The Golden Compass

The movie the Golden Compass is said “attack Christianity.” I feel that the movie encompasses a wide range of vivid fictional ideas paralleled with mythical creatures and a vibrant make believe atmosphere. As from my point own Catholic point of view, I find no reason to believe that neither the book nor the movie is trying to attack any religious view point. I merely enjoyed the film for what it was presented to me as. After the film when the class made the connection between Authority being the higher power and dust being sin, along with the magesterium wanting to rid the world of Authority in order to rid dust or sin, I still felt indifferent about the attack on Christianity. I know what I believe about my religion and I am able to accept other’s views as well. In an email interview with the writer Phillip Pullman, he said “First, the obvious hook for this story is the upcoming movie version of The Golden Compass, and there has been some talk in the entertainment media of late about the movie "toning down" the perceived anti-religious elements. Nicole Kidman, for example, was quoted as saying that she would never have signed on to the trilogy if she had thought there was anything "anti-Catholic" about the movies; and Chris Weitz has said the focus of the trilogy will be on "Authority" rather than "God", per se.” While the authors’ background may be atheist, I find little evidence throughout the film he is trying to actually persuade people to see things one way over another, rather than express what he believes. He has been taught one method and firmly believes such things, thus ideas are reflected through his own works. I feel people are more into trying to make mountains out of mo-hills if you will, rather than enjoying literature and films for their art and appreciating the views of each individual that makes up our gumbo of a nation.

SUMMER 2008!

As the tedious school year winds to a close,everyone is making big plans for their final summer in high school. As far as I am concerned, my summer will be consumed with three main events. First and foremost is my trip to Australia, New Zeland, and Hawaii. The day after school gets out I will board a plane and fly to another continent. I am ecstatic to explore another continent as well as Hawaii, our 50th state. The second consumer of my summer will be swimming lessons. I have been teaching swimming lessons in the afternoons for three years now. I really enjoy swimmng. I also like teaching and being with children. When I teach children to swim I feel accomplished because I have accurately taught a child to swim, which is very valuable. The third and biggest activity I will be portaking in this summer is cheerleading. The entire month of June I will attend camps, cheer practice, mini camps, and social events. All together summer will be anything but boring. I am very ready to begin my vacation as well as my other activities.

Outfoxed

Outfoxed is a movie that portrays the Fox news center in a harsh light. Every person interviewed in the documentary is a former employee of the company and each person tends to have the same views toward the company – it is right winged and highly biased. According to Outfoxed and Popmatters.com, an accusation that can accurately be made against the documentary is that Greenwald should have included nonconformist views that accuse a network of having the same uniform appearance or makeup. I believe that this cannot be true. The film showed some of the ways Fox enhanced the program by having pictures in the background of the letters, the O’Reilly Factor with Bill O’Reilly, and even flashing news alerts that were not always the most urgent bits of news.
Lariat claims that Outfoxed that Mr. O’Reilly is a prominent feature in the documentary. One could claim that Fox uses intimidation, being that Mr. Bill O’Reilly is very loud, very tall, and very opinionated. O’Reilly claims that he has only ever told one person to “shut-up.” However, his statement is followed with a long series of aired clips in which Bill tells one guest after the other to shut up. Mr. O’Reilly has a hard time acknowledging the fact that some people see the world differently than he does and turns into a monster when any guest disagrees with him. In one interview shown, O’Reilly went off on one young man who lost his father in the tragic accidents of September 11th. O’Reilly was so outraged at the young man’s political views he almost resulted in physical violence. I belive that in this instance this is true. Fox is aware of what Mr. O’Reilly is doing to his guests and what viewers are seeing at home, but still keeps him on the show because his outlandish acts land viewers and viewers are good news.

http://www.popmatters.com/film/reviews/o/outfoxed-dvd.shtml
http://www.lariat.org/AtTheMovies/new/outfoxed.html

Blog Nine(Free Write)

Yesterday, Saturday, was our prom. It was my first prom. I had a blast. My dress was a beautiful, red, slip gown. My date was Austen Waguespack; he is a studly sophomore. We looked amazing if I may say so. At four o’clock a large mixture of juniors all gathered across the street from my house to board the charter bus we had rented. Just as my luck would have it, the bus encountered a mechanical error before it made it to the neighbors - Karley Vargas. We could not get another bus so everyone piled into their own cars and went to LaCour’s to take pictures. It took about two hours and when we were finished we had some good news: there was a bus waiting for us at Karley’s. Everyone went back to Karley’s and boarded the bus after a quick alcohol check by Mrs. Vicki, Karley’s mother. Not only did we have Mike Jones as our bus driver, but also George and George helping to make for an unforgettable night. We made it to dinner at Sno’s in about ten minutes. The food was delicious. After we filled our bellies, we went to the Gonzales Civic Center for the dance. I had an amazing time at the dance. I didn’t stop dancing from the minute I walked in the door to until the time we left. The winners of the court surprised me. After the teachers announced court our group loaded the bus and went back home.

