Journal Entry #3

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Pop Culture Journal #3 

Heath Ledger

The Movie Cover Page

My favorite movie is a movie called the Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. I love this movie because of a number of reasons. One of these reasons being, it was the last film Heath Ledger was in. I had a crush on Heath growing up and he died while shooting the film. The director incorporated three more actors, two being Jude Law and Johnny Depp, after Heaths death to play his role as a man who changes appearances through time in the “imaginarium”. I loved the fact that the director didn’t cut Heaths parts out, but instead cleverly thought of a new way to keep all his scenes in and still keep the main character in the film. Another reason I love this movie is because of how strange and mysterious it is. Strange and mysterious is a bad way to sum up the movies vibes because it releases so many thoughts and vibes throughout the duration of the film. I respond to the art design specifically in the film because all the scenes “in the imaginarium” were all scenes from famous paintings. Each scene is so different and unique; it keeps me entertained throughout the whole film. I love the special effects too, it blows my mind. It opens up a whole new imaginary world in my head and brings out the child in me all while bringing out a new way of thinking.

This movie is so hard to describe, you just must watch it. I love this movie because it brings out a new view and world in my head. I respond more to the formal elements of a film. I request everyone who enjoys strange mind-blowing films to watch this one. However, I am warning you if you watch this movie once, you will have to watch it at least one more time to fully watch the movie. 

Up Keeping the Halloween Spirit in a Delicious Way

Up keeping the Halloween Spirit in a Delicious Way

Ingredients

Pumpkin

Vegetable Oil

Garlic Salt

Salt

one large bowl

Bucket

large digging spoon

Pumpkins at the pumpkin patch!

Going to the pumpkin patch can be one of the most exciting adventures a child can experience. Not only is carving a pumpkin a good way for a child to express their creative side, it’s also very fun. The excitement and happiness that children share while getting ready for pumpkin festivities is enjoyable for most parents. Then, bam! Once that orange cap is off, there is highlighter colored orange gooey innards, guts and seeds all over! While the kids are having a ball digging out the innards and squeezing the orange goop, the adults are focused on the goopy orange mess left on the surface. The parents’ once enjoyment of watching the child carving the pumpkin is over. If carving pumpkins is not done right it can be messy, but not to worry if you follow this process, you will surely get things done in a fun, organized and even delicious way.

All kids know that great feeling of enjoyment they get while walking around their sprawling neighborhoods on Hallows eve going trick or treating. Illuminated Jack-O’-Lanterns often sit and watch, as dressed up children admire their spooky faces, on their way to candy bowl. The tradition of the carving of the jack- o’- lanterns extends back to 1700’s Ireland where the local Irishman had a common folklore of a man named Stingy Jack. Stingy Jack made a deal with the devil that he didn't have to go down to hell, but when he died the doors of Heaven would not let him in. So, he had to wander the Earth for all eternity with only a candle. Thus, this tradition was started on by the locals and brought on to America with the Irish immigrants. Carving pumpkins is a wonderful past time and it’s an exciting tradition to uphold to the new generations. There is nothing better than seeing the enjoyment of a little kids face after completing his first jack-o’-lantern. So, learn how to complete and keep a wonderful seasonal tradition alive by carving and utilizing the wonderful seeds of the beautiful pumpkin this fall.

Me picking out the perfect
 pumpkin!

The pumpkins I purchased at a pumpkin patch

The first step in carving a pumpkin is: getting the actual pumpkin! It is one of the most exciting parts of the process. Look up a local pumpkin patch. Some pumpkin patches have pre picked pumpkins for sale, and others give you the thrill of physically going to pick out a pumpkin from the field. Once you have picked out the perfect pumpkin and paid, you can load it into your car and head on home. Once at home, put the pumpkin outside your house until you are ready to carve it! In the meantime imagine the face or picture you want to see on your pumpkin.

John, Jack and Paige and the
 Pumpkin without its cap

 When you are ready to begin the fun of carving the pumpkin make sure you have all the materials needed. If your pumpkin has been outdoors for a while, then let your pumpkin thaw out for 10 minutes at room temperature just to make the carving process simpler. Carving the pumpkin outdoors eliminates the mess that may stress some parents out, but carving the pumpkins indoors is a commonality upon many.  Wherever you are carving, make sure you have a bowl for seeds, and a bucked for goop. This will eliminate the sorting process later. The first step is analyzing the pumpkin and picking the side which will make your creative face look the best! The next step, with a large knife, preferable a special pumpkin carving large knife, cut a few inches around the stem, leaving a circle at the top of the pumpkin. Leave the cap of the pumpkin to the side. Next, use your hands, or a digging scoop to get all the goop. Put goop into one bucket and any loose seeds you find on the way into the seed bowl. Once the pumpkin inside is completely hollow and free of seeds, it’s time to carve! Wash the outside any gooey threadlike goo on the outside of the pumpkin off. After the pumpkin is dry, all you need is your imagination and a marker!

