Partying hard or hardly partying

Posted on March 10, 2023 by Joshua Sanchez

Parties are probably the best way to be with a bunch of people at once. It makes you feel close to people in a way that can’t be achieved individually. They might be chaotic, but at least they’re fun (or somewhat fun depending on your relationship with the people there).

You probably went to family parties as a child. Let’s be real, most of the time it wasn’t with more immediate family members but rather with people that were a bit more distant. You had no idea how any of those people were related to you, if at all. If your parents had people they love talking to at that party, be prepared to stay quiet out of your own will. They will talk with these people for an eternity. Everyone in that group will be talking about their whole life stories like they don’t know each other. You better hope that you had cool cousins at that party. At least you would have someone that can sort of relate to you because you will never relate to the adults there. At my dad’s birthday party a few years ago, the people he invited brought their kids and they were just sitting there either doing nothing or just on their devices. I felt bad for them because I’ve been in their position. What do these kids know about my dad? They’d probably never heard a single thing about him until their parents told them they were going to a birthday party. Their parents are probably going to tell them in the future that they should know their relatives, but what if they don’t even know them that well? My parents always said that to me as if I had any interest in my relatives. If these kids knew each other, things are a bit different. They will always be super loud to the point where you’re panicking about the noise levels. I usually don’t feel comfortable with having that much noise in that kind of environment which meant loud kids were my nightmare. They were always disruptive to any kind of small talk to the point where you want to leave. You never want to say anything to these kids because you don’t want to jeopardize your family’s reputation with your relatives. At all these parties, there was always some new to meet, whether that would be a friend or someone’s new significant other. They were always the most interesting person to talk to since they come from another world and haven’t fully adjusted to the people that are there.

(lori from va / Flickr)

Dressing up for parties can be a hard thing to do. Depending on what the party is, you have no idea how to dress. Since our parents want us to be presentable, they would force us to dress up a little bit nicer than usual. For me, that meant wearing a loose dress shirt since I didn’t like feeling super stuffy or a polo shirt. Over the years, it got a little more casual, eventually leading me to wear a t-shirt and sweatpants to a family party. One of my aunts once said to me that we’re just hanging out, not going to a fashion show. Those words stuck with me and I never cared too much about the way I dressed at parties since then. However, there were a few people that treated it like a fashion show. They would wear their luxury clothing as if they were at a ball. They even dressed up their kids like this. I once went to a party where a few kids were wearing suit vests. I don’t even think people in offices wear suit vests. The parents would sometimes tell time to not ruin their clothing with food or drink spills, but at a high-energy party that’s just bound to happen.

(Robert Sheie / Flickr)

Pets at parties are not easy to deal with sometimes. With the amount of food that’s around the place, they will always find their way near it. I was once eating my food on a couch and one of the dogs almost ate my food. Thankfully, one of my cousins was there to snatch my plate on time. If you were allergic, it can be a nightmare to deal with. You didn’t want to say no to the party because of their furry friend, so you decided to suck it up and go to the party. Thankfully I never saw anything bad happen but if you are someone that reacts easily, bring something that you can take to make sure you don’t have a bad reaction. Your body will thank you for that.

(Let Ideas Compete / Flickr)

Speaking of food, eating time (usually dinner) was its own experience. At the parties I went to, we would have a group prayer, usually led by one of my uncles before getting our food. We would do it buffet style where everyone fills their plates with the food they want, which is always a little bit of everything. I’m guilty of grabbing too much food and then handing whatever I had left over to my sister or my mom. Where you eat can be a big question. Since most of the adults were sitting at the tables, you felt like you didn’t belong there. You would end up resorting to eating at a coffee table or just holding your plate while sitting on the floor. I usually ate my food with my siblings since that’s what I felt comfortable with. The amount of food at these things is insane, depending on the holiday. During Thanksgiving and Christmas, there would be a turkey that tasted better than the turkey you cooked at home. There has to be some magic done to turkeys that are cooked for parties to taste immaculate. Dessert was always the best part of your meal. There would usually be around four cakes you can choose from. At the end of the night, sometimes you’ll take leftovers that you end up not eating and throwing away a few days later.

Parties keep families close together. You might start going to family parties less as an adult, but whenever you do go, it will be a night that you’ll remember a little bit.

Call crawling

Posted on March 10, 2023 by Joshua Sanchez

Although we’re back in an age where we are back in person, whether that would be for work or school. However, online video calls are still common these days. Over the past three years, more people have been using online calls as a way to connect with their groups.

When the pandemic hit, I was in the second half of eleventh grade. We were forced to switch to online classes which made things interesting. Since the teachers didn’t have to see what we were doing during class, people would do other things while class was going on. I was the type of person to just go on my phone and watch Twitch streams rather than listen to whatever boring class I had that day, usually physics or chemistry. I would even chat with my friends or play video games during class instead of listening. What was the teacher supposed to say? That we need to quiet down or that I need to turn off the games? I think not. Science was my least favourite thing about school so being able to do something else was nice. This did bite me in the butt when online tests came around. I still somehow did pretty decent in those classes but the lack of paying attention did hurt. Then again it wasn’t any different than me forgetting what happened in our classes that day. Since we were also in our homes, that meant we can just go to the bathroom whenever we want. I even once took a shower while my chemistry teacher was starting class. Let’s be real for a moment, no teenager actually paid attention during class. We were pretty sick of how much time elementary and high school needed us to focus. Everyone doesn’t want to actually be in class, but we had to for our futures. Teachers would say to treat it like a regular class, which meant not being on our devices or talking with friends. We all know we didn’t follow that. I would only show up just to have my name in the attendance and nothing else. Since during that time they weren’t actually counting attendance, some people would never show up for class and still did great in the class.

