If you're a nerd like me, or you actually grew up in the original Muppet era, you've probably heard Kermit the Frog's song "Rainbow Connection". I first really discovered it when I saw the most recent Muppet movie, but I looked into it and learned all of the lyrics yesterday. It's basically a song saying "Hey, what's so mesmerizing and romantic about rainbows? What makes us always want to look up and stare to the sky at them and the stars?" Jim Henson may not have lived to find this, or understand this, but I think I have found the rainbow connection: God.
If you remember, in Genesis, God created the first rainbow. Why? To find that out, you would have to go back and hear all of Noah's story. You probably know it by heart: God was going to flood the entire earth to try and rid it of evil and He requested that Noah, who loved God and always followed Him, to build an ark (or, in layman's terms, a big boat) so that he, his family, and a male and female of each species of animal could survive the flood and recreate Earth's population once the land was dry again.
Forty -years, days? Days, I'm pretty sure. Forty years is something else...- later, Noah sent out a dove, and it came back with an olive branch in its mouth, to symbolize that there was dry land. Once Noah and his family had gotten off the ark, they saw a cascade of colors in the sky: the first rainbow, God's promise never to flood the whole earth again.
I believe that's why we love rainbows: deep down in our hearts, we know that there's a promise behind them, more than just no more great floods: it is a promise that there is a God, a Creator, and life after death in Heaven. I'm not saying that we're all necessarily religious, but I think it is in our blood to believe it. We all want to believe that. Everyone wants to believe that there's something better out there than what we have here on Earth: crime, death, and debt, etc.- and, believe me, there is. It's a beautiful kingdom, more beautiful than we can ever imagine: pearly gates where the angel Gabriel lets you in if you're in the Book of Life (you're automatically written down in there if you accept Christ as your savior into your heart), beyond that there are streets of gold, a mansion for each of us that God built by hand, waters as clear as crystal. Someday we will find it: that Rainbow Connection- the lovers, the dreamers, and me. I hope to see all of you there someday. God bless!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
The Muppets
Tonight, I went to see Disney's attempt at re-booting the Muppets. Few in my generation even know who the Muppets are, but my grandparents showed my cousins, my brother and me a few episodes of theirs when we were snowed in one night and I rather enjoyed it. That, and my parents' nostalgia, led me to the local movie theater.
When the movie first began though, all you see is one puppet- like man who never grows among humans who grow as they age, like normal. The puppet's name is Walter, and the only actual tie to the Muppets is Walter's life-long fascination with them from the other side of the TV screen. He can't wait to see Muppet Studios when he goes to Los Angeles with his brother, Gary, and his girlfriend, Mary.
It turns out that no one frequents or uses the Muppet Studios anymore and the trio and two others are the only ones on a tour of the grounds. Walter slinks away from the group to see Kermit's old office. When someone comes in, he hides and watches as the two critics (I can't remember their names.. I think Statler and Waldorf or something?) give some sort of tycoon-looking fellow a tour.
It is discovered that this tycoon, an eccentric oil dealer named Tex Richman, will own the studios unless the Muppets can buy it with ten million dollars by the time the contract expires in a week. Richman, under the pretense of renovating the studios into a museum, plans to tear down the studios and drill for oil. Horrified, Walter goes to Gary and Mary to plan on finding Kermit the Frog.
Only, once they find Kermit, they find out Kermit hasn't seen any of the other Muppets in years. To raise the money to save the studios, they'd have to put on a show, but without the other Muppets, that couldn't happen. (Gonzo now has a successful plumbing company, Fozzie has a solo care with a band called the Moopets, Animal is in the nuthouse, Miss Piggy has her own fashion company, etc.) Kermit has tried to ask Riochman for the Studios back, but Rchman, once he owns the name "Muppets", plans to use the studos to promote a darfv cynucal group called the Moopets. (you can argue that this is the same group Fozzie left).
Now, they have to find the old gang through cliched montages and traveling by map to get together and make a show. There are other conflicts, like getting a TV station to put on the show, getting a host for the show, fixing the theater, etc. Mary gets upset with Gary, Piggy is upset with Kermit, etc. Walter is afraid he has no talent. All of these conflicts are resolved in time, with cheesy self-discovery songs ("Man or Muppet", "Rainbow Connection", etc.)
Overall, I liked this movie. From Fozzie's fart shoes, to the breaking of the fourth wall ("This is going to be a very short movie") there was a lot of comedy. The Muppet show could have stood a Swedish Chef segment, in my opinion. It ends in a "cliffhanger" unless you watch the credits. You have to watch the credits to get the full-circle ending. There's little clips of video as a sort of epilogue.
So, yeah! Go Muppets! I am so tempted to borrow my grandmother's Muppet Show DVD's right now... Read ya later! Bye
When the movie first began though, all you see is one puppet- like man who never grows among humans who grow as they age, like normal. The puppet's name is Walter, and the only actual tie to the Muppets is Walter's life-long fascination with them from the other side of the TV screen. He can't wait to see Muppet Studios when he goes to Los Angeles with his brother, Gary, and his girlfriend, Mary.
It turns out that no one frequents or uses the Muppet Studios anymore and the trio and two others are the only ones on a tour of the grounds. Walter slinks away from the group to see Kermit's old office. When someone comes in, he hides and watches as the two critics (I can't remember their names.. I think Statler and Waldorf or something?) give some sort of tycoon-looking fellow a tour.
