This article is about the situation with immigrants who are minors, and how the government is dealing with the situation.
In the first 6 months of 2014, Louisiana courts have faced hundreds of juvenile immigrant cases. This is when a child enters the country without an adult. Last year, the Lousiana only had 540 cases through the whole year. Three years ago it was 71. Other parts of the country like California and Texas have even more cases like this, and the country overall has 375,503 pending cases of child immigration.
A big part of the problem isn't how many unaccompanied children there are, but how few lawyers there are to represent them. Louisiana is the focus of this article, because New Orleans draws the most unaccompanied children out of every city in the U.S. The problem is that there are only a handful of nonprofit lawyers who are willing to represent them. Because of this, children are forced to go into courts by themselves, without any legal representation. At the end of June, the New Orleans Immigration Court had 1,216 pending juvenile immigration cases, 81% of which the child didn't have a lawyer.
Juvenile immigration has become a big problem in recent years for the U.S, and we don't really know how to deal with it. Lawyers aren't willing to represent kids who don't have any money, and we can't just grant them citizenship because they're children. This creates a legal and moral dilemma. Should the kids get a break out of the goodness of our hearts? Or should we lay down the law?
What if Reyna, Mago, and Carlos had ended up going to the U.S by themselves? They would've had to deal with both the dangerous journey to the U.S, and try and understand the entire legal process of getting in (without knowing English). That's what these kids have to face. They just want to get away from the violence or poverty that plagues their country of origin and try to have a better life.
If I've learned anything from doing these reflections, it's that the U.S needs to change how we handle immigration. We need better regulation of who we let in and why. We need to get more lawyers to represent immigrants so they have a fair chance to getting into the country. Basically we need a whole immigration reform so that we can stick by our American principles of 'liberty and justice for all'.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
The Distance Between Us Artifact #4
This article is about a U.S citizen (an 11 year old boy) who was held in custody because there was confusion over his citizenship. This article reveals the attitude towards immigrants, and the overall carelessness of the situation.
In Artesia New Mexico, an 11 year old boy and his mother were held in a detention center for over a month. Both of the boy's parents are immigrants from Central America, but the boy's father is a U.S citizen. Even though the boy was born outside of the U.S, immigration law says that since his dad is a U.S citizen, the boy is too. Both the boy and his mother have been released. The article didn't say how they were arrested in the first place, but they were most likely coming from their country of origin to meet up with the father.
This case brings to light the entire issue with the immigration system we have in the U.S. With hundreds of thousands of immigrants coming into the U.S, it is nearly impossible to process all of these people to check if their legal or not. There are also weird laws that we have to pay attention to, like a person can come into the country if they have this sort of relation, but not this sort. It's impossible to show the amount of attention required for each case, which is how a U.S citizen ended up being detained for so long.
This is the sort of thing that immigrants like Reyna live in fear of. They don't want to be arrested for trying to get a better life. This is why coyotes exist, so immigrants can get into the country and have a chance of getting in. I think we need to change the system so that it's more efficient and we can be more careful about who we are letting in, and how they're getting in. We should also make getting into the country more accessible, so that people don't have to sneak in.
In Artesia New Mexico, an 11 year old boy and his mother were held in a detention center for over a month. Both of the boy's parents are immigrants from Central America, but the boy's father is a U.S citizen. Even though the boy was born outside of the U.S, immigration law says that since his dad is a U.S citizen, the boy is too. Both the boy and his mother have been released. The article didn't say how they were arrested in the first place, but they were most likely coming from their country of origin to meet up with the father.
This case brings to light the entire issue with the immigration system we have in the U.S. With hundreds of thousands of immigrants coming into the U.S, it is nearly impossible to process all of these people to check if their legal or not. There are also weird laws that we have to pay attention to, like a person can come into the country if they have this sort of relation, but not this sort. It's impossible to show the amount of attention required for each case, which is how a U.S citizen ended up being detained for so long.
This is the sort of thing that immigrants like Reyna live in fear of. They don't want to be arrested for trying to get a better life. This is why coyotes exist, so immigrants can get into the country and have a chance of getting in. I think we need to change the system so that it's more efficient and we can be more careful about who we are letting in, and how they're getting in. We should also make getting into the country more accessible, so that people don't have to sneak in.
The Distance Between Us Artifact #3
This article is about the impact that immigration has on the economy. More specifically, the job market.
Basically, immigration has a very large affect on a state's economy. As the amount of Hispanic immigrants increases in states like Texas, Arizona, Florida, and Georgia, the economy grows. These states have more money, and more jobs available. Texas created 50,000 jobs in July 2014 alone.
This may be because immigrants are very mobile workers. This means that they are willing to move around to find low-skilled jobs, such as cleaning jobs. Lower skilled American workers are less likely to move to a different state for a low paying job. Because these immigrants are willing to move around, they create a mobile labor market, which creates more jobs. Then, this creates faster economic growth.
Honestly, this sort of stuff isn't very interesting to me. Jobs and economics and math and all that junk. But this does explain why immigrant workers usually have the hands on, low paying jobs. There are other factors to it of course, like people not wanting to hire immigrants for higher paying jobs. Another factor is the education level of the immigrants. For example, Papi only had a third grade education, and didn't speak English. A handyman's job was probably the only thing that he (and others like him) could do to make a living
The fact that immigrants actually help the economy in some ways is an interesting perspective. Normally we focus on how they are stealing jobs from "good ol' Americans". I don't usually pay attention to this sort of stuff, but at least now I know the part of the good side of immigrants coming in. I'm sure there are many more benefits to immigrants besides this.
On an unrelated note, I did a google search of The Distance Between Us, and discovered that there is a song by the Norwegian band "Far Lippo Lippi" called The Distance Between Us. If this book ever gets made into a movie, I demand that this song is the theme.
Basically, immigration has a very large affect on a state's economy. As the amount of Hispanic immigrants increases in states like Texas, Arizona, Florida, and Georgia, the economy grows. These states have more money, and more jobs available. Texas created 50,000 jobs in July 2014 alone.
This may be because immigrants are very mobile workers. This means that they are willing to move around to find low-skilled jobs, such as cleaning jobs. Lower skilled American workers are less likely to move to a different state for a low paying job. Because these immigrants are willing to move around, they create a mobile labor market, which creates more jobs. Then, this creates faster economic growth.
Honestly, this sort of stuff isn't very interesting to me. Jobs and economics and math and all that junk. But this does explain why immigrant workers usually have the hands on, low paying jobs. There are other factors to it of course, like people not wanting to hire immigrants for higher paying jobs. Another factor is the education level of the immigrants. For example, Papi only had a third grade education, and didn't speak English. A handyman's job was probably the only thing that he (and others like him) could do to make a living
The fact that immigrants actually help the economy in some ways is an interesting perspective. Normally we focus on how they are stealing jobs from "good ol' Americans". I don't usually pay attention to this sort of stuff, but at least now I know the part of the good side of immigrants coming in. I'm sure there are many more benefits to immigrants besides this.
On an unrelated note, I did a google search of The Distance Between Us, and discovered that there is a song by the Norwegian band "Far Lippo Lippi" called The Distance Between Us. If this book ever gets made into a movie, I demand that this song is the theme.
The Distance Between Us Artifact #2
The Graduates- The Girls
This is a documentary by Bernardo Ruiz is about three Latina girls who are struggling to graduate from high school. Darlene is a teenage mother. She has a two year old son named Alex, and dropped out of high school in order to raise him. Stephanie lives in a neighborhood with gang violence, and goes to a high minority school that doesn't do its best for its students. Chastity's family is homeless, and she uses school as her refuge from home problems.
These girls are in very similar situations (or what could've been) to what Reyna faced when she was a teenager. In fact, Reyna did face the threat of gangs and her sister Betty became a teenage mom. There were other problems that Reyna (and many girls like Reyna) faced that come with being a Latina teenager. Problems like discrimination, bullying, differences in language/culture, and many more.
However, these girls did what many people, despite race, couldn't do. They graduated high school, or are very close to doing so, and are on their way to college and better opportunities. They each overcame their problems and focused on their education. Even though the odds were not in their favor, they did it.
This was really eye opening for me, because I never really thought about the sort of things that would get in the way of getting a high school diploma. I guess living in PC will do that to a person. But there are lots of outside influences that affect education like being sick, living in a dangerous place, economic problems, and more. It would be really hard to focus on math if you're responsible for an entire baby! Reyna also had lots of problems that affected school (mostly college) due to her father's abuse and economic problems.
When people talk about how minorities are always dropping out of high school, they should keep these sort of problems in mind, and find a way to work around them to get the most kids to graduate high school.
This is a documentary by Bernardo Ruiz is about three Latina girls who are struggling to graduate from high school. Darlene is a teenage mother. She has a two year old son named Alex, and dropped out of high school in order to raise him. Stephanie lives in a neighborhood with gang violence, and goes to a high minority school that doesn't do its best for its students. Chastity's family is homeless, and she uses school as her refuge from home problems.
These girls are in very similar situations (or what could've been) to what Reyna faced when she was a teenager. In fact, Reyna did face the threat of gangs and her sister Betty became a teenage mom. There were other problems that Reyna (and many girls like Reyna) faced that come with being a Latina teenager. Problems like discrimination, bullying, differences in language/culture, and many more.
However, these girls did what many people, despite race, couldn't do. They graduated high school, or are very close to doing so, and are on their way to college and better opportunities. They each overcame their problems and focused on their education. Even though the odds were not in their favor, they did it.
This was really eye opening for me, because I never really thought about the sort of things that would get in the way of getting a high school diploma. I guess living in PC will do that to a person. But there are lots of outside influences that affect education like being sick, living in a dangerous place, economic problems, and more. It would be really hard to focus on math if you're responsible for an entire baby! Reyna also had lots of problems that affected school (mostly college) due to her father's abuse and economic problems.
When people talk about how minorities are always dropping out of high school, they should keep these sort of problems in mind, and find a way to work around them to get the most kids to graduate high school.
