SUMMER

SUMMER has finally arrived. And thank goodness. Yes, this is when you start finding spiders in the corners of your room. Yes, this is when you start sweating everytime you leave the air conditioning of your home. But it is also warm weather, sun, shorts, bikinis, beach, water, strawberry daquiris (virgin, don't have a cow), sleeping outside, walking, biking, tanning, shopping, oh and did I say WARM weather? Finally the demise of this May's winter has occurred, and we can gladly welcome the insects into our houses because who cares? It's summer.

2012

   They say that December 21st, 2012 will be the last day of the Earth's existence, effectively ending the existence of the human population, as well. This phenomenon has inspired the creation of movies such as 2012 starring John Cusack, and songs like 2012 by Jay Sean and Till the World Ends by Britney. Whether we're "gonna live like it's the end of the world," or "dancing till the world ends," is irrelevant in some people's opinions, as 2012 does not signify the actual end of the Earth, but rather a drastic transformation of some kind. According to an article (link) in Time Magazine, this change will be a "physical or spiritual" one. My mother, a believer in spirituality has inspired me and raised me on those beliefs. So I, too, believe that on this fateful day something will change within us. My hope is that it is a change for the better. Perhaps it will be the final elimination of racism, sexism, and general nonacceptance of others that still lives in our world. I say and hope this because I'm optimistic, but I'm also fairly realistic, and realize that this hope is a stretch. But if something significant really is going to happen, why can't we make it something positive? Rather than it being the world's death, maybe it will be its rebirth.

SPOILER ALERT!

   Bolos/O'C have always told us to blog about what we want to so, hell, I'm gonna do it! I was actually inspired by Kristen's blog post from a long time ago, (back in the junior theme era), about radishes. Or something random like that. She was not afraid to write about something "silly" or seemingly unimportant because, after all, it is HER blog. So I would just like to announce SPOILER ALERT! that Brittani Kline has won America's Next Top Model. Do I know that this show is a piece of crap? Of course I do. But I watch it anyway because it's fun to lose your mind in the stupidity and entertainment of a reality contest show. Anyway, I'm VERY happy that Brittani won- she is down-to-earth and looks real. She grew up in a trailer park and that didn't even hold her back from pursuing a career in modeling- look how far she's come since then! She's overcome a lot and had some drama (of course) on the show but finally I am happy with the outcome of this show. Also, she was the only brunette to last that far so good for her!

Citizen Kane

   I have seen multiple TV shows and movies that use a joke making fun of the fact that Citizen Kane is often called the best movie ever made, but no one seems to get it or like it. So I was surprised to learn throughout the past few days that not only did I get it, I loved it. I thought it was so interesting- especially the filmography of it. Today when Doc OC, the lit/film teacher as he so often mentions, said that probably most of us students wouldn't be paying attention to the camera techniques as we watch the film, I wanted to raise my hand and say "Achem!" I am fascinated by filmmaking and loved the angles at which every scene was so purposely shot, the choice to include certain backgrounds or objects in each shot, and the many beautiful images throughout the film. Every scene and aspect of the filmography was brilliant and unique, which, I'm sure, is one of the reasons why its known as the best film ever created. It's also impressive, though many people have successfully done this, that Orson Welles directed and starred in Citizen Kane. Although this was not one of my favorite movies, (My Big Fat Greek Wedding is more like it), I thought it was incredibly acted, directed, filmed, written, and produced. If only a girl had been involved in the production of it...

To Pic or Not To Pic

   Recently, with the event of Osama's death, there has been a lot of controversy as to whether or not the government should release videos and pictures of his body. On The View, there was a poll presented that showed that 56% of United States citizens polled wanted the U.S. government to release the pictures. Of course we cannot know exactly why each of these 56% wants to see horrific pictures of Osama's remains, but it is suggested that it is due to the suspicion that he's not really dead. This reminds me of something I previously blogged about- the release of Obama's birth certificate to prove that he was not, in fact, a Muslim. It is ridiculous to think that he's not really dead, but at least this time it is not a matter of race or religion, but just disbelief and mistrust in the government, which, in my opinion, is understandable. Do you think the pictures should be released? Do you even doubt that Osama is not really gone?

"ROT IN HELL"?

   This morning, when I found out about Bin Laden's death, one of the first things I thought about was the fact that I would need to address it in my blog, as I'm sure many of us will. What I didn't know was what exactly to write about. But after seeing the collage of newspaper covers today in class, I feel inspired to write about how inappropriate I feel it is to celebrate the killing of a human being, no matter how bad of a person they are. It is one thing to be glad he is gone, which I admittedly am, than to party outside the White House and pop champagne to the story of him, his son, and a couple others being shot. While I don't want to rain on the patriotic parade that has suddenly arisen from this occurrence, I don't think this is the time to be especially patriotic, mostly because the United States are coming off as inhumane and cruel, at least to me. Looking at the cover pages we looked at today, I am sad to see declarations of "ROT IN HELL!" and "WE GOT THE BASTARD!" Does this event not deserve the gravity that is normally involved with a person's death? Also, his death should be a reminder of the many people who died in 9/11, an extremely grave event. It should not be the revenge we have achieved in their honor.