K.C.'s TOP 5

TOP 5 Ways to Torture K.C.

2011-11-08T22:12:00.000-08:00

If you've ever wanted to find out my deepest, darkest secrets, these are the TOP 5 most useful things to threaten me with - all 5 of them send shivers down my back just thinking about them!

#5 - Drill to Kneecap

Slowly drill your way through my kneecap until I give in. It doesn't matter what size bit you use. I'll probably give in before you even have it turned on.

#4 - Rusty Cheese Grater

Imagining you using a rusty old cheese grater to slowly shred you way through my epidermis gives me the heebie jeebies!

#3 - Needle in Eyeball

I can't imagine facing a needle coming ever closer to my eyeball. I barely made it through Lasik surgery! I can't imaging what that or a needle would feel like without any kind of numbing...

#2 - Paper-cuts

These would have to be made with manila folders, and focused around the webbing on fingers & toes, under the tongue, and in the corners of lips

#1 - Fingernails Ripped Out

Ugh. Can't even imagine the pain. It hurts bad enough to get a hangnail, but to have your whole nail slowly pulled out... Ouch!

TOP 5 Worst Characters in the Chronicles of Narnia (BBC)

2011-04-11T23:59:00.000-07:00

If you've never had the pleasure of experiencing the BBC's 1988 version of C.S. Lewis' Chronicle of Narnia, I honestly can't tell you that you are missing much. Unless you are a die-hard Narnia fan, or you like to MST3K terrible movies, I'd recommend staying away from this one. If you have seen the films then perhaps you'll enjoy this re-cap on the TOP 5 worst characters from the series:

EDIT: Since I found so much material on this TOP 5, I've added captions to each video to let you know what parts you should watch.

Reepacheep

Reepacheep is a very loyal and brave mouse. He is small, but he feels like he can take on the world. Much like any kind of rat dog. He also has the most epic exit from the film, as seen in the 2nd video.

(6:01 - 6:22)

(5:20 - 6:25)

Mr. Beaver

Mr. Beaver helps the kids along their way to Aslan. He speaks with a lisp and is one of the creepier animals in the series.

(4:57 - 6:35)
I love the fact that his "token" looks like a wadded up piece of used toilet paper. And you gotta love the reaction of all the kids after hearing about Aslan!

(3:13 - 3:40)
SPOKEN WITH SUCH PASSION!!

Maugrim - Wolf Captain of the Secret Police

The one good thing about Maugrim is he is dependable - you can always count on him to growl, bark, or howl every time he appears on screen.

(7:18 - 8:00)

(7:32 - 7:39)

(3:52 - 5:00)

Lucy Pevensie

It will always be a mystery to me why they chose this girl to play little Lucy in the series. I mean the enormous overbite is bad enough, but the lisp just makes it worse. A lot of the time you can't really even understand what she is saying!

(4:45 - 5:00)

(AS MUCH AS YOU CAN STAND)
This scene has been the topic of much debate - at 0:40 what does Lucy say?
"In the middle of the woods" or "In the middle of the forest"?
I don't think we'll ever know for sure...

(1:20 - 2:15)

(2:00 - 3:00)

(4:40 - 5:25)

(1:36 - 1:50)

(4:42 - 5:00) & (8:10 - 9:00)
I think Lucy forgot part of her lines on the first segment. And if you ask me, Aslan is enjoying having those girls on his back way too much.

The White Queen/Witch

The White Queen shouts. A LOT. She is also a witch, and it can be somewhat humorous watching her use her magic.

(1:57 - 3:00)

(5:22 - 6:15)
I truly believe that her magic is strongest when her eyes are open widest.
Oh and by the way, I cooked up my own Turkish Delight one time, and it isn't nearly delicious as this kid makes it out to be!

(6:22 - 7:55)
Is she lip-synching? I love how all of here slaves are homely midgets.

(6:23 - 7:00)

(1:45 - 2:45)

(6:12 - 7:30)

(9:41 - 9:59)
Words escape me...

That's all folks!

