Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Smart People

Tagline: Sometimes the smartest people have the most to learn.

This is an independent film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008 where the rights were acquired by Miramax Films. The main characters are played by Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ellen Page (!), and Thomas Haden Church. I picked this movie up on a whim hoping it would be watchable. It turned out to be amazing.

This movie is about a professor who is a witty pompous widower and his journey to become more...sociable. His daughter, played by Ellen Page is a senior in High School and got accepted to Harvard. She is very found of her father and he is her role model, she doesn't have any friends, except for her step uncle who paid a surprise visit and is not living with them. Lawrence, the professor, meets a former student and starts to fall for her. His personality causes a lot of ups and downs in their relationship. In the end he learns a lesson and everyone is happy.

I liked this movie because i felt smart while i was watching it (haha). All of the large vocab words and grammatically correct speaking gives me a sense of hope for quote unquote normal people. The plot was simple but still interesting because of the script and intricate characters. My favorite was either Vanessa Wetherhold (Ellen Page, the daughter) or James Wetherhold (Ashton Holmes, the step brother). This movie may never be as popular as some but it is still worth watching.













Favorite Quote:
Vanessa Wetherhold: Theresa Sternbridge practically runs a soup kitchen and she's always seen posing in photos with crack babies and dying, old, crusty ladies. And do you know why? She scored in the 45th percentile on her SAT. People like you and me don't need to compensate.

Good Will Hunting

The writers of Good Will Hunting were Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, two of the main characters. It started out as an action-thriller movie, which is definitely not how we know it today. After considerable revision and suggestions the movie turned into the award winning film we all love.

Good Will Hunting is about a poor self taught genius from South Boston who has emotional problems bottled up from his childhood abuse(Matt Damon). He works as a Janitor at MIT and gets discovered by a math professor who takes him under his wing. Will gets forced to go to therapy and develops a very good relationship with his therapist(Robin Williams). He ends up finding a girlfriend, who he pushes away in fear of getting to attached. In the end everything always seems to work itself out.

This is such a good movie because even though it has a basic story line there are a lot of extra memorable moments that happen along the way. It is so interesting because you get to watch Will unfold throughout these therapy sessions that reveal more and more about him each time. I can't help but cry every time during the last therapy session. This movie is just a classic that everyone must see.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

What my Blog is about.

This blog is basically all of my entertainment recomenations to you. It is full of my favorite books, movies, and television shows. I try to give them a fair review but they might be a bit bias on my side becasue i only write about things i really like. Maybe i should change that but i would feel bad writing negative comments about anything that someone has put so much work into. Basically you can come to my blog for ideas about what movies to see or books to read. and you can also check out some of the music.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

The Kite Runner


It is about a boy from Afghanistan who is haunted by the guilt of betraying his friend, who is the son of his fathers servant. The book takes place around 1989 when the fall of the Afghanistan monarchy occurred, which takes place in the novel.It is a very well written and interesting book especially for being the author, Hosseini's first novel. He has written two more books, one is a sequence to The Kite Runner called A Thousand Splendid Sons. I haven't read it yet but i hear it is even better then the first one.The Kite Runner was made into a movie which came out on DVD in march. It is a great movie and it's even in the original language of Afghanistan so it has subtitles. The movie, of course, isn't as good as the book because books are always better but it still is a must see.The book is challenging mainly because of the setting being in a different country with the whole different culture. However that was my favorit part about the book the fact that it was different then most books I have read read. Sometimes you have to jump out of your element. Even though i will probabaly never visit Afghanistan i can still read about it and pretend like i'm there.

