What a bunch of bull(testicle extract)!

The notion that Redbull gives you wings is as easily accepted as Flu shots, body shots, and Lil Jon's club banger "Shots, Shots, Sho-Sho-Sho-Shots!" However, no on really takes the time out of their day to figure out what exactly inside of that 16oz. aluminum can of man that actually gives them the wings.
Redbull, and many other similar, yet less appealing, energy drinks have a combination of ingredients that makes us feel like a 12 yr old at your neighbors sleepover party all hopped up on mountain dew. Some might think caffeine-but does coffee give you wings? No. Its not the caffeine, bra, its the Taurine!
Sure, taurine sounds safe, it is an organic amino acid. Its found naturally in foods such as different types of seafoods and meats. Does the shit actually work?
A review published in 2008 found no documented reports of negative health effects associated with the amount of taurine used in energy drinks, concluding that "The amounts of guarana, taurine, and ginseng found in popular energy drinks are far below the amounts expected to deliver either therapeutic benefits or adverse events." Hmm...
While accessing the Redbull official website, I wanted to find a statement which outlined the proper usage; I found 5.

1.Water and appropriate sports drinks should be used for rehydration as outlined in the NFHS Document “Position Statement and Recommendations for Hydration to Minimize the Risk for Dehydration and Heat Illness.”
2. Energy drinks should not be used for hydration.
3. Information about the absence of benefit and the presence of potential risk associated with energy drinks should be widely shared among all individuals who interact with young athletes.
4. Energy drinks should not be consumed by athletes who are dehydrated.
5. Energy drinks should not be consumed without prior medical approval, by athletes taking over the counter or prescription medications.

So..don't drink Redbull when you're dehydrated, or an athlete, or young, or on medication. Shit, I literally fall under every category.

As the Wu would say, "Protect ya neck!"

I wish the song was called "Protect your heart, mental stability, and overall well being. I guess well just have to wait for their 16th album.

Redbull doesn't give you wings, folks, it gives you a placebo effect and a damn good belly ache!

Toad-ally cool!!!

The MC Fraternity Blog prides itself on the ability to cover an eclectic array of topics. We've seen everything from sports to mustaches to sleep advice. I got the idea for today's post from a conversation I overheard on the Brown Line CTA on my way to class this morning...
Girl 1: "He's just been sleeping a lot. I mean, he really doesn't do much else. Monte has been overall, pretty boring"
I assumed that the pair was talking about another human, but I was shocked when I heard the revealing news..
Man 1: "Well, Anne, you asked for a frog. Had you asked for a dog or cat, your life may be more entertaining. Frogs really just jump around and make silly noises and give you warts."
If I didn't hear the word frog, I may have been inclined to believe they were talking about a colleague, JMB.

So, BOOM, there it is. My topic for Tubular Tuesday. The desire to prove that frogs, although not coined as "man's best friend," can make a fun companion. The often overlooked amphibian has shaped our lives in more ways than one, even if we don't like to admit it. Without further ado, allow me to reintroduce the Frog.

Six Famous Frogs, in no particular order, that have touched us all, metaphorically speaking.
1. kermit the frog-longtime muppet show and sesame street character. all around great guy
2. the frog prince- loser fairy tail frog who turns into a mel gibson look-a-like when he gets kissed
3. slippy toad- character from Nintendo 64's Star Fox. he embodied a boss-like figure
4. frogger- dude plays himself, but he tends not to look both ways.
5. Michael J. Frog- soprano singer from looney tunes. bangerang's favorite.
6.Leap frog- that learning tool for idiots and foreigners

Shit, man, you can even cook with a frog.



Regardless of how perceive this post-offensive, funny, or sad-just realize that frogs are people too. They try their hardest, they used to watch TRL, and they, too, occasionally find themselves looking at too many Johnsons on Chatroulette.com

In the words of House of Pain, "Jump Around"

The Power(ful) Nap

"Increases Productivity, Stress Relief, and Health"

The nap rocks. Whether it comes at noon on a hungover day, 3pm after a long day of work, or at 5pm before a powerful night of drinking, it always seems to serve a purpose. I feel as if I am a professional at napping, but there are definitely some naps that are better than others. Everyone I talk to seems to know the recipe for the perfect nap..."20 minutes," "30 minutes," "45 minutes."

