One for the Environmentalists

It's been quite a while since James Cameron (Titanic, Aliens) has put out anything new. Thankfully, he hasn't lost any creativity. Avatar reaffirms Cameron's imagination, but is brought down by the completely over-exaggerated propaganda of the environmentalist theme.

Avatar features the futuristic world of 2154, in which the RDA Corporation is mining on the planet of Pandora for unobtanium, a rare and valuable resource. The corporation discovers an enormous unobtanium deposit under a huge tree known as “home tree” that is center of the Na’vi people’s civilization. To get the Na’vi people to abandon their tree peacefully and mine the deposit under it, the RDA Corporation develops replica bodies of the natives known as “Avatars” and invents a way to transfer the mind of a human into the body of a Na’vi replica. The corporation decides on Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a marine who has recently lost his legs in battle, to use the avatar and diplomatically convince the Na’vi to leave home tree. Throughout the movie, Jake becomes attached to the Na’vi’s nature-centered way of life and eventually turns against the humans as they try to destroy home tree.

The civilization of the Na’vi people is one that is totally centered around nature. So much so, that they worship Eywa, the goddess of nature. Not only that, but to communicate with animals, the Na’vi have a special strand of hair that they can “plug” in to similar strands on animals. They can even use this mechanism with special spirit trees to listen to their ancestors past. This is a central aspect of the environmentalist propaganda- the idea of being “one” with nature. Everything you could possibly imagine about the Na’vi civilization is linked in some way to nature. This isn’t in of itself bad, but what’s behind the whole propaganda is the idea that the Na’vi way of life is superior to humanity’s destructive nature.

There are two aspects to the way Avatar portrays this superiority, firstly, the movie’s exaggerated portrayal of humanity’s ruthlessness and brutality, and secondly, the idea that humanity, in all it’s brutality, is wrong and the Na’vi lifestyle is ideal. A prime example of the exaggeration of humanity’s destructive nature is the military officer in command of the RDA’s work on Pandora. The commander, Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang) has leg sized arms, a large scar on his face, and is literally always frowning. However, there is much more than just his “G.I. Joe” appearance. His military decisions are unrealistically heartless. Without question, he commands for the destruction of home tree, knowing that the entire Na’vi civilization peacefully lives inside of it. Not only does he destroy the home of the Na’vi, but he sets out to their last place of shelter to exterminate their race completely. What I find most convincing about the unreality of all this is the fact that Quaritch loves his work. This is just one example of quite a few.

The second aspect to the movie’s propaganda is the suggestion that the Na’vi lifestyle, the one focused totally around nature, is ideal. Avatar accomplishes this primarily through the main character, Jake Sully. During his time in the avatar, Jake grows in his liking of the Na’vi culture and sees the “faults” with humanity’s nature. In the end, he bonds with the culture so much that he turns on the humans, and eventually ends up leading the Na’vi into battle. As he prays to Ewya before the final battle, he says, as a human, “I know we’ve gone wrong”. And then of course, contrary to what he is told, Eywa sides with the “preservers of nature” and aids the Na’vi in the final battle.

So pretty much, in simple terms, the whole propaganda aspect of Avatar comes down to this: it’s totally exaggerated.

Despite all this propaganda, the movie benefits from a creative plot devised by James Cameron and incredible special effects. I like the describe the plot of Avatar as a combination of Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves and John Woo’s Face Off with the addition of James Cameron’s creative touch. Who else could’ve thought up ten-foot blue aliens, giant floating mountains, a tree taller than anything you could imagine, and all the incredible animals to which Pandora is home? Not only did he come up with all these things and work them all into one movie, but he added an amazing plot which reflects his skill and ingenuity as a writer. Avatar’s plot has it all- sci-fi action, dialog, and even some romance.

In summary, Avatar is definitely one worth seeing in theaters for its special effects, visuals, and creative plot, but only if you don’t mind a huge propaganda theme all throughout.

***1/2 Out of *****

Christmas

I know every Christian hears this so much around Christmas time, but regardless, it's so true. So Instead of repeating what everyone is saying, I'd like to post a few lines from one of my favorite hymns that really sums up my thoughts. The hymn is God Rest Ye Merry Gentlmen and I think these lines really capture, in beautiful words, what so many people are reminding everyone of this time of year.


Remember, Christ, our Savior
Was born on Christmas day
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray


Not to bore you with this very repetative reminder, but it is very true. Lets not get caught up too much in the holiday that we forget it.


Merry Christmas!

So, I changed the name of my blog, because, honestly, my last title really sucked. I don't even know how I thought it up, or what's worse, I don't know why I thought It'd be cool. I got something that's kinda plain, but at least reflects somewhat what's in my blog ( e.i. pretty much everything is opinionated).

Anyway, I think I'm going to see Avatar with my brothers, and we're planning on renting It Might Get Loud when it comes out on DVD this Tuesday. I'll Probably have a review of at least one of them, maybe even two since I'm on break and will have the extra time.

Oh, and I saw Desperado last night. I'm not gonna review it, but just wanna say that movie was really awesome. It was like the boondock saints except it was set in Mexico, wasn't over the top violent, and starred Antonio Banderas. The plot was original, but had an interesting spin on it that makes it worth while.



One last thing:
Right after I posted this the first time, I noticed that my time is set to Pacific. Anyone know how to change that? Thx.

The Blind Side Review

“Here’s the deal: I don’t need y’all to approve of my choices, but I do ask that you respect them”. This quote from a scene in “The Blind Side” accurately sums up the demanding attitude of the Southern Republican mother and home designer Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock). However, the tenaciously confident mother and die hard Ole Miss fan has another side, one that is driven by compassion for a homeless young black boy who comes from a broken and gang ridden neighborhood. As an instinctively compassionate and charitable person, Leigh Anne took it upon herself to take in and eventually become a legal guardian of young Mike Oher, a teenager who comes from a broken family with a troubled past.

If there was anyone who could have portrayed the colorful and difficult role of Leigh Anne Tuohy, it was Sandra Bullock. Her performance as Mrs. Tuohy not only added to the emotional aspect of the film, but also became, for many, the highlight of the movie. Bullock nails everything practically perfectly- the Memphis accent, the arrogant over confidence, the sympathetic emotion towards Michael, and the die-hard Ole’ Miss obsession.

Despite Bullock’s outstanding performance, the movie has one decisive downside. The plot of the movie moves along at a very fast pace, which makes it somewhat hard to follow. When the movie begins, Michael is forced to stop staying at his friend’s home and is left homeless, and at the end, Michael begins his first semester at Ole Miss. In the middle, which lasts approximately an hour and a half there are various subplots- Michael’s crashing of his new car, his declining grades at school, and the NCAA questioning his college choice. This is, of course, not to mention the main plot.

In conclusion, “The Blind Side” retells the true story of Michael Oher’s high school years and offers an emotional drama which is largely defined by Sandra Bullock’s outstanding performance as Leigh Anne Tuoghy, however, many may find it's plot as too pat.


***1/2 out of *****

Mock Trial Update 3

So.... been a while since I posted one of these. Needless to say, alot has happened since then. We're all getting ready for dress rehearsals and then scrimmages will start. More importantly, the bar foundation made one of the most wild and insane clarifications ever.

The bar foundations announced a couple weeks ago that the witness KC Perry is being replaced with Mikey Skogan! KC was the wife of Loren, who is the defendent. KC's testimony was practically useless, especially because she suffered from a rare brain tumor that prevented her from remembering any relevant information. Additionally, her testimony doesn't make sense at all because her very being contradicts the facts of the case. According to doctor's life expectancy projections, her brain tumor was supposed to kill KC at least a year and a half ago from the time of the trials.

The bar foundation obviously made a mistake by making KC a witness in the case, but replacing her with a whole nother witness is even worse. Mikey Skogan is a total jerk college student. His main point in the case is to counter Peyton's testimony. Apart from that and the fact that he found Bailey in the hotel room, he is no more useful than KC was as a witness. After some controversy as to whether to keep the students playing each witness the same, Mrs. Worgess decided to have the roles stay the same, which means Kelsey and Amy, who were playing KC, are now playing Mikey. Talk about fustrating... What's worse is that this was clarified the week before the KCs were supposed to finish memorizing the second longest witness statement in the case... ...and now they have a whole new one to memorize from scratch.