The Garden City


Missoula, Montana
Known as the Garden City, Missoula is supposedly the place to be.
One of my school administrators, Mr. Maxey, whose opinion i highly respect, told my friend and i that we had to visit this majestic place. When i first heard it was in Montana i have to admit i was a little turned off. So i decided to do some research.
It has a thriving art scene according to wikipedia. The international wildlife film festival is held there. I guess one of the members of Pearl Jam is from Missoula, Aubrey would find that interesting (my friend who is taking this trip with me).
It is the second largest city in Montana and is home to the University of Montana. It is some sort of sanctuary for bicyclist because of the American Bicycle Association's location there.
The college town aspect of this city is so far the most appealing feature to me. I feel like it would be an interesting place to take a road trip to.
Aubz and i will plan one during spring break and then i'll tell you how it went.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Fargo


The only thing i have to say about this movie is that it was produced by the Coen Brothers. They are famous for movies overloaded with plays on stereotypes and over the top movie conventions. Fargo is no exception, this true story comes to life on the screen and it seem to pull you right into the movie.
Fargo is about a car dealer, Jerry, who gets himself into a bit of financial troubles. Jerry comes up with the plan to have his wife kidnapped and held for ransom to be paid by his wealthy father-in-law. The kidnapping doesn't exactly go as planned to say the least and Jerry has to sit back and watch everything happen.

To say the least their are a few murders and allot of blood shed. The genre is kind of a blur between a few things: crime, drama, thriller, and I'm sure a couple more.
My favorite character is Marge Gunderson, who is the pregnant cop sent to investigate the first round of murderers. Her character brings this whole movie together and plays a key role in the plot. She is played by Francis McDormand who is an academy award winning actress.

Monday, December 8, 2008


This show intrigues me to an extent that i am almost embarrassed. Every aspect of it is so interesting and entertaining. I don't really know if it is fake or scripted but i don't want to know i just want it to stay exactly how it is. The whole aspect of having someone with completely different morals, values, and living habits, come into a strangers home and tell them how they should be living is fascinating.
When you watch the show, the things that are different and some would say wrong with the family seem so obvious. However when you take a step back and think about your family, you wonder are there things like this in my family that i dont even notice? I always wonder that. What would america think of my family and the way we live?
The way the show has its up and downs and always comes to a resolving end is great. The families always change for the better.
Also i think it is the way that they are filming everday american families that makes the show so popular. Everyone wants to know what other people's families are like and they compare thier own with them. I am not a big fan of stupid reality shows that are either obviously scripted or that have no point to them at all. However wife swap is different.

Hot Rod

This is a film that will definitely never fail to produce a good laugh. Hot Rod is about Rod Kimble, a teenager who has never really grown up, and is aspiring to be a stunt man. He is played beautifully by Andy Samberg, an American stand-up comedian.

The plot consists of Rod trying to raise money for his dying step dad. However, he wants to save his life not to be a good son, but because he wants to someday win their never ending battle of beating each other up. Rod uses his stunt man abilities to raise the money, the only problem is, Rod doesn't really have any stunt man abilities. To make things worse he finds out his dead dad was never really a stunt man, which has been his inspiration for everything his life revolves around.



This movie is full of laughs and enjoyment. It is the kind of movie you can watch over and over and fall in love with it more each time. If i could memorize everyline to this movie then my life would be complete.

Rico: I'm freakin pumped! I've been drinking green tea all goddamn day!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Hypnotic

You are sitting in a velvet read fold up cushioned seat, a line of people are on your right and on your left. A Crowd is staring at all of you while a large man keeps repeating, "You can only hear my voice tune everything else out," in a pathetic attempt to hypnotize you. Of course your mind is far from only listening to his voice. You are wondering, Is this working...I have to go pee...wait PAY ATTENTION...Everyone is starring at me. Then the hypnotist says, "On the count of three you will fall asleep...One...two...Three." Everyone, including you, drops their heads and seem to be asleep. You aren't asleep at all though, you just did this so you wouldn't look like a fool in front of everyone.