It is discovered that this tycoon, an eccentric oil dealer named Tex Richman, will own the studios unless the Muppets can buy it with ten million dollars by the time the contract expires in a week. Richman, under the pretense of renovating the studios into a museum, plans to tear down the studios and drill for oil. Horrified, Walter goes to Gary and Mary to plan on finding Kermit the Frog.
Only, once they find Kermit, they find out Kermit hasn't seen any of the other Muppets in years. To raise the money to save the studios, they'd have to put on a show, but without the other Muppets, that couldn't happen. (Gonzo now has a successful plumbing company, Fozzie has a solo care with a band called the Moopets, Animal is in the nuthouse, Miss Piggy has her own fashion company, etc.) Kermit has tried to ask Riochman for the Studios back, but Rchman, once he owns the name "Muppets", plans to use the studos to promote a darfv cynucal group called the Moopets. (you can argue that this is the same group Fozzie left).
Now, they have to find the old gang through cliched montages and traveling by map to get together and make a show. There are other conflicts, like getting a TV station to put on the show, getting a host for the show, fixing the theater, etc. Mary gets upset with Gary, Piggy is upset with Kermit, etc. Walter is afraid he has no talent. All of these conflicts are resolved in time, with cheesy self-discovery songs ("Man or Muppet", "Rainbow Connection", etc.)
Overall, I liked this movie. From Fozzie's fart shoes, to the breaking of the fourth wall ("This is going to be a very short movie") there was a lot of comedy. The Muppet show could have stood a Swedish Chef segment, in my opinion. It ends in a "cliffhanger" unless you watch the credits. You have to watch the credits to get the full-circle ending. There's little clips of video as a sort of epilogue.
So, yeah! Go Muppets! I am so tempted to borrow my grandmother's Muppet Show DVD's right now... Read ya later! Bye
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Fan Fiction
Dedicated blog readers (and people who just know me outside of this little box called a blog) know that I LOVE Disney movies. I don't know why exactly; I just do. I know I'm a bit old for them, but I don't care.
Recently, I have been focusing on Stitch. Stitch has always fascinated me for some reason: maybe his mischievous manner or his funny dialogue, or maybe just the fact that he's different- a lot different: like me. I don't fit in most places. My friends admit that sometimes I seem weird and I'm okay with that. If I have to give up any part of myself just to fit in, then I don't want to fit in.
Anyway, Stitch has been a focus of mine. I even started a manuscript for a fan-fiction piece. It was a sort-of spin off of Lilo and Stitch, happening way after Leroy and Stitch. Well, not way-way, but a while. It's still a work in progress, but I think it could be great. What would be AMAZING, is if you, my blog readers, would take it, read it, and comment on it and how to make it better. I would LOVE to share my ideas with you. So how about it? Anyone who is out there, actually reading this, would you like to read my fan-fiction? Is anyone out there, reading this?
If, or if not, you'd like me to post my fan-fiction, PLEASE comment down below. I love comments. Comments let me know that people are actually reading this and I am not wasting my time. I'll talk to you later. Bye.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Six Flags Over Texas
Hello, one and all, to another edition of Fresh New Start!
Yesterday, I went to Six Flags Over Texas with my Sunday School class. It is an annual tradition for my teachers to take their students to Six Flags for Fright Fest. It was my first time in four years to ever go to Six Flags: we used to go every summer when I was younger, but one crazy summer that all ended. So, you can see that I was excited to go.
We had a comedic and smooth, traffic-free ride down south to Arlington. We shared jokes and talked, and anticipated our full day of roller coasters and other rides. You may not believe this, but I had never been on a for-real roller coaster before. The closest things to a roller coaster I had been on were the Mini Mine Trains, and Test Track at Disney World. Today, I was going to ride real coasters, and I was excited!
When we first arrived, we had a group picture with a zombie in front of the garden. We laughed and cringed as we watched another zombie stick a screwdriver through his nose (eeewww!), and a couple of us investigated a "zombie statue" that was sitting on a bench, only to find him turning to look at them and go "Boo!". I'm not easily scared, because of some events that happened when I was only seven- but that's for another post, another day.
While some of us went to brave the Titan, the others, including me, went to this one ride where, it was the equivalent to the teacups at Disney world, only the seats were sort of swings and they themselves didn't spin a lot. It was fun, but after a while I got used to the rhythm of how the things rotated, so I got a bit bored.
By the time we got off that, the others were already in line for the Texas Giant, so we rode a log flume in the meantime. I love log flumes! They're roller coasters, without the intensity, and you get wet on a hot day in Texas. Log flumes remind me of this one time, in Silver Dollar City, I was on the American Plunge, and as we were going down I lifted from my seat a little bit- haha!
We got off the log flume, and the others were still in line for the Texas Giant. We considered El Sombrero or the Cobra next, and ended up choosing El Sombrero, because the line for the Cobra was too long. I didn't like how the Sombrero lifted randomly, and also, the ride was very short.
We stopped for a snack, and discovered that our friends were still in line for the Giant. We raced each other to the Judge Roy Scream. I loved Judge Roy Scream. I liked how is was at an enjoyable speed, and the hills weren't too steep. My friend, Madison, told me that if I enjoyed Judge Roy, I would enjoy others, like Batman. I was willing to give it a try.
The others were just getting off of the Texas Giant as we left Roy. We met up in front of Batman, and decided the line was a bit long. Some of us went to Superman, while I went with the others to Runaway Mine Train. It was fun! It was basically the same intensity of Judge Roy.
