The 10 Best 3-D Movies And What Hollywood Can Learn From Them

In the wake of Avatar 3-D is the next big leap and Hollywood hasn't been shy about putting everything they have into the format. Summer's over but the next few months will see even more movies released in 3-D. You'd probably better get used to wearing those glasses. Next week Piranha 3D shows up with a campy approach to the format and a few weeks later in September Resident Evil: Afterlife will take a much more technologically serious approach as it becomes one of the few movies since Avatar to use James Cameron's 3D Fusion Camera system. After riding the wave of a summer box office loaded with 3-D conversions we've talked a lot about all the ways that 3-D's been going wrong, but maybe there's something to be learned by looking back at all the times 3-D went right.

Freed from the shackles of the mostly unsuccessful blue and red glasses 3-D which spared people to death, used properly and on the right movies, 3-D can and has added something to your viewing experience. Listen up Hollywood. Here's what it looks like when 3-D is done right.


Captain EO (1986)
When it debuted at Disney parks in the 80s Captain EO was regarded as the first 4-D film because it incorporated in-theater effects like laser lights along with the 3-D elements on screen. But really, it was just 3-D with lasers. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, the short film starred Michael Jackson as the captain of a ragtag starship crew on a mission across the stars. The story was pretty silly, and since it starred Michael Jackson, prone to a lot of singing, but the movie's special effects were stunning. Coppola's groundbreaking 3-D camera tricks were so good that those 3-D effects still hold up pretty well today. In part that's because Disney went all out when making it. Captain EO cost, on average, $1.76 million per minute to make. For that money Disney parks got the first ever 3-D movie that actually really worked in 3-D. It was so well done that more than twenty years later Captain EO continues to show at Disney's parks around the world.


Jim Henson's Muppet*Vision 3-D (1991)
Captain EO got all the attention but Michael Jackson's weird, space adventure wasn't the only 3-D movie showing at Disney's parks in the 90s. If you were lucky, maybe at some point during a trip to Disney you've stumbled into a showing of Jim Henson's Muppet*Vision 3-D. The attraction first opened at Walt Disney World and Disneyland in 1991 and it takes 3-D beyond the screen. The presentation uses actual animatronic Muppets and other real special effects to heighten the impact of the 3-D elements in the movie. At some point while you're watching it becomes nearly impossible to distinguish between what's really there in the room with you and what's being projected, and since it's the Muppets, it's a lot of fun. Muppet*Vision 3-D was the last thing ever directed by the late, great, Jim Henson. If he'd stuck around longer, it's hard not to wonder what he'd have thought of the format now… or for that matter what brilliant new ways he'd have come up with to use it.


Ghosts of the Abyss (2003)
Back in 2003 people still thought of 3-D as red and blue lenses Elmer's glued into paper frames. 3-D was still the awful, clunky, unwatchable stuff of Jaws 3-D and audiences wanted no part of that. But quietly, behind the scenes, James Cameron was working to change everything. Before he shot Avatar he started testing a new kind of 3-D on a series of underwater documentaries. This Cameron directed film was the first Disney movie produced in 3-D and, if you were one of the few who made it to an IMAX theater to see it, it blew your mind. Sure a lot of the 3-D effects were wasted on pie charts, but oh what pie charts. Graphs are a lot more interesting when they're hovering of the head of the guy in front of you. Images leaped out of the screen with stunning clarity. As Cameron's robotic cameras dove into the wreck of the Titanic, it was easy to let yourself go and feel as though you were really there. It would be more than half a decade before Cameron perfected his 3-D technique, but he laid the groundwork here, quietly, and while no one was really looking.


Superman Returns: An IMAX 3-D Experience (2006)
When it was released in 2006 an alternate version of Superman Returns called Superman Returns: An IMAX 3-D Experience was released simultaneously in IMAX theaters. It was the first live-action Hollywood movie to get a combined IMAX 3-D release, though now its commonplace. Only 20 minutes of the film were actually converted into 3-D which resulted in the admittedly annoying process of taking your 3-D glasses on and off throughout the film… but oh what a 20 minutes. Superman's bright, sharp colors and director Bryan Singer's talent for stunning visual clarity made those 20 minutes of 3-D worth the trouble. Used primarily on action sequences, 3-D made the movie's biggest moments even bigger and grander. Combined with IMAX's unmatched picture and sound quality Superman Returns delivered an, at the time, unmatched of theater experience.


Meet the Robinsons (2007)
Meet the Robinsons was a turning point for Disney. The studio's second attempt at computer animation was also their first good one. They'd been struggling, their animated movies were no longer working, and then out of nowhere suddenly Meet the Robinsons did. It helped that they had a strong story rooted in the importance of family, but visually, I'm not sure the movie would have worked without 3-D. On its own Robinsons' animation looked dated and overly simplistic but when 3-D was used to add depth, suddenly the film's unexpectedly simple landscape design became deeper and more interesting. In applying 3-D to such basic computer animation Robinsons discovered something interesting: 3-D works best when you keep it simple.


Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)
While most movies use 3-D only to enhance what they're doing, Journey to the Center of the Earth existed solely in the service of 3-D. It was made, from the beginning, with 3-D in mind and the entire film was crafted from stem to stern with audiences wearing funny glasses as the plan. That paid off in a big way in sheer entertainment value. While the movie's story was, admittedly, a shallow, paint by numbers modern version of Jules Vernes' classic tale, the film's visual elements were such a blast that most went in and didn't care. The movie took full advantage of both the gimmicks and subtler nuances 3-D offers to delight and amaze. Journey to the Center of the Earth was the rare 3-D movie that there was literally no point in watching without 3-D. Without your glasses on, without 3-D effects, there was no movie. Maybe they didn't always get the story right but Journey knew how to get the most out of 3-D.


My Bloody Valentine (2009)
Before Hollywood started trying to promote 3D that was "subtle" and "enhanced the world of the film," My Bloody Valentine used the technology the way it was always intended-- to scare the hell of an audience by throwing things at them. I can't even tell you how many times a pickax swung perilously out over the crowd, or how many bulging eyeballs or body parts came up for our close inspection-- and that's mostly because I had to cover my eyes in terror every time it happened. I have no idea why a cheapie horror movie like My Bloody Valentine managed to do live-action 3D better than something massive like The Last Airbender, but I'd never been so happy to see real humans in the third dimension-- and then, of course, to see those real humans chopped to bits.


Coraline (2009)
As we've seen with many of the 3-D films released this year, it's often difficult to get the proper level of depth required for a positive 3-D experience with a live action movie. Henry Selick's Coraline, on the other hand, has depth to spare. Both filmed in 3-D and animated using 3-D figures, the movie actually establishes an immersive world for the audience, something that 90% of 3-D films lack. Be it expanding a tunnel into an alternate world filled with button-eyed doubles or fighting against the evil Beldam in a gigantic spider-web, Coraline was a movie experience made for 3-D. Watching it that way is like stepping inside the film's magical, stop-motion world. In Henry Selick's clay-molding hands, Coraline's 3-D experience was supremely effective.


Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)
Monsters vs. Aliens was an endearingly goofy and over-the-top spin on the classic monsters movie, and how better to honor the B-movie roots than by showing the whole thing in glorious 3D? It wasn't just that it was better to have the various laser beams and monsters flying out of the screen at you, but that even the 3D was getting in on the fun, amping up the bright colors and crazy action so that you didn't have a choice but to jump in. As one of the first DreamWorks movies conceived in 3D, MvA's action sequences took great advantage of the format, sending Ginormica skating down the streets of San Francisco with cars as roller skates, and showing off every bit of alien weaponry in sharp 3D detail. Monsters vs. Aliens was too early in the 3D trend to take advantage of enough high ticket prices to earn itself a sequel, but it still represents one of the earliest and best examples of how animation can really work with the added dimension.


Avatar (2009)
James Cameron began developing Avatar in 1994 and much of the time between then and its 2009 release was spent developing the movie's groundbreaking 3-D effects. Live action elements were shot entirely on the 3-D Fusion Camera System and that worked. But much of the reason the film's 3-D succeeds is that 60% of the movie's scenes contain no live action elements and were done using photorealistic computer generated images created using a new kind of virtual camera system for motion capture. Under Cameron's direction 3-D is used to give the Pandoran jungles depth or to make seed pods float out over the heads of the audience, and at times what's happening on screen feels utterly real. Since its release Avatar has become the gold-standard in 3-D filmmaking, and if you're serious about making a 3-D movie, then you'll do it the Avatar way.

Top Ten Fictional Brands from Movies and TV

Product placement has become downright pervasive in movies and TV, but that doesn’t mean that every brand we see onscreen is something available in stores. When licensing real world products isn’t possible, filmmakers often resort to using made up brand names in their place. Some of these have become director trademarks, while others have become in-jokes that are used in different movies and shows that otherwise have no connection to one another. Here are the ten most famous examples:

10. Oceanic Airlines
Seen In: Lost, numerous movies and TV shows

Most movies these days rely on product placement as a way of making some extra cash during the production. This is why in some movies it might seem like the characters only drink Heineken or only eat at McDonald’s. But in instances where product placement isn’t feasible, filmmakers are forced to create fake companies and brand names, like Oceanic Airlines. Starting with the action movie Executive Decision in 1996, Oceanic has been the go to fictional airline for the movies. It’s often used in action movies and television shows, since no real airline would ever want their name associated with skyjackings and plane crashes. As of late, the most famous appearance of Oceanic Airlines took place on the TV show Lost. In the pilot episode, it was none other than an Oceanic airliner that crashed and marooned the characters on the island.

