Issue #4

Welcome everybody to Issue #4!  Yes, I know, it's not THAT exciting, but still, it's better than paying attention in class, right?  A couple things then I'll let you enjoy the rest of this scrumptious newsletter.  As we said before in the Facebook message, the newsletter will be released in the afternoon/evening of Wednesday as opposed to the morning.  We were staying up past midnight putting this thing together before, so it's just easier this way for us.  I know, selfish reasons, deal with it.  Second, I realize that the columns are probably something that a lot of people just skip over, so it is going to just be limited to one column a week starting this newsletter.  If you would like to write a guest column, get in touch with us!  We're more than willing to let somebody else do our work for us!  That's it, read on!

Column

Don't Judge Me (Part Deux)

By Ben

Last Wednesday, I shared my internet usage with you all and promised to go a whole day without using the internet (mostly).  On Monday, I decided that it would be my day to attempt to follow through.  I was surprisingly pleased with how easy it was.  I spent around four hours in the library doing productive work.  I will admit that I did check my e-mail on several occasions throughout the day, but usually it was from my iPod, so it snuck up on me when I wasn't looking for it.  By the end of the day, I was so satisfied with how productive I had been, I took extra time to spend time with people and goof off in other ways.  Only at 12:30 am when I was getting ready to go to bed did I realize that I had a Spanish composition due at 8 am.

The most frustrating thing about this whole experiment has been trying to stick with it and stay off the computer.  I am convinced that if I just told my password to somebody else so they could change it and only let me onto my computer when I have work to do, I would be twice as productive as I currently am.

Movies (plots courtesy of imdb.com)

In Theaters this Weekend

Monsters vs. Aliens

After being hit by a meteorite on her wedding day, Susan Murphy

 (Witherspoon) is transformed into a monster named Ginormica and subsequently whisked away to a secret government compound where others like her have been rounded up over the years.  When the Earth comes under attack by an alien commander known as Gallaxhar (Wilson), however, Ginormica and her new allies are set free to save the planet.

Galen: Go See It

Ben: Wait and Rent It

The Haunting in Connecticut

For reasons related to their son's health, Peter and Sara Campbell (Donovan and Madsen) relocate their family to Northern Connecticut.  As they settle into their new Victorian home, however, they come face to face with their abode's unsettling history and the supernatural forces who share the space.

Galen: Forget It

Ben: Forget It 

12 Rounds

Detective Danny Fisher (Cena) discovers his girlfriend (Scott) has been kidnapped by an ex-con tied to Baxter's past, and he'll have to successfully complete 12 challenges in order to secure her safe release.

Galen: Wait and Rent It

Ben: Wait and Rent It

On DVD This Week

Quantum of Solace

Seeking revenge for the death of his love, secret agent James Bond sets out to stop an environmentalist from taking control of a country's valuable resources.

Galen: Rent It

Ben: Buy It

Bolt

The canine star of a fictional sci-fi/action show that believes his powers are real embarks on a cross country trek to save his co-star from a threat he believes is just as real.

Galen: Rent It

Ben: Forget It

Procrastination Station

Listal: Almost Unrecognizable

A gallery of actors and actresses in movies who went to drastic measures to look like their character physically.  Feel free to gander around the rest of the site too!

Masalatime: Exam Answers

A collection of quizzes, tests, and papers that have been turned in with rediculous answers and returned with teacher comments.  Some are old and some are new, but all are fun to look at.

Unnecessary Knowledge

A website that has just a fact on it that you may or may not have known.  It's really easy to just sit there and click the "Generate" button at the top for an hour or so...

Today's Big Thing

A website that updates with an awesome video every day, a different one in each of a number of categories.  

Of the Week

Ben's Song of the Week: Like a Boss by The Lonely Island

Galen's Song of the Week: She Moves In Her Own Way by The Kooks

Word of the Week: Farinaceous (a.) - Containing meal or flour.

Person of the Week: Somchai Yoosabi, a firefighter who dressed up as Spiderman in order to save an 11 year old boy from the balcony of the school he attends.  Click here to read more.

Celebrating This Week

Wednesday - March 25, 1634 - The first settlers arrived in Maryland.

Thursday - March 26, 1953 - Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine.

Friday - March 27 - The 143rd birthday of the urinal.

Saturday - March 28, 1963 - The AFL's New York Titans become the New York Jets.

Sunday - March 29, 1886 - The first batch of Coca-Cola is brewed by Dr. John Pemberton.

Monday - March 30, 1867 - Alaska is purchased for $7.2 million.

Tuesday - March 31, 1889 - The Eiffel Tower is inaugurated.

Discussion Question

What do you look forward to most when the weather begins to get warmer?