Jack with Jack

Think of what you want on your pumpkin. You can stick with the classic Jack-O-Lantern face, like our example, or attempt to incorporate a more modern, intricate design such as a spider web. After you have decided on your design, you can map out and draw it on the dry surface of the pumpkin with a sharpie or permanent marker. Once the super scary face is drawn in black on the pumpkin, use the medium knife to carve out larger features like the mouth, and use a smaller knife to carve out more detailed features like the eyes. Make sure to pop out the pieces after carving each one and add it to the guy bucket. To dispose of the guts of the pumpkin in a proper and environmentally friendly way you can add them to your compost pile. If you have one, or you can throw them in the woods since pumpkins are compostable. Once the face is finished, there is one last step before perfection.

The final product

Finally, you have successfully accomplished carving out your Jack-O-Lantern. To complete your work and make it look even better, wipe off your pumpkin with a cloth to remove any dirt or residue from the pumpkin. Illuminate your face and make it stand out by placing a lit tea candle inside the hollow pumpkin on an even surface. Lastly, display your decoration on your porch or driveway for others to enjoy throughout the Halloween season!

Gold brown look is what you
              want means the seeds are done

After adding the finishing touch of a candle to your pumpkin, it’s time for the delicious part. Rinse off the separated seeds in a colander in cold water, making sure no bright orange pumpkin goop is remaining on the seeds. Let the seeds dry out on a paper towel for about five minutes. While the seeds are dehydrating, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Depending on the size and genetics of the pumpkin, seed amounts vary. To be safe, use one tablespoon of vegetable oil per cup of seeds yielded. Dust a cookie sheet pan with vegetable oil prior to laying the seeds down in a single layer fashion. Shake the pan back and forth or use a spatula to turn over the seeds in effort to coat each seed with a layer of vegetable oil. Next, shake about ½ teaspoon of garlic salt and ½ teaspoon of table salt over the seeds on the baking sheet. At this point, the seeds are now ready to be put in the oven. Set a timer for 45 minutes on your oven. On a separate timer, set an alarm to shake or turn the seeds over every 7 or so minuets in order to prevent burning. Each time that you check your seeds, look for the perfect golden brown hue in the shell of the seed. Once the golden brown color is achieved, remove your seeds from the oven and allow them to cool. Once your seeds are cooled off, you are almost ready to munch! Just lay the seeds on a decorative plate and enjoy your Jack-o-lantern masterpiece visually, as well as orally.

Carving pumpkins is such an amazing tradition that we should cherish and share with the generations to come. Everybody can enjoy this wonderful and relatively simple process each and every year. There is no better sight then walking down the street and seeing all the houses lined with decorations and the classic jack-o’-lanterns. This fun and festive activity is a great way to spend time with young children while they learn to express themselves and their artistic abilities. The joy and sense of accomplishment can be seen on a child’s face when they view their bright pumpkin and munch on their yummy seeds. Is truly an amazing and scrumptious activity that only takes a few steps, but the memories you make is priceless.

Journal Entry #2

Pop-Pop: The Final Solution (It's always sunny in Philadelphia)
http://www.avclub.com/articles/poppop-the-final-solution,86437/

In this article, the Author is talking about how the cast in “It’s always sunny in Philadelphia” are constantly coming up with new ridiculous and dark ides. I chose this topic because I am a huge fan of the Television show. I didn’t start watching the show in the first season, but instead the third. The author of the article focuses on how the cast is becoming more “evil” throughout each following show. I would agree with the author. In the show, the cast is constantly getting into trouble and coming up with ridiculous ideas that they don’t intend to be evil, but end up being rather “evil”. However, evil is a harsh word and not the best word to describe the casts bad choices. Like I said before, they don’t intend for the things they do to be evil but their stupidity and the way they handle situations gives them this label. This is the point why I watch the show; the evilness is hilarious to me. The show is so hilarious probably because the three main characters in the show are also the creators of the show. This is something I didn’t know prior to reading the article, it explains a lot to me. This leaves the cast to be able to incorporate their own ideas or quotes within the scenes to further the comedy. The characters in the show do get eviler as the show proceeds. The 8^th seasons just started a few weeks ago, and you can see within the first episode that they are getting dirtier and funnier in my opinion.




