Frat Boy Buff...

Since I told Schprockie I'd tell you all a story... it seems I must.

Even though it's been a couple of years now, I'm sure all of you remember the cliques in high school and how you looked forward to going to college so that you could get away from all that.

I'm sure you all remember how disappointed you were to find that college was just another collection of cliques, but the best part is that not only could you identify who the cliques were... you found out which one you belonged with and that you really didn't have to associate with the others.

Now when I first got there, I didn't understand all of that. I stayed in the dorm and so I didn't hit the student center, nor understand that's where all the action was. By the end of year three I was well in my stride, mostly because I lived off campus and had switched majors.

Down at USU, there were several groupings.

Downstairs in the student center there was whole mezzanine of shops and a couple of eating establishments, one was a bread shop and ice cream shop(most excellent) and at the far east end... The Hub. The Hub was a unique spot. It was mostly a breakfast joint where you could get an egg and hashbrowns and toast for a couple bucks and sit down and read the student paper while you were waiting for your next class to start. It also became THE hangout in the mornings. However, that's not what made it unique. It had a multilevel dining area which by default became sectional for all the groups.

On the lower ground floor level just outside or near the door in winter was where all the Natural Resource majors hung out so that they could smoke. That was always intriguing to me because they were the "save the earth" wool sock crowd, yet they all smoked like chimneys.

A little further in on the ground floor was where all the normal people sat. Those without affiliation, yet in need of a hangout. That's where the most beautiful woman I ever saw used to sit... but that's another story.

Anyway, next up was a small second tier where there were about 5 tables and this was where the med students hung out. Nice folks. Not very chatty, but a good crew.

Next up, and at the top of the pyramid was the third level where us farm boys wound up. About 3 tables and it was a good place to be. Someone would always be there who you knew. This is where you'd bring freshmen farm kids to know and become known. This is where the parties got planned, and weekenders, and weekdayers...

But... one group was suspiciously lacking from the Hub... Frat boys. Frat/sorority row was right next to campus so they'd go there instead, as a result, there wasn't much contact except one time of the year.

I don't know if Frat boys are the same all over, but down there, they had their own look. The eternally immature, frosted tips, popped collars, woven belts, and strutted around like the cock of the walk.

Now as farm kids, after a while the sedentary college lifestyle got to wearing on us, so a few of them started going up to the HYPER and lifting weights at the student weight room. I watched them go for a while then decided to join them. It was quite enjoyable actually, so we all turned into regulars. As regulars you got to see the same folks there at the same time of day and got to visit and laugh with all of them. It was the same 8 or ten of us there every day, until... two weeks before spring break.

On that day, exactly two weeks before the monday of spring break, we walked into the weight room to find it packed to the gills with frat boys. I looked around in total confusion looking at 50 pasty white fratties until another of the regulars walked in behind us. He just started laughing. "Ugh... Me frat boy, me get buff for spring break!" And then I got the timing and shook my head. "Don't worry, come Wednesday, there won't be one of them left" he said. I shrugged.

You know what? He nailed it. Tuesday there were about 10 of them and by Wednesday... it was just back to us regs. I guess one day was all it took to get those massive frat boy guns into shape.

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Today's mystery lyric: (Remember the rules folks, no online searching of the lyrics, if you don't know it, you don't have the answer!)

When I walk on by, girls be looking like damn he fly,
I PIMP to the beat, walking on the street with in my new lafreak, yeah
This is how I roll, animal print pants, out o control.
It's Red Foo with the big ass fro
And like Bruce Leroy I got the glow

Answer to last lyric: Who's Going Home With You Tonight by Trapt. Way to go TDub!!!

Gregory's End...

Ah yes... here we go once again with the conclusion of the Gregorian calendar, not year's end mind you, but merely the end of the Gregorian calendar. Nah... the real year doesn't end for a few more months, but here we are anyway.

Much toodo surrounds the pagan feasts at this time of the year, including the making and keeping of "resolutions".

Now anyone that's been around longer than 10 years knows that it's an effort in futility because any change made for a specific made up time of year isn't a change that one really believes in. No... real conversions occur at any time of the year when one truly believes that what they were doing is wrong, not because some convention dictates it.

So with that, it's incumbent that we drivel along with these things anyway... so here goes.

My resolutions?

Drink more, gain weight, watch more TV, and exercise less...

Setting the bar pretty high, I know, but...

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I don't usually do this, but you've got to go and watch the video for the last mystery lyric. I can honestly say, it's one of a kind and I'd never even seen it before I posted the lyrics. Bizarre doesn't even come close to covering it. Enjoy!

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Today's mystery lyric: (Remember the rules folks, no online searching of the lyrics, if you don't know it, you don't have the answer!)

There's no one around
who picks me up when I'm down
like you do

Answer to last lyric: Curl of the Burl by Mastodon.

Some Pets You Don't Have to Feed...

Yes boys and girls... erm... well... looking at the past years worth of comments I guess I should probably revise that to simply...