My group went to our sponsor, because we didn't know where to meet up with the others. We were going to call them if they were still in line for Superman, but discovered that out sponsor was holding all of their cell phones for safe keeping! Someone had their cell phone, because Camille, another girl in our group, was able to get in touch with another sponsor.
We all met up at Batman, and some of us wanted to ride Mr. Freeze, and others wanted to ride Texas Shoot 'em (the parachutes). We split up and agreed to meet to wrap up the day with Batman.
Here's the thing about Mr. Freeze: it is the most difficult coaster in Six Flags! I was unaware of this fact, and went with the group to the entrance. Little did I know, that that coaster was the same coaster I had been watching all day in terror. It speeds you up to seventy miles per hour in less than four seconds, shoots you through a tunnel, and up a tower, where you then back down, and go back up and over a loop. I was terrified! There I was, hanging upside down on top of all of Six Flags! I wasn't even screaming.
Once we got off Mr. Freeze, I started feeling dizzy. There was a lot of pressure on my head. I didn't want to go on Batman anymore. I just sat on the curb and watched the loops, and held my head in terrified silence. My group ended up not going on Batman, anyway, because the line was too long.
We still had time left, so we decided to go on Pandemonium, not that I heard them. I trudged along, barely mumbling when someone asked me something. Suddenly, a zombie jumped in front of me, yelling "Hello!" and I was nearly brought to tears! Remember what I said earlier about not scaring easily? I honestly don't- scare easily, I mean. It only proves I was in a deteriorated mental and physical state at the moment.
We got closer to Pandemonium, and stopped for drinks. I wasn't getting anything, and my Sunday School teacher looked at me with concern and told me to go get some water, quickly. The water instantly started to clear my head. I shouldn't have gone on so many rides without hydrating or eating. While everyone else went on Pandemonium, a teacher stayed with me in the shade, along with one other girl who wasn't a fan of the rides there. I felt better, but my head still was a little funny.
After Pandemonium, we were going to ride Yosemite Sam, because it was funny, and mild enough for me, but half of our group slipped away to the the Rock n' Rocket! We sat on a rock to watch them, and I went to get a caramel apple. With something on my stomach, I finally felt like myself again.
By the time the group got off the Rock n' Rocket, we had to leave. One of my friends said "Hey, at least you can say 'I rode Mr. Freeze- I didn't mean to, but I did it!'"
In the end, it was a good day, but I was still a little lightheaded when I went to bed last night. I'm fine now, though. In fact, I have to go- choir rehearsal!
Yesterday, I went to Six Flags Over Texas with my Sunday School class. It is an annual tradition for my teachers to take their students to Six Flags for Fright Fest. It was my first time in four years to ever go to Six Flags: we used to go every summer when I was younger, but one crazy summer that all ended. So, you can see that I was excited to go.
We had a comedic and smooth, traffic-free ride down south to Arlington. We shared jokes and talked, and anticipated our full day of roller coasters and other rides. You may not believe this, but I had never been on a for-real roller coaster before. The closest things to a roller coaster I had been on were the Mini Mine Trains, and Test Track at Disney World. Today, I was going to ride real coasters, and I was excited!
When we first arrived, we had a group picture with a zombie in front of the garden. We laughed and cringed as we watched another zombie stick a screwdriver through his nose (eeewww!), and a couple of us investigated a "zombie statue" that was sitting on a bench, only to find him turning to look at them and go "Boo!". I'm not easily scared, because of some events that happened when I was only seven- but that's for another post, another day.
While some of us went to brave the Titan, the others, including me, went to this one ride where, it was the equivalent to the teacups at Disney world, only the seats were sort of swings and they themselves didn't spin a lot. It was fun, but after a while I got used to the rhythm of how the things rotated, so I got a bit bored.
By the time we got off that, the others were already in line for the Texas Giant, so we rode a log flume in the meantime. I love log flumes! They're roller coasters, without the intensity, and you get wet on a hot day in Texas. Log flumes remind me of this one time, in Silver Dollar City, I was on the American Plunge, and as we were going down I lifted from my seat a little bit- haha!
We got off the log flume, and the others were still in line for the Texas Giant. We considered El Sombrero or the Cobra next, and ended up choosing El Sombrero, because the line for the Cobra was too long. I didn't like how the Sombrero lifted randomly, and also, the ride was very short.
We stopped for a snack, and discovered that our friends were still in line for the Giant. We raced each other to the Judge Roy Scream. I loved Judge Roy Scream. I liked how is was at an enjoyable speed, and the hills weren't too steep. My friend, Madison, told me that if I enjoyed Judge Roy, I would enjoy others, like Batman. I was willing to give it a try.
The others were just getting off of the Texas Giant as we left Roy. We met up in front of Batman, and decided the line was a bit long. Some of us went to Superman, while I went with the others to Runaway Mine Train. It was fun! It was basically the same intensity of Judge Roy.
My group went to our sponsor, because we didn't know where to meet up with the others. We were going to call them if they were still in line for Superman, but discovered that out sponsor was holding all of their cell phones for safe keeping! Someone had their cell phone, because Camille, another girl in our group, was able to get in touch with another sponsor.
We all met up at Batman, and some of us wanted to ride Mr. Freeze, and others wanted to ride Texas Shoot 'em (the parachutes). We split up and agreed to meet to wrap up the day with Batman.