This scenario has happened to me twice. Once in eight grade and then again this weekend at my amazingly great work party, i went solely for the free food/gift but decided to join in on the fun and try to get hypnotized. A quarter of the way into the presentation i decided that it definitely hadn't worked and I walked off stage, the person sitting next to me quickly followed. I had noticed that a few other people had walked off earlier. As a watched the rest off the show i couldn't help but think half of them were faking the whole thing.
I don't think that a person can't be hypnotized i just think it takes a certain kind of person to do this and also a very well practiced hypnotist. The kind of person has to be able to be completely relaxed and be able to clear their mind. This is my flaw, i cannot not think if i was forced. This is a very interesting topic, hypnosis is. In fact we just learned about it in Psychology a little bit ago. There are two theories of what happens to a person when they get "hypnotised". Some people think that hypnosis is a unique physiological state, one that a person cannot enter without the help of a hypnotist

Hypnosis researchers believe that hypnosis involves social influences and a special state of dissociation consciousness. So the subjects are partly doing what they are doing to satisfy everyone else but also their mind is separate from the conscience. It's kind of like when you are are getting tickled. If you concentrate hard enough you can disassociate the sensation with the feeling and it won't tickle. This is the same thing that happens with hypnosis.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

corporate monsters



I absolutely hate every cell phone company in the world.
They are so corrupt and ridiculous!
So basically cell phone companies are kind of like the DOT because they don't care about their customers. They know that no matter what they do everyone still NEEDS a cell phone so they will do whatever is needed to have one. The DOT doesn't care because everyone needs a license. So basically cell phone companies can charge whatever ridiculous price they want.
And what i understand is that their is really no way of creating competition. i know that there are different companies to choose from but each is as corrupt as the next. So basically in order to get reception all over the world your cell phone provider needs access to as many cell phone towers as possible. Each company owns their own towers and then pays to use other companies towers. So if one company decided to make their prices lower then the companies they are renting towers from would say, "No more towers for you" because then their lower prices would steal customers from their company. Basically the prices will forever be high because it's a never ending cycle.
Here is my horror story with my cell phone company. I started my own contract, with my mom's signature because i wasn't 18 at the time. My bill was about $80 a month and i had unlimited text messages and like 1200 minutes or something like that. It was the lowest plan they had which made me mad in the first place because i never used more then half of my minutes in a month. So i was way over paying for all of these minutes that i didn't use and i couldn't do anything about it.
That was just the beginning. So my sister, who is 20, decides to add herself to my plan. I told her as long as she could just add herself to my existing plan that would be fine. Because i wasn't using all of my minutes anyway and then i would only have to pay $40 a month. It sounded too good to be true. Trust me it was. She went into my wireless provider and asked them to do this. However they told her that the plan i had was only a single person plan, she couldn't be added to it.
Any normal person would say okay then walk out the door. Oh No not her. She decides to change my whole entire plan so she could be added to it. Ever since then i have been paying $150 plus a month. Every month i go in to ask why and they always have an excuse to tell me why i am paying so much. Every month i go in their to tell them i want my old plan back and every month they tell me i have to wait for a certain period of time before i can do that. I am getting so fed up.
Oh yeah and cell phone companies have these genius things called contracts that lock a person in for as little as two years. If i wanted to just walk away i would have to pay $300.
They have rediculous rules that are only in place for them to make money.
Corrupt jerks
support

11/11....11


Veterans Day, formally know as Armistice Day, is.....Today!
It came about becasue of the ending of World War I, which was known as The Great War back then.
The Treaty of Versailles was signed on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the eleventh hour to end the war. Which is why Veteran's Day is always on November eleventh.
The day was orginally created to celebrate the veterans of WWI but after WWII and the Korean War happened the holdiday was changed to Veterans Day to celebrate all verterans.
It is important that everyone knows about this day and why we celebrate it.
Even if you may not agree with war a still beleive that you need to celebrate and give your appriciation to those people who put their lives in danger to protect our country.
Today make sure you give thanks to any veterans you know and maybe even some you don't know.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

