A & F is not for Aware & Frugal

Sometimes when I go to the mall, I get an inexplicable urge to walk into the ridiculously expensive clothing stores, knowing full well that I will only end up walking out empty handed while sneering at the teenagers who, for some reason seem to think that $30 for one T-shirt is reasonable. Whenever that happens I walk my $30 into Wal-Mart to cheer myself up, and end up walking out with five or six T-shirts, and sometimes a handbag or some shoes.

Hollister, one of the most popular clothing stores, starts their T-shirts at $16.50, which isn't exactly ridiculous, but they can go as high as $34.50--for one tee. As long as I'm dropping names, here's another big one: Abercrombie & Fitch. Their tees start at $30 and can go as high as $44--again, for one tee. I walk into these stores in a semi-naive manner, and feel like a hopeless pauper because I can't buy one T-shirt without feeling like I've somehow been owned. However, when I walk into Wal-Mart I see tees starting at $5--and that's before clearances, when they have any-- and flip flops (personally my favorite kind of shoes because they're so comfy) as low as $2. Flip flops at A & F would be $20 to $58, and $16 to $39.50 at Hollister.
If you wanna take about a minute to process the incredibly high numbers I've been throwing at you, feel free, or you could use that minute for resuscitation.

Why someone would pay $58 for mere straps to cover their feet is beyond me. I guess the truth is that because of a certain name on a tag, a certain piece of apparel can cost nearly ten times more than another piece with similar style and design, yet with a lesser known name on the tag.
That's the sad truth of society. If you wanted to here the happy truth, then you probably should've went to a blog with a different title.

I have to mention that the prices I gave for all items mentioned are for women's apparel, so prices are likely to differ for men's. Also, some item prices are from the company's website, and the in-store prices may differ or particular stores may not offer those items.

Letting it be

On Mar 5,2009, my life was changed for the better. I had finally heard the official release date for The Beatles: Rock Band game, and I finally had something to look forward to in life. I had already heard of Rock Band's intentions of creating a game specifically for The Beatles' music from an October 2008 article on Rollingstone.com However, it was this day when it was revealed that Sept 9,2009 would be the day of jubilee for Beatles fans and Rock Band lovers everywhere.

It's now Jun 8, and my hope for jubilee has faded, and I now have an expectation for the annoyance that is to come with this game. On Jun 2, Joystiq, a video game blogging site, reported that The Beatles: Rock Band songs and downloadable content will be incompatable with Rock Band and Rock Band 2. Likewise, any other Rock Band songs and dlc will be incompatable with The Beatles: Rock Band. So I would have to buy The Beatles game, which has a pre-order price of $249.99 on Amazon.com, to download any dlc, which renders Rock Band 2 virtually useless in regards to The Beatles. Thus, all of my hopes for exporting dlc from The Beatles' game are gone like "Yesterday."

I honestly can't say that I'm surprised. I'm more annoyed by this expected disappointment, like when you know something bad is going to happen, yet you naively hope for a different turnout. With all of the licensing agreements Harmonix, the Rock Band development company, had to go through just to get The Beatles to consent to this game, you really can't expect them to perform magic and make the ever-so-perfect Beatles game. Even so, it's really hard not to be upset with knowing that you'll have to first dish out extra cash for the downloadable "Abbey Road" album, then even more cash as you're practically forced to buy the new Beatles: Rock Band game.

The game does come with added perks that you wouldn't get with Rock Band one or two, such as the option to sing harmonies, all of The Beatle members' avatars, and the custom model instruments that the members used. The drumset, by the way, look very similar to the original Rock Band's drum, and not so similar to the Ludwig that Ringo used. However, like I said, it's a video game, not a magic trick. And with that spirit in mind, as ticked off it makes me to think about how much my day of jubilee will cost, I've decided to just be thankful that the release date is just three months away, and to just "Let it Be."

Photo by Tiago Celestino

Eight Ball says: You had it comin

There is no worse feeling than working so hard on something, while knowing your work has improved, only to find out all of that hard work would go down the drain. My correction- the only thing worse than the previous feeling, is knowing that all of your hard work would go down the drain because of a silly mistake that you made. This is exactly what happened to me, and with my luck- if that's what you want to call it- I don't know why I'm so surprised.

I was supposed to record a few video interviews for my group project on senior citizens at Sinclair Community College. So I managed to record three decent interviews of three seniors and one young student. All of the interviews went really well, although one wasn't as good as the others as the interviewee wasn't thrilled about being taped. I was so excited because I knew I had great footage, and I knew I did better than the last time I had interviewed someone. Now, imagine my surprise when I finally watch the tape and realize that all of the good interviews that I thought I had weren't actually there because- hear comes the stupid mistake- I had been hitting pause all those times I thought I was hitting record. Then I found out that the battery was dead because I left the camcorder on. How could I have made such a stupid and costly mistake? Was sleep deprivation finally taking it's toll on me or am I really that clumsy? Eight ball says: definitely both.

HV20.com is an online forum visited by many photographers and videographers, and in their discussion topic named "Our camcorder "DUH" moments," most of the members posted on either times when they had hit "stop" when they thought they were hitting "record," or when they had left the camcorder on when they thought they turned if off. Scientific evidence doesn't back this up, but I think the chances of making both of those mistakes are one in a gazillion. But here I go again unwillingly defying the odds. And the biggest slap in the face is that the only reason I know about the aforementioned site is because my sister, who is a videographer, told me about it last year when I jokingly made fun of her for accidentally recording a load of floor-shots and humorous conversations at a play by making the same mistake I did. At least she remembered to turn off her camera afterwards.

So I've learned a couple of things from my awful mistake. That is, cameras hate me (on both sides of the lens), and there really might be a such thing as karma.