Here's the thing about Mr. Freeze: it is the most difficult coaster in Six Flags! I was unaware of this fact, and went with the group to the entrance. Little did I know, that that coaster was the same coaster I had been watching all day in terror. It speeds you up to seventy miles per hour in less than four seconds, shoots you through a tunnel, and up a tower, where you then back down, and go back up and over a loop. I was terrified! There I was, hanging upside down on top of all of Six Flags! I wasn't even screaming.
Once we got off Mr. Freeze, I started feeling dizzy. There was a lot of pressure on my head. I didn't want to go on Batman anymore. I just sat on the curb and watched the loops, and held my head in terrified silence. My group ended up not going on Batman, anyway, because the line was too long.
We still had time left, so we decided to go on Pandemonium, not that I heard them. I trudged along, barely mumbling when someone asked me something. Suddenly, a zombie jumped in front of me, yelling "Hello!" and I was nearly brought to tears! Remember what I said earlier about not scaring easily? I honestly don't- scare easily, I mean. It only proves I was in a deteriorated mental and physical state at the moment.
We got closer to Pandemonium, and stopped for drinks. I wasn't getting anything, and my Sunday School teacher looked at me with concern and told me to go get some water, quickly. The water instantly started to clear my head. I shouldn't have gone on so many rides without hydrating or eating. While everyone else went on Pandemonium, a teacher stayed with me in the shade, along with one other girl who wasn't a fan of the rides there. I felt better, but my head still was a little funny.
After Pandemonium, we were going to ride Yosemite Sam, because it was funny, and mild enough for me, but half of our group slipped away to the the Rock n' Rocket! We sat on a rock to watch them, and I went to get a caramel apple. With something on my stomach, I finally felt like myself again.
By the time the group got off the Rock n' Rocket, we had to leave. One of my friends said "Hey, at least you can say 'I rode Mr. Freeze- I didn't mean to, but I did it!'"
In the end, it was a good day, but I was still a little lightheaded when I went to bed last night. I'm fine now, though. In fact, I have to go- choir rehearsal!
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Sundays
Good afternoon! Happy Sunday! Sunday is at times my favorite, or least favortie day of the week. I'll tell you why:
On Sundays, nobody objects to you taking a nice nap on your grandmother's couch in the afternoon. You are free to relax and dream without a care in the world. Also, since it's the Sabboth, you mostly don't have to do any work. I feel really bad for people who have to work on Sundays: they aren't allowed to spend time going to church, or with their families. In colonial days, it was against the law to work on the Saboth.
It only becomes the worst day of the week when you have big homework, and you have to work all weekend on one thing. Like, for example, I just started on Science Fair, and I agreed to be partners with my "friend", and we were supposed to work on this one thing TOGETHER all week, but my partner never got together with me, forcing me to do it all by myself so I can have it when it is due tomorrow. Be wary of partners that only partner up with you just to make YOU do all the work and put their name on it in the end.
I hope you all enjoy Sundays, and follow God's commandment to keep His day Holy. Bless you on this Sunday, and all those to come, and talk to you soon.
On Sundays, nobody objects to you taking a nice nap on your grandmother's couch in the afternoon. You are free to relax and dream without a care in the world. Also, since it's the Sabboth, you mostly don't have to do any work. I feel really bad for people who have to work on Sundays: they aren't allowed to spend time going to church, or with their families. In colonial days, it was against the law to work on the Saboth.
It only becomes the worst day of the week when you have big homework, and you have to work all weekend on one thing. Like, for example, I just started on Science Fair, and I agreed to be partners with my "friend", and we were supposed to work on this one thing TOGETHER all week, but my partner never got together with me, forcing me to do it all by myself so I can have it when it is due tomorrow. Be wary of partners that only partner up with you just to make YOU do all the work and put their name on it in the end.
I hope you all enjoy Sundays, and follow God's commandment to keep His day Holy. Bless you on this Sunday, and all those to come, and talk to you soon.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Miss Cellaneous blogs are now on twitter! Find us on Twitter @MsCellaneousBl and follow please!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Unlawful Arrest and Detention of 20 OKC Teenagers
I just read an article that all-out outraged me. Those of you who live in OKC probably heard that last weekend, 20 kids who had just come out of a movie were waiting to be picked up by their parents, and were arrested for violating curfew.
Now, let me establish something: OKC has a downtown area called Bricktown. It's a nice area, with the exception of bars and things. My family and I go down there a lot, mostly to go to the Harkin's Movie Theater there. Now, there is a rule where teenagers can't be out in Bricktown past 11 pm, with a little leeway time to wait for their rides. That's all well and good. Sadly, that was not the case this past Saturday.
You can read the full article here, but here's the jest of what it said: Some kids were outside the Harkin, waiting to be picked up by their parents, and it was a good TWENTY MINUTES before curfew. They were approached by police officers, who asked them to give them their cellphones and get in a car they had. When they tried to explain, the officers wouldn't listen. Their parents were outraged and went to pick them up, but had to wait until SIX AM.
The number of kids arrested that night scares me. TWENTY. One or two they had just mistook might have been justifiable, but TWENTY?
The fact that the kids weren't listened to outraged me the most. The law says that if you can prove you had just been in a movie and were waiting for your parents, you were okay. But these officers didn't even ask for that information. They just arrested them. For doing absolutely nothing wrong. Imagine being a parent and getting THAT text.