TOP 5 Building Competition Runs

2011-03-20T13:23:00.000-07:00

My work had a Building Competition a few weeks back, and I wanted to post some of the most interesting runs from the event. Here are the TOP 5 Building Competition Runs (the rules and the video of my team's run and the winning run can be seen at the link above):

#5 - "The Slackers"

This was a design by my friend Devin. It failed on the first run, so he modified it for the 2nd run to imitate another design (see #1 on this list). That failed as well.

1st run

2nd run

Technically we had up to 2 minutes to get it to cross the finish line (of course Devin had to wait the full 2 minutes), but I gave up after 30 seconds.

#4 - "Helium Lift"

This team used day-old helium balloons to reduce weight from the duck and "float" it to the finish line. It kinda worked, but they were disqualified from their second run.

1st run

2nd run

#3 - "Balloon Bounce"

This team simply put the duck INSIDE the balloon and then blew it up! It worked pretty well, but was a little floppy and that ended up slowing it down. They were also disqualified on their 2nd run. One of our brainstorms matched this idea using the giant punching balloons, but it turned out those were too easy to jump over the wall as well.

1st run

2nd run

#2 - "Stairway to Heaven"

This was the most unique design. They created a huge tower as tall as the ceiling that would basically reach all the way to the finish line when it fell over and spit out the duck. It worked really well, but their aim was off on the first run. Then everyone realized this broke the "no part of the vehicle left behind" rule, so for their second run they just put the duck in a ball.

1st run

2nd run

#1 - "Sled Parachute"

This was a submission from a student at the local high school. He was in 2nd place for the majority of the day until we bumped him into 3rd on our last run. His 2nd run didn't make it when his "parachute" got trapped in one of the fans.

1st run

2nd run

TOP 5 Blogging Mistakes

2011-02-01T23:00:00.000-08:00

Everyone is blogging these days. Some of us have been doing it for years, and others are new to the hobby. Whether you are a veteran or a rookie to the blogging scene, these are the TOP 5 Blogging Mistakes that you want to watch out for:

#5 - Meaningless Titles
Why invest a lot of time writing a great post, only to slap on a crappy title and click "Publish"? I'll be honest - when I'm on a blog and see a title for another post that sparks my interest, I almost always click on it. Don't short-change yourself by not putting as much thought into your title as you do your post.

#4 - Revealing Personal Information
Have you ever mentioned your home address on your blog? Or talked about upcoming vacation plans? This can pose a serious security risk to your home as someone now knows where you live and when you will be out of town. And even if you haven't ever mentioned your address you should be aware of something called GeoTagging. Many phones and cameras have this feature which imprints the geographical information of where the picture was taken into the picture. So say if you were to take a picture of your kitchen and post the picture on your blog, you suddenly could have just revealed the location of your house without even realizing (granted it would take someone to know about GeoTagging and how to extract those details). Fortunately there are ways to turn this off in most cases, but it is something you definitely should be aware of.

#3 - Meaningless Posts
Too many times I have seen people try to use their blog like Twitter. There are several blogs that I used to check regularly, but now avoid because all they posted was fluff. If you find yourself constantly blogging about what you are currently doing (or just did), you might be better off tweeting it on Twitter.

#2 - Irregular Posting
Nothing is more frustrating than checking a friend's blog day after day only to have months go by without seeing a new post. I'm definitely guilty of this one too. We're all busy, but if you hope to have a good viewing base, you have to post regularly and consistently.

Also - don't apologize for not posting. It's like apologizing for crying in church :)

#1 - Marking Your Blog As Private
Making it difficult for your readers to get to your blog is the best way to keep viewers away. I check my friends' private blogs way less often than I do the public ones. Blogs are supposed to be like a press release - they should be available to the whole world. You shouldn't be putting private stuff on there in the first place (see #4). The only reason (in my humble opinion) that you should make a blog private is if you want to have some sort of online journal that is for your eyes only (i.e. you don't want any viewers). Otherwise just go create a Facebook page if you want to post semi-private information; it's easier to control who has access and you don't have to inconvenience your viewers with yet another login. If you are concerned about the types of comments people leave there are tools for that too! You can restrict who is able to leave a comment, or you can even choose to approve all comments before they appear on your blog.

