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September, 2013

  1. Stargate SG-1

    September 27, 2013 by Melissa Shallcross

    So here’s #7…..

    Stargate SG-1

    Stargate

    “Stargate SG-1.” Wikipedia. Web. 27 Sept. 2013.

    So, this is the only science fiction show I have on my top 10 list… This is really interesting to me when I think of it. The Sci-Fi, or now Syfy, channel used to be my favorite channel that I grew up watching…

    But now that I think of it, there are only two other (relatively recent) shows on Syfy that I used to watch back then. So, I guess the reason why I loved that station so much was because of Stargate SG-1. Similar to Monk, I used to watch Stargate SG-1 every Saturday night when a new episode came on, plus, every day there were reruns played after I got home from school.

    …I watched it a few days a week it seems like!

    As for the show, Stargate SG-1 follows the lives of the several people that make up the unit named “SG-1”, getting its name as the first team to have been formed in the Stargate (SG) program. The stargate is a portal that was found on Earth that links our world with hundreds of thousands of other worlds outside of our solar system. These planets are, of course, sometimes occupied by allies or “alien” enemies of Earth. So, the team explores these different planets and always falls into conflict. That’s where the action comes in.

    I think not knowing what they would encounter on the other side, the unknown aspect of the show, made it really intriguing to me. Plus, being a kid, the show attracted me with the humor it incorporated, as always. One of my favorite episodes has the characters stuck repeating a day over and over, where they begin to realize that until they get things fixed, they can do whatever they want without fear of punishment. You can imagine they did some funny things!

    I’ve always been into action shows and movies, so the combination of humor, science, the unknown, and actors like Richard Dean Anderson (who starred in MacGyver, another show I like) with all the military-style action seemed to get me hooked for all 10 seasons!

    Stargate SG-1 seems to be an oddball in my list of favorite shows. Are there any shows that you can think of that don’t quite fit in with your list of favorites?


  2. Chopped

    September 19, 2013 by Melissa Shallcross

    Now to mix it up a bit, my next favorite TV show is…….

    #8: Chopped

    "Chopped." Food Network. Television Food Network, 2013. Web. 09 Sept. 2013.

    “Chopped.” Food Network. Television Food Network, 2013. Web. 19 Sept. 2013.

     

    I still remember the day that I first watched an episode of Chopped on Food Network. I was supposed to be heading to a friend’s house, but about 30 minutes before I left, flipping through the channels on the TV, I found this fast-paced cooking show. Now, just so you know, I cannot cook to save my life. I make myself breakfast every day! But that’s just me pouring out some cereal and milk. Every so often I attempt to make chocolate chip cookies, but some ingredient always seems to evade the mixing bowl (not the chocolate of course). So, my point is, watching people running around cooking with all these weird combinations of ingredients and knowing what flavors make good combinations amazed me, so I had to keep watching to see how the chefs accomplished these challenges, which ultimately made me late to my friend’s house. I think it was worth it.

    Chopped is a unique culinary TV show. In case you have never seen an episode before, it starts with four chefs, many times with different culinary and/or cultural backgrounds. They’re given a basket of several ingredients that they must incorporate into their appetizer course in the matter of 20 minutes. At the end of Round 1, the chef with the least favorite dish as determined by the judges, is sent home, and the last three chefs move to the 30 minute entree round. Likewise, one chef is sent home and the final 50 minute dessert round follows. At the end of this round, the judges go back through each of the three courses for both chefs to determine who deserves to be awarded the hefty $10,000 that they give to the winner each episode.

    I have loved to watch Chopped for several years, now. I am always in awe of what these chefs are able to create with such strange ingredients. Also, the specials that the show puts on are fun and entertaining, too. For example, there were episodes that spotlighted school chefs and even leftovers. The show is also inspirational because of some of the specials it puts on has the chefs competing to win money for their choice of charity. Generally, I find it most fun to see the competition between the chefs, the creativity they display, and how strange foods can somehow turn out to taste and look good together. Overall, if you haven’t seen Chopped, you should definitely check it out! It’s a very entertaining show, even for people who can’t cook, like me!

     


  3. Monk

    September 12, 2013 by Melissa Shallcross

    Next stop on my list of top shows is……..

    #9 Monk

    "Monk."

    “Monk.” USA. NBCUniversal. Web. 12 Sept. 2013

    For those of you unfortunate souls who have never seen Monk before, it is about an ex-detective who works as a consultant for the San Francisco Police Department that has a multitude of  psychological orders. These disorders, especially his obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), help him to see clues pertaining to the crime that others tend to overlook. The show’s comedic side is showcased as it follows Monk on investigations where his disorders put him in sticky situations as his wit is tested against murders of every caliber.

    Monk is one of my top ten favorite shows for plenty of reasons. For one, my family and I used to sit down together every week to watch the new episodes. It was one of those classic shows that my whole family would rush to finish eating dinner for when we to heard and started to sing along with the catchy theme song. Having grown up with Monk, I noticed later its qualities of a family TV show even though it was about crime and murder. It was playful and always made my family laugh at the sticky situations Adrian always found himself in.

    Another main reason I love this show is because of the story line. Adrian has a mission that underlies his working at the police department: his wife, Trudy, had been murdered, and it was the only case that he could not solve. Throughout the series, he runs into clues here and there, but the truth always seems to evade him. Justly, as you would expect, on the last episode of the series, Adrian does discover his wife’s killer. This anticipation and constant struggle that the viewers see inside of Adrian keeps the series interesting and the audience curious.

