The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

This looks to be a potentially interesting and most likely tear-jerking movie and so I will probably not go see it (I'm not really the slow-paced sentimental type), but for those of you who fit the profile I say go for it.

Synopsis:
This movie tells the story of Benjamin Button a man born in his 80's then progressively gets younger as everyone else in his life ages. The movie follows Button's story beginning right after WWI all the way up to the 21st century. It's based on the 1920's story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is directed by David Fincher and stars Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt, and a myriad of other rather famous people.

Slideshow

My take:
Honestly I think it looks like a pretty good movie even though I am not a major Brad Pitt fan. I think it will be interesting to follow Button's life as well as the lives of those around him change as time passes. I am also curious about how the movie will end, will Button become a baby at the age of 100? This movie looks to be a mindtrip so for those of you out there who do not like to think, I do not recomend that this be the movie you see over Winter Break, otherwise it presents as an excellent choice.

Release Date: December 25, 2008

The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice

Despite their somewhat cheesy qualities I do enjoy the "Librarian" movies. These movies are to me as a 10 cent love story novel is to the serious book-a-holic, they are not everyone's cup of tea. So in all fairness I must give an bias-less review.

If you are like me and enjoy the cheesy action-adventure Indiana Jones type movies then this would be a good movie for you. (I did not mean to insinuate that Indiana Jones was cheesy by the way, those movies are lactose intolerant as far as cheesiness goes.) This movie involved vampires and had a no-thought-required plot in which Flynn Carson travels to Louisiana on vacation per a dream he had of a beautiful woman and ends up searching for the Judas Chalice (a goblet made out of the pieces of silver paid to Judas for the betrayal of Jesus Christ) that has the ability to resurrect dead vampires (here is a full synopsis). It contained some good mythology and a few brain teasers, but was very predictable as far as who was bad and what would happen in the end. The one thing I found interesting was the conspiracy surrounding Judson (the owner and keeper of The Library) who is, as viewers found out in the latest movie, over 2000 years old and the very first Librarian. The legend is that Judas hung himself after betraying Jesus and was cursed to forever wander the night making him the very first vampire. Judson's last name technically could be pronounced Judeson = Judason or son of Judas which was a nice play on words. The end of the movie also left an opening for another movie to be made which can either be annoying (because it is inconclusive) or to the true fan exciting (because it means that there is more to the story).

On the other hand if you are a very serious movie watcher and feel that movies in which you can predict the end at the beginning are a waste of your time then I highly recomend that you not watch this movie because it wasn't all that terrific. The graphics were easily detectable and the jokes were mainly one-liners. There wasn't really any majorly thought-provoking material and 'ah-ha' type moments were scarce if not nonexistent.

While I may have enjoyed the movie many others probably did/would not. If I had to un-bias-edly rate the movie I would probably give it one and one half stars due to the previously stated facts and on top of that it was not family-friendly which can be a major determining factor for some viewers. The first two movies were better although they probably wouldn't light any fires in Hollywood either.

I'm Having a Fan-Girl Moment....for Lost

I am very excited for the next season of Lost (which I do not believe was supposed to happen, but will complete the J.J. Abrams tradition of coming back for a 5th season even if it is only partial) and so I thought I have decided to put the elongated season 5 trailer on my blog (then accompany it with a homemade video of me screaming and hyperventilating....I am kidding by the way, I am very excited though). Here it is:

Random Thought that is Topic-Related

Last night after watching an episode of 'Lost' that I had recorded I began thinking about a certain character's name. One major character is the French Woman whose name is Danielle Rousseau who has been stuck on the Island for over 16 years during which time she had a daughter who she named Alex. A few days after she had the baby the child was taken away by 'The Others' people left over from the Dharma Initiative project. In the third season (the season the episode I watched last night came from) Alex reappears in the plot as a potentially defining character. The funny thing is that if you add her last name to her name her name is Alex Rousseau which is also the name of a character in a major Disney Channel show. This got me thinking about why these names were the same (let's face it, what are the odds of two shows having characters that look kind of similar with the same names?) then I remembered that Disney owns ABC which owns 'Lost' and I was sad. This is just another shred of evidence showing Disney's major expansion (and perhaps corruption) in the media.

