Rave at Riverside

There is a going to be a late night party at Riverside campground July 9th, which is a Friday. The place is located off Schifferdecker here in Joplin, right before the bridge on your left. It's normally a pretty fun place to be during the day.

It costs $10 for admission, which I personally think is kind of pricey seeing as how it's BYOB. However, there's going to be live bands and DJ's up on stage all night, fire spinners, glow stick wars, floating, dancing, and BBQ available.

Also, later on the night, I hear there will be a bus available that makes trips every hour to Vibe nightclub. I'm not a big fan of Vibe, but I'm sure the younger crowd will be pleased. Rockstar photography will be there taking pictures of the event.

I'm not sure how exciting the event will be, but it's something to do on a Friday night if you have nothing else to do. Maybe I'll see some of you there.

New iPhone 4

So, I had my iPhone preordered for the June 24th release date. I went in at 7:00 a.m. like I was told to and they told me mine wouldn't arrive until 3:00 p.m. Once I went in and got it and went through the activation and everything, I got to bring it home and play around with it.

The exterior design is pretty sexy, not gonna lie. It feels a lot more luxurious in your hands than the past models. It also feels like it would be a lot less easy to damage. However, these guys ran a drop test on it and the screen was shattered after 4 low drops. Not perfect, but still above average.

My favorite new feature of the iPhone 4 is by far FaceTime. It's Apple's version of streaming video-chat between two iPhone 4 users. I've only been able to try it on two different occasions so far, and it is limited to WiFi, but each time it felt like Apple was onto something. The program isn't flawless, but I'm excited to see what happens with it.

Multitasking is a welcomed feature to the new OS and iPhone 4. It's very easy to use on-the-fly and makes the phone much more productive. Definitely one of the biggest additions to the OS thus far.

I still have a lot more features to take advantage of, but so far it looks like I made a good purchase.

Bad Call U.S.-Slovenia

If anyone was watching the World Cup match this morning, I'm sure you're as upset as I am. The U.S. didn't come out strong the first half but they definitely picked it up in the second. The score was tied 2-2 and Edu volleyed off of Donovan's free kick and scored a goal...except the ref's whistle went off before so it didn't count. There was no reason for the ref to blow his whistle on the U.S., as the only apparent fouls in the replay were actually on Slovenia. The game ended in a 2-2 tie due to this horrible call.

The ref's name is Koman Coulibaly and he's from Mali. He was highly biased in the last African Cup, and in my opinion ended up giving the final game to Egypt. The African confederation headquarters are located in Cairo, and they decided which referees go to the World Cup. It seems ironic to me that the ref who swayed the outcome of the African cup is the one they send to the World Cup.

If you want more information, hit up this article.

Two New Hip-Hop Albums Worthy of Mention

I once thought of hip-hop as a mindless excuse for music, but in the past few years it has grown on me as an excellent expression of emotions from individuals in the industry. Granted, there are artists in the genre that will never reach that point due to the mainstream slump they find themselves in.

The latest hip-hop album I've fallen in love with is 'Thank Me Later' by Drake. If you're unaware of this artist, he released his first mixtape in 2009 titled 'So Far Gone' that elevated itself above many of the year's hip-hop albums. His new album was just released Tuesday, and it's definitely not the 'I made up, **** you' album many expected it to be. Instead, it's something bigger. It's a personal outcry against his newly found fame, and how uncomfortable he is with it. The album is fresh, and I'd suggest downloading the songs Over, Miss Me, and Fireworks to get a feel for it and see if it's worth purchasing. Here's the album on iTunes.

The second album that I would highly recommend is Eminem's new album titled 'Recovery.' If you heard his Relapse album from last year, you could probably peg it as being nothing more than a catchy-comeback album that is slightly radio friendly. This album is much more real, there's no gimmicks. I'd suggest listening to the single Not Afraid, as that will probably get you hooked. The album doesn't release until the 21st, but you can preorder here.

I hope some of you can get enjoyment out of these albums!

Hola!

Hi everyone, my name is Michael. I'm going to be a sophomore at MSSU this fall semester. I was born and raised in Lamar, MO (about 30 min from Joplin) and recently moved here to Joplin for school. I start work at The Buckle at Northpark Mall June 14th, so come by and see me sometime!

Here are some things I enjoy:

-Wakeboarding

-Snowboarding

-Watching Sportscenter

-Exercising

-Politics

-Writing (mainly poetry)

-Sushi (I'm a fanatic)

-Women

-Partying

I hope to get to know everyone through their blogging over the summer.

Sincerely,

Michael