MSN

On April 8th of this year, Microsoft officially began forcing users from Windows Live (formerly known as MSN) to Skype.

MSN started in 1999 and has really changed the world for the young generations.  When I was younger I didn't know a single person who didn't have MSN.  It slowly began disappearing, but it always had its glory days.

Teens everywhere have so many memories from the Instant Messaging program.  Whether it was stupid group conversations about nothing, the classic "hey sup?" conversations or talking to SmarterChild (maybe just me).

MSN was the birthing ground of so many abbreviations, and was home to countless absolutely pointless conversations.  Be honest, we all had these conversations:



      Person: hey!

      Me: hey

      Person: sup?

      Me: nm, u?

      Person: nm.

     Me: cool.

*5 minutes later*

      Person: gtg, bye!

Oh the excitement of MSN.

So why did MSN disappear from the face of the Earth?

This one's pretty easy.  Newer and better things came out than it.

Probably the coolest thing MSN had was the Nudge feature, which only allowed you to shake the chat window of the other person.

Facebook came out and you could instant message, post pictures, post on walls and MSN all of a sudden seemed like a cheap second.

Then the emergence of cell phones really began, and text messaging turned into mobile instant messaging.  This made even facebook seem like a second option.

In today's day and age MSN really has no place.  All communication is done through your cell phone, be it text messaging, facebook or instant messaging.

MSN really left behind a huge impact on the world.  It is where we got the idea of instant messaging, something that cell phone companies and other websites like facebook have fed off of.

RIP MSN.

Shants

Remember in elementary school when the cool kids (like myself) always had their short/pant hybrids that zipped at the knee?

I was one of those especially cool kids who would swap around the bottoms so I would have multicoloured pants.

Unfortunately zip off pants are no longer cool.  If I wore a pair today I wouldn't be able to walk down the street without getting beat up by a 6th grader and having my lunch money stolen.

I honestly am at a loss as to why these pants are no longer a thing.  Who would not want pants that simply unzip into shorts?

Maybe they disappeared because it wasn't enough for the cool kids just to have them, or I mean maybe we were just not the cool kids... (I'm having an epiphany)

Its not like you ever see Justin Bieber or Kanye West rocking a pair of bright blue zip offs.  But how is that any less fashionable than this?

If Justin can make looking like a mentally handicapped farmer cool I'm sure the same could be done for zip off pants.

I thought of what zip off pants might be used for today (because they are still being made).

I thought of things like archaeologists, mountain climbers and birders but apparently I was wrong.

After some research I realized that not even birders wear them.

Popular bird blogger "Elizabird" stated: 

"To be a birder does not mean you must lose a sense of fashion. It is okay to not look like a birder to be in the field. Sure there are times when it makes sense to wear zip off pants and the vest and the silly hat. But if you want to go into the field in a Jackie O scarf and skirt that is fine. It depends what kind of birding you are doing .

Girls it is okay to feel pretty and put together while birding."

If not even a birder thinks that these are an acceptable fashion then I really don't think there is any hope at them making a return.

Either way I will be stocking up on them in hopes that they do. 

Kevin Ware (WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT)

If you're a basketball fan or a Twitter user you probably remember the horrific injury to Kevin Ware's leg during March Madness 2013.  Ware went up to block a 3 point, and he came down awkwardly resulting in a horrifying compound fracture (probably the grossest injury I've ever seen in sports).

thehollywoodgossip.com

It really does not look human.  Ware was clearly in a ton of pain, but was on the floor repeatedly telling his teammates just to win the game.

Several months later Ware is back in action, returning to a standing ovation on Wednesday night.  First play he saw he took a pass, squared up and sunk the basket.  Movie quality.

Ware had all but slipped off of the social media radar until his return, but is right back on it getting over 100'000 hits in one night on YouTube just to see him hit a 3 pointer.

A scriptwriter couldn't have done it any better, and I hope to see Ware have a great career.

Sea Monkeys

If your parents bought you Sea Monkeys as a pet when you were younger then they probably didn't love you.

