I saw a recipe for molten lava cakes using Cadbury crème eggs as the “molten” center and I was pretty hyped to try it because for one, molten lava cakes just always sound super cool, and secondly, Cadbury crème eggs are probably THEE best part of Easter. Don’t even try to fight me on that. (And no the caramel ones are NOT better, go eat a rolo if you want caramel and chocolate.)

Time started: 5:30 pm

LISTEN: I know it was early, and it was a week day, but I had a lot to accomplish that day and there ain’t no rest for the wicked.

What I’m drinking: I ran out of whiskey the weekend before and I was too cheap to buy more at the time of baking this so I opened the last bottle I had of my mom’s rhubarb wine and mixed it with some Sprite for a nice little spritzer. I feel like that is pretty springy/Eastery.

Estimated difficulty: 3/5

The main thing holding me back from giving this an easier rating is that I do not have ramekins to bake the cakes in like the recipe calls for and instead will be using muffins tins; it may not make a huge difference but I didn’t want to underestimate the difficulty just in case.

Challenges (besides being intoxicated): Welp, I almost died from slipping on water walking towards the microwave with a glass jar of hot fudge in my hand. Spoiler alert: I didn’t die and I also managed not to drop the jar of hot fudge throughout the whole ordeal.

The other challenge was figuring out what to do with all the extra batter because this recipe made SO MUCH. It called for 6 crème eggs to make six cakes, but I ended up using up the two eggs I thought were going to be extra in a second batch and my sister had the brilliant idea of putting a glob of hot fudge in place of the crème eggs in the other four cakes from the second batch.

So while the recipe claimed to make 6 molten lava cakes, there was enough batter to actually make 12, with even a few spoonfuls of batter left over that we may or may not have just eaten. I thought the muffin tins were about the same size as the ramekins would have been, but maybe there were a lot smaller than I thought. Or maybe this recipe just made A LOT of batter, I’m honestly not sure.

Time finished: 7:30 PM

Results:

My drunk opinion:  “It’s really good cake, you just can’t really taste the crème eggs :(”

Mollie’s opinion: “The cake itself is good, but the egg has a weird texture now.”

My sober morning opinion: Again, the cake is delicious, but overall it’s kind of disappointing.

Final deliciousness rating: 5/10

This was hard to give a rating since I would definitely use the cake recipe from this on its own, because it is honestly a fantastic recipe, but putting the crème eggs in it was kind of a waste of a perfectly good crème egg (8 of them to be exact, SIGH.) The ones in which we put a dollop of hot fudge turned out really well so I would recommend doing that if you still wanted to try the whole molten lava thing, and then just eat the crème eggs on their own. But you’re an adult and you can do what you want.

This recipe can be found here. (The only other modification I would suggest is swapping out where it calls for chocolate syrup in the recipe for hot fudge. Because hot fudge.)

Next month will most likely be my last installment of Whisks + Whiskey since I am graduating (!!!) so I will have to think of something amazing for the last big hurrah, stay tuned!

Previous Episodes:

Episode 1: Orange Chili Brownies

Episode 2: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Scones

Episode 3: (Almost) Vegan Dark Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Episode 4: Peppermint  & White Chocolate Brownies

Episode 5: Vegan Coconut Lime Cake

Episode 6: Berry Tart

Episode 7: Irish Soda Bread

The post Whisks + Whiskey: Episode 8 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Personally, I am a huge fan of pumpkin at any time of the year. Pumpkin anything is usually amazing and I will rarely pass up the opportunity to eat something made from the beautifully orange squash—pumpkin seeds, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie (one of the only pies I actually enjoy), pumpkin cookies, ect. However, the one thing I do not appreciate pumpkin-themed is the infamous Pumpkin Spice Latte, aka the “PSL,” from Starbucks.

Mini PSL rant: For the life of me I cannot grasp why this drink continues to be a phenomenon every single year. I get that most of it is due to the hype and everyone’s romanticized view of fall, but what I don’t get is why the masses suffer through such a mediocre coffee drink year after year. I will usually get one PSL, just one, every year at the beginning of the season solely to remind myself exactly how bland and disappointing the drink really is so that I don’t make the mistake of ordering it later in the season.

I suppose I also add to the “movement” by participating in it, but I can’t support it. The only hint of pumpkin in the drink is the potent orange color and the “spice” is tragically nonexistent. If Starbucks found a way to pump up the natural pumpkin flavor and infuse the drink with tangible spices, I would whole-heartedly support the movement; but until then I just can’t. Mini rant over.

Anyways, for this month’s installment of the series I decided to make a pumpkin chocolate chip scone recipe I found on Pinterest by a blog called Baker By Nature.

Here’s a quick refresher of the rules:

• I have to consume 2 drinks before I start, but I can’t drink more than a total of 4 throughout the process just to keep the level of overall danger relatively low.
• I have to come out with a finished product; I can’t just make the batter and be like “tadaaa.”
• I have to get someone to taste test it and give their opinion.

Time started: 9:30 p.m.

What I’m drinking: To honor the pumpkin theme even further I picked up a pumpkin ale made by New Belgium, called Pumpkick. I loved the packaging and was intrigued by the description saying that it had a splash of cranberry juice with the classic pumpkin and spices of pumpkin ale. It took me a couple of sips to taste the spice flavors, but once I did it was pretty surprising how potent it was without being overwhelming. Not sure if I’ll buy it again but it was certainly something different. After finishing my first beer, I took a shot of my Toasted Caramel Black Velvet I finally replaced. Then during the baking process I took one more shot of whiskey with my friends.

