Thursday, July 23, 2009
Poetry? More Like Boretry
Have you ever seen the disgustingly repulsive video of the guy who gets his head stuck up an elephant's ass? (here's the link if not: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ske8AG5q74) I feel as happy as that guy every time I'm forced to elaborate on poetry. Not to offend those who are into poetry because it can be a beautiful rhythmic pattern. But much like a morphine drip, it's only enjoyable in doses. - For poetry causes pain to the brain when forced to devour for more than an hour. I would rather endure the smell of manure than learn hycoos that cause me to snooze. - Maybe it's not that bad, but you catch my drift.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
When Woodstock Didn't Rock
You know all those annoying telemarketers, military recruit calls, infomercials on TV, door-to-door salesmen? Well this documentary kind of reminded me of all those, only it lasted about two hours longer. It was pretty painstaking to sit through this documentary for two hours in which I glanced at my watch probably thirty plus times waiting for 1:50 to roll around. As interesting as Woodstock was, they could have picked more interesting music from the massive collection of artist who performed there to be in this documentary. I don't think I could have actually handled sitting through the rest of the film.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Walk the Line
As stated in my previous two blogs, my sympathy for those addicted to drugs is not very high. And while Johny Cash was addicted to pills, I want rant about that again. However, Cash is one to feel sympathy in relation to his life. I don't remember where the movie says he grew up but obviously his family was poverty struck. Cash and his brother, Jack, were forced to work long days as kids for his dad in order to provide for the family and his dad was a raging alcoholic. Cash confided in his older brother when his father would rant but after Jack died, his father, in his drunken stupors, would proclaim that the devil took the wrong son, obviously scaring Cash and giving him a feeling of unworthiness. Never the less, he presses on, joining the air force, getting married and producing his first record. He struggled throughout his career attempting to please his wife but also June Carter at the same time. His relationship with his wife comes to an end after a fight and eventually, after Carter rids him of his pills, they marry. The actors did a good job of fulfilling the relation between characters, ultimately dragging the viewer into the film even more.
Kurt Cobain's Self-Inflicted Pain
I am a fan of Nirvana. Though I don't know much of their history, it falls as most rock groups: grew up rough, became an "outcast", got famous, expressed their ridiculously rebellious ideas and their "I don't care" attitude. Not to express sympathy for their less than ideal childhood presented in description through the article we were required to read, but their story is no different than any other. But just from reading this article, is sympathy really due to these guys? They claim that what brought them together was the common flaw that they all came from divorced parents. And has Kurt Cobain claimed, it was devastating for him, throwing him into this state of seclusion. Again, not to express sympathy because my parents are still together so I don't know how that is, but I know plenty of kids who have gone through parent divorce and though it is traumatizing, some take it to the extreme more than others. Cobain's suffering didn't differ any more than the average teenager growing up. And I am not sympathetic at all to those who find themselves addicted to any kind of drug. he claims that a big part of it was to cancel the pain from singing and back pains caused by his guitar. Please. Spare me. Every addict has an excuse. I know plenty of bands who can handle the pain without heroin. Again, I am a big fan of Nirvana and their music and I sincerely enjoy Dave Grohl's band, Foo Fighter's, but to feel sympathetic for another rebellious, drug addicted singer afraid of the fame is simply ridiculous. Artists like that who dresses to be different, confide themselves in solitude and addict themselves to drugs and then publicly describe themselves to be all these things are only wanting others to drown in their self-pity. So get over yourself before you want others to sympathies for you.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
A Holiday Without Celebration
One can easily view from this film that Billie Holiday's life was nothing of glamor. Raped as a teen and her mother working as what appears to be a slave, Holiday moves to New York to be closer to her mother and works and lives cleaning at a whore house. As she ages, she becomes one of the nymphos herself. Tired of the lifestyle she leaves and lands a job across the street as a singer. Her career explodes and she takes off on the road with a band where she is exposed to various forms of racism and drugs. Once home after being awaken by the death of her mother, Holiday begins rehab where she is picked up by investigators and held for the illegal use of drugs. She cleans up from drugs, starts new only to land herself right back into it, ultimately causing her death at just 44.
While the life of Billie Holiday is sad, I land no sympathy for her after the days she left the whore house. From then on, everything was her decision. She chose to selfishly deal with the addiction of drugs and physically threatened to kill her eventual husband over the addiction. Apparent to the many loved ones surrounding her, Holiday suffered tremendously from this addiction and took for granted the ones supporting her. After being sober, she lands back into drugs only to bring her pianist, a close friend of hers which got her a spot singing to begin with, down with her and ultimately causing his death as well. Throughout the movie, she fell in her own self-pity only to take for granted the ones who lifted her up.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Musical Dreams
I think there are pros and cons to having musicians visually stimulate their music onto the screen. On one hand, it does give the fan more capability to fully understand the point that the artist is trying to make or have the fan feel when listening to the music. It allows the viewer to get wrapped up in the mood of the song, creating a dream like stage while listening and viewing the song. Some songs even become instant hits mainly because of their videos. For example, when I think about Michael Jackson's song "Thriller" the first thing that comes to mind is the dance everyone knows created from this video. So without the sense of videos for these songs, their rise to fame probably wouldn't exist.
