Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The Blogging Phenomena


A new craze...

5 years ago, if someone told you to check out their blog, you would have no clue what they were talking about. But today, it’s a common invitation.
If you’re somewhat new to the blogging world like me, you might have the erroneous idea that blogging is for Mormon mothers or young, recently married women who “are too mature for facebook.”
This post is to clue you (and me) into a rapidly increasing phenomenon that isn’t going out of style in the near future. Strap in, web surfers, it looks like blogs are the new magazine.

Blogging Statistics

Wrap your mind around a couple of these statistics:

In early 2010, Technorati.com reported that in 2009, there were 133,000,000 blogs.
Two-Thirds of bloggers are male
If you are an internet user, there is a 77% chance you read blogs
60% of blog users are between 18-44
75% have college degrees and 40% have graduate degrees
More than half are married and have children
For a more complete list, click here
But here’s the most tragic blogging statistic, Lady Gaga is the most popular blog post subject. (Interesting side note, on January 25, 2011, Jack Lalanne was number 2? Haven’t heard of him? Neither had I, check him out. I wanna be like him when I’m 97!)

Why Blogging?

Now that you’re converted to blogism like I am, you might be asking why blogs? 61% say that they blog to supplement their income. Blogs can be a big time
money maker. Perez Hilton for example is worth more than $32 Million. And sorry, I’m not even going to dignify a link to his site. Many entrepreneurs are finding ways to make their blogs interesting enough and create enough advertising revenue to make a full time job for themselves.
Also, people here “in the bubble” blog as pseudo missionary work. Two examples of this are C. Jane and Stephanie and here is an article proving it can be effective, check it out- pretty interesting.


Where do you fit in? Why do you read or write blogs?

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Jimmer Fredette

JIMMER


BYU Basketball's Point Guard


BYU's Jimmer Fredette drives in the lane against a University of Utah playerIt is Jimmer Fredette's senior year and he is living it up! Jimmer has had a solid career at BYU but he has really lit it up this season! Jimmer currently is the nation's leading scorer averaging 26.7 points per game. He was voted on the pre-season all american team and even practiced with team USA this summer. Jimmer scored 49 points against Arizona last year and 37 against Florida in the first round of the NCAA tourney. This year Jimmer put up 33 up against Arizona again, 39 against a tough UNLV team in Vegas, 47 against arch rival Utah, and most recently put up 42 points against CSU!!


Jimmer who?

Jimmer Fredette Smiles at BYUYet he is still a humble guy from Glens Falls New York. Jimmer grew up playing against his brother, guys on the playground, and even inmates. Yeah thats right inmates! His Dad took him and his brother to play in the local prison. This might explain why he has unlimited shooting range and some pretty sick dribbling handles. His dream was to play in the NBA and his brother even made him sign a contract to work his hardest to get to the NBA. Lately he is getting a lot of buzz by the media and especially be ESPN. Yet Jimmer stays grounded and keeps a perspective on things and you will continue to see the same composed and smiling Jimmer on the court.

Big Game for Jimmer

This Wednesday will prove to be a tough test for ranked number 9 BYU as they host ranked no. 6 San Diego St. This might just be the biggest basketball game at BYU in the last 10 years! Yet there has been quite the controversy over the new rules for camping out for the students that hold the all sports pass. There is a lively discussion on this facebook page about the new procedures, check it out: Click Here
Update: Jimmer scored 43 points against SDSU!!!

Just for Fun:


DISASTER DATES

We have all had bad dates, but some are worse than others. Here is a real live example of a RM's first date after returning home from serving the Lord for two years.

First Date


"After returning home from the "mish", I was reunited with a sweetheart I had dated two years earlier. She came to my homecoming and I was blown away by her beauty. I spent the entire first date, which consisted of dinner and football in the park, praying to the Lord to let me know if this was the women I should spend eternity with (OMG, this is freaking ridiculous). In retrospect, I am certain she knew that I was praying the whole time, and that didn't help the date out any. After the date was over I took her home, only to find a surprise shoebox on her front porch. As she opened the shoebox, her cat of 18 years was lying mutilated inside the box. There was a letter in the box, that said someone saw a dog eating the cat and that they had wrestled the cat out of the dog's mouth and put it in the box. My date began screaming and crying uncontrollably and curled up in the fetal position on her porch. Being fresh off the "mish" I didn't even dare touch her to give her comfort, so I just stared at her for over 20 minutes while she sobbed on the front porch. Then the owners of the dog came by, she jumped up and ran towards them screaming obscenities and hitting them. Immediately after taking her anger out on the dog owners, she turned to me and said 'I need to go get ready. I have another date that will be here in 30 minutes.' To cap things off, the next week I saw her at church. Not knowing what to say, my mouth uttered the words 'How's your cat?' Needless to say, that was the last I saw of her." One the bright side he didn't have to have DTR with the girl!