Here's an interesting question, why would Disney have character's in two of its shows with the same name? Most likely coincidence, but potentially a publicity stunt eh?

The 'Twilight' Epidemic

I just want to say before I type anything else that I read the first 3 books before they were popular. Actually when I was reading them I was spurned for reading creepy scifi vampire books and now I am spurned for having no desire to read the fourth. Well that's not entirely true, I do want to read the fourht, but not because I am obsessed, I want to read it because it is a good story that left off at a bit of a pinch in the third book and I want to know what happens.

Now that the media has gotten its claws into a good book every tween girl (by the way what does tween mean?) in the nation is in love with Edward Cullen (I however am rooting for Jacob) and fantasizes that they are Bella. Girls who are in love with Edward seem to feel the need to be protected from everything bad in the world (as Edward does for Bella) by an incredibly jealous overprotective, formal/stiff, boy with incredible strength. Now before I go on I must admit that after reading the first book I felt a little the same way, but after reading the next two books Edward is seriously starting to get on my nerves, why would anyone want to be held captive by their boyfriend's sister? I find it kind of sad (not to bash the girls in these videos or anything I'm sure they're great people and all) that a girl would let herself slip so far as to become so obsessed with a series of books and fictional characters that she practically devotes her life to it:

Trouble Starts With 'T' Which Rhymes With 'E' Which Stands for Essay

I have had some major difficulties with writing essays very recently. To be more accurate yesterday I had an anvil dropped on my head when I found out that the essay that determines quite a chunk of my final grade had received a C+. I am an A average student so one can only imagine how I felt. It was ironic because a week ago I caught part of an episode of Gilmore Girls, it was a very early episode from the first season in which Rory has just transferred to Chilton and is taking an AP Language Arts class. During the previously stated episode Rory gets her first paper back and is shocked to see a red D circled at the top of the paper. I remember watching that episode and not being able to imagine the shock of a D paper and being glad that I didn't have to, but Lo and behold yesterday I practically did. I struggled yesterday with deciding whether or not to drop down to a lower level LA class because I felt incredibly stupid, at the end of the day (literally) I decided the class offered a chance to improve my writing and experience a bit of college, besides I'm going to be a nurse not an essayist so no worries as far as my career goes.

Today I had another anvil dropped on my head when the class was assigned another essay identical to the last. I have no idea what to write about and am clueless on how to effectively go about writing that which I have no clue. I don't even know what the purpose of the essay is supposed to be. I am lost. Wait a minute...

I've just grown a brain and decided to look at the essay options and they are indeed different from the last essay. Hark, light on the horizon, I am saved. This essay actually looks to be something I can write successfully about. I think I am going to use my bad essay as an oportunity to grow. I read throught the remarks last night and was able to come the the conclusion that my essay was filled of rubbish and had about as much use as kindling, but the comments made should help me write my next essay...I hope. Well now that I have finished ranting about absolutely nothing important I feel much better and can now move on to a different rant. Oh happy day (if you could actually here me say this you would know that it is oozing sarcasm).

Disney: Corrupting the Minds of Children Everywhere

Disney has began the downward spiral toward the plumbing at the end of a porcelain basin. Seriously what is the point of the Disney Channel anymore, all it seems to add to the world are more paychecks for shrinks all around the world. Whereas Disney used to show programs relating to everyday life (i.e. Boy Meets World, which I will agree is not appropriate for all ages, but still...) now it shows useless tidbits of children getting into and magically out of shenanigans all withing 23 minutes of air time. A good example of this would be Suite Life, a show about twin boys that live in, and seem to have free run of, a magical 5 star hotel. In the previously stated whimsical hotel the children run rampid and get it all sorts of shenanigans that in real life would quite possibly result in deportation to military school, but no, this is a magical story so the children always manage to get themselves out of trouble or at least escape a realistic punishment. What does this teach the children of the world? It teaches them that getting into trouble is okay, everything will turn out in the end, take risks, make major mistakes, break things, etc. because there will always be someone there to bail you out. WRONG!!! Sugar-coating life only gives children a sugar rush which leads to a major downfall later in life.