9. Finder-Spyder
Seen In: CSI, Breaking Bad, Dexter

One of television’s most well travelled in-jokes is the use of a fictional search engine known as Finder-Spyder. When producers can’t get cleared to use Google or Yahoo in their show, they often resort to having characters use the TV world’s most popular search tool instead. Finder-Spyder is most often used in dramatic television, and it’s made appearances on everything from Breaking Bad and Prison Break to pay-cable shows like Dexter and Weeds. While the name doesn’t change, Finder-Spyder often looks different depending on the show. Breaking Bad gave it its own unique look, but other shows, like Journeyman, do their best to copy the style of the Google home page.

8. Brawndo
Seen In: Idiocracy
Brawndo is one of the few fictional movie products to become such a phenomenon that it started being sold in actual stores. The fake sports drink comes from Mike Judge’s 2006 cult film Idiocracy, a comedy about a dystopian society where people have become so stupid that the President is a former pro wrestler and the most popular TV show is called “Ow! My Balls!” Brawndo, A.K.A. “The Thirst Mutilator,” is a Red Bull-like energy drink that is so popular that it has replaced water in water fountains. Not only that, but because “it’s got what plants crave!” Brawndo is even used to irrigate crops, with predictably disastrous results. Idiocracy performed miserably at the box office, but it became an underground phenomenon on video, to the point that Brawndo was briefly marketed online as an actual product under the catchy slogan “It’s got electrolytes!”

7. Big Kahuna Burger
Seen In: Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Death Proof, From Dusk till Dawn
Certain filmmakers have become famous for populating their films with fake brand names and products of their own devising. Quentin Tarantino’s Big Kahuna Burger, a fictional, Hawaiian-themed fast food joint, is one of the most famous examples. Though the restaurant itself is never seen, food from it makes an appearance in just about every one of Tarantino’s movies. Michael Madsen’s character grabs a meal from Big Kahuna Burger in Reservoir Dogs, as does George Clooney’s in From Dusk Till Dawn, and the burgers show up in a famous scene near the beginning of Pulp Fiction, when Samuel L. Jackson’s character takes a bite of one and remarks how “tasty” it is. Several real world restaurants have since stolen the name, while even more advertise as having a “Big Kahuna Burger” on their menu.

6. Mooby’s
Seen In: Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Clerks II
Like Quentin Tarantino, filmmaker Kevin Smith is known for creating fictional brand names for his movies, most famously “Mooby’s,” a Disney-esque corporation that is known for its fast food restaurants, kid’s toys, and theme parks. The company’s mascot is a golden calf—a satirical reference to a Bible story about idol worship—and it’s referenced that the character is a children’s phenomenon on the level of Mickey Mouse, with television shows and even a holiday special called “A Very Mooby Christmas.” The Mooby’s corporation made its first appearance in Smith’s 1999 film Dogma, and it’s since popped up in Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back and Clerks II, in which the main characters all work at a Mooby’s fast food joint.

5. Heisler Beer
Seen In: Training Day, Superbad, Beerfest, Malcolm in the Middle, and many others
Not all fictional movie brands are the trademark of a particular director. Heisler is a fake brand of beer that’s been making the rounds in movies and TV for years now. The fictional lager, which seems to only come in light and regular style, was first created by Independent Studio Services, a company that’s known as one of the largest suppliers of props for film and television. With dozens of appearances, Heisler Beer is certainly one of their most famous creations. It’s shown up in everything from sitcoms (Malcolm in the Middle, My Name is Earl) to mainstream comedies (Beerfest, appropriately) and dramatic films (Denzel Washington offers Ethan Hawke a Heisler in a famous scene from Training Day). Heisler is certainly ISS’s most notable fictional brew, but it’s not the only one. The company is also responsible for Jekyll Island Beer, which made an appearance on Lost, and Penzburg, which is often used in network television shows.

4. Morley Cigarettes
Seen In: The X-Files, 24, Spy Game, Mission: Impossible
Like Heisler Beer, Morley Cigarettes are another fictional brand name that has been co-opted by various films and television shows. They’re clearly designed to look like the popular Marlboro brand, and feature a similar color scheme and font. Morleys have shown up in a number of films, including Spy Game and Thirteen, but they’re most well known from their use in television shows like 24, Burn Notice and Beverly Hills, 90210. Far and away the most famous use of Morley Cigarettes came in the cult television show The X-Files. That series featured an enigmatic character known as the “Cigarette Smoking Man” who would always chain-smoke Morley Cigarettes whenever he appeared on screen. Along with Morley, a few other fictional cigarette brands have shown up in films over the years. For example, Quentin Tarantino frequently has his characters smoke “Red Apple Cigarettes,” and Kevin Smith’s characters are often seen with a brand called “Nails.”

