UNH Course Rank

The UNH Student Senate Community Change Council is proud to announce that they have officially launched unh.courserank.com. The website is very similar to ratemyprofessors, but is designed specifically for UNH. (Duh). It is very easy to set up an account, simply use your UNH email as your ID and create a password. You will get a confirmation email and then you are ready to take advantage of the site. Over 3,000 courses have already been added with 230 ratings and counting. The most useful tool is that students can anonymously submit reviews and enter their grades for each class. The more students who join, the better it will become. So please spread the word because it could be very helpful when registration rolls around in the spring. There is also a facebook page for questions and to gain support from the student body. I would personally like to thank and congratulate the student council for getting this done, it should prove to be very helpful immediately and for years to come.  

Stay classy, not UMassy.

I swear I didn't design these...

I'm not that full of myself, but any true reader would buy some...

 

Come on, that last one has to make you laugh. You can get any of those designs (and a few more) on any type of merchandise on cafepress.  I have been thinking a lot about that whole blog t-shirt idea, but I don't see it happening. It just costs too much upfront and I don't want to risk not breaking even. So if you still want some gear check out that stuff, it just won't be blog specific, but people on campus will know. If I see anyone with some sort of New Hampshirite apparel on (even the buttons) I'll be so pumped.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Drink Of The Week: Sangria

Jay-Z says it best in his version of “Young Forever” with the line “So let’s just stay in the moment, smoke some weed, drink some wine, reminisce, talk some shit, forever young is in your mind.”

I’m sure that when he wrote that line he pictured some damn expensive wine. Well, sometimes college students can’t afford that. This is why Carlo Rossi Sangria is a great purchase if you’re looking for some deliciously cheap red wine. Don’t get me wrong, when it comes to alcohol beer is always my first choice. Some Sam Adams seasonal or Newcastle Brown Ale are two of my personal favorites, and when it comes to cheaper beer I argue there is none better than PBR, despite its high carbonation. But as a college student who doesn’t work during school sometimes money is an issue and I also like some variety. (Side note my main alcoholic beverage purchases are cheap 30’s or a handle of Svedka. Lately I’ve been working on my taste for whiskey.)

Carlo Rossi has a bunch of different wines, but their Sangria is the best. Plus you can usually find a jug of it at the DUMP. That’s right, I said a jug. I’m talking about $12 for a 4-fucking-liter jug. At 10% it is more than twice the alcohol content of a light beer and it still goes down easy. Seriously, drink it chilled and it tastes like grape juice. Let me repeat some of that info again: For just 12 bucks you get 4 fucking liters… and probably a killer hangover! Bottom Line: Sangria gets you fucked up without taking a big hit from your wallet.

 Guys, you’re drinking red wine so you will feel like a pimp, which will help your confidence with the ladies. From personal experience, you feel even more like a pimp or a rock star (and the alcoholic you’re slowly turning into) if you drink it straight out of the jug.  If you are more of a heavyweight, or just sexually insecure and afraid to drink “gay-ass” wine because you’re not European, (it’s okay I have friends from Europe) many people like adding a shot of vodka to a glass of sangria. But be warned, even at 10% I always get wrecked after a few glasses. I have seen it get the best of some experienced drinkers who would put 95% of our campus to shame in a game of drink. Cheap wine works in mysterious ways, it can put some people to sleep and others will get a boost of energy. And ladies, you will love it too because of its smooth taste and it is healthier than a beer. Some of my best memories (what I can remember of them that is) involve sitting around a fire on the beach up at Bar Harbor, passing around a jug of Sangria. One of those memories involves me ending up in the freezing ocean water at night with all my clothes on, but this isn’t the time to dive into that one.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

And the winner is...

"Onward State. Easily the most hotly contested award, this category gets a lot of attention. I will say this: If you really want to see sites like the University of Nonsensical Happenings or The Bwog up for awards, then nominate them when we ask for nominations. Otherwise, they don't get on the list. It's that simple. Now, Onward State got 49 percent of the vote, edging out Club Trillion by less than 4 percentage points for its second consecutive victory. Face it, Onward State is to alternative student media outlets what Ohio State football is to the Big Ten." (full story.)