Anyway... It is quarter to 7 and I'm only up this early because I'm leaving for Fall State at quarter after, so this is obviously where I end. Until the next update...

Review of Switchfoot's new album Hello Hurricane pending. I've got a precis and a debate case to write though. Hopefully I'll get around to it before Fall State next weekend.

Reflection Essay

So I've been going crazy over school, and I haven't had the time to blog at all. Since I've been really occupied with school, I figured I'd post an essay I wrote. This is a Reflection Essay on Mere Christianity and it's from my Inklings Class.

Mere Christianity

Reflect on what Dualism is and why C. S. Lewis believes it is an inferior point of view to Christianity.

According to Lewis, Dualism and Christianity are the only two religions that “face all the facts” (42). When Lewis refers to the facts that Dualism and Christianity face, he is referring to the traits of reality. Lewis states that reality is never simple, but it is in fact complicated and odd and that all other religions besides Dualism and Christianity fail to meet these criteria (40-42). He goes on to describes the Christian viewpoint by stating “that this is a good world that has gone wrong, but [the Christian view] still retains the memory of what it [the world] ought to have been”, and defines Dualism as “the belief that there are two equal and independent powers at the back of everything, one of them good and the other bad” (42). The topic posed has two parts to it. What is Dualism? And why does Lewis believe it is an inferior belief when compared to Christianity?
In Mere Christianity Lewis only defines Dualism as a belief in which there are equal and opposite good and bad powers, but he does not explain why Dualism is not a simple religion, and why it “faces all the facts” (42-43). Lewis does go on to describe the two powers by saying that the opposing powers are independent, that one did not create the other, that nothing created them, and that each of them thinks it is good and the other is bad (42). By Lewis’ definition, Dualism seems like a simple religion, as does Christianity for that matter, yet, with closer and deeper consideration of the particular doctrines of both religions, they become complicated and odd. Complication and peculiarity are both defined by Lewis as traits of reality (41). If these two ideologies face all the facts and comply with reality’s standard of complication, which one is correct?
This question ties in with the second portion of the topic, why does Lewis believe that Dualism is inferior compared to Christianity? The fallacy in Dualism begins with the simple act of calling one of these two powers good, and the other bad. Lewis says, “the moment you say that [that one force is good and the other bad], you are putting into the universe a third thing in addition to the two Powers: some law or standard or rule of good by which one of the powers conforms to and the other fails to conform to” (43). Because the two powers are judged by this standard, it suddenly makes this law or the Someone who made the law higher up than these two original powers; and then you come to the conclusion that this Someone is a God, and before you know it, the very basis for Dualism crumbles (43). This then begs the question: does Christianity cope with this standard of behavior and the Someone behind it that Dualism cannot explain? The answer is, of course, yes. This Someone behind the law is the very basis for the Christian faith.

Top 25 Guitarists of All Time

So... I was pretty horrified with RS's list of top 100 guitarist of all time, so I thought I'd make my own little list, except minimize it to 25. So here goes...


1. Jimi Hendrix

2. BB King

3. Eric Clapton

4. Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones

5. Jimmy Paige of Led Zepplin

6. Kirk Hammett of Metallica

7. Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band

8. Chuck Berry

9. Stevie Ray Vaughn

10. Steve Vai

11. Yngwie Malmsteen

12. Herman Li of Dragonforce

13. Eddie Van Halen of Van Halen

14. Kurt Cobain of Nirvana

15. John Frusciante of The Red Hot Chili Peppers

16. Tom Morrello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave

17. George Harrison of The Beatles

18. Les Paul

19. Brian May of Queen

20. Joe Perry of Aerosmith

21. Pete Townshend of The Who

22. Jonathan Cain of Journey

23. Angus Young of AC/DC

24. David Gilmore of Pink Floyd

25. Orianthi - This one is a surprise, but amazing guitarists are not limited to guys


So there you have it. I probably missed a couple, or mixed them up, but I've gone over it a couple times, so if I have missed someone plz lemme know.

Mock Trial Update 2

Another update on Mock Trial. These probably won't be so close together, but since it's the beginning of the year, there's alot happening. Namely, the witness roles got auditioned for and decided on this past meeting. Here's the roster:

Prosecution
Ryan Reynolds: Josh Pomerantz and me
Devin Walsh (expert): Joe Barakat and Hazel Peralta
Peyton Bralow: Elliot Taylor and Julie Dinkler

Defense a.k.a. guilty ppl
Loren Perry: Mark Barakat and Daniel Margulis
Jordan Nathanson(sp?) (expert): Aaron Pomerantz and Cassie Dinkler
KC Perry: Amy Hulehan and Kelsey Worgess

That's all for now. Now I gotta do a ton of math and go finish a precis, which is all due by tomorrow morning/afternoon respectively.

Duty calls...

Skillet Awake Review

Man oh man, Skillet has come a long way, or should I say gone. Unfortunately, I can’t truthfully say that I think the old Skillet was, or the new Skillet is, a good group. Both musical styles have something good in them, but lack something essential to make it “good music.” The two main things I find totally different in the old and new group are the lyrical content and the musical style. To explore these in depth, let’s compare the “old Skillet” to Skillet’s newly released album, Awake.

Awake was greatly anticipated by fans, due to Skillet’s previously released Grammy-nominated album Comatose. This brings me to my first point, the lyrical content of Skillet’s Awake compared to the “older” Skillet. To be honest, I was surprised after hearing one of the most popular songs off the album, Monster. I wasn’t surprised at any appallingly bad written lyrics, but rather how dark and similar the lyrics and music sounded to Three Days Grace’s song, Animal I have Become. Don’t get me wrong, I am in no way defending Three Days Grace’s song any more than Skillet’s, but after hearing the rest of the album, I was very surprised about how similar the ideas in many songs off Awake were so… well…dark and emo, a quality that at least I think definitely reflects 3DG’s style and lyrics. The songs that blatantly follow this lyrical pattern are Sometimes, Monster, Should’ve when you could’ve, and It’s not me It’s you.

How do these song lyrics differ from their previous style? Skillet has deviated from Christian themes more and more with each album for popularity purposes, but even Awake is a huge jump from the lyrics of Comatose. This is surprising, because when I refer to the “new Skillet” I refer to Comatose and Awake, yet the lyrics from Awake were surprisingly dark compared to Comatose. There is not one specific reference to God in the new album, and there’s only one song with a possible reference to God. Of course it’s only in the form or a “hero who saves people just in time” that they go about doing this. No reference to God, and probably none intended, just a vague description of someone, a "hero" who saves people just like God. It's not the lack of reference to God that bothers me, it's the fact that if you didn’t know they were a Christian band before listening to Awake, you wouldn't think they were anything close to a Christian band, and maybe even something opposite.

This brings me to my second point, the musical style of Awake. Despite my derogatory comments about their lyrics, I was actually quite entertained by Skillet’s new instrumental approach to their music. This style wasn’t developed in Awake however, it started in Comatose, and was probably the main reason it received its Grammy Nomination. Skillet does however deviate slightly from that style in a few songs, diverting to a more metal/hard rock tone which I personally find incredibly ugly and hard to listen to with John Cooper’s voice singing.

In terms of musical appreciation, John’s voice was the only big problem I had with Awake's musical qualities. I'm not saying the rest of the music was anything spectacular- it wasn't, But it wasn't bad either. John's voice went so well with Skillet's old style of music, and, although it wasn’t as good as the older style, it still went pretty well with the instrumental approach of Comatose. But now that Skillet has introduced this harder, more metalish tone, it doesn’t mix AT ALL. Its like... trying to eat something tough like steak, with something much more mellow (not saying his voice is mellow, just saying it’s more mellow than a real metal singer’s), like... milk. Try eating steak, dipped in milk. Yeah, it doesn’t work. Sorry for the stupid analogy, but you get the point. If you don’t, just listen to Sometimes from Awake, and you should know what I’m talking about.

