Tarantino

     In the film industry, it is rare that someone comes along with such talent and fervor as Quentin Tarantino. What makes this story even more enticing is that he came out of no where.
     Tarantino loathed school. He watched movies and read comics rather than doing his school work, and he despised every subject except history. After dropping out of high school, he worked at an adult movie theater and took acting classes. Eventually he landed a job at a video archives center and worked on writing screenplays of his very own including; True Romance, Natural Born Killers, and Death Proof.
     Eventually Tarantino got out of the basement and was a guest star on a popular sitcom, Golden Girls. There he met Tony Scott. Scott read True Romance and loved it, so much so that he bought the rights to it and made it the next year. Tarantino had a name now and working with producer Lawrence Bender he made his directorial debut with Reservoir Dogs. 
     Audiences were wowed by the ultraviolent crime caper gone wrong, Reservoir Dogs at the Sundance Film Festival and Tarantino stepped into the spotlight. He began writing more and more and came up with a masterpiece of cinema; Pulp Fiction. The incremental, jumpy feel of Pulp Fiction gives it a very interesting sensation, and makes for interesting storylines.
     Tarantino associated himself with often macabre and brutal scenes. In almost every one of his movies there is some sort of mass killing, whether it's shooting people from the balcony of a burning french theater, a master swordswoman on a raging vendetta slicing through a small army, or a former slave trying to rescue his wife from a plantation and not caring who gets shot in the process, there is always gruesome, gory, and grim scenes.
    Tarantino is also known for his non-linear plot-lines which can sometimes cause for confusion but at the same time adds a very interesting dynamic from a director's point of view.
     All in all, Tarantino is one of the greats and continues to amaze us with every movie that his miraculous mind manipulates into reality.

Friday October 28th is the new Friday October 13th?

Friday October 28th will never be forgotten.  This was the day when four teenage girls drove down to 446 Raymond Road, Candia, NH to experience the greatest horrors of their lives.  Upon arrival it was pitch black and overcast.  The lack of moonlight in itself made the night scarier.  The girls made their way to the ticket booth and received long, black pieces of cardboard which were the passes into the different attractions.  They made their way through the tunnel of darkness into the heart of the forest. There were five different doors to choose from: haunted house, haunted prison, haunted maze, haunted trail, and haunted graveyard.  The first poison they picked was Area 52 -- the haunted house. An old lady dressed as an evil witch hole punched their tickets, gave them glasses to put on, and shoved them into the tiny elevator.  It was pitch black and cramped in the elevator.  The girls made it to the pre-selected floor and took small steps out of the elevator.  The walls, poles, and floor were black, and there was neon paint splattered in various designs everywhere.  The glasses made the floor shake like an earthquake was happening, and they didn't allow your eyes to focus on anything.  The whole world was spinning and the girls couldn't tell which direction was up or down, let alone where to move.  Shapes popped out from behind walls and whispered words in the girls' ears.  It felt like they were in a maze, trapped in the neon and black never ending rooms and hallways leading into more rooms.  People ran next to them, behind them, calling out their names, taunting them to run faster.  "Exit" blurred past one girl's vision and the mob of four swayed toward the fuzzy letters.  One last look at a man behind a mask and they were back in the calm blackness of the forest...ready for the next scare.

Fame

Would you like to be famous? My gut reaction says "yeah, of course." but reality says something else. Fame comes with tremendous exceptions, responsibilities, restrictions and maintaining ones fame. Let's take a look at a day in the life of a celebrity...how about Taylor Swift.

1 am - Wake up in a cold sweat. Exceptions are getting to her head, pressures, relationships. Those nudes that went up and were taken down within hours thanks to her great social media curators. Taylor forces half of bottle of sleeping medication down before falling back asleep.

6 am - Taylor wakes up feeling as fresh as ever after another great drug induced sleep

7 am - Breakfast time! She eats her recommend breakfast curated by her dietitian: Half a banana, and a shot of a grotesquely colored nutrition shake.  