That clip was from USNews.com's Paper Trail blog  yearly awards for various college education news. That is what the author wrote in describing the outcome of the "Alternative Media Outlet of the Year" award. I guess that means I got a few write in votes or someone commented on their poll or something. That probably means if I was officially nominated I probably would have won. So, for the sake of post, I'm claiming The University of Nonsensical Happenings to be the greatest Alternative Media Outlet of All-Time. Because I can. I never heard of USNews, or their blog, until today when I got a bunch of hits from their link. So I guess next year I'll have to be formally nominated and try to take down "Onward State" (who I used as an example when starting this blog). In all seriousness I am a big fan of both Onward State and  "Club Trillion" so it is an honor just to be mentioned with those blogs. 


A big thanks to whoever wrote me in or whatever to make the author mention me in the final results!


Stay classy, not UMassy

UNH Merchandise From CSN Stores

Watch out Hayden Sports, because CSNstores has come out with a bunch of new UNH items that are currently on sale. CSN has several different online sites that will help make your dorm or game room the best on campus. If you're looking to add a new bar to your apartment then check out their stools. If you looking for a few UNH specific items to spruce up your dorm room then this might be the site for you. Their promo team contacted me about doing a review of their products and when I saw some of those UNH merchandise I jumped at the opportunity, so stay tuned for a full review on a specific item and maybe more.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Drink Of The Week: Hard Cider

Alright, I'm not trying to tell you what to do... who am I kidding? I am telling you what to do. Before you know it (hopefully) we will be back on UNH's glorious (can't say that with a straight face) campus, and if you're a guy who doesn't like hard alcohol and is sick of beer, try getting some bottles of hard cider in your greasy underage mitts.

I'm sorry to alienate the female gender here, but you know who drinks hard cider? Men. Lumberjacks drink it, pirates drink it (to prevent scurvy while still getting drunk), and mountain men drink it. No, mountain men are not the same thing as lumberjacks. Don't get into this argument with me, and don't change the subject.

Here's a list of activities that get twice as good when you add hard cider into the mix:

• Eating
• Watching sports
• Partying hard
• Partying softly
• Going to a beach
• Wrestling a bear
• Getting into a fight (hard cider also starts this usually)
• Studying
• Wrestling two bears
  

Even gay men can enjoy hard cider! Don't worry, I didn't leave you guys out! Do you want an appletini but don't feel like going through the effort to make it? Just drink a bottle of hard cider! It's just like it! Disclaimer: I have never tried an appletini and do not know the taste or difficulty of making such a drink.

Hard cider goes great with everything: sandwiches, steaks, pizza, wings... even breakfast! Drinking beer with breakfast just feels gross, but with hard cider, it's just a more relaxing apple juice! That way the first thing your taste buds (after a night of making out with fat girls and smoking cloves in front of your dorm to look cool while you're more drunk than Sean Connery on a Friday) get hit with in the morning isn't nasty-ass Keystone Light, but the delicious fusion of alcohol and apples. It's perfect for those homecoming weekends, or just weekends where you start drinking at 9:00 in the morning. If you do that a lot, though, you should seek help.

Now, here are the few setbacks of hard cider. There are only so many places to get it in Durham or Dover, but it's usually available at the DUMP. I'll admit, I've only tried Woodchuck Hard Cider, in Amber and Granny Smith flavors, brewed in New Hampshire's 69-ing partner Vermont, but I feel like tasting those delicious apple nectars is good enough for me. If it tastes great, why try something else to see if it tastes better? That's called greed, and there's no place for that in the mind of a college student. You have a very limited source of money and no one wants to gamble $10 on something that ends up tasting like that bullshit India Pale Ale. I hate that shit.

The Woodchuck Hard Cider (go to the website and look around, THEY HAVE FUCKING KEGS OF THE STUFF I ALMOST SHIT MYSELF WHEN I FOUND THAT OUT) flavors are great, and I'm not sure if they have any more, but I'll tell you that the Amber one is much more sweeter than the Granny Smith one, which is bitter and tart, but still good. Another drawback is the ridiculous amount of sugar in these things, and the fact that it gives you a bitch of a hangover if you don't drink your water before bed. Now, you're wondering, "Rusty, how much do I have to pay for access to this glorious drink that's manly but doesn't taste like balls at the same time?" Well, they only come in 6-packs, and they're about $7 each, which seems rather expensive. I will tell you this though: the alcohol content in each bottle is usually in the range of 5%, and regular light beers like Bud Light or Keystone Light are about 4.2%. It may not seem like much, but if you're someone who doesn't need a lot to get drunk (like me) you can be set for the night with a 6-pack of this shit. It's fucking gold. GOLD.

