Blogging Midterm
May 7th, 2012 by Andrew
I love technology, almost as much as one of the bloggers for Likehacker.com, Alan Henry. In his recent article, “Five Best Fitness Tracking Appliances”, Alan discusses the top 5 fitness devices that are on the market today. These devices include the Nike Fuel Band, the FitBit, the BodyMedia Fit, the Striiv, and applications for your smartphone that can be used to track your fitness progress. I thought I would add my opinion to the article with my comment stating: “I have to say that even though it may be considered “geeky” to use technology to keep track of your fitness progress, I believe it is a great improvement and a great way for people to stay motivated. I recently purchased the Nike GPS watch and it has been a great motivator to get out and run. The device lets you upload your progress to an online Nike running community where you can share your progress and find local running routes in your area. I think that the ability to see your progress in real time is a great motivator, and you get a real sense of accomplishment when you can track your progress.”
Another website I check regularly is Oregonlive.com. They have great local bloggers that contribute a wealth of local knowledge. In this particular blog about marijuana legalization, blogger Johan Mathiesen of Southwest Portland stated his opinion on the matter. Johan’s opinion is that America can’t afford to legalize marijuana, and I contributed to the blog with my comment: “In my opinion legalizing marijuana, at least in Oregon, would save money. Just think of all the money we are spending as tax payers to keep these marijuana users in our jail system. The money we spend to clothe, feed, and shelter these “criminals”. Every conversation I have had about the legalization of marijuana ends with “it should be legal. Alcohol is more damaging health-wise.” If we taxed the sale of marijuana like we do for alcohol I think Oregon would actually make money, not lose it.”
As you can tell with my blog, I have a passion for beer. I came across a blog that dedicates itself entirely to beer, and it caught my attention. I found an interesting article written by Peter Estaniel on the blog site BetterBeerBlog.com about the Guidelines for Beer and Food Pairings. I added the comment to the blog: “Two of my favorite indulgences, beer and food. Why does wine get all of the love with food pairings? I think restaurants should make the extra effort to suggest beer pairings with your meal. What beer goes well with spicy food? With a turkey sandwich? What about with spaghetti? These are some questions I’d like to ask my waiter, but sadly many restaurants don’t have the knowledge. Maybe I’m eating at the wrong places, or I just need to be more proactive and ask them more often.”
I am an avid Portland Trailblazer fan, and I enjoy following the teams progress and rumors through various sports blogs. One of my favorite writers, Sarah Hecht, writes for the website blogs.trailblazers.com. She has her own blog called “Looking Up; The NBA from 5’3″.” In her recent article she talks about the future of the veteran Blazer center, Joel Przybilla. I added the comment to her blog; “I think if we draft a big man, Joel is a must have for the bench. He adds character, maturity, loyalty, and overall experience. It is clear that Joel is a dedicated Blazer. He passed on the opportunity to play with Miami and Chicago to support our team. He has made it evident that he loves Portland and devoted himself to better the team.”
Another passion I have is movies, especially comedies. Dumb and Dumber has to be one of my all time favorites. I was browsing Huffingtonpost.com when I saw an article mentioning that there is a Dumb and Dumber 2 coming out. I couldn’t believe it! I loved the first one and when Dumb and Dumberer came out, I was so disappointed. I couldn’t even make it through 10 minutes of that movie. After reading the article I left a comment with my thoughts on the movie: “I have to say, I am kind of nervous for this movie! Dumb and Dumber is one of my all time favorite movies, and I have tremendous respect for Jim Carrey. He is well known for being picky for doing sequels, and the ones he has done have been pretty good, the Ace Ventura films in particular. I have to be honest, when i first heard about the sequel being made I immediately thought of the horrible “Dumb and Dumberer” movie that I could only sit through 10 minutes of. I wish the Farrely Brothers, the screenwriters, and Jim good luck because there are certainly going to be a lot of critiquing and comparisons to the original film, which is going to be hard to compete with.”