On the other hand, like a movie based on a book, it takes away from the imagination. Most people prefer any book over a film based on it because it allows the reader to view and create the characters that they want to create. Much like music and the lyrics being sang, the listeners can create an idea of what the artist is trying to proclaim. So music videos take away from the listeners sense of creativity.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Talk To Me
Watching this film, I quickly felt the connection that the actors displayed in the characters. The film begins with a convict, Petey Greene, getting the opportunity to do talk radio in prison on good behavior. He meets an employee, Dewey Hughes, of a local radio station called WOL when he comes to visit his brother in prison. After an agreement with the warden, Greene gets out of prison early and finds himself at WOL attempting to get a job. With his job and reputation on the line, Hughes talks his boss into giving Greene a chance. Greene goes on air and proclaims foul statements which losses his opportunity to be with the station. But after hearing the publics possitive reaction to Greene's blunt and honest remarks, Hughes gets Greene back in the booth where his talk radio show becomes an instant hit with the public. 
Hughes was raised in the projects and aspired to become someone successful and get out of the trouble he was brought up around. He explains later in the film that he learned how to act, talk and dress by watching the Tonight Show. Hughes takes on the responsibility of Greene's manager and quickly lands him publicity doing stand up comedy and his own comedy show. Though it isn't stated in the film, the actor playing Greene does a phenominal job of displaying his characters distatse for all the fame and new direction that his manager is taking. Hughes is too caught up in his own dream that he is playing out in Greene that he doesn't realize the conflict happening. He gets Greene a spot on the Tonight Show and feels that they have finally reached the top. But when Greene takes the spot light on stage, he annouces his disgust in being there. After doing so, Greene and Hughes got into a fight off stage, ending the friendship and partnership between the two. After a period apart from each other and Hughes becoming the new talk radio host and ultimately buying the company, they reunite their friendship until the end when Greene dies at just 53 years old. His funeral session was held in public where over 10,000 people came to mourn his death. Overall, I felt that this film was excellent and the cast chosen to portray the characters were perfect for each roll.
Hughes was raised in the projects and aspired to become someone successful and get out of the trouble he was brought up around. He explains later in the film that he learned how to act, talk and dress by watching the Tonight Show. Hughes takes on the responsibility of Greene's manager and quickly lands him publicity doing stand up comedy and his own comedy show. Though it isn't stated in the film, the actor playing Greene does a phenominal job of displaying his characters distatse for all the fame and new direction that his manager is taking. Hughes is too caught up in his own dream that he is playing out in Greene that he doesn't realize the conflict happening. He gets Greene a spot on the Tonight Show and feels that they have finally reached the top. But when Greene takes the spot light on stage, he annouces his disgust in being there. After doing so, Greene and Hughes got into a fight off stage, ending the friendship and partnership between the two. After a period apart from each other and Hughes becoming the new talk radio host and ultimately buying the company, they reunite their friendship until the end when Greene dies at just 53 years old. His funeral session was held in public where over 10,000 people came to mourn his death. Overall, I felt that this film was excellent and the cast chosen to portray the characters were perfect for each roll.
Friday, July 3, 2009
U2: Philanthrapist or Hypocrite?
Being a fan of Bono and his philanthropy, I enjoy their music and have read Bono's book, On The Move, about poverty in Africa. I enjoyed the film in the aspect that it showed the side of U2 that makes them real people. A lot of times, people have this idea that rock stars live such a glamorous lifestyle of fortune and fame. And while that is true, U2 proves that they still thrive on being normal. My favorite part of the film is when they travel to Harlem to sing with the gospel choir that did a spin off their song "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". And even after that, they stand outside and listen to the elder man singing and playing his guitar. It shows that they aren't the self-righteous type as most people become when seeking fame. A lot of people criticize U2 for their acts and words of philantropy but in my opinion, why criticize artist who attempt to raise awareness for peace? True, Bono still spends money on out-landish things but most of us would if we could. The real people that critics should scorn are those who only spend money on themselves rather than putting forth their effort and profit to help others. Bono has devoted much of his time in Africa helping with AIDS awareness. And although it is claimed that he's spent 40 million dollars on advertisement for his Insi[red] campaign to raise money for AIDS awarness, it is still more than the average person does to help. So to those of you who say you'll support his efforts after he shuts up, get over your self-righteousness and support the effort of helping the thousands dying everyday.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Almost Famous
I had never seen this movie before but after watching it I found it to be inspiring is some aspects. I found it to be interesting that a kid only 15 years old, William Miller, was courageous enough to lie to Rolling Stone Magazine and go on tour with a band cross country. Along the trip, the kid sees things and views the real world of rock and roll that he didn't know existed. Being a fan of this band, Miller strives to find the best things he can about the band to write about and he befriends the lead guitarist, Russell Hammond who's talent seems to be on a higher level than the band. Again, the kid proves to be quite daring when he writes the things he actually sees. He planned to give a sugar coated review to Rolling Stone to glorify the band, but instead he writes what he truly sees and the issues within the band. I think that the director does a phenomenal job of portraying the feelings brought out in the characters and the realization of the problems the band faces. The actors in the film make you believe that what you're seeing is the real deal. The members of the band seem to truly be at war with Hammond and his self-righteousness all while Miller is the reporter along for the ride who falls in love with one of the groupies. As an aspiring English Writing Major wanting to write for a car magazine, I found the movie to be inspiring myself due to the fact that the kid was willing to risk everything to fulfill his dream.