(Rasmus Olsen / Flickr)

Although our cameras and microphones were off, there was always that part of me that felt like they were still on. I would constantly double-check to make sure both were off so then I wouldn’t accidentally disrupt the class. I would plug headphones into my phone just so then on the off chance that my mic was on, the teachers wouldn’t know what I’m doing. There were still a few people that would accidentally have their microphones on and as a result, we can hear what exactly they were doing. Some people keep their microphones on all the time which doesn’t turn out well. My sister once had a meeting where her microphone was still on. I entered her room fooling around but then saw the horror on her face as she tells me she was in a meeting. If our cameras were on, teachers would have no idea what we were wearing below our waists. I’m someone who likes to look presentable but since we were at home, I wanted to be comfortable. I would wear a button-up shirt with pyjama pants which would be considered the “Zoom call look” by people I knew. Eventually, I stopped caring about how I dressed during online classes and would just wear a hoodie. It wasn’t like there was anyone to impress anyways so what was the point?

During this time, we were using Microsoft Teams since that’s what we can use with our school accounts. Some of our classes required heavy use of Microsoft Teams, with having to hand in our assignments there instead of Schoology. I was pretty new to the idea that there was a separate button to confirm our submission. I don’t know what was going on with my brain at the time, but somehow I missed it. I ended up handing in a few things late but never got affected by it.

(Danny Choo / Flickr)

Having a good connection is crucial to running a class smoothly. If there are connection issues, it will cause the class to get heavily delayed. We once had a class that involved everyone’s participation with our voices. For some reason, I was having microphone issues. I wasn’t able to press the microphone button on Microsoft Teams which is something that shouldn’t have happened. Just recently, I was having an issue on a call where my camera would fizz. I tried turning my camera off and on again, but it would still lead to the same result which led to me just having it off the entire class. Participation in class is a weird one. Since there was clearly a delay on my end, I would usually never be the person that gets picked. Throughout those three months of doing online classes only, I only got to participate once. Sometimes, people’s microphones would be terrible to the point where having them on was completely useless. There was a time when someone was speaking so loud that my speakers were starting to shatter.

(Anthony Quintano / Flickr)

Presenting things like PowerPoints is a staple of online classes. Microsoft Teams had the best way of doing this where you were able to go back on slides without affecting the rest of the class. This was nice when I would do the assignments during class rather than after. Sometimes the teacher would talk too fast and I would miss an important detail. They never uploaded the slides online which meant I had to make sure I got my notes on time (on days when I was willing to listen in class).

While we are back in person for many things, sometimes we have to do an online call instead. Sure, we feel less inclined to pay attention and things don’t run smoothly, but at least it got things done.

Control with a goal

Posted on March 9, 2023 by Joshua Sanchez

Playing video games is one of the best pastimes someone has invented. How we play them has changed over the years, and it’s usually for the better.

The arcades were wild with how you controlled games. Because the controller was part of one machine, people were free to pick any control scheme they want. You have pretty much everything from joysticks and buttons to wheels to light guns. When the shift to home consoles started happening, companies had to find ways to make it work in a home situation.

The Atari 2600 “solved” this issue by having a controller with one joystick and one button. This was super primitive because that meant you can only do one option on top of movement. The upcoming generations would go a route that should never come back: adding number pads.

(Digital Game Museum / Flickr)

Consoles that had controllers with number pads included the Atari 5200, the Intellivision, and the Colecovision. They all had the same concept where it’s pretty much a brick with a number pad, a control stick, and maybe a few additional buttons on the side. The concept behind this makes sense. No one wanted something with a learning curb so having a number pad where different actions can be assigned to a different button was ideal. However, holding these controllers was pretty awkward since moving the joystick requires a bit of fitness. Some of the controllers had the ability to put overlays on top so you know which button did what without pulling a manual every time. This is an idea that makes a lot of sense but unfortunately can’t be done today due to modern controller design. This kind of design will probably never return.

When Nintendo released the Nintendo Entertainment System (also known as the Family Computer in Japan) in the 80s, it went back to a more simplistic design with a directional pad and two action buttons, along with two more buttons for start and select. The Japanese version of the controller even had a microphone for games that would require it. This was the blueprint for controllers to come. Even modern controllers follow something similar with movement on the left thumb and action buttons on the right thumb. Both Sega and Atari copied this design for their 3rd generation game consoles, although Atari’s version for the Atari 7800 was not available in North America.

The next generation of consoles saw an increase in action buttons. The Sega Genesis was one of the first notable examples with three action buttons. Despite the increase in action buttons, it still had the same amount as the generation before because of the lack of a select button. When Nintendo released the Super Famicom in Japan in 1990 (which would release the following year as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System everywhere else), it came with a controller with six buttons, four on the front and two shoulder buttons. This allowed games to have multiple actions that the player can perform along with easy access to multiple at a time with its button placement in conjunction with the shoulder buttons. Six-button controllers would soon be released for its competitors as games that required more buttons were released.

(Dineshraj Goomany / Flickr)

When games with 3D graphics started to become popular, people wanted to find a way to control the 3D space. Controllers with analog sticks were developed to make use of this. This is usually controlled by the left thumb just like the d-pad. Controllers with analog sticks are still in use today.

