The 203 VIPs

The End

2009-04-06T01:35:00.001-06:00

Well, this blog is kind of dying, eh?

Relief Society in Wyoming

2009-03-24T13:29:00.001-06:00

Link of the Day 03.06.09

2009-03-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

You know you've wanted to know:

Hat Tip: House of Payne.

Vid of the Day 03.05.09

2009-03-05T08:00:00.001-07:00

So the economy has gotten pretty bad, lucky Stephen Colbert has you covered.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Doom Bunker - Jack Jacobs and Stephen Moore

Start investing in soybeans and silver bullets.

Vid of the Day

2009-02-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

For James, because I know he'll love it. Hat Tip: Ian McConnaughey.

Me: That's some mighty fine acting there Mr. Ford.

Harrison: I know.

Poem of the Day

2009-02-24T16:36:00.002-07:00

Butt Prints in the Sand

One night I had a wondrous dream:
One set of footprints there was seen,
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.

But then some stranger prints appeared,
And I asked the Lord, “What have we here?
Those prints are large and round and neat,
But Lord, they are too big for feet.”

“My child,” He said in somber tone,
“For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait.”

“You disobeyed, you would not grow;
The walk of faith you would not know.
So I got tired, I got fed up,
And there I dropped you on your butt.”

Because in life there comes a time
When you must fight, and you must climb,
When you must rise and take a stand,
Or leave your butt prints in the sand.”

Author Unknown

Vid of the Day

2009-02-24T08:00:00.001-07:00

This is absolutely incredible! I can't believe the way this dog can walk around. If a dog can do this, I'm sure we can train Matty Cakes to make his bed.

Joke of the Day

2009-02-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here at 203 we are in favor of cootie innoculation

Joke of the Day

2009-02-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

This is one of the funniest bits I've ever seen on The Colbert Report. It's Stephen Colbert getting to know the District of Columbia better. Hope you enjoy.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Better Know a District - District of Columbia - Eleanor Holmes Norton

Joke of the Day Numero 2

2009-02-17T19:30:00.003-07:00

Okay, so this is how I imagine this conversation went:

Walmart Employee: 'Hello 'dis be Walmarts, how can I help you?'

Customer: 'I would like to order a cake for a going away party this week.'

Walmart Employee: 'What you want on the cake?'

Customer: 'Best Wishes Suzanne' and underneath that 'We will miss you'.

Joke of the Day

2009-02-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

So Jeff, Terry, and I were watching TV and they started droning on and on about the side effects. That reminded me of a classic E*Trade commercial. Figured I'd throw it up here and let everybody enjoy.

Those "Hot Dog Fingers" are a serious issue.

Roommate Love

2009-02-13T16:51:00.001-07:00

It's on Matty Cakes.

Man Card

2009-02-12T08:00:00.005-07:00

I am very proud to say that I am a holder of The Man Card. Now you may ask, what precisely is the Man Card? Of course if you ask that, you must not be a card carrying member. But I think the Man Card is an important thing for all men to hold. Really the Man Card itself isn't necessarily anything important and it's certainly more of a figurative thing than anything actually tangible. The Man Card, however, is evidence that you are a man. Of course I think you typically know if you're a card carrying member or not. You recognize your brute manliness and realize that you are in fact a man.

A Man Card is earned, not bestowed upon an individual as a gift. I think the first important qualification is you do in fact have to be male. I'm sorry ladies, that may break your hearts, but at best you can only earn honorable mention for manliness. The core of what earns you a Man Card I think is found in all of the things that makes little boys tick. Is it gross? It's probably manly and can you get a card. Does it scratch? Yeah, that's pretty manly. Got some gnarly scars? Chicks dig scars and chicks definitely dig Man Card Holders. Do you roughhouse? Sometimes you gotta fight to earn that card, but earn it you will. Almost as great as picking on little brothers. Is it some crazy contraption you built with your mad MacGyver skills? Definitely gets you a card. Are you covered in hair? Count yourself a member. Is it dirty (and I mean that in the Mike Rowe Dirty Jobs kind of way)? Nothing we like more than being covered in dirt, count yourself in. Sports? Do you really need to ask? Oh and don't forget really great music. Also, good lingo, e.g. manformation-information useful to men (Hat Tip: Carson's Jordan, yeah, that's definitely a card carrying man right there) or the establishment of Man Law (hopefully if you were involved in such an action, it wasn't because you took actions that would bring into question any sort of Man Laws). Also, a Man Card holder is always a man's man.