Something needs to take place in OKCPD. This can't happen again! I can only imagine me and a friend being caught up in something like this. That would be terrifying! Let's just hope that the proper action will be taken and I won't have to worry about that.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Cars 2
Hello, all! Welcome back to FNS! Today I will be reviewing Pixar's latest movie, Cars 2.
It starts with a transmission from some spy asking for Finn McMissile. We see Finn boating to the location, and witnesses the unveiling of some sort of TV camera, only it is supposed to be much more dangerous. McMissile gets caught and barely escapes with his life. We then go to Radiator Springs.
Lightning McQueen has just come back from winning his fourth piston cup, which has been re-named the Hudson Hornet Piston Cup (which is a tribute to the voice of Doc, Paul Newman, who died of a heart attack). McQueen is ready to slow down, hang out with his best bud, Mater, and cruise with his girlfriend, Sally.
McQueen is on a date with Sally when he notices a crowd around the lobby of Wheel Well. He finds himself committing to racing in the World Grand Prix. Sally encourages him to invite Mater along, since he has never been to any of his races before.
They land in Tokyo, Japan, for a party, and Mater sticks out like a sore thumb and embarrasses Lightning. Mater meets Holley Shiftwell, who was sent by Finn McMissile to get information from an American spy, which had been captured by enemy agents. Mater is mistaken for the spy, because a tracking device that he had on was passed to Mater secretly.
This is where it gets dark (but this is one of maybe only two or three really dark parts of the entire movie). We see the American spy being interrogated by the enemy spies about the information he passed on to Mater.He is given Allinol, an organic fuel, whose creator is behind the Grand Prix. Allinol is supposed to be good for cars, and by itself it is. But, when in contact with a magnetic pulse, it becomes very dangerous.Too strong a pulse makes a car explode! The enemy spies relay this information to the spy, and torture him with a stronger and stronger pulse until he gives them who he gave the device with evidence of the enemy spies' leader to. Now that they have the information they want, they no longer need the American spy. They turn the pulse up to maximum, and all we see is a picture of mater, and flames.
Holley, in an attempt to save him from assailants, cuts into the McQueen Team's headphone system, giving Mater instructions. He repeats these, and McQueen, thinking these are racing tips, messes up and takes second place in the first race because of it. McQueen fights with Mater, leading Mater to get on a plane and go home.
Finn intercepts him at the airport, and convinces him to help them catch whoever is behind the mysterious accidents in the World Grand Prix.
Overall, it was cute and funny, but some of the jokes are only understood by an older audience,and I'll admit it was a stretch for a sequel. Now, based on the dark scenes, I suggest not taking children who are old enough to understand what is going on, but still young enough to be scared by it. I suggest either taking young kids who only like watching the colorful cars, or older kids, from like 9-12.
Thanks for reading! Until next time!
It starts with a transmission from some spy asking for Finn McMissile. We see Finn boating to the location, and witnesses the unveiling of some sort of TV camera, only it is supposed to be much more dangerous. McMissile gets caught and barely escapes with his life. We then go to Radiator Springs.
Lightning McQueen has just come back from winning his fourth piston cup, which has been re-named the Hudson Hornet Piston Cup (which is a tribute to the voice of Doc, Paul Newman, who died of a heart attack). McQueen is ready to slow down, hang out with his best bud, Mater, and cruise with his girlfriend, Sally.
McQueen is on a date with Sally when he notices a crowd around the lobby of Wheel Well. He finds himself committing to racing in the World Grand Prix. Sally encourages him to invite Mater along, since he has never been to any of his races before.
They land in Tokyo, Japan, for a party, and Mater sticks out like a sore thumb and embarrasses Lightning. Mater meets Holley Shiftwell, who was sent by Finn McMissile to get information from an American spy, which had been captured by enemy agents. Mater is mistaken for the spy, because a tracking device that he had on was passed to Mater secretly.
This is where it gets dark (but this is one of maybe only two or three really dark parts of the entire movie). We see the American spy being interrogated by the enemy spies about the information he passed on to Mater.He is given Allinol, an organic fuel, whose creator is behind the Grand Prix. Allinol is supposed to be good for cars, and by itself it is. But, when in contact with a magnetic pulse, it becomes very dangerous.Too strong a pulse makes a car explode! The enemy spies relay this information to the spy, and torture him with a stronger and stronger pulse until he gives them who he gave the device with evidence of the enemy spies' leader to. Now that they have the information they want, they no longer need the American spy. They turn the pulse up to maximum, and all we see is a picture of mater, and flames.
Holley, in an attempt to save him from assailants, cuts into the McQueen Team's headphone system, giving Mater instructions. He repeats these, and McQueen, thinking these are racing tips, messes up and takes second place in the first race because of it. McQueen fights with Mater, leading Mater to get on a plane and go home.
Finn intercepts him at the airport, and convinces him to help them catch whoever is behind the mysterious accidents in the World Grand Prix.
Overall, it was cute and funny, but some of the jokes are only understood by an older audience,and I'll admit it was a stretch for a sequel. Now, based on the dark scenes, I suggest not taking children who are old enough to understand what is going on, but still young enough to be scared by it. I suggest either taking young kids who only like watching the colorful cars, or older kids, from like 9-12.