8 am - No concerts today so she's gotta pop down to the studio to get creative and work on her new album!

12 am - after hitting a creative block she called down her special squad of DJ's and producers including the up and coming hit DJ Gangstaboi to write her album for her.

4 am - 10 hot new tracks recorded. Taylor disagreed with the direction that the producers wanted the album to go but was convinced to let it go after the owner of her record label told her "Listen to me...I own you b***h"

10 pm - Goes down town to check out the party scene. Before snorting some cocaine in the back room surrounded by male strippers her manager informers her that he can't allow that type of behaviour to happen. Taylor has no control.

Supplemental essay for Boston College

With the conflict between the many factions in Syria, Syrians have left their homes in historic numbers, migrating to the adjacent countries in hopes of escaping their war-torn homeland. Last year, Germany’s Chancellor, Angela Merkel, made the revolutionary decision to accept one million refugees, mostly Syrians, rather than the ten thousand that the US did. Although the European Union, of which Germany is a part, requires its countries to accept people displaced by war, Merkel still had to consider the consequences — namely the the cost in resources, as well as the criticism and risk of her political career  — when providing a safe haven for such an influx in Syrians and other refugees.

With the increase in refugees comes the costs of basic necessities and of the refugee’s integration into Germany. According to Spiegel, Germany’s finance minister, about ten billion euros will be needed for 2016. This is clearly more than Germany can put out. Even with Germany’s surplus of 12 billion euros at the end of 2015, Germany will only have to spend more in the coming years. This consequence could easily cause Germany to fall into debt or have civil and military spending lowered in the coming years.

While accepting so many refugees has put Merkel in a good light to all who have been displaced from their homes by war, Merkel has put her political career on the line. Many in her party have been unhappy with her decision to accept so many asylum seekers. She is also under fire from her supporters, who are also discontented by the string of crimes that refugees have committed, as shown by her party’s loss in poll numbers reported by an article from Bloomberg. With a decrease in support, Merkel will have a much lower chance at reelection.

If I were Chancellor of Germany, faced with the same difficult decision, I would have admitted fewer refugees than Merkel, but I would still have admitted quite a few. Although a life should be saved because it is more valuable than a few thousand dollars, the cost and substantial drain on resources would have made me limit the refugees admitted to a more acceptable number. The number would not have been as low as half a million, but not as high and as pioneering as one million. Germany would pay less to care for fewer refugees and my party, along with many supporters, would not disapprove of my actions quite as much. This would allow me a possible reelection, enabling me to continue accepting refugees and keeping an open door policy for Germany.

School

I had my last official visit for my colleges this past weekend with the Indiana University.  I liked all three of my schools, but feel that at this point it is either between The University of Minnesota and Indiana University.  I liked the University of Iowa, but their swim program was not as strong and these too, and had a much worse academic program.  I liked both the campuses, and would be excited to go to either of these schools.  The teams at both schools were very close, and the coaches seemed they would really be helpful for my future.  It is going to be a very difficult decision for me to make, but no matter where I go, I think I will be happy.  At this moment if I had to make a choice, I would most likely choose the University of Minnesota, because I really liked the team, and liked that I already knew some people on the team before going there.  I plan to make my decision very soon, and hope that I won't regret it in a few years.

Election 2016

There are now three measly weeks remaining until election day in one of the most bizarre races in American history. Both candidates have historic unfavorability ratings. and most Americans heading to the polls next month are voting with the intention to keep the other candidate out, rather than their own candidate in. The candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, while both presenting daunting options for the next four years, have also exposed many things wrong with our election process. On the democratic side, super delegates helped Clinton seal the nomination, representatives chosen by the Clinton campaign to vote for her despite any opponent, rigging the primary from the beginning and stacking the odds against any who might oppose her. Super delegates that did not turn over to Clinton were punished, threatened with a loss of funding and media blackouts. Trump has demonstrated the overall inadequacy of the Republican party as a whole, proving again to be America’s disappointment as he hits home largely with uneducated white males. One only hopes that something will happen to change the dangerous course this country is currently embarked upon.

