Revised:Perry's Sarcasm

Michael Perry from his Twitter account

Coop: a Family, a Farm, and the Pursuit of One Good Egg by Michael Perry was a book unlike any other that I had ever read, and left me tempted to live my own life out in the middle of nowhere and grow my own food, or have a husband that would grow our own food anyway. The story was very well balanced and characterized through the vast about of humor that could be found in Perry, the husband. Throughout the good and the bad times, this character always has a way to leave the reader in a light mood because of his sarcasm and humor.

The main example of this that I think about is how Perry accidently kills three of his chickens in the most bizarre ways possible . These parts of the story are a wide mixture of emotions where the reader can't help but to want to laugh and cry. The entire book of Coop really consists of scenes like these as it allows the reader to experience a city family adjust to living on a farm of their own.

Journal 7: I wish I may, I wish I might

The Planetarium, the place to study the thing that we take for granted. Stars. Growing up I loved climbing the ladder up to our roof at night, dragging a blanket behind me to snuggle up and watch the stars. Now, I enjoy taking night walks on warm evenings with my boyfriend who also enjoys the stars, maybe even more than me. But those nights, cloudy and cold… Those nights are what the planetarium was made for!

Planetarium (looks even cooler when your there)
from  www.physics.sfsu.edu

In the UWSP planetarium, on can enjoy learning about constellations; see how throughout the night other pieces of the night sky begin to emerge and the sun fades deeper and deeper to the other side of the earth. Orion of course and the big and little dipper were covered but so was Tartus the bull. We also looked at the milky way and studied stars in general. One thing that really stood out to me is how stars that we see every night may have actually already disappeared, but because they are so far away, their light is still on its way to us. Some stars could have been dead for years, decades, centuries before we know here on earth.

I find the planetarium inspiring, educational, and interesting. It is free to students and plays every week. I really encourage each and every person to make the evening trip to campus to enjoy the planetarium presentation. Hell! Go as a date, go with friends, go to procrastinate on homework; you won’t regret it. 

Michael Perry Presents

Attending Michael Perry's evening seminar was really an enjoyable experience as he touched on his book while not shying away from sharing his life, making us laugh, or a few comments young children would not understand and good thing. But he was all over a very enthusiastic and entertaining speaker.

Michael Perry and his Truck

 As Perry was speaking, he touched on his book Truck: A Love Story and mainly described his truck which he described in details that I could not repeat to you no, but what he so distinctly implied as...a perfect piece of crap. I don't think that I will ever understand the connection that males feel towards their cars, and maybe I am stereotyping men, but I just know, that the way that Perry spoke about his truck grasped every man in the room a different way than it could ever have held onto me. Seeing the connection that Perry has to his truck really make the whole 'love story' part a bit humorous  and although there is a real romance in the book, the bond that Perry has with his truck is also in Truck: A Love Story.  All of the personal stories that Michael Perry share in his books really bring his writing to life because he is passionate about it, and that was easy to see when he spoke. I look forward to possibly picking up another one of his books soon.

Perry's Sarcasm

Coop: a Family, a Farm, and the Pursuit of One Good Egg by Michael Perry was a book unlike any other that I had ever read, and left me tempted to live my own life out in the middle of nowhere and grow my own food, or have a husband that would grow our own food anyway. The story was very well balanced and characterized through the vast about of humor that could be found in Perry, the husband. Throughout the good and the bad times, this character always has a way to leave the reader in a light mood because of his sarcasm and humor. 
The main example of this that I think about is how Perry accidently kills three of his chickens in the most bizarre ways possible . These parts of the story are a wide mixture of emotions where the reader can't help but to want to laugh and cry. The entire book of Coop really consists of scenes like these as it allows the reader to experience a city family adjust to living on a farm of their own.

Journal 6: Music Coming Alive

IO Echo's is really brought to life by Matt James in his article "IO Echo: Ministry of Love". I have never heard of the band, but the cover photo that was displayed with the article was quite intriguing and I continued to read about this asian group that has put together some very energetic and wonderful music. Matt really put a lot of imagery into the article describing and bringing to life various songs and albums that have been produced by IO Echo. As the article continues, you learn that the group not only has odd music, but may not quite fit in themselves as they live in LA, but seem to be comfortable in either traditional kimonos or leather.