3. Duff Beer
Seen In: The Simpsons
No list of fictional brand names would be complete without Duff Beer, the preferred libation of Homer Simpson, the main character of the famous TV show The Simpsons. Duff is portrayed as seemingly the only beer available in the town of Springfield, where it’s advertised by a theme park called “Duff Gardens” and an over-enthusiastic spokesperson called Duffman (Oh, yeah!). The beer is usually only seen in a regular brown style, but one early episode about a visit to the Duff brewery shows that there are other brands including “Lady Duff,” “Tartar Control Duff,” and “Henry K. Duff’s Private Reserve.” The massive popularity of The Simpsons has led to a number of attempts to license Duff Beer as an actual product, but the show’s creator Matt Groening has always refused out of worry that doing so might set a bad example for children. Still, this hasn’t stopped some from trying. Breweries in Mexico and Europe have both produced Duff Beer in the past, and the Fox network once successfully brought legal action against an Australian company that started marketing a Duff brand of beer.

2. 555- Telephone Number
Seen In: Countless movies and TV shows

The infamous 555- telephone number might not be a consumer product like Duff Beer, but its widespread use in the world of film and TV has helped it become its own kind of brand. We’ve all seen it by now: whenever a character in a movie gives out a telephone number, it always starts out with the digits 555. This is despite the fact that, as a character points out in the movie Last Action Hero, there could only be 10,000 possible 555- phone numbers available. The 555- exchange has now become one of the all time great movie clichés, and uses of it date as far back as the 1940s. The reasons for filmmakers using the 555- telephone number are fairly simple. Telephone companies have traditionally reserved that exchange for special numbers and for use as test lines, and for years most remain unused. This was perfect for Hollywood filmmakers, who were wary about accidentally giving out someone’s real phone number and possibly subjecting them to harassment. After years of functioning almost solely as a movie prop, 555- telephone numbers actually started to be issued to the public back in 1994. Since then, only the 100 numbers from 555-0100 to 555-0199 have continued to be reserved for the movies.

1. Acme Corporation
Seen in: Looney Tunes cartoons, many other films and TV shows
There is no more culturally famous fake company than Acme, the fictional corporation from the classic Looney Toons cartoon series that makes anything and everything under the sun—and all of it defective. The Acme brand is probably most famously associated with the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoons, which depict a coyote that is perpetually trying to capture a speedy roadrunner by using a collection of ridiculous contraptions provided by the Acme Corporation. These include everything from a giant rubber band (labeled as suitable “for tripping road runners”), to rocket powered roller skates. The products invariably fail to work, and the coyote always ends up on the receiving end of his own trap. Acme made appearances in Looney Tunes cartoons as early as the 1930s, but even before then it was known to pop up in movies and TV shows (it once made an appearance on I Love Lucy) as the go to generic company name. As it so happens, the popularity of the Acme brand name wasn’t just restricted to entertainment. In the real world, Acme was one of the most widely used company names in the 40s and 50s, supposedly because business owners thought its alphabetical placement at the front of the phonebook would boost sales. Its overuse eventually turned it into a kind of joke, but it remains a popular company name even today. Still, those hoping to catch a Road Runner are probably best advised to look elsewhere.

10 Things to Try for 30 Days

You’ve probably heard that it takes 21 days to change a habit, right? Well, apparently there isn’t any hard evidence that this is a fact. According to Jeremy Dean over at PsyBlog, the “21 day myth may well come from a book published in 1960 by [Dr Maxwell Maltz] a plastic surgeon.” According to Dean, Dr Maxwell Maltz based an argument for a 21-day adjustment period after noticing that amputee patients took about 21 days to adjust to their loss.

In reality it can take much longer than 21 days to lose a habit or start a new one. However, 30 days is a good start. Here is my list of top ten things to try for 30 days. I’ve ranked them according to their position on this graph (level of difficulty and materials required vs. benefits).



A new month is just about to begin, so this is the perfect time to try something new for 30 days. Or, if you need some time to prepare, September is just around the corner – the perfect month to learn something new (even if you’re not going back to school) or turn over a new leaf (here comes Autumn!) If you do, try any of the 10 things listed below, please, keep us posted! If you are trying something for 30 days that isn’t listed, please share it below as well.

10. Stop Using Soap



This is low on the list because, on the surface anyways, it will be easy to achieve. Remove all of the soap and shampoo from your house and you’re at least halfway there. Next you just have to remember not to use soap when you wash your hands in public washrooms. This won’t be a problem if you are one of the 33% of Americans who don’t wash their hands after using public facilities (thepowderroom).

Perhaps soap is overrated. People who don’t use soap claim that their complexions improve and that soap actually makes a person generate more odor (boingboing.net). On the other hand, I’d like to hear from their friends or family to get the real dirt on what they smell like after a few weeks…

9. Celibacy
Keep your hands to yourself for one month.



Celibacy has more than one definition, but today the most common definition of a celibate person is someone who isn’t having sex with anyone else. According to dictionary.com, celibacy also means “the state of being unmarried,” and originates from the latin word meaning “single.” So, you could also try to stay unmarried for 30 days or stay single for 30 days, if either of these are challenging for you (highly recommended after a divorce or break up in order to avoid rebounds…).

