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Pitch Perfect

Unfortunately I’ve run out of time to watch any remakes for this week. So, instead I’m going to just talk about how good the movie Pitch Perfect is. Hopefully everyone has seen it and if not you need to get on that!  (There is a potential for spoilers.)

I remember sometime last fall seeing the promos for the movie and thought it would be funny. Sadly, I did not make it to the theatres to see it there. I ended up waiting until it was available on-demand and watched it when I went home for winter break. After watching this movie I realized that it was the first movie in a very long time that made me genuinely laugh. I mean, when I watch movies I chuckle, but it’s more of an “I’m going to open my mouth, but no audible sound will come out”, when I was watching Pitch Perfect though I was cackling, to say the least. There were some hilarious jokes that were right up my alley. One of my favorites was when Bender was insulting Fat Amy and then asked her to make out with him and she replied, “I sometimes think I can do crystal meth, but then I think, hmmm, better not.” Small gems like that make the movie so awesome.

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As for the actors, I was surprised that they were actually singing. It was still auto-tuned a bit, but not as much as I was expecting. And Rebel Wilson was definitely a scene stealer. Every time she was on the screen I was laughing. Anna Kendrick at first made me kind of nervous, I wasn’t sure how I was going to like her, but after watching the movie my view of her is completely different. I loved how sarcastic her character was; well I just loved how sarcastic everyone was! And Skylar Astin has been added to my list of future husbands.  🙂 Before this movie I had no idea who he was, but now it seems his fame has gone through the roof and he was just in the movie 21 and Over. Overall, the cast did a great job!

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Everyone needs to watch this movie. It is on my list of 100 Must See movies.(which just gave me an idea to make that my blog for the next couple of weeks!) And this isn’t just because it’s funny, but it’s also a pretty good plot line and has some catchy music to go along with it. I’ve attached some clips that just briefly highlight the awesomeness of this movie! 😀

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhTOs6tx62U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5oIorP3ruo

Persuasive Essay- Music Education

After much thought, I think that I am going to write my persuasive paper on music education. I haven’t quite decided if I’m just going to focus on why it is important or if I should talk about funding for it. I feel as though I could combine the two of them, which is what I’m really considering as of now. I really like this topic because I feel as though I’ve personally seen the effects of this. My schools never lost their music programs, but I have definitely seen them go from hero to zero. Another potential subject that I could talk about is how funding isn’t divided evenly between sports and music. I could simply be making assumptions here, but I know that in Oklahoma we had one of the best  football stadiums in Northern Oklahoma, but our music building was gross and we had a lot of old instruments. After looking at some databases that we have I’ve found that there are a lot of good resources that talk about music education, so I won’t be hitting any rough spots looking for information.

For now, my structure is going to begin with talking about the benefits of music education. I might also make the argument that music is just as important as any other class that we have to take. I would definitely have to include the fact that some people aren’t “artsy” and are more focused on other extracurriculars, but I could include that both aid them in some way. I was thinking of including the benefits that music has, such as helping kids with math to an extent, or vice versa. After that, I’ll go on to talk about funding for music programs and the potential solutions that there are. I know of many organizations that focus on keeping the arts in school and will probably include them in my persuasive argument. To wrap everything up I will include the opposing opinion that arts are completely unnecessary. I might try to talk to someone who sees things that way because I know I am way too biased to try and think of why someone wouldn’t like music/arts. I also like my idea because I have had experience with music. From kindergarten until twelfth grade I was involved in music in some way, be it through required music courses, musicals, or even band. And I think that this will provide me with some compelling arguments and personal stories that can add to the persuasiveness of my essay. At first I was afraid of this essay, but after coming up with this topic I’m pretty sure it will be smooth sailing from here on out.

Willy Wonka and Charlie

I was sitting in my dorm the other day thinking of what movies I could look at next and was ashamed of myself for not thinking of this one first. I’m pretty sure that watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was an integral part of a lot of people’s childhoods. I remember I was so excited when I heard that they were remaking it and calling it Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Similar to most things, nothing can really beat the original, but that doesn’t mean that the second movie was horrible.