If you buy hard cider from the DUMP or any stores around campus, the demand increases, so the supply does too. They'll offer more flavors since people are buying more and also (possibly) lower the price a bit if it gets really popular. Of course, this is my ideal, demented view of what should happen and probably not what will happen. Either way, $7 isn't bad for something that you can get drunk off of while still liking the taste of it. I'm fucking looking at you, Natural Light and Busch Light. Stop drinking that shit and get some respect.

Finally, I just want to say that I'm not in any way related to the Woodchuck marketing agency or anything like that. I wish I was though, so I could get a FUCKING KEG of that stuff. I wouldn't ever leave my room. So when we get back to UNH and you're thinking of something to drink during the Super Bowl (even though the Patriots aren't in it, but I'm not going to talk about that), get a 6-pack of this shit and try to tell me you don't like it. Seriously, if you don't like it, just tell me and I'll take the rest of it off of you for no cost.

If you've tried hard cider and hate it, tried hard cider and loved it, have a different type besides Woodchuck (or a totally different beverage altogether), or want to yell at me because you're angry at something that has nothing to do with the content of this post, send something to unhblog@yahoo.com and I'll get it eventually.

Editors Note: Drink of the week will be a new feature for Wednesdays on the blog. Rusty got it started this week and I have a few in storage. We will feature lesser seen drinks on campus and also throw in a few UNH campus favorites here and there. 

Student Blogs Challenge College Papers

The Chronicle of Higher Education, a newspaper targeting college students and professors, contained an article Sunday that caught my attention. It was about how student blogs are challenging college newspapers across the country. (Read the article by here.) In the article they targeted two major student run blogs. "Onward State" of Penn State (which I have used as a model, although it is much more professional with a full staff) and "NYU Local" of NYU. I'm not surprised that I wasn't asked to be interviewed, not be because this blog isn't legit, but our school paper, TNH, knew they couldn't compete with me so they bribed me to write for them in exchange for my one true vice: milk and cookies. (Just kidding. The TNH staff makes up about 75% of my readers, the other 25% is my mom.) This article focused on how there is a competition between blogs and newspapers, but it argues that most blogs don't survive after the founder's graduation. This is something I have actually been thinking about lately, which is why I was hoping to add a few writers to the staff. What if The University of Nonsensical Happenings could survive ANH? (After New Hampshirite.) That is probably just an unrealistic dream, I'm really just hoping to keep this going until I graduate.
Newspapers will always be the older brother to blogs. (Actually more like a grandfather, cause they're they only people who still read 'em, boom roasted!) Seriously though, newspapers are more sophisticated and reliable, but blogs have the ability to break a news story as it happen.  Blogs can provide constant updates with multimedia  24/7, while newspapers run on a predetermined schedule. What that means is that newspapers and blogs need each other. If it is done correctly (and I feel TNH and I nailed it) student blogs and newspapers can become a symbiotic relationship. I get free advertising, a bigger audience, and slightly more credibility and they get an extra half hour of editing. (Really though, hopefully a strong a opinion with a little humor.) While technically my blog is unaffiliated with TNH, I have the rare opportunity to write for two separate publications (I have to hit "publish post" so I consider this blog a publication), two different types of media and for two different audiences.
Blogs may not be as professional as newspapers, for example, my blog editor is that little read line that pops up when you spell a word wrong, and blogger don't got green lines for grammars mistake. Also, I never name my sources (although I rarely use them), and I discuss (and highly encourage) the use of certain substances in ways that even the most liberal newspapers can't. Newspapers get the glamour and attention by providing actual news and in-depth articles (and for when they get negative attention I get the chance to defend them like when those filthy immature pricks threw away a bunch of the papers.) I also tend to ramble and end a post abruptly with a bullshit  statement that makes the reader think I was actually trying to prove a point throughout a post. You see people, we can't let our country be divided by newspapers and blogs, because if we do then segregation is still a huge part of our society. And that is what is ruining America!

Stay classy, not UMassy.