That's all we got for this issue.  Remember to look on The Brightside!

Issue #3

Welcome back everybody and happy Wednesday! No major changes to this weeks issue, pretty much the same dealio as it has been, except for one thing. This week will mark Ben's first column in The Brightside! So be sure to check it out, definitely worth a read. We are also aware that there are no pictures in this issue, they will return next week. Finally, we started a bracket group for March Madness on Facebook, so be sure to join it and fill out your bracket by clicking here! That's it, read on!

Columns

My Secret Retreat; The Shower

By Galen

I'm sure it's not only mine though. You know that you were either stressed out or bored one day and decided to just go take a shower. I'm know that the topic of how men and women differ in their showering habits has been touched on many times, so I will only briefly mention the subject here. Women see the shower as their own personal spa; a place where they can pamper themselves and prepare themselves for whatever challenges will be facing them in the near future. Men see a shower as a daily obligation where the most pampering that he would do for himself is blow his nose and let the water rinse it off of his hands, yes it's disgusting, you'll get over it. Moving on now, there are many other things about a shower that make it a retreat, and not so much a daily obligation. I'm sure that many of you find the shower relaxing enough to even sing in, even if you wouldn't be caught dead singing in front of any sort of audience. It doesn't even matter if the walls are paper thin, the water will drown it out, right? Not so much, and I found this out the other day as I exited the bathroom to my roommate giving me a standing ovation for my rendition of Cascada's Miracle (don't judge me, you know you've sung it too). You could also choose to turn the entire bathroom into your own personal sauna for that short amount of time. It feels wonderful, exiting the hot waterfall created by the shower-head only to be engulfed in the swirls of steam that have been created. It's fantastic, right up until you open the door and feel the cold air come rushing in, followed quickly by the slam as you retreat back into your steamy paradise. I have found that the negative side effect of this is when I am trying to shave. My process goes something like this; lather cream on face, wipe off mirror, shave right cheek, wipe off mirror, shave right part of neck, cut myself, wipe off mirror... so on and so forth. Then there's the people who just jump in the shower, do what's necessary, and jump right back out. They just don't appreciate how amazing showers are. It's so easy to just stand there with the water running over you, right up until your roommate is pounding on the door saying you've been in there for an hour. Or the hot water will run out, which is the absolute worst! You will be standing there reflecting on the day and your accomplishments and all of a sudden, your whole body turns to ice. Talk about a terrible way to end your retreat...

Don't Judge Me...

By Ben

This morning I woke up at 7:03a.m. While standing in the shower in the fifty-seven minutes leading up to my Spanish class I was thinking about how much time I spend on the computer during the day, and specifically how much time I spend on the internet. Before I had a computer in my room 24/7 I read books, built forts outside, and played sports more than I do now. To scientifically determine how much of my life I was spending on the computer I placed my watch on the keyboard and started the stopwatch every time I logged in throughout the day. With just under two hours left in the day my watch reads 4:40:47. That clocks in at about twenty percent of my day, which I deem way too much. So my personal challenge for the coming week is to set a day where I only check my email three times (we have to start somewhere). What led to my shower induced reflection was spending spring break at home with spotty internet and a slow connection. I actually spent hours away from my computer reading books (Outliers as well as others) and working outside (when it was not overcast and cold). Since I am in the middle of four different unfinished books I hope to put a dent in. Next week I will report on how my internet free day went, and any other important thoughts that come to me in the shower.

Update: Midnight passed and the final time for the day was 6:02:52. While you are welcome to comment on how pathetic that is (a quarter of the day) I think everyone should think about how much time they waste every day, and not comment on how useless I can be.

Movies (Plots courtesy of imdb.com)

In Theaters This Weekend

Knowing

When Ted Myles (Cage) begins to suspect that his son has discovered an artifact that accurately predicts natural disasters and other catastrophes, he goes on to believe his family plays a role in the events that are about to unfold.

Galen: Go See It

Ben: Forget It

Duplicity

A pair of corporate spies (Owen and Roberts) who share a steamy past hook up to pull off the ultimate con job on their respective bosses -- but can they learn to truly love and trust one another?

Galen: Rent It

Ben: Rent It

I Love You, Man

Friendless Peter Klaven (Rudd) goes on a series of man-dates to find a Best Man for his wedding. But when his insta-bond his new B.F.F. (Segal) puts a strain on his relationship with his Fiancée (Jones) can the trio learn to live happily ever after?

Galen: Go See It

Ben: Go See It

On DVD This Week

Punisher: War Zone

After hunting down and killing hundreds of violent criminals, Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, faces his most deadly foe yet: Jigsaw.