Now I don't think a Man Card can ever really be revoked, I mean if you're manly enough to hold the card, you wouldn't be unmanly enough to ever lose it. Of course that doesn't mean men can't have a softer, gentler side. Seriously, there's nothing wrong with being a bit cultured. Also, I am very big on the respecting of women (but we won't really delve into that here, that's a topic for another day). A real man is always a gentleman. Keep it classy, that's my philosophy. However, at the end of the day remember you are a man and so treat yourself right. Come home and celebrate with a nice belch.

Haircuts for the British Royal Guard

2009-02-11T13:14:00.002-07:00

Canadian Police Chase

2009-02-07T17:42:00.002-07:00

Inside Joke of the Day

2009-02-06T10:18:00.000-07:00

Haha, you've just been officially notified.

Dating Post

2009-02-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

So I figure I'm trying to keep this blog pretty active so I wanted to write a quick blurb about my post on my personal blog entitled Dating Protocol. I figure it's something pretty relevant to most of the boys of 203 and most of our readers. I know a lot of you probably frequent my blog if you actually take the time to read this, but if not I figured this was a pretty good post to check out. Basically I talk about a lot of dating etiquette and such relative to a blog post I found in the New York Times. Anyway, I'd love to hear any opinions relative to the matter.

Inside Joke of the Day: Awareness Test

2009-01-31T08:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I guess this one isn't as much of a true inside joke because most of my roommates haven't even seen this yet, but I can imagine it will probably be classic around here. Anyway, I was reading Yahoo's college basketball blog The Dagger and they had an article about a basketball blog written by one of the members of Ohio State basketball team. Well it turns out that this blog is rather popular and, even better, it's hilarious. So for the inside joke of the day I give a Hat Tip to Mark Titus for his Club Trillion blog, the entry from the first day I read it was great and I highly recommend you check it out. Of course the best joke from the blog was a YouTube video attached at the end and here it is for your viewing pleasure:

Hopefully that made you more aware.

The VIPs of 203

2009-01-29T17:37:00.005-07:00

Where the heck does that come from?

I'm sure if you've visited our abode, you have seen the shiny placard hung upon the door, which reads: VIP Entrance. If you've known us for more than a semester, you might also remember the original VIP sign, written in pen on a simple piece of lined paper. It appeared on our door sometime last year, and it read: 24/7 VIP Lounge. It hung there for a long long time, until I thought it looked tacky and I tore it down. It was, after all, very very old. It would've stayed there forever, but we had the shiny placard from last year's Ward Date, so I figured we didn't need both.

Anyway, the reference to us being VIPs is originally from that grungy piece of paper. There have been many myths regarding its origin. I am here to debunk the myths and reveal the truth, so as not to take the secret with me to my grave. (I don't plan on dying soon, FYI, but you never know).

I made it and hung it on the door. Originally I made it as a joke, because Amanda Martinez was planning some dance party downstairs in Apt. 101, and you know how much our apartment loves dance parties. This is where my memory gets fuzzy. I think she said something like we could have a drink lounge for all the people who needed a break from dancing and we could call it the VIP Lounge. Wonderful idea, Amanda. And I got thinking, we could have it in our apartment. Wait, our apartment is ALWAYS a VIP Lounge. So I took that little inspiration from Amanda, added in the 24/7 part, and labeled 203 as the 24/7 VIP Lounge because the name obviously fits. :) Proof that it fits: it stuck. We became the VIPs, especially after we started writing a song about it. However, I didn't tell anyone I did it. Except Terry, I told him like last month.

So now the secret is out. That is the story of the reference. I figured I'd better publish it, especially since our blog is titled The 203 VIPs.