I’m a little shy about raising the subject of celibacy after the response to my Top 10 Things Better Than Sex, and the even more unintentionally offensive Top 10 Facts About Nymphomaniacs. Who knew that sex was such a touchy subject? Advocates of celibacy are also very passionate about their beliefs (if nothing else). One of the most active websites for the sexually inactive lists several benefits related to celibacy, including: spirituality, empowerment, birth control, health, and longer marriages. They are so happy about being celibate that they called their website Celibrate.org. Cute. On the other hand we have arguments that celibacy can have very negative effects. For example, writer James Carroll asserts that mandatory celibacy has produced devastating results in the Catholic church (National Catholic Reporter). Plus, you just missed National Celibacy Month (it’s June). Maybe next year.

8. Grow Something



Does this sound slightly more exciting than watching paint dry or water boil?

All you need is a seed, and some dirt, water, and sunshine. You can enjoy homegrown radishes as early as 21 days after you plant your seeds; you can eat your very own lettuce in 30 days. Try to remember to keep the soil moist and warm as the seed germinates. Check on it every day. Too much for you? Go buy a plant instead. Name it, care for it, and love it. Need a friend? Grow one! You can buy plant kits that will grow a head of “hair” in just 14 days, so you can spend the other 16 days giving him different haircuts.

You might be surprised by how rewarding it is to nurture a life, no matter how small. It can increase your appreciation for all living things and the struggle to survive, from the spider you put outside instead of squishing, to the rude lady who pushes past you to get into the elevator (maybe she just got some bad news?). Gardening is so beneficial that it is used as therapy for all types of people; seniors, people with disabilities, inmates, depressed people, and people with learning disabilities.

Indoor plants improve air quality (and décor), while outdoor plants support the diminishing bee population and other insects and wildlife (butterflies, ladybugs, birds). Gardening can also save you money. According to CNNMoney.com you can “cut your spending by $500 a month” by gardening smarter. I couldn’t find one argument against growing plants, although there is an argument against growing exotic or invasive plants because of their effects on indigenous plants and animals.

7. Perform Random Acts of Kindness
Perform one random act of kindness each day for 30 days.



Purposefully look for others’ needs around you and respond to them. It sounds challenging, but random acts of kindness don’t have to be expensive, time-consuming, or complex. According to the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, you can “show kindness in simple ways, such as giving a hug, sharing garden produce, or writing a note to someone who has positively affected your life.”

The definition of kindness is “the quality of being warmhearted and considerate and humane and sympathetic” (thefreedictionary.com). I can’t come up with a reason not to want to practice more kindness for 30 days, can you?

Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something and has lost something. (H. Jackson Brown, Jr.)

6. Eat Vegetarian



The difficulty of this challenge will depend on your current diet. The most common type of Vegetarian is the Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian: they will not eat animal flesh of any kind but will consume eggs and dairy. Once you start looking, you will probably be pleasantly surprised by all of the vegetarian options out there. Food.com has over 2,000 recipes, your local grocery store probably has a vegetarian section, and one of the best parts about changing your diet is the opportunity it provides to try new foods or add exciting new flavors to your old recipes.

Research has shown that vegetarianism improves health, encourages weight loss, reverses aging, extends life span, and lower cholesterol (time.com). If you smell some bacon and start to feel your willpower weakening, watch Food Inc or McLibel – both movies turned me off of meat for a while… On the other hand, others argue that “as a species… we have been happily eating meat for at least two million years, and probably much longer”.

5. Cash Only


Freezing a Credit Card (Literally) from Kevin Fleming on Vimeo.

Put back those scissors, this is just for 30 days (for now!). Instead, take your cards out of your wallet and put them somewhere safe. One effective way to freeze your spending is to trap your cards in a block of ice. If you find yourself in a shopping fever, you have some time to cool down while the ice melts.

Prepare yourself for your 30 days by making a budget. While you’re at it, get a copy of your credit report. If you notice any mistakes send in a dispute letter right away and your credit score could be improved right around the same time that your 30 days end (that’s how long it takes for the bureau to investigate and correct errors).

This is an excellent exercise but will require courage. It’s an opportunity to discover the reality of your spending habits and your financial situation while you practice living within your means. People “Living on a Cash Only Diet” experience empowerment, less stress, reduced debt, and a sense of accomplishment. Negative aspects of a cash only lifestyle are delayed gratification, required planning and prioritization skills, and a lack of spontaneity (CNN.com).

4. Stop Watching TV

No television for 30 days.



Do you think you could turn off your television and leave it off for 30 days? It might be easier for you if you actually remove the televisions from your house (or at least hide the remote controls!). Nneka at balancedlifecenter.com offers 43 suggestions for how you can spend your time instead, including: traveling (with your $2000 in savings each year), dancing, making love, taking classes, socializing, and exercising. She hasn’t watched TV in over a year and says, “It’s saved me money, freed up my time, and given me back my opinions.”

