5/30/15: MEL BLANC BIO!

So I've been doing these bios recently and they're pretty fun to make so I checked my sources and I found out today is Mel Blanc's 107th birthday. I've heard of him before, named the best voice actor of all time, but I don't know much about him besides that he voiced Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and many other iconic cartoon characters. So without further ado, here's my bio on Mr. Mel Blanc:

Mel Blanc (1908-1989)

Voice actor

Childhood and Early Life: Melvin Jerrome Blank was born on May 30, (the day I'm writing and hopefully finish this) 1908 in San Francisco, California to Frederick and Eva Blank. Through much of his childhood, Mel began experimenting with various voices and different dialects, which would help him become the best voice actor of all time, unbeknownst obviously to him at the time. In high school, he changed his last name from "Blank" to "Blanc" because a teacher thought he would much more successful without "Blank" as a name. Well, no one knows what would've happened if Mel kept his name "Blank" but nevertheless, he became a star student at his high school. He was indicted into the Hall of Fame of The Order of DeMolay (organization focusing on good character) after being a member for some time, and when he graduated, he led his own orchestra, becoming the youngest conductor in the country at 19, and on top of that was a shtick performer at various variety shows in the Pacific Northwest.

On the Radio: In 1927, at the age of 19, Mel began his career on the radio, providing additional and various voices to characters on the air with a few radio stations, a majority of them in Portland, Oregon. His ability to switch back and forth between multiple characters garnered attention. In 1932, now 24, moved to LA and met Estelle Rosenbaum. They fell in love and got married in 1933. In LA, Mel joined the KFMW radio station, owned by Warner Brothers and stationed in Hollywood. As his radio career strengthened, he went from Warner Brothers to CBS and then to NBC, where he became a regular cast member of The Jack Benny Show, a famous radio comedy series, where he voiced multiple characters, including Jack Benny's parrot, Polly, Jack Benny's poor-functioning Maxwell car, Jack Benny's polar bear Carmichael, and Professor LeBlanc. 

Animation Career: In 1936, Mel joined Warner Bros. and started providing voice work for animated studios under the Warner Bros. name. In 1937, he voiced his first animated character, a drunken bull in an animated short called Picador Porky. Soon after he began voicing Porky Pig in Porky's Road Race and started voicing Daffy Duck in Porky's Duck Hunt. Undoubtedly his most famous character he voiced, Bugs Bunny, debuted in A Wild Hare, an animated short in 1940. He voiced the original voice and laugh of Woody Woodpecker for Universal Pictures but it didn't last long because of his contract with Warner Bros. When World War II came along, he voiced Private Snafu in a collection of animated shorts. 
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Photo Gallery Fun Time

The cast of The Jack Benny Show, Mel is on the far right

Mel Blanc, 42, in 1950

Mel Blanc in the studio with his most famous
characters

The Mel Blanc Show: His success on The Jack Benny Show, as well as other roles on various radio programs, gave him his own CBS radio show The Mel Blanc Show, where he played himself as an owner of a fix-up shop and it ran from late-1946 to mid-1947.

Looney Tunes: Mel Blanc's work on Looney Tunes was his most famous work, voicing nearly all of the characters in all the Looney Tunes shorts and series. Throughtout his life, he's voiced Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Sylvester the Cat, Tweety Bird, Yosemite Sam, Marvin the Martian, Foghorn Leghorn, Pepe Le Pew, Speedy Gonzalez, Wile E. Coyote, Taz and countless others, being the original voices for all up until his death. And if you think that's a lot of voices, it doesn't stop there. 

Animation Career Expands: In 1960, his contract with Warner Bros. expired, he continued voicing characters for Warner Bros. but expanded his career into Hanna-Barbera cartoons, voicing most notably Barney Rubble and Dino from The Flintstones and Cosmo Spacely from The Jetsons. 

Car Accident: In 1961, Blanc got into a car accident that nearly killed him. He had fractures in his skull, pelvis and legs  that put him in a two-week coma. As he recovered, the studios who he worked with were able to find ways to work around his injuries, such as finding substitutes or setting up equipment in his hospital room for him to work there. Within a few months, he was back in action. 

Later Career: In the 1970s Mel continued working as a voice actor as well as doing commercials, television specials and college lectures. In the 1980s he worked his magic in Warner Bros. animated movies, which served as compilation films, such as The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie and Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island. In the 1980s Mel Blanc voiced his last original character in an animated television series Heathcliff & the Catillac Cats as Heathcliff, and it ran from 1984-1987. His last recording session was more Jetsons: The Movie before he died on July 10, 1989 from lung/heart disease after years of smoking, at the age of 81. On his gravestone it reads Porky Pig's (his first major character) catchphrase "That's All Folks" followed by "Mel Blanc: Man of 1000 Voices."

Whether changing his name made him successful like the teacher said or not, it doesn't matter because Mel Blanc has made it into the history books as the greatest and most influential voice actor of all time, from his time voicing characters on the radio, onto television, and even onto the big screen. His career spanned a lifetime and no one will be able to outlive the legacy of this talented gift. 

Mel Blanc in an interview with David Letterman in 1981.

5/10/15: FRED ASTAIRE BIO

Every so often I'm planning to do a little biography on a famous person born on the day in which I'd write the post, and I want to do celebrities who I've heard of but don't know much about.