The Distance Between Us Artifact #1
This article is about the general attitude that white Americans have towards immigrants (especially Mexicans).
Everyone has different feelings on immigration. Some people approve of lots of immigrants coming into the country, and others think it isn't okay. Some think that immigrants from certain countries are better than immigrants from other countries. Despite the problem, the group who usually does the judging and the deciding are white people. So what do white people think about immigration?
A study conducted by Ted Brader and Elizabeth Suhay, white Americans were given news stories about increasing immigration. Half of the articles were negative (immigration is bad), and half of them were positive (immigration is good!). Naturally, the people with the negative stories were less supportive of immigration.
However, that wasn't the only thing that the researchers were studying. The articles, along with being positive or negative, would focus on either a Mexican immigrant named Jose Sanchez, or Nikolai Vandinsky from Russia. The study showed that anyone with the article about Jose Sanchez, despite being positive or negative, were less supportive of immigration. They found the same results when they replaced Nikolai with a Dutch man.
What if Reyna had been Chinese rather than Mexican? Would she have been respected more in school? Would her life have been any easier? What if she had been South African, or German, or Egyptian? What about the people of other races that were in Reyna's life?, She had Asian friends, an Italian sitter, and a Greek teacher. They probably had very different experiences than Reyna because of their nationalities and races. Race and nationality play an important part in anyone's life, even though nobody wants it to.
Though I understand these people's thinking, I don't agree with it. I'm pretty sure that these people's attitudes are based on misinformation, stereotypes, and plain old bias. Where immigrants are from shouldn't make a difference of how we treat them. However, I understand that racism and this sort of prejudice won't be fixed so easily. The best thing we can do is accept people for who they are and treat them the same as anyone else.
Everyone has different feelings on immigration. Some people approve of lots of immigrants coming into the country, and others think it isn't okay. Some think that immigrants from certain countries are better than immigrants from other countries. Despite the problem, the group who usually does the judging and the deciding are white people. So what do white people think about immigration?
A study conducted by Ted Brader and Elizabeth Suhay, white Americans were given news stories about increasing immigration. Half of the articles were negative (immigration is bad), and half of them were positive (immigration is good!). Naturally, the people with the negative stories were less supportive of immigration.
However, that wasn't the only thing that the researchers were studying. The articles, along with being positive or negative, would focus on either a Mexican immigrant named Jose Sanchez, or Nikolai Vandinsky from Russia. The study showed that anyone with the article about Jose Sanchez, despite being positive or negative, were less supportive of immigration. They found the same results when they replaced Nikolai with a Dutch man.
What if Reyna had been Chinese rather than Mexican? Would she have been respected more in school? Would her life have been any easier? What if she had been South African, or German, or Egyptian? What about the people of other races that were in Reyna's life?, She had Asian friends, an Italian sitter, and a Greek teacher. They probably had very different experiences than Reyna because of their nationalities and races. Race and nationality play an important part in anyone's life, even though nobody wants it to.
Though I understand these people's thinking, I don't agree with it. I'm pretty sure that these people's attitudes are based on misinformation, stereotypes, and plain old bias. Where immigrants are from shouldn't make a difference of how we treat them. However, I understand that racism and this sort of prejudice won't be fixed so easily. The best thing we can do is accept people for who they are and treat them the same as anyone else.
Friday, May 16, 2014
An End of the Year Review
Well guys, this is the last graded assignment for this blog, which means that I probably won't post much after this (though I might get bored over the summer).
I've been saving this review for a while, cus I wanted to do this for my last one.
It's a review of this entire project.
Background of the project for the, like, two people who aren't in my English class:
We got this big project at the beginning of the year to make a blog about whatever you want, and post weekly. This blog was the result of that project. This is all very lucky for you, dear readers, because where would you be if you didn't have your weekly posts from yours truly.
Over the year, I've been wondering why Mr. P decided to make this project. It seemed like an inconvenience to make an assignment where you'd have to grade 100+ badly written posts every week.
I've come up with three reasons.
1. Better student/teacher communication:
If I was a teacher, I'd want students to feel open about talking to me about whatever the heck they wanted. I'm not sure if Mr. P shares this opinion, but for my argument's sake I'll assume he does. These blogs would be a great way to get to know your students, and see what they enjoy. Also, if the students are like me and get super awkward when they talk to a teacher ((which is a constant problem of mine, and I'm fairly sure that my percussion teacher thinks I have a disorder because I just can't answer his questions without completely panicking)), this project is helpful for getting opinions and ideas across.
2. Better student/student communication:
One thing that I've really liked about these blogs is that you can get insight on your fellow students. Like, it's cool to go on your friend's blogs and see what they post about and then joke with them about it later.
But it's also cool to see the blogs of people who you aren't great friends with, or want to be friends with. Like, maybe you talked to one guy in class and found out that he's in honors English, so he has a blog. You can go on it and find out stuff about him, and then you can talk to him about stuff he likes next time you see him.
Is that creepy?
I really hope not......but then again, this is the internet. The views from random people in Singapore should have reminded you that these blogs are public.
3. Writing practice:
Of course since this is an English assignment, it does make sense to have all this writing practice. A lot of kids have improved on their general spelling/conventions skills since the beginning of this project.
What stinks (for me at least) is that this isn't the type of writing I need to practice. I mainly write stories, so this casual blogging style isn't what I need to work on.
There is one benefit to this project that doesn't really relate to English, but I think most students will agree with.
1.Getting to show off:
Face it, we're all awkward teenagers that suck at communicating with each other. We're especially bad about coming out about our talents. This is a good way to show off our stuff without seeming too braggy.
People can show off their art skills, or writing skills, cooking, humor, music, or whatever the heck else they want to.
Blogging is a really nice platform for showing off what you can do, and I'm glad that a lot of students took advantage of that, because that was the most fun part about this project.
What I think about my own blog:
I'm actually pretty proud of myself with this blog. I know it isn't anything that I'll look at in 20 years and be like 'This is one damn good blog', but it could've been a LOT worse. I was thinking about doing a blog about my life, and trust me, you should be glad that I didn't post about my weekend LoTR marathon.
A review blog was a good match for me. I have a lot of opinions, but don't talk about them much because people get bored after a few minutes. This was a good way to get thoughts out without boring everyone to death.
Overall, this came out pretty well. It isn't popular, but it's a fun little blog that I can laugh about in the future.
Conclusion:
This is definitely one of the best projects I've ever done. Though it was a pain in the butt to have to think of something to make a post on and get it in by Friday night, it was a load of fun. The entire experience of blogging and making this weird community was strange and awesome. Thanks for the opportunity Mr. P!
| from: |
It's a review of this entire project.
Background of the project for the, like, two people who aren't in my English class:
We got this big project at the beginning of the year to make a blog about whatever you want, and post weekly. This blog was the result of that project. This is all very lucky for you, dear readers, because where would you be if you didn't have your weekly posts from yours truly.
Over the year, I've been wondering why Mr. P decided to make this project. It seemed like an inconvenience to make an assignment where you'd have to grade 100+ badly written posts every week.
I've come up with three reasons.
1. Better student/teacher communication:
If I was a teacher, I'd want students to feel open about talking to me about whatever the heck they wanted. I'm not sure if Mr. P shares this opinion, but for my argument's sake I'll assume he does. These blogs would be a great way to get to know your students, and see what they enjoy. Also, if the students are like me and get super awkward when they talk to a teacher ((which is a constant problem of mine, and I'm fairly sure that my percussion teacher thinks I have a disorder because I just can't answer his questions without completely panicking)), this project is helpful for getting opinions and ideas across.
2. Better student/student communication:
One thing that I've really liked about these blogs is that you can get insight on your fellow students. Like, it's cool to go on your friend's blogs and see what they post about and then joke with them about it later.
But it's also cool to see the blogs of people who you aren't great friends with, or want to be friends with. Like, maybe you talked to one guy in class and found out that he's in honors English, so he has a blog. You can go on it and find out stuff about him, and then you can talk to him about stuff he likes next time you see him.
Is that creepy?
I really hope not......but then again, this is the internet. The views from random people in Singapore should have reminded you that these blogs are public.
3. Writing practice:
Of course since this is an English assignment, it does make sense to have all this writing practice. A lot of kids have improved on their general spelling/conventions skills since the beginning of this project.
What stinks (for me at least) is that this isn't the type of writing I need to practice. I mainly write stories, so this casual blogging style isn't what I need to work on.
There is one benefit to this project that doesn't really relate to English, but I think most students will agree with.
1.Getting to show off:
Face it, we're all awkward teenagers that suck at communicating with each other. We're especially bad about coming out about our talents. This is a good way to show off our stuff without seeming too braggy.
People can show off their art skills, or writing skills, cooking, humor, music, or whatever the heck else they want to.
Blogging is a really nice platform for showing off what you can do, and I'm glad that a lot of students took advantage of that, because that was the most fun part about this project.
What I think about my own blog:
I'm actually pretty proud of myself with this blog. I know it isn't anything that I'll look at in 20 years and be like 'This is one damn good blog', but it could've been a LOT worse. I was thinking about doing a blog about my life, and trust me, you should be glad that I didn't post about my weekend LoTR marathon.
A review blog was a good match for me. I have a lot of opinions, but don't talk about them much because people get bored after a few minutes. This was a good way to get thoughts out without boring everyone to death.
Overall, this came out pretty well. It isn't popular, but it's a fun little blog that I can laugh about in the future.
Conclusion:
This is definitely one of the best projects I've ever done. Though it was a pain in the butt to have to think of something to make a post on and get it in by Friday night, it was a load of fun. The entire experience of blogging and making this weird community was strange and awesome. Thanks for the opportunity Mr. P!
Friday, May 9, 2014
Incongruent: ALL THE LINKS
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| From: |
If you haven't read my vlogbrothers post, you should go read it. It's very informative.
So recently (last Wednesday) Hank Green & The Perfect Strangers came out with their new album, Incongruent.