Thanks for reading! Until next time!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
My Terrible Summer Tuesday Morning
Hi, all! I have had about the WORST morning ever. It all started when I woke up at SEVEN AM. Only my parents were up, and Dad was leaving for work. I was going to make a simple egg,ham, and cheese breakfast sandwich on flatbread when I discover that we're out of eggs. I finally settle on having a bagel with butter and apricot preserves.When I go over to the counter to get a bagel and put it in the toaster, my foot gets stabbed by a piece of broken glass. I quickly get the piece out and throw it away and get a band-aid over the wound. In happier news, the bagel was delicious.
In even happier news, I leave for Disneyworld in about a week! Excited! This will probably be the last time I will ever get to go until I have children of my own. My brother will start to work over the summer and have football camps and won't have time for vacation. So, I am really going to cherish this trip. The girl may have gotten older, but the magic is still young.
Well th-th-th-th-that's all folks! Until next time.... Abinata!
In even happier news, I leave for Disneyworld in about a week! Excited! This will probably be the last time I will ever get to go until I have children of my own. My brother will start to work over the summer and have football camps and won't have time for vacation. So, I am really going to cherish this trip. The girl may have gotten older, but the magic is still young.
Well th-th-th-th-that's all folks! Until next time.... Abinata!
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Portal 3
Hi there! It hasn't been too long since my last post, has it?
Anyway, I recently discovered the awesome video game series by Valve: Portal! It is centered around a human trapped in a human testing facility, run by a robot named GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System). My brother, Mutt, got Portal 2 for his birthday. He had played a demo of the original and watched a walkthrough of the full game, and loved it. I watched him play Portal 2 and became hooked on the idea. I did more research, and ended up watching the original Portal myself. I even played Portal 2 all the way through!
Now, if you are playing either game and don't wish to have them spoiled for you, I recommend you stop reading RIGHT NOW. That's right. Just click the little shiny X in the upper right-hand corner. I won't be offended AT ALL.
So, you're still reading. That means you've either played, or don't really care about spoilers.
People have talked a lot about how great Portal 2 was, and what they would want for a Portal 3. I, personally would LOVE another installation to this series, but I think the ending of Portal 2 was a pretty satisfying end to the story. Chell (the main protagonist) is freed to go back to the surface and live out her natural life outside of Aperture Laboratories, leaving GLaDOS to test with her two robots, Atlas and P-Body.
I can think of a few plot points for a Portal 3, but they have one question in common: Why would GLaDOS want Chell back after all the events in the past two games? In the end of Portal 2, GLaDOS lets her go because it is too hard to kill her, and she doesn't want to be killed again herself. So why would GLaDOS drag Chell back into Aperture? This wouldn't exactly work out.
Some people want a prequel set when Cave Johnson, the CEO of Aperture, was still alive. I, personally, think that we got all the backstory we need from Portal 2, when Chell is sent back to the original Aperture from the 60's to the 80's. We learn about the history from pre-recorded messages Cave left to be played after each test. Also, GLaDOS was designed to have his wife, Caroline's, likeness so, she implies some things while in this persona. What more do we need to know?
Others want Wheatley, the anti-hero from Portal 2, to come back, but the whole premise of Portal 2 was that Wheatley was to be stranded in space forever! Chell no longer trusts him, because he went mad with power after she put him in GLaDOS's place. How could he come back?
What I want to happen is this: GLaDOS reverses her deletion of Caroline and discovers the secret behind Chell's mysterious past: Chell is Cave and Caroline Johnson's daughter. Since both of her parents were unable to care for her, because Caroline was being used for the mind-to-computer technology, and Cave was ill due to exposure to lunar sediment, they had her raised by one of the scientists of Aperture so that she would be cared for properly. When GLaDOS was activated on Bring Your Daughter to Work Day, and released neurotoxin, Chell and Rat-Man were two of the few survivors. Rat-Man put Chell into cryogenic stasis, so that she could be revived when all was repaired. He left messages for her, so that she could defend herself against GLaDOS until she could manage to escape, whether or not he could help her. GLaDOS puts her core into a human body, and goes to the surface to tell Chell, who has always wondered about her past, but was only told by GLaDOS that she was adopted. GLaDOS uses this information to blackmail her back to Aperture to test. (In the co-op campaign, she re-gains access to the cryogenic human vault. I always thought that she would test with them, but think that none of them were as good a quality as Chell was)
I realize this is a HUGE stretch, but I think Valve could make it work. Granted, it would probably do better as a movie. Not saying that it wouldn't be EPIC if Portal could be made into a movie.
Either way, Portal 3, as of yet, has not been officially confirmed. Some person from Valve briefly mentioned Portal 3 during E3 when Portal 2 was announced, saying that it would not support Playstation Move or 3D. They said that we'll "have to wait for Portal 3". This could have just been a side little joke, but maybe not. As of yet, none of their game series have had third installations. Half Life hasn't, Left 4 Dead hasn't, etc. So it may not happen, who knows? We can only imagine...
Anyway, I recently discovered the awesome video game series by Valve: Portal! It is centered around a human trapped in a human testing facility, run by a robot named GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System). My brother, Mutt, got Portal 2 for his birthday. He had played a demo of the original and watched a walkthrough of the full game, and loved it. I watched him play Portal 2 and became hooked on the idea. I did more research, and ended up watching the original Portal myself. I even played Portal 2 all the way through!
Now, if you are playing either game and don't wish to have them spoiled for you, I recommend you stop reading RIGHT NOW. That's right. Just click the little shiny X in the upper right-hand corner. I won't be offended AT ALL.
So, you're still reading. That means you've either played, or don't really care about spoilers.