Today is May 10, 2015 (at least that's the day I'm writing this), the 116th birthday of dancer Fred Astaire, who I've heard of but don't know much about, so I'm going to be doing some research and providing to you all the story of the life of Mr. Astaire. 

Fred Astaire (1899-1987)

Daddy Long Legs (1955)

Dancer, actor, choreographer 

Childhood and Early Life: Frederick Austerlitz was born on May 10, 1899 in Omaha, Nebraska to Frederic and Johanna Austerlitz. Johanna wanted to leave Omaha and start a "brother-sister act" after discovering her daughter, Fred's sister, Adele, was talented in dancing and singing. At first, Fred didn't want to be a part of the act, but found himself getting into dance and music (more music) after reluctantly taking up piano, accordion and clarinet. Fred's father lost his job working at the Storz Brewing Company in Omaha, giving Johanna the perfect opportunity to launch the act. The family moved to New York City in 1905 and Fred and Adele started training at the Alviene Master School of the Theater and the Academy of Cultural Arts. As they learned and improved the skills of become stage performers with lessons on dance and singing, Johanna changed the family name to "Astaire," as "Austerlitz" reminded her of the Battle of Austerlitz during the Napoleonic Wars. Their first act Juvenile Artists Presenting an Electric Musical Toe-Dancing Novelty consisted of Fred with a top hat in the first half and dressed in a lobster outfit in the second. Obviously this sounds silly and it was but when it debuted at a tryout theater in Keyport, New Jersey, the local paper called it "the greatest child act in vaudeville," a pretty bold statement. Soon the sibling pair signed into the Orpheum Circuit and performed throughout the United States but eventually it weared them out and their act started to get a bit weak. The Astaires took a break from the entertainment business and during their hiatus, started improving their act by learning to tap dance and learned other dances such as the tango and waltz to add within their act. As Fred became a teenager, he wanted to take his skills and talent to new levels and was constantly striving to learn and improve. Pairing with George Gerswhin, a song plugger, the Astaires prepared once more the stage, launching back by performing for U.S. and Allied troops during World War l and stepping into Broadway with the Over the Top in 1917. Fred was 18.

Early Career (Stage): Fred and Adele has now become a Broadway act, performing in several more shows after Over the Top. Fred was starting to get better than his sister but they both had their own coexisting qualities that made the act the newly-praised and popular it has become. Into the 1920's the duo continued to shine in Broadway and even in London in shows including The Bunch and Judy (1922), George Gershwin and his wife's own musical Lady Be Good (1924) and Funny Face (1927), winning them critical acclaim and wide popularity from audience members in the U.S. and England, mainly recognizing Astaire's tap dancing, who critic Robert Benchley described "...is the greatest tap-dancer in the world," yet another bold statement focused on Fred.

The Astaires Split: In 1932, Fred and Adele split when his sister got married (ironically, he married Phyllis Potter a year later; they had 2 kids in their marriage) to which traumatized Fred but it gave him a chance to expand his career and skills. He continued to be a Broadway and London star in Gay Divorce, which was recreated into the 1934 movie The Gay Divorcee, where he met Ginger Rogers.

Astaire and Rogers: The Gay Divorcee was produced and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, who wanted to turn Fred and co-star Ginger Rogers into a film duo. Because Fred had recently experienced splitting with his sister, he was reluctant at joining into another pair. But people loved the two together in The Gay Divorcee so he was eventually convinced to pair with Rogers. In addition to his partnership with Rogers, he partnered with Hermes Pan to led the choreography in the multiple movie musicals RKO made starring Astaire and Rogers, including Top Hat (1935), Follow the Fleet  (1936), Swing Time (1936), Shall We Dance (1937) and Carefree (1938). The duo became very popular and many people remarked on the great coexistence of the pair, as they both made each other the entertainers people loved. But Fred wasn't just an entertainer on the big screen, he was also an innovator behind the scenes, credited with having the camera film all the dancers in full-view in if-possible one-shot and having musical numbers/song-dance routines incorporated within the storylines. This revolutinzed movie musicals. He revolutionized movie musicals.
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Photo/Video Gallery Fun Time

Astaire and Rogers

Astaire and Gene Kelly

Astaire and Rogers from Swing Time (1936)

Astaire and Rita Hayworth from You Were Never Lovelier (1942)

Astaire in Royal Wedding (1951)

Leaving Rogers and RKO: Even though Astaire and Rogers were a great pair, Astaire wanted to go solo and insisted doing so after going solo in A Damsel in Distress (1937). It was an unsuccessful film so Astaire agreed to pair back up with Rogers for two more films, one of which (Carefree), I already mentioned and The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939), which made decent profits but lost money with increased production costs and flopped for the critics, who especially criticized Fred. He left Rogers and RKO. 

Post-RKO/Rogers: After Fred left Rogers and RKO, he continued to be in movies and choreograph, collaborating with various people, none of which were Hermes Pan, his choreographic partner during his time with RKO. In 1940, he partnered with talented tap dancer Eleanor Powell in Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940), then with actress Paulette Goddard in Second Chorus (1940), onto a partnership with actress Rita Hayworth in You'll Never Get Rich (1941) and You Were Never Lovelier (1942) and then partnered once more with singer and actor Bing Crosby in Holiday Inn (1942) and Blue Skies (1946), to name a few of the collaborations. Unfortunately, his last few films were box office bombs, and he felt that his career was gradually withering away so he announced his retirement in 1946, during the making of Blue Skies. He retired but still founded the Fred Astaire Dance Studios in 1947. 