In conclusion, I personally, was surprised at Skillet’s new album. I anticipated something almost identical to Comatose musically, and, I didn’t really expect anything different lyrically. When you got a good thing going, you don't wanna blow it huh? I believe the purpose of Awake was to produce an album with some remeniscence of Comatoses' instrumental fame, while at the same time tweaking it and adding some darker and more emo themes, for popularity purpose of course. They got carried away with the popularity issue, and would’ve gotten better results if they stuck with the style that made Comatose so popular. Instead of tweaking that instrumental acompaniment into a harder style, Skillet would've gotten better results with a softer approach, or at the most something just a little harder than Comatose.


**Out of *****

Music News

I found this bit on ultimate guitar's homepage, gotta love their music news updates. Anyway, Smashing Pumpkins is giving away their entire new record, Teargarden By Kaleidyscope, for free. According to the update given on their website by Billy, they will release each song individually for free, starting around Halloween until they've released all 44. Here's the two links.

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/upcoming_releases/smashing_pumpkins_to_release_44-track_album_digitally.html

and

http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/pages/news/announcement-from-billy-corgan-about-new-smashing-pumpkins-album

Mock Trial Update 1

So, I thought I'd just give some updates every once in a while about how Mock Trial is coming along, just to give me something consistent to post about...

To start off, we had our first official MT meeting tonight besides the parents meeting. The case was finally released this past Friday, which was pretty annoying since last year it came out in early August. The case this year is criminal, and deals with kidnapping. Needless to say, it's complicated... but awesome at the same time. Tonight I auditioned for two roles, the babysitter who was sitting at the time of the kidnapping, and the father of the kidnapped child. I'm not really sure what role I'm going to end up with, but I know that I'm one of the few that tried out for the babysitter, mainly because it's probably the hardest role in the case. We'll just have to wait it out and see...

Also, if anyone cares, here's the link to the case. (it's mega long, 6 witness statements... 3-4 pages each, yeah...)

http://www.njsbf.org/images/content/1/1/11325.pdf

That's all for the first update of (hopefully) many.

~Chris

We Shot the Moon

There's a really cool pretty new indie/alternative band called We Shot the Moon that I started listening to the other day. Just wanted anyone who reads this that they have got a sample of three songs from their newest album The Silver Lining available for free along with two bonus songs from their first album and a song from Jonathan Jone's (vocals and piano) solo CD. http://afternoonrecords.com/stream/weshotthemoon/

They're really awesome you should check 'em out.

This video is classic. Note: This is probably the only thing Tim Hawkins produces that I will regard as funny.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsJHqstPuNo&feature=related

Review for Skillet's new album 'Awake' pending... I just today listened to the whole thing, but I won't be able to finish a review before I leave for speech and debate camp this next week. I'll work on it and hopefully have it finished by Saturday.

Finger 11's old name

I didn't know this until just a minute ago when I read it on the internet, but the band Finger 11's old name used to the Rainbow Butt Monkeys. That's one epic band name. They totally shouldn't have changed their name...

Finger 11? What kinda name is that? I wouldn't be surprised if they were all just playing charades one night and those were the three last words and one of the band members just noticed it...

Why isn't good music mainstream?

I know I already posted about Les Paul, but I've been up in bed with a cold and I was just thinking about this...

Why is it that when a pop star like Micheal Jackson dies, the world practically stops and for a while and the world revolves around him, yet, when a REAL legend dies like Les Paul, no one even notices (at least those who actually know who Les Paul is)?


It's amazing what crap most people listen to... If you think about it, the only really really good talented bands that are really popular are U2, Metallica, Nirvanna, and Pink Floyd. I could be missing a couple, but those are the few that came to mind for me. There are many other bands that are somewhat mainstream and good. That's my point. Why would people listen to horrible boy bands like Nickleback, Coldplay, or Boys Like Girls when you could listen to better music preformed by much better muscians by bands with way better names, like the Foo Fighters, Muse, Audioslave, Radiohead, ect.?

Is it the less catchy choruses? Or perhaps the level of popularity? Has social pressure defined what music you listen to? I really hope not....

Whatever it is, I just don't understand why people would torture themselves with the primarily terrilbe genre of pop/pop rock when there's real music.

Mexico Missions Trip

I promised a post about Mexico to those I emailed, so here it is.

This is from a journal I took Saturday, our first day, most of which we spent traveling. These are just some first impressions.

At about 5 P.M. local time we split up into three cars and drove to see the construction and medical/dental work sites. The construction site is the church/school in Santa Ana. Not only the church and school itself, but the entire community around it has immensely improved from the team's last visit. It's funny, there are some aspects of the school that are being renovated that are beautiful, such as the arched brick ceiling, while at the same time the floor and walls are an ugly unpainted concrete. Even in the community there's a strange contrast of poverty and one nice house. From the school to the medical clinic site there is a beautiful house painted golden/yellow with a gate, courtyard, and garage, and next to it is a concrete house with a tarp for a roof. The one thing that strikes me most is the attitude of the people. I've never seen such incredible poverty, while at the same time people so happy and content. They are so thankful for what they have, even though it's practically nothing.

*******************


Somethings that really helped me as well as a lot of the team members emotionally were the morning and evening team meetings, and the devotionals that we as a team had started.

My personal favorite devotional was one about having a "so what" attitude about the simple things in life that we take for granted. This was especially powerful while in Mexico and being able to see the people who practically have nothing compared to us.
It's really incredible to think of how blessed I am to not only live in a beautiful home with so much convenience, but also to be born into a God loving and teaching home. It's mind boggling when you comprehend that along with the poverty of the people that are not even that far apart distance wise. When I hear or think of this incredible poverty, I usually relate it to someplace far far away on the other side of the world, but the truth is, it's right here below us, only a hour in time difference, just a few hours plane ride.


If I were to explain everything I learned spiritually it'd take me at least a couple hours just to summarize it. So... I'll post more and explain more of what the trip was like when I get pictures.

~Chris

Les Paul

So.... Les Paul died today at the age of 94. Not incredibly shocking, but to tell you the truth I didn't even know the dude was still ticking. I read it today on the yahoo homepage, only a couple hours after it happened. For those of you who are unformilliar with who he is and what he did, he was (unfortunately) a guitar legend and inventor. Particularly the inventor of the solid-body electric, which began the classic Gibson Les Paul guitar series. So classic such that the, (imo) greatest rock legend to live, slash cherished the incredibly performing guitars over any other brand or series. He even used the guitars to record the extremely popular Guns N' Roses album, Appetite for Destruction. Without a doubt Les Paul made one of the most important contributions to the world of rock.

Now I only wish I had like 5 grand to spare so I could quick buy a couple les pauls and sell for a couple thousand more once they skyrocket in price next week! too bad I don't...

Posting

I really feel like I should post something about my two weeks at camp, but I've been so busy doing nothing lately I haven't gotten to it. Just haven't posted in a while... so this is my filler! I'll probably force myself out of completely boredom to post something about either week tomorrow. Until then...

Highlight of my summer

Wow, this July is gonna be crazy to say the least... Other than my Mexico trip, which is in August, almost all of my summer highlights are in one insane, super busy month, July. This next week (of which only half is July but still counts), my brother is coming home from being in Armenia for his second time (on July first, what a way to kick the month off :o). After that, the rest of the week is boringly uneventful, which probably means I'll be practicing a ton of viola and guitar, maybe learn a new song or two.

After the one "boring" week in July, VBS starts at my church the next. Currently, I am sort of a reserve person for the skit, and I don't think I'll be doing anything with that since they already have a pretty solid crew and cast. If anything, I'll be doing the soundboard like I did last year. If I'm not needed on the skit crew, I might go to a friends house for the time and play a lot of tennis, or just serve by myself, hence my big tournament Thursday-Sunday (or whenever I lose, which will probably be the first or second day). To cap off that week, my church has a tradition of having a barbarcue and presentation from all that the kids have learned that week.

Now comes the fun part. The Sunday (the 12th) after my church's VBS I'm leaving for a leadership camp called WORLDVIEW. All my older brothers have gone and said it's either the best week in their life or one of the best. The only thing that I'm worried about is my roomate. I just hope I get a cool one. The thing that I'm paranoid about is getting a roomate that shares some crazy ideology that I completely oppose, and then be one of those people who has to debate it and will just drive you crazy because he's too stubborn to realize the problem with his position, and yet wants to continue debating it. I don't think I will get a roomate like that, but if I do... well lets just put it at this, it'd suck. Other than that paranoia I'm super excited about WORLDVIEW.