Piracy
I personally do not find the "piracy" of music to be such an offensive act. After reading this article, I found even more reason as to why I believe that it is not a bad thing. For example, most CDs are sold around $15 each. It's states in the chapter that the Chinese get access to the same CDs for only 50 cents each. So, with the record industry claiming to lose 4.6 billion dollars a year due to piracy, it seems to me that Americans are getting screwed as well. If they can sale copies for 50 cents, yet charge us $15 then they seem to be the one's that should be accused of piracy. And if they sold them cheaper, maybe then piracy wouldn't be such a problem.
Another thing stated in the chapter is the example of Microsoft allowing the Chinese to have bootleg copies of their software so that, in the long run, more Chinese will see the software and start to buy it. This just proves that companies are happy to break the law as long as they get to profit from it. Which makes them no better than the ones stealing from them.
It is also stated in the chapter that the law aims to rid the use of piracy that robs the author of his profit. But, on average, a Musician really only sees 50 cents for each CD sold. Most of their money comes from concerts. And as the chapter states, the difference in downloading music and stealing a CD is that the CD stolen is one less CD for sale. But downloading an album does not take a CD of the shelf. So a scenario probably not researched is that the millions of claimed people that download music probably attend concerts of the bands they are interested in. Therefore, increasing the money that artists make.
There are roughly 300 million people living in the United States. Of these 300 million, 100 million are members of Kazaa, the most popular p2p sharing network. So with a 3rd of the country being apart of it, along with millions of others that apart of other networks such as Limewire, the chances of officers and other officials who are suppose to rid this "piracy" are more than likely involved with it themselves.
Again, as I stated before, the companies are more than happy to be apart of this piracy as long as they benefit from it. This is recognized again later in the chapter when he describes the four parts of piracy. Type B is defined as someone downloading a song and if he/she likes it, the hope is that he/she will go buy the CD or refer a friend to buy it. Again, the companies would do nothing about piracy if this were the only way it worked.
In 2002 it was reported that CD sales fell 8.9 percent and it was blamed directly on piracy. But What was failed to be reported was that the number of CDs released were dropped 20 percent. So their were 20 percent less CDs for sale. so if you do the math, if the CD sales falling 8.9 were directly due to piracy, then sales would be down 28.9 percent.
It also shows that the law decided by Congress is that the copyright holder does not get all the value that his copyright created and has never accorded the copyright owner complete control over all possible uses of his work. Therefore, a loop-hole is created in the copyright and the artist is not entitled to all that the copyright states.
So in my opinion, downloading music from the internet is not robbing the artist at all. Not only might it be helping the artist by increasing attendance at concerts, but it is shown that lawfully the artist is not due all that his copyright states. Besides, programs like iTunes who sale songs individually for .99 each are seeing more money off these albums than the artist himself.
Another thing stated in the chapter is the example of Microsoft allowing the Chinese to have bootleg copies of their software so that, in the long run, more Chinese will see the software and start to buy it. This just proves that companies are happy to break the law as long as they get to profit from it. Which makes them no better than the ones stealing from them.
It is also stated in the chapter that the law aims to rid the use of piracy that robs the author of his profit. But, on average, a Musician really only sees 50 cents for each CD sold. Most of their money comes from concerts. And as the chapter states, the difference in downloading music and stealing a CD is that the CD stolen is one less CD for sale. But downloading an album does not take a CD of the shelf. So a scenario probably not researched is that the millions of claimed people that download music probably attend concerts of the bands they are interested in. Therefore, increasing the money that artists make.
There are roughly 300 million people living in the United States. Of these 300 million, 100 million are members of Kazaa, the most popular p2p sharing network. So with a 3rd of the country being apart of it, along with millions of others that apart of other networks such as Limewire, the chances of officers and other officials who are suppose to rid this "piracy" are more than likely involved with it themselves.
Again, as I stated before, the companies are more than happy to be apart of this piracy as long as they benefit from it. This is recognized again later in the chapter when he describes the four parts of piracy. Type B is defined as someone downloading a song and if he/she likes it, the hope is that he/she will go buy the CD or refer a friend to buy it. Again, the companies would do nothing about piracy if this were the only way it worked.