Quite possibly the worst show on Disney is Hannah Montana. This show is about a teenage popstar who lives a "normal" life (in her ginormous multi-million dollar beach house) by hiding her true identity. This show has pretty much the same plot as Suite Life except there isn't a magniforous hotel for the lead to live in. This show (in a some-what backwards/under the table way) teaches children that if youre rich you can get away with anything. It also teaches children (girls in particular) that highschool all about dating and being poular (not about academics). I personally believe that Disney it's 98.957892470689741% to blame for the decline of human intelligence. Texting is to blame for the other 1.whatever%.

Why I Prefer Not to Blog

I don't really like blogging, especially when it's a required act. I much prefer random writings in a writing journal because that is strictly for my own purpose and I don't have to stick to certain topics. Also I am having sooo much trouble getting certain things to actually appear on my blog like they're supposed to. For instance links, I hve tried five times now to get a list of links to appear on my blog and yet as far as I can tell there are no links. If I want something to appear in my writing journal then I simply put pen/pencil to paper and make it happen. The internet is a complicated thing and paper isn't simple as that. Plus in my writing journal my grammar and spelling were allowed to be crazy and now I actually have to watch said things (not that I actually am) which is rather annoying. I also have to meet a quota of words every week which leads me to write useless filler posts such as this one here.

Sentiments for PETA

PETA better known as People for the Eating of Tasty Animals, officially known as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. I'm going to be very blunt, I harbor a great disliking of PETA. I don't know a whole lot about PETA, but I do know that when the Eight Bells tragedy occurred this year PETA's immediate response was to start pointing fingers at people such as the horse's trainer and owners. I found this act heinous. What happened to Eight Bells was a freak accident and tremendous tragedy. It wasn't an act of hatred or cruelty toward animals until PETA made it out to be. I've got a question for all the PETA fans out there, say you've got a beloved dog that loves to play fetch. One day you are playing fetch when by some freak occurence the ball you are throwing gets out of your yard (which I'm sure is fenced in) and ends up in the street. Your dog, loving the chase follows that ball into the street and gets hit by a car which shatters all four of his legs causing him to need to be euthanized. Does this make you a horrible person who has malicious intent towards all animals? No, this makes you the victim of a horrible accident and quite honestly I don't think you'd like "animal rights activists" sending you nasty emails, writing you offensive letters, or picketing outside your house day and night. It's the same with the Eight Bells tragedy, no one could have ever predicted that she was going to crash and I'm sure if she has shown any signs of injury before the race her owners would have scratched her, so PETA please get over yourselves and quit harassing people who really don't need to be harassed. Here's a thought actually do something to help animals and stop pissing people off.

Now I might greatly detest PETA, but I do agree with some of the things they are sort of halfway fighting for such as shutting down horse slaughter houses (which are cruel and wasteful). I also agree that most other slaughter houses present only a cruel and painful end to the animals they are in charge of and that needs to be rectified. I am also against cruelty to animals which is why I am a member of the ASPCA who actually fights cruelty to animals while PETA merely protests it. If PETA intends to be such a big name in the "fight" against animal cruelty then its members need to be willing to actually do some fighting, at least some fundraising for the ASPCA or some other such organization that actually does something to put an end to cruelty to animals. So please PETA put away the picket signs, get off your bums and do something to protect animals without pissing people off.