True Life | I'm Obese |



I was sitting in my room and watching TV and this show came on about Obesity. It was talking about obesity being a genetic disease and an how eating is an addiction. The show was giving this man excuses for being fat and justifying his obesity. i found this sick and it made me think about our society. Then i noticed, it is only five o'clock and i am laying in bed watching TV.
How did it come to be like this? How are Americans so lazy?
We do as little as possible to get by.
It's not etirely our fault though
It's just how our culture is.
Compare us to China. They go to school all day and base their lives on the importance of education.
In America education is far from the top of our list.
Bush passes the no child left behind act which has good intentions. But without the money we need to follow through with it then it's crap. It is doing absolutely nothing for us. Kids skip school and hate doing their homework.
In china they are quickly excelling far past American technology and education.
Have you ever met a foreign exchange student?
They are so much more motivated and so much smarter. It's intimidating.
There is only one way to solve it.
We have to change. Our society has to start from the bottom and work our way back up. I think the best way to start is by converting our schools to year-round schooling.
It's to late for my generation we have to start thinking about our kids. How do we want our kids to grow up?

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Lykke Li



Lykke Li is a singer-song writter from Sweden.


She has her own Blog! Lykke Li's Notes


She has one ablum called Youth Novels that came out in Februaury of '08
Her music is very unique and folk sounding which is the feel you get from this debut album. She says that the album is very personal and is mainly about her own teenage expiriences. She says that she is a very shy person but in her album she can express her deepest feelings and emotions. Lykke Li says that she wouldn't like to be famous and be scrutinized by the public eye, corrupting her personality and life. She enjoys her quiet little apartment with her close friends she hangs out with.


I idolize Lykke Li because she has her own opinions and views much like my own. I like how she knows who she is and what she wants. Someday i want to be as sure of myself as she is of herself. I also love her music and the uniquness of it. She truley is an inspiration to me because of the way she thinks and portrays herself. She doesn't care about fame or even money she just wants to be happy and let other people enjoy her music.


She is inspired by visual things such as photos, movies and books
She is a fan of Richard Avedon Photos
Sally Mann Photos<----her mom Pedro Almodovar Movies


Her favorite musicians are
Dizzee Rascal
Tribe Called Quest
Amy Winehouse

Monday, November 3, 2008

vote or die


EDUCATION
McCain graduated in the bottom five of his class in the United States Naval Academy.
Then he attended national war college

Obama went to a small private liberal arts college for two years then transferred to Columbia university where he majored in political science with a specialization in international relations he graduated with a bachelors degree. Five years later he enter Harvard Law School. He graduated from Harvard with a Juris Doctor which is a professional doctorate in law and in the top 10% in his class.

As you can see Obama is allot smarter and definitely allot more educated then McCain. Why would anyone chose to have someone who graduated in the bottom five of his class to be the leader of their country? That is ridiculous and i can't imagine how anyone can look past this fact.

THE WAR IN IRAQ
McCain supports President Bush's policies and if elected as president he favors the troop increase and wants to maintain troop levels.

Obama was against the war in 2004 saying "I am not opposed to all wars, I am opposed to dumb wars." He is against the presidents troop increase and supports a phased redeployment, meaning he wants to cut the number of troops in phases.

Obama's plan makes most sense because McCain wants to do what we have been doing for the past six years and it has not been working. I believe that we need to try something different because what we are doing is not working. I understand that if we pull all of our troops out we will have a problem because we are leaving Iraq alone and unable to support themselves leaving them susceptible and some say it could end in a genocide. But i believe if we have a well thought out and organized plan to take troops out slowly and carefully we could make it work. I believe that Obama has this well thought out plan.

TAXES
McCain wants to make Bush's tax cuts permanent. This give people earning $250,000 a year a cut on their taxes

Obama wants to let the tax cuts expire as scheduled

What is the point of giving people earning this much money a break on their taxes? They have enough money so why do they not have to pay to government the same proportion as everyone else? There is absolutely no reason for them to pay less. It would actually make more sense for them to pay more. If they have enough money they should be able to help out their country. I would feel the same way if i made $250,000 a year.

Compare and contrast

Everyone should do their own research and find out things about the people who may run our country. Also anyone who is eligible should get out and vote tomorrow!