This is a classic! We would like to hear about your dating disasters. Please leave a comment and share with us.

DATING DO'S AND DON'TS

Dating Tips


Do- be leery of a guy who hasn't kissed you after seven dates, he might be socially inept.
Don't- expect a relationship out of a guy who kisses you on the first date.

Do- feel free to communicate your feelings for someone you like.
Don't- ask to hold a DTR after the first date, or for that matter, after any number of dates.

Do-send the after-date text if you are interested.
Don't-continue to send texts if you're not receiving responses.

D0-dress to impress.
Don't-talk about A&F, True Religion, or any other clothes brand on your date.

And a few more things...

Dating Humor


A Kiss is not a contract, but it is very, very nice!




Dating for Married Couples


And for you married folk out there, mix up the schedule once in a while, cause it's BUSINESS TIME!



Share your dating do's and don'ts with us, we would love to hear them all.

FUN DATE IDEAS

With the steep competition of great guys and gals at BYU, one must be innovative when it comes to dating ideas. Some advice for the guys out there, dinner and a movie or just "hanging out" is not going to get you too far with the ladies.

Instead, be creative. Or if you are in the accounting program :), you can use one of these ideas:
First Date-Date Ideas-Walking on Water

DATE IDEA-WALKING ON WATER

(Investment=Approx. $18)

Go to Home Depot or Lowes and purchase an 8 foot x 4 foot sheet of Styrofoam.

Date Objective

Design a pair of Styrofoam shoes that will allow you to walk on water. (Dating an engineer, chemist, or physicist may be a bonus)

Fun Part of Date

After designing your shoes, drive to the nearest lake,pond, or pool and test them out. The couple who can walk the farthest on water wins. Falling in the water may create a fun date night as well. :) Enjoy!

DATE IDEA-BYU BASKETBALL GAME

Jimmer practically does walk on water around Provo right now!The Marriott Center might not be your first idea for a fantastic date but it is the hot place to be right now! The team is on fire and Jimmer Fredette cannot be stopped. Spend your night in line and then cheering as BYU basketball wins.

Your Dating Ideas

We admit that we are not the dating pros, so we want to hear your ideas. Please leave a comment telling us about your fun dating ideas.

Also, read up on other dating stories or check out the other things happening in the bubble like sports, humor, blogging, or even Condoleeza Rice.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Salt Lake City Wins $1 Million in Walmart's "Fighting Hunger Together" Competition

Salt Lake City topped communities from throughout the U.S. to win one million dollars to go towards fighting local hunger.  


With over 5 million votes, Salt Lake surpassed all other communities involved to take the top prize of one million dollars.  The next closest community was Fresno, California with 4.3 million votes.  Other cities didn't garner more than 400,000 votes.

The Daily Universe reported on one individual who greatly participated in gathering people's support.


"One pivotal individual was Michael Faragher. Faragher, an Orem native, heard about the “Fighting Hunger Together” campaign while listening to the radio in his car.  At the time, Salt Lake City had climbed from 47th place to 4th place in just a few weeks.
Once he found how easy it was to vote, Faragher said he decided to try to mobilize others to help Salt Lake City win the campaign. He said he tried to make voting as easy and efficient for others as he could.
“We figured out we could set up a wall with lots of posts and all you had to do was click like, leave a comment, and share it and that would give [Salt Lake City] three votes,” Faragher said."


Condoleezza Rice Visits BYU; Speaks on Education


Condoleezza Rice, former secretary of state, visited BYU campus on January 13, 2011 to speak for the university devotional.  



Rice, currently a professor of political economy at Stanford University in the graduate school of business, commented strongly on the declined state of K-12 education.  She encouraged students to volunteer at local schools as tutors and also get involved in "Teach for America."

Student response to the event was extremely supportive, with the Marriott Center reaching capacity.