I bought the special pre-ordered copy that's SIGNED.
Cus I'm that cool.
Unfortunately it hasn't arrived yet because I ordered it with the TFiOS preparedness kit which is still in preorder.
BUT since the people at dftba records are so nice and realize that a lot of computers now don't have disk drives (looking at you eighth graders with your dumb macbook airs), they sent a digital download of the whole album!
Which means I can review it for you guys!
Unfortunately, the songs are still too new and I can't find them on Grooveshark so I can't put all them on here for you.
However, Hank performed a few of them on the vlogbrothers channel, so I can at least link you to those videos.
Also, there are two versions of the album (a clean and an explicit) and I bought the explicit but I don't think they're very different anyway.
If you're interested in the clean version, I'm sure there'll be some review somewhere else that's available by now.
1. I F***ing Love Science
This one is pretty self explanatory. Hank runs around singing about how science is great and everyone should be happy that it's a thing.
Here's a link to the music video (it's the clean version but you can get to the explicit version from it if you'd like that better).
2.T-Shirt and Jeans
A song about how t-shirt and jeans are a great outfit that you can use to express yourself (or not).
Here's the acoustic version.
3.Hug Scream
I don't really know what to tell you with this one. Just.....hug someone and scream while you're doing it. There's also something about armadillos worshiping lions.
Now hold this awesome person oh so near
and scream your loudest scream
but not directly in their ear
4.Mother Pheasant Plucker
I'm pretty sure that they just wanted to make a massive tongue twister and make a bunch of people accidentally sing fucker. Go on, try it. I DARE YOU.
But my life as a mother pheasant plucker is pleasant
Just listening to music as I pluck mother pheasants
I'm a pleasant pheasant plucker and no ones
heard a pleasant pheasant plucker ever say the f-word
5.Marilyn Hanson
I think this one of those songs that's about a girlfriend he (the singer) had a long time ago and is being all nostalgic about it, but I can't really tell cus I can't find the lyrics anywhere so I have to go by ear which I suck at. The song has a rocking saxophone solo and it's the only song that actually says incongruence.
By the way, incongruence means incompatible.
It didn't matter
To anyone but ourselves
6.The Universe is Weird
Again, self explanatory. Hank is flipping out about how the universe is really weird and amazing and that it's pretty great for us that it's a thing cus if it wasn't, we wouldn't be here.
Here's a link to the acoustic version of this song.
7.Gangnam Style (Full English Translation)
Again, pretty self explanatory.
Here's a link to PART of the song. It's with a bunch of other songs that are translated to English, but just watch the video because it's funny.
8. I'd Rather
You know when you're like 'I'd rather gouge both of my eyes out with a rusty spork than _____'? This song is pretty much that.
No, I don't think we'll get together again
And no, I don't think we can still be friends
Because there's so many things I'd rather do
Than spend another day with you.
9. Oh JK Rowling
A song about how JK Rowling should really write something new because she's amazing. Ironically, this came out a few days before JK revealed that she wrote The Cuckoos Calling. Actually, Hank is pretty psychic when it comes to Harry Potter. I should also mention that he does an anual Harry Potter song, so this psychic-ness comes to light pretty frequently.
Here's a link to the song (album version!)
10. Undigested Lump
Mr. P, if you skip everything in this post, at least don't skip this cus you'll like it.
This is a song about how awesome Shakespearean insults are.
We can't use them for the smackdown or anything, but it's a good song.
Here's a link to the acoustic ((you can skip the first minute of the video if you aren't interested in the statistics of the vlogbrothers channel)). I like the album version better but I can't get that to you without things being sort of illegal and I'M SORRY.
11. My Favorite Pony
A song that's making fun of bronies (but in a 'ya this is lame but it's still fun' way).
Here's a link to the acoustic version.
12. Video Game Books
I really don't know what they were trying to do with this song. Maybe they just wanted to make a slow song and had to put something that you could maybe pretend was lovey if you didn't listen to the words?
And I'm starting to see
Not just what you want from me
But you want to get
From what you've got
13. Accio Deathly Hallows
This is a song from back in 2007 that Hank wrote about how Deathly Hallows was coming out in a few days. Listen to the song, and you'll know what I mean about Hank's psychic Potter powers.
Here's a link to the acoustic version. I actually like this version better, but only because in the album version they move into this weird reggae thing that sort of ruined it.
14. Perfect Strangers
This is ones of those songs that they put in cheesy kids movies where the kids are spending the summer together and bonding and it's all sweet and stuff.
Now picture that scene with 5 (maybe) men who are 30-ish years old, and I'm pretty sure that is the inspiration for this song.
Sometimes the world looks perfect
Nothing to rearrange
Sometimes you just get a feeling
Like you need some kind of change
That is a lot of links, which all took a long time to find.
Phew.
Overall, the album isn't my favorite (I only bought it because I like Hank and want to support him ((plus it's SIGNED))), but it's quirky and fun so I like it well enough.
Honestly, I'd wait till some people put it on grooveshark for the album versions, but go and listen to all the links up there!
UPDATE:
THAT IS A GENUINE SIGNATURE/HANKLERFISH YOU GUYS. THIS IS AMAZING.
Unfortunately my parents were there when I opened up the package and started flipping out, and they saw the parental advisory sticker and freaked out a bit. They were a little better when I explained that Hank swore in the name of science.
BUT ANYWAY THIS IS REALLY GREAT AND GEEZE.
Friday, May 2, 2014
Kim Possible
The other day I was in class, and some girls started talking about Kim Possible.
This prompted the girls I was talking to, to start talking about Kim Possible.
"Don't you remember that show?" One of them asked while her eyes gleamed with nostalgia.
"Um.....not really," I said awkwardly. "I've never seen it."
This one comment completely ostracized me for the rest of class.
See, my parents were the type of parents that didn't really let us watch T.V until we were 10.
((no they aren't the insane religious type, they just didn't want to pay for it and wanted us to go outside)).
This left a lot of blanks in mine and 'le brother's' pop culture experience. We didn't see any classic Disney channel shows while they were still on, were utterly confused about why an underwater sponge was so popular (still confused about that one), and didn't see any of the High School Musicals until middle school.
It's sad, I know.
After the previously mentioned conversation, I decided that I would finally watch my first episode of Kim Possible.
Then my first episode turned into second, and third, and fourth........and then twenty.
I KNOW IT'S LAME BUT IT WAS FOR THE SAKE OF SCIENCE.
THE SCIENCE OF MISSED CHILDHOOD.
.
.
.
.
Summary thing based off of the first season (but I don't think it would change that much in later seasons anyway):
Hopefully someone else had been living under a rock their entire lives too and actually need this.
Kim Possible is this teenage super spy person in the early 2000s (you can tell it's the early 2000s because crop tops are still in((and because having a website automatically made you cool)) ). She goes around the world, saving people from everything from volcanoes to villans.
For some reason everyone knows about her missions and is for some reason cool with it?
Her sidekick is this guy named Ron Stoppable (ya see what they did there?) who is a klutz and a dork and I love him. He has a naked mole rat named Rufus who lives in his pocket.
So....that's about it.
Characters:
Kim: They made her a little TOO perfect. Honestly. She's the head cheerleader, an honors student, REALLY popular, and a world wide hero. She's reminds me a bit of Buffy Summers (shout out to BtVS fans!), but without Buffy's awesomeness.
Ron: This is where they dumped all of Kim's flaws....or tried to. Honestly, I think this show is allergic to realistic teenage problems. Ron is uncool, and the only reason he doesn't get beat up all the time is cus he's friends with Kim.
He goes on missions with Kim, but is mainly a distraction. He's made of comic relief from head to toe, which I guess is why I like him. He also has a weird phobia of monkeys.
Wade: Kim's tech guy. I think this kid lives in his room, just surrounded by computers (which could not have been high quality at all cus again it's the early 2000s). He gets her all her info, and builds unnecessarily disguised weapons (such as a grappling hook disguised as a hair dryer).
Rufus: A naked mole rat who likes to eat.
Dr. Draken: The supposed bad guy. Again, this guy is made of comic relief. He's sort of like Ron, but thinks that he's large and in charge. It's hilarious actually. He's always beaten (which follows the classic kids show template), but is surprisingly cool about it.
Shiego: She's the one who I think is the REAL villan. She actually looks sort of evil, and has this weird super power that I haven't quite figured out yet but it makes her hands glow green. She's the one that's always fighting Kim, and is actually sort of a BAMF.
Review:
I like it...I guess? I'd been hearing so much about the show over the years, that I guess it had been built up to this perfect thing. Needless to say, it wasn't perfect, and I am a little let down about it. Then again, I'm not eight, so that might be part of it.
I'd give it a 6/10.
You can watch episodes here if you want.
This prompted the girls I was talking to, to start talking about Kim Possible.
 |
"Um.....not really," I said awkwardly. "I've never seen it."
This one comment completely ostracized me for the rest of class.
See, my parents were the type of parents that didn't really let us watch T.V until we were 10.
((no they aren't the insane religious type, they just didn't want to pay for it and wanted us to go outside)).
This left a lot of blanks in mine and 'le brother's' pop culture experience. We didn't see any classic Disney channel shows while they were still on, were utterly confused about why an underwater sponge was so popular (still confused about that one), and didn't see any of the High School Musicals until middle school.
It's sad, I know.
After the previously mentioned conversation, I decided that I would finally watch my first episode of Kim Possible.
Then my first episode turned into second, and third, and fourth........and then twenty.
I KNOW IT'S LAME BUT IT WAS FOR THE SAKE OF SCIENCE.
THE SCIENCE OF MISSED CHILDHOOD.
.
.
.
.
Summary thing based off of the first season (but I don't think it would change that much in later seasons anyway):
Hopefully someone else had been living under a rock their entire lives too and actually need this.
Kim Possible is this teenage super spy person in the early 2000s (you can tell it's the early 2000s because crop tops are still in((and because having a website automatically made you cool)) ). She goes around the world, saving people from everything from volcanoes to villans.