Estimated difficulty level: 3/5

I’ve never made scones before so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Also for some reason I always associate a recipe calling for an egg wash with being more intensive.

Challenges (besides being intoxicated): Most of the measuring utensils in my apartment were dirty, which is saying a lot because we seem to have an excessive amount. I ended up making due with just a ¼ cup and ½ cup measuring cup which worked fine, but I had to measure the flour twice because I lost count the first time. Also, I only realized when the scones had 2 minutes left in the oven that I forgot to put on the egg wash and cinnamon and sugar topping. To improvise I pulled them out as soon as I remembered, added the topping, let them finish cooking for the last couple minutes and then turned the broiler on until the tops had a nice caramelized coating.

Results

My drunk opinion: They’re super tasty, not a lot of pumpkin flavor though.

Julia’s opinion: “Yooo, they’re good! They’re really moist which is hard to do in a scone. I’d buy them.”

Rylee’s opinion: “I can’t really taste anything right now.” (Her and Julia had shared a bottle of wine at dinner.)

My sober morning opinion: I really, really like these. They are moist like Julia said, without not being scone-like enough and the mini chocolate chips add a perfect balance to the overall less sweet flavor. They are also much more orange than I expected from only half a cup of pumpkin. Maybe the PSL isn’t so unnaturally orange after all.

Final deliciousness rating: 9/10

I love this recipe, definitely going to add it to my favorites.

If you want to test out the recipe for yourself you can find it here.

Check back next month in November for something steeped even deeper in the essences of fall.

Previous Episodes:

Episode 1: Orange Chili Brownies

The post Whisks + Whiskey: Episode 2 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

A couple weekends ago I got to see one of my favorite bands of all time, Cage The Elephant, in Council Bluffs at a really cool outdoor venue attached to the Harrah’s Casino called Stir Cove. This was my second time getting to seeing them live and just like the first concert of theirs I went to, the band put on an INCREDIBLE show. Like I’m still in awe at how much of their literal blood, sweat, and tears they give to perform, and I even got to touch their guitarist, Brad Shultz, when he was crowd surfing. So yeah, the concert was pretty neat. However, unlike the first concert of theirs I went to, the crowd fucking sucked.

I just touched Brad Schultz omg

— Alison Schwebach (@alisonschwebach) July 16, 2016

(I was so excited I spelled his last name wrong)

Now I’ve been to quite a few concerts in my 21 years, all in different genres and varying degrees of closeness to the stage, but I have never been in a crowd of so many rude and obnoxious drunk high schoolers. And that’s not just me saying that in a “oh, all high schoolers are trash babies” way because of the two other people I went with one is a recent high school grad and the other is going to be a senior this coming year. It may have just been the pocket of the crowd we got stuck in that had all these terrible excuses for humans, but never have I ever been so seething with rage before and during a concert before. 

I’m only 21 but I feel too old for this crowd right now…why are there so many 14 year olds at this concert

— Alison Schwebach (@alisonschwebach) July 16, 2016

So I figured for this month’s How-to Guide, I’d use what I gathered with my time at this otherwise amazing concert and give you a real in-depth guide to how you too can be a terrible person at a concert. Or, like, don’t.

1. GET REALLY FUCKING DRUNK
Like get so drunk that you’re running into other people and yelling at the top of your lungs when there’s not even music playing. If you really want to seal the deal, like one of the girls behind us, make sure you’re so drunk that you’re passing out on stranger’s shoulders and then end up puking before the openers even go on. It’s super classy.

So class, that even if you aren’t drunk make sure you act like you’re drunk because, like, boys find it really cute when you’re drunk. Hee hee. And when the concert is more than halfway through don’t forget to start yelling to your friends “I THINK I’M SOBERING UP” just as a reminder to everyone that at one point you were also very drunk.

2. SHOVE EVERYONE FOR FUN
Especially when there is no music playing, just start shoving people. The more people you can shove with one push, the better. And when they yell at you to stop snottily say “It’s a concert, you’re going to get pushed, get over yourself.” Because, you know, even when there’s no reason for shoving it’s still a good time to shove people. Duh, n00b.

Had to fight a few drunk teenagers and even a couple grown men, but thank you @cagetheelephant for another incredible concert. I even got to touch Brad. I’ll be happy forever.

A photo posted by Alison Schwebach (@alison_nicoleee) on Jul 15, 2016 at 9:41pm PDT

3. TAKE SELFIES THE ENTIRE TIME
You know what all the great concert goers say, “I’m only here to take a picture with a cute boy at a concert.” (Actual quote from a girl next to us.) Who cares about the band amiright?! While you’re taking selfies you can also simultaneously shove people while you and your friends try to get the best pose. Double win!

4. AGRESSIVELY SHOVE YOUR WAY TO THE FRONT EVEN WHEN THERE ISN’T ROOM
Throw some elbows, get violent, and you can make it to the front! Even if there’s literally no space left you can make space if you really believe in yourself and throw all awareness for other people to the wind. Who cares if you’re being a dick and injuring other concert goers! Also don’t forget to get pissed at people for getting pissed at you for being a dick, that part is very important.

5. TALK ABOUT HOW MUCH YOU FEEL YOU’RE AT ~*~COACHELLA~*~
Since the concert is outside and you might have breathed in a bit of secondhand weed, that obviously means you’re basically at Coachella. OBVIOUSLY.