Cereal or Cardboard?

Captain Crunch is the most polarizing of all cereals. Either you love it for the sweet, sugary taste, or you hate it for the pain it inflicts on your mouth. I like it, but I find that letting it rest in the milk for a few minutes allows it to get a little soft but still maintain the crunch that it is named for. In fact, I think that a lot of cereals are better when they get a little bit of milk infusion. Raisin Bran, a cereal that would taste like cardboard and raisins, becomes a mess of sweet flakes and raisins when it absorbs a little milk. It is a slippery slope, because if one allows the cereal to sit for too long, it becomes a sweet and soggy lump of oats and raisins. A similar effect can be observes if Cheerios are allowed to sit for too long, as the rings take on traits similar to a wet sponge, although the honey that seeps into the milk is the sole redeeming factor. However, the worst cereals in the world are the unsweetened versions of real cereals. Plain Cheerios, Rice Chex, and Corn Flakes are all the absolute worst cereals unless extraordinary measures are taken to give them flavor. Most cereals are bearable, and a lot can be done to improve their flavor, such as adding more sugar, maple syrup, or fresh fruit. Because of the huge amount of variety achievable, I am confident in saying that cereal is the best breakfast food.

Halloween and Creepy Clowns

I don't know why, but the internet has blown up about creepy clowns this years. I feel like creepy clowns have always been a part of Halloween, but this year it's become a common topic. Maybe there's something I haven't heard about or there's a piece of the story I don't know, but it seems like it's blown up this year. Speaking of Halloween, Overwatch got a really cool update Junkenstein's Revenge and new game mode, Brawl. It looks really good and some of the new skins and highlight intros look really awesome. The one issue I have with the new game mode is that it seems very similar to TF2's MvM game mode. Sure it's slightly different because the robots aren't trying to carry a bomb to blow up your base, but you're still trying to stop a wave of zombies from destroying your base. I do like the addition of the bosses and Mercy coming in at the end to resurrect all the bosses. Regardless of how similar it is to the TF2, it looks really good. Now I'm interested to see what the TF2 team comes up for a Halloween update. Expectations are high.

Fun Haikus

Bacon

It is so crispy

Makes anything taste perfect

Bacon is the best

Soccer

The Ball flies up-field

Another whistle is blown

Yet we still prevail

Calc Test

Here we go again

Staying up late studying

Yet I am still boned

Cold Nights

Cold nights are the best

Keeping warm inside blankets

Time passes slowly

Until Next year, Golf

The winding down of the fall season marks the end of the golf season as well. The season starts in early spring, and goes all the way up until now. I don't think that sad would be the right word to describe my emotions when it comes to the end of the golf season, but I will certainly miss it. To me, golf is really an experience. Yes, I play for the team and there is competition which can be fun, but I find that the true beauty of golf is in the experience. By this I mean the people you play with, the scenery, and, the least important one, how you play. Going out on a Saturday to play golf for four hours is one of the best ways to spend an afternoon if you are playing with the right people and on the right course. The scent of the pine air in the fall is alone worth the time. As I reflect on the season, I may not have played as well as some others, but I think it would be difficult to find someone who enjoyed their time on the course more than I did. Until next year, golf, and thanks for the time you spent with me.

Baristas eavesdrop 100% of the time. It's just one of those things that we always do. This is simply because we are just sitting behind the counter pretending to be doing things and then people talk loud or have interactions that are just very obvious. You see people come in on first dates or tinder dates or interviews and it's a quality time. I once saw one lady have like three different students come in and sell themselves to her to get into the school. It was super awkward because one of them was so much better than the other ones and she was quite impressive. Another time I was working with Clay and a Tinder date came in and we just watched it happen and laughed at them because it was funny to see them be awkward. Another time a lady came in and was showing her friend pictures of her cat and both Clay and I went out into the dining room to look at these photos of her cat because it was gorgeous.