People have talked a lot about how great Portal 2 was, and what they would want for a Portal 3. I, personally would LOVE another installation to this series, but I think the ending of Portal 2 was a pretty satisfying end to the story. Chell (the main protagonist) is freed to go back to the surface and live out her natural life outside of Aperture Laboratories, leaving GLaDOS to test with her two robots, Atlas and P-Body.
I can think of a few plot points for a Portal 3, but they have one question in common: Why would GLaDOS want Chell back after all the events in the past two games? In the end of Portal 2, GLaDOS lets her go because it is too hard to kill her, and she doesn't want to be killed again herself. So why would GLaDOS drag Chell back into Aperture? This wouldn't exactly work out.
Some people want a prequel set when Cave Johnson, the CEO of Aperture, was still alive. I, personally, think that we got all the backstory we need from Portal 2, when Chell is sent back to the original Aperture from the 60's to the 80's. We learn about the history from pre-recorded messages Cave left to be played after each test. Also, GLaDOS was designed to have his wife, Caroline's, likeness so, she implies some things while in this persona. What more do we need to know?
Others want Wheatley, the anti-hero from Portal 2, to come back, but the whole premise of Portal 2 was that Wheatley was to be stranded in space forever! Chell no longer trusts him, because he went mad with power after she put him in GLaDOS's place. How could he come back?
What I want to happen is this: GLaDOS reverses her deletion of Caroline and discovers the secret behind Chell's mysterious past: Chell is Cave and Caroline Johnson's daughter. Since both of her parents were unable to care for her, because Caroline was being used for the mind-to-computer technology, and Cave was ill due to exposure to lunar sediment, they had her raised by one of the scientists of Aperture so that she would be cared for properly. When GLaDOS was activated on Bring Your Daughter to Work Day, and released neurotoxin, Chell and Rat-Man were two of the few survivors. Rat-Man put Chell into cryogenic stasis, so that she could be revived when all was repaired. He left messages for her, so that she could defend herself against GLaDOS until she could manage to escape, whether or not he could help her. GLaDOS puts her core into a human body, and goes to the surface to tell Chell, who has always wondered about her past, but was only told by GLaDOS that she was adopted. GLaDOS uses this information to blackmail her back to Aperture to test. (In the co-op campaign, she re-gains access to the cryogenic human vault. I always thought that she would test with them, but think that none of them were as good a quality as Chell was)
I realize this is a HUGE stretch, but I think Valve could make it work. Granted, it would probably do better as a movie. Not saying that it wouldn't be EPIC if Portal could be made into a movie.
Either way, Portal 3, as of yet, has not been officially confirmed. Some person from Valve briefly mentioned Portal 3 during E3 when Portal 2 was announced, saying that it would not support Playstation Move or 3D. They said that we'll "have to wait for Portal 3". This could have just been a side little joke, but maybe not. As of yet, none of their game series have had third installations. Half Life hasn't, Left 4 Dead hasn't, etc. So it may not happen, who knows? We can only imagine...
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Tangled vs. Princess & the Frog
Hey there, blog fans! Recently, I've seen the new Disney Princess movie, Tangled. I've found many reviews on it, but only one pessimistic one. The comments on it argued that "Princess and the Frog was better" or vice versa. I personally loved both movies! I saw them both on my birthday. I saw PATF on my birthday in 2010, and I saw Tangled this year. I must say that I had a better reacton to Tangled, though. Being the net-picker that I am, I'm going to add my own argument.
Tangled and PATF: two COMPLETELY different movies. Both have fun elements, nice characters, and great music. However, I think Tangled, itself, is a better family-friendly movie because it doesn't have any dark voo-doo/hoo-doo stuff. It is pure fun and like the magic Disney shared before Hannah Montana and Jonas Brothers.
Granted, Tangled has its down-sides, too. The beginning is a little over-the-top in fairy-tale mode, because of how it unfolds. A speck of the sun falls down to the earth, produces a magic golden flower, old hag finds it and makes herself young again by singing to it- with a song NO ONE KNOWS, so you have no idea how she learned it.
The music in Tangled was great! It was generally pretty interesting lyrics, with the exception of "I've Got a Dream". While catchy, it was a little redundant. Suddenly, all of these tough pub-thugs break out in song, revealing their soft sides, with dreams of like being a concertina, becoming a famous chef, etc. I LOVED "I See the Light", even though it has a small reference to Aladdin.
Yet, in PATF, all of the music the music was catchy, but sort of redundant. New character- suddenly: song to introduce himself/herself.
That brings me to the next aspect: Characters. The male and female lead roles were different personalities. Naveen was a lazy prince who is carefree and does absolutely nothing except party and flirt. Flynn, he's quite the complicated character. He isn't AS full of himself as Naveen. His conceitedness evaporated sooner than Naveen's did. The female leads- that's a different story. Tiana has grown up with the notion that the only way to get things in life is through hard work. She is a stronger character than most of the other Disney princesses have been. Rapunzel, she's weak (sort of) because the evil step-mother has been babying her for eighteen years! She has no idea what the world is like, besides what Gothel describes as "evil and dangerous and scary".
I think that Tangled's character's love-life was more realistic, because, at the end in narrator-mode, Flynn says that it takes several years for Rapunzel to agree to marry him, while Tiana and Naveen got married soon after the drama with Facilier went down.
Now for the endings: PATF had a sort of cute ending. It ended with the fire-fly being a star like "Evangiline". Stars was a sort of theme in PATF, which I really didn't get. Tangled's ending was alot more sad because, technically, our hero "dies" to keep Rapunzel from being a prisoner forever.