I am set out today to find that exact formula.
Most scientists argue that Sleep has 4 stages.
Stage 1-light sleep where you drift in and out of sleep and can be awakened easily. The eyes move slowly and muscle activity slows.
Stage 2-eye movement stops and brain waves become slower with only an occasional burst of rapid brain waves.
Stage 3-extremely slow brain waves called delta waves are interspersed with smaller, faster waves(REM begins)
Stage 4- the brain produces delta waves almost exclusively. WIth the amount of boozing we've done, we probably have not experienced stage 4 sleep in about 6 years. (Exclusively REM)


-Studies show that 20 minutes of sleep in the afternoon provides more rest than 20 minutes more sleep in the morning. The body seems to be designed for this, as most people’s bodies naturally become more tired in the afternoon, about 8 hours after we wake up.
-Many experts advise to keep the nap between 15 and 30 minutes, as sleeping longer gets you into deeper stages of sleep, from which it’s more difficult to awaken. Also, longer naps can make it more difficult to fall asleep at night. However, Some* research has shown that a 1-hour nap has many more restorative effects than a 30-minute nap, including a much greater improvement in cognitive functioning. From personal experience, the longer naps leave me a bit groggy. However, if after a long nap I get out of bed quickly and begin to function normally (as opposed to laying in bed like a bumdum) I tend to be OK.
-A short afternoon catnap of 20 minutes yields mostly Stage 2 sleep, which enhances alertness and concentration, elevates mood, and sharpens motor skills. Naps of up to 45 minutes may also include rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which enhances creative thinking and boosts sensory processing.

The overall message** we can take away from this is that naps are good! Regardless how long they are for, they allow your body some type of positive improvement. If a nap exceeds 6 hours, it is considered a night's sleep. . Whether considered a catnap, powernap, or my personal favorite-midsummer afternoon's dream-I will forever live and die(and sleep) by the nap.

Too much napping and........

**some information provided by umdnj.edu

Napster: Their Reign, Bankruptcy, & Revival?

I can vividly remember the sound of a dial-up internet connect paired with the anticipation of hoping to successfully make it onto the world wide web.
My vehicle at the time was a 16 lb., $2,000, Dell BEAST with a pendulum processor. Breakfast of championships.

Originally, I would wait the 6 minutes to connect to go on AIM and chat with the neighborhood pals or play some sort of interactive game, usually a SI for kids game with an occasional addictinggames.com

However, it was after my cousin informed me that music could be downloaded for freeee from a program, at the time, recently introduced. One. Word. Napster.

This new technology of peer-to-peer downloading quickly arose to the top of download.com's most sought after programs list. In December of 2000, 1.5 years after it was probably made in a basement by an MIT graduate student, Napster was downloaded a record 20 million times. Quick math-if each user only had 20 files-there were 400 million available files for online "sharing."
Life was great-Yankees were continuing their reign, and music, all music-from Pearl Jam to Spice Girls to Ice Cube-was absolutely free and only a click away.

Then, unfortunately, came the ego's of Metallica. Accusing the Napster company of copyright infringement, Metallica was willing to "enter sandman" mode if they were not going to see their hard earned royalties.
Napster claimed what they were doing-simply offering a program for users to trade the music-was not illegal. A District Judge ruled the practice of Napster to be illegal, in turn not protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act-the same law that protects the makers of VCRs.

Napster was forced to close their practice in early 2002 in leu of being sued for the "lost" billions of dollars by artists such as Dr.Dre, Limp Bizkit, and Metallica. So that brings us to where we now are-2010-with the most internet users and peer-to-peer software options ever known. Napster has forever changed the way music is viewed, downloaded, and listened to.

Our generation owes great gratitude to the creators of Napster, if not for the free albums of Pharrcyde and Willa Ford, for the notion that as great as music is, we will never pay for it. Shut one operating system down and we will find another.
The best things in life are free, Fuck Metallica!

P. De Galo

Generation Q

Merely by lifting one's head on the train car of the Metro in Washington D.C., strolling through New York City's Central Park, or sitting on a town bench back home, it is quite clear to see the evolution in social interaction from our childhood to now the second decade of the twentieth first century.

One of my first professors at college told our class of the name our generation (children born in the 1980's-1991) has been dubbed; Generation Q. My first reaction was of awe, insult, and curiosity. How could an old man preach to a body of students when the only thing they share in common are biological? I for one was a child who stayed out until the street lights came on, celebrated my first Walkman, and ran trouble at the playground. More and more all around us - globally occurring - the children of my own generation and younger have taken on a new attitude (some may argue 'reliance' would be more fitting here) toward technological advancements, many of which remove the priceless event of social interaction.

Social interaction is something that binds civilizations. Language is considered as the first significant accomplishment by humanoids to keep groups and families cohesive; it is what makes the human species able to develop, cooperate, and succeed. Although its value is not taken for granted, it is being supressed, primarily by the Generaiton Q. By walking one's dog with a bluetooth in, commuting to work with an iPod, looking down to text, or any of the other ways to avoid social interaction, we are becoming a culture no longer concerned with unwanted interaction.

Texting, a popular form of non-verbal interation, is even believed to be dangerous. (http://www.piercecountyherald.com/event/article/id/23539/group/News/) Believe that! Some even believe texting while driving is equal to or more dangerous than drunk driving. Texting while driving has become such an issue in places like Wisconsin that local governments are making progress to pass legislation banning texting while driving.

On your way to class/work torrow, leave the iPod at home, turn off the phone, and see what king of world we actually live in. See if you can even make it.

As-Salamu Alaykum
-Abe Froman