Boy Bands

The other night, they had Hanson as the musical guest on The Tonight Show.  My first reaction was... really?  These guys were popular when I was in fourth grade!  I honestly thought they'd gone out of the business years ago like all the other boy bands.  Turns out, after doing some research on Wikipedia the last few nights, I found that a lot of these bands were still active through much of the 2000's.  I remember hearing last year that the Backstreet Boys had released a new album, when I was under the impression that they had broken up in the early 2000's.  Nope, turns out that they're still performing, albeit minus Kevin Richardson.  N*Sync was still together until 2007, though they hadn't produced anything new since 2002.  And apparently, 98 Degrees hasn't officially broken up yet, either; they're just on an "extended hiatus".  And from the looks of it, a lot of the other boy bands from my middle school days were still active or lasted longer than I thought.  The only reason I hadn't heard much about them was because I had stopped following them when I got to high school. 

Of course, the concept of the boy band still exists today, just in a different form.  The Jonas Brothers are probably the most recognizable example of a modern boy band, though Wikipedia says that some groups like Simple Plan and Good Charlotte could technically also qualify as boy bands.  Unlike the boy bands of the early 00's, however, the members of these modern boy bands actually play their own instruments instead of just dancing around on stage. 

My post tonight will deal with boy bands as defined in the traditional sense, i.e., the ones from the late 90's / early 00's.  In particular, I'd like to address the question of why they seemed to fall out of popularity so quickly.  When I was in sixth grade, they seemed to be the "in" thing.  We used to listen to the radio in the morning before class started, and I remember the first time I brought in my recently purchased N*Sync CD, it got a pretty warm reception.  But within a couple months, I was met with groans and bullying whenever I tried to play it, and people even started questioning my sexuality.  When I asked why, I was told, "It's a girls' group." 

Now let me make this clear:  At no time in my life was I ever attracted to any member of N*Sync or any member of the other boy bands.  As I used to tell people, "I don't like N*Sync, I just like their music."  Not that it helped my image any.  But seriously, back in those days, I preferred any music that was suitable for dancing to.  Weird, I know, but that I can't see how that would make me gay or effeminate.  The only alternative in music back then was bands like Limp Bizkit or Slipknot, which I didn't really care for because I found their lyrics too vulgar for my taste.

But what I don't understand is why boy bands went from being popular with both genders to being something that only girls liked in such a short amount of time.  Were guys just jealous because they didn't have the sex appeal that Justin Timberlake or Nick Carter had?  Probably not.  The guys who made fun of me back then were mostly jocks anyway, and they had no problems attracting the opposite gender.  However, the fact that boy bands - and other pop artists, for that matter - were so popular among the female population was probably a significant factor.  It may have also had something to do with the fact that rock bands actually played musical instruments - they could be judged on actual musical talent rather than choreography and theatrics. 

These days, my tastes in music are still different from the norm, but much more diversified.  I'm mainly into contemporary rock bands such as Nickelback, Daughtry, and Barenaked Ladies, but I still enjoy anything with a good dance beat.  I still have my N*Sync CD hidden somewhere in my room (though I haven't played it in almost ten years); I have more songs by Rihanna and Lady Gaga on my iPod than the average American male; and at karaoke parties, I've been known to sing such songs as "Bye Bye Bye", "Livin' La Vida Loca", and even "Baby One More Time", just for laughs.  The difference nowadays is that people are much more tolerant of my tastes in music - or at least they've been kind enough to not say anything to my face.  Maybe that's why people made fun of me back in middle school - we were all just young and immature back then, but as we grew up, we gradually discarded most of the stereotypes that we had when we were younger. 

B-)

Ohmigod... Shoes!

I hate shopping for shoes.  Anytime I go shopping for shoes, I can never seem to find a pair that fits me just right, because I have such weirdly shaped feet.  Every pair I try on always seems to have something uncomfortable about it.  Either the toes are too cramped, the arch is too high, or the heel is too loose.  Take today, for instance.  I was at Wal-Mart (yes, I shop at Wal-Mart - gotta save every dollar I can!) looking for a new pair of sneakers, because my old ones had fallen into a serious state of disrepair while I was at school.  I was hoping to find a decent pair of running shoes, so I could take up jogging again without hurting my knees as much.  I only found one pair of running shoes that fit me... or at least the right shoe did.  When I tried on the left shoe, I found that the arch was shaped weird, and it didn't fit.  So apparently, my left foot is actually shaped differently from my right foot!  Un-freakin'-believeable!  I ended up just buying a pair of regular sneakers that actually fit me, having decided that I can always buy a pair of running shoes some other time.  Right now, just having a pair of sneakers that doesn't have holes in it is better than nothing. 

