Hurry Up

They say pictures are worth a thousand words. Do you believe that? Or is it the memories that picture brings back that is worth so much? I have pictures all around me of family and friends wherever I go in my house, and every time I see them, it brings back all of those memories of the vacation I was on, or the night out with friends, or the simplicity of life in the summer time! However, I have never been one to take a lot of pictures. I just really don’t like it, because people can’t just take one picture, they have to take several, and I have things to do! But after the fact, when I see them all put together in a collage or just sitting around giving the room a personality, it does make me happy and feel good inside. Especially if the picture is of a person that has passed away. Those are the ones I cherish the most. Family means a lot, and can never be replaced, and the pictures of them helps me to remember the place that person holds in my heart and of all of the lovely times I had with them. To me, the best pictures are the ones where people are laughing! It makes you think, what are they laughing at, and do they still laugh when they see this picture? I know that if I walk by a picture, and I am in it cracking up, I start laughing all over again, mostly because I remember what someone said or did, and it had that big of an impact on me! So I guess what I am trying to say is, I hate the process of actually taking the pictures and having to deal with ‘does everybody look good?’ and that sort of thing, but I love the outcome and how still memories come to life when you see them and remember what was happening at that exact moment.

Halloween

As kids, I think most of us enjoy dressing up for Halloween and going out to get candy and see all of the costumes people could come up with that year. But I always wondered what the cut off age for other kids was. I wasn’t allowed to go trick-or-treating after the age of twelve, which was perfectly fine with me because I didn’t really want to go anymore anyway. But that all changed when I came to college. Now most of us, as college students, see Halloween as one of the weekends we look forward to all of fall semester. Figuring out costumes, and having multiple plans for what we want to wear and where we are going to go that night, and where the friends from home that are coming down are going to sleep. For me, that five year time gap where I didn’t dress up and get all excited seemed to recharge my batteries and allowed me to get pumped up for that wonderful weekend! To be quite honest, by the time I was twelve years old, I was so burnt out on the whole thing that I was fairly sure I never wanted to participate anymore anyway. And up at my dads out which is out in the middle of nowhere, no one ever came to get candy any way so what was the point? I used to have to go into town to show off my costume, and some of the people handing out candy were so sketchy that I am pretty sure I was traumatized by one man. Drunken people shouldn’t be allowed to climb trees, but one man in town decided to would be a good Halloween joke to play and that I looked like the perfect candidate to try his routine out on. I just remember he was up in the tree making these owl noises and then he started cackling and even my mom was kind of freaking out. Then he proceeded to get louder and louder and I guess all of the effort it took to scare me made him tired and next thing I know, he falls out of the tree and flops directly on the ground face first and just laid there. It scared me so bad I don’t even remember if I let out a scream or not but I took of running like a bat out of hell and didn’t stop until I was sitting in my grandparents living room trying to catch my breath. I lost about half of my costume from running and I never looked back. I think my mom picked the pieces up for me as she brought up the rear. We told my granddad what happened and he walked down to the mans house, and as he got there, the cops were putting the man that dove out of the tree into the cop car, so apparently someone called the cops to come get him. I just know something needed to be done with him, because he almost gave me a stinking heart attack and made me loose all of my candy (I dropped my basket on the run!). I am pretty sure it was that night that made me not want to participate anymore. I thought I was supposed to be having fun, and yet I almost peed myself. I don’t really even know why it was so scary for me. I guess seeing a drunken person fall out of a tree and look like they are just lying there dead isn’t too pleasant though. But know that the college atmosphere has me pumped up again, I find the holiday very enjoyable, and you can look like the biggest idiot because it is ok, just pass it off as a costume! So I hope all of you are stoked for an epic weekend! Because if I can get past my scare as a child and have a good time, I have a pretty good feeling mostly everyone will have a blast!

Where are the Wild Things?