I get back on a Saturday from WORLDVIEW, then, after dying from exhaustion, I have to get up the next day and get myself on a train to DC, where my brother is driving me from the train station to yet another camp. If your completely lost, this day that I'm talking about now, is Sunday the 19th. I hope I don't have to say which month we're on. The camp that I leave for on the 19th is a Strategic Intelligence camp at Patrick Henry College. I actually wouldn't be going if it wasn't for a friend from my online logic class last year, who is also gonna be there. Needless to say, it's definitely gonna be an awesome week.

To top off the awesomenss factor of the week/weekend, instead of going straight home after SI camp, my brother Shant who lives in DC is picking me up, and I'm staying at his place for the weekend. =) After a weekend there, I'm coming back on Monday, and then finally, after a hopeful trip to Six Flags with Peter, my awesome month comes to a close. *sigh*

But wait! I have Mexico to look forward to, because once I get back, from DC on Monday, it's less than two weeks away. Very very cool indeed. Well, there's my month of July. Gonna be sweeeet.

Transformers 2 review

Just a heads up, this is hardly a review, moreso just my thoughts on the movie in an unorganized couple of paragraphs.

If you think about it, there wasn't much room for a good sequel plot after the first Transformers movie. The good guys win, the leader of the bad guys is at the bottom of an ocean abyss, Sam gets a super hot girlfriend, the good transformers have an alliance with the humans, and the thing fought over the whole movie is now destroyed. If you ask me, that's a pretty happy ending. One that doesn't merit a sequel... or does it?

In the extremely anticipated movie, Transformers 2, the continued "happy ending" plot that follows the first movie is, to no surprise, a total flop. A complete failure. Not only does it succeed a movie that was not intended for a sequel (or was, but director Micheal Bay just did a horrible job in anticipating it), but it has the most holes and unanswered questions than any other movie I can remember watching (or at least was paying attention to).

The plot just doesn't add up. All the sudden, the decepticons have the makings of their very own army?? Where were these guys in the first movie? Why weren't they there to aid them in finding the cube? There's no explanation to why that is. That's one huge problem in Transformer's plot.

Apart from random deceptacons dropping out of the sky from who knows what planet, there was another problem in the plot that struck me weird. If Sam had a piece of the cube, why couldn't he just touch Optimus Prime with it to bring him back to life? It worked with Megatron, and the cube shard obviously still had enough power if it awakened the entire Witwicky kitchen into a little army of culinary equipment. Practically the whole end of the movie was based on something that didn't even have to be done. That's two huge problems with the movie's plot (or at least a very large unexplained detail).

Other than having a terrible "plot", Transformers 2 also had an obscene amount of dirty humor, practically all of which wasn't even funny at all, just annoyingly inappropriate. I was very surprised at the amount of inappropriate humor in a movie that was solely advertised for it's special effects and action. If Micheal Bay focused on more plot, and less money and appeal, he could have maybe came up with something half decent.

Conclusion:
The new Transformers movie is nothing more than an attempt to make money through it's astounding special affect, intense fight scenes, and dirty humor. The only thing that was left out was a good plot.

Lobbying in DC

For a long time, I've always wondered about what lobbying is like, and what you actually do and talk about... That imagination was answered last Wednesday when the South Jersey Homeschooled JSA chapter went on a lobbying trip to DC in accompaniment with the organization Freedomworks. Freedomworks is a conservative grassroots organization dedicated to political activism. After connecting with them as an extra JSA activity (to which all the credit goes to my mom), we were able to muster up a group of all but three members from our club (who all desperately wanted to come), and five friends (12 total) who came for the unique experience.

We left from my house about ten of six in the morning, and all convened at a gas station at about quarter of seven. From there we split up into respective cars and drove down. The car ride down there in the Boyajian car was interesting to say the least. It consisted of me absolutely destroying the pants off of Josh and Aaron in black jack and five card (I've never gotten so many full houses in my life), and then on a more serious note, it consisted of an interesting "debate" about whether Christian rock music is appropriate for Sunday worship. Soon after that debate settled, we arrived in DC and finally found the correct parking garage.

After parking, we convened with everyone else and walked to the Freedomworks office nearby. Upon arriving at the office, we were briefed for almost an hour and a half my three different people on how we would be treated and how to argue the issue at hand (the Government takeover of healthcare). After that was over, we all took taxis to the building in which we were first lobbying. Because of some time restraints, the schedule was changed so that we ate lunch before lobbying, where as before we had planned to speak with Congressman Adler's assistant.

After finishing lunch in the cafeteria, we split up into two groups and lobbied to two different Congressmen, Adler and Andrews. The majority of the group went to lobby at Adler's office, whereas Josh, Aaron, and two other Freedomworks representatives went to lobby at Andrews' office. We spoke with Adler's assistant who explained that because there was no current bill describing this issue, the Congressman was "open" to different opinions, although he was a liberal. Despite his seeming support of socialized medicine, his assistant still listened for much longer than the scheduled appointment, and took tedious notes of our argument and alternative plan. After speaking with her for almost an hour, we finally wrapped up and got back on our way to reconvene with the group that met with Andrews.

We met up with Aaron, Josh, and the other two Freedomworks lobbyists in the lobby of the building, and exchanged stories of each meeting on the way to the next building where we were lobbying next. Unfortunately, Aaron, Josh, and the two other Freedomworks lobbyists got completely rejected because he was "busy eating lunch."

We arrived at the other building and hurried up to our next appointment, which we were desperately late for, hence the longer stay at Congressman Adler's office. As we entered Lautenburg's office (the Senator we were supposed to meet with), his assistant explained that she had a very important meeting at the time, and that we could come back in an hour and meet with her then. After that, we currently didn't have anything to do, because our next appointment at Senator Menendez's office wasn't for another thirty minutes.

After discussing the issue, we decided to meet up with my older brother's girlfriend, Annie, who works for Kansas Senator Brownback. We met up with her, and she took us into his office and spoke about her job, and what it's like to intern in an office like his (which she did when she was in college). As we left, we met up with the Senator, who greeted us all and even apologized for not letting us be in his office at the time. In the lobby of his office, one thing that me and Aaron took notice to especially was the debt clock. Annie explained that it is in fact very accurate at calculating the National debt. If I remember correctly, the clock's number was increasing at an amount of about a thousand dollars every couple seconds (pretty dang freaky I know).

We left Brownback's office just in time for both our appointments, which were simultaneous, so we once again split up into two different groups and each took a different office. The majority of us stayed at Menendez's office, while everyone else went to meet up with our re-scheduled appointment at Lautenberg's office. After waiting about forty-five minutes for Menendez's assistant to meet with us, we finally were able to talk to her in the hallway outside his office. She again explained that because there is no current bill on this issue, the Senator doesn't exactly have a fixed position. Daniel, who was the current spokesperson, explained that by taking away the state mandates on health insurance and then allowing citizens of one state to by trans-nationally, it would create much more competition, therefore lowering prices, and making health care more affordable. Menendezs' assistant said she would definitely pass the information on to the Senator and thanked us for our time with her.

After we were finished talking to Menedezs' assistant we walked back to the Freedomworks headquarters where we started our day. Before we left for the day, we met up with my brother who lives in DC near Alexandria. We met with him at a small restaurant near the parking garage and talked for a while. After talking with him, we all left and split up to drive back home.

Thus ends the JSA lobbying trip. T'was awesome indeed.

Pictures from South Carolina

Been a while since I posted anything... I told a couple people that I'd post some pictures on my blog from South Carolina, but I'm pretty sure my brother already posted them on Facebook, and Blogger is mean when I tried, so I'm just gonna forget about it for now, unless people really wanna see pictures and I was actually wrong about my brother putting them on Facebook... oh snaps, I forgot to do something...