Journal 5: Villains Exposed

In the article "It Honestly Feels Like We Should Want to Want Better: "Thor: God of Thunder #6"" by shathley Q a very close look is taken on evil villains and how they came to be. It all starts out as the writer describes a scene at a younger age that sparked his beliefs and how he came to the realization that what kind of god would want to destroy something as beautiful as the earth. He then transfers over to how in stories you are either the bad guy or the good guy.

Gorr and Thor from io9.com

Journal 4: The Couple of Laughter is Back

Drew and Adam from movies.broadway

Hold onto the hope for those abs people because if you are anything like me, we have some laughs on our way! According to Krystle Drew’s article “Drew Berrymore and Adam Sandler to Reunite in Upcoming Film”, the two are back together for another comical romance just as hilarious as their previous flings in 50 First Dates and The Wedding Slinger. This exciting new film is still untitled, but the plot has been molded.

In this film, Drew and Adam go on a not so charming blind date, but somehow get trapped in a hotel alone with both or their sets of kids from previous spouses. I can say that I am excited for this film and will be excited for the day when I can drag my boyfriend to the theater to watch it and laugh. I encourage you all to do the same with a friend or two!!

Closure With Her Death

Molly and Dom from Wordonfire.

Inception is a maze of a movie by Christopher Nolan, but one of the most important scenes to the plot of the movie is when Dom is in a 4^th level dream with Ariadni and Molly is there keeping Mr. Fischer hostage. Dom has been struggling with the memories of his dead wife Molly throughout the entire movie and in this scene 2 hours into the plot, we finally witness him overcoming his guilt he had due to Molly’s death. The scene unfolds as Dom and Molly speak together at the table or their old home as Molly desperately tries to convince Dom to stay with her. Dom agrees to stay with Molly in order to save Mr. Fischer, Ariadni rushes to the porch where Molly revealed that Mr. Fischer was being held. However, when Dom says that he actually was going to stay because another comrade was trapped in the 4^th level dream Molly gets upset and threatens to kill him which would throw him deeper into the dream, but Ariadni shoots Molly and gives Mr. Fischer a ‘kick’ to wake him up from the dream.  She speaks briefly with Dom to coordinate plans and then follows Mr. Fischer and gives herself a ‘kick’. The closing point of this scene is most important because Dom speaks with Molly about how he feel so guilty for her death, but he comes to have closure with her death and finally can leave her behind and live in the reality of his life, and that is why this scene is so important in the movie because throughout the film, Dom is haunted by Molly and now he can finally leave her behind.

Journal 3: The Life of Five Sisters

The Five Bennett Sisters
from N.E.O.N.619 blog

Pride and Prejudice is based on the book of the same title by Jane Austin. In this story, the life of the Bennett family is revealed in the chaos of the daughters’ love lives’. Sisters, men, romance, marriage, drama, all the glorious elements in Pride and Prejudiced keep me watching the film time and time again. I am a typical girl with 4 sisters (making a total of 5 daughters, just like in the film) and long for a romantic relationship with the chivalrous man of my dreams, so I very much can relate to this film, and I believe that is one of the main reasons that I love Pride and Prejudice. The film also has a very strong sense of realism within the time frame that the film takes place of course also tying in a few historical elements.

Another reason that Pride and Prejudice is a simply phenomenal film is due to Keira Knightley as she is a wonderful actress and I love every film that I have ever seen her in. She seems to so easily be able to mentally place herself in her given role’s position. I would strongly suggest this film to anyone who has not seen it because it is all together a good film and you cannot form a true opinion on it before seeing it yourself.

Journal 2: Warm Bodies on Valentine's Day

This Valentine's Day, I was taken to a movie following a lovely dinner. Romance is usually what you think of on Valentine's Day, but zombies? Why in the world was the movie Warm Bodies appropriate on that day of the year? Well, as covered in Bill Gibron writes about in his article "Say 'Hello' to the Zom Rom Com: 'Warm Bodies'" you can read that Warm Bodies is actually one of the better romantic comedies that have come out in the recent years.

R and Julie from schoolrack.com

Bill Gibron really makes a point to express how much he enjoyed Warm Bodies than other movies with monsters such as Twilight. I agree with Gibron in that the film had a great mixture of action, comedy and romance to keep most viewers happy while doing a good job of keeping the twitter patted scenes down while adding in quite a bit of action.