(Jessica Stokes / Flickr)

Controllers then needed a way to stand out a bit. One of the most notable accessories are light guns. As the name suggests, it is basically a plastic gun that you point at the TV to shoot things on the screen. The ones that were made for retro consoles required the reaction from a CRT TV to work which means that don’t work that well (or at all) on modern displays. There haven’t been too many efforts to make it work due to the decrease in popularity.

People that wanted the true arcade experience at home first had the option to buy a controller that merely resembled what you would find in an arcade. Because of how cheap some of the parts are, it still didn’t feel like the arcade. With the shift to game consoles, people wanted to make sure the feeling of an arcade machine was at least in their hands. Eventually, controllers that had real arcade parts started to become available. While some of these controllers can sometimes contain copies of what you would find in the real deal, the ones with real deal parts were masterpieces. While early iterations in North America had parts that were found in American machines, people eventually started using parts that were found in Japanese and Korean machines due to their dominance in the fighting game community. You can build these yourself without the need for a soldering iron. All you need is an inclosure, buttons, a joystick, and a board that will connect to your system. It might cost a bit but at least you can get close to the real arcade experience.

With PC gaming becoming dominant these days, people will just use a keyboard and mouse to play games. To be honest, I never got the hang of it outside of using a keyboard to play Tetris or 2D side-scrollers. Something about using a mouse never felt right compared to a joystick. However, people do like using them since they’re readily available. Some game consoles can even use them with the use of adapters or even natively.

(osman gucel / Flickr)

The release of the Wii in 2006 saw the advent of motion gaming. To accommodate this, they packaged the console with a remote that can react to your movements. Eventually, Sony and Microsoft joined in. Sony released Playstation Move controllers which almost replicated the Wii remotes in overall concept while Microsoft released the Xbox Kinect, which contained cameras that can track your movement. Motion controls still remain in modern controllers today, even if they’re not in the weird contraptions they use to come in.

Game controllers have stayed relatively the same over the years. Sure, you have variations of the design such as the Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons along with other accessories, but the next real advantageous design to become mainstream has yet to happen.

Reheat to remain

Posted on March 9, 2023 by Joshua Sanchez

Dear lord, your food is cold. Now you need some way to heat it. The food is already cooked, so you need to make sure of the method you use. You want to make sure the food still tastes good in the end. Some methods work for certain foods while other methods may ruin the integrity of the original product.

The microwave is the most common device to reheat your food. It gets the job done quickly and is easy to use. However, it can ruin your food. People love to reheat pizza in the microwave, except for the fact that it can make the crust soggy. One method that people use is putting a cup of water in there. Apparently, it’s supposed to keep the crust crispy to some level. I never tried it but I’ve seen it work from watching YouTube videos. A food you should never reheat in the microwave is eggs. Eggs do not go well in the microwave and can actually explode due to the reaction. It’s one of those foods that you have to eat right away or eat cold. Most food tends to be super soggy when you microwave them, but because of how quickly you can reheat things, people will still use them. You can reheat almost anything else but I still wouldn’t recommend it.

(Twentyfour Students / Flickr)

Toaster ovens are also pretty popular for reheating food. It’s easier to adjust the temperature so you can get it right. I used to reheat my pizza with this method all the time because of how crisp the crust would be. One thing that is wrong with this method is that not everything can work here. Reheating fried chicken for some reason just never worked. The skin would taste and smell weird and the meat will feel a little overdone. You also can’t reheat soup well in a toaster oven other than maybe canned coup, but that’s a whole other story. Regular toasters are generally made for sliced bread. Thanks to the invention of toaster bags, you can heat up full sandwiches in there. You can even heat up pizza in there without any risk. Some people like using the method where you put the toaster on its side but it’s pretty risky. People have even used these bags to cook chicken nuggets which I don’t trust. The big problem with heating full sandwiches using this method is whether can it even fit. Generally, if you can put a whole bagel in there, you can heat up a full sandwich. If not, then you won’t be able to use this method. Using your regular oven is also a good method but it can be a bit overkill unless you’re heating up multip things at once. One of my relatives used to reheat fried chicken using the oven but it would taste exactly like the toaster oven method, which makes sense.

(John Bell / Flickr)

The stovetop is pretty good at reheating things. We once had leftover soup from a Korean restaurant and I wanted to eat it the next day. I poured the soup and noodles into a pot along with a little bit of water to tone down some of the spice. After it was done, I ate it and it tasted just as good as the day we had it. Another thing I like to reheat on the stove is steak. Having proper control over your steak is crucial if you don’t want it overdone. I will usually slice it before reheating it just so then it’s easy to eat. While it doesn’t taste as good as having it fresh, it still tastes good for what it is. Reheating pizza on a pan is also a great thing to do. You do have to put a lid over the pan just so then the top gets heated but other than that it tastes pretty good. I also use a pan to reheat bacon. Even if the bacon is already pretty crispy, it doesn’t make it any harder to eat. More of the fat gets out which makes it enjoyable to eat. Eggs still can’t be reheated with this method. There’s no way you can heat up boiled eggs in water without overcooking them and other forms of eggs get hard when heated in a pan.

We used to have a specialized broiler machine where we would cook stuff like pork, chicken, and fish. I’m not sure what weird magic it had but it was different from the broil function on our oven. I know it’s different because whenever I reheated fried chicken in there, it would taste significantly better than whatever the hell happened in the oven or microwave. This was the way I heated up meat to make sure it stayed crisp until we got our air fryer.

