Review Me Today!

Today I had a hard time finding a blog to review.  I was looking through my comments, sorting through the requests.  The first blog I went to was not in English.  With so much of the world multi-lingual it is kind of embarrassing to admit, but I only speak English.  So that one was out.  Then I went to a blog that I have been meaning to review for awhile, but I find they haven’t posted in over a month…so that one is out, at least for today. So I was happy to finally come upon News Today.

News Today is a news blog so it is a good thing that the blogger posts daily. Most of the news seems to be political, but here and there I found a non-political post. Reading the posts, I can’t tell you if the blogger is more of a Republican or a Democrat. I found criticism of both parties.

I have learned that when it comes to politics, for me at least, I mostly keep my opinions to myself. I don’t really like conflict and arguments and that all seems to come about whenever I talk politics. (Apparently not a lot of people agree with me!) So I will refrain from commenting on the blogger’s politics! However, i will say this. Reading the posts, I can’t tell you if the blogger is more of a Republican or a Democrat. I found criticism of both parties. This tells me that the blogger is a fairly intelligent person who likes to think for themselves and isn’t swayed by party allegiance.

Now, for some actual critiquing.

#1. Write your about page! I know it is a pain. I took forever to get to mine. But people like me go straight to the about page. I want to know, Who is writing this blog? I want to know your name. I get tired of writing “the blogger”.

#2. When you upload a video, make sure you write something to go with it. Not everyone is going to watch the video. For the most part the blogger does pretty good here, with most videos having written commentary. I usually don’t watch videos. I don’t want to wait for the player to start, I don’t want to worry about the sound. But if you tell me what the video is about, maybe I’ll watch. Extra points for not having any of the videos auto-start. (I hate that! I put up with it on ABC because I like watching Lost for free… but for the most part don’t do that!)

#3. Keep writing. I think you are still finding your “voice”. But you are on the right track. Political commentary that asks questions we should all be asking…of both political parties.

I will confess right at the start, I am not a football fan.  But if you live in the United States, and you don’t want to be a social outcast on Monday morning, you will need to know a few facts about the 2009 Super Bowl.

What Time Does the Super Bowl Start?  That all depends on where you live.  I am in the Pacific time zone and things start rolling around 3pm.  That means if you live on the east coast the Super Bowl starts at noon. If you live somewhere else you will need to figure it out for yourself.  I like to go shopping during the Super Bowl so those of you on the East coast have it made.   All the Super Bowl fans will be busy watching TV and you can have the mall to yourself during prime shopping time.

Who is Playing in the Super Bowl?  The Pittsburgh Steelers will be playing the Arizona Cardinals in Tampa, Florida. The Steelers are the favorites to win.  I don’t know why except that anything called a Steeler should have no trouble against a little red bird.

Why are Super Bowl Ads so Popular? I don’t know, because people are silly? It is a proven fact that people who don’t even like football will watch the Super Bowl just for the advertising.  I am here to tell you that if you want to see the ads you do not have to waste all that time watching the game.  You can see all the ads on the internet.  Some of them are there even before the game starts. Also, Super Bowl ads are very expensive, so the advertisers are not going to use them just once!   If you like to watch ads I am sure you will be sick of all the Super Bowl ads before March gets here.

How Long is the Super Bowl?   Really, really long.  It is supposed to be a 2 hour game.  4 - 15 minute quarters.  But then they have breaks between quarters, and there is 30 minutes for the half time show, and then they keep stopping the clock for this and that.  I have seen the last 2 minutes of the game take 30 minutes. It doesn’t make sense to me, but that is just the way it is.

What is the Half Time Show?  At the local high school, the half time show is where the marching band goes out onto the field and performs.  At the Super Bowl you never know what you will get.  This year Bruce Springsteen will play some music.  A few years ago Janet Jackson had a “wardrobe malfunction.” I am pretty sure that won’t happen with Bruce Springsteen.

Why Should I Watch The Super Bowl? Guys watch the Super Bowl because they like football.  Gals watch the Super Bowl because of the tight ends.  Seriously, who cares about that silly little ball going back and forth. Just watch those tight ends in those tight pants and you won’t get too bored.

Do I Have To Watch the Whole Super Bowl? No, you don’t.  All you need to watch is the last quarter.  Most of the exciting stuff that people will be talking about on Monday will happen in the last quarter.  If something exciting happens before that, the producers will be sure to show lots of replays.  If you pay careful attention to the last quarter, you can talk about the Super Bowl on Monday morning and no one will ever know that you didn’t watch the whole game.

Today I am not writing a blog review. I like many other people, have been captivated by the tale of US Airways Flight 1549. How could you not be? How often does a plane land on the Hudson river, and everyone survives? I mean, the plane doesn’t flip, or cartwheel. It doesn’t sink or blow up. It just floats in the river while everyone is getting rescued. The pictures that came out were amazing, but today I found video that simply takes the cake. I know many news agencies are reporting it as a “crash” landing, but that wasn’t the case.  Crash landing is simply incorrect. It was a hard landing for sure, but there was no crashing involved.
Take a look and tell me what you think.

Embedded video from CNN Video

You really do have to give credit to the whole crew of Flight 1549. The pilot brought the plane down with no fatalities, there was no panic, and everyone disembarked in an orderly fashion. So Kudos to the crew, and to all the passengers who kept their cool and didn’t panic.