Back to the Big Screen: In 1948, Fred replaced Gene Kelly, who broke his ankle, and starred alongside actress and singer Judy Garland in Easter Parade. Ironically, he replaced Garland in The Barkleys of Broadway (1949), reuniting with Ginger Rogers. He continued making films, every other one a box office bomb, between MGM and Paramount (but because he had a contract with MGM it was mostly MGM). The Band Wagon (1953) was a big success but it failed to make an opening-day profit so he let go his contract with MGM. Fred was about to start working on Daddy Long Legs (1955) with 20th Century Fox, partnered with actress Leslie Carson but his wife Phyllis suddenly died of lung cancer. He was devastated and wanted to leave the project and pay for the production costs himself but 20th Century Fox convinced him that work would distract him from the tragic event. When it was released in 1955, it only did okay in the box office. Other films he took part didn't do so well and they lost money. Fred eventually decided to take a break from the movies, at least musicals. He announced his retirement from dancing and singing in movies and wanted to be a dramatic actor, landing a part in the nuclear war drama On the Beach (1959), in which his acting and the movie itself were praised, even nominating him for a Golden Globe. 

Still Dancing, Just Not in Movies: Fred still danced, just not in movies. At this point, he was almost 60 years old but still made four televised musical specials in 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1968, the first of which, An Evening with Fred Astaire (1958) won nine Emmys, including a controversial decision in awarding him with the Best Single Performance by an Actor. Throughout the rest of the 1950's and 1960's, Fred continued acting as a non-dancer in films and television shows. 

Actor: Fred continued to act into the 1970's, landing in roles in the TV series It Takes a Thief (1968-1970), The Towering Inferno (1974), in which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and landing in the role of the narrator of animated TV specials Santa Claus Is Comin' and The Easter Bunny Is Comin' [both] To Town, to name a few roles. He reunited with Bing Crosby to record the album A Couple of Song and Dance Men in 1975. In 1978, Fred, now nearly 80 years old, won an Emmy for his performance in the television film A Family Upside Down. The final time he danced on screen was on an episode of Battlestar Galatica in "The Man with Nine Lives" in 1979 at the age of 80. 

Later Life: In 1980, Fred remarried to Robyn Smith and they remain together until his death. His last film was the horror movie Ghost Story (1981) which he starred in. He retired from the spotlight and died on June 22, 1987 from pneumonia at 88 years old. In 1989, he posthumously received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. 

A critically-acclaimed legend, Fred Astaire has been tapping his feet to the beat and moving his body to the rhythm since his childhood up to Broadway up to the silver screen into the television screen and into our hearts. He's inspired artists like Michael Jackson and will continue inspiring people for years to come. He is a true entertainer and forever will be. 

Freddy lights it up at the 1970 Academy Awards. In this video, he's 71 years old.

5/3/15: LIBERALS VS. CONSERVATIVES

Look, each and every one of us wants to live in a perfect world, right? 100%-issue free and without charge. But we all have various ideas of an ideal utopia, a society that works, which can cause some conflicts. Some of us want to improve the world as it is right now, some people want to obliterate the human race and start fresh, and some of us want to exterminate Jews. But whatever you're idea, there's no pair of ideologies that quarrel like Liberalism and Conservatism. Members of these are called Liberals and Conservatives, respectively, or Democrats and Republicans, also respectively. Two political parties that have fought tirelessly and endlessly and exasperatingly (for us) over control and order over the United States of America. When I'm asked whether I'm a tree-hugging hippie preaching equality or an overly-patriotic individualist, I DON'T CARE! Without further or do, here's the breakdown of Liberal and Conservative ideologies/views/beliefs:

Issue            Left (Liberals/Democrats)        Right (Conservatives/Republicans)                              

Abortion      It's the individual's choice.          Y'all murderers.                      

                     A fetus is not a life form.            A fetus has its own rights.

                    Government should provide        Government doesn't murder.

                     resources for decision.

Affirmative Government should help              People should try to get on     

Action         minorities get to the "white          the "white level" by them-       

                    level."                                           selves, based on skill not race.

Death 

Penalty        MURDERERS!                            THEY DESERVE IT!              

Economy    Government regulates economy.   WOO! CAPITALISM!             

                    Evil corporations, mee-ann.                                                            

                    We tell the government what we                                                    

                    want, we get it.                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Education    Public school=good                       Vouchers=good                       

(voucher      Vouchers=bad                                Parents should choose the   

and charter  Teachers should be paid more.       school.

schools)       Class sizes should be reduced.

                    Government should help improve

                    public schools in general.

Embryonic  If you don't want to die, scientists  Use adults and their stem        

Stem Cell    should experiment on embryos,      cells, you murderers.

Research     which aren't life forms, and their    Scientists can still cure

                    stem cells for medical reasons.       diseases.

Energy        I don't know if you know this, but   Plenty of dead dino goo

                    there are these things called non-    left and it'll be cheaper

                    renewable resources. Yeah,           if we drill in America.

                   getting energy from the sun, wind

                   and water can last, get this, forever.

Global 

Warming    It's real. It's killing our planet. We    What are we talking about

                   need to do something.                       again?

