February 14, 2013: Goes Well With Other Brass

There are four main brass instruments that one would usually find in the orchestra - trumpets (high notes), trombones (mid-low notes), tubas (very low notes), and french horns (mid notes).

Like any instrument, the horn has a distinctive sound set apart from other brass instruments, but this one has a tone even more set apart from it's four main brethren.  Its shape is also different from the trumpet and trombone, but still somewhat similar to one, the tuba, in that it has a circular shape.

As far as I know, it seems to fill out the middle note range, alongside the trombone, which still goes a bit lower.  It is my personal favorite of the brass family of instruments.

February 13, 2013: This Cocktail Tastes Like Chemicals

(This is the story of how Gene Simmons obtained one of the most uncouth superpowers of all time.  This story is entirely fictitious, and is in no way meant to be taken as reality.  No people portrayed here have actual superpowers, at least as far as I know.)

The year is 2015.  It was night in the Simmons residence.  Famed Kiss member Gene Simmons, also known for his show, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, was doing something very odd in the kitchen.  He was imbibing a full gallon of radioactive fingernail polish.

"Urgh, that's the stuff..."

Now, there is an explanation for this.  Last January, Gene had fallen into a massive vat of this strange substance.  In a very Marvel-esque fashion, he gained the ability to shoot poisonous fingernail polish from any orifice in his body, but the man drawback is that he must have at lease a quarter of a gallon of the stuff in his body at all times, or else when he next uses this ability the poisonous substance will backfire and enter his bloodstream.  And so every week, he polishes off a gallon of the liquid so that he can stay topped off.

The most spectacular event that befell the empowered Gene happened only last week.  A super-corporation with ties to the Illuminati had attempted to take over the world, and after using his rather polished powers to carve a path through enemy soldiers to no avail, Gene hatched an idea.  He brought together the old members of Kiss once more and held a massive concert outside the corporation's main stronghold and headquarters in the hopes of drawing out the leader.  The epic concert lasted for several days, but at last the man came out and Gene drowned him in poisonous fingernail polish.  And that's how Gene Simmons, the power of rock, and fingernail polish saved the world.

 

February 12, 2013: TV Tropes Will Ruin Your Life

Yes, that's right. Hope you enjoyed having mostly non-critical views towards fiction in general.

TV Tropes is a well-known wiki-type site, and one of my favorites.  Unlike it's older sibling, commonly known as That Other Wiki on the site, TV Tropes is a more fun-loving, laid-back site with a relaxed atmosphere.  It has multiple forums and is extremely easy to register to.

Fun fact:  it calls linking to other pages on-site Potholing, a practice of which I shall indulge in for this entry.

It is a rather comprehensive compendium of different writing conventions, plot devices, and figures of speech.  Using this, you can come to understand nearly every single aspect of storytelling and fiction, right down to characters, from heroes to villains.  If you need to know it, TV Tropes probably has the info.

If you stay there long enough, you may find the opposite of life-shattering consequences and corrupted vocabulary may cast it's blessing on you - you could gain an enhanced vocabulary, knowledge enough to impress some teachers, can steer you away from negative writing conventions if you write stories, can make you funnier, and much, MUCH more.  You could well pleasantly benefit from a visit.

February 11, 2013: This May Be Handy

Does anyone need a hand?

Hands are the most versatile appendages, being able t grab & hold, rearrange, operate devices, point out oddities, write, type, and many other tasks.  Our hands and their unique structure is what sets humans apart from most other animals.  However, there is one catch to these Awesome Appendages© that can be complicating - how many people are more adept at one hand than the other.

I, specifically, am right-handed, and I find my right hand is far more useful than my left.  It allows me to write efficiently, pick up objects, all the usual tasks as listed above.  My left hand, however, can barely do any of these things at all...in fact, my left is suited manly for assisting my right in lifting things.  Should I try to write with my left hand, it would come out nearly illegible - something that rarely happens with my right hand.  (My left can type just as well as my right, strangely)  As such, I have a natural tendency and preference to use my right hand, and I generally like it more than the other.  This kind of sentiment is shared with most people, depending on their handedness.

February 5, 2013: D'OH!!!

 

 Do you see that up there?  That majestic, sweet pastry practically leaking with divine essence?  That, my friends, is the holy grail of all pastries:  the donut.

Donuts are without a shadow of a doubt the best baked good to ever hit the public eye.  The have an extraordinary range of variations (such as the greatest of them all, the jelly donut, pictured above), are easy to produce in mass quantities, and can be fitted many at a time in boxes for when an on-the-go snack is called for.  Donuts, in other words, are perfect for anything, and you'll be hard-pressed to find someone who dislikes them (and do I pity those poor souls).

February 4, 2013: Tennisandals

This should be a no-brainer: tennis shoes (or as many people seem to pronounce it, 'tenna' shoes), or any other shoe that covers your entire foot, are better than sandals.  However, it seems that people have not thought about this, and continue to choose sandals over safer shoe types. Let's see why they could reconsider.

Tennis shoes, given how they cover the entire foot, prevent your feet from being exposed to the elements as much as sandals do.  Example:  you are walking through an area known to contain many cockleburs.  You have no choice but to make this trek, as something important lies within the area, or perhaps beyond it.  It is also the middle of summer, and the sun is beating down upon you.  You are wearing sandals, as well, and as you walk, your feet are pricked and stuck by the sharp spines of the burs innumerable times, and are subjected to sunburn.  After you've reached your destination, your feet are so sore that you frantically begin to look for a place under some shade to sit.  Had you worn some tennis shoes, you wouldn't be in such a prickly situation, no?

February 1, 2013: Saltier Than a Sailor

Salt has been a part of human culinary practices since the beginning of time.  It has added it's characteristic flavor to our foods since ancient times, and with the advent of the humble salt shaker came a whole world of ease in applying salt to the food on your plate.  It's something someone will almost always see on their dining table, and would be sorely out of place in most other places.

Salt shakers also let one know when it's salt reserves are running low, which allows for quick and easy refilling.  They give ease to applying just the amount of salt one would desire on their foodstuffs, and thus allow for as much flavor as wanted.  They also make for great decorations when coupled with pepper shakers.