(J Wynia / Flickr)

The air fryer is pretty much a godsend. Everything stays crisp, it’s quick, and you can pretty much put anything in there except soup and eggs. Pizza is the best way to measure this and it doesn’t disappoint. The crust stays, crisp, the toppings still taste good, and the cheese pull is still immaculate. I started reheating my fried chicken using the air fryer and it’s easily the best way to reheat it since it doesn’t alter the taste or feel too much. Most air fryers also drain the fast with helps food like pork. However, you really need to make sure you clean it after a few uses, especially if the food has a lot of fat. It can get smokey quickly if there’s a lot of fat in there and can trigger your smoke alarm. I once cooked fries that dripped a lot of oil and it was always more than enough to trigger the smoke detector. I usually face the vent out the window to prevent this issue.

You don’t want to eat cold food and you still want it to taste good. Any of these methods will work depending on what the food is. It might not taste the same as yesterday, but it might still be better than eating it cold.

Wow, a playground

Posted on March 9, 2023 by Joshua Sanchez

Depending on where you live, you have probably passed by a playground. You remember playing there as a child, whether that would be at a park or school. Either your parents took you there or you were there with friends. Regardless of the situation, you were always bound to have fun there.

One of the most important parts of the playground is the slide. You climb up some steps to the top, and then let gravity slide you down on an angled surface. You’ve probably spent a good chunk of your time on one because of how quick it is. Slides can be made out of metal or plastic, and unfortunately, both have their flaws. Metal slides are bound to dent, get rusted, and burn your skin. Plastic slides are bound to look extremely dirty, shock you, and also burn your skin. Despite this, we are still probably going down there. Some kids love to also climb up the stairs. I don’t think I’ve ever done this but if I did, I probably failed miserably. A weird slide design I’ve once seen was one where instead of one solid piece, it had a track system similar to the rolling surface you’ve seen at airport security. I’ve had my doubts about this design because I thought a piece of my clothing would get caught. But alas, I slid down the slope with ease. The length of a slide can be an issue for those who are terrified of heights, and I’m someone who hates heights. However, it’s one of these things you get used to once you’re on.

(mrpbps / Flickr)

Monkey bars are also a staple at playgrounds. Your arms do need to be strong enough to handle them, however. I was not a strong person so monkey bars were a big struggle. There are two options for monkey bars. Some monkey bars are one solid piece, and other monkey bars have handles attached to chains. The ones that are a solid piece are easier to handle because you didn’t move around too much, allowing you to get across with ease. The chain ones have a problem where kids will sometimes put them over the top bar. Kids are usually not tall enough to retrieve the handle, requiring an adult to get it back.

Swings are common not just at playgrounds, but also as a stand-alone things. They come in various forms. There’s the typical style where you’re sitting on a strip of material, and it’s seen at most playgrounds. Realistically, only one person can go on it but people will find a way to get two people on there. There’s a playground near my house that have swings that are one big dish. You can fit up to four people on it, five if you’re daring enough. Having at least two people on the swing is amazing because no one has to be the sole pusher. You both contribute to how high you swing. There are a few people out there who like to be the pusher because they want to see how high people will go. One of my friends once hung onto the swing lying on his stomach while his brother pushed him as high as possible. As a spectator, that was terrifying. I was convinced at some point that my friend was going to fly off the swing. Babies are not supposed to go on normal swings. Most playgrounds will usually have a separate set of swings that will fit babies. They look like big rubber diapers and babies will be a sucker for them. It’s one of the only things on a playground that is safe for babies.

(EvelynGiggles / Flickr)

Balance bars are sort of a lazy design, but people will always go on them. I even met my best friend at a balance bar. I can’t remember what exactly we talked about, but the balance bar had to be a part of it. They’re generally pretty low, just so then you don’t hurt yourself critically if you fall off.

Ziplines are also a staple at most playgrounds. There’s something exhilarating about pushing yourself off a platform and zooming above the ground. Just like the monkey bars, you do need some decent arm strength to use it properly. It hurts a lot more when you fall because of the speed you’re going at. Just like the swings, someone can just push you to go even faster. One of my friends once did this to me and I jumped down out of fear. If the handle gets stuck in the middle, someone who is tall enough has to push it back in one direction so then the next person can use it.

(Tom Page / Flickr)

Space nets or other kinds of weird jungle gym domes are interesting to hang around at. I remember the time when the space net was first installed at my elementary school. I’m scared of heights and the thought of it bouncing while I’m high up scared me. I was also scared of slipping off and hurting myself. It also doesn’t help that I wasn’t very flexible. Over the years, I managed to find my way to the top of our space net without any issues. These days, my size just doesn’t allow me to get up there properly. The space net is a pretty common part of a playground for people to do group photos. The class photo for our grade 7 yearbook was taken on one which made things complicated. There’s only so much room on one side before people start getting hidden.

The material playgrounds are made of is extremely important since it has to stand the test of time. The playground at my elementary school was made of wood with metal frames before they switched to primarily coated metal and plastic after I was gone. The wood was getting rotten to the point where it would’ve been dangerous for children to be on them. They ended up redesigning the entire playground which meant the end of my childhood.

Playgrounds should always stay around. There’s not that much you can do outside, so having one place where you can do a lot is essential.

Wearing merch with a smirk

Posted on March 9, 2023 by Joshua Sanchez

You’re probably a fan of something, whether that would be comic books, movies, shows, musicians, or anything with loyal fanbases. You have probably shown your love by buying merch, which is always a good way to support.