So there you have it, the very best way to make sure everyone around you at a concert hates you. And despite my bad experience with the crowd at this particular concert, I’d still recommend to anyone to go to a Cage The Elephant concert if you get a chance, you won’t regret it! You can check out their future tour dates here (x)

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The post The Walking Contradiction’s How-to Guide: Being a Terrible Concert Goer appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Here’s the thing, I love 3OH!3, and quite frankly I do not care in the least if you think I shouldn’t. Listen, anyone who comes up with the line “tell your boyfriend if he says he’s got beef / that I’m a vegetarian and I ain’t fucking scared of him,” I will defend until I die. Simple as that. Granted, their 2013 release of Omens was a bit of a letdown just in the sense it was a bit forgettable, but their 2010 Streets of Gold had some really solid tracks such as “Déjà vu,” “Double Vision,” and “Streets Of Gold.” Their 2008 release of Want, however, will be an all-time classic album for me. (Yes, I’m serious.)

The thing I love about 3OH!3 is that their energy is contagious, they have fun without holding back and aren’t afraid to mess around in their music. Their lyrics, while ridiculous on the surface, are actually extremely clever and sprinkled with pop culture references you might just miss if you blink (or cough?).  But when they want to get serious they can get real serious, see “Still Around,” “R.I.P,” “Colorado Sunrise,” or “I’m Not The One.”

So who are 3OH!3, again? If you need a refresher from your middle school days of jamming to “Don’t Trust Me,” here’s a quick breakdown. 3OH!3 consists of just two dudes: Nathaniel (Nat) Motte and Sean Foreman. The duo are natives to Boulder, Colorado, the area code of which is 303, hence the name 3OH!3, and their genre is a mix of electronic, rap, dance, and dubstep, just like a whole lot of fun stuff rolled into one.

Now that your mind has been refreshed on who they are and I’ve gotten my personal defense of them in, let’s get on with the review. Night Sports was released May 13 of this year and I was really impressed. Unlike Omens, I had instant favorites after one listen, and after several listens if I had to place this album on a spectrum of the band’s previous discography I’d say it is a perfect mix of the rawness of Want and playfulness of Streets of Gold. Translation: it’s good, really good.

Night Sports begins with “Fire In The Heavens,” which starts off with an echoing “three oh” chant just to signify the album’s opening. The song does not really do much other than to basically say “Hey, yeah, we’re back and we’re here to fuck you up…with music.” It’s still a very listenable track with a good beat, but I don’t think it’s supposed to do much else other than be the opener.

Next up, “Hear Me Now” turns up the fire a bit more and seems to say “You thought you forgot about us? Yeah well you thought wrong.” The beat is very catchy and the music behind the chorus seems to be Bollywood inspired, which isn’t really something I can remember 3OH!3 experimenting with in the past. The use of the buzzer sound in the background can be a little confusing at times, but other than that the song is really catchy with their usual biting lyrics.

“Mad At You” was one of their singles before the release of the album, and it still might be one of my favorites from Night Sports. It would be pointless to talk about the energy in each track, because 3OH!3 in general is high energy, that’s just their thing. However, for a song about looking for side pieces in a relationship, the energy in this song is extra fun and bouncy.

“You don’t have to be perfect ten for us to be more than friends / If your heart is beating, let me freak your body baby…but first let me freak your mind,” cue funky beat drop—basically the summary of “Freak Your Mind.” Not a completely memorable song, but the funkiness keeps you jamming along so what more could you really want? “Give Me Something To Remember” slows things down considerably and again isn’t an entirely memorable song. It might just be the placement of it on the track list, but the drop in energy so early in the album feels odd.

For me, the best part of the album is the second half—the tracks just seem stronger and the energy is more consistent. The second half kicks off with “7-11,” and I honestly love this track. The music is incredibly unique, and mixed with 3OH!3’s lyrics and references to their old stuff (“She said she heard of me from that album Want / She used to bump it in the Target parking lot in her ’97 Dodge, yeah that’s hot”) it’s a hella fun jam.

“Basmf” which stands for “badass stupid motherfuckers” from what I’ve gathered, is an ode to their Boulder roots. Again, the guys got unique with the instrumentals with sprinklings of some vintage flute (?) samplings. The song seems to be both lyrically an ode to their Boulder roots and musically an ode to their Want roots. The music video is great too, and it is basically just them chilling in their hometown having fun.

Now it wouldn’t be a 3OH!3 album without them going above and beyond on the ridiculousness scale, and the track “My Dick” definitely exceeds expectations. Overall the song is just so ridiculous it’s hilarious, but the thing that keeps me hooked on 3OH!3 is that a track about “my dick” shouldn’t be catchy BUT IT IS. And this probably goes without saying, but the music video is also hilarious, made in the documentary style of MTV’s True Life series.

**this video does have some explicit, though comedic, sexual content. If you’d prefer not to see that then it would be best to skip this video**

“Inside Boy” is another bouncy track that’s reminiscent of stuff from Want, and is kind of a more refined version of “Holler Till You Pass Out.” The beat goes pretty hard, which I guess is on par for a song about “hitting it til we get woozy.”

The final tracks “Claustrophobia” and “Hologram” slow things down again and get pretty introspective. Remember when I said when 3OH!3 want to do serious, they do it really well? These last two songs are that type.

“Claustrophobia” has a very robotic/metallic sound and as the title suggests is about the feeling of things closing in on them. “Cold sweat, get sold, want the serotonin to come home / Wake up, no luck, telling time by lines of beer in my cup.”