In 2002 it was reported that CD sales fell 8.9 percent and it was blamed directly on piracy. But What was failed to be reported was that the number of CDs released were dropped 20 percent. So their were 20 percent less CDs for sale. so if you do the math, if the CD sales falling 8.9 were directly due to piracy, then sales would be down 28.9 percent.
It also shows that the law decided by Congress is that the copyright holder does not get all the value that his copyright created and has never accorded the copyright owner complete control over all possible uses of his work. Therefore, a loop-hole is created in the copyright and the artist is not entitled to all that the copyright states.
So in my opinion, downloading music from the internet is not robbing the artist at all. Not only might it be helping the artist by increasing attendance at concerts, but it is shown that lawfully the artist is not due all that his copyright states. Besides, programs like iTunes who sale songs individually for .99 each are seeing more money off these albums than the artist himself.
Monday, June 29, 2009
First Music Experience
Growing up, my sister, six years older than I, obviously had an influence on me as someone I looked up to. I always wanted to do the things she did. Therefore, the music she listened to was the music I wanted to listen to and was what I thought was "cool." Luckily for me, in my opinion still, she had good taste in music. I grew up listening to bands like Bush, Incubus and Fuel. Also along with her influence on me was my Dad's taste in music. He enjoyed bands such as Kiss, Queen and The Beatles. So my taste of music ranges far in age but along the lines of the same Genre. When I was twelve, my sister burned a cd for me with bands from her and my dad's collection. I felt a sense of "maturity" by having this cd because I felt as if I was par with them now. To this day I still have that cd, though it struggles to play as many times that it's been used.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Citizen Ship Credit
The Vagina Monoluges
I attended the play here on campus called The Vagina Monoluges. This play was very..interesting and unique for sure. I knew already that the play delt with women speaking out and telling of "womanhood" and such but I had no clue that the actresses would actually be up there and talking about their..parts. It was kind of an awkward situation for me when I was attending too because I got stuck sitting between two women I didn't know and they apparently found everything to be funny. But the play was informative, that's for sure. I learned a lot about women that I did not want to know.
Motorcycle Wreck
Last weekend a friend of mine got back from basic training for the army. He came back to my old hometown and so I left campus and went back on Friday night to see him. A few of my other friends came in to town also for his coming back party and it turned out to be one unexpected unforgetable weekend. We were all just hanging out in town that night and decided to head over to the park and one of my friends that was with us was on his Suzuki GSX-R 1000. And if you don't know what that is it was, at one time, the fastest production motorcycle. We got to the park and he pulled in just as I was getting out of my car. As he entered the parking lot he decided he would show off by doing a wheelie. Well I guess he didn't expect to get it as fast as he did and he was heading straight for a building on one wheel. At about 65 mph he laid the bike down on the pavement and slid until the bike hit the step of the building and sumersaulted through the air. Folling the bike, he hit the step and bounced into the air hitting the wall at about 20mph. We ran over expecting the worse but surprisingly he got up on his on will and was fine other than some road rash on his knees (he was wearing a jacket, gloves and helmet). We took the bike back to his house that night and we're planning on putting it back together as soon as the parts come in.
Assassins
Last sememster I attended the musical here on campus called Assassins. I thought that it was one of the best performance that i've ever seen live. The play was about all of the attempted and successful assassinations on the presidents throughout history. It started with John Wilkes Booth and his assassination on President Lincoln. From there on it would show the other assassins before they killed the presidents and Booth would follow around them inspiring them to do it. As each progressed, more and more of them would follow around inspiring the next assassin to go through with it. The musical was very well played out, I thought, and I would certainly attend it again.
I attended the play here on campus called The Vagina Monoluges. This play was very..interesting and unique for sure. I knew already that the play delt with women speaking out and telling of "womanhood" and such but I had no clue that the actresses would actually be up there and talking about their..parts. It was kind of an awkward situation for me when I was attending too because I got stuck sitting between two women I didn't know and they apparently found everything to be funny. But the play was informative, that's for sure. I learned a lot about women that I did not want to know.
Motorcycle Wreck
Last weekend a friend of mine got back from basic training for the army. He came back to my old hometown and so I left campus and went back on Friday night to see him. A few of my other friends came in to town also for his coming back party and it turned out to be one unexpected unforgetable weekend. We were all just hanging out in town that night and decided to head over to the park and one of my friends that was with us was on his Suzuki GSX-R 1000. And if you don't know what that is it was, at one time, the fastest production motorcycle. We got to the park and he pulled in just as I was getting out of my car. As he entered the parking lot he decided he would show off by doing a wheelie. Well I guess he didn't expect to get it as fast as he did and he was heading straight for a building on one wheel. At about 65 mph he laid the bike down on the pavement and slid until the bike hit the step of the building and sumersaulted through the air. Folling the bike, he hit the step and bounced into the air hitting the wall at about 20mph. We ran over expecting the worse but surprisingly he got up on his on will and was fine other than some road rash on his knees (he was wearing a jacket, gloves and helmet). We took the bike back to his house that night and we're planning on putting it back together as soon as the parts come in.