T-shirts are one of the easiest ways to show what you love. You wear shirts every day so you might as well express your love by having them front and centre. However, depending on what it is, you might end up paying a hefty price for it. If you buy it at a store like Walmart, you probably won’t pay too much. If it’s from somewhere like a band’s official website, you’re going to be paying around $30 sometimes (and this is before shipping). However, this can sometimes be because of licensing fees. Also, buying merch at concerts can be expensive. Because of the insane merch cuts venues try to do. Allegedly, merch cuts started happening when venues booked straight-edge bands. Being alcohol-free is a huge part of straight-edge culture and venues booking them means they will probably not sell as much alcohol at the show. They are still pretty ridiculous. Prog metal band Monuments has started to not sell merch at shows because they were losing more money selling merch than they should have.

The shirt designs can range from just the franchise’s logo to a design that represents the franchise. With just the logo, you make it crystal clear that you like the franchise. However, some people don’t like how plain or straightforward it looks. However, some people like how simple it looks because it’s easier to put it in an outfit. More bombastic designs might be harder because of how wild it looks, whether that would be crazy colours or it stands out a lot. However, if you keep the rest of your outfit basic to some degree, then it might work.

(Sandra Garrelts / Flickr)

Another thing that is popular, mostly in music, is patches. Patches can be applied to jackets or other pieces of clothing which is amazing. You may have seen those battle vests metalheads are known to wear. They will have an abundance of patches on their jackets, representing bands that they love. Usually, it will be a bunch of smaller patches and a big one on the back representing their favourite band or album. This can start becoming expensive depending on how many patches there are. Patches are usually around $5 a piece before taxes and shipping fees.

One of the best ways to support artists is to buy their music physically. They don’t really make any money from streaming so getting their music physically is a way to own their music. There’s at least enough incentive to buy physical media. Sometimes there are bonus tracks you can’t get on streaming services, other times there’s cool artwork that can’t be replicated on a screen. Then there’s having a vinyl version of the album. You can get vinyl in cool colours which otherwise wouldn’t be possible in other formats. I got a vinyl copy of Blind Guardian’s The God Machine last month and the record was in a cool clear marble colour scheme that wouldn’t be possible anywhere else.

(Richard Heaven / Flickr)

Hoodies are also popular with merch. There are significantly fewer designs compared to t-shirts, however, at least the ones that they pick are good enough. Because seasons change throughout the year, people will wish that they can wear the hoodie all year around. While you can wear something underneath that will keep you cool, wearing a hoodie during hot seasons is probably not a good idea. The same goes for jackets. Bomber jackets and trucker jackets are also common as merch. The designs are either just a minimalistic one in a place where it can be seen or the entire thing is centred around the design. Once again, you can’t wear it all year long, otherwise, you’ll look ridiculous in the hot weather. If the design is exclusive to the article of clothing, people who live in hotter climates might feel left out when wanting merch for something they love.

Posters are also pretty common. If you collect enough of them, you can cover up your entire room with them to show how much you are dedicated to the things you like. Sometimes it can get creepy depending on what the design is. My brother once had a Beyonce poster in our room that just stared at us every time we were in there. I even wanted to take it down myself a few times because of how weird I felt. After my brother moved out, I finally took it down and replaced it with a Cowboy Bebop poster. The composition is quite effective, with four characters lined up side by side. The only reason why it’s not hanging on my wall right now is that the frame is falling apart.

(thekirbster / Flickr)

Posters are really only acceptable in a kid’s bedroom, at least that’s what society wants us to think. They also want us to think that wearing cartoon merch is also childish. They don’t want to respect anyone as much with these things because it looks like we haven’t matured. I don’t want this to be true. As someone with adult money, you should be able to live your childhood dream of having a house filled with posters or wearing a Legend of Zelda shirt when you’re not at work. I find it hypocritical when they say this but they end up wearing something with a clothing brand well represented, such as a Gucci t-shirt or a polo shirt from Ralph Lauren. What’s the difference between that and having Bug’s Bunny on your shirt? I would rather have Bug’s Bunny on a shirt because it makes the person look approachable.

Merch is something that will always exist. Franchises need to be represented in other places that aren’t just the media they originated from. People might think it looks tacky, but you should not be caring about what other people think. If there’s a franchise you like, show it to the world.

Name please?

Posted on March 7, 2023 by Joshua Sanchez

Names these days are pretty weird. You don’t want to have a name that will get laughed at, but you also don’t want to share a name. However, some of these “unique” names should just not exist, and some names are just way too common.

Weird spellings of names should not exist. There’s a variation of my name with an H at the end. It’s not popular, but it does exist. I don’t know why anyone would choose that one over not having the H in the end. The normal spelling has fewer letters and also doesn’t look ridiculous. There’s also a spelling of the name Jackson spelt “Jaxon.” Whoever names their children this tells me they want their kid to be a kid forever, rather than grow up. While you can still shorten this one to Jack, people may be inclined to refer to the person by their full name because of how it’s spelt. Then there’s using -eigh. White moms from Utah will usually use this as the -ee sound in names, such as Ashleigh, Hayleigh, Mackenseigh, and Kimberleigh. There’s also putting Ys where Is or Os should be, such as in Jaxyn (just to give you a combo), Madyson, Kendyll, and other names that were good before but were made weird just to “stand out.” The

While normal names still exist, some of them are way too old-timey and shouldn’t be given in this day and age. The names Muriel, Murray, and Warren just scream “old person,” rather than someone young that will grow up. Even nicknames like Bob aren’t common anymore because of this.