Lost

I don't really understand why everybody seems to hate the show 'Lost.' There are so many worse shows in the world, for instance 'Grey's Anatomy.' I suppose to each his/her own. I think 'Lost' is a most excellent show because it has something for everyone: drama (a disheveled group of miscreants crash into an island that cannot be found except by those who already know where it is whilst being hunted by something or someone, you can't really get any more dramatic than that), romance (husband and wife work through differences to refind love, a young pregnant lady developes a more-than friendship with a drug addict member of a major rock-band, a Iraqi militant finds and loses love, a love 27agon developes between a theif/murderess and practically every other man on the island, asthmatic step-sister works through her screwed-up past, present and future, need I go on? I think not), action/adventure (people are always fighting, shooting, getting kidnapped, escaping, thieving, learning things they shouldn't and running into major problems), intrigue/mystery (why are they on the island, who's trying to kidnap them, why are people being abducted, why didn't everybody die in the plane crash, what happened in everybody's past life, etc.), sci-fi (the whole thing with Dharma and their civilization on the island), have I left enything out? If so please let me know and I will find something in 'Lost' to represent it. I apologize to all the 'Grey's Anatomy' fans out there but seriously what does 'Grey's Anatomy" have besides sex and phoney drama? And why are all their scrubs blue? Blue scrubs are surgeon scrubs aren't they? Are they ll surgeons?

The obnoxious thing about 'Grey's Anatomy' is that it attempts to portray real life occurences and does so incredibly poorly/inacurrately garbling it up with sleazy crap that nobody really needs to watch on TV. 'Lost' however presents a situation that will never happen in a realistic setting for the circumstances faced by the characters. 'Lost' also has a deeper plot than 'Grey's Anatomy' in the fact that 'Lost' digs into the pasts and futures of each main character in order to better explain and portray the effects of certain events on each character. 'Lost' is a mentally challenging show to watch which might stand cause for the reason that certain people don't like it, they don't have the mental stamina to keep up with the plot. I'm not trying to anger anybody, I'm certain there are people in the world who don't like 'Lost' for different reasons that they can explain, but when someone is asked why they don't like a show and their answer is simply because it is a stupid show maybe they should reevaluate their reasoning.

I have most recently discovered 'Lost' after finishing all five seasons of 'Alias' which is my favourite show ever and was created by the same writer/director and has music composed by the same person. I highly recommend 'Alias' to anyone who enjoys watching 'Lost' as 'Alias' presents a similar mind trip.

Torture in the form of endless dots accompanied by a Random Rant!

Why!?!?!?! Why must a student's intelligence be measured by a test of how many bubbles they can correctly fill in throughout a certain amount of time? I quite honestly despise standardized tests because forcing a person get up early in the morning, pay to go somehwere they don't want to be, sit for 4 hours whilst filling in bubbles, then writing an essay is as incorrect morally as this sentece (and quite possibly entire post) is gramatically. Teenagers (who are generally the people taking standardized tests) do not function in the morning nor do they function on weekends, so basing their future off of test scores from exams that were taken in the morning on Saturdays is entirely bogus. I mean if a student must be forced to hav their future career based on said test-scores the least people could do to help them out is get them out of school to take the tests that way the tests don't impose on their leisure time which is usually filled with homework anyway. The educational system of this nation needs to CHANGE, so somebody please FIX IT! I love Saturday Night Live this year. I actually only discovered it this year because I was tired of political comercials and the election. Thus ends the rather short rant.

Don't Even...

For all the people out there who believe that horse-back riding/any sport involving horses is not a sport, I have quite an argument for you. If you really wish to engage me on this subject go ahead, but be aware that I warned you not to.

Horse-back riding and all afilliated activites is/are (a) sport(s). (Is that messy enough for you?) If so here is what I'm attempting to say: Equestrians are Athletes! Most people who disagree: have no knowledge of horses, are afraid of horses, have never seen a horse except for on TV, or think they know everything about horses because they rode a pony at the county fair once and decided that was all the experience they needed to determine that riding horses is not a sport. Well I have a word or two to say to said people about their supposed knowledge on horses and neither word is very nice.

