Summer MOVIES :)

I am really excited for the movies that are being released this year! Twilight and Harry Potter are two if many exciting movies that will be released. Twilight will be released Wednesday June 30th, 2010. Harry Potter is set to be released November 19th, 2010. I thought I would blog on these because I love these movies. I will say that I am very shocked that Harry Potter will be releasing it's movie only 6 months after Twilight. I heard last year that Harry Potter waited to release its movie when the Joker was shown because they didn't want to compete. Either way, I'm excited to the year ahead with movies that I have been waiting to see. :)

NAPS ARE AMAZING!!!

Naps are really helpful, especially for college students. I live on campus and all of my friends love to nap. I saw a video clip on CNN that shows that when we sleep or nap we are actually getting smarter. When we sleep our brain can process and make the connections more efficiently. Its easier and takes less effort. So, if anyone plans on getting smarter fall asleep while reading or studying. Whatever is bothering you think about it before you fall asleep and when you wake up you should have a better handle on things.

WOW!

Well Kate Gosselin is back in the news again. For many different reasons. She wants to be on the Playboy Cover but Heff told her, "No." Which I find pretty funny. This woman is nuts. I also continued to read about her new book she is getting published and the talk show she went on kept asking her questions about her children, but she reverted to her book. This woman has become really selfish and probably has destroyed her 8 children's lives. I read in an article that they faked Christmas. They woke up one morning and told the kids that Santa had come so that the camera could catch their reactions. I think this is crazy!!! I feel so bad for these kids...and really what is this world coming too?

CAMPUS MOVIE FEST!!!

Today I am going to blog about Campus Movie Fest because it's something that I have decided to do for my second time. I created a film last semester and it was one of the 15 videos shown out of 30 or so that were created. It wasn't a great film, but it was fun filming and editing. This year I have a couple friends who are helping me film what I hope to be a really good 5 minute movie. I really like that CMF provides all of the equipment needed to create this 5 minute film. It makes it so much easier for college students who cannot afford their own video camera and editing program. This week will be very stressful and jam packed with action but in the end it will be worth it. :)

American Idol Exposed...

I was searching CNN today for my daily news and found an interesting article on American Idol. I love American Idol but I don't watch it every episode. Actually, I've stopped watching it because it's the same thing every year for the past 8 seasons. But, the interesting thing is that I found an article that talks about exactly what is going to happen tonight. Someone published a "spoiler" that tells who is being let go and who is being saved by the judges. I find this really funny because people will do anything for money. People go to the rehearsal or the screening and then they call bloggers and they get paid for telling what they heard and saw. I think this goes along with our discussion board and this idea of reality TV. I mean how much of what we see is actually real ? How much

Jon and Kate Plus 8???

So, I have watched this show many times and I think the children are adorable and what not, but I don't understand why they have now become famous? There divorce was completely public and now the headlines say that Jon is suing Kate for custody. I think it's very interesting to see how things turn out to be different than expected. I bet they didn't think they would become famous or get divorced but they did. Maybe it's just me but I don't think I've seen one show where the couple stays together after they are on a TV show together. I wonder if there are any statistics on it or any information? What do you think?

ipad, ipod, itouch, im going insaneeeee!!!

The new ipad is set to be released this Saturday! I'm not really sure how I feel about this new product. I read an article on CNN, the top 10 things you need to know about the new ipad. The new ipad is just like a laptop except there no keyboard it's just a touch screen. In other words it's just a bigger version of the ipod touch.

They are starting at $499 dollars and go to $829 dollars tops. These prices reflect the amount of storage you want to purchase. In other words, how much music and files you want to store on your ipad. It weighs only 1 1/2 pounds which is crazy, and 9.7 inches across measured diagonally!!!

The ipad is similar to the ipod touch because it can get Internet anywhere that a wireless signal is found and it can also be linked to AT&T's mobile 3G network and you can get Internet anywhere you are.

The ipad is really good for different types of media such as watching videos browsing the web, reading books, etc. It's also good for gaming. If you want to create word documents you have to pay an extra fee to have it put on as an Apple App.

Bullying forces girl to kill herself...

Nine teenagers from MA has been charged for bullying the 15 year old girl from South Hadley High School who killed herself in January. Two of them are charged with statutory rape. Phoebe Prince was from Ireland and transfered to South Hadley High School. After 3 months of being tortured through facebook and text she commited suicide.