Gene Wilder

Gene Wilder

Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp

A lot of people weren’t impressed by the remake of the classic movie when it was released in 2005. Quite frankly, I thought that Johnny Depp made Willy Wonka more of a creep than Gene Wilder did, but other than the creep factor I’d say that they were both pretty good. The music from both of the movies is extremely catchy, well at least in my opinion. I also like how the same story line was there, but the newer one seemed to be more modern and was its own in a way. Both movies did a great job at getting the audience to hate the other kids. Giving them each a background story established them and made the audience not like them.

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I guess the biggest differences were who was casted and the presence of Charlie’s father. The original had Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka, whereas in the 2005 version it was Johnny Depp.  I think they both did a good job portraying the role, despite the fact that Depp added a pedophile affect to the role. I think compared to the original the biggest difference with the casts is that the cast from the newer movie has some more fame. It seems to me that most of the cast in the original, besides Gene Wilder, were one hit wonders as actors. And with the newer movie, there were a lot of well-known actors in it. For example, there was Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Freddie Highmore, and Christopher Lee. (Fun fact- Freddie Highmore is going to be in a new show called Bates Motel, staring as a young Norman Bates from Psycho, sorry I’m excited) The only big difference I saw between the movies was the presence of Charlie’s dad. I think with him not being there in the original it creates more of an empathetic stance towards Charlie. And with the new one it shows his dad as being the main bread-winner and his mom staying home. That really was the biggest difference in the plot.

One area where both of the movies could be better is in the fact that there are some parts that are flat out scary. For instance, in Willy Wonka the scene where they are going through the tunnel and Wonka is saying all of this random stuff freaked me out when I was younger. Actually it still scares me a bit. Also its creepy that you never see what happens to the kids. I mean, that is sticking to the beliefs of Roald Dahl where he believes that bad kids get punished, but it’s also mildly disturbing because it’s kids that are disappearing. And for the newer version, the part where Veruca Salt is attacked by the squirrels is also kind of freaky. But other than those scenes the movies are pretty child friendly.

In all, they are both pretty good movies. They are each unique in their own ways. If you haven’t watched either of them or read the book you definitely need to do so. It will be worth your time! 😀

Here is the clip of the creepy boat ride

and also one of the best scenes from the movie

and a clip from the newer movie

 

Topic Proposal- Persuasive Essay

When the topic of a persuasive essay was brought up in class the other day I was really stumped. The only idea that I could think of off the top of my head was writing a very sarcastic argument as to why Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert should run for president and vice president in 2016. But after thinking about this I had two problems with it. One, there is no way that I would find enough reliable resources to back it up. And the second was that I thought it might be a bit too sarcastic. I then started to think about what I could do.

Another idea that I have is doing something on campaign finance. I was thinking about comparing things from past elections to today. I personally feel that money is way too much of an influence on who has power. It has basically come down to that if you don’t have money or know the right people then you have no chance of getting elected or even nominated for that matter. This is definitely something I feel strongly about, but I’d also have to do my research. As for finding research it is going to be easy to find information on this subject. As of right now this is my top choice.

Sorry for having so many, but this is my last one. I’ve been involved in the music programs at my schools since 7th grade. And over time I’ve developed strong views on the idea of the funding of music education. In my time, I’ve seen music programs go from top of the line to the bottom of the bucket. I haven’t done much research on this so I’m not too sure where I’d find information from. But it is another idea I’m toying with.

So for now my topic is looking like it will be campaign finance, but I’ll have to think before I make a final decision because I’m not too sure how I’d fit this into the advocacy part of the project.

Scooby Doo: 1969 vs now

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a Scooby Doo fanatic. It’s actually kind of sad. Putting that aside though, this week I decided to focus on the differences between the original Scooby Doo shows that began in 1969 compared to Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated that was released in 2010. Now since I grew up watching the original series, I’m going to say upfront that I am definitely biased.