“Hologram” gives a pretty dark closer to the album about a “love that’s not real.” “Clean me in your river, you can wash me with your water, purify me till I shiver / Cause I’ve been seeing ghosts, is this me finally losing it? Or an optical illusion? / Every beat I make is unfinished, and every song I write is ill conceived / When all the cities fade and we diminish, will anyone remember you and me?” Pretty far removed from “My Dick,” huh?

Overall, I really enjoyed this album and I loved seeing the hints of their older stuff from Want shine through, all while showing their growth as a group over the years. Stay wild and weird 3OH!3, you crazy bastards.

You can check out Night Sports below and you can buy it on iTunes. Don’t forget to check out their band page for updates!

The post Album Review: “Night Sports” by 3OH!3 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Finding the right kind of 080 trimmer line is important to ease and fasten your trimming work. All the different trimmer lines from all these brands have their own unique features and different performance levels. The shape and diameter of a line trimmer usually determine how fast and effective you cut your weeds and grass. While you are at https://www.archute.com/best-095-trimmer-line/ choosing the best trimmer line, you should check how thick your grass and weeds are, and the size of your yard.

Now I know you may be thinking, whoa, chill out dude… Like seriously chill out, plants aren’t that neat, plus I live in an apartment in the city anyways, so it’s not like this is relevant to me. Luckily, I found out about BestofMachinery. I was able to get so many good ideas on things I needed. The basic tools were very easy to acquire once I got started gardening.

AND TO THAT I SAY: YES IT IS!! (AND PLANTS ARE SUPER NEAT GET OUT OF HERE).

I spent a solid month of one of my journalism classes cultivating information and conducting interviews on how to best garden in an urban setting, and urban gardens can be anything from a back porch full of miniature tomato and bean plants, to a windowsill collection of succulents. That piece for class turned out to be about 2,000 words of me getting hyped about plants in a more “professional” manner. I will spare you that much reading, and give you my research in a more carefully pruned version. You’re welcome. BUT I WILL NOT HOLD BACK MY EXCITEMENT FOR PLANTS. YOU ARE ALSO WELCOME, LET’S DIVE IN. (I promise I am done yelling at you now. Mostly).

First let’s start with why you should have a garden:

1. Convenience and savings.

• Yes, starting a garden is not exactly convenient or expense-free since you might need to find a Ware landscaping and drainage near you to fix landscape water flow problems. However, once the garden is started and producing, you can begin reaping the benefits. If it’s the cost of fertilisers that worries one, then get some free mulch from a tree services company in your city to begin with. For example, if you decided to grow an herb garden in your kitchen and had a last minute recipe you needed to throw together that calls for basil and rosemary, instead of running to the store to purchase some you could just pluck what you needed right from your kitchen. This saves you both time and money in the long run.

2. Get to know your food.

• You can raise your plant children from little baby seeds into full-grown healthy plants, and it is not as tragic as, say, raising a baby calf until it is “time.” (You know what I mean.) Being involved in this process can give you a greater appreciation for the food you consume.

3. Taking complete control of what you consume.

• There has been a major push in recent years to move towards organic produce that uses little pesticides or fertilizer and non-genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. If you grow your own produce, you can make the decisions from soil to consumption about how many or few chemicals you are exposed to and have the option of choosing organic soil and seeds.

4. Liven up your living space.

• Living in a concrete jungle can get a bit grey and dreary at times. Rather than spending the money on redecorating your space with a coat of paint or new furnishings, plants can make a huge difference. If you have a big enough backyard, you can even purchase materials from a cedar fence supplier and build a fence around your garden. Plus, plants are a good substitute for pets—they are far easier to care for and if you forget to feed it for a couple days it will probably be okay. You may also provide an outdoor living space for your family and friends in your yard by building a deck using ipe decking Georgia solutions.

GETTING STARTED

Garden rooms in Brighton highlight important things to consider before getting started: your space and lighting situation.

Space: Indoors

• If you only have an indoor space available to you then lighting is incredibly important. Having a window that lets in a decent amount of light should be enough for herbs, succulents such as aloe vera and cacti, or smaller flowering plants.

• If you don’t have great lighting DON’T BE DISCOURAGED. There are options like purchasing grow-lights or getting varieties of plants like ZZ Plant or Mother-In-Law’s tongue that can thrive in low light situations.
• Look into different container options, such as container boxes that allow for smaller produce to be grown.

Space: Outdoor patio or porch

• Having an outside space opens up more options. Lighting is still important, but being outdoors reduces the risk of low light conditions.
• Think vertical: things like beans and strawberries do really well. Root crops, miniature melons and cucumbers, and certain varieties of tomatoes can also thrive. Even potatoes can be grown in a five gallon bucket. WILD.

Space: Outdoor plot

• If you are feeling really ambitious and have a plot of land somewhere available to you for planting, then the restrictions on what you can grow are significantly diminished.
• Otherwise, if you are looking into obtaining a plot, search to see if your community offers plots for renting.

You got your space figured out now it is SUPPLIES TIME:

• Containers and pots are a necessity for indoor and outdoor porch/patio spaces. Containers do not have to be expensive and you can DIY your own containers by repurposing otherwise recycled containers like milk jugs or even old pots and pans. Get creative, but just make sure the planter allows for some water drainage.

• Make sure the soil you use is the right type for the plant you are trying to grow. Attempting to grow tomatoes in a sandy soil mix meant for succulents will not have great results.
• Seeds vs. pre started plants—seeds are generally an inexpensive option and it is pretty cool watching your seeds sprout from little seedlings to full-grown plants. However, if you are going to grow your garden from seeds, you need to pan accordingly since some seeds have specific times during the season they need to be planted and some seeds have extremely long germination periods. If planning is not your forte, then already-started plants may be the best option, although they are more expensive.