Midnight Club LA review

The racing game Midnight Club LA was released by Rockstar games on October 21st 2008, the fourth game in the series. The latest extension to the game was the adding of “South Central,” a whole knew part of the city, nearly the size of one third of the cities size when the game was released. Midnight Club LA surpasses all previous games in the series in three main aspects, specifically, customization, single player campaign, and online gameplay. These three aspects were developed to a completely new level in the latest game of the Midnight club series.
The first area in which Midnight Club LA is superior to its predecessors is the customization factor that is new to the series with the release of LA. Players can unlock parts for their cars by competing with that class of car. After players have unlocked parts for one of the five classes of cars, they can buy and install them for whatever value they hold. Available body parts range from custom exhaust pipes to steering wheels to spoilers. Aside from body parts, players can also change their cars’ paint and add vinals. Gamers can chose from a cast array of paints, or even create their own color. Additionally, players can also change paint designs, such as two tone or certain fades, not to mention the option to manipulate the thickness or gloss of the paint. Furthermore, the vinal options are even more exuberant. Players can chose from vinal packages, or pick from hundreds of vinals to personalize their ride.
Moreover, the second main aspect of why the latest Midnight club game surpasses the others is the single player campaign. Instead of roaming from city to city, with all the needed garages already on the minimap, you must explore the whole city from top to bottom to find new races, new racers, and new garages. The single player story follows a racer who’s well known on the east coast, but travels west after some jail time to build back up his reputation there. Players must control him in order to climb the social ladder of LA racers and reach the highest rank of reputation. Along the way, players unlock different tiers of cars and performance parts for each tier of cars, therefore allowing players to set and reach goals along their climb to the top of LA’s streets.
The final aspect as to how Midnight Club LA is more improved than the previous games in the series is the online gameplay. This is mainly because of the addition of several new modes of play. Instead of just racing online, players can enter a quick cruise, and surf the city with other players at top speeds. While in a quick cruise, any player can propose a challenge, whether it be any of the races from the single player, a custom made race, or a special game such as capture the flag. Additionally, to quick cruise, Rockstar added a new feature called “rate my ride” to build upon the customization aspect of this game. In this game mode, players can put their customized car up for other players to see and rate on a scale of one to ten. After uploading your personal ride, and rating other gamers’ rides, you can check the high scores to see who’s on top at the moment.
On October 21st of 2008, Rockstar released its fourth game in the Midnight Club series, Midnight Club LA. This game exceeds the previous hit in the series, Midnight Club III, and rivals any new Need for Speed game. This game is more improved than the other games in the series for three main reasons, those points being the customization aspect, the single player campaign, and the online gameplay. Furthermore, the addition of South Central also adds a lot to the game, including new areas to explore and new jumps to attempt. In conclusion, the game Midnight Club LA is unsurpassed by any of its predicators in the three main aspects that really count when comparing any games of this genre.

My experience at Spring State

Spring State is the last of all three state conventions every school year, the others being Fall State and Winter Congress. Just as Fall State and Winter Congress have their own special focus, so does Spring State. Spring state’s main focus is on the elections of officials for next year. Every year there is an election, with terms taking effect and ending on June 1st, the last day of school.

Arrival and Debate Block One:
Mrs. Boyajian and Mrs. Ryder convened at Charlie Browns and drove up Jessi Young, Nathan Taylor, Peter Boyajian, Naomi Ryder, Daniel Margulis and I to Parsippany where the convention was being held. We arrived at the hotel at approximately 10:00, just in time to attend the opening session without missing anything. During the opening session, each member of cabinet spoke and shared their progress and plans for the convention. After each member spoke, as well as a message from our Lieutenant Governor, the candidates were brought up to stage for each position respectively, followed by open nominations for each position.
After each position was reviewed, and open nominations were held, the Governor dismissed everyone to attend debate block one. Most of our chapter attended the debate in which I spoke, however Peter and Nathan had to attend a Presidents meeting. The rest of the chapter in attendance proceeded to the Madison room, where my debate was being held. The debate was: resolved, that religious institutions that refuse to recognize homosexual marriages be stripped of tax-exempt status. I argued con. My main con argument went well, although I didn’t deliver it as well as I did the last meeting, but still, it was very good. After the pro and con subsequent speakers and closings, we voted on the resolution. The final outcome was 21 for, 24 against, and 3 abstentions, therefore failing. After the debate was finished we met up with Peter and Nathan and decided what we were doing for lunch.

Lunch and Debate Block two:
For lunch we decided on Fuddruckers, which was sponsoring JSA for 50% of the profit made on each meal ordered from a JSA member would go to the micro financing organization KIVA. After enjoying an amazing meal, we returned to the hotel in time for debate block two. Instead of watching a debate, we went to the KIVA simulation. According to JSA, 99.9% of all loans dealt by KIVA return to the organization, so JSA did a simulation to see how much money would come back to them after several rolls of a die (which is the closest approximation they could get to 99.9%). One of the candidates for Vice Mayor, Parth Parikh, was helping run the simulation and decided to make two teams, with each member buying in at two dollars, and all proceeds going to KIVA. The teams were, the bunny crusaders, consisting of Nate, Peter and I, along with four other kids from anther chapter, against team batman, which consisted of Mrs. Boyajian, Mrs. Ryder, Naomi, Daniel, Jessi, Chelsea Frankel, and Parth. For the first couple rounds of rolling, we were ahead by a couple dollars, however after a bad round, the bunny crusaders fell behind by about six dollars. It was at this point that one of the kids from the other chapter pulled out a twenty dollar bill and put it in our pile of money, therefore putting us ahead by about fifteen dollars. As we continued, the risk became bigger, and then finally, we came to the last two rounds, both wager rounds. After one round, the minimum wager doubled, and the bunny crusaders eventually won by almost twenty dollars. Instead of the promised all you can eat ice cream, whipped cream was handed out as a prize.

Debate Block Three:
After the simulation ended, we convened in the hallway and decided to attend a debate regarding car company bail outs. The specific resolution was, resolved, that the federal government allow American auto-manufacturers to go bankrupt. Unfortunately, the main con speaker wasn’t present, so a student from the audience volunteered. The pro argued that the government was wasting money by bailing these car companies out, because, if they were to become bankrupt, they could “start over” with some new amount of money that was not specified where it came from. The con argued that the car companies should not be allowed to become bankrupt because their remnants would be auctioned off to other car companies. Because there are no major American car companies with the money to buy the remnants of any large car company such as GM, the con argued that American car companies would be completely bought out by foreign car companies. After one round of subsequent speakers, then closings, a vote was taken on the resolution and it failed with the final tally being, 18 against, 9 for, and 2 abstentions.

Entertainment and Nightlife Block:
After the last debate, we all went to the main ballroom with all the other chapters to hear from our Governor and Lt. Governor for some announcements. After a few announcements, the room keys were distributed, and, after changing, most everyone else at the convention went to the mall for dinner. Our chapter, being one of the few that went to Fuddruckers for lunch decided not to eat so soon as we were all still full from lunch there. We all decided to change and enjoy a walk around the hotel and some fresh air. Upon coming back to the hotel, we decided to go to the pool for a little bit while the majority of other JSA members were still at the mall eating. Peter, Nathan and I all went to the pool, while others watch, walked around the hotel, or talked about the day.
After going back to our rooms and ordering Chinese food, Peter, Nathan, Daniel and I all attended the Master Debator activity, while Naomi and Jessi attended the Candidates Idol in the main ballroom, where each candidate sings a song of his/her choice, or can also sing with his other candidates running for that position. Master debator is a fun JSA pastime where the moderator/s decides on a ridiculous and/or comic resolution, and the debaters have to argue their assigned side. After going through some offending resolutions at first, the moderator decided on some more suitable resolutions, and all of us got a chance to debate once. After eating dinner, we all decided to change and attend the dance. The dance was enjoyable to everyone until the affects of the music began to sink in... Daniel Margulis and I decided to head back to the room and find something else to do. After about an hour of surfing the internet, Nate, Peter, Jessi and Naomi all returned from the dance. Everyone was fairly tired out, and curfew had just been taken into affect, so we each went to our own rooms to spend the night.

