Virtual Barber Shop-Actual Haircut Not Included

Close your eyes, and imagine for a moment that you're getting your hair cut. Really stretch your imagination here. Maybe add in some details like the barber's speaking to you. Now, how realistic was that? Unless you have some super imagination, it probably was on the lower end of the realism scale. You're probably wondering why I had you do this weird exercise (which, let's be honest, the majority of you probably didn't do. I know I would have probably skipped it).  Well, it's my way of introducing to you an audio clip to aid your imagination.

The audio, "Virtual Barber Shop," honestly creates a pretty realistic way to imagine you're at the barber shop. You put in some headphones, close your eyes, and listen to this clip. I don't know exactly how it works, but it uses binaural audio technology. Someone smarter than me could give you a much better explanation, but it's basically a special recording technique that makes things sound awesome when you put in headphones. When I listened to "Virtual Barber Shop," I actually got slightly creeped out and had to open my eyes for a second because it sounded so realistic.

Now, I know a "Virtual Barber Shop" doesn't sound that exciting. But it's not the "barber shop" part that makes it cool; it's the "virtual" part. In fact, there's several of these binaural recordings out there if you have something against barbers. This one is just my favorite. If that wasn't convincing, you'll just have to trust me. It's less than five minutes, and if you don't like it, you can complain in the comments. If you try it out and like it, you can also say nice things in the comments.

I've embedded a clip of the "Virtual Barber Shop" from youtube, but here's a link to the website from which the audio originated. They have a couple of other binaural audio clips on there. Enjoy!

U.S. Marines Dance to Britney Spears

I was planning to another review for my next post, but I saw this Youtube video and wanted to share. I'm a sucker for soldier music videos and Britney Spears' songs so a combination of the two was sure to catch my fancy. My favorite dancer is probably the guy in the background starting at :10.

Royal Wedding Dance

This is just a short update to share a video that I thought was pretty funny. To be honest, I don't really get all of the hype about the royal wedding. That being said, I loved the "Forever" wedding dance a while back, and if this were really to happen, I might become more interested in the impending nuptials.

Hyperbole and a Half

Hyperbole and a Half is one of the most awesomely entertaining blogs in existence. You may think from that statement that I'm trying to be cute by using a hyperbole to describe Hyberbole and a Half. I'm not. It really is that awesome of a blog. Now that I've hyped it up, you're probably wondering what it's about.

 http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/11/dogs-dont-understand-basic-concepts.html Credit: Allie Brosh/Hyperbole and a Half

The owner of the blog, Allie, posts hilarious things that are accompanied by computer drawings. Many times these posts are based on her personal stories, but sometimes they're just random. Trust me, every post is funny, and I'm always excited when I see that there's a new one. If you don't trust me, just Google "Hyberbole and a Half," and I'm sure you'll see plenty of other people who agree with me about how awesome this blog is. I don't think I've ever heard of anybody thought it wasn't funny.

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/03/procrastinator.html Credit: Allie Brosh/Hyperbole and a Half

So, how awesome is it?  Well, the first day I discovered it (keep in mind, this was right before I started college and there was a lot that I should have been doing), I pretty much spent the whole day reading past posts. I've included some pictures from her blog in this post with links to the post they're from to further convince you to read it. I feel like all I've said is "read it; it's awesome" in this blog over and over again, but that's pretty much all I have to say on the matter. I'd do something helpful like recommend specific posts to read, but they're pretty much all awesome. Also, I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, and so there's that.

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/03/spiders-are-scary-its-okay-to-be-afraid.html Credit: Allie Brosh/Hyperbole and a Half

By the way, I'm making the link the largest size in an attempt to get you to click it. I think all I accomplished, though, is making the rest of my writing look really tiny.
http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/

I'm Not Dead

Hey everyone! I just wanted to write a quick post to tell you both that I'm not dead and that I haven't abandoned this blog. I've been really busy with schoolwork, blogging for class, and blogging in my other blog, I Like TV and Movies. So, you dozen or so people who've seen this blog, fear not. I should be blogging again soon.

Black Shatter O.P.I.

When I first heard of Shatter/Crackle nail polish, I was intrigued. But I'm not one of those super fashionable and cool girls, and I figured like many other trendy items, it was just something that I couldn't pull off. Then, I heard more and more about it. So, eventually I decided that despite my non-fashionista status, I wanted to try some. Thankfully, my grandmother kindly sent me a bottle of O.P.I. Black Shatter polish along with O.P.I. Not Like the Movies.

After class, I ran (metaphorically speaking, of course. My campus is too hilly for my lazy self to actually run around it.) back to my room so that I could paint my nails. Now, when I paint my nails, I'm like a kid who can't learn to paint inside the lines. I do my best, but it often just looks amazingly awful. That being said (I figured I better give a disclaimer because I'm probably going to include a picture of it), I used Not Like the Movies as a base. It's a shimmery polish that looks pink in some lights and green in others. It's a really fun shade that has my easily amused self moving my fingers back and forth against the light to see the color change. If you don't know much about shatter polish, you first have to put a color underneath it (at least I assume). Then you paint some of the shatter polish on the nail. It goes on fairly opaque, but then it "shatters" and you get the shatter effect. I'd definitely recommend adding a clear top coat when using the shatter, because it has an odd, dull finish without it.

As you can see, my polish has already withstood a couple of days of wear, and isn't looking its best. In fact, I didn't include my right hand because the thumb is literally missing half of its polish. So, am I cool enough to pull off shatter polish? Probably not. But that won't keep me from wearing it because it's super fun.

Have you tried O.P.I's Black Shatter polish or another type of shatter polish? I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

College Daybreak

I'll be honest. I'm not much of news person. When I'm at home, I might pick up the paper if I'm bored, but even then, it's usually just to read the Life section. With all that's been going on in the world lately, however, I've been feeling kind of bad about my lack of news knowledge. I signed up for The New York Times news alerts thinking that I'd at least be aware of something important like a major catastrophe or an alien invasion. Instead, I got "important" news updates like "Charlie Sheen fired from Two and a Half Men." So, I unsubscribed. That's where College Daybreak came into the picture. College Daybreak provides a weekdaily news update. They post a selection of headlines, and under these headlines, they post a few highlights from the article. If you're interested in the article, you can click a link to read the whole thing.

I didn't know what to use as a picture, so I took a screencap of my inbox full of College Daybreak. Don't judge me for still using Juno. Just don't, okay? 

College Daybreak may seem like a lazy alternative to just reading the news. However, for me the alternative would probably be to completely skip the news altogether. It's not a fact I'm proud of, but it's the truth. Plus, I really enjoy reading my College Daybreak newsletter every morning. They have a good mix of fun, fluffy news and serious stuff that I should know. If you're not a college student, you may be a bit wary of this. While it's geared towards college students, I think it's useful to anyone who's not a huge news-reader. It's a free email, so giving it a shot couldn't hurt.

If you thing College Daybreak sounds interesting, you can sign up at their site:
http://collegedaybreak.com/