Thanks Mr. Ortiz

Rainier

It was David Ortiz’s last game last night which is super depressing. The first Red Sox game I ever went to Papi hit a walk off homerun. I will never forget that home run. The crowd went absolutely nuts, borderline hysteria. I was also at the game where Papi gave his speech after the marathon bombing. We were sitting front row of the bleachers and all my cousins and Aunts and Uncles were there. The bleachers are my favorite place to sit at Fenway, it gets crazy. But anyway back to Ortiz. The man has been with the Red Sox for over thirteen years, that’s the majority of my life. That's the reason it is so sad that he is retiring. It sort of marks the end of childhood in a sense. By the next baseball season I will be almost 18 and it will be the first year Ortiz won’t be there. I remember my dad telling me about Carlton Fisk’s walk off home run, he was there at game 6. But for me I will be telling my kids about that walk off home run Ortiz hit at my first game. Ortiz is the man and he will be truly missed. Thanks for the memories.

Hobbies

In elementary school I teachers often asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. At the time this was an easy one for me, I wanted to be an author. I enjoyed writing stories as a child, and as I grew up I continued my passion. On long hikes, I would make up stories on the spot and tell them to my sister who always loved the wacky improvised plot lines and characters.

The first story I remember telling my sister was about a special groups of spies disguised as clowns in the 1940's. Next was a story about bugs discovering the true meaning of life by leaving the forest that they've known their whole lives. I liked letting my imagination take me away to fantastical places and transcribing them orally or writing them down on paper. 

The first indication that writing may not be a viable carrier option was when I was informed by my parents that writers don't make money and therefore is not a career worth pursuing. I, still in love with the idea of story telling continued writing as a hobby. 

By the time I was in eighth grade I knew that to legitimize my hobby I needed to write a full length novel. For this process I turned to NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month) which takes place in November. The goal was to write a full length novel (50,000 words) in one month. I attempted to write but failed after about 12,000 words. I found that writing with goals in mind sucked the fun out of the process and turned writing into more of a chore than a hobby. Before I knew it my life was filled with commitments and writing faded to the back of my list of activities to do. The magic was gone and the excitement spoiled I forgot the feeling of writing and therefore no longer wanted to write.           

Stories don't come as easy as they used to. Stories no longer instantaneously appear in my head as they did on hiking trips. Imagination has faded with time and I can only think of ideas grounded in the real world rather than fantastical stories one can escape into. Perhaps I will give writing another shot someday. I shouldn't be scared of something I love.   

Fall's Here

Fall's Here 

Lucas Blackmore 

10/11/16

APW

During the Fall I've noticed that I really struggle to stay on task in school. The reason is so simple. It is that there are too many things going on at once during that time. I have soccer everyday and on top of that, theres so many sports to watch. Football is in full swing. I swear I spend more time watching football and setting my fantasy lineups than I do on school work. It's an addiction that I cannot escape for the weeks between September and December. Its so much fun playing fantasy football, however, my grades have payed for it in the past. Its going to different this year though. I am going to find a balance where I can have fun playing fantasy/watching football - and hockey for that matter. While also spending lots of time getting ready for college by working on my common app and getting great grades. 

This year has been stressful so far and there is a lot more work than I anticipated. The college application process is terrifying, thinking about where I'm going to go and getting everything polished before the due dates that are fast approaching. I cannot wait for February break, when, hopefully, I'll know where I am going to go and where I have gotten into. The stress is killing me but I know that in a few short months the whole process will be finished and I can relax a little bit, and take advantage of senior spring. This year is going to be great even with the ups and downs that it has in store for me. 

