, here I am gearing up to return to the University of Minnesota in the fall of 2016. So what's next and what I am I expecting? I guess I don't really know. I know it's going to get really crazy with work, school, and trying to get involved in anything I can. I foresee my social life shrinking, decreased visits to the gym, and unless I can tie my creative side into my school work, I don't see that getting a lot of attention either. That might not sound great, but I am really looking forward to it. For so long I've been spreading myself thin, and I longed for something to put all my focus into. This feeling of excitement and focus is something I haven't felt since my first boss at Cities 97 hired me.

My focus for the next couple of years will be to gather the tools and knowledge to better myself so I can better the lives of the people in the communities around me and the communities itself. I will chase a life of academia and social work. Clearly I can toss that dream of becoming a millionaire into the trash bin now. Some of my church members recently suggested that I go back to school to study business. Given the options of business school or social work, I think, Jesus would have chosen social work. I'm of the millennial generation so a job that makes you happy takes priority over a higher paying job. My family is of the proletariat class. It is a class of people I admire and value, and hopefully it will soon be my duty to protect the proletariat class.

 

Meatheads Galore

The gym is one of my favorite places to play sociologist. As a timid member of the male gender, I am fascinated by the machismo culture that is accepted and promoted at the gym. I will, in screenplay format, share my latest hyper-masculine observation at Life Time Fitness.

The following is based on a true story.

Meatheads Galore 

Int. - Weight Room.
BEVIS and his pal, BUTTHEAD, are working out at a high end fitness center in their neighborhood. The weight room is stuffed with people as the two are working out during peak hours. They are using dumbbells and spotting each other. After what seems to be an especially difficult set, Bevis slams the dumbbell onto the floor and the noise of the weight echoes through the room.

BEVIS 

Woo! Dude, I've bee going really fucking hard on arm day lately. Plus, I got this new shit and it's making me jacked.

BUTTHEAD 

Fuck-yeah man. I was like 160 like three months ago. Now I'm like 168 and cut.

Both Bevis and Butthead are speaking at an unnecessarily excessive volume and occupying too much space. Other members of the gym turn to look at Bevis and Butthead as they have, against their will, eavesdropped on Bevis and Butthead's conversation. Butthead now takes the dumbbell into his possession and begins his set of bicep curls. Meanwhile, Bevis takes an enormous swig of the concoction he has in his mixing bottle while flexing and looking out the corner of his eyes to the mirror in front of him. Bevis exhales when he finishes drinking and wipes his mouth with his forearm. Bevis then adjusts his focus to Butthead.

BEVIS 

Don't quit on me. Give me three more reps, mother fucker! Come on!

Butthead, in manly fashion, grunts as he wills three more reps. At the conclusion of his third rep, Butthead drops the dumbbell, again letting out cacophonous echo throughout the room. As Butthead jumps out of his seat, he lets out a tremendous bellow.

BUTTHEAD 

Fuck-yeah, dude. Last time I got with Jenny she was loving the guns.

The end.

Is Bernie Sanders Too Smart For Us?

One of the most influential books I have read in my lifetime is "Looking Forward" by Jacque Fresco (A new hardcover copy of the book is going for $448 on Amazon). The book was published in 1969 and was way ahead of its time. One would assume having that sort of foresight would be a good thing, but I think it would be burdensome (Look at what they did to Jesus Christ). Jacque Fresco was quickly deemed a fringe thinker, and I see many doing that with Bernie Sanders. I would love to see someone with a prophetic like vision drag the rest of us knuckle-draggers into a more prosperous future. Many critics claim that Sanders is clueless on foreign affairs, and that may prove to be true, but he has the right outlook on war and wasn't wrong about the Iraq War.