So everyone has a favorite childhood book, or two! Mine were Is Your Momma a Llama and Where the Wild Things Are. So naturally I just had to go see the movie when it came out this past Friday! I thought it was a pretty good movie considering it was based on a ten page book that didn’t really have a plot to it. The monsters obviously didn’t look real but I feel like they weren’t supposed to. The beginning of the movie really does a good job setting up the reason Max runs away, with no one really listening to him and his sister being rude and not standing up for him. I found it comical the way the he plays in his own little world only because most small children do that in order to entertain himself. He makes a number of forts to play in and makes up his own situations to act out with his stuffed animals and toys. When he does run away, the placement of the boat seems almost too perfect, but then again it is a movie. When he does arrive at the island where the wild things are, the scene is intense. One of the monsters is pissed and destroying everything but none of the others can do anything about it. He tells them to be still and that he is there to be their king and get everything back in order. In a way he is a parent figure and soon learns the responsibilities the position entails. When the monsters are tricked into believing he has special powers and can take of them, they all begin having fun and enjoying each other for a short while, until they realize their problems still exist. The goat in the movie seems to symbolize Max, just in the wild thing world, No one every listens to him and his “friends” are always rude and disrespectful and hurting him. Max recognizes this at towards the end of the movie and apologizes, because he wasn’t very nice either. Carol, one of the more important monsters that takes care of Max first, is the one that needs the most help. He is very dramatic and feels the whole world is against him and his pessimistic ways seems to bring everyone else down. KW is the girl Carol, he is a boy by the way, really likes and she feels the same but he frustrates her so much that she would rather not be around him. She has these two friends that are owls, which she gets her advice from. The way she gathers them to talk to them is hilarious. She just hits them in the head with rocks until they fall out of the sky, then goes and scoops them up. And they don’t actually talk, they just squeak and hoot but the monsters say they are able to understand them. Max asks them what he should do, but they aren’t much help. It does however show he cares about them and that he wants to help them but he doesn’t know how. Max begins to realize how he was acting out with his mother earlier in the story, by the way Carol begins to act and be disrespectful. Max lets him know when he is getting out of control, just as his mother did to him. Once Max goes and talks to the rest of the monsters and lets them know that he isn’t going to be able to help them and that he needs to leave is when the movie begins to get very sad. As Max is leaving in his boat to go back home, Carol comes running to say goodbye, but he is too late, Max is already in the ocean. So instead the monsters begin to howl to send him off, and Max howls back, knowing that they were all able to teach each other about their own lives. When Max returns home, he is greeted by his worried mother and the audience is able to tell that he has learned to be more respectful and to listen to he, because of what he was able to learn on the island.

I thought this was a very good movie, with a deeper meaning that was woven well into the story line. Max is able to learn a lesson on how he should behave, and I feel that the movie is able to portray that to children if they watch it and pay attention, but then again you never know. Yes, the movie is sad and unrealistic with the monsters, but it is imaginative and fun at the same time. The characters personalities are funny at times then can switch over into serious and judgmental just as humans can. They understand they have to be there to help each other, and that they have problems that need to be worked, but they don’t understand how to help themselves until they understand they have to pull together and put aside their differences. I don’t really remember much about the nook, but I do know that some of the details of the movie were very different from the book. The part in the book where Max is sent to his room, and that is where he has the dream, is a totally different scenario in the movie. Instead of going to his room, he runs away and falls down into the forest and that is when he begins his journey to where the wild things are. I reckon they did have to change the storyline just a bit to allow the movie to flow a bit more. And the alterations aren’t a big enough deal to interrupt the storyline in the book so it all worked out. You may here people say it isn’t a good movie and that it is too sad, but I feel that it was resolved well and that the lessons it portrays is done very smoothly and that Max learns the error of his ways by having to deal with other people acting that way toward him. So go see it and judge for yourself!

How do you feel now?