Gun 

Control       The 2nd Amendment only allows     Clearly the 2nd Amend-

                    the state to keep a militia, which      ment states citizens have

                    is called the National Guard.            the right to have guns.

                    Guns are bad and people die.           We should have the right

                    Government should protect us,         to protect ourselves

                    not us protecting ourselves.              Crime deters with guns

                                                                              in the hands of lawful

                                                                              Americans.

Health         Government should create                Let our free market              

Care            some sort of national free or             economy take care of

                   cheap health care so all                     the people who can't

                   Americans can afford it and              afford health care.

                   be covered.                                        God knows government

                                                                              health care won't be as

                                                                              good as from producers.                         

Homeland  Not all Arabs/Muslims are                 Yes...they...are.                    

Security     terrorists and not all terrorists             Extra security checks         

                  are Arab/Muslim, you racists.             shouldn't be random but       

                                                                               effective to keeping             

                                                                              airports and people safe.      

Immigration  Legal or illegal immigrants            Illegal immigrants are           

                      are okay and should be treated       called "illegal" for a             

                      as equal American citizens.            reason: they're broken           

                                                                              the law and do not               

                                                                              deserve to be treated as

                                                                              equal American citizens.

                                                                              Border should be more

                                                                              secured.

Religion vs.   This one kind of speaks to              We agree, we shouldn't         

Government   itself. Religion and government     be run by a church, but         

                       should be separate and not             people have the right to

                       influence one another to run          religious expression and

                       our country. Any reference            can reference God any-

                       to God or any religious express-    where they please, such

                       ion should not be part of our          as the Trinity on a 

                       government.                                   government building.

                                                                              That's fine. The govern-

                                                                              ment should not keep

                                                                              anyone from religious

                                                                              freedom. It's a right 

                                                                              in the Constitution.

Gay Marriage  Homophobes.                                Look, we really just              

                                                                              don't want them to                 

                                                                              get married (although            

                                                                               homosexuality is a                

                                                                               choice, is pretty weird         

                                                                              and strange, and can

                                                                              be cured/is against all

                                                                              religion). Guys with

                                                                              girls for marriage.

                                                                              That's it. Period.

                                                                               

Taxes               Look, the rich, they have a           No, no, NO! Lower              

                        bunch of money and it's far            taxes and limit the               

                        more than they need. The              government. Every-             

                        government should tax the            one needs to learn to            

                        rich more and should be big          to work, get paid, and          

                        enough to help everyone               making a living for              

                        become equal, especially               themselves without             

                        the poor, who need the most         the government really          

                        help.                                               helping us.                      
                                                                                                                                                   

Terrorism        We did this to ourselves                These terrorists need            

                       (cough, cough, Iraq, cough,            to be eradicated, and            

                        cough) you know. Also,                eradicated now! They           

                        we can fight terrorism with           don't want peace, so             

                        peace, not war. One more              we'll give 'em war!              

                        thing: captured terrorists               Iraq was not a mistake.         

                        should be convicted in                   We needed to do what         

                        good ol' normal people                  we needed to do. Also,        

                        courts and handled by                   terrorists are terrorists,        

                        normal law enforcement.              and should be convicted       

                                                                              in military courts as              

                                                                              enemies. They're fault,         

                                                                               not ours.                            

Welfare           Tax money should go to                Poor people need to               

                       helping the poor, who need            learn to get their own             

                       the most out of all of us.                 jobs, get paid, and                 

                       I mean, c'mon, don't you have        make their own living       

                       a heart? They need our help           as individuals, not look         

                       and we should help them.              to the government to help.                                           

3/16/15: THE 8 WORST TERRORIST GROUPS

The self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, as well as their new ally, a Nigerian terrorist group, Boko Haram, have been all over the news recently, and if you've been paying attention, you've heard the horrible, inhumane, and barbaric things these people have done---all of which is done in the name of religion.

But ISIS and Boko Haram aren't the only terrorist groups that have shook the world with their overly-violent strategies of getting religious and/or political views across. There's numerous other groups on this list that are up with ISIS's and Boko Haram's spots and some have done worse. 

8. al-Shabaab, also known as "the Youth," are al-Qaeda-allied religious extremists in Somalia, urging for an Islamic state in their country. Fortunately, they've been weakened over the years, but Somalia being a crippling anarchy, they still have quite a lot of power. Originating as a smaller group as part of al-Qeada, since their beginning they've taken control of much of Somalia, even maintaining the capital most of the time, and have, much to people's fear, started to spill into southern neighbor Ethopia, with their most infamous attack in September 2013 on a mall in Nairobi, killing 67 people and injuring 175. 

7. FARC, or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army, is a different kind of group on this list, for that they use military tactics, such as terrrorism, to push their socialist ideologies, hoping to overthrow the government with an agrarian society (a society basically where everyone's farmers) without an empire. Although they haven't been in the news in recent times, they still exist, holding themselves together with kidnappings-with-ransoms, illegal mining, and drug trade. 

6. Tehrak-i-Taliban Pakistan, or the Pakistani Taliban, is more of an organization than a group, as they're made up of multiple small groups with the same ideologies of fighting for Pashtunwali---traditional Pashtun lifestyle---and Deobandi fundamentalism---a movement of Hanafi Islam, a school in Sunni Islam that's very strict on blasphemy---and generally around the Afghan-Pakistani border. They're the monsters behind the 2009 Camp Chapman attack---a suicide bombong of a CIA facility around the border that killed 10, the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt---an attempted bombing in Times Square that failed when two people discovered the car bomb, which failed to blow---and a 2014 massacre of the Peshawar school in Pakistan, killing 132 kids. 

