Blankets Book Trailer

craigthompsonbooks.com

I thought the book trailer created by Dtaberner captured my experience of reading the novel Blankets very well. Dtaberner includes all the main themes of the book into the trailer. If I were to put a trailer together, mine would probably look very similar to Dtaberner’s. One very important theme that was brought up frequently in the novel was about faith. Craig struggles with finding who he really is and finding what he believes in. Another theme was about the complications of growing up. I believe this theme especially makes the book very relatable because everyone goes through the struggle of growing up and finding themselves. The trailer also captures the main characters Craig and Raina, and their relationship with each other. Along with this theme, the novel has aspects of being in long distance relationship, and the love, happiness and sadness that comes along with it. Raina is also one character that makes Craig question his beliefs and helps him figure out who he wants to be. I have never read a graphic novel before but I really enjoyed reading Blankets because it’s very true and honest. I liked having the pictures and words together; it made the book seem more real. It’s a book I wouldn’t mind recommending to my peers to read because I think everyone would be able to relate to it somehow and it’s a very quick read.

Journal #4: The Incredibles Screening Report

insidethemagic.com

I’ve watched The Incredibles a couple of times when I was younger and every time I watch it, I get a feel that the main theme of the movie is about family and working together. A scene that I found important and corresponds with the theme very well happens at about 1:36 in the movie. In the scene, the Parr family had just gotten away from the area where Syndrome held them captive. They aboard a trailer van and attach it to the flying rocket plane using Elastigirl, Helen Parr, to hold them together. They land in the city where Syndrome’s robot has gone out of control. Bob leaves the trailer and tells his wife and kids to stay hidden while goes out to fight Syndrome’s robot he’s released. Franticly, Helen heads out of the vehicle and yells at Bob for telling them to stay back.  “You’re my husband, I’m with you” Helen asks what the matter is and Bob says “I can’t lose you again…not again, I’m not strong enough”. Helen tells Bob “if we work together that wont have to be”, Bob tells Helen he is unsure what will happen and seems afraid but Helen assures him that if they work together as a family, everything will be fine, “after all they’re superheroes” and the two kiss and decide they will “work together”. Syndromes robot attacks, Violet screams in horror and the family attacks. From that moment forward the family works together, and with help from Frozone, they defeat Syndrome’s robot. That scene is important because it represents the very moment that the family decides to work together as a family—a superhero family, and the main theme in this movie is about family and working together.

disney.wikia.com

Favorite Movie Free-write

clashmusic.com

Most people look at The Great Gatsby as just another classic American novel on the high school reading list but I for one, actually really enjoyed reading the book and absolutely loved the movie. There have been many films made following the novel, and I have seen the one made in 2000 but it is nothing compared to the one that came out in 2013. In my opinion, the movie was very well made and followed the novel very well. It’s one of my favorites because it is a lot more than just a love story—it’s about life and the American dream. It takes place during the prohibition era, 1920’s, so everything in the movie had sparkle and I loved that. The cast was also great, Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway, and Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan. Other great things that made me fall in love with the movie were the costumes, parties, setting, and the music. Whether or not you’re a fan of the classic novel, The Great Gatsby, I would recommend watching the movie anyway because there are many aspects of the movie you may find to love.  

fashion.telegraph.co.uk

Merchantarchive.com

How to Download and Make Skype Video Calls

Group project on How to Download and Make Skype Video Calls done by Meena Thao, Annalisa Okray, and Alex Bestle.

www.dumblittleman.com

Where's Stevie?

http://lindseysenglish101blog.blogspot.com/2015/02/where-is-stevie.html#more

Writer's Choice: Basking in the Afterglow of Fifty Shades Of Grey

 

OPI.com

I have not read or seen Fifty Shades of Grey, however, after reading many reviews I want to see how great or awful the film actually is. Most of the reviewers did not like the film, or only liked certain aspects from the film. No one actually loved it. I have talked to people who’ve read the book and actually enjoyed it. When I heard about how much hype the novel had, I considered I would go watch the movie when it comes out. Watching the trailer I was a bit confused about it all, having not read the book. After reading many of the film reviews on The Dissolve, it seems as though the film could have been better. Many of the reviewers also thought the novel was terrible and was expecting the film to be just as bad. While I’ve never seen the movie or read the book, I agree with Keith that the film seems like it has “no real act structure, no antagonist” and that “it all just sort of happens”. Also, after reading Genevieve’s review, it seems like the film in a way degrades women since it portrays Ana, one of the main characters in the film, as indecisive and naïve. Having seen the trailer a couple of times, I’d have to agree with some people that neither of the leads seem to have chemistry for each other, I just didn’t see it in the trailer and wouldn’t expect to see it in the full length film.  Although the film didn’t get very positive reviews, I have checked out the soundtrack and it actually is quite good. I would still like to see the movie for myself, but instead of risking the chances that I end up hating the movie and waste my money; I’ll wait for when it’s released on DVD.

Journal #3: Disconnected

http://thegeeksftw.com

I thought it was really fascinating how the students were able to go an entire month without computers, especially for a group of college students. At the very beginning of the experiment the students seemed annoyed about not being able to use their computers and some were even afraid they might end up cheating. One guy said he had to change a lot of his communication ways between him and his girlfriend. When a couple of the students had to type up their essays on a typewriter, I was surprised some of them didn’t get as frustrated with the project. Many of the students also found themselves very bored once they got rid of their computers. However, some did find that they got a lot more work done because they were less distracted. I feel like it would be very hard for me to adjust because I use my laptop for everything, but I too get very distracted because of the Internet. After getting used to it one of the girls said her life hasn’t changed much and that it was just an inconvenience.

To reenact this experiment in todays age, I feel wouldn’t be too difficult to do because most people do have other ways of accessing the Internet to do what they need to do, such as using their smartphones these days instead of a computer. I think it would be quite interesting if a group of students had computers and phones but had absolutely no access to the Internet. They could still type a paper perhaps, but wouldn’t be able to do any research online, use social media or watch YouTube. However, to do an experiment like this one again, the guidelines and rules would have to be set very straight so there is no confusion on whether something is considered cheating or not.

I feel like giving up my phone would be a lot easier for me than to give up my laptop just because I don’t use my phone as much. I know a majority of people use their phones to check texts, emails, social media, and use it as a form of entertainment because it’s more convenient for them but I didn’t have a smartphone until last year. Before that I had one of those sliding phones, I couldn’t do much on it and didn’t use it to text so I was just really used to checking everything on my laptop, and to this day I still use my laptop for most things whether its to check my emails, my Facebook, go on YouTube, or to do my homework, I use it for almost everything. I noticed when we had to log the amount of hours we spent on our devices, I tracked at least 8 hours a day I used either my phone or laptop.