South Park:
I've suddenly become obsessed with South Park. Before a week or so ago, I'd only seen a couple episodes of this and found it okay but not amazing with some funny moments. But watching more of their episodes, I have discovered that not only is this show much better than Family Guy, but Matt Stone and Trey Parker are masters of irony. Every episode generally adheres to a general formula:
1. Problem arises, usually due to the ignorance of the townsfolk or the children because their parents and teachers don't teach them anything.
2. Chef encounter with the same dialogue each time and often Chef sings a song about sex.
2. Episode revolves around an important political issue, social trend or celebrity. Usually something very current and relevant.
3. Cartman acts like a greedy, racist douche.
4. Usually a Terence and Philip episode excerpt which is hilarious and usually an immature fart joke.
5. Kenny dies, "Oh my God they killed Kenny!", "You bastards!"
6. Problem solved.
7. Kyle's "I learned something today speech" which generally causes people to stop being insane for the moment.
However within that formula that makes up nearly every South Park episode are some amazing jokes, hilarious characters and sad, but legitimate truths. Strangely enough, I do feel like "I learned something" after every episode.
The best thing about this show is their proficient use of irony.
Some examples:
"Christian Rock Hard"
The boys (Stan, Kyle, Kenny, Butters) in this episode start a band but when they try to download music for free online to "find their sound" they get arrested and the police officer gives them a "heart-wrenching" speech about how, because of illegal downloads, celebrities can't spend as lavishly as they used to, only being able to afford things that are really expensive, but not as expensive as the obscenely expensive things they used to buy.
"Passion of the Jew"
Cartman's speech to "Passion of the Christ" fans where he is talking about another Holocaust (wearing a Hitler costume, I might add) while they believe he is talking about making more people watch the Passion or convert to Christianity. He eventually gets them to chant something about death to Jews in German while they believe they are speaking Aramaic, like in the movie. Another hilarious thing about this episode is their caricature of Mel Gibson as absolutely insane.
There are so many other examples. Most examples leave me laughing hysterically...
Also, I'm again listening profusely to Billy Talent for probably the ninth time. It's like I can never get tired of them. Their new album is really awesome. And it turns out they are great music for working out. I've loved this band since middle school or high school and they're still putting out amazing music! Can't wait for their new album this coming fall! Judging by the sound of Billy Talent III I think it will be just as impressive.
My weight loss plan for this summer:
I'm going to try something crazy this summer. It was basically inspired by a visit to the doctor a couple months ago...
I was generally healthy, except that I was 155-160 pounds and 5''3, which according to her is Overweight. I should be 105-135 pounds, so I am about 20 pounds overweight. My BMI is 28. She told me to lose the weight in a couple months, slowly as opposed to quickly. I knew this already as I had calculated my BMI on the computer several times before that but it was depressing to hear a doctor say that I was overweight and I needed to lose weight.
Before a year or two ago I had never been overweight. I had always been the right weight. Also, looking at myself in the mirror, I don't look overweight. I look average weight. Hardly anyone has ever told me I need to lose weight or that I am fat. I'm not extremely muscular but I do have muscles and I wonder if that makes me more overweight than I actually am on the BMI scale.
Nevertheless, the first couple months after that doctor's appointment I was indignant. She had not told me how to lose the weight and spoke to me as if it would be extremely easy and simple. The doctor herself was not obese, but not slim either. So, feeling like I shouldn't have to try to lose weight at all, I didn't change anything about my diet or exercise.
But this summer, like many summers before, I have much more time on my hands, and I exercise more. This summer I have decided to try something completely new. I have never dieted before, except for the fact that I am vegetarian, but I have seen so many people try diets and fail, and I find that I am hungry really often. I thought, "losing weight would be so much easier if all you had to do was exercise." Exercise is invigorating and fun and makes me have more energy and sleep better. On the internet I googled "Can you lose weight by only exercising?" and people were divided on the issue, some people saying it was impossible and some saying it was a good method.
So, this summer I will exercise at least six times a week for 30-90 minutes, NOT CHANGING MY DIET AT ALL for two months (May 7-July 7) and see what happens. At first I said every day, but there are some days when I feel lethargic or depressed. I generally try to make myself exercise on those do-nothing days but occasionally it doesn't happen. So, at least six times a week. So far, with almost a month done, I have only missed two days, with one day that I only walked for 10 minutes (which half counts, I guess). My methods of exercise so far are walking, biking, elliptical, exercise bike, swimming and DDR. My favourites are walking, swimming, biking and DDR (Dance Dance Revolution). Yup, everything except the gym, but I'll get into that in a moment... I like to mix things up so I don't get too bored with what I'm doing, and so far, it's been quite enjoyable. Sometimes I even look forward to it. For biking and walking I like to try different routes each day, exploring a different part of my city each day, which is fun. I'd love some suggestions for other forms of exercise to try to keep things interesting. So far my weight has been consistently 158-161 but I feel thinner and more energetic and productive. And if that is all I get from this, at least I have that! I also keep a basic diary (type of exercise, duration, weight) to track my progress. So we'll see what happens. I think I might lose some weight but in the end, I'll probably need to change my diet as well, which will suck. Hopefully my plan will succeed and I can still eat Kraft Dinner and delicious, delicious carbs!
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