For some reason everyone knows about her missions and is for some reason cool with it?
Her sidekick is this guy named Ron Stoppable (ya see what they did there?) who is a klutz and a dork and I love him. He has a naked mole rat named Rufus who lives in his pocket.
So....that's about it.
Characters:
Kim: They made her a little TOO perfect. Honestly. She's the head cheerleader, an honors student, REALLY popular, and a world wide hero. She's reminds me a bit of Buffy Summers (shout out to BtVS fans!), but without Buffy's awesomeness.
Ron: This is where they dumped all of Kim's flaws....or tried to. Honestly, I think this show is allergic to realistic teenage problems. Ron is uncool, and the only reason he doesn't get beat up all the time is cus he's friends with Kim.
He goes on missions with Kim, but is mainly a distraction. He's made of comic relief from head to toe, which I guess is why I like him. He also has a weird phobia of monkeys.
Wade: Kim's tech guy. I think this kid lives in his room, just surrounded by computers (which could not have been high quality at all cus again it's the early 2000s). He gets her all her info, and builds unnecessarily disguised weapons (such as a grappling hook disguised as a hair dryer).
Rufus: A naked mole rat who likes to eat.
Dr. Draken: The supposed bad guy. Again, this guy is made of comic relief. He's sort of like Ron, but thinks that he's large and in charge. It's hilarious actually. He's always beaten (which follows the classic kids show template), but is surprisingly cool about it.
Shiego: She's the one who I think is the REAL villan. She actually looks sort of evil, and has this weird super power that I haven't quite figured out yet but it makes her hands glow green. She's the one that's always fighting Kim, and is actually sort of a BAMF.
Review:
I like it...I guess? I'd been hearing so much about the show over the years, that I guess it had been built up to this perfect thing. Needless to say, it wasn't perfect, and I am a little let down about it. Then again, I'm not eight, so that might be part of it.
I'd give it a 6/10.
You can watch episodes here if you want.
Friday, April 25, 2014
A Two For One Review
At the beginning of this blog, I was intending for it to be mostly book reviews.
Anyone who looks through my old posts can clearly see that I failed to do that.
To make up for it, I've decided to review not one, but TWO books this week!
Thank goodness it was spring break last week and I spent most of the time reading.
1984 by George Orwell:
Teaser thing: So basically this is the negative dystopia book. It's sort of ironic because everyone in the late 40's was dreaming about flying cars and robot maids in the future, and then you've got George Orwell here rocking in a corner thinking we're all gonna die 0_0.
It's set in 1984 (duh) in London, and is told from the perspective of Winston Smith. The entire world has changed dramatically since the 1940's (which was the perspective Orwell was trying to make), and it's DEFINITELY not been good. The world has organized itself into three super-nations: Oceania (the Americas, British Isles, and Australia), Eurasia (the rest of Europe, Western Asia, and southern Africa), and EastAsia (pretty much everywhere else), that are constantly at war with each other.
In Oceania, where the story takes place, everyone is ruled by The Party. They are a massively powerful political party who's main ideas are 'WAR IS PEACE, SLAVERY IS FREEDOM, IGNORANCE IS PEACE' so I'll let you draw your own conclusions from that. People can be arrested for thinking bad thoughts against the party, but oddly enough killing is encouraged. Party members are constantly monitored by telescreens that they can't turn off, and hidden microphones. It's common for people to be taken away in the middle of the night and never seen again. And that's only the surface o-o.
The story is told from Winston's point of view, which is growing against The Party, and wishes to take action against the oppressors.
((Spoilerific for the characters, but the review is fine if you're interested. If you're interested in the other book, scroll down to the teaser for that.))
Characters:
Winston Smith: The main character of the story. He is a 39 year old man who leads the typical life of a party member, and is sort of a borderline alcoholic ((but then again, who wouldn't be?)). He constantly questions The Party's motives and ideals, and is fairly sure that they are horrible but can't tell for sure. His job is falsifying records to The Party's benefit in the Ministry of Truth.
He starts a diary to try and tell future generations about The Party, but doesn't get very far with it and abandons it after things start to heat up. You see, he meets a girl named Julia who works in the Ministry of Truth too (her job is making 'fiction' books for the party) and they fall in love. Kinda. It's more of a 'let's do it and rebell against the government' sorta thing. Anyway, they do that for a while and then they hear about this thing called The Brotherhood. It's a rebel group that wants to take down Big Brother and The Party, and they try to join it but then they're betrayed and it sucks.
When they get caught, they're taken to the Ministry of Love, and are brainwashed into thinking The Party's ideals, and then the story ends.
Julia: The girl that Winston falls in love with. She has been rebelling against The Party since she was a teenager (she's 25 now) with acts of 'love'. I wanna call her a half rebel, since she mostly rebels for the fun of it, and less because it's against The Party's rules. She's really good at breaking the rules, but she doesn't seem extremely intelligent.
O'Brian: An Inner Party member who betrays Julia and Winston.
Inner Party: The elite of The Party. They get a bunch of special privileges such as good food and music that members of the Outer Party (like Winston and Julia) don't get.
Anyway, O'Brian is a shithead and no one can say otherwise. He pretends likes he's Julia and Winston's friend, pretends to invite them into The Brotherhood, and then it turns out he was just trying to arrest them the whole time! And then he's the one that brainwashes them into loving The Party.
Big Brother: The figurehead of The Party. I'm pretty sure he never actually existed, but that isn't the point. He's supposed to be the one thing that Party members love. Not their families, not their friends, only love for Big Brother.
Goldstien: The supposed leader of The Brotherhood. I don't think he existed either, and was just a trap for people who commit thinkcrime.
Review:
I want to explain more about the book, but then you'll never read it so there isn't much point.
I didn't really expect to like this book when I got it, but I thought I should read it since it's really famous and there are a bunch of references to it everywhere.
But.........holy crap this is a freaky book.
Not only is the idea of this sort of society existing frightening, the inside look that you get is even worse. There's the one scene where Winston kicked a severed hand into the gutter just after watching the guy who it belonged to get blown up by a rocket bomb like it was nothing!
And then there's the brainwashing part that's just...........*shivers in disgust*.
Don't get me wrong, this is a genuinely interesting book. But it's nothing like the dystopians you've read in the past.
I didn't like it very much, but maybe you will enjoy it more than I did.
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell:
We're drastically changing gears here to a much happier and modern book.
I just realized how completely different these two books are.....weird.
Teaser Thing:
There are these two twins named Cath and Wren that are from Omaha Nebraska. Cath is a total bookworm and completely introverted and has really bad social anxiety. Meanwhile, Wren is a party girl to the max, totally extroverted, but still smart. These two are 18, and are just starting college it Iowa University.They both have a passion for the Simon Snow series (it's like Harry Potter), but Wren has sort of grown out of it. Cath on the other hand is a very famous fanfiction writer (like, super DUPER famous), and pours a lot of her time into writing her version of the last Simon Snow book.
Unfortunately for Cath, college brings around a lot of issues that Simon Snow can't help her with, like making friends, trying to take care of her bipolar dad, and love.
((spoilerific from here on out guys))
Characters:
Cath: The narrator of the story. An 18 year old who has usually relied on her outgoing sister in terms of social interaction, but her sister has decided to not spend as much time with Cath now that they're at college, which leaves Cath floundering in this new world. She finds solace in her writing, but of course she can't escape being friends with her roommate Megan, falling for Megan's friend Levi who is always in their room.
Wren: Cath's older sister who takes the party route during college. She and Cath used to be inseparable, but Wren wanted freedom from the whole twin thing (which I totally understand, but still she was really mean about it considering that Cath can't handle talking to new people) so she ditched Cath for her roommate Courtney. Wren goes to a bunch of parties, gets drunk a lot, and eventually gets alcohol poisoning which gets her to stop drinking so YAY!
Levi: The very attractive farm boy (which are unsurprisingly common considering they're in Iowa) who eventually ends up with Cath. He used to date Megan, but they broke up after starting college. He's an incredibly happy dude, always smiling and will help a friend at a moments notice. I think he's dyslexic, so he has to record a lot of his lectures and listen to them over so he understands whats going on in his classes.
He's a cutie patootie and makes me happy :)
Regan: Cath's roomate. She's a lot edgier than Cath (then again a pillow is edgier than Cath), which freaks her out, but eventually they become pretty good friends.
Nick: Cath's writer friend who turns out to be a huge asshole later :/
Review:
I know I sort of half-assed this review, but give me a break alright? The 1984 one took a while and I have other stuff to write.
I think that I might have a weird insight on this book, as an introverted teenager with social anxiety that enjoys writing and has triplet brothers, which probably swayed my opinion.
But seriously this is an amazing book. I have so much respect for Rainbow Rowell, because each of her books manage to be fun and happy, but also make you want cry without being overwhelming.
I realize that any of my guy readers (if I have any, shout out to the bros!), they probably won't enjoy this book as much as the girls, but it's worth a shot if it's raining and you don't have biking or whatever you do.
Gal readers, just read it. I know a lot of you will relate to Cath, and it's a great read.
___________________
Alright, got you guys TWO reviews.
Do with them what you will.
Since a link is still required, I invite you to play this game, which is horrible and will ruin your life.
You're welcome.
Anyone who looks through my old posts can clearly see that I failed to do that.
To make up for it, I've decided to review not one, but TWO books this week!
Thank goodness it was spring break last week and I spent most of the time reading.
1984 by George Orwell:
 |
| He's supposed to have a mustache, but all the other Big Brother posters with mustaches looked like Hitler and............oh. From: |
It's set in 1984 (duh) in London, and is told from the perspective of Winston Smith. The entire world has changed dramatically since the 1940's (which was the perspective Orwell was trying to make), and it's DEFINITELY not been good. The world has organized itself into three super-nations: Oceania (the Americas, British Isles, and Australia), Eurasia (the rest of Europe, Western Asia, and southern Africa), and EastAsia (pretty much everywhere else), that are constantly at war with each other.