MAINTAING YOUR GARDEN THROUGHOUT THE SEASON

• WATER IT. How much and how often you need to water depends on the type and size of the plant, so make sure you read up on the water needs for each variety of plant. Even outdoor plants will require some watering during drier spells and the hotter part of the season. However, just as important as watering is making sure you do not overwater, as the plants can drown.
• FEED IT. There are generally different fertilizers you can buy that you can mix in with the water before watering your plant children. Otherwise a more natural approach: composting.
• Pest control is not a huge issue for indoor and smaller scale gardening, though there are many natural measures for controlling pests, like hanging sticky traps and paying attention to the overall hygiene of the growing environment or you could try this out since there are great services for this. However, in case you encounter persistent pest problems and need professional assistance, it’s advisable to contact Moxie Pest Control for effective and reliable solutions.

According to experts, you should also consider to set up a dumpster bin to recycle your garden waste at home. If you can’t compost at home you can take it to your local garden waste recycling point or put it into your garden waste collection scheme, if you have one. Check with your council to see if you can recycle garden waste locally by a recycling company available by clicking here.

And that pretty much concludes the simplified version of HOW TO PLANT THINGS. That wasn’t so bad was it? GO FORTH AND PROSPER.

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The post The Walking Contradiction’s How-to Guide: Urban Gardening appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Saturday night The Blue Moose Tap House hosted Mission:Beat, a DJ-led dance party presented by Little Village Magazine. Now, I will be the first to say that I really do not know much about EDM or dance parties, I honestly didn’t even know half the music played at school dances. That being said, Mission:Beat was definitely an interesting experience.

The Blue Moose in general is a pretty cool venue; the staff is pretty chill as are the patrons. The doors for Mission:Beat were said to open at 8 PM, with the show starting at 9, but when I arrived at the bar at a cool 8:45 PM there was like no one there (and by no one I mean like 8 people). As still being underage, I have only been on the ground floor of the bar (generally upstairs is 21+ only at all times) so I hung downstairs for a while seeing if people would start filling in (they didn’t really). The event was being held upstairs, so around 9 PM venture upwards into the unknown I did.

Upstairs was slightly less dead than downstairs, but only by a few people. However, it was like ascending into a whole new dimension. I watched the DJ’s do their last sound checks and by the metallic sounds coming from the speakers and strange alien images scrolling along the screens by the stage, the theme of the evening seemed to be, Futuristic Space?

People kept filtering in as the time passed and I was surprised to notice that the median age of attendees seemed to be around 30, which I guess makes sense seeing as rave culture was pretty big in the nineties and early 2000’s, but it was still a bit jarring in the moment. However, at this point in the night, the Cubs and Diamondbacks game playing on the television above the bar was slightly more interesting than the actual event.

As it got closer to 11 PM, the dance floor was at least crowded enough to squeeze into and have a bit of cover if you wanted to go a little wild to the beat, and I uncharacteristically actually did on occasion. It is weird listening to electronic dance music in the sense that you don’t actually know what is going on, but you feel like you know what’s going on. In the slower beats, I stood off to the side and people-watched, which turned out to be a pretty entertaining experience. You could see nearly everyone on the dance floor just casually bobbing with the music, and then look a little deeper and see one person just feeling it and going all out.

Overall, I spent the majority of the evening stuck in a limbo between wanting to leave and being mesmerized by the music and atmosphere. I don’t know if I would personally re-attend this event next year; I decided it just isn’t my thing. Maybe it is just one of those things you can’t go through completely sober, which I did. However, if dance parties are your thing then I’d say definitely give it a go next Mission Creek season. Just maybe don’t go sober.

Glow stick count: 6

Light up yo-yo count: 1

People feeling it: 4-5 at any given time

The post Mission Creek: Mission:Beat @ The Blue Moose Tap House 4/9/16 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The Peter Aguero show hosted by The Mill on the Friday of Mission Creek 2016 was basically an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish. There were laughs, there were highs and lows, there were somber moments and possibly even a few tears. During the hour-long set, Aguero and his storytelling partners, Shannon Cason and Adam Witte, took turns imparting to the audience vivid tales ranging in themes from drugs, urine, appendicitis and love (I told you it was wild).

I should have prefaced with saying that I was probably the youngest person in The Mill’s stage room for this show—and definitely the only person whose hands the door guy had to draw x’s on. As I was crowd-surveying waiting for the show to start at 10 PM, I noticed the guy sitting at the table next to me looks strikingly similar to Adam from MythBusters. Not that there is anything wrong with hanging out in a room full of people who were greater than or equal to my parents’ age, but I had never watched a storytelling set like what Aguero does before and I was beginning to feel a little apprehensive about what was in store for me. However, as a man with the build and ponytail of a Viking wearing a maroon velvet blazer took the stage a little after 10:15 PM and opened with “Let’s take it back to 1997,” it turns out I was in for a great time.

Aguero, who said Friday was his third time performing in Iowa City, warmed up the crowd with a story about college and a woman he called “Dr. Fine.” As I mentioned, I had never watched a storytelling performance before, but I actually loved the depth that storytelling in this style has. The opening college story Aguero told was definitely hilarious, but rather than the main goal being to lead the listener to a punchline like a comedian would do, Aguero told his story with a cadence that kept the listener waiting for what came next.

