10 THINGS I THINK
1. April Fool’s Day has become a major annoyance due to the advent of social media and the Internet. Before all of that stuff it was simply small pranks and harmless jokes with a few of your friends. Nowadays, everybody - including major Brands - have to get in on it. Therefore, browsing social media timelines on the day of is akin to an inane game of minesweepers, with the pranks and fake news being the mines.
I use my twitter feed to stay up-to-date on what’s happening in the world, but every year on April 1st I’ve no idea what’s real or what’s fake. The solution that I came up with is quite simple: I don’t check social media - or even visit my regular blogs and websites - for an entire day.
That said, I’m still pissed about In-N-Out Burger pranking us last year about adding bacon to their burgers. If that were real if would’ve been just the best thing ever.
2. I’m happy about Trevor Noah’s appointment as Jon Stewart’s successor on The Daily Show. Even though he’s only done three segments thus far on the show, I’ve come to really enjoy his brand of comedy. Perhaps I would’ve preferred the heir to Stewart’s throne be Jessica Williams, but I’m very excited to see what Noah will do at the main chair.
3. Whose idiotic idea was it to have Wrestlemania start at 4PM PST when the thing was held in a west-coast venue? The entire event was practically held under daylight, which absolutely ruined the ambiance in my opinion. Undertaker’s legendary entrance just doesn’t have the same panache and circumstance when the lights go off and you can still see everything.
4. It was lovely to see a rosso Ferrari car on the top step of the podium at the end of a Formula One grand prix. What a race in Malaysia! There were so much overtaking, great driving, and amateur-hour all in one afternoon. It’s been an immensely long time since we’ve heard the German national anthem followed by the Italian anthem at the podium ceremony. Michael Schumacher would’ve been proud if he were awake to witness it.
5. Fuck you, the governance in Indiana, for passing the anti-gay bill. Not only will I never visit Indiana, I’ll make sure to go around it if I were to ever drive across these United States. I’m glad my city and my university have come out not only to harshly denounce the bill, but also barred its employees from doing business with the Hoosier state. Good riddance.
6. So I’ve recently bought yet another Apple product (11.6 inch Macbook Air). I might need an intervention soon, friends of mine.
7. The gods lamented the departure of Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear by making a member of One Direction quit. Fair trade, wouldn’t you say?
8. Currently, I don’t own a single piece of machinery capable of playing a music CD (aside from the unit in my car, but like I’m really going to purposely go to my car every time I want listen to a CD), yet I still make a point to purchase a few each year. I feel it’s important to support the artists you like, especially the ones who are independent and not signed to major labels - they really need the profit from CD sales. Extra points to artists that put in thought to how a CD is packaged and the quality of the accompanying booklet.
What artists should do though, much like how movie studios are doing with their DVD releases, is include a voucher for a digital copy. That would make life so much easier for me my friend who otherwise has to pirate it off the Internet.
9. So after four years of unprecedented drought conditions, California has finally enacted mandatory water conservation mandates. None of the restrictions really affects me personally, because I don’t own a golf course, nor does my place have any real grass to speak of (I wouldn’t want a lawn anyways - less labor for me.)
My problem with the restrictions is that it’s not really going to solve anything, is it? Residential water use is only four-percent of all water use in California - the majority of water goes towards the state’s robust farming industry. Now, I’m not saying we should decrease our farming output; rather, we should examine how to grow crops at the same level as it is now, but use less water in doing so. Efficiencies found in the farming sector will assist tremendously in curbing our state’s thirst in midst of a devastating drought.
10. Though honestly, I’m fairly sure we can all live without almonds and pistachios. Growing those crops in California (or anywhere else) takes an enormous amount of water. I love pistachios just as much as the next person (I’m intensely allergic to almonds so no lost there), but not at the risk of wringing our state dry.