In Oceania, where the story takes place, everyone is ruled by The Party. They are a massively powerful political party who's main ideas are 'WAR IS PEACE, SLAVERY IS FREEDOM, IGNORANCE IS PEACE' so I'll let you draw your own conclusions from that. People can be arrested for thinking bad thoughts against the party, but oddly enough killing is encouraged. Party members are constantly monitored by telescreens that they can't turn off, and hidden microphones. It's common for people to be taken away in the middle of the night and never seen again. And that's only the surface o-o.
The story is told from Winston's point of view, which is growing against The Party, and wishes to take action against the oppressors.
((Spoilerific for the characters, but the review is fine if you're interested. If you're interested in the other book, scroll down to the teaser for that.))
Characters:
Winston Smith: The main character of the story. He is a 39 year old man who leads the typical life of a party member, and is sort of a borderline alcoholic ((but then again, who wouldn't be?)). He constantly questions The Party's motives and ideals, and is fairly sure that they are horrible but can't tell for sure. His job is falsifying records to The Party's benefit in the Ministry of Truth.
He starts a diary to try and tell future generations about The Party, but doesn't get very far with it and abandons it after things start to heat up. You see, he meets a girl named Julia who works in the Ministry of Truth too (her job is making 'fiction' books for the party) and they fall in love. Kinda. It's more of a 'let's do it and rebell against the government' sorta thing. Anyway, they do that for a while and then they hear about this thing called The Brotherhood. It's a rebel group that wants to take down Big Brother and The Party, and they try to join it but then they're betrayed and it sucks.
When they get caught, they're taken to the Ministry of Love, and are brainwashed into thinking The Party's ideals, and then the story ends.
Julia: The girl that Winston falls in love with. She has been rebelling against The Party since she was a teenager (she's 25 now) with acts of 'love'. I wanna call her a half rebel, since she mostly rebels for the fun of it, and less because it's against The Party's rules. She's really good at breaking the rules, but she doesn't seem extremely intelligent.
O'Brian: An Inner Party member who betrays Julia and Winston.
Inner Party: The elite of The Party. They get a bunch of special privileges such as good food and music that members of the Outer Party (like Winston and Julia) don't get.
Anyway, O'Brian is a shithead and no one can say otherwise. He pretends likes he's Julia and Winston's friend, pretends to invite them into The Brotherhood, and then it turns out he was just trying to arrest them the whole time! And then he's the one that brainwashes them into loving The Party.
Big Brother: The figurehead of The Party. I'm pretty sure he never actually existed, but that isn't the point. He's supposed to be the one thing that Party members love. Not their families, not their friends, only love for Big Brother.
Goldstien: The supposed leader of The Brotherhood. I don't think he existed either, and was just a trap for people who commit thinkcrime.
Review:
I want to explain more about the book, but then you'll never read it so there isn't much point.
I didn't really expect to like this book when I got it, but I thought I should read it since it's really famous and there are a bunch of references to it everywhere.
But.........holy crap this is a freaky book.
Not only is the idea of this sort of society existing frightening, the inside look that you get is even worse. There's the one scene where Winston kicked a severed hand into the gutter just after watching the guy who it belonged to get blown up by a rocket bomb like it was nothing!
And then there's the brainwashing part that's just...........*shivers in disgust*.
Don't get me wrong, this is a genuinely interesting book. But it's nothing like the dystopians you've read in the past.
I didn't like it very much, but maybe you will enjoy it more than I did.
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell:
We're drastically changing gears here to a much happier and modern book.
I just realized how completely different these two books are.....weird.
Teaser Thing:
 |
| From: |
Unfortunately for Cath, college brings around a lot of issues that Simon Snow can't help her with, like making friends, trying to take care of her bipolar dad, and love.
((spoilerific from here on out guys))
Characters:
Cath: The narrator of the story. An 18 year old who has usually relied on her outgoing sister in terms of social interaction, but her sister has decided to not spend as much time with Cath now that they're at college, which leaves Cath floundering in this new world. She finds solace in her writing, but of course she can't escape being friends with her roommate Megan, falling for Megan's friend Levi who is always in their room.
Wren: Cath's older sister who takes the party route during college. She and Cath used to be inseparable, but Wren wanted freedom from the whole twin thing (which I totally understand, but still she was really mean about it considering that Cath can't handle talking to new people) so she ditched Cath for her roommate Courtney. Wren goes to a bunch of parties, gets drunk a lot, and eventually gets alcohol poisoning which gets her to stop drinking so YAY!
Levi: The very attractive farm boy (which are unsurprisingly common considering they're in Iowa) who eventually ends up with Cath. He used to date Megan, but they broke up after starting college. He's an incredibly happy dude, always smiling and will help a friend at a moments notice. I think he's dyslexic, so he has to record a lot of his lectures and listen to them over so he understands whats going on in his classes.
He's a cutie patootie and makes me happy :)
Regan: Cath's roomate. She's a lot edgier than Cath (then again a pillow is edgier than Cath), which freaks her out, but eventually they become pretty good friends.
Nick: Cath's writer friend who turns out to be a huge asshole later :/
Review:
I know I sort of half-assed this review, but give me a break alright? The 1984 one took a while and I have other stuff to write.
I think that I might have a weird insight on this book, as an introverted teenager with social anxiety that enjoys writing and has triplet brothers, which probably swayed my opinion.
But seriously this is an amazing book. I have so much respect for Rainbow Rowell, because each of her books manage to be fun and happy, but also make you want cry without being overwhelming.
I realize that any of my guy readers (if I have any, shout out to the bros!), they probably won't enjoy this book as much as the girls, but it's worth a shot if it's raining and you don't have biking or whatever you do.
Gal readers, just read it. I know a lot of you will relate to Cath, and it's a great read.
___________________
Alright, got you guys TWO reviews.
Do with them what you will.
Since a link is still required, I invite you to play this game, which is horrible and will ruin your life.
You're welcome.
Friday, April 11, 2014
I Don't Freaking Know
I've been staring at this page for the last half hour and I can't think of a single thing to write about.
It might just be the sick haze that I've been in for the past week, but I haven't been able to think a single clear thought all day.
For example, we were doing a socratic seminar thing in English today (socratic seminar: When everybody gathers in a circle and talks about stuff) and we have to talk for participation points. Since today was the Day of Silence, I was originally gonna use that as an excuse to not talk since I feel like crap, but Mr. P made it very clear that we HAD to talk, even if we were participating in DoS.
Speaking of the DoS, I have a slight confession. I'm sort of a chatterbox most of the time. Not in class though, because that's disrespectful to the teacher and honestly there aren't very many people that I would want to talk with anyway. Knowing this about myself, I knew that DoS would be a train wreck if I actually tried to do it. However, to make myself feel like I was a good person and participating, I decided to make some snickerdoodles and give them out to people and tell them about DoS. However I ran out before first period even started, and got sort of overwhelmed by the stampede of boys who saw that I was giving out food. Anyway, back to English class.
So we were all talking 'bout rights and stuff, when the little voice in my head was like 'Dude, you really need to talk soon. Otherwise you're gonna fail.' Since grades are extremely important to me, and failing English would be incredibly devastating, I started to just spew some crap that sorta sounded like it had to do with the subject.
You know when you sort of zone out while you're talking, and you can hear and feel yourself talking but you aren't really comprehending it? That's what happened in English. And it sucked. But I'm still feeling too sick to care much more than that at the moment
So this isn't really a review post, but I honestly haven't seen much this week that would require a review.
I really should've because I took two sick days this week and watched movies the whole time, but they were old movies that either I've already seen too many times to want to do an entire post on (a.k.a Disney movies), or everyone likes them anyway and it'd be pointless to do a post on them (a.k.a Lord of the Rings).
So I guess I'm just gonna leave it at that for this week. I'm sick and miserable and I don't have anything worth talking about.
I'll probably do a post about spring break next week if I don't end up killing myself and my family by crashing a four wheeler.
Or a car.
I estimate a 45% chance of either of those things happening, so the odds are in my favor, but only slightly O-0.
 |
| From: |
For example, we were doing a socratic seminar thing in English today (socratic seminar: When everybody gathers in a circle and talks about stuff) and we have to talk for participation points. Since today was the Day of Silence, I was originally gonna use that as an excuse to not talk since I feel like crap, but Mr. P made it very clear that we HAD to talk, even if we were participating in DoS.
Speaking of the DoS, I have a slight confession. I'm sort of a chatterbox most of the time. Not in class though, because that's disrespectful to the teacher and honestly there aren't very many people that I would want to talk with anyway. Knowing this about myself, I knew that DoS would be a train wreck if I actually tried to do it. However, to make myself feel like I was a good person and participating, I decided to make some snickerdoodles and give them out to people and tell them about DoS. However I ran out before first period even started, and got sort of overwhelmed by the stampede of boys who saw that I was giving out food. Anyway, back to English class.
So we were all talking 'bout rights and stuff, when the little voice in my head was like 'Dude, you really need to talk soon. Otherwise you're gonna fail.' Since grades are extremely important to me, and failing English would be incredibly devastating, I started to just spew some crap that sorta sounded like it had to do with the subject.
You know when you sort of zone out while you're talking, and you can hear and feel yourself talking but you aren't really comprehending it? That's what happened in English. And it sucked. But I'm still feeling too sick to care much more than that at the moment
So this isn't really a review post, but I honestly haven't seen much this week that would require a review.
I really should've because I took two sick days this week and watched movies the whole time, but they were old movies that either I've already seen too many times to want to do an entire post on (a.k.a Disney movies), or everyone likes them anyway and it'd be pointless to do a post on them (a.k.a Lord of the Rings).
So I guess I'm just gonna leave it at that for this week. I'm sick and miserable and I don't have anything worth talking about.
I'll probably do a post about spring break next week if I don't end up killing myself and my family by crashing a four wheeler.
Or a car.
