The Shining

So who's ready for yet another movie review? I recently saw an older film, "The Shining". This movie is definitely a classic. But with a classic comes good and bad things. The goods are of course that you are guaranteed a well made movie with good quality. It has obviously been great if it has stood out for so many years. "The Shining" was originally made in the 70's, so the fact that people still talk about the movie speaks highly of it. The down sides of course are that it was a little, or more accurately very, outdated. The movie was a horror movie, but I was rarely scared at all, and never really frightened. Most of the scenes were overly familiar to me, as I had seen multiple spoofs in my lifetime. I couldn't take the movie seriously because most of the aspects of horror movies that are taken for granted today were just starting out in this movie. I'm not arguing that it was a bad movie, it's just that it hasn't aged that well. Throughout time the scenes had all been given away, and the production, even down to the style, were all too "70's". The style of the time was to be almost as random as possible. Things happened that were supposed to be scary, but instead were either expected, not convincing, not scary, or even ridiculous. I'm sure "The Shining" was a great movie in its time but sadly I must say that it's time is up. It will forever be seen as a classic but it simply can't work its magic the way it used to.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheShining

This Means War movie review

               I have to say, when I went into the theater to watch "This Means War" I didn't have very high expectations. The premise of the movie is two close friends, who work together as spies, discover that they are dating the same girl. They quickly decide not to let her know that they know the other guy. They then proceed to try to win her over (this was all shown in the previews). Now the reason that I originally thought that "This Means War" would not be that great was the kind of chick flick feel to it. I mean come on; one of the main characters is a young women trying to choose between to perfect guys.  Well I went into the movie expecting it to target a more female audience (I found one other guy in the theater, the rest were girls, the other guy appeared to be around 6 years old) but in reality, it was very funny, very appealing, and very well done. The movie was a romantic comedy, but luckily for me, it stayed away from the romance and focused on the comedy, with much success. The jokes were very appealing, the actors applied great delivery, the writing was clever, and everything about it was well done. Even the action scenes (remember? The guys are spies) were effective. They weren't as polished or intense as a truly action film, but they got the idea down in an almost spoofing/ accurate way. Those scenes also showcased some of the great directing behind this film. One of the best parts of the movie though, was the fact that the movie obviously wasn't trying too hard. Many movies seem to say "I'm a movie, everyone in the audience will love me or I will EXPLODE!"...... This one wasn't. I would recommend "This Means War" to anyone that wishes to be entertained for 2 hours of good comedy, good acting, good directing, and a great film.

http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1600&bih=775&tbm=isch&tbnid=agRQfPHKfoK0MM:&imgrefurl=http://www.film.com/movies/this-means-war-trailer&docid=kXDcHQzRodThaM&imgurl=http://cdn10.film.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/This-Means-War.png&w=682&h=442&ei=ne1OT-a2LcX50gHfroHkDQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=656&vpy=170&dur=3246&hovh=181&hovw=279&tx=146&ty=102&sig=114087897907416633566&page=1&tbnh=74&tbnw=114&start=0&ndsp=53&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0

Gymnastics season

                Well it's finally that time of year again, gymnastics season!  I love gymnastics; I'm on the team at school. Gymnastics is great, but there are a few problems involved with it. One of these problems is rips. Rips are what we gymnasts get mainly from highbar, but also from some of the other events. A rip is when the friction between a gymnasts hand and the equipment they are using is great enough to tear his or her skin off of his or her hand. Honestly they don't hurt too much when we get them, but they look nasty, and hurt later when either we are using more equipment, or doing anything else with our hands. So that was one of the down sides of gymnastics, but another is the time commitment! We practice about two and a half hours every week day, and another three hours on Saturdays. That's not even counting all of the many meets we do. I can live with the rips and the time commitment because simply, gymnastics is great! I'm not the best on the team, or even close, but I really enjoy doing it every day. I guess you can think of me as a bit of an adrenaline junkie, because one of the main qualities of the sport that keeps me coming back is the thrill. When I do a skill on one of the events, it is terrifying at first, but after that first try I'm hooked on the adrenaline! I tend to repeat the same terrifying skill over and over again until either I succeed in doing it well multiple (three) times in a row, or I come so close to injuring myself that I get freaked out and stop. Despite the danger, pain, and commitment involved in gymnastics, the adrenaline keeps me coming back every day and every practice. Don't get me wrong, gymnastics isn't for everybody, but if you think you have what it takes, I encourage you to start as soon as possible!