It takes a build-up of certain muscles to be able to control a two-ton animal and keep that animal's respect at the same time. For instance when stopping correctly one does not merely yank on those 'string things attached to the halter' (yeah, their called reins ad they attach to th bit which is attached to the bridle) one must sit down in the saddle and crunch ones abs in order to use one's tailbone to signal the horse to stop, if the horse does not stop then one must gently but firmly apply pressure to the horse's mouth by way of the reins while continuing to crunch abs. Even something as small as stopping the horse is a muscular task.

Another display of strength when riding is portrayed when one is 'going fast' (loping, cantering,

galloping). During this time one must once crunch abs and use leg muscles to collect the horse and safely mmove in to the next gait. Whilst one is loping/cantering one must continue to crunch abs in order to stay upright so as not to fall off the horse and DIE, while also using their legs to keep the horse moving at the correct speed. Moving at high speed on a horse can be very dangerous so before you say "Oh, that's nothing, (compared to another sport i.e. soccer, football, baseball, what-have-you)" why don't you get on my green, speed-crazed mare and try it. If you can successfully canter her in a perfect circle while maintaining her speed, not falling off, not letting her run away with you, and getting her to slow back down, then I might listen to you.

Equestrian sports are the type of sports that build muscle, increase reaction time/mental capabilites, and teach a person how to control almost every muscle in the body which is what I think about every other sport in the worl also does. What most other sports in the world do not have is the imminent danger of serious injurey or death. Equestrian sports are more dangerous than extreme skiing (which is not something every highschool sport could claim), every time an equestrian involves themself in any way with a horse they are risking their life. This is caused by the unpredictability of a horses actions. At any given moment a horse could bolt at, kick, bite, or trample anything in their path. I have almost been killed due to horse-related accidents at least twice in my six years of riding horses, I've been thrown, run away with, knocked down, dragged, stepped on and almost trampled by a two thousand pound animal (for most scenarios) many times and I'm sure there are many more near-death experiences yet to come. Could any highschool jock say the same. I've watched friends almost die, and had a friend put into a coma by a horse, each one of them still participates in and loves the sport. Part of the sport is the thrill and the danger, the other part is the life-long friendship/partnership one makes with the horse they ride. Horse-back riding is one of the most demanding and rewarding sports in the world today.

I was taking the ACT and then it came to me...

Whilst I was sitting in agony attempting to decipher an essay about paper usage my mind began to wander. Eventually it wandered to the topic of my blog (which was a rather short trip: essay ->AP Lang ->Blog). I began to think hard on what topic I should write about today and eventually I realized it was tome to write about one of my actual blog topics: Movies/Television quotes. Not just any quotes either, fellow bloggers may I present "The Gilmore Awards." As anyone who has watched "Gilmore Girls" knows the Gilmores are big on movies and full of excellent quotes so The Gilmore Awards shall honor my favorite television and movie quotes. (Please keep in mind that in order to find the funny/importance in some of these quotes you must have seen the show or movie so please do not complain/mock/put-down unless you have seen the show/movie and can answer a few questions about said form of entertainment)

"Wow I Wish Someone Would Say That To Me Quote"

1. Will Tippin(Alias): 'Syd I don't love you for what you do or what you don't do, I just love you.'
2. Noah(The Notebook): 'So it's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be really hard. We're gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, for ever, you and me, every day. Will you do something for me, please? Just picture your life for me? 30 years from now, 40 years from now? What's it look like? If it's with him, go. Go! I lost you once, I think I can do it again. If I thought that's what you really wanted. But don't you take the easy way out.'
3. Westley(The Princess Bride): 'As you wish.'