5. Hezbollah, along with Hamas (a Palenestinian group in West Bank), is a militant group and political party in Israel's northern neighbor Lebanon that is strongly against Zionism and Western ideologies, and these Shi'a Muslims hate Israel, forming after Israel attempted to invade Lebanon in 1982 as a resistance. Ever since, they've been able to take part in the Lebanese government and grown into an organization, such as the group above, and using terrorist strategies in order to try to get Israelites out of Lebanon to this day and fight for their Anti-West views, with suicide bombings, kidnappings, car-bombings, and even plane hijackings. 

4. The Taliban are the terrorist group that continued the United States's active conflict in Afghanistan since we'd entered in 2001. They're Islamic extremists with the same ideologies as the Pakistini Taliban (who actually followed their ideologies) and have been trying to overthrow the Afghan government and create a fundamentalist Islamic state. Although the United States have weakened them, they still are a group. The same brutal, bloodthirsty group that's massacred civilians---including an ethnic cleansing on the city of Mazar-i Sharif in 1998 that left thousands dead, destroyed towns, trafficked humans, oppressed women, and have plundered, bombed, raped, and kidnapped there way to an infamous stardom. 

3. Boko Haram, a branch-off group of al-Qadea like al-Shabaab and now a part of ISIS, is an Islamic terrorist group mostly stationed in Nigeria, but have also spread into Chad, Niger, and Cameroon. They're most known for their kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls in April 2014 (the #BringBackOurGirls campaign), but have also massacred civilians and raided, plundered, and destroyed towns, kidnapping and bombing along the way, such as the 2015 Baga massacre, Cameroon raids, and the Chad attacks. 

2. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or just the Islamic State, is a terrorist organization who basically want to make themselves the heads of all Islam worldwide and are fighting to form a fundamentalist Islamic state. They've unfortunately been pretty successful so far and are by far the richest and most powerful terrorist group, or at at least Islamic extremist group, in history. They've raised, plundered, destroyed towns, massacred people, ethnic cleansed, kidnapped and raped women, tortured prisoners, beheaded and executed people on camera, and have even been found trafficking organs and enlisting child soldiers. They're basically your worst nightmare. 

1. al-Qaeda is an Islamic terrorist organization that, contrary to numerous lists, is my top spot for the worst terrorist group in world history. As much as ISIS and Boko Haram and all these other terrorist groups are horrible monsters of people, no one stands a chance against al-Qadea. Although they've been heavily weakened and broken up over recent years, they were the ones to really start it all, and led by Osama bin Laden, have killed the most amount of people than any group on this list, with their most infamous attack ever being the September 11, 2001 attacks, which killed around 3,000 people and destroying the World Trade Center. They may not be relevant anymore, but the they're the granddaddys of terrorism and will forever remain in our hearts and memories as the worst terrorist group to mankind.

3/15/15: THE THREE MUSKETEERS REVIEW! (Spoiler Free)

The first weekend of Spring Break has ended, as well as my completion of Alexandre Dumas's The Three Musketeers. Now that I've finished it, I shall grant you my review.

The Three Musketeers Book Review

Fact Box-The Three Musketeers ("The Modern Library" Version)

Author: Alexandre Dumas (translated by Jaques Le Clercq)

Genre(s): Adventure, Historical Fiction

Publishers: The Modern Library

Page #: 598

Recommended Reading Level: Anyone committed

General Impressions: It may have been slow in some parts and some of the plot pieces may have lacked in interest, at least to me, in other parts, but overall I enjoyed it. It had good, memorable characters, for the most part, a nice plot, and was very well-written.

From the 1993 film adaption: (from left) Athos (Keifer
Sutherland), Aramis (Charlie Sheen), d'Artagan (Chris
O' Donnell) and Porthos (Oliver Patt)

Summary: Set in 1600's France, a young man named d'Artangan leaves his home in Gascony, a province in southwest France, to Paris, in hopes of becoming one of the Musketeers of the Guard. On his way, he stops at an inn, where a man makes fun of his horse, ticking off d'Artangan, who proceeds into challenging the mocker to a duel. Unfortunately, his opponent has companions, who beat him up, break his sword, and steal his resume he'd planned to give to the Captain of the Musketeers, Monsieur de Treville. But once d'Artangan brushes himself off, he swears he'll seek vengeance on that man if he runs across him again. He continues onto Paris, where he meets Monsieur de Treville only to remember his resume was stolen to be enlisted into the Musketeers of the Guard. Declined by de Treville, d'Artangan writes a resume in hopes of getting into a training academy, as a Plan B for becoming a musketeer, but suddenly sees the inn man again. As he rushes out to get his revenge, he runs into the three Musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, who challenge him to a fight. Just as they're about to fight, Cardinal Richelieu of France's authorities attempt to arrest them for illegal fighting, but the Musketeers and d'Artangan successfully defeat them, with d'Artangan seriously injuring one of the Cardinal's best, Jussac. King Louis XIII hears of this and makes him one of the King's guards. It's not a Musketeer, but you can't complain,