The End :)

Inside Joke of the Day: BadgerBadgerBadger

2009-01-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

BadgerBadgerBadger

So if you ever see any of us doing a funny dance I think you know why. Here's the official site.

Fire! Fire!

2009-01-25T05:51:00.002-07:00

So last night I was comfortably asleep having gone to bed a little after midnight. The next thing I know, all the freaking fetching smoke detectors in our apartment are going off. I was just getting my full bearings when I heard Jeff say he smelled smoke. The old Massachusetts Minutemen would've been proud; I was out of my bed and ready to put on some clothes like I'd been shot from a cannon.

Of course, only after standing there did I get more of my brain back. Jeff wished me a hearty good morning and the detectors died. I looked at my clock and found that it was 1:50 a.m. I totally thought it was the morning, which doesn't really make any sense anyway because these guys usually aren't up then. In fact, at this point they were just going to bed. Anyway, I dropped back into my lower bunk, endured through another round of the stupid things beeping a minute or so later, and soon enough fell asleep.

They thought it was the heater gimping off somehow. I didn't care if I died of some carbon monoxide poisoning, at least I could finally get some shuteye.

That's Therapist!

2009-01-24T15:15:00.003-07:00

In honor of James's first post I've decided to get myself in line and actually make my own. For those of you who weren't around or had your eyes gouged out, us boys in 203 had a contest to see who could grow the "best" mustache. Since the mustache is inherently creepy and all, we decided to grow the beard first and shave it for the BYU basketball game against Wake Forrest. We definitely looked like creepers.

Props to James for joining the contest after only a few days of not shaving. He definitely earns his manly status by the shear fact he can pull a full beard after a couple days.

Even though most of you lady-folk who read this blog think otherwise, facial hair is awesome and hilarious. To those men who can effectively pull off a beard or mustache, props to you.

The man. Period.

T-Money sporting the mexi-stache and little sum'in sum'in.
Just the mexi-stache. He looks exactly like his Mii character.

James's 'stache after 6 days.

Hey little girl, you want some candy?

Reaching For Peaches Game 1

2009-01-24T14:45:00.005-07:00

Well, we had our first intramural basketball game today. I was still sick and cloudy-headed, but I'll try my best to chronicle it. First off, we won. 41-26 or 29 or something. The highlight of the game was, by far, Coach Chad Parker in his suit on the sideline. Other than that, there's not too much to tell. We played decently. We only took like 4 three pointers, which is way good for us. And we made two--both of them Tyler's. That's not a bad percentage. We played scrappy, got no help from the refs (that goes without saying), had some rebounding trouble, but managed to play through our sicknesses and shortcomings to earn a nice victory. Kudos to all the fans who showed up, and also to Scott and James who manned the scorer's table. And thanks to the Powerade man for giving everyone free Powerade. Next game I will buy a Legend's Grille cookie for whoever gets the most steals. Let's play some tight D! Reaching for Peaches!

Kasia-Sue

2009-01-24T13:45:00.003-07:00

So I always leave facebook on Terry's old computer up, it happened to log me off and this is the screen that came up when I clicked Facebook. How many times does this pic say Kasia-Sue? I came out and at least three of the roomy's were talking with said girl on Facebook nontheless. To mom, our Facebook queen... and honorable mention goes to Barnes who is pictured to the right of Kasia. And huzzah for my first blog post!

Matty Cakes 2016

2009-01-21T08:00:00.003-07:00

"I'd take a bullet for you!"

Watching History

2009-01-20T18:00:00.000-07:00

So I heard today was kind of a big day.

Here's the breakdown of what we were all doing while witnessing history.

Me: I was sitting on the couch watching the big event. Not long after I fell asleep. It was historic.

Jeff: He was watching on one of the other couches with me. Both of us were on our computers during most of it as well.

Matt: He was on the other couch semi-conscious. He claims he was "listening" but that really is the operative word anyway. He definitely wasn't watching even though he was capable of doing so. Matt proceeded to sleep for the rest of the day.