These are quite possibly the lamest creatures out there, which became so popular because of good marketing.



This ridiculous advertising made people believe that they were buying some amazing beautiful family of mini water dwelling humans.  They promised the most adorable pets to bring smiles, laughter and fun into your home.  They also said that they are so full of tricks and love to stunt around and play games with each other.

These creatures were really nothing more than some genetically mutated crustaceans.  Of course the humanoid like appearance depicted in the advertisement is really nothing like the crustacean at all.  They say these creatures are adorable but really they are extremely creepy looking.  I don't see the appeal in watching a bunch of these gross looking creatures float around in a little container of water, but to each his own.

I guess the reason for its loss of popularity is its a one and done type thing.  Once you've seen how disappointing they really are you don't by anymore.

They also used comic books as their way of advertising the product to kids.  Kids don't really read comic books anymore, they just play on their iPads and iPhones so there isn't an easy way to advertise to the younger age groups.

While the product is significantly less popular today, they still are in existence and have gained a cult following.

In researching this product I came across one website called "seamonkeyworship.com."  On the home page of this site it reads "bringing enthusiasts closer to Sea Monkey Fanatical World Domination!"  Frankly this scares the hell out of me.

Further proof that Sea Monkeys are still around is that on May 16, many celebrate National Sea Monkey Day.  I'm not joking this is a real thing.

For fun ideas on how to celebrate this day, see http://www.seamonkeyworship.com/nationalday.html.

One last thing to leave you with on Sea Monkeys, here is a grown man dressed as one.

Sag My Pants

Remember when on any given day you could walk down the street and see at least 6 guys with their ass hanging out their pants?  Fortunately that number could probably be trimmed down significantly,

depending on where you're walking.

It seemed like everybody was walking around with their pants around their knees, thinking they look fantastic.  In reality these people looked absolutely ridiculous.  This fashion caught on so much that I could walk through a middle school and see a bunch of 12 year old kids with their pants sagged.  Even some of the classier girls got in on this fad.

I was kind of lost in attempting to define this in a more professional manner, or to find its origin so I did what any resourceful individual would do; I wikipedia'd (real verb) it.  Here's what I got:


"Sagging is a manner of wearing trousers (slacks, shorts, pants or jeans) which sag so that the top is significantly below the waist, sometimes revealing much of the underwear. Sagging is predominantly a male fashion. Women's wearing of low-rise jeans to reveal their G-string underwear (the "whale tail") is not generally described as sagging."

"According to Greg Mathis, sagging was adopted from the United States prison system where belts are sometimes prohibited to prevent prisoners from using them as weapons or committing suicide by hanging themselves. The style was later popularized by hip-hop artists in the 1990s. It later became a symbol of freedom and cultural awareness among some youths or a symbol of their rejection of the values of mainstream society."

I really don't think that any "saggers" were flaunting their boxers as a symbol of freedom, but they did create quite the reaction.

Many local governments, schools and transit agencies made rules and regulations attempting to rid of the fashion.  Even Obama reacted to the fashion, but said that laws banning it were "a waste of time ... Having said that, brothers should pull up their pants. You are walking by your mother, your grandmother, your underwear is showing. What's wrong with that? Come on. Some people might not want to see your underwear. I'm one of them."

Perhaps the biggest factor in sagging's disappearance was activist "General" Larry Platt, who performed a song on his American Idol audition called Pants on the Ground in 2010 in which he tells all saggers that they look like fools.  He was also in his mid 60s at the time.

Thanks to the heroic efforts of Larry Platt, and some other brothers like Obama, sagging has pretty much disappeared from the streets.  All it really took was someone to make saggers realize that you're lookin like a fool with your pants on the ground.

The Amanda Show

Amanda Bynes is putting on a show a little different than her original.

Bynes has been a very well known actor for a long time, starting mainly with The Amanda Show, but making many other appearances in shows and films.  Bynes then slipped under the radar for quite some time, and people seemed to forget who she was.

