American Apparel's D.I.Y Halloween: Hipster Tested & Approved

If you've procrastinated deciding on your Halloween costume, well, American Apparel, the largest clothing manufacturer in the United States, has done the work for you. There are many easy-to-create costumes featured on their website. Each costume is accompanied by a step-by-step video. (I suggest turning the volume off. The sound on all of the videos is pretty annoying.)

The costumes range from the tongue-in-cheek ("Gold Digger", "Nudist Colony," and "90s Preggers") to the cleverly cute ("Rainbow," "Grapes," and "Black- eyed 'P'").

American Apparel is known for their racy ads, so expect the same from their Halloween costumes. (Dov Charney, the mastermind behind American Apparel's advertisements and a 1970s aficionado, was spoofed on Saturday Night Live recently. Watch it. It'll explain a lot.)

My favorite costume, hands down, is the laundry basket. There are only three steps. Tie a sock in your hair, get in a laundry basket and add dirty laundry. Of course, that explanation isn't quite enough, so watch the step-by-step video.

Hey Colt, Do the Heisman

The Heisman Trophy is the most prestigous trophy a collegiate athlete can hold in any sport. Every year NCAA Division I-A's biggest football superstar is awarded this trophy. This year's winner will be the 74th.

In 1935 Jay Berwanger was awarded the first Heisman trophy and since then the trophy has been given to notable stars such as O.J. Simpson, Earl Cambpell, Vinny Testaverde, Barry Sanders, Reggie Bush and many more.

This year in 2008, there isn't a reason to think there is going to be too many surprises when it comes time to hand out the beautifully bronzed trophy. Texas quarterback Colt McCoy is a huge favorite. Predicting Colt McCoy is going to win the Heisman Trophy this year is like saying, "well you know, I think the sun is going to come up tomorrow." McCoy has played exceptional football all season and has led the Texas Longhorns to the top of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings.

McCoy is a threat to run and pass when he has the ball, just ask his opponents. Those who have had the unfortunate pleasure of dealing with Colt, have surrendered 21 passing touchdowns and seven rushing touchdowns this season. Some have handled him better than others, but they all have one thing in common, they all lost. McCoy and the Longhorns have victories over highly ranked conference opponents such as Oklahoma, Missouri and Oklahoma State this season; and head across Texas to take on their in-state, No. 8 ranked rivals, Texas Tech.

In past years it has been hard to determine who the best team and player are in College Football, but this year is quite different. With one of the hardest schedules of any team across the country and convincing wins over three Top-10 teams, its clear that Colt McCoy and the Longhorns are no long-shot to take home all the hardware this season.

Calories for Exercising

Exercising is essential for staying healthy and maintaining a healthy weight. It is important to remember to eat properly while exercising.

Glycogen is used by your muscles during your exercise routine...both anaerobic and aerobic. If you do not have enough glycogen in your body, you will feel more tired and your performance will drop. A lack of glycogen can also make you more susceptible to injury.
Marathon runners experience fatigue to the point where they can barely walk around 20 miles. This is due to a lack of glucose. The body can only store up to 2,000 kilocalorie of glycogen at a time.

So how do you get enough glycogen? Now, I am far from a biologist or chemist, but from what I understand, glycogen comes from carbohydrates breaking down into glucose. Glycogen is a form of glucose.

There are specific ways to find out exactly how many calories you should be intaking for exercise. To find out how many calories you should be consuming, use the Calorie Calculator.

Getting tired toward the end of the day, or week, may be a result of not getting enough calories:



A common question is if you should eat before or after exercise. Either way, you will burn the same amount of calories:

Save Gas, Save Money

One of my biggest expenses, besides bills and tuition, is gas. This summer was torture, with gas prices hurtling up past the $4 mark. Half my paycheck from my minimum wage, part time job went straight to the gas tank. Luckily my parents are members at a wholesale club, which sells gas at a cheaper price than most other gas stations, but the dent in my wallet was still quite large. Thankfully, gas prices have begun to decrease recently, and now in my area, gas is below $3. Although me and my wallet breathed a collective sigh of relief, the cost of filling up my gas tank still outweighs the cost of pretty much everything else I spend money on.
So how can you save on your gas mileage, while still maintaining your social calendar? I've recently learned of a thing called "hypermiling" Wayne Gerdes, of CleanMPG coined the phrase. He and his team currently hold the record for most mileage on one tank of gas — a whopping 2,250 miles in a single tank. That works out to a staggering 165 miles per gallon. How does he do it?
According to an article by CBS, Gerdes has some key advice:

• Don't break or accelerate as heavily or frequently
• Don't idle excessively
• Cold weather and taking a lot of short trips reduce fuel economy
• Remove cargo and take off cargo racks
• Don't tow anything unless it is absolutely necessary
• Cut down on using mechanical and electrical accessories (such as air conditioning)
• Try to avoid driving on hilly or mountainous terrain if possible
• Don't use four wheel drive unless necessary
• Maintain vehicle
• Maintain correct tire pressure

...and many more.
Gerdes was even featured on the CBS Morning Show:


Another good thing to do is to check which local gas stations have the lowest prices. Gas prices generally vary from county to county and depends on the gas station. The Gas Buddy Web site is the best I've found for this purpose. All you have to do is type in your town or zip code, and the site will show you the prices at gas stations in your area, starting with the lowest price. You can also look at a map of the entire U.S. to see which states have the highest and lowest gas prices.
By utilizing these simple tips, hopefully you can cut down on your gas expenses and save some money.

Music Music Bo Byoozic

Well, folks, there's some pretty down news out there this week, so I'll get right into that and we can move on.

Merl Saunders, keyboardist for the Grateful Dead, died this week from complications resulting from a stroke six years ago. Heaven just got a little more trippy.

American Idol star and actress Jennifer Hudson's mother and brother were found murdered in their home Friday morning. Her 7-year old nephew was taken from the scene, and a hefty reward was offered for his safe return. Unfortunately, his body was found in an abandoned SUV this morning.

Now that we got through that, let's talk about something happier.

Now that the new Guns n' Roses album, Chinese Democracy, is actually officially and definitely coming out (Nov. 23), Dr Pepper is making good on its claim that it would give every person in America a free can of Dr Pepper. You see, way back when it looked like Axl was never going to get his crud together, the soda's vp of marketing (jokingly) promised to give everyone in America free Dr Pepper if the album was ready by the end of 2008.

In related news, Slash is coming out with a solo album. I'm not very optimistic. Slash is a guitarist, not a songwriter. This'll just end up being an album of collaborations, and I hate those.

Now for some ridiculous stuff. Beyonce is leaving Madonna and Cher in the one-name-person club in favor of two names. Crazily enough, she now wants to be called Sasha Fierce.
Sasha...
Fierce...

And Bono, who has just been tapped to write a column for the New York Times, was caught, via facebook, flirting with a couple of 19-year old girls. They posted pictures and told all their friends and probably giggled about it, too. Good job, Bono.


I'll leave you on a lighter note. Here's Louis Armstrong performing his great American classic, Cheesecake. Don't watch unless you want it stuck in your head forever.