This is me and Iwao Takemoto, who was a producer for Scooby Doo. And probably one of the highlights of my life. :)

This is me and Iwao Takemoto, who was a producer for Scooby Doo. And probably one of the highlights of my life. 🙂

Regarding the plot lines, the two shows are pretty similar. You’ve got your typical crime followed by a search for whoever did it. The newer show though added more to the backgrounds of the characters. They all have parents who don’t approve of their crime solving tendencies. I saw a commercial for it the other day and was just blown away. I got used to the idea that the kids had parents, but they just weren’t in the picture. It’s different to see them interact with their parents.

I guess my biggest problem with the series is the animation. It’s just weird. Now, the original had no A+ in the animation category, but the new series just looks weird. I also feel like the animators are going for a more retro approach. It just rubs me the wrong way. But like I said, I am extremely biased because I am in love with the original. I just don’t like that they completely changed how the characters interact or look. In the new series it actually goes into the relationship between Fred and Daphne and apparently they got engaged. Whereas, in the original you knew they were into each other but that was it, there was no onscreen romance. Another thing changed was Scooby’s role. I noticed that in the new series he talks much more than he has in any other series before this. One other thing that really got me was that they changed the name of their town. It was originally Coolsville and now it is Crystal Cove, you just can’t do that! Haha! On a positive note, the new series does keep Frank Welker as the voice for Fred (who was also the original voice of Fred and has been ever since) and he also has taken over Don Messick’s role as Scooby Doo. And Matthew Lillard, who voiced Shaggy in the live action film, has become the voice for him now in the animated show, which I think was a good choice because he sounds what someone would imagine Shaggy to sound like.

Overall, the moral of this blog is I don’t do well with change, especially to something as awesome as Scooby Doo, Where Are You? If I were a kid growing up with the new Scooby Doo I’d probably love it just as much as I did the original. So, if you’ve got some free time head on over to Cartoon Network of Boomerang and give each of these shows a watch. When it’s all said and done you really can’t go wrong with Scooby Doo. 😀

PS I just watched a clip, and apparently Shaggy and Velma are having some sort of secret relationship! Again, it just bothers me. I guess it’s a good thing, but now that’s making Scooby the awkward third wheel and they should definitely bring him in a friend, or even reintroduce Scrappy Doo! Sorry I’m just looking for clips and found this one! The second link is a full episode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBKiLqkXDXM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPZq8s-XCRU

Also here is a classic clip from the original!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1ZzdS7JF3c

 

The State of the Union Address

A cool dude. hah :)

A cool dude. hah 🙂

Two weeks ago I completely forgot to post my blog. I was being a super-slacker. And unfortunately I couldn’t find anything that is too interesting to talk about. So I’ve decided to focus on the President’s State of the Union Address. I know I’m a bit late, but I figure it’s never too late to talk about America and the President! 🙂

Quite frankly, I think it is a pretty cool event to watch. It’s not very often that you can see the members of Congress, the SCOTUS Justices, and the President all in the same room. Also the ritual of having the House Sergeant at Arms announce the President before he came in is a pretty cool thing to see. If you’ve never watch the State of the Union I highly recommend doing so. It may seem pretty boring, but it’s actually really interesting. The whole set-up of how things are done and the procedures people follow is awesome to watch.

But after everything is said and done and the President begins his speech, I feel like there is an outpouring of crowd pleasing terms that are used to please the people of the United States. Obama’s entire speech was full of rhetoric, especially when he began talking about gun control. He said that the victims of mass shootings, such as Columbine or Sandy Hook, deserve a vote. Obviously, this was a direct emotional hit to anyone who has any opinions regarding the lives lost, especially when they are children. He probably also used this in order to try to persuade some motion on a gun control bill in Congress. In an article posted on CNN, they mentioned that Obama’s State of the Union address was a less aggressive version of his inaugural speech. ( I have no idea if they are right because I unfortunately missed it) But I feel as though this was an attempt by him to get some support from the opposing party. I wouldn’t be too enthused if I was a member of Congress and my President, who was of another party, was coming out and directly attacking mine. Instead I see this approach from Obama as a wise way of working the system.