So are you guilty of any of these mistakes? Or do you know of other mistakes you've made or seen others make? Leave a comment with any details you'd like to share!

TOP 5 Online Puzzle Games

2010-11-20T01:47:00.000-08:00

It is amazing how online games have progressed. I still remember the day that I first heard that you could play games online with other people (it was at a Merit Badge Pow-Wow - sad). Back then it was all about the Yahoo! Games (we using our free AOL), and essentially it was a chat room with a game. The graphics were typically sub-par, but occasionally you got some interesting conversations going, or a 30-year old male that just asks everyone "a/s/l?". Originally I thought that you had to pay to play, but that just isn't how online games are (unless you gamble or play World of Warcraft). These days games are a whole lot different. You can still play with yourself or with others, but the games are a lot more interesting than the basic chess, checkers, hearts, etc. Here is my TOP 5 list of the best online puzzle games that I have enjoyed playing lately - be warned that they are very addicting!

#5 - Karoshi Suicide Salaryman

This is a game where, instead of trying to keep your player alive, you try to kill your character through a variety of falls, spikes, and heavy objects.

#4 - Meat Boy

You are a wad of meat (Meat Boy) trying to save your girlfriend (Bandage Girl), and you have to make it through each level filled with treacherous obstacles. Really fun, but I feel like the controls could use some improvement. Keep your eye out for Super Meat Boy coming to downloadable content for home consoles soon.

#3 - Shift

This game is all about shadows, gravity and orientation. Avoid the traps while using the [Shift] key to keep yourself oriented. Shift 2 is also available.

#2 - This is the Only Level

You are an elephant, and you need to get to the end of the level. Every level is exactly the same as the level before it. Or is it...? This is the Only Level Too (2) is also available.

#1 - The Impossible Quiz

A classic. If you've never played this one then you need to get out more! Or stay home and play games on your computer. This one is pretty self-explanatory - it is an impossible quiz. Over 100 multiple-choice questions pick your brain as you try to find out what are they REALLY asking you? I don't think I've ever beaten it. The Impossible Quiz 2 is also available, and I think there may even be a 3 or 4... Google it if you are interested.

TOP 5 Ridiculous Halloween Costumes

2010-10-31T17:06:00.000-07:00

Well since it is Halloween and all, I figured this was a good time to peruse the interwebs and find the most ridiculous costume ideas out there. Unfortunately there is a lot of naughty stuff out there, but luckily for you I already filtered that out. There still are some that are a little iffy though, so I'd rate this a PG-13 post in case any kiddies are around. Enjoy!

#5 - Poop

#4 - Baby Hitler

#3 - "Here Comes the Baby!"

At first I thought that was HIS hair! Awwww....

#2 - Catholic Priest

#1 - Feminine Product Ninjas

TOP 5 TV Interviews

2010-10-20T21:36:00.000-07:00

#5 - Funny Surfer Dude

A surfer describes the waves with some awesome sound-effects:

#4 - Psycho Dog Man

An Australian man recounts a story of some neighborhood dogs that tried to attack him, with an included re-enactment:

#3 - Grape Stomp Lady

An unfortunate, yet hilarious mishap during a live news report. I love how the anchors back at the station are trying not to laugh. "I can't breathe!"

#2 - Backin' Up Lady

A lady tells the story of what she did when some guys (one with a black hoodie, one with a white hoodie) tried to rob the convenience store. "He shot the rubber!"

Some guys took the video and made a music video about it. It's pretty catchy, so be careful because it might get stuck in your head after watching it!"

#1 - Bed Intruder

A guy talks about the dude that tried to rape his sister and gives him a stern warning:

Another music video was made of this one. Also very likely to get stuck in your head. I can't watch the original video anymore without hearing the song in my head!

