Cited: ABC news

It is Shark Week! Thanks to the Discovery Channel, Shark Week is is dedicated to sharks and runs August 1-7. This is the 23rd annual Shark Week and he gives college students another reason to party because it is just before school begins. So put on your best shark costume and cook up your favorite ocean inspired dishes and invite your friends over for a party!

“It’s kind of a strange week,” said 22-year-old Matt Kelly, a college graduate in San Diego who is hosting marine-themed events every day this week to celebrate Shark Week. “It’s made out kind of as a holiday.”

Shark Week is a week-long series of programming on the Discovery Channel dedicated to — you guessed it — sharks. Aug. 1 marked the start of the 23rd annual Shark Week.

In Illinois, Northwestern University students Terri Shih and Claire Christenson celebrated their first Shark Week with a costume party the evening of August 4 at their apartment in Evanston. Shih, 21, dressed up as a shark and served snacks such as shark-shaped cookies and fish gummies. “[Shark Week] kind of just seems like something that everyone already knows about and talks about,” Shih said. “Everyone’s Facebook statuses are about Shark Week.” After hearing all of her friends talk about the “epic” footage on Shark Week’s shows, Shih said, “It was kind of hard to not get really excited about it.”

In New York, 19-year-old Crystal Blodgett, a student at the Continental School of Beauty in New York, will be hosting her third Shark Week party this Saturday at her home in Rochester. She will serve shark-related snacks, such as cupcakes topped with blue frosting and gummy sharks; “chum punch,” a red fruit punch made to look like fish chum; and cups of blue Jell-O with a gummy shark in it. Guests will play a version of Jeopardy that Blodgett created and dubbed “Jawpardy.” She expects the total cost of the party to be around $50.

Other students spend a little more on their Shark Week celebrations. Miami University student Abby Pautz shelled out about $300 to throw her first Shark Week party in Ohio last Saturday. Many guests wore costumes and temporary shark tattoos. Some even decorated their cars. The menu included Swedish fish, shark fin cupcakes and Twinkies dipped in frosting and decorated to look like sharks. To top it all off, Pautz served a cake featuring a shark popping out with a Barbie doll in its jaws, a creation she and her friend spent hours making. But the shark frenzy doesn’t stop there. Pautz and her friends are ordering T-shirts that say “Shark Week is JAWESOME.”

Blodgett said she’s noticed more of her college friends participating in the event this year: “I used to never see it on Facebook, but this year I saw like 20 people on my friends list were talking about Shark Week.”

So why are college students so fascinated with a week of TV shows featuring sharks? “I think it’s something that is exciting and cool to watch,” Shih said. “It’s really fascinating. If I were to encounter a shark on a beach, I would probably freak out, but I just can’t stop watching it.”

Blodgett said, “I think people just think it’s kind of a cool concept that Discovery Channel dedicates a whole week to this one animal.”

Kelly pointed out that Shark Week’s timing is perfect for get-togethers.

“It’s right at the end of summer before a lot of people are going back to school,” he said. “As people are coming back to school to get settled down for the next year, it’s a good end-of-summer, beginning-of-the-next-school-year type of time.”

This JAWESOME week gives students a chance for one last summer party before knuckling down with the books.

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My Take: Party time! Well, party time is just about over and school is about to begin. Teachers are about to ring the brass bells. At least, that’s what they used to do when school began. It’s time to get out those personalized sticky note cubes to leave yourself messages about tests and finals. It is time to tell DJ Michelangelo the party is over and it’s time to go home. No matter how much you want that techno music to continue, it is time to shut it down.

Now there is another reason to put on those eyelash extensions and fraternity clothing. It is called school. Every college student needs Greek apparel to fit into their sorority or fraternity. And the young ladies better stock up on our eyelash extension products to make sure they have enough for the school year. Students, don’t forget to get some personalized custom gifts to them pressure professors with, they are much better than apples.

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Other Resources

Plant a Sign

House signs have been used since ancient times to personalise a dwelling, turning a house into a home. Having already been around for half a billion years, stone signs are hard to beat for durability. Then there are the metal signs that are usually made of tin, aluminium, iron or brass. These have a unique cast will ever quite appealing. And finally you have the ceramic signs that give a very traditional feel, though there is little scope for carving or sculpting, hence they can look a little flat. There are also acrylic or a more modern look and then carved which is traditionally made of wood and gives the most creativity in terms of painting and sculpture. So these are your choices if you’re looking for Lake House signs were that cabin in the woods.

That would depend on whether you are a collector or not. The answer is no if you are a collector because refinishing it will lower the value. If it is in its original condition, wood propellers may show imperfections that can add character and value to the propeller. It is evidence that that propeller may have been through an air battle. A collector would know that only refinishing that improves the provenance of a propeller is possible. A good example of this is the Bristol propeller. It requires you to cut down the blades to bring it home and is part of its provenance.

To improve the appearance of an old propeller just rub it down with linseed oil and after it dries apply a coat of furniture wax. Do not use water-based cleansers or varnish on it. This will lower its value.

Mounting a propeller is very simple. Simply cut a circle the size of the hub or a little larger and drill holes where the bolt holes are into the wood. Then remove the prop and glue small enough wooden dowels (same size as the hub bolts) into the wood so that they will not be visible when mounted. Once the glue dries, you can easily slip the propeller over the dowels. Make sure the bracket that you attach it to is strong enough to hold a propeller. You can use bolts instead of dowels for a more secure attachment.

Just like old wooden beer signs or lake house signs, you want to avoid moisture and large variations in temperature to avoid damage to the propeller.

Some people think an old wooden propeller would make a wonderful wall clock. Never alter the hub in any way because it detracts from the appearance of the propeller. It also lowers the value!