Oblivion, I love college, hot dogs

Rule 1:
Never eat 4 hotdogs and only 4 hotdogs in 2 days. Just dont

Rule 2:
if you haven't yet played Oblivion for Xbox 360 go forth and purchase it now. The game of the year edition is availble for around 30 dollars I believe and this game is the shit. Sure it came out when the Xbox 360 launched and sure I alreday logged at least 70 hours in at that time and sure I am playing it again just because im a freaken nerd....but you should go buy it now.

For those that don't know of it its essentially a roleplaying game set in a fantasy world where dragons, demons, wizards, knights, and talking lizards exist. You play the role of an escaped prisoner who happens to meet up with the emperor of the land of oblivion in a wonderful twist of fate. After your destiny is set forth you are free to go about it as you want....or completely ignore it.


You see, the world of morrowind/oblivion is freaken huge. With hundreds of people to encounter and thousands of square feet of land to traverse it can be a huge time sink. It would probably take at least 30-45 minutes to walk from one end of the map to the other in the game...and thats barring no encounters.

Its an awesome game that lets you play exactly how you want to play and rewards you for everything you do including exploring the expansive world. do it, buy it, play it.

I love college

That asher roth dude is coming to penn state tonight among others to play his famous song about how college really is. News flash: if you experience half of what this guy claims in his video during your 4 years of college you will not only be "lucky" but also mentally fucked. I hope he enjoys his stay at penn state though.

Seriously dude. If you think that the valuable and "cool" stuff at college consists of ragers with jack daniels and beer then your a freaken moron. Then again I dont suppose this guy would be anywhere if he actually "rapped" about the cool stuff at college like studying abroad, making crazy awesome friends, learning sweet material, or even just learning about yourself. No he needs to sing about getting girls nake (doesnt happen that easy sir), drinking shit tons of beer (ill give it to you, that happens), and not remembering the night before.

Im done, out, ghost.

Thats it folks.

Fitness Exam

Took my second fitness exam today which is awesome. I did well in every category and improved in all categories except leg strength. This might have something to do with the 3 leg strength exercises i did this morning during my last gym class. Which reminds me...never take an 8 am gym class. just...never.

If you were to take one however i would reccomend Kines 61: Fitness theory and practice. Its a 2 part class which accounts for 3 credits where you are in the gym learning the ropes of strength training and cardio for 2 days a week and for 1 day a week you learn "theory". Its a sweet way to start your day but running on a treadmill at 8am is not my idea of a good time nor should it be yours becuse then you will make me feel considerable worse about myself.

Last Class

What do you do on for your last undergraduate class? Truth be told, for my very last class I will not be on campus because I will not be attending due to the fact that it is shit. But....what to do during the class before that.

Before that I will be in CE 341: Concrete Structures. Some possibilties of what I could do during the day are the following:

1. Dress as wolverine and come in to my materials class yelling "STRIKER!!" as i belive that Dr. Sheetz looks like Colonel Striker from X-Men:








Seeing that I havent got my grade yet for this class I may pass on that.

2. could take pictures around penn state but I can just google those...ill wait for the padres in order to be dragged around campus to all the "hot spots" for graduating seniors to take pictures at.

3. Drink my face off. This would seem the most common alternative for graduating seniors as one of my buddies today mentioned he will be at the Cafe starting at 11am and how i am more than welcome to join. Perhaps I will partake in a few celebratory beers but when everyone else is doing it, it takes away from the uniqueness.

4. Play videogames. nope, this ones out. If i ever said to anyone this is how i spent my last day as an undergraduate student I would be murdered socially.

5.........i dunno, have any suggestions?

Last Dance With Matt Poese

So in order to reflect on the wonderful experience that has been the source for almost getting me arrested for dressing as a pirate, making some spare cash, and creating this blog I have posted a video on youtube that is a tribute/reflection of ENGR 407. The video of course is a parody of Tom Petty's Last Dance With Maryjane song. I mean not to reference any drugs in this song, it just sort of fit with the title of what I wanted a parody to be.

The inspiration behind the song is of course 407 and I'll admit its a superficial glance at the class with a little humor thrown in to boot as well. It will be revealed tonight in ENGR 407 but is here for those who care for viewing pleasure and ease of finding on the wonderful interwebs.

Tonight is the last class of the semester and for this I am kind of sad. I mean the class on a whole was awesome. The relationships I built and formed with everyone throughout this spring have really grown and I feel like we are all friends now. We all suffered together in the cold state college weather trying to make a buck or two. We all got conned by the judges for our latest project. And we all grew as entrepeneurs throughout this semester.

This is one thing I never thought I would be. I came to this class figuring that my skills lie in sales. I could sell stuff and add glitter and pizaaz to just about anything in a presentation. But I just could never come up with the ideas myself. This semester taught me that you need to search for something that interests you because the best ideas come from the things that you are passionate about.

The wastewater project I did is certainly a reflection of that s it really was a passion of mine. Even the Green DP project inspired me. Overall this class kicked ass and this video represents that.

Canyon Pizza

Why the hell is Canyon Pizza still in business?

I was walking to my girlfriends place tonight when I had a sudden urge to have a slice of canyon or two. I walked in, handed over my two dollars, and "got some slabs" as they say. But why? Canyon pizza gives you canyon pizza breath which is a mix of italian spices, cardboard, and beer. Canyon pizza doesn't even taste that good and it is rarely if ever fresh...Why are they still in business?

The only thing they have going for them is the magic number: 1. 1 dollar for a slice of pizza. 1 dollar that will get you a little fuller. I suppose its because college students, being poor as shit, flock towards whatever fills them up. Needless to say they make a shit ton of money on the weekends when the conveyor belt of drunken students makes its way through the doors. But really are they making that much money?