TOP 5 Stop Motion Shorts

2010-09-21T23:05:00.000-07:00

I recently watched all of the Wallace and Gromit videos again, and it just hit me how much time is spent doing each and every frame of a stop motion video. I remember I once tried to make a stop motion movie with LEGOs, but gave up after just a few frames... Keeping the camera steady, being careful to not bump something, and trying to make everything move fluidly was just too much to handle. I read in an interview from Nick Park (creator of Wallace and Gromit) that said they typically can record about 30 frames a day in full production. 30 frames. That is 1 second of film recorded each day! And that isn't even including rework when something doesn't look quite right! Now hopefully we can all have a greater appreciation for stop motion pictures, and with that I give you the TOP 5 stop motion shorts:

#5 - "Typophile Film Festival 5 Opening Titles"

A video some BYU students made for a film festival. Their website claims that everything is real - no CG effects!

#4 - "T-SHIRT WAR!!"

These guys had over 200 shirts made to make this video!

#3 - "The PEN Story"

This is a story [advertisement] of a guy's life as seen through a moving sequence of pictures. They actually borrowed [stole] the idea from here, but I actually liked the look of this video better.

#2 - "DEADLINE"

A stop motion video made with post-it notes. This one must've to taken forever!

#1 - Western Spaghetti

I don't know what it is about this video, but it is just charming and makes me smile. For some reason I especially like the part with the butter... I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

TOP 5 Recent Annoyances

2010-05-01T10:41:00.000-07:00

This is something new I wanted to try out. Let me know what you think and if you can relate to any of these. Here are the TOP 5 things that annoyed me recently:

#5 - "Baby Bumps"

Man I hate it when women refer to their pregnant bellies as "baby bumps". I really think it is just a stupid term. I saw a gaggle of women on campus the other day standing around feeling each other up, and I could hear them saying stuff like "Feel MY baby bump!" and "Wow I really like your baby bump!". Ugh. Please SOMEONE, come up with another term that doesn't sound so ridiculous.

#4 - Bicyclists

Yeah, I understand how you all want to be part of the road and considered part of traffic, but if you want to ride on the road you need to start following the rules of the road. All the time I see you guys roll right through intersections with stop signs. Stop signs are for you too! If you want to ride in the road, make sure you are riding at the current speed limit. Otherwise move over to the shoulder or ride on the sidewalk! Lastly, I know you think you are really awesome when you ride around without holding onto the handlebars with your hands in your lap, but frankly I think you look pretty stupid.

#3 - The MANY Costs of College

I can't believe some of things you have to pay for at college. I swear they try to squeeze you for every last drop! Here are some of the things I have recently paid for, or decided against because of the ridiculous price:

Application for Graduation - $50
Graduation Announcement - $2.15 each
Cap and Gown - $35 (its even more if you don't buy early)
Diploma Frame - $140 (lowest price)
Application to Graduate School - $50

My friend Brady portrays the situation best in his recent comic strip for The Globe at SLCC.

#2 - EVONY

Have you ever seen one of these side banner-ads? They seem to be popping up more and more across the internet. This is an advertisement for a game called "EVONY", a MMO (massively multiplayer online) game. Most of the ads are MUCH worse than this one (in regards to risque clothing, and innuendos), but the funny thing is that they are entirely misleading. You know how the car and cigarette industry use(d) sex to sell their products? This is another prime example of that same technique. Here is a screenshot of the actual gameplay:

Kinda looks like Sim City and nothing like a sexy party...

#1 - Lazy People

Have you ever been to a grocery store parking lot? That is EXACTLY what you see! For some reason people just can't find the energy in themselves to return their shopping carts. Can't they just walk a few more steps to put their cart away? And for some reason it is infinitely worse at Wal-Mart. Most likely this is because the people that shop there are cheap and they drive crappy cars and wouldn't mind if their own car was hit by a shopping cart, but come on. People need to start taking some responsibility.

TOP 5 Terrible Clients

2009-12-06T22:22:00.000-08:00

Having worked for the last year with a creative design agency, I've seen a lot of the communication between our design team and their clients. While we usually don't have many (if any) issues while working with them, every once in a while we'll get a client who is outrageously picky, or just can't seem to be satisfied. These stories and websites are some of the funniest/worst/truest examples of what designers have to put up with ALL THE TIME. Enjoy, and don't forget to vote for your favorite!

#5 - "Nightmare Web-Design Clients"

This website details 10 of a designer's worst clients. Some of them were kinda funny, but honestly I just threw this one on the list to make it a solid 5, so if I were you I wouldn't waste my time unless you are really bored.