http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=X&rlz=1C2GGGE_enUS373&biw=1600&bih=775&tbm=isch&tbnid=5vNBDWCYHtjYvM:&imgrefurl=http://gymnasticbodies.com/forum/viewtopic.php%3Ft%3D344%26highlight%3D&docid=e5Ui9AbTFu1IXM&imgurl=http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs078.snc3/14551_1263168413519_1058975109_822245_1943001_n.jpg&w=507&h=356&ei=-_1GT8TtFZT-sQKo9PXqCA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1229&vpy=454&dur=424&hovh=157&hovw=217&tx=113&ty=109&sig=114087897907416633566&page=1&tbnh=133&tbnw=176&start=0&ndsp=36&ved=1t:429,r:25,s:0

Red Tails

            I know that I have done a movie review in the past, but after seeing "Red Tails" I decided that I have to write another. Red Tails was about the Tuskegee Airmen. The Tuskegee Airmen was an experimental Air Force squadron during World War 2 fighting on behalf of the U.S.A. The film was a story following a group of fictional soldiers participating in the experiment. What made them different from the rest of the army was the fact that this squad was all African American. It was a good movie, with a lot of action, but I had a few complaints about it. The main problem with the movie that I found was that the plot never really focused on the racism. The main characters of this movie were African Americans gaining the right to fight in the Air Force during a time of racism in the United States. The movie touched on the racism, but for the most part all of the characters could have been white and there would be very little difference in the original movie. The focus of the movie was the individual lives of a few members of the Tuskegee Airmen, which is fair, and in this endeavor the film was pretty successful. Another major focus of the movie was action (it is a war movie after all). In this field, the movie did well, but didn't quite exceed expectations. There were a good amount of satisfying explosions and gunshots, but the action element was not nearly on par with a movie that is purely action. In other words, the action aspect was good, but not great. After watching the entire movie, I think that it is safe to say that Red Tails is a good movie. It was overall above average in how well it entertained me. The plot was interesting, the actors phenomenal, and the action adequate. It wasn't the best movie ever, or even close, but it was worth seeing, and I would recommend it.

Special Olympics

                Every Friday, I end school, and quickly go into my mom's car. She then drives me to the YMCA. When I get there I eat a quick snack in the car and head inside. The second I get through the doors, I don't go to the basketball courts, or the workout room. I don't go to the racquetball courts or the gymnastics gym. The second I arrive I head straight for the pool locker room.

                I'm not there to swim laps however; I work as a volunteer for the swim class for kids with special needs. I can't in good conscience imply that I am the kind of saint that volunteers out of the goodness of my heart, or for a sense of self-fulfillment. I had taken a sociology class, and for the final we were required to complete 30 hours of community service. The YMCA's special needs swim class was a great opportunity. Honestly though, I completed the hours awhile ago, and I continue to volunteer at the class.

                The reasons I continue there is because I have built friendships with the kids in the class and enjoy working there. The class is split into two parts. The first half is for the kids with more severe disabilities. I spend most of my time working with Jon. Jon has balance problems, so we've spent a lot of time working on how he rotates his arms. We use the wall at the side of the pool and he puts his hands on the wall, brings one back, returns it to the wall, and repeats with his other hand. This simulates the arm movement of free stroke. He has improved greatly since I first saw him swimming. He used to do a variation of the doggy paddle, now he kicks and alternates his arms. His form and endurance still need a lot of work (he rarely finishes a whole lap without a break), but he has improved immensely.

                For the second half of the class, the first group leaves, and the second group, the high functioning kids, arrive. I have less to do at this point, because Jerome, the man who runs the program, can handle these kids better without my help. In a way, I switch from a teacher to an assistant in this transition, but I'm ok with that.