There is a website dedicated to the ills of television called turnoffyourtv.com (“Kill Your TV”) that lists famous quotes as well as links to health and education information, poems and essays, and non-TV activities. Some of the arguments against TV from this site: watching TV makes you fat, television addiction, and the effects of TV violence on children. Another viewpoint is that watching television can be good for you as long as it is not excessive. Born in 106 BC, Roman philosopher Cicero once said “let moderation be your [TV] guide” and even kidshealth.org states that “television, in moderation, can be a good thing.”

3. Keep A Journal

Write journal entries for 30 days.



A journal is “an account of day-to-day events… a record of experiences, ideas, or reflections kept regularly for private use” (merriam-webster.com). Traditionally, journals are made out of bound paper but you can also record your journal entries onto scraps of paper or your computer. It’s easier to make your journal a part of your daily routine when you do it at the same time everyday. Pick a time that is convenient for you. Right before you go to bed, while you drink your first cup of coffee in the morning, on the subway in to work, while your children are napping, or during your lunch hour- whatever works for you.

The Change Blog lists 5 key benefits to keeping a journal: a better understanding of yourself, improved writing skills, the ability to transport yourself to another time in your life, increased accountability, and enhanced positive thinking. Are there dangers to keeping a journal? I found a young woman in a Yahoo forum who claimed that her journal habit was making her very emotional, over-analytical, and negative. There could be also negative consequences if other people read your journal, depending on the content.

2. Walk Everywhere
Use Your Feet As Your Only Means Of Transportation For 30 Days



Hang up the car keys, get some good shoes, and walk everywhere for 30 days. During a bus strike in my city, I realized that it only took me 45 minutes to walk to work. The trip took me over a bridge from one end of the city to the other and I never would have thought it was a walk-able distance until the bus strike and a lack of cab fare forced me to try it one day. You can check out distances beforehand (I use yahoo maps) and you might also consider using a pedometer (step-counter) to measure how far you go each day – it can be very rewarding.

You can read about real people who walk everywhere (and why) at the experienceproject.com. My favorite reason is that feet are “cheap, easy to use, environmentally friendly and not likely to cause a lethal accident” (Clem79). Of course, it’s good exercise, too. I love my city, and I continue to do a lot of my travelling by foot to this day. Sometimes other means are necessary (ambulance rides, large furniture moves, large distances) so you will either need to schedule your 30 days very carefully or be willing to make exceptions. (Is your commute too far? How about cycling or using public transit for 30 days instead?)

1. Get Up Early
Get up at 4:00am seven days a week for 30 days.



Personal development blogger Steve Pavlina gets out of bed at 5:00am every morning. He recommends that you get up at the same time every day but go to bed when you are tired because “your sleep needs vary from day to day.” He also offers this advice: “the longer it takes me to get up, the more likely I am to try to sleep in… always get up right away” (How to Become an Early Riser).

This experiment is first on this list because it is very easy to arrange- most people already own an alarm clock- and yet it can have such a huge impact on a life. You might argue that getting out of bed early is extremely challenging for you, but I will argue back that “early” means different things to different people. If you are currently getting out of bed at 11:00am every day, first of all let me say that I am actually very jealous. I have two kids and I am often awake a 5:00am, but not by choice. Anyways, if you get up at 11:00am right now, you might want to commit to getting up at 8:00am for 30 days. Just think- you’ve just extended your life for 90 more hours!

You could: write that first novel, spend more time with your kids, train for a marathon, or build a giant Lego version of yourself – go for it! You could use the extra time over the next 30 days doing the 9 other things on this list (growing a vegetable garden, walking to work, writing in your journal).

Leo Babauta gets up at 4:30am every day and lists numerous benefits at zenhabits.net, including: time for breakfast, increased productivity, watching the sun rise, and avoiding rush hour. There are health risks related to sleep deprivation, and there is also the risk that you may be cranky if you are forcing yourself out of bed. However, I personally like the idea of actively controlling what time I wake up rather than being at the mercy of my children, so I might give this one a try in August. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Top 10 Dumbest Song Lyrics

It must be very difficult to write a good song. I’m not denying that. I know it’s hard enough to write an essay, and that doesn’t even have to rhyme. However there are certain instances where I feel the songwriter isn’t even trying. As though they had an hour to put the song together, took a gander at the screaming girls sitting outside TRL and said “ef it” just write whatever rhymes with ‘girl, I love you.’ And then laughed all the way to the bank. The following ten are the most blatant offenses I can find in my mental song library. Some songs by artists I usually respect; some not so much. Though, I do feel inclined to admit most are on my iPod.

10. So Yesterday (Hilary Duff)



Some things are brilliant in their simplicity. Some things are just simple. Hilary’s break up tune is just simple. Lyrics like:

“But I’m gonna keep your jeans.

And your old black hat – cause I wanna.

They look good on me.

You’re never gonna get them back

At least not today, not today, not today”

My, my how empowering. What stellar advice to women everywhere. If your boyfriend dumps you, just keep his jeans. And if you and your boyfriend wear the same size jeans, maybe be happy you’re no longer together. But my real favorite in this ditty is the next prophetic gem: “If the light is off then it isn’t on.” Waaaaiiiit, if the light is off then it isn’t on? Eureka! I’ve been arguing with my electric providers about how to define ‘off’ for years now!