The last role we saw a healthy Bynes play was in Easy A, playing a hardcore religious goody-goody high school girl.  Well Amanda Bynes could not be anymore opposite to that role now.

Right this minute Amanda Bynes is working out her release from a rehabilitation center, after erratic behaviour and trouble with the law.

It started with Amanda Bynes' twitter account.  Many people thought this was just an attention getting stunt, but its clear now that it was a lot more than this.  She did it all from lashing out on other celebrities, calling a young niece ugly, trying to get with Drake and discussing her clear obsession with plastic surgery.  Below are some of the things Bynes shared to the world on twitter.

Many of Bynes' friends in the celebrity world showed concern towards her and reached out over twitter, to which she publicly ripped into each and every one of them.

Bynes also shared some less than appropriate pictures, showing her new appearance to people.

These pictures showed just how far the former star was falling.

Then came evidence of Bynes' drug use.  It started with her throwing a glass bong out of her window in her New York apartment.  She was arrested for marijuana possession, yet she still denied that she drinks or does any drugs.  She actually threatened to sue police officers for sexual harassment over the incident

She was also arrested under suspicion of a DUI, but refused to take a breathalyzer.

Despite the former child star's constant denial of any drug use her parents recently stated that she is using drugs and has spent 1.2 million USD in the past few months.  She also has extreme paranoia, covering up windows and smoke alarms because she doesn't want "them" watching her.

It's sad to see that like so many other child stars she fell into this world.  It seems to be a trend, and its sad that the media drives people to this point.  All of her issues seem to be related to the media, and stem from body image issues and the belief that she and others are ugly.  I think the ridiculous pop culture and the attention to it in our society drove yet another young celebrity to insanity.  Its what made Amanda Bynes go from this:

To this:

Amanda Bynes fortunately is getting help from a rehabilitation center, and is reportedly responding well to treatment.

George Bush is still keeping it awesome

I've been wondering for quite some time where the former President of the USA George Bush is up to these days.  I've done some research into it and the answer is not going to come as a surprise to you; nothing.  Bush pretty much keeps to himself in his home of Dallas, besides the odd speech here and there and attending some funerals.  It is incredible how quickly Bush disappeared from the nations consciousness after an 8 year reign he himself describes as "awesome."

I can think of a couple reasons for Bush's disappearance.

1) Bush personally just chooses to keep a low profile.

2) He left a very thin political legacy.  Most of what Bush introduced and spent his 8 years working on were disliked and have worked there way out of Congress.  Pretty much all Bush left behind was the PATRIOT Act and Medicare prescription drug bill.

3) A large portion of America wants to forget about Bush.  The President was portrayed internationally as a bafoon and brought a bad face to American politics.

4) Bush has committed full time to more American pass times than being president, such as hunting and managing his fantasy football team.

Despite Bush's low profile he still is providing the nation with some classic George Bush quotes.

When describing his reign as president Bush stated

"Eight years was awesome and I was famous and I was powerful."

Perhaps the Bushiest Bush quote in Bush history.  It's asking to be a caption to one of these photos:

Joyce Boghosian/The White House

http://wikiality.wikia.com/File:Bush_Chainsaw.jpg

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http://static.guim.co.uk

I'll leave you with a few Bush quotes, and you can decide for yourself why Bush chose to disappear.

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." --Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004


"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." --Washington, D.C., Dec. 19, 2000


"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?" --Florence, South Carolina, Jan. 11, 2000


"People say, how can I help on this war against terror? How can I fight evil? You can do so by mentoring a child; by going into a shut-in's house and say I love you." --Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 2002


"You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test." -Townsend, Tenn., Feb. 21, 2001


"I couldn't imagine somebody like Osama bin Laden understanding the joy of Hanukkah." Washington, D.C., Dec. 10, 2001


"I would say the best moment of all was when I caught a 7.5 pound largemouth bass in my lake." --on his best moment in office, interview with the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, May 7, 2006