B-)

Cookie Dough

I was baking some oatmeal raisin cookies this evening (as I had intended to do while I was at school, but never got around to because of finals and whatnot), and of course, being the perpetual kid that I am, I had to sample some of the dough at least several times before baking.  Which got me wondering: what is it about raw cookie dough that makes it taste so much better than cookies that have actually been baked?  I'm sure we can all remember our moms chiding us about how eating raw cookie dough could make us sick.  When I was a kid, I never got to try cookie-dough ice cream until I was 10 or 11, because my parents just didn't find the concept of eating raw cookie dough palatable.  Then I learned that there isn't really raw eggs in the ice cream; they've already been pasteurized beforehand to kill off any germs.  I still remember the first time I tried it - it was after a round of mini-golf with my aunts and cousins - and I was thinking, man, what have I been missing all these years?

Did that make cookie dough taste even better, the fact that it was forbidden, or at least discouraged?  It can't be the entire reason.  I mean, I'm 22 years old and have been doing a lot of baking on my own lately, and I still find myself popping fingerfuls of dough into my mouth.  No one's stopping me from doing it, and having a few bites doesn't kill me, though I do avoid consuming the entire bowlful simply out of fear of getting food poisoning.  And when I make cakes, I still lick the beaters before I wash them, or offer them for anyone nearby to do the same.  I mean, c'mon, I just can't let that small iota of perfectly good batter go to waste - think of all the starving kids in Africa! 

So why do we take pleasure in consuming raw cookie dough or cake batter?  Are we that desperate for sugar that we can't wait 10-15 minutes for the cookies to finish baking?  My best guess is that it's something to do with the chemical reactions that the dough undergoes while it's baking.  Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I think some of the sugar gets melted or evaporated in the heat of the oven, so the finished product isn't quite as sweet as it was before.  Or maybe it's the difference in texture that makes raw dough taste better.

Which begs another question: why, then, do I like bread better when it's toasted?

The world may never know...

B-)

Real World

Hey, y'all!  I'm baaaaack!  Didja miss me?  Yeah, sorry I haven't written in a while.  It's just been one thing after another - finals, papers, graduation, packing, and going home.  But yeah, I've finally graduated from Loyola!  I never thought that day would come... has it really been four years?  Damn, does time fly! 

I should be happy.  But right now, I'm not.  Yes, I'm glad to have made it through all of my classes (this semester, it was way too close for comfort) and received my diploma.  But, to modify an old adage, college is like a four-year-long dream, and graduation is like the alarm clock.  My fellow seniors and I now have to wake up and face the real world.  I thought I'd be immune since I'm going to grad school in the fall, but I've realized now that I was sorely mistaken.  Grad school and college are not the same.  There's not going to be as much time to go out and party like there was in college (not like I really had the time when I was in college, anyway).  There's going to be a lot more responsibility that I have to assume.  And it's not like I can just sit back this summer and count down the days til I begin my new life.  I have to find a summer job so I have some money to live off of when I start grad school, and I remember how much of a pain in the ass it was trying to find a job three summers ago.  But maybe a little bit of work might help keep me sane during these next two and a half months.  There's nothing to do around here, almost none of my friends from high school ever keep in touch with me (despite the fact that I'm now on Facebook), and my sister's leaving for a summer internship in L.A. this weekend, so it's going to be just my parents and me... yeah, maybe it won't be so bad to get out of the house, in one way or another...