What I Liked: The last book review I wrote on this blog was of The Grapes of Wrath, another classic work of literature, which I liked, but wasn't that well-written (especially in terms of plot and character development), but after finishing The Three Musketeers, I'm happy to say Dumas is better at writing than Steinbeck (author of The Grapes of Wrath), with his dialogue, his historical documentation, and every-so-often fourth wall breaks. Another great thing about the book was the characters. Obviously, my favorite's d'Artangan, the young, handsome, cocky, hot-headed brute who can both be a good and a bad guy simultaneously---and that goes to Athos, Porthos, and Aramis as well. Other characters I liked, or at least were developed and constructed well-enough for me to pay attention to them (unlike some of Steinbeck's characters in The Grapes of Wrath), such as the Captain of the Musketeers, Monsieur de Treville, the inn man and enemy of d'Artangan, which you later find out is named Rochefort, Milady de Winter, the Cardinal's beautiful yet atrocious spy, her servant, Kitty, Monsieur, a good guy who turns bad and Madame Bonacieux, a man-manipulating (insert offensive term for "lady of the night" here) who cheats on her husband for George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham.

What I Disliked: Like I said in my "General Impressions," some parts seemed to drag on or go too slow to me, and other parts just weren't interesting enough to really care about,---not saying that they weren't well-written---especially parts that didn't involve d'Artangan or the Musketeers. Most of this happens in the middle, but the end makes up for just a little bits that were lost in my reading experience. Overall, it was pretty solid. 

Final Score:

8.5 out of 10

3/15/15: THE GRAPES OF WRATH REVIEW! (Spoiler Free)

It's nearly Spring Break for me, and my parents pushed me to read two books. My dad convinced me to read Alexandre Dumas's The Three Musketeers, and after hearing that it was a great classic, I chose John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, which I discovered has been stored downstairs, waiting to be read. Although I still have The Three Musketeers to read, now that I've finished The Grapes of Wrath, here's my review. And since there aren't any spoilers, I'm doing your book report, dude.

The Grapes of Wrath Book Review

Fact Box-The Grapes of Wrath

Author: John Steinbeck 

Genre(s): Historical Fiction

Publishers: The Viking Press

Page #: 502

Recommended Reading Level: Mature teens

General Impressions: After hearing it was a great classic, I have to say, I'm just a tad bit disappointed. I mean, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. But I'll give Steinbeck some credit, for he captured the setting and the picture of the Depression Era very well (not that I lived back then, it's just that I got a much better understanding).

Summary: Tom Joad is a young man living in Oklahoma, who's on parole from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, or the McAlester prison, after killing someone. On parole,---which means he doesn't have to be in jail but can't leave the state---he returns to his hometown. He reunites with Jim Casy, a preacher he remembers from when he was younger. The two go to Tom's family's farm, but they find it abandoned. Then they encounter Muley Graves, an old neighbor who tells them that the Joads have been evicted from the bank off their land and are staying at Tom's uncle, Uncle Joad's, house. They travel there and reunite with his family, but the Dust Bowl has destroyed Uncle Joad's farm and his family is financially struggling, like many Americans during the Great Depression. Hearing about job opportunities and "paradise" in California, the Joads---Casy tagging along---pack their bags and go on a road trip to the promise land. Tom, who's still on parole, is willing to start a new life in another state illegally, leaving Oklahoma forever.

What I Liked: Even though I didn't live back in the Depression Era,---and am gladly so---Steinbeck did make me understand the hardships that people lived back then, from makeshift camps and Hoovervilles to the accents and FDR's New Deal programs. He captured the setting, "laying out the land" if you will and describing the history and culture of this poor era in third person omniscient, and I do believe those parts were his best parts, as lots of it sounded like poetry. But are the parts that don't even involve the main story being the best parts a good thing?

What I Disliked: When I said I was a tad bit disappointed, I meant it. I expected a good, engaging story with great characters and detailed, artistic writing and dialogue that makes you think and feel even after you've finished, for that's what I believe what makes a classic book, but it didn't live up to my expectations. For school, I had to read The Pearl, written by the same author, and although the writing was very detailed and artistic, Steinbeck lacked character development and a very interesting story. The same went with The Grapes of Wrath. The character development was terrible. No where in the book did I actually connect with any of the characters, especially the Joads. Also, the story itself lacked, and by the middle, it was all over the place. I couldn't really follow what was happening, mainly because it wasn't even following the Joads at certain points, or at least just Tom and Casy, the protagonists. The accents I appreciated, but it didn't help with trying to decipher what was going on. Lastly, it was repetitive. And I mean, very repetitive. Each chapter started with several paragraphs of describing the setting, telling some history, or capturing the culture of the time in a very well-written way---and sometimes this just filled up an entire chapter---and then cut into the Joads and their story. I understand doing it in the beginning, but every chapter seemed to start this way: Irrelevant sections. The Joads. Irrelevant sections. The Joads. Irrelevant sections. The Joads. And even with the Joad story, well, I already complained about that. 

Final Score:

7 out of 10

2/21/15: MY 2015 OSCAR PREDICTIONS!

One of the biggest nights, if not the biggest night, in Hollywood is right around the corner, scheduled to broadcast live on ABC on January 15, 2015: the 87th Academy Awards, or the 2015 Oscars.

As a movie buff, I'm all for events like these, and what better to up my anticipation than predicting the results of all the categories in this year's Oscars, honoring the movies of the 2014 year, and hosted by the one and the only Neil Patrick Harris (who seems to host all the award shows in recent times).