9. As Long As You Love Me (Backstreet Boys)



This song is insulting. It’s like they were singing at a third grade reading level. I’m referring to lines like: “… although loneliness has always been a friend of mine, I’m leaving my life in your hands.“ Who are you singing to? Your doctor? Who has your life in their hands? “People say I’m crazy and that I am blind. Risking it all in a glance.” Well boys, if you’re blind… risking anything in a glance probably is a little bit crazy. The chorus really is where they take it home: “I don’t care who you are, where you’re from, what you did As long as you love me…” Sounds a little desperate. Have you no standards?

You tell me later: “…it doesn’t really matter if you’re on the run.“ Call me old fashioned, but if a guy tells me he’s on the run I become concerned. I’m not saying it’s a deal breaker for sure, but I think we should at least have a conversation about it. Also how many people are the Backstreet Boys coming in contact with that are on the run? I for one have never met someone on the run, and I think they mostly met 14 year old girls. Begs the question, from where did the inspiration for this song come? Not from the heart I think, not from the heart indeed.

8. If I Was Invisible (Clay Aiken)



These lyrics are stupid for many reasons. For one, why would you admit to anyone that if you were invisible you’d watch them in their room? No one wants to hear that. I don’t even like my dog in my room while I change.

“If I was invisible, I would be the smartest man.“ Clay, either you’re already the smartest man or you aren’t… as far as I know invisibility doesn’t change your IQ. Otherwise when everyone answered the “If you could have any superpower in the world what would it be?” question, more people would say “invisible”. Duh.

“Wish you could touch me with the colors of your life.” You can’t just make total nonsense poetry by adding words like color and touch. Finally I think you need to face facts, when you tell me “even when I scream out, baby you don’t hear me.” I become concerned, why are you being so aggressive, there’s no need to scream. This girl clearly isn’t interested in you and she doesn’t want to hear all the creepy things you’d do with invisibility.

7. 4 Minutes to Save the World (Madonna, featuring Justin Timberlake and Timbaland)



Here’s what I gather from these lyrics: Madonna, Justin Timberlake and Timbaland have apparently been commissioned to save the world. They have 4 minutes to do so. Now here’s where it gets tricky:

“Time is waiting

We only got 4 minutes to save the world

No hesitating

Grab a boy, grab a girl.”

I, the listener, am left unclear on how they are saving the world. Is it with their gift for song? Or are they recommending to us procreation as a vehicle for world redemption? They do after all tell us to grab a boy or a girl. Either way, this song’s delusion of grandeur is off-putting. The lyrics don’t get any better as we look outside the chorus. At one point, there is a conversation between Justin and Madonna. Madonna says to Justin, “Sometimes I think what I need is a you intervention, yeah,” to which the listener says, “Pardon?” Yet Justin responds with an incomprehensible, “And you know I can tell that you like it, and that it’s good, by the way that you move, ooh, hey.” Madonna answers Justin with a totally inappropriately placed proverb: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions, yeah.” At which the listener gives up on these lyrics.

6. Dolla [P.Diddy] (Kesha)



This is the first single I’ve ever heard from Kesha and I can’t really imagine where she’ll go from here. To be honest I couldn’t really imagine where she was going to go from the first line of this song. “Wake up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy.” How? I have nothing else to say to that, except, how do you feel like P. Diddy? Because I don’t understand. She goes on to tell us that she brushes her teeth with a bottle of Jack and she explains that this is because when she leaves for the night she’s not coming back. I have to take issue with this. You can’t defend to me a desire to brush your teeth with whiskey. In fact, I think if your goal is to find someone to spend the night with your chances must decrease by quite a bit if your teeth are brown and your breath stinks like a day old Jack and Coke. Just don’t brush them at all.

Kesha has questionable judgment. She later tells us she kicks men to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger. I begin to wonder if Kesha has recently seen Mick Jagger. Maybe he was attractive 30 years ago, but now he kind of looks like a caricature, or something that got stuck in a drain. Kesha, you currently have no credibility with me.

5. Girlfriend (Avril Lavigne)



I hate this song not only because the lyrics are so dumb, but also because as I sit here writing this I have begun to sing it to myself, and I don’t know when that will stop. Infectious in the way a virus is; this song has very little redeeming it. Firstly, Avril is coveting a man we understand to be committed to someone else. And secondly, it sounds like chanting that you’d hear at an elementary school playground. “Hey, Hey, You, You, I don’t like your girlfriend. No way, No way, I think you need a new one.” This is the musical equivalent to ‘I know you are but what am I.’ Throughout the tune, Avril gives us some key pieces of information: this man is interested in her in spite of having a girlfriend and Avril doesn’t like this girlfriend because allegedly she is stupid (you’ve heard the one about the pot and the kettle, Avril?). Avril tells this man about his girlfriend: “She’s like so whatever, and you can do so much better.” She also tells him “Hell, yea, I’m the mother f***ing princess.” Which is a head scratcher because I didn’t know there was a country known as MotherF***er, is it a commonwealth, part of the United Kingdom maybe? Is it a sovereignty where these lyrics aren’t terrible?