There were, however, a few concerned about Rice's visit.  Protesters were present outside the Marriott Center Thursday protesting Rice's participation in the U.S.-Afghan-Iraqi war.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Provo Girls = Crazy

Divine Comedy Makes Us Laugh at Provo Girls

Gotta Love those Good Ol' Provo Girls



Only in the Bubble… will you find you find girls like these! Even the cheese nature of video exemplifies the uniqueness or dare I say peculiarity of the Provo Culture. There's another less cheesy video that contains a BYU Old Spice Commercial parody that is worth viewing also.

The important fact in all this is the video is only funny because it is so true! Provo girls are obsessed with marriage, baby hungry, initiate a DTR on the first date, and have crazy big hair. I know, I know – they are not all like this, yeah it’s a stereotype and over exaggerated, but yet there is just too much truth and it’s just too easy to laugh.

Growing up in Oregon it was a huge culture shock when I moved to BYU. Frankly I wasn’t used to all the Mormons. Yet over time I have come to embrace it and thoroughly enjoy trying to understand why Mormons act the way they do.

Just Because...


However, I must caution to all the Provo girls out there – Just because we hung out once, it doesn’t mean we’re in a relationship. AND just because we have been dating for a month, it doesn’t mean I want to talk about marriage… not that this has ever happened or that I would ever name names [Sarah, Angela, Jenna, Megan and S.] ok maybe I’ll get some flack for this post but oh well.

All in all I think it is great that Provo girls know what they want and are determined to get it! Soon enough you are going to find him!

-Brian


Please place your friendly or “appropriate but not so friendly” comments below! Thanks

DTR

DTR means Define the Relationship


Apparently Acronyms Are Fun!


Recently, I was playing a scrabble like game and came across these three letters:

DTR scrabble letters - DTR meaning Define the Relationship


Only in the Bubble… would you know what a DTR stands for! Or I guess if you look DTR up on Urban Dictionary.

Define
The
Relationship

What is a DTR like?


Having a DTR means the couple sits down and talks about where their relationship is going. It should just be going to dinner but somehow needs to be taken to the next level of dating or just remaining as friends. DTR’s are often unexpected and can be very awkward. Hopefully the surprised victim can think quickly on their feet. Or just have disaster dates and avoid a DTR all together.

Mormon Acronyms


DTR’s made me think about Mormons and acronyms in general. We have millions of them, such as:

CTR = Choose the Right
LDS = Latter Day Saint
BoM = Book of Mormon
FHE = Family Home Evening
GA = General Authority
MTC = Missionary
EFY = Especially For Youth
AoF = Articles of Faith
PEC = Priesthood Executive Council
BYC = Bishop’s Youth Council
BSA = Boy’s Scouts of America
CES = Church Educational System
D&C = Doctrine and Covenants
WoW = Word of Wisdom
YSA = Young Single Adult

BotP = Beware of the Potluck
BYOJ = Bring Your Own Jell-O

Alright I made this last two up but you get the point right? Mormons just love acronyms!

-Brian



Go Ahead and Leave a Comment Below

BYU Old Spice Parody - New Spice

BYU Old Spice Commercial



Summer 2010 BYU's Harold B. Lee Library Viral Video






If you haven't seen this by now - where have you been?

Background


The Library posted this BYU Old Spice video July 15th 2010 right after Old Spice made a huge social media "Questions" campaign. Old Spice's campaign included posting tailored videos to answer users questions on youtube, facebook, twitter, and yahoo answers. I was enthralled by these videos and would adaptively watch each video as the y would release about five every ten minutes. They made over 180 videos in total!

BYU Old Spice parody with Steven Jones and Old Spice Man

BYU had been working on their BYU Old Spice video for quite some time because they were parodying the Super Bowl Commercial Old Spice made in Feburary. It just worked out that BYU's Library had perfect timing.

My Experience


I worked at the library at the time and I remember getting an email with a link to the video. I watched it and laughed and then watched it again. At the time there were 500 views. Then over the next day it was up to 150,000. The day after that it was 500,000. Just like a cold virus this BYU Old Spice video was contagious. I was amazed when it got up to 1,000,000 views! I saw it on sites such as the huffingtonpost. Later I found out Katie Couric even included BYU's parody in the opening story of the nightly news. It was funny that everyone wanted to show me this video because I worked in the library. The funniest came when a friend posted it on my facebook wall three months later and thought I had not seen the video. I guess some people catch the viral cold much slower than others. Another viral video was made by BYU's Divine Comedy concerning Provo Girls.

- Brian

Here is another link for behind the scenes video on the making of BYU's Library video.

Just for fun here is Grover's Parody from Sesame Street:





Let Us know What You Think! Leave a Comment!