Galen: Forget It

Ben: Forget It

Twilight

A teenage girl risks everything when she falls in love with a vampire.

Galen: Forget It

Ben: Forget it

Procrastination Station

South Park Studios

Like South Park? Want to watch all of the episodes, for free? This is the website for you then. here you can watch every single episode of South Park ever made without paying a dime! And it's actually endorsed by Comedy Central, so it's completely legal too!

11 Points

A blog that has lists of 11 items with a little bit of information about each item on the list. As the site says “everything belongs in a list….and 10 item lists are for cowards”

Grow Games

These games are addicting, it's as simple as that. They are listed on the left side of the website, you simply need to add the items to the world in the order you deem necessary, but the order you choose effects the outcome at the end, so beware...

Not Always Right

Mini dialogues submitted by people working with customers who have interesting confrontations. Definitely a fun read.

Of The Week

Ben's Song of the Week: New Math by Bo Burnham

Galen's Song of the Week: Good Time by Leroy (you might recognize it from here)

Word of the Week:

Quinquelobared (a.) - Cut less than halfway into portions, usually somewhat rounded.

Person of the Week: Jerry from Fenton, MO who saved his neighbor from a would-be attacker (a convicted rapist) who broke into her apartment. Oh yeah, he is legally blind too. What have you done for your neighbors lately? Click here for more.

Celebrating This Week

Wednesday: March 18, 1981 - Buffalo Sabres sets NHL record of 9 goals in 1 period (vs Toronto)

Thursday: March 19, 1861 - The First Taranaki War ends in New Zealand

Friday: March 20 - Big Bird's Birthday!!!

Saturday: March 21, 1905 - Albert Einstein publishes his theory on special relativity.

Sunday: March 22, 1993 - Intel introduces the Pentium Processors

Monday: March 23 - National Puppy Day

Tuesday: March 24, 1930 - Pluto is named a planet.

Discussion Question

What do you all think of The Brightside so far? We are on our third issue, so you have been able to get a good idea of what is going into each issue. What do you think should stay, what should go? Tell us in the comments section!

That's it! Until next time, remember to look on The Brightside!

Issue #2

Here it is folks, issue number two! We know, it's very exciting, but try to contain yourself before the people around you start giving you weird looks. The first issue was welcomed with open arms; everyone seemed to enjoy it and we received some good feedback. Please make note though, there is a comment section on here for a reason people! Oh and we changed the movie section so that you can click on the title of the movie to see a trailer for it. That's all we have for this little opening blurb...read on!!!

Column

My Own Personal Top 5 List

By Galen

It's something that nobody can avoid, society seems to be drawn to lists that rate how amazing things are. You know it's true too, those top one hundred countdowns on vh1 are the ideas of a genius, because they know that as soon as you tune in to watch them countdown items 100-81, you'll be back for the other episodes until you finally know what they thought was the number one choice for the given category. You then blatantly disagree and switch the channel, only to tune in next week to watch them countdown the top 100 celebrity meltdowns all over again. You will all be extremely excited, however, to hear that I decided to make my own countdown, which you should already know because of the title of this column. Don't worry, it's only five items, not a hundred; or maybe I can count down from one hundred, starting with 100-96. That should fill up this section for a couple months. Nah, too dull. Here it is though, my top five most addictive childhood toys.

5. Furby - This may be contested by some other people, but it's number five basically because I never owned one. We all know how dangerous these things are. It's like a Tomagotchi broke out of it's little electronic keychain home and became real. They were the hottest toy to have at one point, whether you were genuinely trying to keep it alive, or just attempting to teach it some swear words without your parents knowing, it always ended up in the same place; either under your bed or on the top shelf in your closet with the batteries laying next to it.

4. Skip-It - This may not be as popular as the preceding Furby, but the Skip-It will always hold a special place in my heart. Seeing the commercial filled with all the kids whipping the plastic anchor around their ankles was a true signal that summer was coming. The genius behind this toy was not the repetitive motion that would eventually leave a permanent ring around your ankle, it was the counter that would record how many times it would go around you. Kids would compete all the time to see if they could one up each other, and when your friend beat your score, you know you just hit that little plastic button to reset it to zero so they would have no proof.

3. Beanie Babies - These have absolutely no point to them, and yet for some reason, it seems like everybody has bins of these miniature animals filled with beans hidden somewhere in their house. I'm still trying to figure out why these things became collectors items in the first place. The ones that seemed to become the most expensive were the dinosaurs, which I was fortunate enough to own two out of the three of. Unfortunately, I only discovered that they were worth hundreds of dollars after I tore their tags off, which effectively made them worth, well, nothing.