Assassins
Last sememster I attended the musical here on campus called Assassins. I thought that it was one of the best performance that i've ever seen live. The play was about all of the attempted and successful assassinations on the presidents throughout history. It started with John Wilkes Booth and his assassination on President Lincoln. From there on it would show the other assassins before they killed the presidents and Booth would follow around them inspiring them to do it. As each progressed, more and more of them would follow around inspiring the next assassin to go through with it. The musical was very well played out, I thought, and I would certainly attend it again.
Cookie Master
I thought this story was somewhat interesting but a story on a guy making fortune cookie sayings can only be so interesting. It was cool how he got inspiration for his sayings though. Reading through magazines or riding on a subway and just jotting things down as they came to him. Eleven years is a long time to be in the buisness of writing fortunes. Regardless of whether he has to use some that he's already written, I doubt the odds of someone getting the same fortune and remembering it will happen.
Johnny Depp
This story was very interesting and informative as well. Johnny Depp is a very unique character needless to say and I never knew he was born in the U.S. With his accent I just always assumed he was from over in England. I also thought it was interesting how it talked about him never taking out the gold teeth in pirates of the caribbean because it was too painful and time consuming to take them in and out.
I thought this story was somewhat interesting but a story on a guy making fortune cookie sayings can only be so interesting. It was cool how he got inspiration for his sayings though. Reading through magazines or riding on a subway and just jotting things down as they came to him. Eleven years is a long time to be in the buisness of writing fortunes. Regardless of whether he has to use some that he's already written, I doubt the odds of someone getting the same fortune and remembering it will happen.
Johnny Depp
This story was very interesting and informative as well. Johnny Depp is a very unique character needless to say and I never knew he was born in the U.S. With his accent I just always assumed he was from over in England. I also thought it was interesting how it talked about him never taking out the gold teeth in pirates of the caribbean because it was too painful and time consuming to take them in and out.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Dawson's Creek
I think this was the story we were suppose to read? Anyway, I have an older sister and I remember her watching this show all the time. This story kinda talks about the controversy of teenage issues that Dawson's creek covered in the show and whether or not they should expose these issues in the show. I can kinda see both sides of this arguement. On one hand, teens do need to be exposed to these issues instead of feeling like their alone with something they might be dealing with but on the other hand, relating them to these issues through a teenage soap opra might not be the best way.
Flatbread food
I didn't quite understand the purpose of this story myself. Other than she was describing how good the pizza was, the story was rather pointless. She basically just described how everything they used to make the pizza was made from scratch, even the sausage. Which I don't quite understand how you make sausage from scratch? Do they go out and kill the pig and everything? Anyway, the story made me hungry, that's for sure. But other than that, I found it to be a rather pointless story.
Harry Potter
Personally, I was never into the whole Harry Potter thing. I tried reading one of the books and it just didn't interest me. I've seen part of one of the movies too and it still just didn't do it for me. Therefore, I wasn't too interested in this story either. This story basically just summed up Harry Potter and the basic story line. But pretty much it was a boring read for me.
I think this was the story we were suppose to read? Anyway, I have an older sister and I remember her watching this show all the time. This story kinda talks about the controversy of teenage issues that Dawson's creek covered in the show and whether or not they should expose these issues in the show. I can kinda see both sides of this arguement. On one hand, teens do need to be exposed to these issues instead of feeling like their alone with something they might be dealing with but on the other hand, relating them to these issues through a teenage soap opra might not be the best way.
Flatbread food
I didn't quite understand the purpose of this story myself. Other than she was describing how good the pizza was, the story was rather pointless. She basically just described how everything they used to make the pizza was made from scratch, even the sausage. Which I don't quite understand how you make sausage from scratch? Do they go out and kill the pig and everything? Anyway, the story made me hungry, that's for sure. But other than that, I found it to be a rather pointless story.
Harry Potter
Personally, I was never into the whole Harry Potter thing. I tried reading one of the books and it just didn't interest me. I've seen part of one of the movies too and it still just didn't do it for me. Therefore, I wasn't too interested in this story either. This story basically just summed up Harry Potter and the basic story line. But pretty much it was a boring read for me.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Three Trial Memiors
#1
The Power of the Z
Ever since I was twelve years old I’ve been fascinated with cars. I’ve particularly been interested in foreign sports cars. At the age of fourteen, I was first introduced to the Nissan 350z. An older friend of mine bought one and took me for a bit of a joy ride one night. It had been raining; the roads were now layered inch upon inch. So of course it was time to show off. We got ready to pull onto the highway and he floored it, getting sideways entering traffic. The layer of water was not happy with his actions and he soon lost control and spun in the opposite direction facing oncoming traffic. Luckily we spun onto the shoulder. Since that incident, I have been hooked on getting a Z.