I would really encourage everyone to view this film and let me know what your opinion was of the zombie love story in Warm Bodies and if even if you haven't seen this specific film what is your take on other films with mythological creatures falling in love with humans and vice versa? Do you think that they are being over used or can you not get enough? I look forward to hearing what you think.



Journal 1: My Playlist, My Self

This six song album is one that consists of some of my favorite songs that also describe me. 

1.      Little Things- One Direction

2.      Butterfly Kisses- Bob Carlisle

3.      One Thing Remains- Jesus Culture

4.      The Way I am- Ingrid Michaelson

5.      Stars- Helen Jane Long

6.      We’re Going to be friends- The White Stripes

Music notes flowing through the air from fanshare

 

These songs are important to me because each of them express a different part of my life with a story of my life held in each one.

Test post 2

Test Post 1: Photo

My Computer Photos

 

Library Excursion

Our adventure began on the 5th floor of the menacing building on the Stevens Point campus disguised as the library.

There we found our first purple paw print clue utilizing our detective and call number skills that we acquired on our way through life. We discovered that the actor Charlie Chaplin was not only an actor but also a comedian throughout his life. From this we inferred that one of the letters to our puzzle was

"C"

 

Next we ventured back to the 4th floor of the so called library where we discovered the IMC containing a large CD collection. We heard that Stevie was browsing here earlier, so we took a closer look. Upon snooping, we came across another purple paw print clue and were lead to the album of The Rolling Stones and knew that

"R"

had to be another letter to our puzzle.

Climbing to the 5th floor (or taking the elevator) we followed the pirate trail of clues to the "stacks" otherwise known as bright green shelves. We searched for what seemed minutes for the Animal Biochemistry subjects until we finally laid our eyes upon them. Feverishly we searched the study cages near by in the hopes of coming across Stevie when we came across a monkey in exchange for the letter

"H"

 

 Getting lost on the way, we made our way to the 6th floor and which contains U.S. government publications. We found a poster of "how to find a U.S. publication" marked by a purple paw and saw that the call number for Smithsonian Institution is

"SI"

On the 2nd floor, we knew that the 'current' issues of the newspaper names after Stevie were kept there, so we logically assumed that that would be a logical place to look. However, sadly we just recieved another letter

"E"

from the worker there.

Sharks! That's always a smart place to look, on the first floor we found the Museum of Natural Resourses where we came across another clue leading us a bird egg giving birth to our next letter

"A"

for Alaska.

 

Just a few feet away, the periodicals stand. There the keeper gave us a slip of paper with

"V"

printed on it in exchange for the answer to a question.

 

 

 With all of the letters at hand, we went to our thinking chair(like in Blue's Clues) and put things together.

"ARCHIVES"

That is the answer! We raced to the 5th floor where the archives are found and rescued out dear friend Stevie.

Inspiring Music

Bach was an amazing musician in his lifetime and can still be found in life today. In the article "Reinventing Bach" by Paul Elie the story of how Bach plays a role in Albert Schweitzer's life is told. The story can be summarized as such: Albert had a passion for music especially Bach's music, but instead went into medicine and was inspired to help the poor. At an old age, Schweitzer decided that he was going to made albums of Bach's music played on the organ; his favorite being Fugue in D minor and use the profits to fund for clinics in Africa where he worked. 

Music Imagery

[http://favim.com/image/360872]

I really enjoyed this article because I too share an appreciation and joy for Bach and most other music. It is inspiring and can effect a person deeply.  Although I may not be as talented as Schweitzer is in music, but I do enjoy enveloping my time in music as he did. Through reading this article I feel inspired to look into a personal future somehow involving music whether it be singing in church or learning to play the piano. 

The Hunger Games

Effie, district 12’s chaperone, reaches her dainty hands with purple and white pained nails into the large fishbowl shaped vase. With a few twirls of her wrist she finally chooses the piece of paper that holds the name of the tribute. Grasping it, she walks back to her microphone, unfolds the paper, takes a deep breath reading the name and announces, “Prim Rose Everdeen”. In the crowd of children dressed in their worm out dim clothes, everyone backs away from Prim as she comes to the reality that her name has been called. As the camera shifts to her sister Katniss you can see the look of horror and confusion on Katniss’s face. The camera shifts back to Prim, she is holding back tears and coming to the realization her life will not last much longer. Effie coaxes her toward the stage. Prim slowly begins to allow her feet to move toward the stage when she remembers her little duck tail Katniss pointed out earlier and tucks it in as she moves. The other young girls can say or do nothing but back away and look at Prim. The camera shifts to Prim’s mom and you can tell she is holding everything back. As Prim makes it into view and Katniss first sets eyes on her Katniss cannot bear to see her young sister being a tribute. Katniss steps into the aisle and calls out to her sister in a first weak voice and then screams “I volunteer! I volunteer!” The guards hold her back until she retains composure, stands up straight and claims, “I volunteer as tribute.” A thing said that cannot be taken back.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=the+hunger+games+i+volunteer&FORM=HDRSC2#view=detail&id=5B8D65DF2FACA49E87E00DFB4DC97B8CC9AD40AE&selectedIndex=44