Atlantic City

My parents received some free tickets to a resort in Atlantic City for Thanksgiving break.  It was supposed to be the off season, but there are always people at resorts no matter when you go.  The resort was on the beach front and would have been crawling with tourists in mid July.  Now there was nothing but the long, weathered boards that made up the boardwalk, and the empty ocean rolling in.  You were supposed to be eighteen or older to stay in the resort, but since we got the tickets from family friends we embodied their family and left our identities back home.  My parents snuck my thirteen year old sister and I in every day without managing to get caught.  The resort was spectacular.  The outside looked weathered from the salt water but the inside was a blur of different neon colored lights with gold hardware everywhere.  The hallways had floor-to-ceiling mirrors that sparkled in the warm light, inviting you deeper into the resort.  There was a beautiful restaurant that overlooked the beachfront, but since we were staying hidden my parents ordered us room service.  Our breakfast would come in silver platters and our orange juice in champaign glasses.  When we would leave the den of our king sized suite, we would stand up really tall and my mom would put her red lipstick on us.  We walked around the casinos like we were already eighteen, and when we saw security guards coming my dad would always push us towards the stairs.  The casino machines glittered and their names popped in all different color schemes.  Each machine had a different theme.  Some were beach themed with women in tiny bikinis on the screens, and others were car themed with different expensive race cars swooshing by.

We lived like different people for four days, pretending to be our perfect selves with no worries.  When tuesday came and we were back in Hanover, I could sense everyones sparkle had once again left.

Trades

In fantasy football there aren't that many ways to improve your team, especially when you lose a player because of injury or a player with a lot of expectations busts. The first way is through the draft. Every league has one draft at the start of the season where members systematically go through and pick players. Most drafts are snake drafts; meaning the person who has the first pick one round has the last pick the next round and so on. This evens out the draft a little bit so that having the first pick doesn't mean you automatically have the best team. Another common way to gain an advantage in fantasy football is to pick up players off the waiver wire. The best situation to pick up players is when a key player is injured (specifically running backs) because their back ups will have to pick up some of the slack. The problem with the waiver wire is that most leagues have some sort of system to allow lower ranked teams to have higher priority, so if you have a good start to the season and you start slumping it may be hard to pick up players.
By far the most interesting method of improvement is trades. Trades are fairly self-explanitory, two people exchange players. In most cases, trades are made when one member wants to improve a certain area of their team and are willing to give up something the other member wants in return. In my experience, trades are usually a toss up and you can't see whether someone has gotten the better of a deal right away, you have to wait a few weeks to see how they perform. One of the worst feelings in fantasy is when you trade away a solid player, and the player you get goes out for the season with a torn ACL. Come on Keenan Allen.

Lost in Space

"Neural Connection Established... Loading stored memories..."
"Memories loaded... Waking..." I woke. In a flash of panic, I tried to move my body. Nothing responded.
"Waking body senses... " I relaxed, comfortable with this ritual, as my sense of touch returned.
"Body senses woken..." I felt familiar sensations rush back to me.
"Scanning for mutations... Green. Awakening physical systems... Opening cryostasis hatch." I sat up, feeling weak, and more importantly, thirsty and hungry. However, that could wait.
"Computer, location and time." I stated. I wanted to know how long I had been in "deep sleep."
"Error, data not found," it replied. I resisted the urge to swear, settling for a loud and long "GRAAAAHHH!"
"Estimates?" I asked, hoping, in vain, that the computer had tracked our drifting through space.
"Error, data not found," it replied again. I dropped to my knees. I was lost in space, with a limited food supply, an unemotional ship computer, and no means of contacting help. Could the situation get any worse?
"Broadcast SOS signal." I ordered.
"Broadcasting." I got up, and hobbled towards the pilot's controls. I settled in my chair, and looked around me. My helmet was on its hook where I left it before going into cryostasis. How long had I been adrift? Days? Weeks? Years? The multi-display turned on, panels of the walls changed to show space in front of me. "Food. Water," I ordered. A dispenser to my left shot out an insta-meal and a bottle of water.
"Artificial gravity. Off. Computer, are there any planets nearby?"
"Negative."
"Asteroids?"
"Negative."
"Power levels?"
"50% Currently charging from star 0.14 lightyears away." It's definitely been years.
"Take us closer. Any planets orbiting the sun?" Probably not.
"Negative." Right. I was right.
"Computer, reset time. Wake me up when we make contact with another planet or when we make contact with another life form." I stare into space for a little while longer, absently reaching below my seat and taking out a photo of 5 of my friends and I from flight school. Back then, everything was better. We were confident that no one could beat us. On the back, my friend's signatures are all there, wishing me luck. A reminder of happier times. My thoughts drift back to my current situation. Lost in space with a damaged fighter. Maybe the United Colonies would dispatch a search team for me. My gaze sweeps over the small souvenirs that decorate the edges of the command table. Five from the T-84 offensive. Another three from the Miner's rebellion. I put the picture back under my flight seat and push myself out of the chair, orienting myself and pushing to get through the entry way into the back of the fighter. My cryostasis pod awaits in the back. I tap a button and the door to the chamber slides open silently. I get in, settling into the form fitting gel and lay my head back against the headrest. The hatch closes and I am shut in the dark. "Lost. I am lost forever." is my last thought as the computer shuts down my body's functions, and eventually, my brain to preserve them for the long wait ahead.