She was dating an older football player and this created a problem because she was only a freshman. South Hadley is the town over from where I live and I know how this school system works. I played 4 years of basketball against them and I can say that it doesn't surprise me. I hated that school and hated playing there. I'm not saying everyone there is terrible because I am sure there are some very intelligent people there but I don't like it. The school is somewhat out of control. They have problems with drugs, fighting, and anything else that should be prevented.

South Hadley's high school has about 700 students and my high school had 500 students and we are right next to each other, yet our school systems are extremely different. I always had the feeling that South Hadley High School was out of control and that the faculty didn't do much to stop it. I have friends who went there and would agree with me.

I feel bad for this younger girl who had to kill herself because of how bad they were treating her. What is this world coming too? People are so happy with themselves if they can make someone else feel unworthy. I think this is really terrible.

T-PAIN!!!

The other day my friend was talking to me about a new thing that the rapper T-Pain was promoting. It's his new application that can be used on your ipod. It allows for the audio tuner to distort your voice like it does for his voice in his songs. This has been advertised everywhere and there are many YouTube clips of people singing with this incredible application. I recently purchased this application after seeing a remake of "Charlie Bit Me" and the President's last speech. I have been playing with it for the past few hours and it really is incredible. It allows for me to sing the lyrics to his music for songs such as "Kiss Kiss" or "Bartender." There are many other things I can do such as upload them to my face book wall and share them with the world. I wanted to tell everyone that if you were thinking of getting this do it! If you haven't heard of it then you should YouTube it because it is quite entertaining.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun...

Constance McMillan is high school senior who wanted to go to her prom in a tux with her female date. She was told that she couldn't go to the prom with another girl and she went to court stating that her first amendments were being violated. She stated that she had been "out" since 8th grade and was planning on going to her senior prom with her "same-sex date." Luckily for her a judge agreed with her and they reinstated the prom because it was cancelled after this. The school officials had to allow all students to go to the prom and not discriminate because of someones sexual orientation.

I think this girl is very strong for standing up for what she believes in. She lives down south in a state that is very different from MA. They aren't liberal and don't typically agree to these types of acts but I think this girl set a pattern for change. A pattern that was going to happen eventually.

Mahalo ;)

During Spring break I travelled to Hawai'i. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. It was warm and sunny all week. I stayed on the Big Island in the city of Hilo. In Hilo it rains something like 277 days per year. But, the difference with the rain in Hawai'i and the rain in MA is that the rain in Hilo is warm and it can be on and off all day. One thing that I found really interesting was their radio stations. They only had a few stations that were local and none of the stations played newer music. All of the hip hop songs that I listen to and enjoy never made it to Hilo. My friend was listening to my ipod and couldn't believe all of the new songs that she hasn't heard. I thought it was weird that this would occur. I would think with how technologically advanced the United States is that it would be different?

Tsunami Scare!!!

On Friday Feb. 26th there was a massive 8.8 earthquake that happened just outside of Chile. This earthquake, which took place under the ocean, caused a bubble to occur. This bubble created a tsunami that was headed toward all of the Pacific Islands including Hawaii. I have a friend who is currently staying at the University of Hilo. While I was watching CNN they put up a map that showed the island and the only city they would show was Hilo. This was because that is where the tsunami was supposed to hit the worst. The tsunami was scheduled to hit Sat. Feb. 27th at 11:05 Hawaii time which was around 4pm here.

While the whole world was watching to see if the tsunami hit the small city my friend was texting me while she was hiking up a mountain to get as far from the bay as she could. This also gave them a good view of the bay so they could watch the waves. While we were texting she was saying that there were at least 4 helicopters ciricling around and filming the tsunami. CNN would show a time lapse video of water receding out into the ocean revealing a small reef and then the water.

The media definitely over dramatized the whole situation making the entire world panic. My friend in Hilo said thaty they were given warning 5 hours before it was supposed to happen. She said that people packed their things, went to breakfast, went shopping, and then went to the top of the mountain to watch it. She texted me pictures that showed hundreds of people on the mountain with telescopes, standing on their cars trying to see the bay, and even having barbeques. The media put most of the panic in everyone. Fortunately, the largest swell that Hill Bay received that day was 3 ft tall, which did not cause any damage.

I'm very glad this didn't destroy anything or cancel my spring break plans to go to Hawaii for 10 Days !!!! :)

Killer Whale!!!

At Sea World in Orlando, Florida on Wednesday Feb. 24th tragedy struck. One of the trainers, Dawn Brancheau was killed when a killer whale by the name of Tilikum dragged her underwater and drowned her. Visitors say that Dawn was standing on a platform when the 12,000 killer whale came barreling up behind her, grabbed her ponytail in his mouth and dragged her into the pool. Many people question whether SeaWorld should let Tilikum free or put it down. SeaWorld mentioned that they can't let him free because he was raised in captivity so he would not be able to survive on his own and they will not put him down because he is involved in much of the breeding that happens at SeaWorld and is the mate of several other whales there.