I estimate a 45% chance of either of those things happening, so the odds are in my favor, but only slightly O-0.
Friday, April 4, 2014
Portal 2
I hoped you guys liked my little hint last week.
The video was cute at least, even if you didn't understand what it was talking about.
Speaking of which, if you have played/watched Portal 2, then you probably started flipping out when you saw that this post would be about it. If you haven't, then that's unfortunate for you because you're really missing out.
Plot (kinda):
So the thing about Portal 2 is that it's the sequel to Portal, which I haven't played yet.
Calm down gamer readers. It's on my computer and I'll play it as soon as I get my microphone working again (I'm gonna try and do gaming videos!).
Anyway, the main character, Chell wakes up from some sort of coma at the beginning of the game because the place that she's at is getting destroyed. She's saved from the crumbling building by a little blue robot named Wheatley, who leads her around the massive facility.
It turns out that Chell is still in Aperture Sciences, a massive research facility that she tried to escape from in the last game. Aperture Sciences is run by a robot named GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System), who you tried to kill in the last game. You failed at that, and GLaDOS is still alive, and extremely pissed. She quickly finds you, and makes you start 'testing' again.
How the game works:
So that last part was probably a bit confusing for you guys that haven't played the game.
The thing that Aperture Sciences does is human testing. They put you in chambers with different obstacles, and different power ups. Obstacles can be things like bottomless pits, turrets that shoot at you, and lasers. Power ups can be blue goo that makes you jump higher, orange goo that makes you run fast, or weird tunnel things that you can float in.
You're main power up, is the portal gun. This gun attaches at your hand, and can shoot an orange portal, and a blue portal. If you go through the blue portal, you'll come out the orange portal, and vice versa. You can only shoot the portals at certain types of walls, but since these rooms are designed to be solvable, you can conveniently get portals in just the right places.
Basically the whole game is solving puzzles like this.
((Okay, it gets spoilerific from here))
Characters:
((look, I don't want to go to the Wiki page in case of spoilers with the first game, so this is mostly info I've gathered from the first game))
Chell: The protagonist of the game that never says a word. She has presumably been a testing subject at Aperture for a long time. Because Aperture is underground (like deep deep deep underground), she hasn't been up to the surface for a very long time, and is determined to get out of her scientific torture. She's adopted, but we never hear anything about her parents. She's very strong willed and can get through anything.
Wheatley: The little blue robot that I mentioned from earlier. He's a complete and total idiot who at the beginning of the game is tasked with watching you and possibly the other humans that were sleeping. For the first part of the game, he's trying to help you escape from Aperture Sciences because he's scared of GLaDOS and wants to get out anyway. Later, he helps you to defeat her, and in doing so becomes the controller of the facility. He then turns evil and realizes that he needs you to stay at Aperture and keep testing, so he sticks you in the old labs from the 1940s and you need to work your way back up. After you do, you eventually defeat him by throwing him through a portal to space.
GLaDOS: GLaDOS was the main antagonist from the first game, but becomes your ally in the second. Well, at first she's evil, and completely resents you for trying to kill her by throwing her into the incinerator. But after Wheatley gains control and sticks her consciousness into a potato battery, she helps you get back to the control room and take Wheatley down. While you're going there, you learn that Aperture Scientists figured how to put a human consciousness into a robot, and GLaDOS partially has the consciousness of Caroline, the founder of Aperture Science's assistant (and personally I think she was sleeping with Mr. Cave Johnson cus how else did she get stuck inside the controlling force of Aperture Sciences?). After you help her regain control of the facility, she lets you have your freedom, and everything works out well for everyone (except for Wheatley, who is in space).
Review:
I'm an absolute sucker for puzzle games. I've never liked FPS's because they're stupid and require reflexes that I don't have, but puzzle RPG games....those are a different story.
I know that lots of gamers don't like extremely linear games because they like to explore and stuff, but I enjoy linear games a bit more. I like having a list of things that I need to do, and getting to move on once I complete those tasks.
Then again, I play games for story more than anything, so that might be part of it too.
Speaking of which, the story if this game is SO good. I don't know who wrote it (edit: looked it up, Erik Wolpaw, Jay Pinkerton, Chet Faliszek), but they are a genius. The whole story is told by GLaDOS, Wheatley, and ancient recordings of Cave Johnson, but it's done so well that it seems like that's the only way they COULD tell it. And on the surface, it doesn't seem like there is much of a story, but when you think about it, everything that is said and/or implied really creates a complex web of Aperture Science's history.
The music is VERY good. It's sort of like.......techno dubstep. Ya. That's what it is. But it fits the atmosphere well and keeps everything interesting.
The graphics are beautiful, and I can't imagine how long it took for them to figure out how to get the portal thing to work. Good on you Valve. Good on you.
Conclusion:
Play the game. You'll love every second of it.
The video was cute at least, even if you didn't understand what it was talking about.
Speaking of which, if you have played/watched Portal 2, then you probably started flipping out when you saw that this post would be about it. If you haven't, then that's unfortunate for you because you're really missing out.
Plot (kinda):
| From: |
Calm down gamer readers. It's on my computer and I'll play it as soon as I get my microphone working again (I'm gonna try and do gaming videos!).
Anyway, the main character, Chell wakes up from some sort of coma at the beginning of the game because the place that she's at is getting destroyed. She's saved from the crumbling building by a little blue robot named Wheatley, who leads her around the massive facility.
It turns out that Chell is still in Aperture Sciences, a massive research facility that she tried to escape from in the last game. Aperture Sciences is run by a robot named GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System), who you tried to kill in the last game. You failed at that, and GLaDOS is still alive, and extremely pissed. She quickly finds you, and makes you start 'testing' again.
How the game works:
So that last part was probably a bit confusing for you guys that haven't played the game.
The thing that Aperture Sciences does is human testing. They put you in chambers with different obstacles, and different power ups. Obstacles can be things like bottomless pits, turrets that shoot at you, and lasers. Power ups can be blue goo that makes you jump higher, orange goo that makes you run fast, or weird tunnel things that you can float in.
You're main power up, is the portal gun. This gun attaches at your hand, and can shoot an orange portal, and a blue portal. If you go through the blue portal, you'll come out the orange portal, and vice versa. You can only shoot the portals at certain types of walls, but since these rooms are designed to be solvable, you can conveniently get portals in just the right places.
Basically the whole game is solving puzzles like this.
((Okay, it gets spoilerific from here))
Characters:
((look, I don't want to go to the Wiki page in case of spoilers with the first game, so this is mostly info I've gathered from the first game))
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| From: |
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| From: |
| From: |
Review:
I'm an absolute sucker for puzzle games. I've never liked FPS's because they're stupid and require reflexes that I don't have, but puzzle RPG games....those are a different story.
I know that lots of gamers don't like extremely linear games because they like to explore and stuff, but I enjoy linear games a bit more. I like having a list of things that I need to do, and getting to move on once I complete those tasks.
Then again, I play games for story more than anything, so that might be part of it too.
Speaking of which, the story if this game is SO good. I don't know who wrote it (edit: looked it up, Erik Wolpaw, Jay Pinkerton, Chet Faliszek), but they are a genius. The whole story is told by GLaDOS, Wheatley, and ancient recordings of Cave Johnson, but it's done so well that it seems like that's the only way they COULD tell it. And on the surface, it doesn't seem like there is much of a story, but when you think about it, everything that is said and/or implied really creates a complex web of Aperture Science's history.
The music is VERY good. It's sort of like.......techno dubstep. Ya. That's what it is. But it fits the atmosphere well and keeps everything interesting.
The graphics are beautiful, and I can't imagine how long it took for them to figure out how to get the portal thing to work. Good on you Valve. Good on you.
Conclusion:
Play the game. You'll love every second of it.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
GUYS I NEED YOUR HELP ASAP
I would really appreciate it if you could all take this survey so I can have decent data for my English essay.
I will love you forever if you do so.
I will love you forever if you do so.
Friday, March 28, 2014
Divergent (the movie since that's more relevant at the moment)
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| From: |
This was gonna be a much cooler post and be in comic book form, but unfortunately I'm lazy and would rather play Portal 2 than draw.
So no comic for you guys.
Anyway, back on topic.
Teaser type plot:
Divergent is dystopian novel set in a future Chicago. The city has been surrounded by a fence in order to protect the citizens from whatever is 'outside' ((which I hear is to be adressed in Allegiant (((the third book))) which I haven't read yet so please don't say any spoilers)). Inside the city is an entirely different story. The inhabitants have been separated into 5 different groups (factions) that value different things. Abnegation values selflessness. Amity values peace. Candor values truth. Erudite values intelligence. And Dauntless values courage. The cultures of each faction heavily surround what it values, and influences everything from what they eat to what they wear. When a person turns 16, they are allowed to choose which faction they will live in for the rest of their lives.
Beatrice Prior is an Abnegation born girl who is about to choose where she will stay for the rest of her life. Each of the kids are given an aptitude test to help them make their decision by putting them in a simulation that measures their reactions and thinking. Normally, you get one answer, and it wasn't that hard to tell that it would be your answer. Beatrice gets three. This labels her as a Divergent, a person who can't conform to one faction.
She later chooses Dauntless as her faction, since she always admired their courage and how they could have fun. The rest of the book goes through her training, and a scheme that one of the factions is cooking up.
Spoilerific from here on out.
Characters:
Tris (Beatrice's nickname): The main character of the story. She is very reckless, cunning, and selfless. Because of this, her three results on the aptitude test were Abnegation, Erudite, and Dauntless which she constantly mentions and worries about. Because she switched from Dauntless to Erudite, she is bullied by the other transfers and called 'Stiff'. However she often proves herself in training, and because she saves the entire faction which would have to get you some respect.
Also, she's played by Shailene Woodley who is an AMAZING ACTRESS. HOLY CRAP. SHE IS SO GOOD AT IT THAT I CAN' T EVEN BELIEVE IT.