Lets say that they make 75 cents a slice. With that low of a number they have to be selling thousands of thousands of slices in order to turn a decent profit. But they have found their niche in this market. They have targeted poor college kids and because of this have gained a reputation in the area. Now when friends come to visit Penn State the necessary pit stop on a friday night walk is always Canyon Pizza. Its become Penn State culture and because of this they will never die.

But the pizza is still pretty bad. I recommend having the "Canyon Special". That means drink around 8 beers, give yourself a half hour, and then go to get a slice of Penn States ...cough...finest.

The FE

Here is my rant about standardized exams. A word to the wise: If you plan on taking a standardized exam within the coming months please do not read this, it will only serve to make you loath its existence moreso than you currently do.

What you see on your left right now is the book that I read during a philosophy class last semester (Fall 08). In his book, The Mismeasure of Man, Stephen Gould goes through a history of how we as a society has attempted to measure intelligence. He details everything from exams that seem outright ridiculous that were actually used to the exam that started the SAT.

Interestingly enough all of this examination started in an effort to guage the learning capacity of young students in order to change teaching styles to supply what the student as an individual needed to learn. That was a very long time ago however as we now have so many exams that there are entire companies set up to review all of them.

Before I make my point however lets look at 2 exams that I have taken in the past year.

The GRE

Graduate Records Examination. Thats what this test refers to. The goal is to measure how competent you are in your undergraduate studies in order to predict how you will do in a graduate level education. The exam started out with 2 categories: Math and Verbal and has since added another: Writing. Its like every exam you have ever taken that is standardized as far as format goes....im talking about those stupid little bubbles of course. But I see a flaw.

The exam measures you on your math skills. It doesn't matter if you are an engineer, hisotorian, english teacher, or painter you will be measured all in the same bucket. Because of this you are tested on only subjects that everyone has taken such as Algebra, Geometry, Statistics, and any other subject that you took during your 7th, 8th, and 9th grade years of high school. Yes high school. Thats what this part of the test tests you on. I ask why it is that a student seeking a degree in history is to be measured in their ability to solve an equation. I also ask if this is substantial enough to test an engineering major on their skills.

WAIT! Wait you say? Ryan, if this exam tests you only on these subjects then everyone should pass right? Well yes they should, but you don't think its that easy do you? Since the exam covers such basic topics the testing board must disguise these questions in convoluted ways in order to make it difficult and then slap a 45 minute time limit on the exam to make it a speed challenge. So now you aren't being tested on your knowledge, your being tested on your ability to take a standardized exam. And if the real world is anything like I've been told, nothing is standardized.

FE: Fundamentals of Engineering

Another hellish exam is the FE. This is the exam engineers take in order to be licensed to take another exam in order to be licensed.....yea I thought that sounded convoluted as well. It tests you on what you have learned in college. The morning session which lasts for 4 hours is all general engineering stuff and the afternoon gives you the chance to choose your major or take a general test again. All together it is an 8 hour exam. Which makes this a matter of endurance.

Unlike the GRE you need to score in a "passing" range. This is determined by averaging the previous years average with the current years average. This line falls somewhere around 50% and last year at penn state 40% of people hit that mark. If you get a passing mark it is reported to the state that you got a 70 or above on the exam because thats what the state considers passing. If your exam consistently has an average of a 50% which is 20% below what the state considers passing do you think perhaps the exam is not functioning properly?

Sorry for cutting out the enthusiasm at the end there I'm getting tired of writing about this bullshit. Look back next time for a slightly more up beat post.

Morocco: pt 1...

So i havent blogged in a while and my apologies for that. look for much more in the coming weeks. This blog is about morocco: the people...and well thats about it.

for those that are uniformed about my life, this year for spring break i traveled with the leadership minor here at Penn State to Morocco in order to study for a week, experience a new culture, and see the world.

The goal for the week was to discuss water resources as well as develop a cleaner burning solid fuel cook stove in order to starve the problem of sickness caused by the exhaust of these things in developing countries. This is the uninteresting part and I'm sure ill post about water resources in the future since this is my grad school option so lets skip to the more interesting bits.

morocco is not like aladdin had me believe. well at least not the developed part of Rabat. Rabat, the capital city of Morocco is part sprawling metropolis and part medina. the medina, or "the old city" as it is referred to is just that....the old city. This is where I stayed with a moroccan family for one full week and was the most fascinating part of my trip.

Walking from the bustling streets of Rabat you smell similar smells to New York. The familar fumes of taxis whiping by, smells of soil on the roads collecting from exhaust dust and other things...., even down to the smell of newspapers as you walk by vendors selling your favorite newspaper, magazine, journal, picture book, hell even translation books.

But walking from this to the medina is like walking through a completely differnet world. Kind of like when you travel from campus to the neighborhood surrounding campus, and then to Frat Row where it seems all law has dissapeared and it is a completely different world. Instead of drunken fools however trying to roofie girls you have markets selling everything from authentic moroccan scarves and pottery to knock off adiddas track suits that you can find in Chinatown. Smells transform from dirt, grime, and taxi exhaust to fresh baked breads, pasteries, fresh squeezed....literally orange juice stands. Grey and white high rises (for morocco at least) are downsized to homes dating back over 400 years with huge open air living rooms and nothign but curtains separating the different areas of the house. Sounds go from the clusterfuck of beeping horns on the street to people yelling over their neighbors offering you the finest quality goods.

Its like stepping back in time. Its simpler. Almost like you did go back to Agraba that was seen in the tale of alladin.

Look for pictures coming soon