Now that the most boring category is finished let us get on to the good stuff:

"Best Quotes Compliments of Great Britain (,Australia, and possibly New Zealand)"

1. Elizabeth Swann(PotC2): [indignantly] 'No! This is barbaric! This is no way for grown men to settle... oh, fine! Let's just haul out our swords and start banging away at each other! That will solve everything! I've had it! I've had it with wobbly-legged, rum-soaked pirates!' [starts throwing rocks at them]
2. Evelyn Carnahan(The Mummy): 'He must have been somone of great importance or he did something very naughty.'
3. Julian Sark(Alias): 'Did it have to be so filthy? I mean, really, if Rambaldi can prophesize the future, he might have advised me not to wear $500 shoes.'
4. Vala Mal Doran(Stargate SG-1): 'You know, I never thought I'd agree with my father but now I'm starting to remember about how he used to go about, you nurture them, and you raise them, and you teach them the best that you can, and then all they do is break your heart. I always assumed that his experience was just tainted by me.'

"Quotes and Dialogues by Elizabeth Corday (There were too many to fit in the British Category)"

1. Dr. Elizabeth Corday: [on the phone] I don't care if it's raining fire and brimstone, you are going to get me to that church if I have to ride on your back like a bloody donkey [hangs up angrily] Isabelle Corday: Perhaps you should eat something Dr. Elizabeth Corday: I do not need to eat. Nor do I need a spot of tea, or a moment of quiet reflection on this, my special day. This is America, and sometimes you just have to kick some ass.
2. Dr. Elizabeth Corday: That's it, then! I'm not staying here anymore! Dr. Mark Greene: Here we go. Dr. Elizabeth Corday: Every faucet leaks, your toilet actually rocks! Dr. Mark Greene: I kinda like that. Dr. Elizabeth Corday: And there are creatures scurrying about in the walls. Do you know what scurries about in walls, Mark? Dr. Mark Greene: ...Bunnies?
3. Dr. Elizabeth Corday: I can't believe I was allowing myself to feel something for an absolute... Abby Lockhart: Bastard? Jerk?... Wanker?
4. Dr. Elizabeth Corday: He's a horrid little turd, isn't he?
5. Dr. Elizabeth Corday: Bollucks to you all!

"The Lorelais Gilmore"

1. Rory: Do something to make me hate you! Lorelai: Um, go Hitler?
2. Lorelai: What happened? The reception on the phone sucked. All I heard was "Rory" and "Chilton" and "Get down here." Whose butt do I have to kick? Rory: We didn't go to breakfast. Lorelai: What are you talking about? Rory: We came here. They broke into the headmaster's office as the big initiation. Lorelai: Ugh, those stupid girls. Rory: Uh huh. Part of the initiation was ringing a bell. So, that's what I was doing when security showed up and they called you. Lorelai: That's what you got busted for? That's it? Bell-ringing? Rory: Yes. Lorelai: Were you at least smoking a Cuban cigar while you were doing it? Rory: Mom. Lorelai: No, I mean, "bad girl, how many times have I told you not to ring bells?" Rory: [interrupting] Let's go. Lorelai: [continuing] "They can dent, or scratch, and they make dogs go crazy. Who do you think you are, the Hunchback of Notre Dame? Are you French? Circular? I don't think so." Rory: I'm walking to the car now. Lorelai: [later] Was it a big bell at least?
3. [At the Yale-Harvard football game] Lorelai: Oh, wait, are you Pennilyn Lott, my dad's college sweetheart? Pennilyn Lott: Yes. Lorelai: You're my almost-mommy. Pennilyn Lott: Well, I supposed that's one way of putting it... Lorelai: I'm so glad to finally meet you. Let me ask you something - would you have let me get a pony?
4. Lorelai: Mom, it's just a pretend wedding. J-Lo has them all the time.
5. Lorelai: [at the town meeting, when everyone is talking about the bad things that Jess has done] I hear he controls the weather and wrote the screenplay to Glitter!
6. Rory: So, is this party Grandma's having going to be a big deal? Lorelai: Not really. The government will close that day. Flags will fly at half-mast. Barbara Streisand will give her final concert... again. Rory: Uh-huh. Lorelai: Now, the Pope has previous plans, but he's trying to get out of them. However, Elvis and Jim Morrison are coming and they're bringing chips.
7. Lorelai: Hey, I'm studying in there... Rory: I know. Lorelai: Yeah. I have, like, 6,000 pages of case studies to memorize and this whole big test on the Wal-Mart phenomena coming up on Friday and because I have a life and a job and business school's not the only thing I have to concentrate on I'm behind, and I'll probably fail and then that little 18-year-old annoying gnat who sits behind me will get another 'A' and make that 'I'm smart you're dumb' fact to me for the rest of the week and I'll be very upset and will possibly cry. Rory: The music's too loud. Lorelai: Yes.
8. Lorelai: Heh, you know what I just realized? "Oy" is the funniest word in the entire world. Rory: Hmm. Lorelai: I mean think about it, you never hear the word "oy" and not smile. Impossible. Funny, funny word. Emily: Oh dear God. Lorelai: "Poodle" is another funny word. Emily: Please drink your drink, Lorelai. Lorelai: In fact, if you put "oy" and "poodle" together, in the same sentence, you'd have a great new catchphrase, you know? Like, "Oy with the poodles already." Rory: Hehe. Lorelai: So from now on, when the perfect circumstances arise, we will use our favorite new catchphrase: Rory: Oy with the poodles already. Lorelai: I'm telling you, it's knocking "Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?" right out of first place.