Ever think about smoking? Ever wonder about the women around you that may be pregnant but they are just puffing away while their infant, in a sense, is puffing away too? This ad does a fine job at getting the viewer to stop and think about what they are looking at and how this is a reality for some babies. The view is emotionally gripping and it is hard to look away no matter how much you would like to. The way the infant, or even fetus, it is hard to tell, is laying there in a bed of cigarette butts makes the audience feel a sad presence come over them, and that is the whole point. It is supposed to play on your emotions and even make you angry so that you will want to do something to help the children and talk to mothers to get them to quit smoking. The play on logos, and how the picture offers up a good reason to stand there and think about what you are looking at and realize how you feel when you look at it, is very powerful. The picture even seems to have its own tone. The way the entire picture has a shade of blue makes it look dim and in a way, depressing. And the way the infant just lays there helpless really allows the viewer to know that it is dependant on others to help it, and change the mother is acting and to care more about the child, than to put its life in danger for such a worthless product. It also looks as though the child is worthless to the person that had it so they just through it into the ash tray with the rest of the items they decide to discard. The baby is covered in ashes and just laying there in need of someone to stand up for it and help it to survive. The campaign doesn’t even need to put words across the picture or have someone’s voice describe what is going on because it is blatantly obvious. Don’t smoke, especially if there is a baby around or one on the way. I feel the ad is very persuasive, and at the least, thought provoking, and powerful. If it were displayed in Times Square, or somewhere equally as populated and busy, it would catch the eye of many and may even change the views of some people because they may have never thought of the way others are affected by cigarettes. Even though it is critical of smokers, I feel not many people would take offense to it because it is such a reality, and those children need help. And even if some people are offended by it, maybe they should be. Maybe their world needs to be shaken a little bit to bring them into reality and show them that a baby is helpless and when people smoke, it affects their little lungs and they deserve better than to be treated like and ash tray.

Be Kind...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJK3MZL0JOc&NR=1

Be kind to your behind! That is the ad slogan for Cottonelle toilet paper. What is so catchy about the commercial, though, is the lab puppy they use to test out the product and compare it to other leading brands. He is so precious, and he makes the commercial likeable because he is so darn cute and playful! The commercial excels in the areas of pathos and ethos by playing on the viewers emotions and using visual arguments against other brands. Even if someone isn’t a dog lover, I feel they would pay more attention to the commercial because it is active and doesn’t get boring as the ad demonstrates comparisons to other brands of toilet paper. And the fact that the little puppy just looks so cute and cuddly and fuzzy make you think the toilet paper will be soft and not all stiff like others. However, you have to wonder how true the ad is in that other toilet tissue will either not be strong enough and rip all to shreds, or that it will be too stiff and harsh to use? That is where logos comes in. Is the ad plausible and reasonable, and are the facts correct. I feel the commercial does a good job at convicting the audience that Cottonelle toilet paper is soft and strong by the way the puppy is bouncing around and laying on it while it is ‘hanging’ in the sky. And the way the pup falls through the other brands or slides down them because they are too rugged imprints in the viewers mind and makes the argument that the others brands just don’t compare. However, one issue I noticed that was not talked about in the commercial, or any of those toilet paper commercials for that matter, are the prices. I mean I understand that you want to use toilet paper that is of nice quality, but I don’t want to pay a small fortune for it either! If the Cottonelle ad designers would through a sentence or two in about how it is priced below the competitors or something like that, it may help to seal the deal on what kind of toilet tissue to buy.

Even so, the way the ad is set up, it seems as though it would catch the viewer’s eye and that even if that particular audience doesn’t go out and purchase the product, they may still talk about it to other people because the star of the commercial was so adorable and playful. It seems that many ads or commercials use animals to attract the viewer and help them to become intrigued and pay attention to eh product and the animal promoting it. As long as they can keep the audience interested for that thirty second time span, or sometimes longer, they have a good chance of adding new customers and spreading the word of ‘being kind to your behind!’ With the dog and the voice of the reader, the commercial is catchy all-in-all.

THE LION KIIING!!!