Christopher Nolan, A Genius of his Art

Christopher Nolan, one of the greatest directors of all time. He is known for his insane plots; dark, twisted loopholes; and enough psychoanalytic trauma to fill Sigmund Freud's offices for years.

We'll start with his early work. Memento, his first big movie, tells the tale of a man who is looking for his wife's killer. There's a catch, however, he has short-term memory loss, much like Dory, but with him it's devastating because he knows about his condition and is constantly leaving mementos for himself, taking pictures and writing things on them to remind him of something important, tattooing himself with words that he needs never forget and which will now never get lost. The film jumps from place to place, time to time, telling this man's tale as he sees it. It moves almost backwards, which makes for a very confusing plot but once you watch it more than once it all falls into place and becomes one of the best movies I have ever seen. Nolan has a tendency to make his stories dark, which Memento certainly is. I place it 3rd on my list of all-time best movies and give it a 9.7/10 simply because in order to fully understand it you must watch it at least twice.

Next, we move to The Prestige. A story about magicians and the science behind magic. It tells the story of two magicians, competing in a stage war to garner more popularity. It delves into the psyche of these two, or maybe three, artists. They do everything from steampunk devices which remove birds from cages to escaping from a glass box full of water to vanishing acts, that puts one person in two places at the same time. Nolan is almost obsessive with the three stages of magic. The first part is called "The Pledge". The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course...it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back. That's why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call "The Prestige". Recommended for a light evening. 8.4/10

Nolan investigated Batman. He spent nearly a decade on The Dark Knight trilogy and it is one of the greatest vigilante stories in history. At a staggering 7.5 hours, you couldn’t watch the entire thing in a school day. In classic Nolan theme, he turns everything dark and throws some of the most terrifying villains of all time, one of which gave Heath Ledger an Academy Award. The only thing I can say is you need to watch this trilogy. 9.8/10. The second installment, The Dark Knight, falls second on the list of all time best.

Inception and Interstellar are two action packed thrills where Nolan challenges science in more ways than one. With Inception he challenges the idea that we are able to control our dreams and that we can even extract information from the subconscious mind. Leonardo DiCaprio does a fantastic job portraying a disgruntled man trying to get back to his family. Falling fifth best of all time, it gets a 9.6/10. In Interstellar, Nolan looks at wormholes and space travel. With highly accurate science he puts a dystopian Earth in need of a new planet in a decision between making enough food to survive and funding a space program to search for a new home. It goes beyond three dimensions and shows manipulation of the fourth and maybe even fifth dimension. Excellent science, recommended highly. Twelfth on the all-time list. 9.4/10.