Hey there, all my online readers!
This is Amanda Neace, The Northerner’s Online Editor. I’m the person who updates all the online content that you’re looking at right now! I’m technically still a freshman, although this is my second year at NKU. I’m 19 years old and I have no idea what my major is going to be. I’ve been working at the paper since September 2006, and I landed the web editor position by mere coincidence (I was just looking for some lowly job just to get involved). I had no web experience at the time, but the people at The Northerner were basically desperate and had to take me 
So here I am, writing to you over one year later and I think, for someone who had no clue about what they were getting into, I’ve done a pretty good job.
There’s going to be lots of changes occuring on the site in the next year, and I’m really excited to be the web editor at a time when lots of people are going to the Internet for their news. I’m always looking for suggestions and new ideas to help me improve your reading experience. If anyone has any tips or comments for me, you can comment this blog or email me at aneace06@yahoo.com. This is your chance to make a difference with your school’s newspaper, so I hope you take advantage of it! Even if you don’t have any suggestions for me, I hope you will take the time to comment these blogs or any articles that you happen to read on our site. It would really help our staff out to know that some people care about all the work we do!
I’ll be keeping you all updated about new features and changes happening on the site, and I hope to hear what you think about them!
It’s been pretty nice to get back into the swing of things after coming back from the Northerner’s trip to Washington, D.C., for the National College Media Convention. But one thing that hasn’t been slowing down this past week is the up and down weather Northern Kentucky has been having lately. Every morning I wake up it has been cold, however, once noon hits it seems as though it’s summer time.
One thing that doesn’t surprise me is that gas bills are set to rise this winter. The Kentucky Enquirer reported Oct. 30 that Kentucky’s five major natural gas companies, including Duke Energy, expect the wholesale cost of natural gas to increase by 81 cents this November. In turn, it comes out to an increase of about 9 percent from last November, which is nearly double the cost in November 2002.
The article further states that heating cost has been on the rise for the past five years and that the wholesale cost of natural gas accounts for about 75 percent of a average person’s winter heating bill.
I guess this whole issue can be compared to what I learned in my political science class, where if there is a demand of something the prices will raise and if there are no demand prices will decrease.
A good thing that was noted in the Enquirer article was that people from low-income houses would not be able to qualify for aid through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. The program will be run locally through the Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission.
I’m happy to see the people who have trouble affording basic necessities are being kept in mind during the winter season. I know I always hate seeing on TV families not having enough clothes or blankets to keep warm.
A 75-year-old woman from Clinton Township, Mich., is unconscious in the ICU Oct. 29 at a local hospital after she suffered a heart attack, broken ribs from paramedics’ revival attempts, a broken nose and a 20-stitch gash from falling out of her hospital bed and a burned face from when doctors tried to cauterize the wound.
A Northville, Mich., man was arrested on drunken driving charges Oct. 29 after he was pulled over by police with his 12-year-old son in the car. Police called the boy’s mother to come pick him up. When she arrived with her 9-year-old daughter in the car. Officers suspected she was intoxicated and, upon administering a breathalyzer, found that she blew a .13, twice the legal limit.
A police airplane spotted an alleged drunken driver in a Ferrari that was driving at high speeds Oct. 29. The pilot alerted deputies on the ground, who pulled over the car and arrested the driver on a DUI charge. The owner then called a tow truck, but allegedly waited until officers were out of sight to send the truck away and climb into his car before leaving. However, the plane spotted the car leaving and radioed deputies, who promptly pulled the man over and arrested him on DUI charges.
Perhaps it is because of how hungry I am, or the pressing knowledge that when I finish my day at school and get home that my cupboards are as barren as the women of the Old Testament (too soon?) that my mind is on Ramen Noodles. Ramen Noodles: the only college diet staple that you can afford with the change found the back of your (that is… someone else’s) couch.
There was a time when Ramen Noodles were a treat to me. Back when my snack food was prepared for me on a plate that awaited me after a hard day jumping up and down on the couch and watching Saturday Morning Cartoons (I HAD THE POWWWWWER). But as a self proclaimed expert on junk food, or at least the kind of food that no one else would willingly lay claim to, I must admit that I may have spent a few too many nights with seperately-packaged-seasoning in hand, awaiting a steady boil. I don’t even measure the cup of water anymore; I eye it like a pro.
Okay. It may very well be that no one but me ever actually measured the water.
Nostalgia aside, Ramen Noodles aren’t the most exciting citizens in Noodletopia to begin with, and after years of subsisting entirely on them, you may end up detesting them enough to actually be forced to shell out more than a dime for dinner. And no one wants that. So check out this website and see what you scrounge up to add to the pot:
http://www.mattfischer.com/ramen/
Note: As of the writing of this blog, the recipe on that website includes a handful of small frozen shrimp, fresh lime and fresh cilantro. I just need to explain how blown my mind is over this. If you have shrimp … Why are you eating Ramen Noodles in any form?! Slip on your diamond-clogs, put on your ruby-studded top hat, and ride your solid gold pony to town and eat some real food. Regardless, check out the website, it’s pretty interesting.