At the age of fifteen, another friend of mine got a 350z. Oddly enough, it was completely identical to that of my previous friend’s. The color was Pikes Pearl White, cream leather interior and a six-speed manual that shifted you from 0-60 in 5 seconds. Since I now had my learner’s permit, my dreams of getting to drive this unreachable machine finally became true. I remember getting in and backing it down the driveway for the first time. I had a smile on my face that stretched from ear to ear. I drove it pretty easy to get use to it first, especially since I had only been driving for a month and already had a speeding ticket. But that’s a whole different story. After getting warmed up, I took it around some back roads where I let the Japanese engineering do what it does best; perform in tight curves. I was taking fifty and sixty degree turns well over the designated speed limit. As I left one right hand turn I saw my opening to about a half mile long straight away. So of course I took advantage. As quickly as I slammed the pedal to the floor my head slammed back in the seat. I reached my peak of 110 m.p.h. as I ran out of road and had to break for the next turn. I, again, had a grin from ear to ear. As the day came to an end, I sadly had to give this astonishing dream of mine up.
As my want and desire for this car strengthened even more after getting a taste of what it can do, it decreased my parent’s willingness to buy me one. After months of arguing, my dad finally reached an agreement with me. He told me if I got into college on a full ride that he would buy me one. Well unfortunately I didn’t get in on a full ride. I was only about eight hundred dollars short. So my dream, want, desire and lust for this seemingly unreachable goal still lives on. Luckily, however, my perseverance is stronger than my want. One day my dream will come true.
#2
Village Life
Going into this trip, I didn’t really know what to expect. I was going into a third world country six thousand miles away from the U.S. with a group of people whom I had never met a month prior to our departure. We were expected to spend a week in a village and help kids ranging in age 5-17. I was excited to go yet insanely nervous at the same time. I had no idea what to expect to happen on this trip. After an eleven hour demanding flight we arrived in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.
I was excited to be there and finally be off the plane. The only down side was with the time change; we got there just in time to start the day all over again. We met our Ukrainian leaders and translators at the airport and rode in an old VW van with no air-conditioner to our village that was six hours away. With the miserable conditions on the van, the ride seemed even longer than the flight. We arrived in our village and it was even worse than I had expected. Few people had cars to venture outside the village and most just rode their bikes or walked. Therefore, most of the people within never saw life outside of their village so to have Americans visit them would be like having a celebrity coming to our town. We started that afternoon by introducing ourselves to the 300+ children involved in the camp. I’ve spoken in front of large crowds before but never with someone translating every word I said. It was difficult adjusting to needing someone to speak for you in every conversation. The week progressed and my hours of sleep stayed the same. With the time change it was difficult sleeping at night and so the first 96 hours there I didn’t have more than 2 hours collectively spent sleeping. However, I wouldn’t have changed that because it was just more time spent getting to interact with the children and elders of the village. Two other people from my group and I stayed the week in an elder ladies house with one of our translators and we all soon grew fond of her. She opened her home to us and treated us as if we were her own kids. We even started to call her Maa-Maa.
Midway through the week it started to hit me that my time there was almost over. I had grown close to everyone there already and it had only been three days. We split the 300 kids into smaller groups consisting of about 40 kids. Being “celebrities” in the community made all of the kids very receptive of our help which caused all of us to grow even more attached to them. By the end of the week, all my expectations of the trip which I had previously had were nothing of that which actually happened. None of us wanted to leave our new “family.”
Ukrainians are some of the friendliest and most generous people I’ve ever come across. This experience has shown me that there is so much more out there in the world than the United States has to offer. Yes, the way of life is better than any other country but I see no good in that if you can’t help other people to improve their way of life. When I look at the pictures of the trip, I remember seeing these people as if they were just normal people. Now I keep these photos on my bookcase where, every time I see them, I think of how much they opened their arms to me. I intending on going back to my “family” for an extended period of time to reunite and continue to better help their lives.
#3
Flip of a Lifetime
Senior year was coming to an end and the morning was just like any other. I drug myself out of bed and got ready to go to school just hoping for that last day. I left the house around 7:45, pushing it to make it on time as usual. As I was getting ready to pull out of the subdivision onto the highway, I noticed my friend Katelyn was running late as well. I pulled out behind her and she gained some distance from me as she was obviously going faster than I. As a slight curve arose in the road, she wasn’t paying attention and crossed the center line plowing into a minivan head on. I was in disbelief at what was happening right in front of me. A semi carrying crushed cars was following behind the minivan and locked up the brakes and swerved crossing into my lane attempting to avoid the wreck. Reality then set in.
The semi flipped onto its side sliding towards me at speeds of sixty miles an hour which matched that of my own. I slammed on my breaks, threw the vehicle in reverse and floored it, backing up as the semi slid towards me. As it finally came to a stop I couldn’t believe what had just happened. I thought for sure that Katelyn was gone. I jumped out of the car and called 911 as the driver of the semi crawled out onto the embankment of which it had rested upon. I yelled and asked if he was okay; he nodded yes and laid back in shock. I then ran to the lady in the minivan. Her vehicle completely smashed as she cried out for help. I tried to calm her but she was in total shock.