(Steven Miller / Flickr)

But then, there are “unique” names. I once knew a few people with royal positions as their names. I feel like their parents wanted them to feel like royalty but it just sounds ridiculous when you actually say the names out loud. Then you have names that are just plain stupid. Most of these names are common with white moms in Utah wanting to name their child. Examples include Braxton, Maylee, Nayvie, and other things that sound pretty dumb. Some of these names would work better as middle names since you don’t have to use them often. My middle name is Godwin and while I think it’s a little tacky, at least I don’t have to use it often, just when I need to fill out legal documents. As given names, they just don’t work out the way you would want them to.

The worst contenders of them all are parents that name their children after fictional characters. You may have seen the picture where the guy holds up a sign stating “My wife said if I get one million likes, I can name our son Goku.” Apparently, it got one million likes and he got to name his child Goku Sanchez. There was also an abundance of parents that named their daughters Khaleesi, like the character from A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones. I can get why they would name their daughter this. The name roughly translates to “queen” which makes sense. However, because of the direction the character went, people now laugh at anyone with that name and people might regret it. A runner-up is naming kids after other nouns, such as Scissors, Coffee, and Cocoa.

Would you really name a child after this?

(Leonid Mamchenkov / Flickr)

The main issue with these names is how much they stay as baby or pet names. The difference between human babies and pets is that human babies will grow up to be human adults that have to be taken seriously. No one in their life wants to be named Khaleesi, Goku, Mackinleigh, or some other ridiculous name. I even used to hate the life out of my middle name before finally accepting it. Imagine going to a business meeting, and the person introduces themself as “Goku Sanchez.” You would think they were joking but then you realize it was serious. The name is the only thing you can think of during the entire meeting, and that person felt like they weren’t taken seriously. They were seen as a child, rather than an adult.

Unfortunately, naming someone with an extremely common name also has its faults. Look at my name for example. There are a million Joshua Sanchezes out there so the possibility of finding my social media accounts based on my name alone is pretty hard. There were times at church when the name Joshua would appear I would try to hide so my siblings didn’t make jokes about it. I even once had a class with two more Joshes. I also once had a class with another Josh whose last name started with an S. Our teacher had to tell us to put our full last names because of this. Despite that, the TA in our class still somehow gave me the wrong paper even though our last names were spelt out. I already knew them which meant I knew when my name was going to get called. The girl next to me was astonished at the fact that I have grown accustomed to sharing a name. Having three people with the same name in the same class was a lot more common than you think. It made things even more interesting when at least two of them are in the same clique. We somehow never mixed up any of them. Sometimes we wouldn’t even say a last name and the one we are referring to would respond. Although these names aren’t unique in the slightest, at least you’ll be taken seriously. Say all you want about conformity but these names at least have some meaning. The parents still made considerations as to how they want their child represented and the meaning behind a name changes a lot.

(David Staedtler / Flickr)

Names are something you need. If you didn’t have a name, no one would know how to talk about you without sounding too mysterious. However, people need to be careful when naming their children. You don’t want something completely ridiculous, however, that doesn’t mean using something extremely basic.

Eat out or get out

Posted on March 7, 2023 by Joshua Sanchez

Eating outside is something you do to treat yourself or spend time with others. Everyone’s experience with it is different, depending on the type of restaurant and the people you’re with.

The likelihood of you eating at a restaurant is unlikely but common for some. Because of how many people are eating there in groups, you will probably feel a bit left out. Despite this, eating at a restaurant alone is something you should experience once. There’s something about being served all alone that you can’t get with a group. When you get your food, you can eat right away without waiting for others. You can even end your meal whenever you want without waiting for others to finish. Eating at fast food places or food courts alone is a lot more common than eating at restaurants alone. I usually eat at the food court in Metrotown alone after finishing a big checkpoint such as a school term. I just get myself something simple such as the boneless combo from KFC. It’s an easy meal to finish by myself and fits the food court vibe. I always get food court food from KFC because when my mom would bring me to the mall as a child, that’s what she would get me.

(Mike Mozart / Flickr)

Eating outside with family can be quite an adventure. Your parents always want you to dress nice (or at least decent), and you just end up talking about things everyone already knows about. The number of people that want to take pictures of food before eating is insane. We came to a restaurant to eat, not take pictures. Speaking of taking pictures, for some reason they always want to have a group photo at the restaurant. Someone, most likely your dad or aunt, will ask someone working there if they can take a photo. Everyone has to lean in just so then they can be seen. In my case, the only thing I end up doing is looking in the camera’s direction with only my eyes. I end up not turning my head which makes the photo look ridiculous. If it’s at a buffet, be prepared to stay there for a lot longer than you should have. We once went to a buffet and everyone was done eating after thirty minutes. We didn’t leave until two hours after we arrived all because my parents and my relatives were talking non-stop.

When you’re with friends, it’s a different story. You’re with people that you chose to hang out with. If you left your school during lunch, you were most likely to get fast food since that’s all you had time for. We once went out to Popeye’s with thirty minutes to eat lunch before we had to get to the school a jazz festival was taking place at. We ran to Popeye’s, got our orders, ate, and then dashed back to the venue. I made sure to get chicken strips instead of whole pieces of chicken due to the amount of time we had. I didn’t want to race against the clock too much otherwise I wouldn’t enjoy the food. If you ate out with more time on your hands, it was a more enjoyable experience. My friends and I once went to a restaurant at Pike Place Market in Seattle and we had a great time. One of my friends ordered $60 worth of food for herself while the rest of us got pretty affordable stuff. I got myself breakfast food because the breakfast at the hotel was pretty disappointing.