Elections and Debate Block Four:
After waking up and eating a pre-packed breakfast, all JSA members attended the first election session, regional elections. Each chapter was assigned in alphabetical order, and was handed index cards to place individual ballots, then after all the ballots have been counted, the chapter president would announce the tally of votes for his/her chapter. This process was repeated for each new position, and finally we were dismissed after the Mayoral and Vice-Mayoral positions were filled.
Both Peter and Daniel were both speaking in the fourth debate block, so we decided to split up and meet back at the ballroom for state elections. Jessi, Mrs. Ryder, and I all went to Daniel’s debate, while Naomi, Mrs. Boyajian, and Nathan attended Peter’s debate. Daniel’s debate was, resolved that the United States establish normal diplomatic relations with Iran. The pro argued that we should establish the relations with Iran because of the economic benefits that would result from it; however he did not touch on the point of whether it was safe or possible. Daniel argued that the Iranians are harboring terrorists; therefore it is not safe to establish diplomatic relations with them. He also outlined some of Iran’s previous encounters with Israel’s ceasefire and other instances in which similar cases happened. Because they were pressed for time, they could not do any subsequent speakers, and a vote was taken. The resolution passed by a large amount of votes, due to the large amount of people from the pro speaker’s school.
After the debate ended, we all convened at the ballroom for the last set of elections and closing session. We followed the same procedure as before while voting for the positions of Lieutenant Governor and Governor. After each candidate was elected for the two positions, the closing session began. During closing session the best speaker gavels were handed out to the winners, and winner for chapter challenge was announced. After reminiscence from each of the seniors, Spring State was officially adjourned by the Governor.

World Trade Center reveiw

“We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail.” President George W. Bush said those memorable words after the devastating event that took place on September 11th, 2001. The movie, World Trade Center, depicts the tragedy that occurred on that day from a different viewpoint, that of Port Authority officers John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno. Director Oliver Stone develops the enormous emotional component while maintaining the gravity and devastation of the events pictured. He does this through three main aspects, specifically the film’s reflective nature on the attacks, the depiction of teamwork and brotherhood among those serving that day, and the movie’s alternative focus on the family members of McLoughlin and Jimeno.
The first point of how Stone combines the gravity of the attacks along with the emotional interpretation is the added reflective nature of the movie. For example, there were multiple scenes depicting the devastation that was created that day. Additionally, there was also a section at the end before the credits to commemorate and thank all the Port Authority officers who served that day. This characteristic demonstrates the commemorative aspect that Stone combines with the drama of McLoughlin and Jimeno’s struggles.
Moreover, the second point as to how the seriousness and emotional aspects are combined is the depiction of teamwork among all the Port Authority officers, especially between Jimeno and McLoughlin. In the beginning of the movie, as the Port Authority officers are getting ready to go up in Tower One, there is a strong aspect of cooperation and joint operation. For example, when asking for volunteers to go into Tower One, there was no hesitation before enough men volunteered. The aspect of teamwork is even more so exemplified through Jimeno and McLoughlin while they’re trapped in the rubble. Through motivation and inspiration, they keep each other alive.
The final aspect as to how Stone combines the devastation and emotional aspects is the movie’s alternative focus on other family members of Jimeno and McLoughlin. Practically half the movie focuses on each of their wives and other family members as they become restless with worries about what could have happened to their loved ones. This aspect gives an idea as to what it would be like to lose someone that you loved, to an act of sheer hate and terrorism. For example, Jimeno’s wife becomes sick from pressure and nervousness, and eventually is unable to eat or drink, while still anticipating a phone call from the Port Authority office.
During the World Trade Center attacks in 2001, two Port Authority Police officers were trapped in rubble for a day before being rescued. These men are John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno. Their story is depicted in the movie, World Trade Center. In this movie, director Oliver Stone combines the emotional and tragic aspects of the events that occurred on that fateful day through three main methods: these being, the reflective nature of the film itself on the attacks, the depiction of teamwork among those serving that day, and the movie’s alternate focus on family members of McLoughlin and Jimeno. In conclusion, Stone does an excellent job of showing the devastation of the events, while at the same time displaying the dramatic and emotional story of Jimeno and McLoughlin.

LOTR Soundtrack Critique

In some action movies, the appreciation of a good soundtrack is lost to the action. However, in the last movie of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Return of the King, the soundtrack defies this somewhat common pattern. With the accompaniment of several worthy noted artists and orchestras, such as Annie Lennox and the London Oratory School, composer Howard Shore is able to successfully combine and contrast three major styles of music. These styles being a “battle” style to match the intense fighting scenes, a “journey” style to match the travels of all the characters, and a “peaceful” style to match the passive sections in the movie.
The first style of music that is used to match the diversity of The Return of the King is the “battle” style. This style is normally displayed by loud and dramatic instruments, such as the French horn and lower stringed instruments like the cello and lower registers of the viola. These instruments are used to reflect evil and drama. On the other hand, the forces of good are generally depicted with higher toned stringed instruments, particularly the violin and viola. This contrast between good and evil is worked so intricately into the music such that even a camera angle will merit a sudden change in music. For example, at the battle of Pelenor Fields, before the actual fighting begins, the music changes from “good” to “evil” with the change of a camera angle respectively to each side.
Furthermore, the second style of music used in Return of the King is the “journey” style. This style is normally played whenever Sam and Frodo are pictured, on their quest to Mount Doom. This style is mostly depicted by stringed instruments such as the violin and viola. The “journey” style is the most common, because it is also used in many scenes that do not fit into any given category. For example, in scenes in which there is no obvious battle threat, yet a dramatic or important event occurring, a combination between the “journey” and “battle” styles resulting in a more dramatic form of the “journey” style.
Finally, the last style of music utilized in Return of the King is the “peaceful” style. This style is mainly used when The Grey Havens are referred to. The instruments used to exemplify this beautiful style are usually voice and wind instruments, specifically the flute. This is also somewhat common to the music played when Elves are pictured. As mentioned before, Annie Lennox is featured in a song from the soundtrack of The Return of the King. Her voice is applied to the final song of the movie, which refers to The Grey Havens. Her incredible voice not only brings an amazing climax to the entire trilogy, but also remains true to the careful and precise musical selection.
With movies like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, it would seem hard to create music to match that of the sudden changing and intricate scenes. However, Howard Shore delivers in not only the first two movies, but even more so in the last movie, The Return of the King. His composition combines the diversity of the movie, through three main styles of music, a “battle” style, and “journey” style, and a “peaceful” style. Shore mainly stays true to these three base styles, but sometimes mixes to create an even more particular style of music to specifically fit the scene perfectly. In conclusion, Howard Shore has proved himself as an accomplished composer by creating an outstanding soundtrack for all three movies to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but particularly The Return of the King.

The Benefits of Mock Trial

Before my older brother participated in it, I had no idea what mock trial was. After watching a few of his trials, I became extremely interested in the activity. Before starting my first year, I was unaware of the academic benefits that also are included in mock trial. There are three main elements of academic advantage that mock trial offers, thinking quickly and on your feet, analyzing situations from different perspective, and a large benefit in public speaking. These three elements are very helpful and applicable to other school subjects.
The first aspect of intellectual benefit is the ability to think fast. This skill is imperative to all roles, lawyer and witness. For lawyers, it is necessary in order to create the best possible outcome of either a good or a bad situation. For example, if a witness answers unexpectedly in a negative way for their team, it is important that the lawyer approach the rare opportunity with careful thought, and not rush it without adequate contemplation. For witnesses, it is exactly the opposite. If a lawyer makes a mistake, or allows room for a witness to get out themes, or extrapolate, he/she must think quickly as to what to say. No matter what your role is, mock trial helps your ability to think quickly and accurately.
Additionally, the second point of academic advantage is the ability to analyze situations and concepts from different angles and options. This skill is also both shared by lawyers and witnesses and essential to success. For witnesses, it is important that they develop this skill, because they must analyze their witness statements, and develop answers to difficult cross themes. Furthermore, for lawyers, they must think outside the box and analyze the witness statements in order to expose the witnesses weaknesses.
The third and final academic skill that is benefited is public speaking. Although this skill is much more beneficial fir the lawyers, witnesses do get some benefit from mock trail in public speaking as well. This is because lawyers have opening and closing statements to practice their public speaking skills, while witnesses only have their testimony. Lawyers generally benefit much more in all skills, because their role is more intensive than witnesses, but regardless or your role, mock trial benefits in all the areas outlined.