After his opening story, Aguero asked that the audience turned off their phones as to make it easier to just listen and be present, so unfortunately I wasn’t able to get many photos of the performers on stage. He also mentioned that since the show was later they were going to be a little “looser” with their content. “Once you get to double-digit PM, anything goes.”

Next up was Shannon Cason, a native of Detroit who now lives in Chicago (This was his first time visiting Iowa City). Cason also told a comedic story, which he called more of memory, about his dad and the certain items in his “man cave” that he learned not to touch as a kid, such as the Vaseline and towels. I was blushing momentarily until I remembered that just because the people around me were as old as my parents, didn’t mean they were my parents and I didn’t have to feel embarrassment hearing “adult content” (despite what the underage x’s on my hand suggested).

Cason’s style was similar to Aguero’s only in the sense of keeping the audience waiting for more; however his style for this particular story involved him cracking up throughout it. I personally love when performers break character in the acts to laugh because it honestly makes what they are saying even funnier. And Cason’s laugh is boisterous and the type of laugh that is infectious.

After Cason was an Iowa City native since 1991, Adam Witte. His style was quite a bit different in that he would open his story with an extremely wild declaration (“One time I drank my brother’s urine”) before diving into a story about the opening declaration. Witte also told his stories a bit more lyrically than Aguero or Cason, making me think more of a nursey rhyme rhythm. For his second story it was amazing how he got from the start of “When I first heard about 69-ing in junior high I was immediately intrigued” to a very poignant ending about his love for his wife.

Cason’s second time on stage was pretty jarring from his first in that he launched immediately into a somber story about his neighbors’ drug problems and the parallel universes of the young daughters in both families. While his second story was not peppered with his infectious laughter, his tale was gripping and the emotion with which he told it was extremely powerful. Aguero closed out the night by returning to “Dr. Fine” who we found out from his final story is now his wife. This final installment of the story he opened with took place during his and “Dr. Fine’s” first Valentine’s day together, in which the not-quite healed stitches from an earlier appendicitis attack made for an interesting evening.

Overall this show was highly enjoyable, and I was extremely happy I got to attend it despite not entirely knowing what to expect.

Check out Aguero’s site for a taste of his content.

Cason also has a podcast called “Homemade Stories” which you can check out here.

The post Mission Creek: Peter Aguero @ The Mill 4/8/16 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Ah, yes, Spring Break. Possibly the pinnacle of the college experience, legendary enough to inspire questionable movies (James Franco in corn rows, anyone?) glorifying the week in mid-March during which college students everywhere invade the coastal sands of North and South America to drink, make bad choices, and straight up #RAGE. You know, like college but in swimsuits, duh. (I mean, at least I’m pretty sure that is what spring break is meant for—I’ve never properly participated.)

By the time you’re reading this, your Spring Break may very well over, but don’t fret, you can use this guide for future reference (sorry seniors, enjoy the real world). Or, if you go to a college that actually takes a spring break in the season it’s named for rather than early March, this is perfect timing. You can get college spring break packages for much better prices and get everything all included such as hotel, airplane tickets and food. Either way, if you’re a college student like me who is bewildered at the fact that fellow students can afford to go on Spring Break vacations to wild and warm locations (I thought we were all in this “broke college student” thing together guys?? PLEASE TAKE ME WITH YOU *sobbing*) and intend to spend your #SpringBreak2k16 on the same couch you wallowed on avoiding your midterms, then look no further: my Broke Spring Break How-to Guide is here for you to read at your leisure. (AKA this is basically a list of all the things I’ve done with my break. Enjoy.)

1. Nature Walks

Nothing is freer in both a monetary sense and soul-searching sense as a stroll through your local nature preserve/state park/mostly grassed patch of land. You may not be on a beach, but you can still feel the sunshine on your face and hear the wind whispering in your ear—weather permitting of course. Get out, look at some plants because plants are rad as hell, and feel your soul become lighter. And a giant plus to enjoying nature this time of year is that demon spawn, more commonly known as “bugs,” are still not quite ready to be resurrected from there hellish graves yet. ENJOY IT WHILE YOU CAN.

2. Mall Trips

There’s a point you reach in your break where anything sounds better than staring at the walls of your apartment day-dreaming about Florida—even making laps through the local mall. So, when someone says, “Hey do you want to go to the mall?” you say yes. Not actually having cash to blow is reminiscent of the good old mall rat days from your childhood and might even make you want to listen to some Fall Out Boy and Paramore on the way there to really set the mood. Also, since everyone else is enjoying themselves elsewhere, the crowds will actually be tolerable. Wild!

3. Midnight Food Runs

This may not count exactly for Broke Spring Break because food costs money, and having money to go get food implies you are not, in fact, completely broke. However, fast food is generally cheap, and even if I don’t have money to treat myself to some new socks at Target, I can almost always scrape up some money for a midnight food run. And the best part is, you can say “You want to do something fun? You want to go to Taco Bell?” with the utmost sincerity.

4. Alcohol

(Somehow my guides always lead to alcohol. It’s whatever, don’t read into it too much…)

Listen, just because you’re not on a beach doesn’t mean you can’t still #RAGE. Make some homemade margaritas (or drink whatever you prefer), put on some Jimmy Buffet, and waste away in Margaritaville. (Or share a bottle of wine with your roommate and watch New Girl, same thing.) The best part is that there is a very slim chance you’ll get a wicked sunburn if you happen to drunkenly fall asleep in the middle of your drink fest. (Drink responsibly, people.)