(Zach Petersen / Flickr)

The place you eat at can make a huge difference. Fast food places are somewhat chaotic, especially if you try to eat during the lunch rush. You’re standing in line while waiting for your turn to order. The person ahead of you is taking a long time to decide what they want. It’s almost like they don’t even know the menu despite the fact that it’s right in front of them, and they’re not dyslexic in the slightest. This is the last place you want someone to take their time ordering. The people eating there range from families, friend groups, and people that want to eat alone. The service can be pretty hit or miss. I was once waiting to order at the Costco food court (not really a fast food place but it can count) and the person taking these people’s orders was unnecessarily rude. To be fair, the people ahead of me weren’t any better but it was still an awkward interaction. It turned out it was really on her when I ordered because she was pretty rude. She didn’t even say thank you and looked pretty mad when I asked where the lids were (since it was my first time at this location in a while).

(Kenming Wang / Flickr)

Traditional restaurants usually have you sit down, choose something you want to eat, and eat it like usual. The social aspect of the restaurant is dependent on your relationship with the group. If you’re already pretty close, you’ll be alright. If you’re not that close, it might be harder to have a conversation. Service can also be hit or miss depending on the place. My family once went to a brunch place and our server was pretty rude. When she poured our water, most of it spilt because she didn’t use the spout. Typically, people will get their separate dishes, but there are restaurants out there (mostly Asian restaurants) where you choose dishes for the entire table. I love this style because you don’t have to choose a specific dish and if you’re with friends, it’s easier to justify paying for the entire table. Buffets are a whole other beast. You can choose your own meal from the variety they provide. However, the food quality can be hit or miss. Some food just wasn’t built to stay under a light.

Eating outside will continue to exist as long as people want food. You have to make a good decision about what to eat.

Looking fly

Posted on March 5, 2023 by Joshua Sanchez

If you’ve travelled across the world, you most certainly have taken an airplane. Flying, while fun on paper, is pretty exhausting.

The airport is always a mess. You’re waiting in the long lines hoping to deal with your stuff in one second. Of course, that’s never the case because there’s other random stuff to deal with. If you’re checking in luggage, be prepared to weigh it. While you may have weighed it at home, what the scale says at the airport might be different. My parents once had to get rid of 9 kilos worth of stuff because they thought they can get around it. It was the first time not having a third person they can use their check-in on. They would normally bring a lot of stuff to the Philippines to give our relatives but the amount they had to remove was insane. Repacking is the last thing you want to do at the airport but sometimes you have to.

(ERIC SALARD / Flickr)

Going through security is an absolute nightmare on its own. You have to take off stuff such as jackets, belts, watches, and other accessories minus things such as glasses. You have to remove electronics from your bags such as laptops and any toiletries such as sanitizer and lotion had to be in a separate clear bag. This will always mess up your packing and considering the amount of time you have to do this, sometimes you end up not putting things away properly. Security is oddly rough on you during this process. I had a 7 AM flight one time and they were pretty much yelling at people who were half awake. This made everything a lot worse than it should’ve been.

Depending on how big the airport is, sometimes finding your terminal can be a mess. Sometimes it will take you over ten minutes just to find where you need to be. Sometimes your terminal will change. Terminals can either be one of the most boring places to wait in or pretty fun. Nowadays, it’s a lot more bearable now that we bring devices with us. I managed to watch an eight-episode season of a show while waiting one time. Aesthetically, they can be drab or absolutely decorative. The most decorative terminal I was in was Hello Kitty themed. It was a lot better to look at than muted blue walls. It looked more like a carnival than an office.

(Luke Lai / Flickr)

If you have a layover that is around eight hours, it can be a nightmare waiting. My family once had this issue when we had a layover in Taiwan. Thankfully, my dad knew someone in the area and we went around Taipei during our layover. The last time my parents went to the Philippines, they didn’t have a layover for this specific reason.

Getting on airplanes can be a hassle. You have to wait for your area to be called, wait in line, and hopefully, find your seat on the plane. The walkways are generally pretty narrow and trying to haul a suitcase and maybe something else can be challenging. You have to get your carry-on in the overhead compartment and get your personal item below the seat ahead of yours.

When it comes to actually flying, things can get nauseating. You have to watch a safety guide, either a video or a performance by the flight attendants, just to make sure you know what to do in an emergency situation. One of the things they always have to point out is to attend to yourself before others. If you’re a selfless person, this can go haywire quickly especially if you have children.

(byeangel / Flickr)

It’s easy to get bored quickly on the plane. I usually use this time to just listen to music and let my thoughts go loose. If it’s an insanely long flight. I would try to sleep as much as possible so I don’t have to feel most of my motion sickness coming through. I always bring as many treats as I can because airplane food can be some of the worst stuff you can eat. My flight from Taiwan to the Philippines had food that made me throw up just from the smell alone. No stench before that could make me do such a thing. When we had a flight from the Philippines to Taiwan, I made sure to bring a big (but not family-size) of chips just so then I didn’t have to eat the food that was given on the flight. You also need to remember to hydrate in the air. I tend to forget to drink a lot of water on longer flights which led to me getting nauseous.

