The Method method

Dear MASAPers,

First of all, I apologize for my lack of newsletters. School and work have swamped me. (By the way, this is not the automated Mr. President that Travis referred to in previous posts. This is the real me. The automated me was created to try and fill the void created by my absence.) I’ve been stretched very thin. I've gotten 5 hours of sleep the past three nights in a row. Needless to say, I’m happy to have a short chunk of time where I can address you.

When I was in high school, I had the awesome opportunity to participate in several musicals. I loved it. Acting and singing were so much fun. Sadly, it didn’t last though. Like many things in life, we have to pick and choose our priorities carefully. So, since high school, I haven’t done any plays or musicals. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t found opportunities to do some acting, but it just hasn’t been quite the same.

I’m sure most (if not all) of you have had experiences with acting, whether it be in a play or simply in pretending to be someone else as a prank (like the one time I pretended to be a homeless deaf-mute, trying to hitch a ride). I’m also sure that most of us could always use a few pointers on how to become a better actor. So in order to facilitate that growth, I’ve enlisted the help of one of my favorite actors, Sir Ian McKellen:



Jeff Yeager
Mr. President. Actor. Homeless deaf-mute.

Two simple, yet often unexpressed, sentiments

Two of the most important phrases in the English language are "I love you" and "I'm sorry." However, two of the most unexpressed sentiments are, "go, go gadget" and "and knowing is half the battle." Do you ever wonder how your life could change by incorporating those two simple phrases into your everyday conversations? For example:

"Did you realize that you just took the last piece of cake?" "And knowing is half the battle."
"I heard the other day that trans-fats are on the rise again and the cause of childhood obesity." "And knowing is half the battle."

Or, my personal favorite:

"Hey, could you hand me that stapler, please?" "go, go, gadget get it yourself."
"I'm really tired; let's go to bed." "go, go, gadget video games come first."

Personally, I think these two little phrases have immense value in society today; my challenge is to incorporate them more in my daily speech and I challenge you to do the same. I know you'll be happy you did.



Kevin Philip Pepper Jr.
-Believing that is his real name is half the battle

Nothing Remarkable

There was nothing remarkable about yesterday's date. 10.10.10 has occurred 5 times since the advent of the Gregorian calendar. To say it is unique and exciting is to be wrong; just because an event has not occurred in your lifetime doesn't make it special. Millions of people have experienced 10.10.10 before us. It you were to argue that a certain date on a calendar were special, you would also have to argue that any event in your own life, whether experienced by others before or not, is also unique. Think about it--if you were to be married tomorrow, would that be special? No, it wouldn't, because 9,456,765,200 have been married before you. WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? Just because your shorts fell down at the pool doesn't make you the center of attention.

Which brings me to my next topic: Worst bands of all time. I've never met anyone that said they didn't like music. We all like it. It's one of the 6 universal languages (#1 music #2 love #3 English #4 Star Wars #5 Apple Computer Inc. #6 cheeseburgers). There are, however, some types of music that should never have been born (think auto tune). What's really the worst is when a group of musicians gets together and consistently creates terrible, awful music. The kind of sound that makes you want to run to the nearest audiology clinic and have anything, even Amanda Bynes' voice if necessary, played directly into your auditory nerves instead.

I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about. There are probably as many tastes in music as there are dropped shorts at pools annually, but I think we can all come to a consensus about certain types of music that are better left unsung, un-played and most importantly, unheard.

The following is my personal top 10 list of least favorite bands:

#1 They Might be Giants
#2 See #1
#3 See #2
#4 See #3
#5 See #4
#6 See #5
#7 See #6
#8 See #7
#9 See #8
#10 See #9

I have evidence, but I also possess a moral responsibility not to prove it to you. How would drug education look if the instructor said to kids, "PCP is the worst!" and one of the children asked, "But how? Can you prove it?" and the instructor said, "Of course! Come try this PCP!" That would be totally ineffective. So yes, 'They Might be Giants' or like I prefer to refer to them 'They Might have been dropped on their heads from Giant heights' IS the worst band, and NO I won't show you how or why. It would be morally irresponsible to inject you with such powerful poison. You'll just have to trust me.


Here's a video I've been especially wanting to share with you all. It looks like fantastic fun, is shot beautifully and most expertly edited:
(Do yourself a favor and watch it full screen at 720p resolution. It's worth it!)



-Travis Moore
Everything Remarkable

Waking Up

September 30th, 2010

Dear Diary,

Today was a great day. I've missed out on quite a few things recently: 4 weeks of classes, Switzerland's Federal Council elections, Labor Day, Linkin Park's new album, Christina Zmolek and JJ Campbell's birthdays and a handful of football games.

Just as requested, I was woken up from my yearly hibernation (I'm so grateful for Jeff Yeager, MASAP automated robot, for rousing me from my slumber just as I'd programmed him to do). At first I went all Cave of Wonders on him, but can I be blamed for being a bit groggy and disoriented after being asleep for 30 full days? I think not.

Now that I'm well rested, I have a few goals, which I'd like to list here so I can refer back to them:
-return to my pre-hibernation weight.
-catch up on my college classes
-give Jeff Yeager a treat (maybe a new integrated circuit, a new motherboard or upgraded OS)
-Wish JJ and Christina both very happy birthdays
-Write in my diary more often. I really slacked off while I was sleeping.



-Travis Moore
Cave of Wonders