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Ignoring an issue isn't equivlent to not having one


Stress seems to be a never ending problem.
our society contains the most stress from any era in recorded history.
People are stressing over everything these days. If you are in my age group then it is all about college. Where will you go? What will you major in? What if you fail? How will you pay for it? What if you don't find a job when you are done? If you are older it could be a number of things from getting married to just dealing with money. These days people don't take enough time to relax and unwind from the day. It can get to the point where it become dangerous, causing health problems and early aging.


Ways to help prevent stress mainly include just taking time out for yourself to relax and calm. A very good way to relieve stress is doing yoga. Also if you manage your time and find time to relax and of course get plenty of sleep your stress will surely decrease immensely. You can find things to do during the day to help yourself relax such as listening to calming music in your car, soaking in the tub before bed, or taking a quick nap during the day.

psychological explanation
Methods to relieve stress
Interesting

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

The Perks of Being a Wallflower


The Perks of Being a Wall Flower is a novel written by Stephen Chbosky. It is an epistolary novel which means it is wriiten as a series of documents. It consists of letters that the main charicter, Charlie, writes to a freind, whose identity is never revealed. The book is about being a teenager and it touches on many teenage topics. Charlie is a freshman in the book and at the beginning is the "wallflower".

The book is easily relatable by adolecence becasue it talks about things they are expirieincing. This was my favorite book all through high school. The Catcher in the Rye and this book are very similar in the aspect that they both have a teenage boy as the main charictor and they talk about them going through tough situations. In the book Chbosky reffers to other literature and films, one of them being the Catcher in the Rye. He finds J.D. Stalinger as a big inspiration and read his books growing up.

My favorite poem is from this book.
once on a yellow piece of paper with green lines
he wrote a poem
and he called it "chops"
because that was the name of his dog
and that's what it was all about
and his teacher gave him an A
and a gold star
and his mother hung it on the kitchen door
and read it to his aunts
that was the year father tracy
took all the kids to the zoo
and let them sing on the bus
and his little sister was born
with tiny toenails and no hair
and his mother and father kissed a lot
and the girl around the corner sent him a
valentine signed with a row of x's
and he had to ask his father what the x's meant
and his father always tucked him into bed at night
and was always there to do it

once on a piece of white paper with blue lines
he wrote a poem
and he called it "autumn"
because that was the name of the season
and that's what it was all about
and his teacher gave him an A
and asked him to write more clearly
and his mother never hung it on the kitchen door
because of its new paint
and the kids told him
that father tracy smoked cigars
and left butts on the pews
and sometimes they would burn holes
that was the year his sister got glasses
with thick lenses and black frames
and the girl around the corner laughed
when he asked her to go see Santa Claus
and the kids told him why
his mother and father kissed a lot
and his father never tucked him in bed at night
and his father got mad
when he cried for him to do it

once on a paper torn from his notebook
he wrote a poem
and he called it "innocence: a question"
because that was the question about his girl
and that's what it was all about
and his professor gave him an A
and a strange steady look
and his mother never hung it on the kitchen door
because he never showed her
that was the year father tracy died
and he forgot how the end
of the apostle's creed went
and he caught his sister
making out on the back porch
and his mother and father never kissed
or even talked
and the girl around the corner
wore too much makeup
that made him cough when he kissed her
but he kissed her anyway
because that was the thing to do
and at three a.m. he tucked himself into bed
his father snoring soundly

that's why on the back of a brown paper bag
he tried another poem
and he called it "absolutely nothing"
because that's what it was really all about
and he gave himself an A
and a slash on each damned wrist
and he hung it on the bathroom door
because this time he didn't think
he could reach the kitchen


This is a great book and everyone should read it.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

antiapathy




Is Apathy really okay?
Dictionary.com defines it as:
lack of interest in or concern for things that others find moving or exciting.

When something is hard and chalenging why would you think it was a good idea to just give up?

