Review

How many times have you seen a movie, expecting to be entertained and coming out at the end thinking, "That was a waste of my time."? During the weekend I stumbled upon a recent Pixar movie that brightened my mood, my day, and in fact I wouldn't mind seeing it again. "Up!" is the story of a 78 year-old man who ties thousands of balloons to his house and sets out for the adventure of his life. Right after he lifts off he realizes that, Russel, a wilderness explorer in training is a stowaway on the trip. This movie is filled with adventure and surprise. The only thing that was disappointing in this movie was that it didn't go longer than 90-minutes. Pixar has great music, features, timing, voices and its great for all ages. By far its the most emotionally touching, hilarious movie of any Pixar movie. It is one of those movies that you will want to tell your family, friends, and enemies. What makes a movie is the story, and "Up!" has that great story. It is also being shown in 3D but whatever one you decide to see, I guarantee that you will be satisfied with the story, the characters and the overall quality of the picture.

Summer in the Yakima Valley

The poem, "Summer in the Yakima Valley", by Ruth Roach Pierson gives great examples of contrast. In the first half of the poem the speaker talks about how everything on the farm is growing, such as the "orchard trees in even rows down the slopes and out in all directions". He is always accompanied by his cousin, and how they "plucked alfalfa shoots to stick between our teeth". In the second half of the poem, it is night and instead of having fun listening to the "sprinklers' jerky rotation hum and hiss of a low-flying spray plane", the speaker in the poem is left "to listen alone to the sounds of the night the valley now as alien as the other side of the moon-". It is obvious that in the day, everything is wonderful and during the night, things that wouldn't be as scary in the light become frightening to the speaker. Other written contrasts in the poem include, "the long-short snick snack of the sprinklers'". It is clear to see that without contrast the poem would mean nothing and the feeling of excitement and worry would disappear.

I thought I saw....

A few days ago, I was sitting at home watching my family go through their daily routine of cleaning, outside activities and eating. It was lunch time and everyone was enjoying a delicious sandwich and salad outside on the deck. My Dad was home and he finally decided to take a break from the yard work. Everyone decided that it would be a good idea to go into town and treat ourselves to some ice cream. I needed to quickly run downstairs and grab my bag containing very important necessities, but before that I finished my sandwich with my family including my father. My dad is a goof, and one of his favorite things to do is to frighten me and my sisters. I walked slowly down the stairs, unaware of what I will encounter on my journey in the basement. I turned the corner, and saw what I thought was my dad. He was obviously going in to my room to hide and then jumping out when I least expected it. So before I walked into my room, I prepared myself, I stayed as quiet as possible and slowly walked into my room... I saw no one. Maybe he was in the closet? He wasn't. Maybe he was behind the door? He wasn't. A shiver went down my back, I thought I saw my dad. Who was that man who walked into my room? All I could do was stand, I didn't move a muscle. Frightened, I tried to calm myself down, and slowly looked around the room. Still nothing was there, so I jumped and ran upstairs as fast as I could. There he was, my dad, sitting there with my family laughing while eating his lunch. To this day I don't know if my imagination was going insane, or I actually did see a ghost.

Novel Synthesis

"Angels and Demons" a novel by Dan Brown, and "Evolution and Religion Can Coexist, Scientists Say" an article by Stefan Lovgren, both deal with the theme, Religion vs. Science. Many people believe that science takes away the faith and wonder, and is destroying the earth with its inventions that pollute the world. Some Scientists believe that religion would be lost without their guidance. Everyone has their points in the argument, such as religion arguing the evolution theory, and science arguing the facts. In both the written work, Science and Religion argue back and forth, "but what if evolution is God's tool?" Another very important similarity between Science and Religion, is that they are just trying to find a meaning to life. Scientists today are trying to combine science and religion, hoping that one day they will compliment each other in what they know and how everything works. "Religion is about ethics, or what you should do, while science is about what's true," and when you look at it this way, it seems a bit silly comparing the two. Everyone has a choice to believe in either explanation, and "science advancements may even draw scientists closer to religion" making it easier for people to understand both points of view. Even with science and religion, people are still wondering what is really out past our universe and is there a stronger power linking evolution and change in the world. The future will bring us discoveries and some may be wrong, but we are only human.

Angels and Demons

"Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown, is a story revolving around something called anti-matter. Anti-matter is the opposite of Matter, and when combined they create a huge explosion making it very difficult to work with. The great thing about Anti-matter is that it is 100% efficient, and can power a car for 100,000 years. The only problem involved working with Anti-matter is that it can't come in contact with matter, and so to store Anti-matter, it is placed in what is called a trap. A trap suspends Anti-matter in the air and doesn't contain any negative or positive charges, making it a safe place to view the Anti-matter. It is very expensive and is yet to be used in normal society. Anti-matter is so powerful that it can become a threat, or a weapon if it gets into the wrong hands. Hopefully in the future Anti-matter will be under control and we will be able to use its power for good. http://livefromcern.web.cern.ch/livefromcern/antimatter/FAQ.html

Throughout history people have done horrific things that are large enough to attract attention, but what about a friend, a family member, or even a teacher? There are many ordinary people in this world committing acts that no one notices, simply because they seem insignificant. In the short story, "The Lottery" by Shirly Jackson, everyone is living their lives the same way many people are living today, guilt free. When the day comes to pick a ticket from the lottery, the unlucky person who picks the black dot gets killed. Everyone throws rocks at that one person and is able to sleep peacefully at night. If someone took a stand, the horror might have been stopped, but unlike "The Lottery", "The Perils of Indifference" by Elie Wiesel explains the difference of being different.

"In the place where [Elie Wiesel] comes from, society was composed of three simple categories: the killers, the victims, and the bystanders." Notice how there is not a category of the title, Hero's. Is everyone too ignorant, and find "it so much easier to look away from victims"? No one is the same, but people do show similar characteristics. Being Protective with family, friends and pets is a natural feeling, and if someone did something hurtful to any of them the people within that family or group may feel threatened to do something about it. Following a tradition in a group, even though it may be wrong, can sometimes give one the feeling of security. Following the path less chosen can sometimes lead to greatness, such as in "The Lottery" if someone stood up, the rest may have stood up and then all would be well.

As for myself, I believe that everyone is influenced by the people that they work with, and talk with. I can picture myself protecting someone I love, but I wouldn't end up killing anyone. Doing something to that extreme is not right, and even though some things in the world are thousands of miles from where we live, we should still try to make a difference. Seeing someone die right in front of you seems more horrible, but what about people in the war? Life could be made a lot easier if the smart people would stand up and make a difference compared to the dumb people who think they know what they're doing.