Jordan: He was at work and chatting with me on Facebook. Jordan really didn't like Rick Warren's invocation but he enjoyed Reverend Lowery's benediction. Go figure. He also enjoyed the performance by the quartet (but who didn't, seriously?).

Terry: He was in class but he caught Barack walking Bush to his helicopter on TV and then also caught some of the talk about the swearing-in debacle.

James: He watched it at his house with his mother. I heard he started swearing like a sailor. No seriously.

Yes, definitely a monumental day that I'm sure we'll all remember.

Personal Bios

2009-01-18T13:12:00.004-07:00

In order to better know and understand the VIPs of 203, here are a few brief summaries of each member. You are welcome to take any hints you can from this information:

James

Hometown: Poughkeepsie, NY
Age: 23
Birthday: February 28
Mission: California Riverside
Major: BS in Accounting, Master’s in Accounting
Graduation: April 2009
Relationship Status: In the market
Role in 203: Mommy and Daddy
Role in Reachin’ for Peaches: Sing, write, guitarist
Church Calling: FHE Papa
Hobbies: Video games, RFP, Battlestar Galactica
Favorite treat for all you girls who want to drop a baked good off: Cookies, period.

Jeff
Hometown: Taylorsville, UT
Age: 23
Birthday: November 14
Mission: Korea Seoul West
Major: BS in Accounting, Master’s in Accounting
Graduation: April 2012ish (with Master’s)
Relationship Status: Dating Cadence (10 months)
Role in 203: Commercial Cuisine Connoisseur
Role in Reachin’ for Peaches: Former guitarist
Church Calling: Sunday School Presidency First Counselor
Hobbies: Basketball, guitar, Internet videos
Favorite treat for all you girls who want to drop a baked good off: Brownies or chocolate chip cookies

Jordan
Hometown: Orem, UT
Age: 23
Birthday: August 11
Mission: Korea Seoul West
Major: BA in Communications: Public Relations emphasis
Graduation: December 2009
Relationship Status: None (at least with anyone on this continent) and looking
Role in 203: Publicist, Facilities Manager
Role in Reachin’ for Peaches: Publicist
Church Calling: Executive Secretary
Hobbies: Playing basketball, watching movies, genealogy, reading
Favorite treat for all you girls who want to drop a baked good off: Brownies and banana cream pie

Matt
Hometown: Orem, UT
Age: 23
Birthday: August 29
Mission: Germany Hamburg
Major: BA in Economics, grad school
Graduation: April 2010
Relationship Status: Dating Caitlin (2+ months)
Role in 203: Apartment Sage, Apartment Cheapskate
Role in Reachin’ for Peaches: Pianist
Church Calling: Ward Temple Co-Chair
Hobbies: Sports, Reading, Movies, Caitlin, Music
Favorite treat for all you girls who want to drop a baked good off: Peanut Butter bars or no-bake cookies

Scott
Hometown: Poway, CA
Age: 24
Birthday: April 24
Mission: Florida Tallahassee
Major: BA in Political Science, law school
Graduation: Technically done
Relationship Status: Bachelor for life, baby
Role in 203: Freaking Magician, Human RSS feed, Beacon of Truth
Role in Reachin’ for Peaches: The Roadie Heckler
Church Calling: Ward Clerk
Hobbies: News, Politics, Sports, Blogging
Favorite treat for all you girls who want to drop a baked good off: Brownies

Terry
Hometown: King City, CA
Age: 23
Birthday: January 7
Mission: Mexico Torreon
Major: BS in Athletic Training
Graduation: December 2010
Relationship Status: JJ (Jacked and Jaded)
Role in 203: Resident superhero, Sound effects specialist
Role in Reachin’ for Peaches: Songwriter, recording specialist, vocals, guitarist
Church Calling: Elders’ Quorum Secretary
Hobbies: Songwriting, basketball, juggling, defying death
Favorite treat for all you girls who want to drop a baked good off: Cookies baked in my own kitchen