SeaWorld has postponed its killer whale show until all of the trainers have gone over the safety procedures and have also understood why Tilikum acted the way he did. This killer whale in particular was know to be involved in two other deaths in the past decade. In 1991 a woman fell in the pool in British Columbia. In 1999, a body of a man was found on Tilikum at the same SeaWorld in Orlando. The man had been said to die from hypothermia. Although the 1991 death was completely Tilikums fault. This recent accident was very tragic.

POLANSKI!!!

Polanski is in the news again for his new movie "The Ghost Writer." This is a political movie that Polanski has been working on for quite sometime and is just about done. Unfortunately there was a controversy because there was talk about another director coming in to finish the movie. The reason for another director would be because Polanski was arrested in Switzerland and had to stay in jail. He had outstanding warrants dating back to 1978 when he pleaded guilty to sleeping with a 13 year old. Fortunately, Polanski continued to work on the movie from his jail cell. The editor would give the information to Polanski's lawyer, who would pass it to the guard, and eventually into his hands.

This is a really dedicated director and I don't think the movie would have the same effect if it wasn't finished by Polanski. He's a perfectionist and has a very specific image. I can't wait for this movie to come out because I really want to see it.

CALL OF DUTY

Today I decided that I would like to talk about how my brothers are glued to their computers. My brother play a game called "Call of Duty." They play this online with many other people. These people come from all around the world but mainly in the US and Europe. This game is growing and more and more kids are playing. They have competitions for money, it's considered a professional sport if you are good enough. This game has created unique social pathways for people to communicate. They play with head sets and play in real life scenario's. The game makes you feel as though you are part of the military. You play in realistic settings with military apparel, etc. This game has consumed hours and hours of people's time. It is continuing to grow with newer and more intricate parts. I wonder what this will be like in a couple more years?

Not what I expected...

Today I went to see the Vagina Monologues on campus and it was really good. I didn't know what it was but I had a couple friends who participated and my other friend was one of the directors. This performance was really moving and I think a lot of people have a misconception of what it's really about. They use humor as a way to convey female empowerment. They also talk about the problems with rape, sexual assault, and the effects they have on females. They did this through different monologues. I was really impressed with the way they got the message across and how they did it. You could tell these girls felt powerful and confident in their own skin. They were very persuasive and informative. I would recommend everyone go and see them this weekend because it really was amazing. Male or female this performance sends a message loud and clear.

Oscars who will win?

It is being buzzed about that people like Sandra Bullock, and other stars don't believe they will win an Oscar even though they are being nominated. I think this is really interesting because who knows if they will or won't but they are ready to throw in the towel. I think they are just saying it in some cases for attention. For example James Cameron doesn't think he will win an Oscar because he won it for Titanic. He said he think he wont win best director because it can't happen twice, and because he yelled last time "I'm king of the world!" He thinks that he made some other people mad so they won't vote. I think that doesn't really matter and that Avatar was an amazing movie. I think he deserves to win it regardless of the fact that he won it for Titanic. I also am a huge fan of Sandra Bullock so I really hope she wins too. I think the press likes making controversy about these things because it creates buzz in Hollywood.

Mel Gibson...Edge of Darkness interview...

Mel Gibson recently finished his film Edge of Darkness and went to an interview where he didn't realize his mic was on and made a comment that was recorded. I picked this to blog about because part of this movie was filmed in my hometown on a mountain that is 10 minutes away. I actually heard he was filming here and I drove by him on the back of the tracks that they have the car on filming. It was really interesting and I saw this article and think it's amusing that he got caught swearing.

"That's been almost four years, dude," he told Richards. "I've moved on. But I guess you haven't." Richards said he just wondered whether Gibson thought the public had moved on, to which Gibson replied, "Well, I certainly hope so. That was a while back, and I've done all the necessary meaculpas, so ... let's move on, dude." Richards wrapped up the interview with a standard thank-you-for-coming, and Gibson, drinking coffee, gave the reporter a thumbs-up before muttering a loud-and-clear "a--hole" right into his mic before the satellite feed was cut.

Gibson has been in trouble before for making inappropriate comments. One specifically was to a Jewish reporter. I agree with Richard when he said, "famous person or not, the true measure of a person is how they act when they think no one is looking."