FAQ about homeschooling

Here are the most frequently asked questions about homeschooling by public schoolers.

1. How do you get a chance to socialize if you're home all day?

Generally, in the homeschooling community, all the families get together and organize a co-op. A co-op acts as "school" for one or two days in the week. The people participating in the co-op can chose what classes they would like to take. This allows for some socialization, but not to the degree that public schoolers have. Basically, it amounts to not being home all day, and taking most of your classes outside the house.

2. Are the rules at these co-ops really strict?

Comparatively, to public high schools, they are extremely strict. However, none of the problems, such as school shootings, or the enormous social pressure have to be worried about in a homeschool setting.


3. How do you survive if you're home doing your school? Wouldn't your parents or siblings drive you crazy?

My mom has told me that the first year she tried homeschoool, it was just like you described it, but after two or three years, everyone got used to it. By the time I was homeschooled, everyone had already adapted to the homeschooling "way of life," so it became much easier on me in that regard.


4. What time do you have to get up in the morning?

It depends on the homeschooler. Some stay up late, and get up at 8:00 or 9:00, or some go to bed early, and get up at 6:00 or 7:00. It all depends on the guidelines set out by the parents and the homeschooler.

5. When do you usually finish your school for the day?

Again, it depends on the homeschooler. Some are more diligent, and get their work done for certain classes before the day of, and some save their school for the day of, and stay up late doing it that night. For me, I have two classes back to back on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so Mondays and Wednesdays are my big work days. It all depends on the particular homeschooler's class schedule.

6. Can you do whatever you want during the day, just as long as you go to class?

Homeschoolers have freedom throughout the day that is only constrained by their class schedules, and the amount of work that is due for those classes. Because homeschooled classes only meet once or twice a week, the homework tends to be more than public schoolers. As mentioned before, the amount of work done in each day is up to the person doing it.

7. So if you have all your work done for that day, you could do whatever you wanted for the rest of the day?

Yes, but it's not likely that a homeschooler should finish his/her school before the evening, therefore it is not as good as it sounds.

8. What do you do about sports? Is there some kind of league for homeschoolers?

Sports is the weak point of homeschooling. Because homeschooling is more education focus, many homeschoolers are not good at any sports, and therefore, any attempts at a "homeschooled sports league" is usually a very low standard. Some public high schools allows talented homeschoolers to participate in their sports programs, however this is unusual.


Note: Answers may vary depending on the homeschooler

Christian Bale: diverse, or limited?

What defines an actor as “good”? Is it his ability to play certain roles well, or his ability to play many different roles, and all of them well? The popular actor Christian Bale possesses the later of the two, which enables him to perform well in both the movies, Newsies, and The Dark Knight These two movies show his diversity as an actor in three main aspects: the role Bale plays, his compatibility with supporting actor roles, and time frame and setting. The key factor that adds to his value as an actor is his age. Christian Bale features in many movies starting when he was only a teenager.
The first aspect of distinction between The Dark Knight and Newsies is the role that Christian Bale plays. In The Dark Knight, his role is a Gotham city citizen, who recognizes the criminal mind and fights crime in the form of a bat. On the other hand, in the movie Newsies, Bale plays Jack Kelly, a young boy making a living for himself by selling newspapers. Additionally, Newsies is a musical, which calls for much different acting that a super hero movie. In the movie, Bale sings, both alone, and with the other newsies, which is extremely different than the behavior of Batman. The roles in both movies are extremely different, yet Christian Bale plays them both well, despite his early age in Newsies.
Furthermore, the second aspect of difference between these two movies is Bale’s ability to synchronize with different supporting actor’s roles. In The Dark Knight, Bale has The Joker and Alfred as his supporting roles. On the contrary, in Newsies, Jack is accompanied by a newspaper reporter who’s dedicated to helping the newsies’ cause, as well as his fellow newsies. These actor’s roles are especially diverse due to the movies different genres. However, once again this does not stop Bale from performing excellently in both movies.
The final point of diversity is the time frame and setting of each movie. In the Dark Knight, the time frame is present day, and the setting changes dramatically, all the way from Gotham city to Hong Kong. In contrast, Newsies takes place in 1899, and is set only in New York City. Despite the fact that the settings might not have a large effect on Bale’s acting, the cultural overlay definitely does. In Newsies, Bale performs with a thick Brooklyn accent and fits the time frame exceptionally well.
How does one determine whether an actor is a good one or not? One efficient way of knowing this is examining an actor’s diversity throughout his movie career. Christian Bale exemplifies this quality, as demonstrated through three main factors examined the musical, Newsies, and the superhero action movie, The Dark Knight. The factors are the role that Bale plays personally, his supporting actor’s roles, and the time frame and setting. As mentioned before, the key to Bale’s success as a diverse actor is his age. The facts are before you. You, the reader, must decide: Christian Bale, diverse, or limited?

Cinderella Man movie review

Who served as the inspiration for thousands of struggling people through the great depression? Though many think it was someone of more popularity, the real answer lies within the main character depicted in Ron Howard’s emotionally charged movie, Cinderella Man. The Cinderella Man in this case is boxer Jim Braddock, who, before the depression, succeeded in the sport, yet, when the depression hit, he too was affected, and fought with his wife to feed their three children. Jim Braddock’s “rise from the ‘dead’” gave inspiration to struggling families all throughout New York City, where the depression hit hardest. Ron Howard depicts this through three characteristics of Jim Braddock, his eagerness to help friends through the depression, his passion for boxing, and his love for his family.
The first characteristic of Jim Braddock that is shown consistently throughout the movie is his eagerness to help friends through the hard financial times of the depression. He does this mainly by helping his one good friend, Mike Wilson. They met by being assigned to jobs together while working on the docks and ever since, they kept in touch and helped each other through the hardships faced. Many times in the movie, Mike shows up drunk to an event, and Jim helps him along with his wife. For example, at a birthday party after church one day, Mike is no where to be found, then shows up drunk to the church. Jim sees his friend potentially harming his wife, and helps him along. Another time, after the church incident, Mike goes missing, and his wife comes to Mike’s trustworthy friend, Jim. He eventually finds Mike injured in Central Park after searching for hours, and does his best to take care of him. His commitment to helping his friends and others is shown consistently throughout the movie.
Furthermore, Jim’s passion for boxing helped carry him on the long “Cinderella” journey. Because Jim was unemployed, boxing was his only money source, apart from a small part time job at the docks. He took every single fight his trainer offered him, no matter how hard his opponent. At the end of his boxing run, he had to fight Max Baer, the current heavyweight champion, however, Baer had already killed two people in the ring, and Jim still fought him out of passion for the sport, and need of money to support his family, despite his wife’s pleas to get out of the fight.
That brings us to our third and final point, Jim Braddock’s love for his wife and three children. This great love is what helped him through fights, hard work at the docks, and other struggling and hard times. The movie portrays Jim as spending his time with the children when he was home, teaching them about boxing and playing with them. When his children are moved away from home because of their sickness, he does everything he can to get them back living all together again. All throughout the movie, his family is portrayed as what drives him succeed. Numerous times in a fight, he would reflect to his family, then become reinvigorated and win.
This movie not only portrays the hardships of the great depression, but shows how and what people did to help each other along through these hard times. Although there were many people who abandoned their families out of selfishness, Jim Braddock, a once successful boxer, shows his love and passion for the one thing he loves most, his family. The movie Cinderella Man, not only focuses on the boxing aspect of things, but also focuses on what everyday life was in New York during the great depression. The incredible story of Jim Braddock’s rise from retirement truly merits him the title “Cinderella Man.”