#4 - "If Architects Had to Work Like Web Designers"

This one is a pretty humorous article that someone wrote about wanting a house built, but in the same manner that we often get requests for a website to be built. Literally, we get requests like this.

#3 - "Clients From HELL"

This is a continuously updated site where people can post their own horror stories about working with bad clients. Some of them are extremely funny and/or ridiculous. If you do have time to burn, I'd recommend this one over the first link.

#2 - "How a Web Design Goes Straight to Hell"

This comic is awesome, as it comes so close to real life. The 8th frame is my favorite. I often imagine some of our clients like this... It helps

#1 - "The Vendor-Client Relationship"

This video says it all...

TOP 5 Things About In-N-Out Burger

2009-11-22T15:27:00.001-08:00

In celebration of the recent (and additional upcoming) openings of In-N-Out Burger in Northern Utah, I think its only proper to declare the TOP 5 reasons why In-N-Out Burger is so great. Many of you probably have heard me rant and rave about how much I love In-N-Out Burger, and some of you may think it is over-hyped. It might be that I only love it because my dad loved it so much, but hopefully after reading the list you'll come to agree that In-N-Out Burger has great food, and maybe you'll even go and grab a burger right after. So without further ado, here is the latest TOP 5:

#5 - Simple Menu

Have you ever pulled up to a fast-food restaurant only to find yourself over-burdened with seemingly hundreds of options to choose from? Maybe this image below is a familiar sight to you:

This is something you'll never have to worry about at In-N-Out Burger! With barely over 10 items listed on the menu (and over half of those being beverages) you won't ever have to fear that there will be too many things you'll want to try and don't know what to get. Here is an actual picture of their menu:

#4 - Scripture References

Ever wanted to think about religious topics while you eat? In-N-Out Burger has got you covered for that too. Back in the 1980s the owners of In-N-Out Burger decided to print discreet references to bible verses on their cups and wrappers as a reflection of their beliefs.

#3 - The "Secret Menu"

While In-N-Out Burger has always striven to "keep it simple", and their menu definitely attests to that fact, they realize that some people out there like a little mystery. They like secrets. Thus enter the "Secret Menu" at In-N-Out Burger. Its not any new food, just prepared in a different way. For example, the Neapolitan shake. Its not listed on the menu, but man it looks tasty!

Or there are the various diet options, such as the "Grilled Cheese" (no meat), the "Protein Style" (no bun, lettuce wrap), and the "Flying Dutchman" (just meat & cheese).

But by far, my favorite thing on the "Secret Menu" is the "Animal Style" option. You can order both your burger and your fries "Animal Style", and essentially it means they add grilled onions and extra secret sauce to your food. Once I tried it this way, I haven't been able to go back!

#2 - The PxC Ratio

The PxC Ratio is something I use to describe In-N-Out's "patty-by-cheese" ordering feature, where you can order any size burger simply by asking for a "3x3" (3 patties and 3 slices of cheese), or a "2x4" (2 pieces of meat, 4 pieces of cheese), etc. The ideal ratio of course is 1:1, but if you are looking for a really cheesy burger you can always alter the numbers. And there is no limit as to how high you can go. As you can see here with this gentleman who apparently has ordered a 20x20.

Or this group who ordered a 100x100.

#1 - Top-Rated Fast-Food Chain

That's right. According to a survey conducted by Zagat's, In-N-Out Burger is the #1 Rated fast-food chain, and also is rated at having the best burger, service, and food overall. Now that is something! To find out more, visit www.zagat.com/fastfood and click on the fast-food tab.

TOP 5 Reasons to Proscrastinate My Blog

2009-06-26T09:45:00.000-07:00

#5 -

#4 -

#3 -

#2 -

#1 -

Sorry, I haven't quite gotten around to making this list yet...

ALRIGHT. Alright. I know I've been bad at posting lately. I'll do better. Promise.

