Song of the Goehring Unit--12/21/09

For the sake of having something holiday related, here's a lovely song brought to you by the amazing ladies of Celtic Woman:



Words cannot describe my awe at Celtic Woman. My only quibble with this song is that it's too short! I wish it went on for longer, it's so beautiful. Enjoy!

Song of the Goehring Unit--12/14/09

There is a quantum test tomorrow. And an It's Academic competition after school (Quizmaster Taping). Both are under the same teacher, who would probably be most displeased if I failed at either (but more so if I failed at it's ac). That being said, I will blatantly ignore that and post another song! Today I present to you Your Shadow by Lunascape. It is odd, really odd--but in a good way, at least in my opinion. If you're like me and you pay more attention to the video than to the music, though, my suggestion is that you listen to the song first without watching the video. Because the video is so weird it distracts from the interesting weirdness of the song itself.

Happy listening!

Happy Halloween!

Hope you've got your college applications done. ;)

Back Inside: Finding where the wild things were

Spike Jonze has created one of the most polarizing films of the year and I really liked it. 'Nuff said.

Ah, the benefits of having an older sibling

"Hamlet was a ham, and Piglet was his father. Now his uncle was evil, so he went and killed Piglet. Then Hamlet's mother, Sowlet, married Hamlet's uncle." --My sister, ~10 years ago when I asked her what Hamlet was about

This was her followup explanation, now that I'm going to be reading Hamlet next for AP Lit:
"Piglet had to die, as a preemptive strike against swine flu."

Song of the Goehring Unit--10/12/09

Never in a Million Years by Cara Dillon--This song just about sums up my relationship with a certain guy for a while.



Lyrics:
If you want me I'll be at your door
And if you need me I'll be by your side
'Cause every day is a long winding road
And I want you right here don't you know

I wonder why, I wonder why, I wonder why
I always try, I wonder why, I wonder why

Chorus:
Every time I look at you I feel the blues
Can't hide the pain inside
No one ever told me that my heart could break a hundred-thousand times
Never in a million years I thought that tears could break a heart of stone
If you need me let me know

Well, if you've got no one to give your heart to
And if you've searched and you can't find the truth
When they tell you this time to let go
Well, I'll always be here - don't you know

I wonder why, I wonder why, I wonder why

Chorus

Oh, nobody told me 'bout the wind and the trees
And the summer breeze and
You carry the weight of the world on your shoulders
And the light is slipping through
And I've seen the sun catching your eye
Like the moon in the sky

Every time I look at you I feel the blues
Can't hide the pain inside
No one ever told me that my heart could break a hundred-thousand times
And though you've never asked me to believe it's true

I've loved you from the start
Oh I've got to find a way to mend today
These wings that need to fly
No one ever told me that my heart could break a hundred-thousand times
Never in a million years I thought that tears could break a heart of stone
If you need me let me know

By the way, if you enjoyed this song, I would definitely recommend checking out some of Cara Dillon's other songs as well. Her sweet, lovely voice and the bittersweet songs make for an excellent combination. I particularly suggest Craigie Hill, There Were Roses, and Bonny Bonny.

A note about Journalism

I would like to point out that any opinions Mr. Eric Wan has expressed on Silver Chips do not necessarily reflect the opinion of all those involved with this shiznits. For instance, "I like people?" C'mon Mr. Wan. You're breaking my balls here.

Here's a question for all you smart and sassy types...

Would you rather be a ninja or a robot?

Hmm...

Looking at the results of the poll so far, it appears that whoever said "lief is just fien, thank u vry much" also said "Ah! College apps!" Contradictory, much?

College Essays, Eh?

I'm sorry, we're fresh out of creativity, would you like to put some on back order?

Order form coming soon.

The best way to use a Promethean Board, ever

Is to use it to play Super Smash Brothers Brawl on it with Mr. Pham and Mr. Ostrander watching in a chemistry room smelling of burnt stuff. 'Nuff said.

Also:
http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2009/09/abc-7-news-caught-on-tape-kennedy-high.html

Dear Siemens and College Board:

You guys SUCK.

This message brought to you by your local Stressed out Senior

Bathrooms, a review

So, moseying down Blair Blvd during Digital Art with a full bladder today, I was reminded of one of the reasons why Blair is crappy: the bathrooms suck. Yes, the main boy's bathroom by the main office has only two stalls -- one of them was occupied and the other one had both a busted door and no toilet paper. So, this crappy bathroom led me to revisit all the bathrooms (male at least) at Blair and rank these cause this sure beats doing math homework.

1. 310s Bathroom: It's usually cleanish and somewhat well supplied. Points off for not having one of those cool sensor based flushing things for the urinals and sink. Also one of the faucets is usually broken. Also, it's the home of the infamous "Did you masturbate in here?" poll.
2. 210s Bathroom: Again it ain't half bad. Notable for being the only bathroom with both sensors AND a relatively clean track record.
3. TIE: 350s/250s Bathroom: Points get knocked off the 250s bathroom for being lock most of the damn time. Both are usually marked up and jacked up though it isn't too bad. 350s restrooms get points off for not having those sensors (why no sensor love on the third floor? actually don't answer that).
4. Main office: Hey, the door might be busted and the toilet paper might be chronically low but at least if it floods the main office will notice lickedy-split and fix the issue... right?
5. THE LOSER: 160s Bathroom: God damn. Not only is this the dirtiest bathroom in the school (apparently most male Blazers have shitty aim) but it's also chronically under supplied both toilet paper and paper towel wise.