"The Ultimate Gilmore"

Lorelai: My brain is a wild jungle full of scary gibberish. I'm writing a letter, I can't write a letter, why can't I write a letter? I'm wearing a green dress, I wish I was wearing my blue dress, my blue dress is at the cleaners. The Germans wore gray, you wore blue, 'Casablanca' is such a good movie. Casablanca, the White House, Bush. Why don't I drive a hybrid car? I should really drive a hybrid car. I should really take my bicycle to work. Bicycle, unicycle, unitard. Hockey puck, rattlesnake, monkey, monkey, underpants!

"The Gilmore Awards" are a major work in progress so please be aware that there is MUCH more to come this is simply all my tired little brain could come up with after five straight hours of standardized tests.

The Woes of a Weak Immune System

As anyone reading this blog has probably come to conclude I am often ill and therefore I miss quite a bit of school. This has a tendancy to annoy some people which confuses me because there is nothing I can do about it. Other people often accuse me of skipping which is a major pet peeve of mine for if I was a "skipper" why would I work so hard at getting caught up in my classes? Why would I take a day off only to create extra work for myself whcih will take me a lifetime to make up. After all I have a zero hour so all tests and quizzes must be made up during class or after school. This takes more of my free time than I gained from the days spent at home ill, and since I was probably working vigorously on homework during those days I have lost more free time than I would have by going to school. One would think this would clear me of all suspicion, but alas there are still the few people out there who find it easier to believe that I am purposely missing school so that I can go to the doctor to be stuck with multiple needles and have giant q-tips stuck down my throat and scrambled around a bit. Yes indeed that is my idea of a good time.

Last year I was diagnosed with mononucleosis AKA mono which is popularly known as "the Kissing Disease." If I had a dollar for every time someone insinuated that I was infected whilst snogging I would have no need to go to school because I would have enough cash to fund my premature retirement. Alas (even though it would have made for a good story) I was not infected with a kiss. I was infected at the National Lutheran Youth Gathering in which every day twenty-five thousand teenagers convened in a room the size of a football field. It is not doubtful at all that while my group and I were walking through the crowd in search of seats a mono-carrier coughed or sneezed and I inadvertantly breathed in the toxins. You see there are multiple ways for a person to contract mono, one is kissing, but most commonly it is contracted through breathing in the remnants of an infected person's cough or sneeze. Here is a scenario which could have caused me to become ill: the sick person coughs or sneezes and covers their mouth with their hand then touches a chair or bleacher, the next day I sit in (therefore touching with my hands) the chair or bleacher which they touched, I take communion with the hand that touched the infected sitting apparatus and voila I contract mono.