5. Bake Stuff

No beach means no beach body readiness preparation. (Although every body is beach body ready, no matter what it looks like. Body positivity y’all.) That means use your free time to whip up all those wild concoctions you’ve been craving. We’re talking cupcakes, chocolate chip muffins, brownies, whatever dessert of the day Buzzfeed has on their Snapchat story. Go crazy. Although, if you’re not personally into baking, find a friend who is and hint at them that you wouldn’t exactly be upset if they turned your kitchen into a personal bakery. Either that, or test out some other frivolous hobby you’ve been wanting to try all semester: painting, tie-dying, knitting, underwater basket weaving. If you can dream it, you can do it.

And that concludes this month’s How-to Guide. I hope it was at least a little informative, and if not that is basically exactly how I spent my spring break AND NO ONE CAN TELL ME I DID IT WRONG. Now I’m off to stalk the Instagrams of everyone who actually went on cool trips. Peace out.

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The post The Walking Contradiction’s How-To Guide: Broke Spring Break appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Especially first dates—or at least I assume they are from what I have deduced from sitcoms and friends’ secondhand accounts. Technically, I’ve never been on an actual date. I mean, I have gone on huge group dates back in the day for homecoming dances and prom, but never on a basic “two people trying to figure out the likelihood of how much they want to jam their tongues down each other’s throats” type date. (That is the general premise of dates, right?)

But, surprise, I managed to find myself in the predicament of going on a date this weekend. I know, I’m honestly shocked, too. Blame it on social anxiety, or perhaps I’m just legitimately crazy, but I am losing my goddamn mind psyching myself out for this date situation. At the time of writing this, I’m staying up into the late hours of the night crafting this article instead of sleeping because I’m honestly too freaked out.

Since I intended this monthly column to be a (questionably) funny commentary on my own life experiences in order to give a themed “How-to guide,” I figured I’d make this month’s column about “How to ruin a date before it even starts by psyching yourself out,” because I’ve apparently become an expert on this topic in the past week. The true beauty of this piece is that by the time you’re reading this, my date will have already come and passed and you will have absolutely no idea how it actually went. Was it great? Could have been. Was it terrible? Well, according to my neurotic mind, that is a very high possibility.

That being said, if you want to learn some tips on how to completely ruin a date for yourself before it even happens, then strap in—it’s “How-to” time.

Tip #1: Over-analyze EVERYTHING.

Read back every single text message for clues about this person’s deepest darkest secrets. Look for things like their use of punctuation, abbreviations, slang, etc. Did you know that people who use abbreviations in messages are more likely to hate cats?* DID YOU? Mull over things like what did they actually mean when they said something like, “I don’t really like the color blue”? What is that code for?? Remember, everything could mean anything.

(*Not an actual result from behavior research.)

Tip #2: Think of every single scenario that could go wrong, because it just might.

Going to the movies? What if there is some scene that makes you jump and you accidently throw your coke in their face, only to find out their eyes are weirdly sensitive to carbonation and now they’re burning and you have to drive them to the nearest ER only to find out once you get there that your date may never be able to see again? Have you ever watched Untold Stories of the ER? STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED.

Dinner date? What if your date is embarrassingly rude to the waiter, only to find out the waiter has connections to the mafia and suddenly you find yourselves the target of a plot to “teach you a lesson” for your date being rude and you have to go into witness protection and move to Montana with a new name and hair style that isn’t flattering?WHAT IF?

Tip #3: Tell your friends every single terrible thought that comes to your mind about the upcoming date.

They might just get so sick of your complaining they’ll straight up convince you not to go on the date. I mean that would be rude, obviously, but, hey, at least you wouldn’t actually have to go. Either that or they’ll try to convince that you have no reason to worry and that the date will go fantastic. What if that just sets you up with unrealistic expectations? Then the date might just end up being even more of a train wreck than you originally imagined which would be tragic, really. You could stay at home and look at skinny girls nudes instead.

Lastly, Tip #4: Go on the date.

Probably the best way to ruin this terrible fantasy date you’ve created for yourself is to actually go on the real date and completely demolish every preconceived notion about it you made. Will it turn out great? It could. Will it turn out terrible? Possibly, but you may never know unless you suck it up and find out.

That pretty much finalizes my how-to guide for this month. As you most likely concluded, it might just be best for not only my sanity, but for the good of all mankind for me to just follow my dreams of living alone in the mountains with a bunch of plants and animals for company. Only time will tell.

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The post The Walking Contradiction’s How-to Guide: Ruining A Date Before It Even Starts appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Now, I should put a disclaimer up front that the “How-To” section of this post is not, in fact, going to be a reiteration of DJ Khaled’s “Keys to Success;” mostly because riding around on jet skis is not applicable to the current local climate. If you’re not too disappointed, then you are more than welcome to continue reading. (If you are too disappointed to continue, here is a YouTube compilation of his best Keys to Success.)

The start of the new semester tends to come with an overwhelming sense of panic for me, mostly in the form of “What am I doing with my life? Am I making the right decisions with my majors? Will I succeed??” etc. This panicky self-doubt is especially prevalent at the beginning of the spring semester, most likely amplified by the start of the new calendar year and the pressure of reinventing oneself for the next 365 days. I always start out winter break with a sense of excitement, and not just from the holidays, but from my accomplishments throughout the previous semester, both academic and extracurricular.

Midway through break I generally make a to-do list of how to keep the momentum from the previous semester going through the next year and beyond. After a month of decompression and idle thoughts, however, my drive for the upcoming year starts to fade and I begin thinking about the “what-ifs.” Last year I briefly thought about what it would be like to be a dietitian. This year it’s the nagging thoughts about how rewarding it would be to be a teacher that have been weighing on my mind as I returned to school three semesters away from graduation and over halfway through two degrees—neither of which in the health or education fields.