Its always sunny in Philadelphia cast
http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&sa=N&biw=1311&bih=621&tbm=isch&tbnid=gSkpGLVEdHVoAM:&imgrefurl=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472954/&docid=_pHs1TBvwVzidM&imgurl=http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMjI0MjMxNjk3OF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMzgxMDUzNg%2540%2540._V1._SY317_CR10,0,214,317_.jpg&w=214&h=317&ei=r8V9UMK1BIjBygH-0ICwAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=125&vpy=158&dur=1810&hovh=253&hovw=171&tx=152&ty=272&sig=101061291314386524439&page=1&tbnh=144&tbnw=105&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:138

 

Jump a Hurdle

How to jump a hurdle

One thing I know I am knowledgeable about is Track and Field. More specifically, I’ve been trained and taught how to master a Hurdle. Jumping a hurdle in track is a relatively easy process, for those who it comes naturally for. For others, running full speed at a metal four foot objects is not their cup of tea. The first step is to become comfortable with the hurdle. Get to know the hurdle. Find out which way it tips and which way is prohibited by tipping, and which way will make you fall flat on your face. To jump a hurdle you need to approach the hurdle at full speed and don’t slow down once you are in front of it. Slowing down will not give you enough energy to get over the hurdle without falling, or clipping the hurdle. Once you are about to jump, position means everything. as you jump, your dominate leg extends straight over the hurdle first, while your other leg should be bent over, your legs should look like a "P". Your arm position also matters while in the air because your arms also help your speed. Your dominate arm should be behind you and your other arm should be in front of your chest, like you are looking at a watch. Once up in the air, attack hurdle! Jump over it as fast and low to the hurdle as you. When you land, don’t hesitate, keep running to the next one.

Journal Entry #1

David Maraniss’ argued in his article about the Packers and the Seahawks, more importantly, the final call of the game. In the last second Russell Wilson threw the ball into the end zone where it was caught by multiple players. The refs were placed in a tough situation at that point. One of the refs was signaling for an interception by the packers, while the other ref along with the Seahawks head coach, were signaling for a touchdown. This was the turning point for many Green Bay fans, as well as David Maraniss. David stated that he wondered if the packers would’ve acted the same if the roles were switched. I agree with David that Winning isn’t everything, however, in a situation like this, winning is important. With the packers being Super bowl champs 2 years ago, they have a status to withhold.  Every game this year has resulted in a close finish. This game however, was particularly close. Even though David was rather biased in the article, being a Packer fan, I agree with him in the fact that the Packers would not act this way if the roles were switched. Maraniss puts down Russell Wilson in the article. My boyfriend last years played for the Badgers team, and that was when I got to meet Russell Wilson multiple times. Wilson is a very nice man, and in my opinion wouldn’t do anything unfair. Maraniss’ says he called it a “tough call” in his post-game interview, and I believe Wilson was right on that, and that Maraniss’ has no right to justify whether or not Wilson was being just.

Disconnected

Disconnected

When I was watching the disconnected video, I couldn’t help but think about what would happen if I tried the challenge that the students were partaking in. I honestly think I would go crazy. Not having my cellphone for a week gives me anxiety. Not having my computer for a week would make me insane. As a young student, or even typical working American, you need your laptop or Internet connection for endless reasons.

One of the more important reasons would be school. A laptop greatly helps students with success and organization. With more and more classes and colleges becoming online institutions, it’s an obvious statistic to the ever growing usage of technology. UWSP is a prime example, next year all students will be receiving an ipad for class so UWSP is one step closer to being a “paperless” school. This means more online testing, assignments, discussions and simply more online activity.

Communication is another example of why I believe laptops, cellphones, etc. are important. With easy ways to communicate like text messaging, face book messaging, and emailing, people save a lot of time. One of the students in the video, Chel I believe, even cut off texting while doing the experiment. He mentioned how long it took for people to respond to his voicemails. This would be especially frustrating for me because I know how often people actually do check their voicemails.

As a young student or even typical working American, you need your laptop or Internet connection for endless reasons. Overall, I believe going without technology is a good experience that everyone should try. However, it is definitely not a long term commitment to make if you are a student or in need or Internet connection.