Sleeping on the Couch

2009-01-16T10:46:00.000-07:00

If you've never slept on one of our couches here in 203, then you're missing out on one of the best nights of sleep ever. Serious. Let me tell you about a recent experience, just so you get the picture of how amazing they are. I fell asleep on one of our long couches the other night (which is incredible in and of itself--usually I'm cuddled in the small one), and I woke up in the morning to a pleasant surprise. No, it was unfortunately not Terry singing Livin' on a Prayer as loud as possible. Maybe next time. Anyway, I woke up refreshed, which is nothing short of a miracle, considering what I had slept on (besides the couch, that is). Here is a short list of what was between me and the couch: two blankets, my earbuds, my laptop, Scott's laptop case, a pair of black dress shoes, a pair of brown dress shoes, Terry's basketball referee guidebook, and a box of pizza (with half a pizza still in it). I hope I didn't forget anything. The only thing that could've made it better was if Scott had made me breakfast, but I guess if you like pizza for breakfast, I literally did have breakfast in bed just waiting for me. You see what a miracle it was for me to actually wake up refreshed? Our couches are like those fluffy clouds in heaven that angels sit and strum their harps on all day, they are that comfortable. The only thing that could've made it better is if Jeff didn't turn the freaking temperature down to 66 at night. I woke up and was wishing I had put a blanket on top of me, and not just underneath. Oh well, it was still a wonderful experience, one that I hope happens again real soon. I also usually get to wake up to Terry's alarm, which plays a pretty sweet jingle at least 5 times before he gets up (he's usually on one of the other couches). In conclusion, upon deep and meditative reflection . . . there ain't nothin' better than sleeping on the couch.

Sacrificing Your Facebook Friends and How it Hurts

2009-01-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

I think pretty much everybody I know is rather involved in the Facebook movement. It really is such a strong way to stay interconnected and communicate with people (and just waste countless hours). Part of the process is gaining friends and some people try add anybody and everybody they ever come in contact with. Of course there's a growing trend going in the opposite direction: people are removing "friends" because they no longer have contact with these individuals. Facebook doesn't notify people that they have been dropped, but now with a lot of the new features (and the friend counter) it isn't difficult for somebody to tell somebody has dropped them. About a month ago in the Wall Street Journal they ran an article about getting unfriended and how that hurts. It really can be a dangerous thing. People freak out pretty badly sometimes about being unfriended or hold grudges. I know I removed an ex-girlfriend not too long ago and she didn't seem too pleased about it. But seriously, I think we get a little too touchy about this kind of thing. It's not the end of the world if you're not Facebook friends anymore. Although, frankly I don't think it's a wise thing to be unfriending people for reasons other than them hating you. Having networking connections is always a handy thing in life. You may never speak to the person, but you also never know when and if you might run into them again. You might be living in the same town and you never know how an old acquaintance might help you.

Of course if you're anxious to rid yourself of some friends, Burger King can relate. They created an application for Facebook which allowed you to sacrifice friends in order to get a free coupon for their Whopper®. The catch was the application would notify your friends that you had "sacrificed" them. Of course if you had a big hankering for that Whopper®, I regret to inform you that Facebook shut the application down. Apparently the notifications (and potentially the sacrificing) violated some of Facebook's usage agreements so Burger King is no longer able to employ this marketing strategy. But if you really want to ditch some friends, you're still more than welcome to give them up to the sacrifice.

Inaugural Post

2009-01-15T09:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this is probably a poor title choice given the time of year, but that was also part of the reason I chose it. But here is the new 203 blog. It's existed for like a month now without a single post. Pretty pathetic, huh? Oh well here I go to remedy that. I really don't know where this is going to go for sure and currently our selection of writers are myself, Jordan, Matty Cakes, and Jeff. We'll see how regular everybody gets and such. I wouldn't be surprised in the least to see this turn into more of a blog about sports and such, but who knows? We do have plenty of other interesting topics that we are all interested in. In case you haven't noticed, I'm fascinated by the news. So there are certainly plenty of interesting news tidbits I'm sure that will be reported here and there. If you're ever interested in keeping up on the news yourself, I highly recommend RSS Feeds, they're fantastic. So hopefully this blog does create some interest, hopefully I'm not the sole writer, and hopefully we can get a decent reading audience involved as well.