4. MmmBop (Hanson)



You had to know this was coming. These can barely be called lyrics. Half of the lines of this song are dimly lit attempts at existentialism while the other half are not comprised of actual words. We learn about relationships being able to disappear in an mmmbop, which I assume is some measure of time, comparable to a minute. Then Hanson says:

“In an mmm bop they’re not there.

Until you lose your hair.

No, But you don’t care.”

Which I can’t understand. Apparently mmm bopping has quite a bit to do with hair loss because they mention it several times. They’re also mystified by things that perhaps shouldn’t be so difficult to grasp, for instance:

“Plant a seed, plant a flower, plant a rose

You can plant any one of those

Keep planting to find out which one grows

It’s a secret no one knows

It’s a secret no one knows

No one knows”

Hanson, let’s be clear, this is not a secret no one knows. If you simply mark in where you planted a seed, you shouldn’t have any trouble predicting what will grow. A truer example of a secret that no one knows is how this song ever got airtime.

3. Love Story (Taylor Swift)



I think the world has seen the type of wrath that can be incurred if one upsets Taylor Swift (thanks to Kanye) so I will include a disclaimer. I love Taylor Swift, I think she’s great. However we can not all just close our eyes and pretend that these lyrics don’t contain some fundamental problems. Taylor seems to have misunderstood two crucial pieces of literature: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne. For instance:

“Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone,

I’ll be waiting all there’s left to do is run.

You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess,

It’s a love story baby just say yes.”

Taylor, Romeo and Juliet both kill themselves because they can’t be together. It’s heavy stuff. All that’s left to do is not run. They don’t “just say yes” (unless you’re referring to saying yes to suicide and this song is much darker than I thought). You can’t talk about the famous ill-fated lovers and discount their ill-fated-ness; it just leaves too many doors open.

Another issue, you tell us “…’cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter” which again really doesn’t work. You can’t be a scarlet letter; you wear a scarlet letter and you wear it for being an adulteress. Without some impressive metaphor, you can’t really work this so it means anything else, especially since at this point I’m not convinced that you’ve read either of these books. Next time maybe consult with your local high school English teacher and use more accurate (and less morbid) literary references.

2. My Humps (Black Eyed Peas)



There are many songs dedicated to the female form. And they’re generally all stupid. To rank which is stupider than which isn’t really fair, so suffice it to say the song My Humps is more than just number two on this list, it is a representative of an entire genre. It is the representative on my list, mainly because at one point Fergie says “my humps” ten times in a row. You win. My humps is a stupid enough thing to say once, and it would be stupid even to just slip into a verse, but to make it the title and the focal point of the song, well that just elevates this to a different level.

Throughout the song Fergie explains all of the goodies she gets from having |”lovely lady lumps.” These lumps, she explains, are “in the back and in the front”. Methinks I know which lumps she’s referring to. Due to these “lumps” and “humps” Fergie tells us she gets “…ices, Dolce and Gabanna, Fendi and then Donna.” She also is given “Seven jeans and True Religions” and, never the mooch, she tells us that “I say no but they keep givin’…” Apparently if you have humps like Fergie’s you can acquire a great amount of material goods. What a wonderful celebration of the female anatomy. I didn’t read The Feminine Mystique, but I imagine some of these lyrics were taken right from the pages of that book. Maybe I’ll ask Taylor Swift…

1. Girl You Know it’s True (Milli Vanilli)



The number one song on this list is also a bit older than the others. But it’s also far and away the stupidest assortment of lyrics I have ever heard. I know that everyone was mad at Milli and Vanilli for lip-synching. I vaguely remember that from my childhood, or perhaps from a recap of the event as seen on Behind the Music. But how could anyone have cared that they were lip-synching when they heard what it was that they were saying? I know their fans felt duped, but shame on anyone for taking them seriously enough, ever, for lip synching to matter. The first line of the song is, “I’m in love with you girl cause you’re on my mind.” Is that how you know you’re in love, because earlier today after I read an article on the Bush Administration, Dick Cheney was on my mind and now I’m thinking about sandwiches. So I think we need some more concrete reasons. They tell this girl, “Your soft, succulent so sweet and thin, that’s kind of like a vision upon your skin” and I make a confused face.

“You contain a quality that I admire. You’re pretty plain and simple…” Firstly, gee, I wonder why they admire things that are plain and simple. Secondly, who puts that into a love song? That’s not even a nice thing to say. That’s like saying your favorite color is eggshell. Some of these lines defy explanation: “Come with your positive emotion, love, making enjoyin’ …that’s for me to bust it’s like a girl and a boy.”

“Together we’re one separated we are two.” To which I must simply say, congratulations Milli Vanilli, on this list you are one.