Cheetos has a new flavor. Yes. You read me right. Cheetos. Has a new flavor.
You, gentle reader, are no doubt as shocked I was when I stumbled across the display at a local market (coughwalmartcough). Not since the world was blessed with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos over a decade ago has there been a new flavor of Cheetos for me to gorge myself on. The amazing flavor of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos even managed to overcome my initial deep hatred over Flamin’ Hot Doritos’ short time in this world (alas Flamin’ Hot Doritos, ye died too young), so I immediately pulled two of the three dollars I had saved up until my next paycheck and got the strange bag seemingly glowing in the center aisle.
So what flavor are they? I’ll tell you what flavor. Chile Limón. My initial reaction to the name was that when foods decide not to spell the flavor correctly, that means they are trying to cleverly avoid the fact that their food contains no such item. Like the V-Nilla milk that White Castle sells. My second reaction was that I recently looked on eBay to see if I could buy a 10-15 year old bag of Flamin’ Hot Doritos to eat, and that I am a proud consumer of Spam, and therefore, I didn’t have the right or even the inclination to care about the lack of lemon in my Cheetos. So I bought those mofos right quick.
I saved them, like some precious bag of Ambrosia (in a plastic bag) all day as I awaited the perfect event to enjoy them by; the newest episode of Heroes. Heroes came like a majestic sunset, and within the pallid light of the television that I would like to pretend was instead the romantic glow of a crackling fireplace, I opened the bag and plunged in. I shoved one of the familiar red club-esque crunchies into my mouth and let the flavor take me.
But it didn’t take me very far. I mean, I guess it’s kind of lemony. Or should I say Limóny? I think, perhaps, someone was enjoying a refreshing lemon snack at the Flamin’ Hot Cheeto factory and absent-mindedly dropped it into the batch. Rather than admit his mistake, he then decided to BS his way to the top and in doing so created an entirely new, but not entirely delicious product. It was probably that same jackass that came up with those hamburger flavored Doritos.
And no, I’m not lying about the hamburger Doritos. It was the only bag of Doritos I have ever been unable to finish.
Ok, so anyone who checks out the A&E pages might notice that something has been missing … a HALO 3 Review. I would just like to take a second to explain.
You can find that anywhere! And I really think that anyone who would care to read it will already own it. However, for those loyalies out there, I will take a moment to make a few comments on my experience with the Bungie masterpiece.
IT IS AWESOME. Period.
From the expansive and appropriately challenging 17 hours of campaign to the beautiful and size-ranged multi-player maps, “Halo 3” is everything I expected it to be. My only complaint is that there are too many equips. I have a hard time keeping up with the bubble shield, the overshield, the blue light thing that drains life … all that. However, those same equipments are fabulous in the single player mode if you slow down enough to find them.
Speaking of finding them, there are also “skulls” scattered and hidden throughout the game for achievements and extra playing excitement.
For the most awesome multi-player experience, change gravity to 50 percent, speed to 300 percent and make the gravity hammer your only weapon. I call that one Hamster Crack, and I think you’ll see why. Seriously, try it. I’ve also found that Snowbound is a great map to check it out on, but beware the guardians. When there’s only half gravity and you’re moving like a hamster on crack, it’s far too easy to slip out of the playing realm, thus facing your impending death by a group of mechanical machine/laser guns things — guardians .
Alrighty, enough about that awesomeness.
Another game I’ve been playing this week is “MySims” for the Wii. I don’t know if you remember that I ripped up “The Sims” a few weeks back, but this new development is awesome. Basically, the only thing that holds true from “The Sims” is the name. It was a genius marketing ploy by Nintendo to push their human version of “Animal Crossing” onto a different audience.
It has very little to do with growing your Sim and living a Simmy life. Rather, it’s all about rebuilding a town. You’re an awesome architect (though you look like a 7 year old) and you are sent to this town to help restore its glory. Reading this now, it may not seem so cool, but if you’ve ever played “Animal Crossing” or like customizable (and pretty easy) strategy/RP games, I highly recommend this cute little number.
I’m sure that most of you that read a newspaper or go on the Internet to look at sports or any news, would know that the Northern Kentucky University Men’s Soccer Team is No. 1 in the nation.
The season is winding to a close and the Norse are coming home for its final two home games on the 2007 schedule.
This is more like a plea to the students and anyone associated with the university to come out and cheer on the Norse when it goes to play Southern Indiana, Oct. 12 and face Kentucky Wesleyan, at the Town & Country Sports Complex in Wilder.
I understand that for the most part NKU is a commuter school, but for those of you that live in the area, come out and support the red hot men’s team.
Braden Bishop has been an outstanding player this year and has won the Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Week award for the second time this season, a first in school history to win award twice in a season in soccer.
So, come out and cheer on the men’s team and while you are at it, take your girlfriend or friends, catch the best soccer team in the country and go to the movie theater next door, maing a day out of it.
This is Matt Birkholtz signing off till next week. See you around.
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