Movie Review Homework

Realism is when a movie remains in our own realm of being.  There is nothing that would be impossible to happen in our own lives in movies considered to possess the title of realism. An example of this that I first thought of was Hangover. There is nothing in this movie that could not happen to a group or friends going on a trip. The probability is low yes, but it is possible. Anti-realism is when a movie is produced that resides in a different realm of being. Things that wouldn’t actually happen in the viewer’s life would be considered an anti-realism movie. A good example of this would be Twilight because vampires are not really, but they conduct the story/movie in a way that it becomes believable that in the actors lives there could be vampires. Verisimilitude happens when whatever a film consists of becomes believable within the realm of the world in the film. A wonderful example of this is The Chronicles of Narnia series. Although they are based off of books and can’t take all of the credit, the production causes viewers really to believe that in Narnia things actually is the way that the film shows/tells the viewer that they are.

Chic flicks or romantic comedies all typically follow the same theme. This is as such: girl and boy are meant to be, something is not right and is keeping them apart, problem solved, and girl and boy end up together forever. Every/most girls love these girly but funny movies because we picture it happening to ourselves; the perfect romantic ending. Producers know we love it, so that are very willing to sell it.

Journal 4: New All Over in 'Star Wars'

With my roommate a fan of 'Star Wars', I thought reading up on it would provide an interesting discussion between us later. I came across the article " 'Star Wars': Three new movies, Lucas wont write or direct" by Gina McIntyre  and continued to read about how The Walt Disney Co. will be making three new 'Star Wars' movies; the first predicted to come out in 2015. George Lucas however will surprisingly only be a creative consultant. He has given his ideas for the next three movies to Kathleen Kennedy who will be executive producer for these three films.

George Lucas and ILM visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren (center) on set of “Return of the Jedi” (ILM)

http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2012/10/30/star-wars-three-new-movies-lucas-wont-write-or-direct/

I have not yet discussed this topic with my roommate, but I am interested to see what her response will be. Personally, I am a bit worried on if the movies will be weakened due to Lucas not being actively involved. The movies will be strong either way, but there is a risk, in my opinion, for Kathleen's personality and characteristics and techniques to change 'Star Wars'. I would like to know what others think, and would encourage you to express you opinions in the comments section of this post. In presumably 2015 when the first new 'Star Wars' movie hits theaters we will along with Lucas be able to be in the critics position searching for positive and negative changes in the 'Star Wars' theme and story line.

Journal 3: My Man, Edward

As I stop to think about my favorite movie, Tim Burton comes to my mind as he always does. Maybe it is the Halloween spirit, but this time when I decide which of the movies that Tim Burton produced is my favorite nothing but Edward Scissorhands comes to mind . Edward Scissorhands is a movie about an experiment that came to life; this experiment, played by Johnny Depp, is complete with a heart but has sharp objects for fingers. When Edward, the experiment, finally ventures outside, he goes through numerous different trials where he experiences happiness, sadness, friends, loneliness, and love. He in the end returns to his home alone because that was no other way for him to stay safe.

600full-edward-scissorhands-artwork.jpg

 

How To Make Better Than Sex Cake

By: Jenna Crawley, Amanda King, Kirby Reehl, Shannon Sward

The upcoming months are beginning to seem stressful as you have been put in charge of finding the perfect cake for your sister’s bridal shower. As you search the web, you find many cakes, but none of them seem quite right. You find Crème de Menthe, but you’re not old enough to buy the alcohol. Your next thought is to make rice cakes, but these might not be appealing to all of the guests. Then you find it: Better than Sex Cake. It seems to be the most ideal choice. However, you don’t know quite how to make it. Our goal is to help you make the best Better Than Sex Cake for your sister to enjoy at her bridal shower.