But what's really eating at me inside is the fact that I'm not going to see any of my friends from Loyola for quite a while.  The last three summers, I missed them a lot, but I could take comfort in the fact that I would definitely see them again in just a few months.  But this year, it's different.  Everyone's going their separate ways, myself included.  Come August, I'm going to once again be a stranger in a strange land.  I'm sure I'll make new friends at Clemson, but it's just hard to let go of the ones I already have.  But it's not like this was anything new to me - I had to deal with the same situation when I first left for Loyola four years ago, and I got through it just fine.  Besides, I'm sure I'll see them all again at some point, whether it's during a visit this summer, at Bull & Oyster in January, at a class reunion, or some other time and place.  It's only a matter of when.  The fact that I'm going to be so far from home and might not be able to come home during every break like I used to makes it all uncertain, and it's that uncertainty that bothers me. 

But there is one pain in my heart that I won't be able to assuage as easily.  Three years ago, I met this girl in one of my classes.  It took me a whole semester to work up the nerve to actually talk to her, but when I finally did, I knew right away that I was in love in a way that I'd never felt before.  I really felt that she could be the one I'd spend the rest of my life with.  But try as I might, I could never take our relationship out of the Friend Zone into something more significant.  I've told you all about her before - just read my post from Valentine's Day ("All You Single Ladies (and Fellas)", 14 February 2010).  Well, in the months since then, I finally came to my senses and realized that I just couldn't love anyone else as much as I love this girl.  She means the world to me, and it just kills me that I never got the chance to tell her how I really feel about her.  I should have at least written her a note or something.  Now I don't know when I'll ever see her again, and it would be very difficult in the current situation to maintain any sort of romantic relationship.  When I left home for Loyola, there were a lot of girls that I liked that I had to leave behind, but I knew there were many more, better girls at Loyola.  But this girl is different.  I just can't see myself in love with another girl.  This is the one part of my life where I can't move on.  If I had one reason to want to turn back time and live last year over again, this would be it. 

Well, there you have it.  That's why I'm feeling depressed right now about having graduated from college.  I have to face the real world just as much as everyone else, even though my path is slightly different from those the rest of my classmates will take, and I just don't think I'm ready for it.  I guess the only thing I can do is just suck it up and face my future head on. 

To all of my friends who are graduating this year, both at Loyola and elsewhere, I wish you nothing but the best, wherever your life may lead you.  To all my friends at Loyola, it's been an amazing four years with you all, and I will never forget all of the great times we had.  Please keep in touch, and know that wherever I'm at, you will always be welcome. 

[]_:-)

And finally, to a certain girl from Loyola - I'm sure you know who you are by now - If you're reading this, I just want to tell you that I LOVE YOU, and I miss you already.  I hope that you can forgive me for never having the courage to tell you while we were still together.  I just want you to know that no matter what happens, you will always have a special place in my heart, and if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm always just a phone call away.  <3

2010 Stanley Cup Playoff Predictions

With the Stanley Cup Playoffs starting tomorrow night, it's time for me to make my predictions (though I should be working on my math homework right now instead!)  Last year, I posted them on my Facebook page, but now that I have a blog, I figured this would be the place to post my picks.

A quick recap of the NHL playoff system: The highest-seeded team in each conference plays the lowest-seeded team, the second-highest plays the second-lowest, and so on.  Each playoff series is best-of-seven, with the higher-seeded team hosting games 1, 2, 5, and 7; the lower-seeded team hosts games 3, 4, and 6.  The remaining teams are re-seeded after each round.

Playoff Rankings: 
Eastern Conference: 
1) Washington Capitals
2) New Jersey Devils
3) Buffalo Sabres
4) Pittsburgh Penguins
5) Ottawa Senators
6) Boston Bruins
7) Philadelphia Flyers
8) Montreal Canadiens

Western Conference:
1) San Jose Sharks
2) Chicago Blackhawks
3) Vancouver Canucks
4) Phoenix Coyotes
5) Detroit Red Wings
6) Los Angeles Kings
7) Nashville Predators
8) Colorado Avalanche

And now, without further ado, my picks:

Conference Quarterfinals:
Capitals over Canadiens in 4
Devils over Flyers in 6
Bruins over Sabres in 7
Penguins over Senators in 6

Sharks over Avalanche in 6
Blackhawks over Predators in 5
Canucks over Kings in 6
Red Wings over Coyotes in 7

Conference Semifinals:
Capitals over Bruins in 6
Devils over Penguins in 5

Red Wings over Sharks in 5
Blackhawks over Canucks in 7

Conference Finals:
Capitals over Devils in 4
Blackhawks over Red Wings in 5

Stanley Cup Final:
Blackhawks over Capitals in 6

Got different picks?  Comment with yours!  Happy Prognosticating (and GO PENS!!)