Musings

I walk outside into the cold, black air. Tonight is one of those nights where the darkness is particularly thick. The stale fluorescent light from the streetlamps and the cold light of the moon collapse in on themselves. I step into the sphere of one of the lamps, and the light floods jarringly through my eyes. It is as if I am in a dream, in a daze; I must focus hard to remind myself where to step and where to go. I am like the moth, mesmerized by a candle, about to get burned. And oddly enough, though I did not enjoy the light, once I step out I do not enjoy the dark anymore either. Where do I belong, if neither the light nor the dark is for me?

Seasonal colds

Is it just me or is everyone suddenly getting very sick very fast? The day after I pulled an almost all-nighter, I got this really bad cough and headache. Similarly, a lot of others I've talked to also have gotten sudden coughs etc. Some have even reported have temperatures OVER 9000 degrees (not really).

In other news, CHICKEN BUTT. That's a capital B, U, T, T. Get that right. (It'll be on the quiz, Period 4).

Picture of the (insert inordinate amount of time)

This is pretty epic right here (and self explanatory):
















Credit goes towards DominicFear, the creator of The Lazer Collection 3
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3ZYF-Zmo2E)

Speaking of college apps....

No, we weren't, but you just shuddered, didn't you?

Remember UMD and that November 1st deadline. Get college transcript requests by October 1.

Don't fail.

This has been a public service message brought to you by the society of Stressed Out Seniors (SOS).

Song of the Indefinite Time Period (which we will call the Goehring Unit)--9/23/09

So, when you're a responsible teenager (pfft, as if such a thing exists) and you have a huge, huge paper due in a few days, as well as a nice essay that may (but most likely won't) help you get a mere pittance of a scholarship, as well as forms to turn in and recommendations to secure, and everything must be done on pretty much the same day, which is about a week away, and you also have way too much homework to do in between (including a project or two that count for a substantial portion of your grade in that class), what do you do? Procrastinate, of course! By writing an inconsequential blog post with an overly long title and an even longer first sentence. A sentence so huge that undoubtedly if any former English teacher of mine is reading this, she must be weeping at its poor construction.

But I digress. I present to you, the first song recommendation of the school year, and probably the only one for a while to go. Now, once again, this song is one that must be described as relaxing. And if you think I pick too many of those, what did you expect? I actually wasn't exaggerating in the first sentence. Luckily this song is like a massage for the mind; it really helps to force out stress.

And so, before I go on even more tangents, I present to you the Green Island Serenade, sung by Vienna Teng. It's in Chinese, yes, but it is a lovely song nonetheless. And personally I find Vienna Teng's version particularly lovely. Traditionally Chinese songs tend to feature female vocals with exaggeratedly sweet voices, but Vienna's gentle, soothing voice really just fits this song much better.



Lyrics:

这绿岛像一只船
在月夜里摇呀摇

姑娘哟妳也在我的
心海里飘呀飘

让我的歌声随那微风
吹开了妳的窗帘

让我的衷情随那流水
不断地向妳倾诉

椰子树的长影
掩不住我的情意

明媚的月光
更照亮了我的心

这绿岛的夜已经
这样沉静

姑娘哟妳为什么
还是默默无语

Translation:
This green island, is like a boat
meandering through the moonlight.

Darling, you are
floating in the ocean of my heart.

Let the melody of my song follow the breeze,
blowing through your curtains.

Let my love go with the flowing water,
serenading you.

The coconut tree's long shadow
cannot hide my gentle love.

The clear bright moonlight
brightens my heart.

This green island night
appears so peaceful.

Darling, why are you
still silent?

Unfortunately, I think the English translation doesn't quite do the original lyrics justice. But that's life, I guess. There's actually an interesting story behind this lovely song, but I think this post is probably long enough. If you're interested, it can be found here: (link)

Until next time, then, dears!

On lief arbitur

Holy cannoli Batman, we passed AYP!
Now those Blair admins will be filled with glee!
So instead of some hate, we get filled with cake;
Though not if you're Eric and got f**ked by a rake.
All we need to do now is to wear our "ID, ID, IDeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"

Go Away Flu

Everyone's falling ill at some point this past week!! It's outrageous. If we actually measured happiness in this world, I'm sure this would be the Great Depression of 2009 (WOW it's 2009 and in a year we're graduating. Damn.)

Seriously folk, the CDC doesn't exist for no reason (though its budget might speak otherwise). Here's just a few tips they suggest:

• "Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it." (Tissue = very important)
  
• "Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective."
• "Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way."
• "Stay home if you get sick." Be misanthropic and STAY HOME.
  

Don't be an incubator for disease!

Source: http://www.cdc.gov/