"Spotlight" Review

With this, I have seen 6 out of the 8 films nominated for picture of the year. This will probably be the last movie I get to watch before the big night on Sunday. Prior to this viewing, I had The Martian and Room tied, and I tipped towards Room because Room had a budget of 6 million dollars whereas The Martian had 108 million dollars to spend. Spotlight has now bumped The Martian out of the picture, and I am having trouble choosing between Room and Spotlight. If I were to remain consistent and give the tie to the movie with the smaller budget, then Room still wins (Spotlight had a budget of 20 million dollars). However, it is not that easy in this case. Room is the more emotionally charged movie, but Spotlight is the more important one. My biggest critique of "popular art" (Better worded as "popular entertainment") these days is that it's void of "substance". I use "substance" to bundle elements such as emotion, artistic integrity, and social contribution into a simple and convenient package. Scan the bland summer blockbuster movies or listen to any mainstream song, and I think you'll see what I mean. And because I score art by measuring how much emotion and social importance is packed into a piece, the decision between Room and Spotlight is not easy to me.
I have a group of friends that I discuss politics, religion, and social issues with. We've been discussing morality a lot lately, and the more I try to define that word, the more I realize the world lacks morality. Perhaps I am being too pessimistic, but I can tell you this movie didn't help. Yes, the protagonists navigate through an arena of darkness and bring light into the picture, but I see how outnumbered they are and that's what breaks my heart. Wide spread and prevalent negligence and malevolence on an institutional, societal, and personal level with no one willing to step up except the team at The Boston Globe and Spotlight. I've had stronger chills run through my body due to a movie, but I don't remember the last movie to send this many chills through my body.
From a production standpoint, this movie receives many high marks. The writing, the acting, the use of sound, and photography. The film like look pulls you back into the years these events actually occurred, the lighting looked more natural making the movie feel less produced, and the use of long lenses forces a feeling of caution. Spotlight has a lot of tough competition, but I'll be disappointed if the movie doesn't go home with at least one award.

Eating Insects With Rustle Up Sum Grub

I read an article at the beginning of 2016 that stated that crickets might be a food item to catch on this year. I expressed my interest about looking into foods created with crickets a bit more, and Kiah Brasch of RUSTLE UP SUM GRUB reached out to me. I visited her and recorded my experience trying foods made with insects.



A huge thanks to Kiah for teaching us about new food items and feeding us.
Thank you to Brad Olson for also helping me film this project. Brad runs a film company in Minneapolis. CLICK HERE to check out his website. You can watch one of his short films below.

Article XVII from Braddon Alexander on Vimeo.

"Room" Film Review

Thank you to the team that made Room. We are in your debt. What a layered, deep, and fantastic movie. I am now up to 5 out of the 8 films nominated for best picture this year at the Oscars. Room is currently tied with The Martian for this year's award, but like I did when it came down the The Wolf of Wall Street and Dallas Buyers Club, I gave the edge to the film with a smaller budget.
Brie Larson is quickly becoming my favorite actress. If you haven't seen Short Term 12, it may be on Netflix still so get on that. Larson and Mary Elizabeth Winstead are my favorites because they are intelligent and they seem more selective about their roles. I will be cheering for Larson for best actress. I only wish Jacob Tremblay was also nominated for something because he was great.

(Insight on how Larson picks her roles)


Room is a film that no review can encapsulate, and that's what makes it so amazing. I think each individual will get something unique from the film. Mothers will be drawn to the mother-child relationship in the movie. You will see that guidance, inspiration, and love can and should flow from mother to child, but that the stream can be reversed. A great reminder to listen to your children, because you never know what they might teach you. Many people will find the concepts of innocence and youth appealing. There are many powerful forces in this world, but the innocence of youth has to be included in the top tier. Despite dire circumstances, Jack Newsome found joy in simplicity reminding us that perception plays a large role in everything we do. Jack's youthfulness and innate curiosity also allows him to recover from traumatizing events and assimilate into a foreign world much quicker, whereas Joy Newsome has difficulty sliding back into her old life.
Watch the movie as soon as possible, but also be ready to cry and to juggle a lot of thoughts. You'll think about your family, bravery, exploration, kindness, the corporate media, the fragility and toughness of the human psyche, and so many other elements. This is cinema.