                These kids aren't' just swimming for recreation, they are working towards a goal. In March there is a Special Olympics swim meet that they will all hopefully participate in, and hopefully all get medals in. I can't wait to see the kids compete in this event. I find the entire experience to be fun, and that is why I take time out of my Fridays to volunteer at the YMCA.

http://www.specialolympics.org/default.aspx

Good News!

                I'd like to think of myself as a happy person, but still, a lot of things annoy me. One of these is The News. I don't watch/read it often, but when I do, I always leave less happy than I was going in. The News is always full of the terrible things that go on in our world. I hear people talking about how everything in the world is wrong and evil. Everybody's killing everybody and kids are going missing. What they don't know is that The News only talks about the bad things. Here's a thought. For every kid that goes missing, billions of kids don't... People would have a better or at least more accurate view of the world if the news included happy happenings as well as unfortunate misfortunes. So I believe that to parallel The News, there should be a congruent "Good News" to cancel it out. So to get things rolling, I am going to start the trend of good news. Before continuing, you should be sure to read my last blog post, because it is relevant, but if you don't feel like reading it in its entirety, the summery can be found below

*                  Spoiler Alert                  *
Highlight

My dog was diagnosed with a fatal liver condition at age 6. She has a matter of days to live, and then I say nice stuff about her. I would recommend reading that rather grim yet condoling post.

*                 More Spoilers!             *

                Okay, that was bad news. But here is the good news. Her symptoms were getting better, so we had another vet look at the test results and symptoms. According to this vet, my dog is fine! Now that's a lot to take in! One day she's fine, the next she's dying, and now she's fine? That's weird, but I'm not complaining! As long as she's healthy I'm happy. And she's healthy, so I'm happy!

                See? That wasn't so bad. I gave good news, and the world didn't come to a screeching halt. Maybe instead of getting caught up in other people's tragedies, we should focus on the good stuff that happens, the "Good News". It'll put the world in perspective, and make it simply more enjoyable.

Winnie

When I was in 4th grade, my family moved to a new house. Unlike most people who move though, we moved four houses down the street. It was an easy transition because I could easily see my old house from our new yard!

                 Anyway, soon after moving, we got a new dog. A puppy named Winnie! She was, and still is, very small and white. Her breed? She is a cockapoo (cross between a cocker spaniel and a poodle). Like I said, she is small and white, so naturally we don't always see her when we are walking. She has been stepped on more than I can even imagine. The vet considers this a possibility as to why she is, well, insane.

                We all love Winnie to death, but she has an attitude problem. Despite her cute and furry facade, she bites, she barks, and she scares little kids. We at first found it a little scary, but mostly entertaining. Eventually it got bad enough though, so we had to put her on a medication. Puppy Prozac! This anti-anxiety pill keeps Winnie from barking and biting, theoretically. She still has these habits, but less than before.

                Winnie is a loved and cherished member of my family. She has always been there for us (or so she thinks) and we have always loved her. Whenever anyone comes to the door, be it the mailman or some kid getting his/her stray ball, Winnie is ready to alert the family by barking as loud as she can. It may just be annoying to us, but in her mind she is guarding and protecting the family, and that's all that matters. Also, when anyone is sick or injured (such as anything from a flu to recovering from surgery to breaking a bone) Winnie will cease her barking, cease her biting, and sit by us protecting us and making sure we get well soon.

                 Sadly, Winnie, our beloved pet and devoted guardian, was recently diagnosed with a fast acting case of liver failure. She is still waking around (two days after diagnosis, three after symptoms arose) but is much quieter, and won't eat. The vet said that she has a matter of days remaining. Even though she is dying at the young age of six years old, we can find comfort in the nature of her life. She had everything anyone could want. Every day she could sleep whenever she wanted, only awakened to eat or go for a walk. She had everything she needed. We even picked up her droppings and fed her daily mood enhancing pills! She lived a life of luxury, but behind the glamour of her luxurious lifestyle of freedom and relaxation was a sense of purpose and power. She "earned" her treasures by protecting the family. Without her, the mailman surely would have killed us. Along with every little kid to cut across our yard, and every neighbor to come talk with us/ borrow something. She even went above and beyond her duty, sleeping by our side every time we were dealing with even the slightest ailment. Winnie is a special part of our family. It will be sad to see her go, but I will never forget her and will cherish these last days with her.