Junior Statesmen of America

What is JSA? For starters, it stands for the Junior Statesmen of America. The Junior Statesmen of America is a political organization dedicated to educating and encouraging high schoolers to take action about the current situations in the government, whatever they may be. JSA is the largest student run organization in the United States. JSA offers high schoolers the opportunity to learn more about current events, improve thief public speaking skills, and become more politically active. Members of JSA clubs get to participate in unique educational experiences, such as conventions, symposiums, and summerschool.
The whole organization is divided up into several “states” or regions, the state that our homeschool chapter is in is the Mid Atlantic State, or MAS for short. Our club, or chapter, is one of the two homeschooled chapters in the entire organization, the other being located in North Carolina. As a chapter, we plan debates, host speakers, and update and discuss current political issues. As a chapter, we also attend state and regional conventions, such as winter congress and spring state.
Conventions are no doubt the most fun part of JSA. With each convention for different seasons, that is, fall state, winter congress, and spring state, comes different subject matter. For example, fall state is all debates, winter congress is proposing and debating bills and resolutions, and spring state focuses on elections. So far, I have attended one fall state convention and one winter congress convention and will be attending spring state this April. Fall state was more of an attempt to get an idea of what a JSA convention was like, so I wasn’t very “active” in the discussions and debates there. However at winter congress, I was able to be the main representative for our chapter bill, and was able to speak and debate much more. Conventions are my personal favorite thing about JSA, as they offer a different environment with diverse opinions and discussions.
The last part of JSA is summerschool and symposiums. However, I have yet to attend either. JSA Summerschool offers students the opportunity to learn about the mechanics of the US government, and the history behind it. These courses are taught by renowned professors at Ivy League universities, where the summerschools are held. On the other hand, symposiums are fairly like conventions, except longer, and less populated. Symposiums offer more speakers, varying from police commissioners, to statesmen. In conclusion, JSA offers an excellent opportunity to participate in political activism.

Dark Knight Movie Review

Is the Batman we all know, the real Batman? In the Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan captures something new in Batman. He blends the crime drama and tragedy of most superhero movies with both a pessimistic and optimistic view of society. He does this through three key characters. The first is Alfred, Bruce Wayne’s butler, the second is the Joker, the cold hearted terrorist who brings out the worst in people, and the third is Harvey Dent, Gotham’s new District Attorney. Through these three characters he exemplifies both the worst and the best in human nature, from the most incorruptible, to the most corrupt.
The first key character in the movie is Alfred. Alfred serves in both this movie and the first movie, Batman Begins, as Bruce’s mentor and helper. He is one of the three people who know Batman’s true identity, the others being Rachel Dawes and Luscious Fox. As his butler, he knows Bruce the best, and as so, counsels him as to how Batman should act in times of dilemma. In this movie in particular, he relates to Bruce by explaining him what the Joker’s criminal morals are from previous experiences with similar men. As Alfred explains the Joker to Bruce, he recognizes what he has to become to stop men like him.
The second of the three essential characters is The Joker. His berserk attitude and inclination towards destruction define him as the reckless clown that he is. He’s like no other criminal in the city in that he doesn’t care about money, drugs, or anything else a mob member would want. When Alfred describes this type of man to Bruce, he sums it up in this short description, “Some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.” All throughout the movie, the Joker tries time and time again to attack the core of the human heart, under the belief that everyone is as corrupt as him.
The role of the Joker is imperative to understanding the optimistic side of humanity that is portrayed in the end of the film. When the Joker makes massive threats against the people of Gotham city, they flee off the island in ferries, however the Joker expected this and prepared. Him and his men rigged both ferries with oil drum bombs, and gave each boat the other boat detonator. The Joker naturally expected a big boom early on, but much to his surprise, neither boat detonated each other, and the Joker had underestimated the corruption of humanity.
The third and final important character is Harvey Dent, also known as Gotham City’s “White Knight.” As Gotham’s DA, he has cleaned up nearly half of the criminals on the streets from the time he took office, and has done it without hiding behind a mask, unlike the batman. When discussing Batman at a dinner, Harvey said, “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” This struck Bruce and he came to realize that Gotham no longer needed Batman. Because of his favor with the public, and the need for another hero to replace Batman, Bruce feels an enormous amount of pressure on himself to make the decision which would either end or carry on batman’s duties. This is resolved however after an unfortunate turn of events in which either Harvey or Rachel must die. Batman chose’s so save Harvey, but because of an explosion, Harvey is left with half a face and Rachel dead. After mourning for Rachel, and re-examining Batman’s purpose, Alfred convinces Bruce not to give up batman, as they needed him especially at a time like this.
Moreover, Harvey Dent is also a vital character in understanding the pessimistic turn of the movie. While in the hospital, with half his face burned off, the Joker speaks to him and persuades him into upsetting the established order. Because of the loss of Rachel, Harvey’s close girl-friend, Dent is very unstable and pursues the Joker’s proposition. Later in the movie, out of hatred of those who chose his life over Rachel’s, he reproduced the terrible effect of losing a loved one to police commissioner Gordon, only this time batman stopped him in the nick of time. Harvey, in this way has demonstrated what the Joker seeks to bring out in everyone. He took Gotham’s “White Knight,” and turned him into two-face, a man of destructive morals similar to those of Joker.
However, there is a final resolution to the whole movie in the last scene, which takes place at the building where Harvey threatens Gordon’s family. Batman stopped Harvey from harming Gordon’s family by pushing him off a ledge. Gordon rushes over to the ledge where Batman, Harvey, and Gordon’s son fell off, and finds Batman hanging on with one arm gripping a wood hold, and one holding onto Gordon’s son. Dent, however had fallen to his death. As Commissioner Gordon and batman contemplate the death of Dent, they resolve not to tell the public, for fear of his work being un-done, and because of his memorable quote, “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”
Batman’s decisions throughout the movie seem very linked and consistent with this quote. For example, he seriously considers turning himself in, because of the quote. Again, at the end of the movie, his decision is based off this prediction. Because the public will not know about Dent’s fall, he becomes the hero that Gotham needs, but not deserves. On the other hand, batman feels as though the hero spot has been “filled” by Harvey, and says he’ll be “whatever Gotham needs me to be.” As Batman flees the scene, being chased by police dogs, Gordon’s son climbs down the stairs to meet his father. As he sees Batman running he asks, “Why is he running Dad?” His father answers, “Because we have to chase him. Because he’s the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we’ll hunt him, because he can take it. Because he’s not our hero. He’s a silent guardian. A watchful protector. A Dark Knight.”

The Advantages of Being Homeschooled

Is there really a way to escape the greedy and dirty society of the average American school? There most definitely is, and this new and different avenue is called homeschooling. While no longer rare, homeschooling is still the choice of a small amount of Christian families who are seeking to spare their children the stereotypical experiences at school. There are three major advantages that Christian homeschoolers have. Specifically, more freedom throughout the school day, the good influence from other homeschoolers in the community, and the ability to defend or refute other faiths or beliefs.
The first advantage to Christian homeschooling is the freedom during the day that homeschoolers enjoy. While homeschoolers only have a quota of school to do in a certain day, and are only restricted by the completion of it, public schoolers sit in classes for the most part of the day, then finish a small amount of work after school. This allows homeschoolers to attend other day activities that public schoolers are unable to attend. This also encourages homeschoolers to depend on themselves or parents to be more accountable for their work, and helps prepare for college in that respect. Most homeschoolers attend certain classes, but not all in one day every day, usually once or twice a week. This allows more freedom, without compensating on education.
Furthermore, another advantage Christian homeschoolers enjoy is the good influence of other homeschoolers, as opposed to whatever you may find in the public schools. This is most appreciated when it comes to high school, where Christian homeschoolers can live in more peaceful lives, without the tremendous social pressure that public high school brings. While other homeschooling peers may be excellent influence, not all Christian homeschoolers are respectable peers, and therefore, we should rely also on our parents to become our mentors, while at the same not time not becoming completely indulged in our peers, but not ignoring them either. This advantage helps parents raise their children in an environment that reflects their religion.
The third and final advantage that Christian homeschoolers have is the ability to defend and refute their faiths through direct Biblical teaching, among other curricular choices. Although this is not uniform among all Christian homeschoolers, it is very common. Christian homeschooling academies such as the Torrey Academy or Schola Academy offer homeschoolers a classical Christian education, where students learn everything from famous literature, to apologetics. This allows homeschoolers to be able to receive a finer and more intricate education. In conclusion, homeschooling offers the benefits that come with everyday freedom to students, while at the same time presents a newer more unique form of education.