B-)

I Can't Believe It's Not...

Apparently, people in the neighborhood around Loyola don't use butter on their food anymore, because I went to both Primo's (one of Loyola's dining areas that also has a convenience store) and the Royal Farms down the street, and neither of them had sticks of real butter in their dairy cases.  All I could find were products that were similar to butter but weren't actually butter - I think the label on the packaging said something to the effect of "vegetable oil spread" or something like that.  Well, so much for baking cookies this weekend!  And this isn't the first time this has happened to me.  This one time last year, when I needed some butter to bake some cookies, neither Primo's, Royal Farms, nor the nearby CVS on York Road had anything not made with hydrogenated vegetable oil, and I ended up using this Blue Bonnet butter substitute in my cookies.  They came out all right, but it just bothered me that I wasn't using real butter.  Now, if I had the time, I could have gone to a grocery store and got a box of butter quite easily, but unfortunately, there are no supermarkets reasonably close to campus; the only way to get to a grocery store is to take the shuttle to the SuperFresh in Towson, and I just didn't have the time.  It just irks me that none of the places nearby had actual butter in stock.

Why the big deal, you ask?  It's simple - I like my foods with natural ingredients.  Sure, I pass on the organic produce to save money, but it's not like that tomato was synthesized from a bunch of chemicals - it still had to grow from a seed on its own, even if its DNA was altered a bit to make it better, so in my book, it's still natural.  But I draw the line when it comes to the choice between butter or margarine / butter substitutes.  From what I understand, the chemical make-up of margarine is only one molecule different from that of plastic, and I can usually tell by the smell and taste that it isn't real butter.  There's even been studies recently suggesting that consuming margarine can cause cancer.  Kinda ironic, since people who used margarine originally did so because they thought it was healthier than butter.  Health issues aside, I just feel kinda leery about imitation or artificially flavored foods - something about chemically synthesized food products just doesn't feel right with me.  It applies to a lot of things I buy - butter, sugar, vanilla extract, bacon bits, milk, and bread, just to name a few.  I guess it's just the fact that it's not the real thing that bothers me.  I like to know that I'm eating real food, and when I bake anything, I take a lot of pride in using natural ingredients, which is why I only use real butter in my cookies; otherwise I feel like I'm deceiving the people who eat them. 

That's why I'm a more than a little annoyed that I can't seem to find actual butter at any of the nearby stores lately.  When it comes to food, I like to know that what I'm buying actually is the product it's supposed to function as.  'Cause if it isn't the real thing, it's just hard to swallow - in more ways than one! 

B-)

She's Just Not That Into Me

Last night at Senior 75's, I discovered yet another of my pet peeves: guys who try to convince me that a certain female friend of theirs is into me when it's blatantly obvious she isn't.  Basically, a friend of some friends of mine is all like, "Dude, you should dance with this girl [pointing at her behind her back]; she really likes you!" but when I try to dance with her, she so coyly maneuvers away from me, so I'm thinking, okay, maybe she's just a little shy, and then this guy's like, "Seriously, man, she likes you!" while said girl is meanwhile dancing with him along with another girl whom this guy's implying is his girlfriend, and by this point I'm realizing that something just isn't jiving here, so I surreptitiously walk away from them.  Now, I can't really tell whether (a) this girl really does like me, but she's trying to mess with my mind, (b) this guy seriously believes, albeit mistakenly, that this girl is into me, or (c) he's lying to me outright.  Seriously, guys, cut the bull crap!  I've been burned too many times before because of people like you who think it's funny to play mind games with an introverted geek like myself who at 22 still can't even get a girl to have lunch with him.  Even a girl's female friends aren't entirely trustworthy, either, as I've learned from experience.  I'll believe that a girl is interested in me only when she tells me in person.  And even then, there's no way to tell if she really means it or not.  But that's for another post...

B-)