In all, Obama addressed many of the problems facing the US today. Some of which probably will be discussed in next year’s State of the Union, but hopefully some of them will not be. Obama was definitely trying to appeal to the Republicans, but I’m not so sure he did so effectively. Also, I’d just like to acknowledge Speaker of the House, John Boehner’s facial expressions throughout the entire speech.  It was hilarious. He just looked so unhappy, even when he was clapping he was still angry. I’ve posted some articles regarding the speech. Even if politics isn’t your thing I definitely think that everyone should consider watching the State of the Union. It kind of lets you know what is going on in the government, it may not be accurate to a T, but it is still good information to have. I think Obama handled himself well this year and made sure to include all things that he needed to include. And poor Marco Rubio, no one seemed to notice that he gave a speech just because he reached for a glass of water. People are interesting sometimes. Overall, the State of the Union is extremely interesting to watch because of the ritual the members of the government go through, and also because of the inclusion of information pertaining to the public. J

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/us/politics/obama-delivers-state-of-the-union-address.html

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/13/politics/state-of-the-union-5-things/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/politics/2013-state-of-the-union-specials-page/

Seriously, check out Boehner's face! :)

Seriously, check out Boehner’s face! 🙂

Moderating philosophy

Throughout deliberation, one of the most important jobs that there is during the process is moderation, thus making the moderator one of the main components. Without a moderator it is possible for the deliberation to get out of hand. Also without a moderator there could be a huge lack of discussion. And because of these two consequences, deliberation needs to be aided by a moderator, who knows what they are doing.

One of the most important tasks for a moderator is communication with those who are taking part in the deliberation. A moderator needs to know what is at hand. It is near impossible for someone to walk into a discussion and be able to have constructive deliberation when they have no idea what they are talking about. The moderator also needs to be able to keep the discussion going. Instead of tuning out and not listening to the other group members; they need to remain active in the discussion, often even posing questions regarding what the members have just said.

Regarding myself as a moderator, I was not as well versed with the topic of sustainability as I would have liked to have been. I read the packet, but often there are outside factors that aren’t contained within the packet. Therefore I really had no background information on the subject. I think this had a major role in my ability to interact in the discussion. Also I know that when I was a moderator I made sure to listen to what other people were saying and tried to incorporate what they had just said into a question in order to start a new conversation. Although I wasn’t a perfect moderator, I think I did okay considering it was my first time in that position and I tried to make the awkward silences less frequent.

Overall, moderators are very important to the success of deliberation. Without someone  to keep the conversation going or stop it from getting out of control there would be no civil deliberation. It is definitely necessary for a moderator to know what issues are at hand so that they can be able to construct a strong and positive discussion. Without a moderator there would be many problems with the process of deliberation.

The Merry Old Land of Oz

 

With the release of “Oz the Great and Powerful” around the corner, this week I’ve decided to take a look into “The Wizard of Oz”. Now you’re probably thinking “This girl is crazy, there aren’t any remakes!?” sorry but you’re wrong. 😀 There are so many different interpretations of L. Frank Baum’s interesting book. Most people know about the 1939 version starring Judy Garland, so I’ve decided this week to compare it with the 1978 version entitled “The Wiz”.

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Now, both of these movies follow the same plot line, with some minor differences. They both have Dorothy, the witches, the Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Man. But the main difference is that The Wiz adds an African American influence to the mix.  Its producers had the goal of illustrating the African American experience in the Wizard of Oz. In the 1939 version Dorothy lived on a farm, but in the 1978 version Dorothy was a school teacher who lived in Harlem. Of course the differing backgrounds for each of the movies allowed for different renditions of the songs to be created. Personally I found this to be awesome. A lot of the Wizard of Oz remakes feature the same old songs from 1939. But The Wiz created new songs that are just as catchy as the original music.