BLOG EIGHT

Cheating is an act of lying, deception, fraud, trickery, imposture, or imposition. Cheating is a often used as a way of creating an “unfair advantage” for one or more people in their own interest. Cheating is a term that is less applicable to the breaking of laws which are commonly referred to as fraud or corruption. In all instances cheating is wrong and should not be tolerated (Callahn, David).One should not cheat because cheating is wrong.

One should not cheat because cheating is wrong. Cheating should not be done for three main reasons. The main reason one should not cheat is because cheating is a form of theft. When someone cheats, that person is stealing someone else’s thoughts or ideas ,rather than using their own. This leads to another reason cheating is wrong. When one steals someone else’s thoughts or answers that person does not learn anything at all. The person who helps his fellow friend, classmate, or co-worker cheat is also doing wrong. That person is helping someone to cheat, but in turn will only hurt the cheater because they are not learning anything. If a person is caught cheating, both the cheater and the person who assists the cheater to cheat could receive unforgiving punishments. People know better than to steal goods from stores; therefore they should know that cheating is stealing ideas, and is wrong as well.

One should not cheat. Cheating has many terms but is still an act of trickery and fraud. When you cheat you are taking thoughts and ideas of others and claiming them to be your own. You do not shoplift, which is stealing retail items and is punishable under the federal law, so why would one attempt to steal the ideas and thoughts of others? Just as shoplifting is punishable, cheating is punishable as well. Depending on the severity of each instance depends on the punishment. In a classroom, if students are caught cheating they may receive a zero as their grade on a test or even a referral. In the world of sports, if someone cheats by using non-regulation equipment or through the use of enhancement drugs, the cheater could be punished by lawsuits and jail time, or other serious levels of punishment rather than a failing grade(Callahan,David).

Cheating is wrong no matter the reason or rhyme. By cheating you show a weakness that you are not willing to admit too. Cheating never brings about any good no matter how desperately you are in need of something. You may feel that cheating is the correct answer for the time being but in the long run it can only hurt you.

Callahan, David, and Stuart P. Green. "Cheating." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 7 Apr.-May 2008. 8 Apr. 2008 .
Cupchik, W., and D. J. Atcheson. "Shoplifting." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 3 Apr. 2008. 8 Apr. 2008 .

Inaudible Melodies..(7)

Jack Johnson coolly vocalizes the many lyrics in his song “Inaudible Melodies”. The song is filled with stylistic devices. The title in itself is an oxymoron. Inaudible means that you cannot hear something while a melody is a tune you hear. Therefore the title implies you cannot hear the melody.
Brushfire fairytales, Itsy Bitsy Diamond wells, Big fat hurricanes, Yellow bellied given names, Well shortcuts can slow you down, And in the end we’re bound, to rebound off of we. For starters this verse uses at least two devices. I saw anthimeria, which applied to yellow which described the given names and brushfire which are the types of fairytales. To end the verse with to rebound off of we, Jack Johnson choose to use an anastrophe. Well shortcuts can slow you down to me, implies that you may try to take the easy way out of things by using the shortcuts present but in the end it will take longer because you tried to take the easy way out instead of just going in feet first.
Solar powered plastic plants is an alliteration, as well as pretty pictures. “In the long run, we have found, silent films are full of sound, inaudibly free” is a large oxymoron. It says with time silent films which have no sound turn out to be full of sound. Confusing, yes, but it means that you learn from watching people and how they react. After all don’t actions speak louder than words?
Slow down everyone, you’re moving too fast; Frames can’t catch you when you’re moving like that is appealing to everyone’s emotions. Jack Johnson, our speaker, wants the people to stop rushing and enjoy our days. He is trying to convey that we rush along and the camera known as life cannot capture us because we never stop.
Once again, inaudible melodies are an oxymoron. I believe Jack uses many oxymoron’s to show how we are wasting time. He uses unobtrusive tones as well. The fourth verse also uses perpharsis by saying Frame-lines tell me what to see, chopping like an axe and maybe Eisenstein should just relax. One could draw that Jack believes today we rely too heavily upon the media rather than our own judgment. Our Einstein’s or medical and other geniuses of the world should slow down.
Overall the one thing Jack Johnson wants to convey to listeners would be to slow down. We move too fast and neglect relaxation in turn becoming those we despise.

Jeremy Analysis (6)

“Jeremy “is the story of a miserable school boy who cannot seem to fit in. Jeremy receives zero parental support at home, and faces no support ,along with ridicule, at school. The boy seems to lack love and understanding from anyone. He is looked down on by his peers who believe him to be a “harmless” target.
In my opinion, relationship is, for obvious reasons, the main category the song Jeremy would fall into and the subcategory would be cause and effect. The relationships Jeremy struggles with are mainly between his family and schoolmates. He faces problems with feeling involved in school, feeling loved and accepted by his peers, and even wanted. The causes for Jeremy’s “speaking out in class” would be the harsh, constant, ridiculing from everyone he came into contact with. No one believed Jeremy would react in such an outlandish way because he was always seen as harmless.