    So,  I placed Monk as #9 on my list because I loved growing up with it and spending time watching it with my family. It was quirky and dramatic, something that kept me watching the new episodes every week. I truly believe that Monk was one of the best and original comedic crime dramas of the day.


  4. Malala Yousafzai

    September 6, 2013 by Melissa Shallcross

    On September 3, 2013, Malala Yousafzai returned to the microphone again to open the new Library of Birmingham in England, the largest library in Europe. Yousafzai, a Pakistani teenager, was speaking out for women’s education in Pakistan in October 2012 when her courage and civic engagement put her in danger of the Taliban, who shot at her and her friends.

    Davies, Caroline. Malala Yousafzai Opens New Birmingham Library. The Guardian. 2013. Web. 5 Sep. 2013.

    Davies, Caroline. Malala Yousafzai Opens New Birmingham Library. The Guardian. 2013. Web. 5 Sep. 2013.

    Yousafzai had a bullet graze her brain. She was airlifted to Birmingham for treatment, where she has since recovered and made the city her second home. Despite her brush with death, she continues to speak out not only for women’s rights, but for the rights of all children and women around the world. On her 16th birthday, she continued to contribute as a citizen of her Pakistani and youth community by speaking to a large group of student delegates at the United Nations.

    This week, she had the honor of opening the largest library in Europe. In her speech, she resonates with civic engagement as she takes lead and points out to everybody that knowledge is power. She is actively informed about the problems of education in the world, and she takes action through speeches such as these. She tries to persuade and encourage others to help her in her fight for education.

    It is apparent that she puts others ahead of herself. Even though she now has a home in Birmingham where she is freely being educated, she still stands up for her community in Pakistan and other countries where children and women are still suffering through speeches like the one she did on Tuesday.

    Yousafzai’s use of rhetoric in her speech is amazing for her age, as she always stays composed and speaks clearly and forcefully. She is able to get people to pay attention to her from the beginning. First, she connects herself with the people of Birmingham with an appeal of ethos, labeling herself and her audience with the humorous local city nickname of “Brummies.” Then, continually addressing her audience as “brothers and sisters” and having their greater attention, she introduces the topic of her discussion. She declares that knowledge can defeat terrorism and implores us not to forget that “only one book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.” She also uses the statistic that 57 million children are not getting education. This uses the appeal of logos, getting her audience to think about what she just proposed. How can just one book, pen, child, and teacher change the world exactly, and how is it that that many children are not getting educated?

    Throughout her speech, she is very persuasive about the idea that knowledge is power. She speaks with great confidence on the subject, and her near death experience speaks loud to the audience about just how true the threat of terrorism is in the Middle Eastern countries. The idea that the Taliban would try to silence children for being activists for their own education helps Yousafzai gain sympathy for those children and women around the world who still are not being educated, an example of an appeal of pathos.

    Opening the largest library in Europe emphasizes her goal of education for the world, as libraries are symbols of knowledge. As she continues to be one of the youngest activists for childhood education, she will continue to gain support for her cause because of her poise and great passion for the effort. If you have not already seen Yousafzai’s speeches, I strongly recommend that you watch them. Her passion and confidence can easily capture people’s attention and will continue to gain support for her cause until it is truly fixed.

    Links:

    Library of Birmingham Speech – http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/03/malala-yousafzai-opens-birmingham-library

    Davies, Caroline. Malala Yousafzai Opens New Birmingham Library. The Guardian. 2013. Web. 5 Sep. 2013.

    United Nations Speech – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRh_30C8l6Y

    ABC News. “Girl Shot in Head by Taliban, Speaks at UN: Malala Yousafzai United Nations Speech 2012.” YouTube. Web. 5 Sep. 2013.

     

     


  5. Ghost Whisperer

    September 5, 2013 by Melissa Shallcross

    After long deliberation, here is my #10 favorite TV show. Drum roll please………………!

    #10: Ghost Whisperer

    Ghost Whisperer. IMDb. n.d. Web. 5 Sept. 2013.

    Ghost Whisperer. IMDb. n.d. Web. 5 Sept. 2013.

     

    Jennifer Love Hewitt stars in this supernatural drama that ran for a solid 5 seasons, spanning from 2005 to 2010. For those of you who have never seen the show, the plot goes like this: Hewitt stars as Melinda Gordon who, since she was a child, has had the gift of seeing ghosts. She uses her gift to help ghosts cross over (classically) “to the other side.”

    Ghost Whisperer isn’t your classic Ghost Hunters type ghost show that seems to be popping up everywhere nowadays. It has something for just about everyone. For example, there’s great acting, a thrill aspect, and drama (obviously). There are ghosts for those who love the supernatural side of things, but then there’s tear-wrenching scenes for people who like a good cry.

    The drama revolves are Melinda as she deals with the countless spirits of the dead, whether they are haunting their places of death, seeking revenge on the ones that caused them to die, or just following their loved ones around, pestering them as they try to speak with them one last time. Melinda, in every way, shape, and form imaginable, happens to run into these ghosts. When they realize she can see them, they usually either beg for her help or threaten her to stay out of their business.

    Every episode has a unique plot, creative and new. As the series continues, though, larger plots and surprising twists start to unfold as episodes begin to connect and reveal a massive darkness enveloping her town. Each episode is full of suspense and, unlike many drama shows, it really is hard to guess the ending.

    I can’t think of any shows that are quite like Ghost Whisperer. There are plenty of supernatural dramas, but are there any that match its unique ways of captivating such a large variety of people with its distinctive set of qualities?

     


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