Four: Tris' instructor during training and eventual boyfriend. He is the epitome of the Dauntless. He has perfect aim with any sort of weapon, is extremely strong, and believes in everyday acts of bravery. Unfortunately for him, Dauntless has turned more towards a belief in reckless bravery, which Four doesn't approve of.
Obviously Four is a nickname (but omg can you imagine if it wasn't? #worst parents ever), that Four earned during his initiation. For initiation, you have to go through your fear landscape and face your worst nightmares. Four is legendary for only having four fears (most people have 10-15).
It turns out that Four transfered from Abnegation (like Tris) to escape from an abusive father. This might be part of why Tris is attracted to him, coupled with the fact that he's sort of gorgeous.
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| I couldn't decide whether to have the normal poster or the shirtless Four poster, so I did both, From: |
Caleb: Tris' brother. He seemed like the perfect Abnegation kid, but he transfered to Erudite which dispelled that theory. He's not very brave, but he's incredibly smart.
The main reason I bring him up is because he's played by Ansel Elgort, which is beautiful since he and Shailene will be in 'The Fault in Our Stars' together.
Christina: Tris' best friend who transfered to Dauntless from Candor.
Peter: The biggest dickwad ever who will do anything to get ahead. This includes stabbing someone in the eye with a butter knife so his ranking will be higher.
Al: A really big transfer from Candor to Dauntless. He's a total sweetheart, but sucks at being Dauntless.
Tori: A tattoo artist that helps Tris to understand her Divergence
Will/Uriah/ etc- Friends of Tris' that do stuff.
Final reaction:
I'm a dork who absolutely HAS to read the book before I see the movie. Unfortunately, everyone I saw this movie with hadn't read the book, so I was the only one who knew what was going on.
Since you're supposed to do reviews in a good/bad/good format, I'll start with something good.
The casting was amazing. Shailene was the perfect Tris. Theo James was a great Four, and everyone else looked very close to what I had imagined in the books.
Okay, now to complain about the same thing that I complain about in all of the movie-baed-off-book posts. IT WASN'T LIKE THE BOOK. EVERYTHING WAS CHANGED. BLAH BLAH.....blah.
Sorry guys, I'm really losing motivation to do this.
Let's just wrap it up.
Another thing that I really liked about the movie (though I admit this is more to the book's credit), was the scene with one of Tris' fears. Basically she's afraid of intimacy, and vulnerability, which is presented as Four forcing himself on her. She responds to this with a well placed kick to the stomach, getting her off him and fighting back.
I might just be focusing on this because I'm currently doing a report on feminism for school, but I think it's great that tons of girls around the world will see this scene. In a culture that keeps sexual abuse in the shadows, this'll show people that this sort of thing is not okay.
Conclusion:
If you've read the book, you're going to be disappointed because of extreme plot changes. If you haven't, you'll probably be confused cus they stunk at explaining things.
You should still go, but don't go with super high expectations.
Edit: Hey guys! I found this video and you should watch it because it has to do with next week's post.
Friday, March 21, 2014
Disneyland Adventure (P.S- It's a long one)
Hello dear readers!
I promised last week that I'd give you an explanation as to what I was doing, and why that resulted in that horrific post.
Well, I was in Anaheim for this huge Catholic conference at the Anaheim convention center. My mom goes to it every year, and had this dream that she would take us to the youth day when we were old enough. Apparently we were old enough this year, and had to sit through 8 hours of Christian rock, 'aerobic praying', mass, and lectures about who even knows what.
This was incredibly ridiculous, considering I don't intend to be confirmed Catholic, yet my mother is in denial about it.
Overall, it was a lot more fun that I thought it would be, but that might've been because I was forcing myself to have fun. I had been told repeatedly by my dad that if I ruined it for my mom, I was royally screwed.
Also I was stressed the whole time, because I missed four tests at school that day which I spent ALL THIS WEEK MAKING UP. I LITERALLY WASN'T COMPLETELY CAUGHT UP TILL THIS MORNING.
There were a few redeeming qualities to it. Before the below picture was taken, there was this cool drumming thing that had absolutely nothing to do with Catholicism, with made it pretty great.
It was also the one year anniversary of Pope Francis being elected, so everyone naturally went batshit over that.
I only took one picture of the whole thing:
We went to the Matterhorn first, since it was closed the last time we were in Disneyland. While we were in line, Gabe started complaining about how his German friend who had a very stereotypical German name that I can't remember would be flipping his shnitzle at the fakey german decorations at the ride. I told him to shut his face and just be happy that I was going on a water ride with him.
I promised last week that I'd give you an explanation as to what I was doing, and why that resulted in that horrific post.
Well, I was in Anaheim for this huge Catholic conference at the Anaheim convention center. My mom goes to it every year, and had this dream that she would take us to the youth day when we were old enough. Apparently we were old enough this year, and had to sit through 8 hours of Christian rock, 'aerobic praying', mass, and lectures about who even knows what.
This was incredibly ridiculous, considering I don't intend to be confirmed Catholic, yet my mother is in denial about it.
Overall, it was a lot more fun that I thought it would be, but that might've been because I was forcing myself to have fun. I had been told repeatedly by my dad that if I ruined it for my mom, I was royally screwed.
Also I was stressed the whole time, because I missed four tests at school that day which I spent ALL THIS WEEK MAKING UP. I LITERALLY WASN'T COMPLETELY CAUGHT UP TILL THIS MORNING.
There were a few redeeming qualities to it. Before the below picture was taken, there was this cool drumming thing that had absolutely nothing to do with Catholicism, with made it pretty great.
It was also the one year anniversary of Pope Francis being elected, so everyone naturally went batshit over that.
I only took one picture of the whole thing:
That's the Anaheim Convention Center Stadium. It was packed with about 15,000 kids from all around California. I think that Juan Diego was there too, but we didn't see any of them. I really only took the picture because the decorations were pretty.
OKAY HERE'S THE FUN PART:
My mom went to the actual conference that Friday, which was with all the Christian adults. Since she knew we weren't gonna be able to sit through all that a second day, she got us tickets to both Disneyland, and California Adventure.
So basically Gabe (le brother) and me got to run around Disneyland a week ago today by ourselves.
Naturally we got up bright and early, and got in right when the park opened.
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| Theres Main Street U.S.A all bright and early. Gabe is the kid wearing the dorky hat on the right. |
I was also flipping out because I kept thinking about how I was missing a very important English thing, and that I would have to make it up the next Monday.
I sort of lied when I said we went to the Matterhorn first. We tried to go to Space Mountain, but they were doing repairs on it that morning, but said it would be open later. We checked back after Matterhorn, but it was still closed.
Never go on Splash Mountain.
There was only one thing that I really wanted to do at California Adventure, and that was go to the Animation Academy. I was really hoping that I could go to one of the classes, but they were over a half hour long and Gabe didn't want to sit through that. So instead, we went to the other exhibits in the building.
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| It's really pretty, even if it's fake and there's a lady's head in my picture. |
Something you should know about my brother is that he is absolutely horrible with money. He needs to buy everything that catches his fancy, even if it's obviously a piece of crap. So naturally, since we were in Tomorrowland with no one around, he gets a build your own lightsaber.
Cus he's a dumbass.
Anyway, since Space Mountain still wasn't open, we went to SPLASH Mountain, since we had never been on that either.
I think that my earlier comment about not wanting to get wet became a challenge to Gabe.
I vaguely remembered going on Splash Mountain WAAAAY back when I was 4 years old. By remember, I mean I remember crying the whole time and trying to get my dad to stop the ride and let me off.
This memory made me a little anxious to get on the ride, but I knew that at the end it was a short drop, a big splash, and then it was over.
What I didn't remember was the animatronic hell that came between.
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| During the ride I told Gabe that if I was the ruler of hell, I would make it this ride on loop. He looked at me like I was the most evil person he'd ever seen. |
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| "I will murder you and everyone you love" |
EVER.
After that horrific experience we were heading back to Space Mountain to check on things, when we saw that famous statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse and some other ones.
When we finally made it back to Space Mountain, it turned out that it had opened while we were in robot hell and the line was a good old three hours long. Since there was absolutely no way we were gonna waste our day in that line, we went to the innovations exhibit that was right next to the ride.
First thing I see when we walk in:
We went to Mickey's house and were in line to see him and everything, but then we realized that we were in line to go see a guy in a mouse costume who was probably hating life at the moment and didn't need two teenagers to come in and add to the amount of people he had to hug that day. So we left.
MOTHER
DUCKING
IRON MAN
*ENSUE RABID FANGIRL MADNESS*
AAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
The rest of the exhibit was sort of a blur, but they had Fifa 11 and I tried to be John Green for a bit but failed epicly. However, I did beat my brother, so at least I learned something from the Swindentown Swoodlypoopers.
After that we tromped through Fantasyland and Adventureland for a bit. We went to Tarzan's Treehouse (which was another ride that I hadn't been on since I was 4, but this one was a lot better) and Indiana Jones (hands down the best ride in Disneyland). Everything in Fantasyland was either full or broken down, so we went to Toontown instead.
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| I regret to inform you Toontown, that neither baseball or duck is a number. I see you trying to make lemon a number too, and it's just not gonna happen. |
At that point, we decided that we were done at Disneyland, and hopped over to California Adventure.
The newest thing there was Carsland, which had been under construction the last time we went there. However, the main reason Gabe had made our mom buy park hopper tickets was so that he could go on the California Screamin Roller Coaster. He went on that, while I bought ice cream and watched the water show.
No, I am not scared of roller coasters. I just really really REALLY hate to go upside down on them.
After he had completed his mission, we went over to the famed Carsland.
The racer ride had a two hour wait, which we would not stand for. So we went to Luigi's flying tires instead. Basically, it's bumper cars but you're on a giant air hockey floor. It's not very exciting, but the engineering and design that went into it is pretty remarkable.
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| I tried really hard to take a picture of Radiator Springs, but then all these people were in the way. |
The racer ride had a two hour wait, which we would not stand for. So we went to Luigi's flying tires instead. Basically, it's bumper cars but you're on a giant air hockey floor. It's not very exciting, but the engineering and design that went into it is pretty remarkable.