I then proceeded to Katelyn’s car where I knew I didn’t want to go. Her window was shattered out and I could hear her crying out for help. She also was in total shock when she saw me there. She had blood running from her head and about that time the ambulance and the life-flight helicopter arrived. She was still alive and that I was thankful for. I spent another hour and a half talking to the cops and filling out reports on what happened. The man in the semi walked away shaken up, the lady in the minivan had a broken leg and Katelyn suffered from a cracked vertebra, broken hip, leg and ankle. It wasn’t until 3 months later that she was able to walk on her own and finally get back to normal life.
Situations such as this always throw one of guard but strengthen at the same time. I’m more aware of my surroundings now and am extremely thankful that I wasn’t hit by the turned over semi along with the crushed cars that spilled out from the top. I was also glad to know everyone involved was okay, especially my friend Katelyn. Though she suffered extreme pain and had to learn to walk again, she was fortunate to make it through that morning.
The Power of the Z
Ever since I was twelve years old I’ve been fascinated with cars. I’ve particularly been interested in foreign sports cars. At the age of fourteen, I was first introduced to the Nissan 350z. An older friend of mine bought one and took me for a bit of a joy ride one night. It had been raining; the roads were now layered inch upon inch. So of course it was time to show off. We got ready to pull onto the highway and he floored it, getting sideways entering traffic. The layer of water was not happy with his actions and he soon lost control and spun in the opposite direction facing oncoming traffic. Luckily we spun onto the shoulder. Since that incident, I have been hooked on getting a Z.
At the age of fifteen, another friend of mine got a 350z. Oddly enough, it was completely identical to that of my previous friend’s. The color was Pikes Pearl White, cream leather interior and a six-speed manual that shifted you from 0-60 in 5 seconds. Since I now had my learner’s permit, my dreams of getting to drive this unreachable machine finally became true. I remember getting in and backing it down the driveway for the first time. I had a smile on my face that stretched from ear to ear. I drove it pretty easy to get use to it first, especially since I had only been driving for a month and already had a speeding ticket. But that’s a whole different story. After getting warmed up, I took it around some back roads where I let the Japanese engineering do what it does best; perform in tight curves. I was taking fifty and sixty degree turns well over the designated speed limit. As I left one right hand turn I saw my opening to about a half mile long straight away. So of course I took advantage. As quickly as I slammed the pedal to the floor my head slammed back in the seat. I reached my peak of 110 m.p.h. as I ran out of road and had to break for the next turn. I, again, had a grin from ear to ear. As the day came to an end, I sadly had to give this astonishing dream of mine up.
As my want and desire for this car strengthened even more after getting a taste of what it can do, it decreased my parent’s willingness to buy me one. After months of arguing, my dad finally reached an agreement with me. He told me if I got into college on a full ride that he would buy me one. Well unfortunately I didn’t get in on a full ride. I was only about eight hundred dollars short. So my dream, want, desire and lust for this seemingly unreachable goal still lives on. Luckily, however, my perseverance is stronger than my want. One day my dream will come true.
#2
Village Life
Going into this trip, I didn’t really know what to expect. I was going into a third world country six thousand miles away from the U.S. with a group of people whom I had never met a month prior to our departure. We were expected to spend a week in a village and help kids ranging in age 5-17. I was excited to go yet insanely nervous at the same time. I had no idea what to expect to happen on this trip. After an eleven hour demanding flight we arrived in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.
I was excited to be there and finally be off the plane. The only down side was with the time change; we got there just in time to start the day all over again. We met our Ukrainian leaders and translators at the airport and rode in an old VW van with no air-conditioner to our village that was six hours away. With the miserable conditions on the van, the ride seemed even longer than the flight. We arrived in our village and it was even worse than I had expected. Few people had cars to venture outside the village and most just rode their bikes or walked. Therefore, most of the people within never saw life outside of their village so to have Americans visit them would be like having a celebrity coming to our town. We started that afternoon by introducing ourselves to the 300+ children involved in the camp. I’ve spoken in front of large crowds before but never with someone translating every word I said. It was difficult adjusting to needing someone to speak for you in every conversation. The week progressed and my hours of sleep stayed the same. With the time change it was difficult sleeping at night and so the first 96 hours there I didn’t have more than 2 hours collectively spent sleeping. However, I wouldn’t have changed that because it was just more time spent getting to interact with the children and elders of the village. Two other people from my group and I stayed the week in an elder ladies house with one of our translators and we all soon grew fond of her. She opened her home to us and treated us as if we were her own kids. We even started to call her Maa-Maa.
Midway through the week it started to hit me that my time there was almost over. I had grown close to everyone there already and it had only been three days. We split the 300 kids into smaller groups consisting of about 40 kids. Being “celebrities” in the community made all of the kids very receptive of our help which caused all of us to grow even more attached to them. By the end of the week, all my expectations of the trip which I had previously had were nothing of that which actually happened. None of us wanted to leave our new “family.”