Famous people know that the media wants to know every detail and if they know they can hit a button they will. They will do anything to make you act out or say something you regret. I personally think this was really dumb for him to say. It wasn't really needed and he would have been better off not talking. No one has come out in his defense yet or apologized so I wonder what will happen within the next few weeks?

Ohh England :)

Last night I was out with some friends at a birthday party and I met 5 girls from England who are part of the study abroad program. After talking with them for hours I thought I would blog about it because it was a lot of fun. We talked about language and how it's different, the drinking age of course ;), and many other things. One thing specifically is the idea of Kings and Queens. We talked about how it stays in the royal family and I asked there opinion of the Queen. They had mixed reviews about it and one said she was selfish and the other said she was a very strong woman. My friend then asked a very interesting question; what did you think about the Princess Diana thing? Was it a conspiracy and what do you think? This reminded me of when Princess Diana died and how it was all over the news and it became such a huge part of our lives even though it was an internal problem in England. They didn't say much about the conspiracy or what not but we chatted about the gossip that had spread because of the media being everywhere. Some said she was pregnant with that other mans child and some say it was intentional. I also remember watching on the TV a computer generated re-enactment of the crash and it showed that if she was wearing her seat belt she would have survived the crash. Who knows what the truth is now that she is gone, but I think that even years down the road this death will still be talked about. It hit the heart of millions and continues to impact people today.

Bill, Bill, Bill!

While watching "OutFoxed," I decided that I wanted to also blog about it. More specifically I want to blog about Bill O'Reilley because the other day my friend showed me a couple youtube clips of him. He is a very unique character and personally I despise him. I think he is extremely rude and doesn't allow both sides to speak equally. I did find a clip where he was actually "verbally" slapped in the face by a young kid. I attached the clip below because I find it humorous and it shows his true colors.

Bill is owned by a kid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beJ9yJpR_DA&feature=related
Bill's flipout video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tJjNVVwRCY

I also enjoy Stephen Colbert and he did an interview with Bill O'Reilley and so I attached that one as well because it's funny and hopefully someone will agree with me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QquTUR9nbC4

BSC Students Making it in the Real World

On ABC a couple years ago a show called "October Road" aired for a while and then unfortunately went off the air. The reason I bring this up is because my previous post is about women in the media. One of the characters on the show's name is Rebecca Field. Rebecca is not your typical movie star who look like skin and bones. She is a women who won't change her image for the media and prides herself on her size. The best part about her is that she went to Bridgewater. She went here and was a theatre major who graduated and now has been on many shows since.

I give her a lot of credit for being on film and staying true to herself. She's from Lenox MA and has been on ER, Private Practice, etc. She is one of my favorite actresses because she stays true to herself. http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2007/12/15/shes_made_it_big/

Also, another cool fact is that Jeffrey Donovan aka Michael is also a graduate from Bridgewater State College and he lived in Massachusetts :)

Lucky Number 4?

The other day I was sitting in my class and we were discussing how the female role is portrayed nowadays in the media. I found it really interesting that a lot of movies and television shows that were released recently have 4 main females. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Sex in the City and Desperate Housewives are just three examples of shows where their are 4 main female leads. I think the most interesting part is that each female expresses a different "type" or women so to speak. I think nowadays women are seen as a more dominant and independent force. Whereas, in the past they were overshadowed by the male actor. I like that these women are the main characters but I'm not sure if they really provoke the right idea? You always have a "dumb blonde", an unattractive "geek," the quiet one, etc. Does every blonde actress have to fall under the "dumb blonde" category? I don't know maybe I'm being to picky but I was just intrigued to see how these main roles usually come in 4's and each character has very different characteristics.

First Post

This is the first time I have used a Blog since I was 12. I used to blog a lot but I lost interest or got distracted. I'm actually very happy to be blogging for COMM 229 class. I'm not quite sure if I'm doing this right but hopefully with trial and error I will accomplish it.

I recently have been really intrigued by the Jay Leno, David Letterman, and Conan O'Brien issues with the Late Night Show. The new buzz is that Jimmy Fallon may be able to take over in a few years and I honestly think that might be the best move they can make. I don't have a favorite out of these four men because I think they all offer unique aspects to television. What I do think is that this whole issue is ridiculous. Personally I don't like how much we focus on this scandal. There are more important things in the world like the destruction in Haiti, rather than listening to Jay Leno complain. I like Jay Leno but I feel like he's a big baby. He left the show and then gets mad because he can't have his show back. I think the sooner Jay Leno gets replaced NBC will see a better reaction from their viewers. Jimmy Fallon is young and understands how to appeal to a younger crowd.

Maybe I'm wrong but sometimes change is good...