This uncertainty happens to everyone, and I think a lot of it stems from the pressure to have your life together and figured out by the time you’re 22-24. (Those who claim to have everything figured out are probably lying and those who actually do probably never sleep.) Consider exploring helpful resources like Stiiizy.com for CBD products that can be integrated into your routine.

It is actually pretty wild when you think about it; between the ages of 18 and 22 we’re expected to go from high schoolers who don’t even know how to begin writing college application essays to adults with a degree, well-paying job, place to live, and a sufficient knowledge of how to properly file taxes. For those who don’t go to college, that rapid time period of self-growth is even dramatically shorter and they’re expected to “have their life together” at a breakneck speed.

There’s a reason Twenty One Pilot’s “Stressed Out” is blowing up (besides it being a kickass track): it’s because the song resonates with anyone and everyone who is stuck in the limbo between childhood and adulthood. “Adulthood” has come to be synonymous with “success” and the tricky thing is that the definition of success is constantly evolving and shifting, becoming increasingly harder to obtain. Our parents’ and grandparents’ definition of success came in the form of  Go to College/Get a Job, Make Money, Get Married, Start a Family, Repeat. Side note, can grandparents open a junior isa? While that definition is still relevant in today’s world, a new type of success has started to crop up in which the younger generation seems to define success as living life to the fullest: travel, see the world, create, live. For instance, traveling to a faraway country like Turkey with help from tour guides at https://madeinturkeytours.com

Between our parents’ definition of success and the new grab-life-by-the-throat definition of success, there’s no easy way to have either. You either go to college and hopefully come out with a good job, though it’s not really a guarantee, or you try your hardest to make some kind of ripple in vast depths of the internet and hope you luck out with some kind of sponsorship. If you go straight through school and a get job it doesn’t allow time for adventure; if you decide to go straight on an adventure there’s no guarantee of a safety net of a job to fall back on.

There are flaws on either side of the divide and no way to have the best of both; we’re either not succeeding by our parent’s definition or not succeeding by our own.

In the meantime, some of the best characters on television and the ones we identify with the most are the Nick Millers and the Andy Dwyers; those who are in all aspects failing in either category of success and in no way have their life together, yet are still happy and find a way to get by. The effects of being this sort of “limbo generation” means there’s a constant cycle of self-doubt and being stressed out, all while romanticizing optimistic failure we would never concede for ourselves.

So what do we do? We all know there’s no easy answer, and I really wish I had a finite How-to guide to give you guys. However, here are some guidelines I’ve decided to start following myself, and maybe they’ll be helpful to you.

1. Stop Comparing Your Life To Young Celebrities.

Maybe this is just something I do, but there seemed to be a dramatic increase in the amount of young people doing incredible things in the past few years. And they’re all so young. You’ve got Zendaya Coleman slaying every red carpet, all while having a successful acting career and graduating high school. Lorde, besides making incredible music, also curated the soundtrack for Mocking Jay pt. 1 all by herself at age 17.  Not to mention all the internet famous kids from Vine, Instagram, YouTube etc., who get paid up to $50,000 per ad campaign. YouTuber Zoe Sugg, who goes by Zoella, is a beauty/lifestyle vlogger with nearly 10 million subscribers and a reported net worth of $15 million. She’s 25.

With the people we follow on social media and constantly hear about in the media by all means succeeding by having fun, creating content, and seemingly living life to the fullest, while being between the ages of 16 and  26, it’s really difficult not to look at your own life and think, “What am I doing? Why don’t I just start a YouTube channel?” The fact is that reaching that level of success isn’t necessarily obtainable and takes a lot of work up front; creating content and building a following base can take years to develop. In the end it’s really up to luck.

2. Don’t Feel Like You Have To Follow Social Norms.

Go To College/Get A Job, Make Money, Get Married, Have Kids, Repeat. This works for some people, but if it doesn’t work for you, you shouldn’t make yourself miserable forcing it. Find what works for you and put all your energy towards making yourself the best you can be in that field. The old model of success isn’t as relevant as it used to be and the path to success has really diversified over the years. Find the best path for you.

3. BE FLEXIBLE.

If your five year plan you made when you were 18 doesn’t work out, don’t immediately panic. Things change, and it isn’t always in your control. Life isn’t some linear path you get to decide, it a constant swirl of roadblocks and tangents and you can’t let it trip you up. Keep focused and keep optimistic, and you’ll be okay.

4. Follow Your Happiness.

Similar to #2, at the end of the day (or road, or whichever cliché metaphor you prefer) a lot of money and a big house won’t necessarily make you happy. If that is your happiness, then heck yeah pursue it. And if you’ve always wanted to start an online boutique, then this course by eCom babes Cortney Fletcher is perfect for you. But if your idea of happiness is living on a boat in the ocean, painting the marine life and volunteering with children in your spare time, then do it. There’s no sense in wasting your life doing what make you unhappy, because I wholeheartedly believe that real success is finding what makes you irrevocably happy.

5. Fake It Until You Make It.

Earlier I said that people who claim to have their life together are probably lying, but honestly if you tell yourself you’ve got it together enough, you might just start to believe it.

Believe in yourself.

That concludes this overly sappy post. Next month will continue the regularly scheduled clumsy attempt at humor, so be sure to check back then.

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The post The Walking Contradiction’s How-To Guide: Life and Success appeared first on KRUI Radio.