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From an acting perspective both are pretty good. I mean, I am very biased because growing up the Wizard of Oz was my favorite movie. But The Wiz starred Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, both of whom were/are very influential African American artists. In my opinion, nothing beats the original. But this remake is definitely worth your time. It is funny, energetic, and a bit quirky. Everyone should definitely see both of these movies. If you haven’t seen the Wizard of Oz, shame on you. Just kidding, but really you should see it. And everyone should watch The Wiz because it is also pretty cool too! Fun fact about the Wiz; this weekend at THON the Blue Band is going to play a song from the movie! And if you went to either the Temple or Wisconsin game it might sound familiar to you (it was part of the halftime show those weeks). Anyways, this blog isn’t too informative on the movie because I don’t want to give too much away. The Wiz is available on Netflix and if you really want to watch the Wizard of Oz it is probably on YouTube. You should definitely watch both of them! Here are some YouTube clips from each! 😀

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjyJ_ZUEMEw&feature=youtu.be&t=25s

This clip seriously gets me every time. It’s the song that Blue Band is doing. But it’s also just really funny to sit back and laugh at and the song is way too catchy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aopdD9Cu-So

And this scene is probably one of the most quoted by me. I have a tendency to shout it whenever it is raining! And it’s funny too.

The Inbetweeners: UK vs US

top is uk, bottom us

top is uk, bottom us

This week, instead of focusing on movie remakes, I decided to take a look at TV remakes. In 2008, a production company out of the UK picked up a show titled “The Inbetweeners”. After 3 short seasons, the show was put on hiatus. This past year, MTV decided to make their own version of the same name. This was a bad choice for MTV because the show was dropped and cancelled after one season. The basic plot line is the story of a new kid who tries to fit in and ends up finding three new friends. His new friends are neither part of the cool kids nor part of the nerds, they are simply inbetweeners.

This show is a simple case of “the original was 10 times better than the remake”. For me, humor is so much funnier when it is in a British accent. The story line was original, as were the characters. The US version kind of killed it. The show’s producers didn’t even try to add their own touch to the show. A lot of the episodes had the same story lines as the UK version. A few episodes were different than the original, but most were the same story with different people and different accents. I felt like MTV picked up the show because they saw how well it was doing in the UK. They probably believed that by broadcasting the exact same thing in the US they would get extremely high ratings, but that was not the case. The UK version lasted for at least three seasons (it is unknown whether or not they are going to come back) and the US version lasted for approximately three months. Overall, the original was so much better. And again, the accents just added ten bonus points to the UK, for some reason it made all of the jokes a little classier. If you’re into crude comedies then this is definitely a show to watch and I recommend it. (and if you aren’t into that sorry, instead you should watch NCIS because it is awesome too! :D) The UK version is available on Netflix, and the US version is available on MTVs website. The UK version was also followed with a movie, which I have yet to see, but it must be good because it has become the UK’s top grossing comedy ever. So if you’re bored and looking for a chuckle you should definitely check it out (but if you can avoid the US version, it’s just bad). And that is my two cents regarding “The Inbetweeners”. 😀

 

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Deliberation WIP

This week after looking around on the website I was way too freaked out to comment anything on other people’s blogs. After looking at various posts, a lot of the people who comment on them must sit at their computers all day and do nothing but pick at other’s posts. It kind of is sketchy how often some of the users are online. Also a lot of them seem to have very boisterous opinions and are knowledgeable on what they’re talking about. I had also not seen a post that I was too interested in, so I decided to post my own topic.  Oddly enough, before I could post anything on a forum I had to post an intro about me. This one person thought I was an elementary school teacher. This should be interesting. No one has yet to reply to my post. But I’d imagine that it will only be a matter of hours, as people are always on the site. I’m nervous as to what the results are going to be. But I feel better because a moderator looks at your post before you can submit it, so hopefully nothing too offensive will be said. I’m kind of not comfortable with this whole deliberation with strangers. I mean, I think it’s nice to know that you’re not going to be judged on a daily basis because you have no idea who they are, but on the other hand it’s just not my cup of tea. But I shall get over that! Also my back up plan is the Centre Daily Times. If things get too out of hand on my politics sight, I feel like the Times is an active and well educated group to deliberate with! 🙂