I tried watching movies or reading books on a flight. As someone who gets motion sick, doing this was pretty painful because trying to focus on something while in motion can trigger stuff for me. I had to stop doing this because of situations like this. Before flying nowadays, I make sure to take Gravol just to make sure I don’t get incredibly sick in the air.

Sitting for extended periods on the plane can hurt quite a bit. If the seat you’re in is uncomfortable, there isn’t a lot you can do about it. You can’t recline because the person behind you will see this as inconvenient to their experience. Whenever I slept on flights as a child, I would put my head on my mom’s lap because it was significantly more comfortable than sleeping upright.

Landing is always a weird situation. People become super impatient and try to get their stuff out as much as possible at the same time. I usually just wait for enough people to clear out before grabbing anything.

Once you’re at your destination, you feel like you went through a lot. Flights, as boring as they can be, are still the only good way to travel across the world. We can’t always afford first class or private jets, so be prepared with being trapped with a lot of people.

Don’t judge a book by its cover

Posted on March 5, 2023 by Joshua Sanchez

You probably know the phrase “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” This is basically telling you to read the book or watch a movie without having the picture in mind. Unfortunately, people will do this anyways. Looks are everything to people and if something throws them off, they will probably not think of it any further.

Considering how many options you get in the library, you probably don’t have a lot of time to go through a book before having to check out something. The method that I used while checking out a book is the summary on the back and the cover. Using the cover is a huge mistake because while it may look cool, the book might actually be the worst thing you’ve ever read. We once had to pick between four books for a literature section in my high school English class. The book cover looked better than everything else so I went with it. However, a few chapters in I realized I made a mistake. The book was pretty terrible and I can’t remember a single plot point. Even the other people that picked the book also agreed that it was one of the worst things they’d ever read.

(Malcolm Tredinnick / Flickr)

Books that get movies based on them are the worst contenders when it comes to changing the artwork. One of my favourite examples of this is The Great Gatsby. There are a few editions of The Great Gatsby out there that are just the movie cover. This looked incredibly lame compared to the artwork that was on the original editions. It helped people differentiate the books and movies and gave them separate identities. This kind of change is pretty disgusting and should be avoided in the future. We really didn’t need Leonardo DiCaprio on the book cover.

A good version of the book

(Alan Trotter / Flickr)

Having terrible cover art can sometimes make it the only thing they will talk about. Iron Maiden’s Dance of Death album cover is notorious for having CGI characters on screen. CGI technology in 2003 was not the best so having that style on the album cover will clearly show its age. You also have the original cover for Megadeth’s Killing is My Business..and Business is Good! That cover was originally supposed to be an illustration of Vic Rattlehead but instead, they used a plastic skull. Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine was also pretty unhappy with the cover. Rereleases would eventually have a proper illustration along with the new logo.

Some of the best album art are the ones that are hand drawn. The album art during the late 80s thrash era is some of the best out there. Edward Repka’s work on Megadeth and Death’s albums is the most notable out there. The art style just works well for those albums and defined that era.

Album art that features the artist is a nice treat. However, featuring a full band can be risky. If someone leaves the band, it can easily show how much the cover has aged. Paramore’s self-titled album originally featured the full band but was recently changed to a shot of frontwoman Hayley Williams from behind. There wasn’t an official explanation however most people speculate they just don’t want former bassist Jeremy Davis on their album cover anymore, especially after going through a legal battle with him.

Video game cover art is a different story because it can show a visual representation of what to expect. Back in the 80s, games for the Nintendo Entertainment System would actually have pixel art that looked like the game. They mostly did this because the generation of games before that had pretty misleading covers, which made sense since ancient games aren’t exactly the prettiest thing to look at. After those first few years, they went back to more illustrative art covers after video games started to make a comeback in the market.

Phalanx is a spaceship shooter game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Most spaceship shooter games usually show a picture of a fighter jet that was in the game. When it comes to Phalanx, they went a different route. They showed a picture of a bearded man playing the banjo while the spaceship flies in the background. This helped it stand out from the rest of the spaceship shooter games that were out at the time.

These days, video game cover art can be pretty boring. You’re probably familiar with what it looks like these days. It’s just a character front and centre in the environment the game takes place. While it does give a good idea of what the game is, the fact that most games went this route can be tiresome. The lack of art to attract me is one of the few reasons why I don’t play as many games as I used to. Every game just looks the same to me which doesn’t make them exciting as they used to.

With AI art taking over things these days, people will sometimes use it to make cover art. They can just tell the generator what the thing is about and will make something off that. August Burns Red’s upcoming album, Death Below, is a recent example of this. The artwork was most likely made with Midjourney just like most AI art made in 2022. People are quick to see how lame it is for them to not get a real artist to make the album cover. The album art doesn’t even tell you what the album holds. From what I asked my friends, they assume that the prompt the AI was given is “post-apocalyptic Disneyland.” I can no longer unsee that monstrosity. If you’re someone who needs album art, please get someone to design something instead of an AI. If money is tight, just put text on a plain background or take a photo of something. It has a lot more integrity than AI and will probably look better.

maybe they’ll let AI write the songs, too https://t.co/GowmxbUhYg

— dev (@toe__sucka) November 2, 2022

Cover art is something that can make or break a piece of media. It’s people’s first impression so make it count.

Evolution 107.9

Altering Radio

Author Archives: Joshua Sanchez

Partying hard or hardly partying

Call crawling

Control with a goal

Reheat to remain

Wow, a playground

Wearing merch with a smirk

Name please?

Eat out or get out

Looking fly

Don’t judge a book by its cover