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| It also had this 'Hold hands with tiny people, but definitely DO NOT DANCE ON THE TIRE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD' sign so that was fun. |
If I haven't said it on here yet, I really want to do something for Disney when I get older. Voice acting, animation, scriptwriting, directing. I just REALLY wanna make movies at Disney, so I was geeking out to the max here.
One of the big exhibits here was the Toy Story Zoetrope. Here's a video of it so you can see what I mean. Gabe thought it was totally the bee's knees, while I got sort of distracted thinking about how people with epilepsy would hate this thing.
The next room was a bunch more animation things that little kids really liked because they could spin a wheel and see the pictures move.
We dorked around in there for a little bit, and then went onto Beast's Library. In there, you get a personality quiz to see which Disney Character you are.
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| The whole room was decked out like this. It was GORGEOUS. |
We dorked around in there for a little bit, and then went onto Beast's Library. In there, you get a personality quiz to see which Disney Character you are.
Since I love those sort of things, I took it and got Maleficent cus I'm a boss like that. Gabe got Marlin.............*snickers*
The next room didn't get any pictures cus it was dark, but it was Ursula's Grotto. You got to sing Disney songs, and it would put your voice in the animation. Now, I'm completely delusional and think that I have a good singing voice. Hearing me fail at Hakuna Matata and my brother laughing at me brought me down a couple dozen pegs. Luckily for me, he did even worse :)
Gabe wouldn't let me go see what Turtle Talks with Crush were, we left and went to the Farris Wheel.
We also saw this thing when we walked out:
It was for this dance thing called MadTParty, and I really wanted to check it out by Gabe wouldn't let me :(
By that point it was late afternoon and we wanted to go back to the hotel, but were too stubborn to leave just yet.
I was hoping for a nice relaxing ride, and a good view of the park but Gabe wanted to be EXTREME and go on the sliding cars.
After that, we were just about to go back to the hotel, when we remembered that we hadn't bought any of the crap at Downtown Disney yet!
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| I didn't even get a good picture cus Marlin's fat face was blocking the shot. |
THIS HAD TO BE CHANGED.
A half hour later, I walked out with a stylin' Nightmare Before Christmas hat, and some useless Alice and Wonderland Tea.
Gabe got a remote controlled car because reasons.
After that, we went back to the hotel, watched dumb TLC shows for a while, and then got a free fireworks show since our hotel was right behind California Adventure. I'm sure it was more spectacular in the park, but it was still pretty great.
Right after the fireworks, I realized it was Friday and that I had a blog post due. I was too tired to do what would've been this post then, so I wrote whatever came to my mind.
So there, that's your extended explanation as to why you got an incredibly crummy post last week.
Friday, March 14, 2014
A complete blah post that I'm actually turning in o_o
Unfortunately, I don't have the time, energy, or material to do an actual post.
The reason for this is that I'm in California for a Catholic conference and Disneyland adventure.
I'm gonna do a post about the trip, complete with fabulous pictures, but the computer I'm on at the moment is finicky and doesn't like my phone (which has the pictures).
Plus a post like that would take a super duper long time , which again, I DON'T HAVE THE TIME FOR.
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| From: |
Since I have to do an actual review post....I'll do something on......uh......frick I don't even know.
I'll do it on my hotel room! Ya, I'll do it on the room!
The coolest part about it is that we can see the tower of terror from the room.
Unfortunately, we don't get any free fireworks shows even though we can clearly see both parks. I don't even know if they're doing fireworks this time of year. I don't know why they wouldn't, but they apparently are not.
The t.v really really sucks. The remote is fritzy, and doesn't work even 1/3 of the time. However, this is not a problem for my brother Gabe, since he only wants to watch comedy central anyway.
Seriously, it's constant Kay and Pele. It's horrible.
There's one really amazing part of the hotel though.
There are (is?) Starbucks EVERYWHERE. EV-RY-WHERE.
In the lobby. In the rooms. In the other hotels. California is apparently made of frappechinos.
There are also pictures of palm trees everywhere, because apparently real palm trees are not enough for the tourist experience. They need to amp up the palm trees to OVER 9000.
So I guess the room is nice....maybe. It's good enough, considering we're RIGHT NEXT TO DISNEYLAND.
So I guess the room is nice....maybe. It's good enough, considering we're RIGHT NEXT TO DISNEYLAND.
Since I still need to put a link, I'll just stick a poem that I like right here.
I'll tell you ALL about the trip next time, I promise.
Friday, March 7, 2014
Oh Captain, My Captain
That title sure got your attention, huh Mr. P?
You thought this was gonna be about Walt Whitman?
You're only sort of mistaken.
BEHOLD!!
DEAD POETS SOCIETY!!!
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| You came to the wrong neighborhood from: |
Short teaser thing:
So we've got all these boys that go to this really elite boarding school called Welton Academy. All of their parents want them to grow up to be doctors and lawyers and go to Ivy league colleges and stuff. These boys have been stuck in boring but 'useful' classes like Latin and trigonometry all their lives. Suddenly, they find themselves in a poetry class taught by a notoriously nutty teacher named Mr. Keating.
Keating was a student at Welton Academy, and was a member of the long forgotten Dead Poets Society. The Dead Poets Society was basically a club that would sneak out of the school at night, go to a cave in the woods, read poetry, and try to get girls to join them. The boys reconvene the Dead Poets Society, and start their arpe diem fueled adventures.
Characters:
((I'm doing spoilers here since a lot of the big stuff is with each character, so as the usual warning: Spoilerific from here on out))
Neil Perry: Neil is the perfect son. His dad REALLY wants him to become a doctor, and is determined to do anything to get him there. He justifies his actions like making Neil take extra math classes instead of working on the school paper, as 'giving you more opportunities than I had'(but honestly it borders on emotional abuse). In Keating's class, he finds out that he loves poetry, and it becomes his gateway to self expression. He is the one that revitalizes the Dead Poets Society, and embraces the carpe diem philosophy by trying out for A Midsummer Nights Dream, and getting the part as Puck. Of course, he couldn't tell his dad, as his dad would freak the freak out. He completely and totally rocks the role (even while wearing atrocious twig gloves), but his father is obviously not happy about it when he finds out about it the day before the play. His dad immediately takes him out of Welton as soon as the play is over, and says he'll send him to military school, which will put a stop to this 'nonsense'. Seeing no other way out of his dads controlling ways, Neil kills himself.
Todd Anderson: Todd is the new kid at school. His brother was a top student at Welton, and Todd has no chance of coming out of his brothers shadow, as Todd is very shy and awkward. He's Neil's roommate, which is how he gets into the group in the first place, and is also part of Keating's poetry class. At first, he refuses to speak to pretty much everyone except for a few close people. One day, he has to recite a poem that he wrote for class, and with a BARBARIC YOP, he overcomes his anxiety, and is more confident. He's very loyal to his friends.
Knox Overstreet: Knox is the romantic. While he's at dinner with his parent's friends, he meets their daughter Chris, who he falls head over heels for. He writes poetry for here, gives her flowers, and sort of half stalks her(?). Unfortunately, she's dating a big football player who goes to her school, so dorky Knox doesn't have much of a chance. One night, he's at a party that she invited him to, and he's kind of drunk, and tries to put 'the moves' on a sleeping Chris (note for any guys that read this: DON'T DO THAT. I DON'T CARE HOW DRUNK YOU ARE, THAT IS CREEPY AS FRICK), and gets beat up by her boyfriend. Knox goes to her school the next day, gives her flowers and reads her a poem, and then gets kicked out. However, it apparently worked since they go to watch Neil's play together, and presumably live happily ever after.
Charlie Dalton: He's the clown. He's pretty much there just for comic relief, and honestly I can't remember anything that would add depth to his character besides his jokes.
John Keating: This guy is the freaky poetry teacher everyone is talking about. In Christian boarding school terms, he's very eccentric. He has his students rip up their textbooks, stands on his desk a lot, has his students call him 'captain', and encourages underground clubs that breaks nearly every school rule. He really emphasizes free thinking, and creativity. His motto is carpe diem, which is latin for sieze the day. Basically he's the cool English teacher that everyone loves. Unfortunately, he's also very irresponsible. Though he has good intentions, he is extremely irresponsible. I think he was really in love with the idea of his students having a freedom that he never got, and was too carried away with it to see the repercussions of his actions. Neil's death wasn't entirely his fault (not even mostly his fault), but it was partially his fault, and he got fired because of it (in the scene which is pictured above, and butchered with a pathetic joke :). He's also played by Robin Williams, which automatically makes him a great character.
There are a bunch of other students, but I can't really remember much about them to constitute a long enough bio, so you're just gonna have to watch the movie if you're curious about them.
Reaction:
Besides the atrocious 80's music and Neil Perry's weird as shit Puck gloves, this movie is absolute cinematic GOLD.
The weird thing about this movie, is that I'd seen the beginning of it twice in different classes, but we never got much farther than when Niel throws Todd's desk set off the bridge. So basically, I never saw the end.
OH GOSH THE END MADE ME SO SAD.
BUT IT'S TOTALLY WORTH IT, and if you read the spoilerific parts (which you shouldn't if you want to watch the movie), don't let anything sad deter you from watching the movie.
I'm at a point where I can really relate to a lot of things in this movie, like wanting to go against what your parents want, and having really awesome friends to help and help you through stuff, and how awesome poetry is and a bunch of the other major themes. I'm sure that any of the teens that read this can find something in that movie that reaches out to them.
This movie is really worth it guys. Watch it, and you're sure to love it.
((Quick side note. I don't think I've ever apologized for my atrocious run on sentences. I am truly sorry, but the ranty breathless feeling you get from them is what I'm trying to convey)).
(((Quick side note 2: I don't think Mr. P made it this far, but if he did (or anyone in Honors English did), then you should watch this neat little video about The Odyssey))).
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