I found the ending of Tangled to be overall better than PATF's because it shows more love between Rapunzel and Flynn than with Tiana and Naveen. Naveen is cool, but I don't think he'd give that much of a sacrifice for Tiana. While Naveen was about to give up marrying his true love so that she could have her dream, Flynn gave his LIFE. I find that more of a devotion- just my opinion! And, plus, Flynn admitted that Rapunzel WAS his dream, and Flynn was Rapunzel's dream. I just found it more romantic.
Now, completely random, I want to talk about sequel possibilities.
For PATF: While there is a more open-ended possibility for a good plot-line, there is one problem: It didn't make as much money as Disney expected. Here's how sequels work: Movie company makes movie. They spend money making that movie. They earn profit from ticket sales, and DVD sales of that movie. If they don't make a worth-while profit though, the company won't want to make a sequel out of it and waste more money on a project that was a failure in the beginning. If there is a sequel to that movie, it's more than likely to be straight-to-home video, so that the company doesn't lose profit off of theater costs. So, if there was a PATF 2, it might be straight to dvd. Also, there is another thing to factor in that I will discuss in...
For Tangled: There isn't much of a possibility that a Tangled 2 would have a very good plot, unless there was a huge plothole. Also, there is the aforementioned fact about the money thing. Disney spent ALOT of money on this movie and aren't making much of a profit on it. Also, they have announced that Tangled would be their last princess movie. I have no idea whether or not that is permanent or just for now. While we want movies to have sequels, it all depends if the people who make the movie think they will make money off of it.
So, that's what I have to say on the matter. Abinata!
Tangled and PATF: two COMPLETELY different movies. Both have fun elements, nice characters, and great music. However, I think Tangled, itself, is a better family-friendly movie because it doesn't have any dark voo-doo/hoo-doo stuff. It is pure fun and like the magic Disney shared before Hannah Montana and Jonas Brothers.
Granted, Tangled has its down-sides, too. The beginning is a little over-the-top in fairy-tale mode, because of how it unfolds. A speck of the sun falls down to the earth, produces a magic golden flower, old hag finds it and makes herself young again by singing to it- with a song NO ONE KNOWS, so you have no idea how she learned it.
The music in Tangled was great! It was generally pretty interesting lyrics, with the exception of "I've Got a Dream". While catchy, it was a little redundant. Suddenly, all of these tough pub-thugs break out in song, revealing their soft sides, with dreams of like being a concertina, becoming a famous chef, etc. I LOVED "I See the Light", even though it has a small reference to Aladdin.
Yet, in PATF, all of the music the music was catchy, but sort of redundant. New character- suddenly: song to introduce himself/herself.
That brings me to the next aspect: Characters. The male and female lead roles were different personalities. Naveen was a lazy prince who is carefree and does absolutely nothing except party and flirt. Flynn, he's quite the complicated character. He isn't AS full of himself as Naveen. His conceitedness evaporated sooner than Naveen's did. The female leads- that's a different story. Tiana has grown up with the notion that the only way to get things in life is through hard work. She is a stronger character than most of the other Disney princesses have been. Rapunzel, she's weak (sort of) because the evil step-mother has been babying her for eighteen years! She has no idea what the world is like, besides what Gothel describes as "evil and dangerous and scary".
I think that Tangled's character's love-life was more realistic, because, at the end in narrator-mode, Flynn says that it takes several years for Rapunzel to agree to marry him, while Tiana and Naveen got married soon after the drama with Facilier went down.
Now for the endings: PATF had a sort of cute ending. It ended with the fire-fly being a star like "Evangiline". Stars was a sort of theme in PATF, which I really didn't get. Tangled's ending was alot more sad because, technically, our hero "dies" to keep Rapunzel from being a prisoner forever.
I found the ending of Tangled to be overall better than PATF's because it shows more love between Rapunzel and Flynn than with Tiana and Naveen. Naveen is cool, but I don't think he'd give that much of a sacrifice for Tiana. While Naveen was about to give up marrying his true love so that she could have her dream, Flynn gave his LIFE. I find that more of a devotion- just my opinion! And, plus, Flynn admitted that Rapunzel WAS his dream, and Flynn was Rapunzel's dream. I just found it more romantic.
Now, completely random, I want to talk about sequel possibilities.
For PATF: While there is a more open-ended possibility for a good plot-line, there is one problem: It didn't make as much money as Disney expected. Here's how sequels work: Movie company makes movie. They spend money making that movie. They earn profit from ticket sales, and DVD sales of that movie. If they don't make a worth-while profit though, the company won't want to make a sequel out of it and waste more money on a project that was a failure in the beginning. If there is a sequel to that movie, it's more than likely to be straight-to-home video, so that the company doesn't lose profit off of theater costs. So, if there was a PATF 2, it might be straight to dvd. Also, there is another thing to factor in that I will discuss in...
For Tangled: There isn't much of a possibility that a Tangled 2 would have a very good plot, unless there was a huge plothole. Also, there is the aforementioned fact about the money thing. Disney spent ALOT of money on this movie and aren't making much of a profit on it. Also, they have announced that Tangled would be their last princess movie. I have no idea whether or not that is permanent or just for now. While we want movies to have sequels, it all depends if the people who make the movie think they will make money off of it.
So, that's what I have to say on the matter. Abinata!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)