If you do it anyways you will be a stronger person in the end. You might even be proud of yourself. It is horrible to look at everything as a daunting task. Look at is as a chance to learn somehting new or to become a better person.

If i ever hear "don't sweat the little stuff" one more time.....

It does matter and maybe don't be psycho about it just get it done and look at things positively not negatively.

"A ship inside a bottle"



This is a story about a man who builds a car in his basement knowing one day he will have to get it out. I find it entertaining but also very interesting. It seems to make a point about the new found trend of doing for yourself. People, with their overly consumerist lifestyles, are getting fed up with the fauly quality and expensive prices of products. So they are deciding to make things themselves. Why not? It's way more fun.

This website tells you how to make almost whatever you want.
Makefair.com

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

The Black keys


The Black Keys have been producing music since 2001, but their latest album, Attack and Release, seems to be headed in a whole new direction. The producer, Danger mouse, has helped this rock duo find the soul they needed to produce an album better then any they ever have. They seem to have broken free of any restraints allowing them to open up and experiment with new ideas. The product is a psychedelic bluesy rock album with great harmony and catchy lyrics to match.

The Black keys were asked by Brian Burton, better known as Danger Mouse, to write songs for an album by Ike Turner. The passing of Turner in December put an end to the project. However, Danger Mouse decided to help The Black Keys make their fifth album. This was a change in luck for The Keys because he helped them produce an amazing new sound. It is much different then their normal rythem and blues album.

Attack and Release has a whole new element that opens the album up to a greater variety of fans. They have included new instruments, instead of the same old guitar and drums, they now have a bango, synthesizer, organ, clarinet, new vocal harmonies and much more. Danger Mouse has really helped these guys to up their game and there is no backing down from here.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Religulous




Religulous is a documentary written by and starring Bill Maher. The title is a mix of religious and ridiculous because that is what the documentary emphasizes, the irrational thinking related with religion. Bill, a political comedian, goes around the United States and interviews people about their religious beliefs. In the documentary he is trying to find out how people can be so critical and rational about their everyday lives but still believe in these religions that are not rational, that are negotiable about their factuality. Most people won't believe something unless you can proof it is 100% true. In a court trial the jury has to be sure beyond a reasonable doubt in order to convict the defendant. This definitely doesn't apply to the juries religious beliefs. They believe in talking snakes and dead people coming back to life.




When i was watching this movie i was in amazement. Everything that i had ever thought about religion i could not put into words that made sense and that expressed what i really thought. Bill Maher did this perfectly. He took all of my thoughts and beliefs and backed them up with intelligent information and arguments that made sense. I loved this movie and i think it was put together perfectly. He definitely makes his point, i would recommend everyone to go see it.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

College

College.....just thinking about that word makes me want to run to my closet and hide. That dreaded question i seem to get asked everyday, "Where are you going to college?" It makes me want to scream....

I DON'T KNOW

I am a senior in Highschool and have yet to go on a college visit or even think about applying for a college. The main issue is trying to decide what I want to do with the rest of my life, what am i going to major in? In Psychology we are learning about Erickson's stages of development and Darwin simplified it best, happiness in adulthood depends on two major things: Relationships and Work. If you are not happy in your job, if you don't feel like you are accomplishing your goals, if you're not interested in what you do then you won't be happy. No matter how good your life is. You could have an amazing house and beautiful children, but Erickson argues if you do not get passed that step of having work that you enjoy and that meets your interests, you will not be happy. This makes my decision even more streeful.
But wait there is another variable added to the mix....my boyfriend. We want to go to the same college, and yes I know it's not a good idea to base your choice off this, but it's what i want. I don't think that my boyfriend will be able to get into a college that i could get into though. We are thinking that maybe he can go to a community college that is by the university that i attend. I can't deal with all of this. There is too much to think about and to take into account. I think that we are going to a college planner very soon to get somethings straightened out. I will update you on how the visit goes. Also here is a link to a very good college planning site that i have spent many hours on.