Yes bored ladies, I'm here to give you the skinny on those pets that I have that you don't even have to feed, because the world does it for you. That's right... a whole genus or wretched hive of scum and villainy known as pet peeves.

Since I don't want to douse you all at once, I'll concentrate on just the first few that come to my mind and we'll make this little post... Volume I.

Now while I'm not exactly a grammar Nazi, or vehement about the use of the King's English as they say... certain things do tend to bug me because of their inherent incorrectness and abuse by those that should know better. We'll concentrate on a few of those that I see all the time.

One of the biggest of these is the use of "Mano a Mano" in reference to two single combatants going at it one on one in a verbal conflict. Whether it's a newscaster or some other such "knowledgeable person" they always say that in a tone that makes me want to slap some sense into them.

First of all... anyone with rudimentary Spanish skills knows that "mano" is the Spanish word for "hand". So in reality, "Mano a mano" means hand to hand.

One of the most egregious uses of this phrase comes after a court battle or political debate. All the pundits say, "Dummy X and Dummy Y went mano a mano last night". Now... I've seen a lot of political sparring in my lifetime, but it rarely comes to blows (unless you live in South Korea). To equate a schoolyard game of "He said - he said" into the term "mano a mano" is laughable at best. Ali and Frazier went Mano a mano three times. Romney and Perry hucked verbal insults at each other. Huuuuge difference. Now if lawyers or politicians actually went "mano a mano" during the debates... I'd watch those, and so would the majority of folks. In the end you wouldn't need a pundit to tell you who won the debate... just the referee.

The second most often abused term is... "perks". "It's just one of the perks of office" I see in print quite often. Actually the latest example is from DishNetwork. I'm watching my TV and they're trying to tell me of all the "perks" that I get as a Dish subscriber and actually reference me to their website www.dishnetwork.com/perks. Now I don't know if they're really that ignorant, or whether they just think the majority of their patrons are morons, but here's a suggestion to you people who think that's how you spell the term... get a dictionary, or better yet, just go online to Dictionary.com. It's free, it's easy.

I'm guessing if you go there and type in "perks" in the little window (I haven't done this, but it'll give you all something to do in your spare time), it'll come back as a verb that basically tells you what an old fashioned coffee pot does. It percolates the coffee... that's not a fringe benefit. The actual term, which I'm sure you all know already or you wouldn't be smart enough to read this blog in the first place, is perquisite. A perquisite is a fringe benefit of an occupation or in a shorthand version... "perq".

And finally today I'll concentrate on another misapplied word that is thrown out by the intellectual and erudite elite, and most often misspelled as they try to accomplish it.

I was over at a bulletin board here a few years ago before one of the admins ran everyone off and it closed down. Now this particular admin started off fairly reasonable and the board grew and grew and was becoming a good place to hang out... then the saying "Absolute power corrupts absolutely" came into play (I was member #4 of this board and they signed me up as a member and told me about the board later, I didn't even have to join so I know where a lot of the skeletons are buried). This particular admin fancied himself a bit of a philosopher and master debater and began to engage in any discussion had between two or more of the patrons of the board even when it wasn't his business. Nobody wanted to talk to him about anything and continued to discuss things between themselves, ignoring the admin and his belittling of the participants for their "logical flim-flam" until he'd ding them for some perceived "rule violation" just so he could get into the mix. I took it for as long as I could then I unloaded on him. There are a few of you that comment here that were around for that one, so you might remember it.

Just as an aside here, he always despised one of the admins on FMD for locking someone out of a thread and then making a reply to that poster's post thereby denying the aggrieved party from responding. He often told us he wouldn't stand for that on his board (even though he was only one of the three admins). So after I made my post calling him on his antics, he locked me out of posting in the thread and then proceeded to tell me how vile I was. A post which he edited THREE TIMES because the first and second drafts were so vitriolic. I'd link you to the post, but alas... it's no longer there, and neither is the board.

However... during his reply as he was talking down his nose at me trying to make me look like the cretin I was, he pulled out the ol' favorite phrase... "as is your want". It made me smile at the time, and I've seen that phrase used more and more as time progresses...

What made me smile about that? Well... here he is, trying to belittle me and demonstrate his intellectual superiority and then he uses the term "want" instead of the proper term... "wont". "Want" is a verb meaning to desire. A "wont" is a custom, habit, or practice.

And that dear readers, is where my pet peeve comes out to play... if you're trying to show someone how intellectually superior you are... don't use words that are over your intellectual level because invariably... all you'll do is show everyone how lacking you are in that arena...

So tell me, what tops your list lately?

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Today's mystery lyric: (Remember the rules folks, no online searching of the lyrics, if you don't know it, you don't have the answer!)

I killed a man 'cause he killed my goat
I put my hands around his throat
He tried to reason with the sky and the clouds
But it didn't matter, 'cause they can't hear a sound


Answer to last lyric: The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie The Red Hot Chili Peppers. I can't believe I posted lyrics to a Chili Peppers song. The things I do for Dani... *sigh*