Ukrainians are some of the friendliest and most generous people I’ve ever come across. This experience has shown me that there is so much more out there in the world than the United States has to offer. Yes, the way of life is better than any other country but I see no good in that if you can’t help other people to improve their way of life. When I look at the pictures of the trip, I remember seeing these people as if they were just normal people. Now I keep these photos on my bookcase where, every time I see them, I think of how much they opened their arms to me. I intending on going back to my “family” for an extended period of time to reunite and continue to better help their lives.
#3
Flip of a Lifetime
Senior year was coming to an end and the morning was just like any other. I drug myself out of bed and got ready to go to school just hoping for that last day. I left the house around 7:45, pushing it to make it on time as usual. As I was getting ready to pull out of the subdivision onto the highway, I noticed my friend Katelyn was running late as well. I pulled out behind her and she gained some distance from me as she was obviously going faster than I. As a slight curve arose in the road, she wasn’t paying attention and crossed the center line plowing into a minivan head on. I was in disbelief at what was happening right in front of me. A semi carrying crushed cars was following behind the minivan and locked up the brakes and swerved crossing into my lane attempting to avoid the wreck. Reality then set in.
The semi flipped onto its side sliding towards me at speeds of sixty miles an hour which matched that of my own. I slammed on my breaks, threw the vehicle in reverse and floored it, backing up as the semi slid towards me. As it finally came to a stop I couldn’t believe what had just happened. I thought for sure that Katelyn was gone. I jumped out of the car and called 911 as the driver of the semi crawled out onto the embankment of which it had rested upon. I yelled and asked if he was okay; he nodded yes and laid back in shock. I then ran to the lady in the minivan. Her vehicle completely smashed as she cried out for help. I tried to calm her but she was in total shock.
I then proceeded to Katelyn’s car where I knew I didn’t want to go. Her window was shattered out and I could hear her crying out for help. She also was in total shock when she saw me there. She had blood running from her head and about that time the ambulance and the life-flight helicopter arrived. She was still alive and that I was thankful for. I spent another hour and a half talking to the cops and filling out reports on what happened. The man in the semi walked away shaken up, the lady in the minivan had a broken leg and Katelyn suffered from a cracked vertebra, broken hip, leg and ankle. It wasn’t until 3 months later that she was able to walk on her own and finally get back to normal life.
Situations such as this always throw one of guard but strengthen at the same time. I’m more aware of my surroundings now and am extremely thankful that I wasn’t hit by the turned over semi along with the crushed cars that spilled out from the top. I was also glad to know everyone involved was okay, especially my friend Katelyn. Though she suffered extreme pain and had to learn to walk again, she was fortunate to make it through that morning.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Short Story Descriptions
Memoirs-
So this story was kind of sad in a way to me. Not because someone died; although there were a ton of casualties in this war. But that is not the focus of this story. The fact that the family had to suffer and run away from their home to hide because of a war that didn’t even concern them is the sad part of the story. The fact that that probably is how most families had to live during
Us And Them-
So even though the family, the Tomkeys that is, was very weird I found the kid to be even stranger. I didn’t really understand the purpose of the story, but the fact that the boy devoted all his time and effort into trying to figure out this family is disturbing in a sense. More so than the families non-interest in television and normal everyday endeavors. I can see that he somewhat understood in the end that he was wrong for being so interested in their boredom but it obviously didn’t fully sink in. His obsession was disturbing.
Mick Jagger Wants Me-
Although this girl turned into what one would call a whore for making out with every guy she came in contact with, it’s evident that she realized that wasn’t the life she wanted to pursue. Hence why she couldn’t go into meet Mick Jagger because it wasn’t the fair tail she always desired.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The Nissan Z.
So a little about me. If you can't tell from the title above, I am pretty much obsessed with the Nissan Z car. The new Z, the 350z, is where my love first began. It came out in spring 2002 as an 03 model. Well in the winter of 03 I had the opportunity to ride in one of these amazing machines. It had been raining that night, and the friend of mine that was driving reached down, turned of the traction control, put it first and floored it pulling onto a main highway. He turned and downshifted into 2nd and as soon as he did, we spun out facing the wrong way with oncoming traffic. Since then, i've been completely in love. I got the chance in summer of 05 to drive one. I was only 15 and had already had my first speeding ticket so i was a little nervous needless to say. A friend of mine leant me his Z to drive and my dad road around with me. Well i had been driving for a few hours and came upon a straight away. So i gave it a little gas and was running around 85 when my dad told me that if i wanted to floor it that it would be the time to. So i did. I hit 110, which was the first time i broke 100 in a car. I then fell more in love with the car. My dad actually told me then if I got a full ride to college that he would buy me one. Well that didn't happen and i ended up about 200 bucks short of a full ride. Go figure. So, now i drive a jeep instead.
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