Here is a list of illnesses I have had that would have killed me in the 17th century:
1)Scarlet Fever (worst week of my life)
2)Pneumonia (twice, once without presenting symptoms, the other while I was sick with the flu)
3)Strep Throat (as a child there was hardly a week that I didn't have strep)
4)Influenza (last time I had ran a fever of 102 for two weeks straight)
5)Mononucleosis (lasted for 9ish months and now I'm dealing with the aftermath)
6)A virus that posed as mumps by settling in my cheek glands and causing me to run a high fever (since the mumps test took a week to present results I was in quarantine at my house for a week)

My life rocks! I hope to be immune to everything by my last year in college.

Speeding

Speeding is stupid. Why do people have the need to speed? Most of the time answers include: "I'm late for work." "Grey's Anatomy is on in five minutes." "I'm past my curfew and my parents are going to kill me." "Traffic laws are too strict, especially in residential areas." "I like to go fast." "I have to make dinner." "I just do, besides rules were meant to be broken." To me this is intolerable so here are a few statisics for the speeders of the world:

If you are traveling 25 mph you will travel 85 feet before you stop, if you are traveling 35 mph you will travel 136 feet before you stop, if you are traveling 65 mph you will travel 345 feet before you stop. These distances are for perfect conditions in a small car.

A child hit by a car traveling at a rate of 25 mph has an 80% chance of surviving. I child hit by a car traveling 35 mph has an 80% chance of dying.

Each year about 5,000 pedestrians are killed and another 64,000 are injured in motor vehicle accidents in the U.S.

Speeding is a major contributing factor in motor vehicle accidents of all types and has serious consequences when a pedestrian is involved.
At higher speeds, motorists are not as likely to see a pedestrian. At higher speeds, motorists are even less likely to be able to stop in time to avoid hitting a pedestrian.
- A pedestrian has an 85 percent chance of death when involved in a motor/vehicle collision at 40 mph, a 45 percent chance of death at 30 mph, and a 5 percent chance of death at 20 mph.- In 2005, 78 percent of pedestrian deaths in rural areas occurred on roads with speed limits of 40 mph or higher.

Speed was a factor in one third of all traffic accidents involving fatalities, making it the second highest cause of vehicular fatalities second only to alchohol.

The economic cost to society of speeding-related crashes is estimated at $27.7 billion per year.
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If speeding doesn't get to you, then maybe some statistics about drivers who talk or text while driving will:

Driving while talking on your cell phone is practically the same as driving drunk due to the decrease in reaction time.

Cell phone distraction causes around 2,600 deaths and 330,000 injuries in the United States every year.

Drivers talking on cell phones were 18 percent slower to react to brake lights and 17 percent slower reaction to regain speed lost when breaking, in other words they imped the flow of traffic.

Perhaps these facts will cause some drivers in the world to shut off the cell phone and SLOW DOWN.

When Scary Met Funny...

I have most recently become amused with the "scary" movies of this day and age. For instance, whilst watching a scary movie how many times do you find yourself shouting at the TV "Don't go down that hallway alone/Don't answer that door/Don't turn around/etc."? I find that the stupidity of most main characters greatly detracts from horror movies causing them to become unintentional comedies. It causes viewers such as myself to watch horror movies with a large group of other highschoolers and place bets on which character will die first, next, etcetera, and who will be the lucky few to survive the entire ordeal. There is no point to scary movies such as these other than a good laugh.

Music Makes a Movie

Without music there is no movie and the same goes for TV shows। Music sets the entire mood of a scene and is perhaps the most important element of the production। Music can also ruin a movie for if a movie has an excellent plot, great actors, and a big budget, but fails to invest in an excellent composer and orchestra/symphony/you get my drift, the quality of the movie drops drastically from a movie that people will be raving about forever (or at least until the sequel) to a movie that has a "meh, it was okay I suppose" response.

Music apparently also makes the commercial here are some examples:


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Intro to FYE

Hola!
This blog has no true purpose at this exact point in time. It will probably contain some sort of movie and TV show reviews, a bit of equine babble, and a pinch of random splurging. Youtube will be involved, twill be fun. Enjoy or not, whatever.