This is one of my favorite movies of all time! I love the story line and the characters and how cute Simba and Nala are as cubs. Also, Rafiki is hilarious in how he acts and when he sings and rattles his little stick! The beginning of the movie is so colorful and happy when the pride is celebrating the revealing of Simba and he grows big enough to go play out in the pride land with his friend. Mufasa is such a good father figure to his son and is good at making sure he shows his son the land he will one day rule. They seem to have a good relationship as they play and even when Mufasa has to scold Simba for doing something wrong. However, the section of the movie where Mufasa dies trying to save his son makes me cry almost every time I watch it. It is really messed up how Scar can set all of that up to kill his brother and then blame it on the nephew. It shows how the Shakespearian theme of Hamlet is incorporated into the film. In the play, the uncle killed his brother then tried to kill his nephew but the ghost of the father comes back to help his son and the Uncle is defeated. This is the same as in The Lion King, the ghost of Mufasa speaks to Simba and helps him to defeat Scar and take over the pride as he was destined to do.

The movie can become quite dark at times and the music becomes more intense. With the black and green display of lava shooting out of the ground when scar is singing is one of the scariest parts. And when the hyenas are marching in from of Scar like soldiers while he sits there looking like Hitler makes me want to turn away. During the section of the movie where Simba returns to try to take back over pride rock, all of the backgrounds are dark in color and secrets are revealed. Then fire lights the ground and everything becomes red as the fight begins between the hyenas and the lions. As the battle rages on, the bird, Zazu, the warthog, Pumba, and the meerkat, Timon, provide comical relief! Zazu keeps the laughs coming in every part of the movie he is in just because he is so overprotective yet the lions never care about what he has to say or pay him any mind. He is however very useful in making sure Simba stays safe and when he gets in trouble, he goes and gets Mufasa to come to the rescue! I feel like even in movies that are semi-serious, they always try to have one character that can make the audience laugh and take some of the tension away. Most cartoon movies make the comical character bright in color and odd looking so they automatically draw attention!

As the movie comes to an end, Simba and Nala end up becoming the “leaders” of the pride and a couple starting their own family with a female cub, whose name isn’t revealed until the next movie. She is presented to the pride by Rafiki just as Simba was and the movie comes full circle, but still has plenty of room for a sequel to be made, and it is. The ending has a way of bringing a smile across the audiences face, young and old. I know grandparents that love the movie just as the three year olds do. It’s hard not to like cartoon movies as I have said in my previous blog. They are just so intricate with the details of the characters and the facial expressions and the way the changes in weather patterns are drawn. Most anyone likes a movie that turns out well in the end and everyone is happy. Even if it is cliché, and doesn’t turn out as it exactly would in the real world, when everything works out perfectly, it fills that little spot in our heart that builds us up and makes us feel good when the movie is finally over.

really...REALLY??

When you are out in public do you try to be a little more respectful of the people around you? I know I do, especially when there are young children around. I may curse when I get frustrated but when I am in public and within earshot of people I don’t know, or even those I don’t know very well, I monitor myself and make sure I am on my best behavior. However, not everyone in the world feels that they need to be mindful of others. In an article on foxnews.com a couple beat a man because he asked them to stop cursing with his young children within earshot. They were at one of the KFC’s in Massachusetts and it was taking a while for their order to be ready so the couple became frustrated and began to curse the man taking the orders. When another patron in line asked them to stop, the man punched him in the head and the woman proceeded to kick him while he was down. Talk about rude and disrespectful. Both of the assaulters were charged with assault and battery but its unknown whether or not they will be convicted because it hasn’t gone through the court system yet.

I wonder if other people were around to witness this, and if so did they try to stop it? I would like to think that if I would have been there I would have tried to help, but in reality, I’m sure if I would. I think I might be too scared to walk up to those people and say something and try to get the woman to stop kicking the man. It would be a little intimidating to go up to someone beating the crap out of someone else and tell them to get a life and go away! Anyway, the link is below but I basically told you the whole story!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,559580,00.html?test=latestnews