TOP 5 Barats & Bereta

2009-03-18T18:54:00.000-07:00

For those of you that haven't had a chance to experience a Barats & Bareta video, I hope that my TOP 5 favorites will give you a good look into some of their funniest work. Find out more at www.baratsandbereta.com

#5 - "Superhero Dunks"

#4 - "Just Wonderful"

#3 - "The Other Son"

#2 - "Cubicle Wars 2006"

#1 - "Mother's Day"

TOP 5 Worst Websites

2009-03-09T23:13:00.000-07:00

This is a TOP 5 that I've been looking forward to doing. Being a Web Developer, one thing that is vital to my job is creating a website that is easy to use, looks fantastic, and doesn't inflict bodily harm (or cause the user to want to inflict bodily harm to themselves) in any way. These website gems that I've uncovered are lacking in one or more (sometimes all) of those categories. I'll be sure to point out the key ares of a few of them that you just can't afford to miss. Enjoy!

(NOTE: IF YOU ARE PRONE TO SEIZURES, EPILEPSY, OR MOTION SICKNESS, SOME OF THESE SITES MIGHT NOT BE FOR YOU)

UPDATE (4/2011): Most of these websites have been updated or taken down at this point. Fortunately, thanks to archive.org, we have cached versions of the websites so that we can always remember them in their glory days (you may have to wait a minute for the page to load on the "wayback" page).

#5 - www.paperrad.org

To start us off today we have a website of this... children's cartoon? Not quite sure what is going on here, but if you click on the main image of the page (it says something about solving problems) you'll see a FANTASTIC video that might help explain a little bit more about the site.

#4 - www.dokimos.org/ajff

My favorite part of this website is, surprisingly, not the headache-inducing background, but instead the error-message at the top of the screen. Be sure you read it in order to get the full experience.

#3 - www.moire.ch

While this site may seem simple and innocent enough at first, after you start moving your mouse over the various links you will understand why this site makes it onto my list.

#2 - www.havenworks.com

This is a REAL news website. People actually come here to get their news. Now why someone would go here to get their news is beyond me, but if they can navigate the page, understand where they need to go, and not strain their eyes beyond belief... more power to them.

#1 - www.yvettesbridalformal.com

Okay. Just take a deep breath before you head on over to this one. It's gonna be BAD. Once you are at the home page wait for a second to make sure you get the full experience while the page/music loads. Then be sure you click the lady/lamb artwork to head over to the [even better] 2nd page. Isn't the floating image wonderful? Why does it change into that creepy face? Also for your further enjoyment you can view the map to Yvette's location that has been conveniently drawn up in MS Paint (located on the upper-right part of 2nd page - red text on gray box). Not only is this the worst website I've ever seen, but the music, floating images, and everything else combined together make me question the sanity of whoever designed it!

Introducing... The TOP 5

2009-03-04T22:43:00.000-08:00

I want to start a new series of posts called "The TOP 5" in which I will post lists, videos, websites, etc. of my TOP 5 picks in various subjects. Some ideas that I am currently working on include: TOP 5 worst websites, TOP 5 funny videos, TOP 5 Fast-Food Burger chains, TOP 5 feel-good videos, etc. I can't do this alone though, and I'll need your help in coming up with new ideas for TOP 5 categories. You'll also be able to read over my TOP 5's and add comments or add your own submissions on what you think I left out or shouldn't have included. I'll look forward to hearing your ideas!

K.C.'s TOP 5

TOP 5 Ways to Torture K.C.

TOP 5 Worst Characters in the Chronicles of Narnia (BBC)

TOP 5 Building Competition Runs

TOP 5 Blogging Mistakes

TOP 5 Online Puzzle Games

TOP 5 Ridiculous Halloween Costumes

TOP 5 TV Interviews

TOP 5 Stop Motion Music Videos

TOP 5 Stop Motion Shorts

TOP 5 Worst Music Videos - Part 2 - American

TOP 5 Worst Music Videos - Part 1 - Foreign

TOP 5 Recent Annoyances

TOP 5 Terrible Clients

TOP 5 Things About In-N-Out Burger

TOP 5 Reasons to Proscrastinate My Blog

TOP 5 Barats & Bereta

TOP 5 Worst Websites

TOP 5 Feel-Good Videos

Introducing... The TOP 5