2. Razor Scooters - These came out of nowhere one night and basically became the must have toy one christmas. Everyone wanted one and everyone had to get one, but it had to be a Razor scooter, not any of those cheap knock-offs that were trying to ride the coattails of the real deal. The flood of accessories and how-to books were soon to follow. The necessary wheelie bar and the books explaining how to do tricks on it, these were necessary to show the world that you were, in fact, the coolest kid in the neighborhood.

1. Pokemon - Everything about these foreign monsters was addicting and perfectly planned. Between the cards, the tv show, and the video games, everything was in place to make this the perfect kiddie crack. You could always find kids carrying their cards around, trading them in order to make their collection the best one possible. What was rare to see though was kids actually playing the card game. They then began to add about 300 unnecessary pokemon and making games revolving around not only every color of the rainbow, but beginning to make up different colors just so they continue to make money to this very day. It's ok though, we will always remember the original 150 Pokemon, and how Blastoise would beat them all up no problem...

Movies (Plots courtesy of imdb.com)

In Theaters This Weekend

Race to Witch Mountain

When a cab driver (Johnson) picks up an unusual fare -- a brother and sister duo with paranormal powers, who are being pursued by a nefarious organization -- he teams up with a discredited astrophysicist (Gugino) to protect the kids and, ultimately, the rest of humankind.

Galen: Forget It

Ben: Forget It

Miss March

Waking up from a four-year coma, Eugene (Cregger) takes a cross-country trip with his sex-crazed best friend (Moore) in order to crash a party at a famous men's magazine's legendary headquarters so he can win back his former sweetheart -- who is one of the mag's hottest new pin-ups.

Galen: Rent It

Ben: Go See It

The Last House on the Left

After kidnapping and brutally assaulting two young women, a gang led by a prison escapee (Dillahunt) unknowingly finds refuge at a vacation home belonging to the parents of one of the victims -- a mother (Potter) and father (Goldwyn) who devise an increasingly gruesome series of revenge tactics.

Galen: Rent It

Ben: Forget It

On DVD This Week

Transporter 3

Frank Martin puts the driving gloves on to deliver Valentina, the kidnapped daughter of a Ukranian government official, from Marailles to Odessa on the Black Sea. En route, he has to contend with thugs who want to intercept Valentina's safe delivery and not let his personal feelings get in the way of his dangerous objective.

Galen: Rent It

Ben: Rent It

Role Models

Wild behavior forces a pair of energy drink reps to enroll in a Big Brother program.

Galen: Rent It

Ben: Buy It

Milk

The story of Harvey Milk, and his struggles as an American gay activist who fought for gay rights and became California's first openly gay elected official.

Galen: Rent It

Ben: Rent It

Procrastination Station

Photoshop of Horrors

A compilation of professional photoshop errors that got past the editor, but certainly should not have.

GraphJam

Graphs that encompass everything from movies, to celebrities, to just plain weirdness. All created and uploaded by users.

Wacky Uses

Find uses for everyday things that you have sitting all around you. For instance: did you know that you can use Gatorade to clean a toilet bowl? Yeah, think about that next time you drink it...

HDRcreme

This website is basically just a huge library of photos that people have taken, but the majority of them are really amazing. You can spend a ton of time on here just looking at pictures.

Of The Week

Ben's Song of the Week: Oxford Comma by Vampire Weekend

Galen's Song of the Week: Bastard by Ben Folds

Word of the Week:

Cockamamie (adj.) - ludicrous/foolish

Person of the Week: Rathin Banerjee who, in India, is training crocodiles to hunt poachers, and then releasing them into the wild. Click here for more.

Celebrating this Week

Wednesday: March 11- 1989 Cops premiers on Fox, then a small network, starting the interest in reality base TV shows

Thursday: March 12- 1912 Girl Scouts of America was founded, forever bringing delicious cookies to our doorsteps.

Friday: March 13- 1781 The planet Uranus is discovered by the astronomer Herschel, thus creating a completely new genre of space jokes.

Saturday: March 14-1997 President Clinton undergoes knee surgery to insure that he will be able to continue to play golf.

Sunday: March 15-44BC Julius Caesar is murdered by his senators (otherwise known as the Ides of March).

Monday: March 16-1995 Mississippi formally ratifies the 13th amendment (ending slavery), the last state to do so.

Tuesday: March 17-461 St. Patrick Dies, giving the world an excuse to dye their beer green and drink it at 7 a.m.

Discussion Question

Which Pokemon in your opinion was the best? Be honest, you know you remember them, so don't even try to pretend that you're too cool for it.

Feel free to discuss your opinions below in the comments section or on our facebook page.

Well, there goes another issue. Until next time, remember to look on The Brightside!