There's some great films, some of which I've seen, so let's get it started:

Best Picture
American Sniper
Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Boyhood
Unfortunately, because of the backstory behind this film, which if you don't know, took 12 years to make, with the same cast and crew the entire time, it seems like the kind of thing the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences would mop up to. But I hope it's also taken into consideration the actual quality of the film, and although Boyhood has gotten very positive reviews, let's just hope that Academy gives all the other films a chance as well, many of which are, in my opinion, better.
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash 

Best Director
Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman)
Richard Linklater (Boyhood) 
It seems that most of the time, the Best Picture director also brings home a second award for Best Director, and although I hope it doesn't happen, considering I already predicted Boyhood would win Best Picture, I'll give Linklater credit for sticking with a 12-year project like that. It's pretty impressive to me. I know I wouldn't be able to do it. It takes guts and charisma, so I wouldn't blame the Academy for this one...at least, not that much.
Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher)
Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game)

Best Actor
Steve Carell (Foxcatcher as John du Pont)
Bradley Cooper (American Sniper as Chris Kyle)
Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game as Alan Turing)
This is more of my personal bias than what I predict. I haven't seen the other four movies, which you may call as "unfair," and some would argue Benedict Cumberbatch is always getting praised, but dang it, the man's talented. I saw "The Imitation Game," and I would call it the best male performance of the year. After reading up more about the real-life Alan Turing, with his stuttering and what-might-seen-like-an-arrogant-jerk-like personality who saved millions of lives in World War II by cracking the German's Enigma Code, I concluded he'd fit the role perfectly.
Michael Keaton (Birdman as Riggan Thomson/Birdman)
Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything as Stephen Hawking)

Best Actress
Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night as Sandra Bya)
Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything as Jane Hawking)
Julianne Moore (Still Alice as Dr. Alice Howland)
Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl as Amy Elliot-Dunne)
I'm really just taking a guess on this one, but playing a husband-hating sociopath seems pretty difficult to me. Although, a nervous-breakdown-suffered young woman trying to keep her job, Stephen Hawking's first wife who stuck with him through the start of his infamous physically-disabling downfall, a professor suffering from early-onset Alzheimer's and a damaged, depressed woman hiking alone for more than a thousand miles seem to be fair runner-ups as well.
Reese Witherspoon (Wild as Cheryl Strayed)

Best Supporting Actor
Robert Duvall (The Judge as Judge Joseph Palmer)
Ethan Hawke (Boyhood as Mason Evans Sr.)
Edward Norton (Birdman as Mike Shiner)
Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher as Dave Schultz)
J.K. Simmons (Whiplash as Terrence Fletcher)
I've seen "Whiplash," and there's no doubt that playing a emotionally/mentally-manipulative music teacher who spews horrible, sometimes homophobic obscenities and insults, throws chairs at students, and pushes them past their breaking point to stardom certainly seems like the kind of role that the Academy just loves. Not a role model of course, but just a silver screen character.

Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette (Boyhood as Olivia Evans)
Lauren Dern (Wild as Bobbi Gray)
Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game as Joan Clarke)
Although all the "Actress" category nominees could be considered strong, independent female characters (because, boy, do people like strong independent female characters), Keira Knightley's performance in "The Imitation Game" was the best, or, second best, I should say (look at Best Actress). In the movie, she played a, you guessed it, strong, independent female character, smart enough to make the cut into Turing's team as the Enigma Code breakers and making feminists everywhere applaud for her role. Don't forget she also made Benedict Cumberbatch's character sexually confused. All and all, I thought, in all these roles where the female character steps out of her position as a "female character," Keira Knightley will and should accept her award for Best Supporting Actress.
Emma Stone (Birdman as Sam Thomson)
Meryl Streep (Into the Woods as The Witch)

Best Original Screenplay
Birdman (written by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr., and Armando Bo) 
Written by four people whose names I could butcher very easily, I do believe "Birdman," although without seeing it, will take the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, for it's got all the funny and dramatic, but all-and-all entertaining dialogue, the Academy can't seem to get enough of.
Boyhood (written by Richard Linklater [dang, he must've been committed])
Foxcatcher (written by E. Max Fyre and Dan Futterman)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (written by Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness)
Nightcrawler (written by Dan Gilroy)

Best Adapted Screenplay
American Sniper (written by Jason Hall from the book American Sniper by Chris Kyle, Scott McEwen and Jim DeFlice)
The Imitation Game (written by Graham Moore from the book Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges)
Inherent Vice (written by Paul Thomas Anderson from the book Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon)
The Theory of Everything (written by Anthony McCarten from the book Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen by Jane Hawking)
I only predicted this because I felt a little sorry for "The Theory of Everything." Most people aren't really very interested in writing that's been adapted from previous published works, but I'm rooting for you "Theory of Everything." 
Whiplash (written by Damien Chazelle from his short film of the same name)

Best Animated Film
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
With "The Lego Movie" shockingly snubbed from the table, the next best resort is "How to Train Your Dragon 2," which isn't as good as the original, but is still a dang entertaining movie that is beautifully animated and beautifully written, tugging on heartstrings, tickling our funny bones and taking us on a wild adventure that only Pixar seemed to be able to pull off.
Song of the Sea
The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Call me a documentary-hating xenophobe who likes his films full-length, but I'm skipping "Best Foreign Language Film," "Best Feature Documentary," "Best Short Subject Documentary," "Best Live Action Short Film," and "Best Animated Short Film." Sorry about that.

Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat (The Grand Budapest Hotel AND The Imitation Game)
Hans Zimmer (Interstellar)
Oh, here's "Interstellar!" There's really no explanation needed, except that Hans Zimmer is the bomb-dot-com, and he blew me away once again in "Interstellar" (I also love the "Inception" and "The Dark Knight" trilogy soundtracks from him as well).
Gary Yershon (Mr. Turner)
Johann Johannsson (The Theory of Everything)

Call me an anti-lyricist, but I'm skipping "Best Original Song" as well. Really, it's because I'm too lazy to write out all the titles and artists.

Best Sound Editing
Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman (American Sniper)
Martin Hernandez and Aaron Glascock (Birdman)
Brent Burge and Jason Canovas (The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies)
It's a Peter Jackson Middle Earth movie. The sound is awesome.
Richard King (Interstellar)
Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro (Unbroken)

Best Sound Mixing
John Reitz, Gregg Ruldolf and Walt Martin (American Sniper)
Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montano and Thomas Varga (Birdman)
Gary A. Rizzo, Greg Landaker and Mark Weingarten (Interstellar)
This is just to give "Interstellar" another choosing. I don't even know what "sound mixing" is exactly, or why it's relevant.
Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montano and David Lee (Unbroken)
Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley (Whiplash)

Oh, did I mention I'm also skipping "Best Production Design," "Best Makeup and Hairstyling" and "Best Costume Design?" I'm sorry. Too many names, and I honestly don't really care. Do you?

Best Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki (Birdman)
To make a film look like it's been shot in one-continuous shot takes spot-on cinematography and an eye as a director of photography, which is why I predict this will win.
Robert Yeoman (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski (Ida)
Dick Pope (Mr. Turner)
Roger Deakins (Unbroken)

Best Film Editing
Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach (American Sniper)
Sandra Adair (Boyhood)
Barney Pilling (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
William Goldenberg (The Imitation Game)
Tom Cross (Whiplash)
The scenes where the shots went back and forth to various instruments, with various close-ups, slow-motion shots, mixed in with the music, adding in perfectly-timed pans and focused shots takes a lot of work when putting these all together and making them mesmerizing eye candy for the viewer was spectacular in "Whiplash," which is why I predict and want it to win.

Best Visual Effects
Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
Joel Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barret and Erik Winquist (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes)
Those apes look real man. 
Stephane Ceretti, Nicholas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher (Interstellar)
Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer (X-Men: Days of Future Past)

1/31/15: PROJECT ALMANAC REVIEW! (No Spoilers)

It was a cold, gloomy, gray rainy day Saturday, so what better than to go see some movies with some friends when the weather didn't really agree with your planned outdoor activities. With January a low-brow month for films, the only movie that caught my interest was the Michael Bay-produced found footage film Project Almanac, which I immediately knew from the "Produced by Michael Bay" in the previews that it wasn't going to a great movie, but as much as people hate Bay, he sure can bring in the Bayhem, and after after seeing recent films like Interstellar, Whiplash and The Imitation Game (too lazy to review Whiplash and The Imitation Game, although they were both phenomenal), I needed a break from serious cinema. Alright, enough chit-chat, let's get down to business:

Project Almanac Fact Box:
Genre(s): Sci-Fi, Thriller
Running Time: 106 min (1 hr 46 min)
Starring: Jonny Weston, Sofia Black-D'Elia and Gary Weeks
Summary: The teenage son of a time-machine-designing genius and his friends build it and travel back in time for their advantages, without thinking about the repercussions.
Rating: PG-13
Release Date(s): January 30, 2015
Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2436386/

Director: Dean Israelite (first film)
Writers: Andrew Deutschman and Jason Pagan (also both wrote the upcoming Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension)

Brief Plot Overview: Ben Raskins (Gary Weeks) was a genius who's designed a time machine and hidden it in a hole in his basement floor. Unfortunately, he dies in a car crash on his son, David's, 7th birthday. David, now a teenager (Jonny Weston), is not a genius, but he's very smart and after showing off an experiment with a hand-censoring, hand-controlled drone, is accepted into the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), but his mom (Amy Lendecker) can't afford it, and plans to sell the house in order for it to happen. Troubled by this, David and his sister Christina (Virginia Gardner) go through their father's belongings in their attic in hopes for something to sell to afford the scholarship and find one of their dad's old video cameras. They watch the recording on there, which is of David's 7th birthday, but discover that they see a teenage David in a reflection in the background. David gets his friends Adam (Allen Evangelista) and Quinn (Sam Lerner) to come over and see. Searching in the basement, they discover Ben's secret time machine project for the U.S. Military called "Project Almanac" that they discover is for a time machine. They all agree to start building the machine, continuing their dad's dreams, and after lots of construction and lots of attempts to get it started, with the help of David's crush, Jessie's (Sofia Black D'Elia) Prius's battery for power using jumper cables (who ends up reluctantly joining their group), they go back in time. But what a show they're in for....

What I Liked: It was an entertaining movie, I'll give 'em that. Being a found footage film, we got to live the adventure through the characters because it felt more closer and realistic (though far from it). Also, it was impressively well-made, but that didn't exactly surprise me, because as much hate Michael Bay receives in a day, he knows how to make a cool-looking movie. And this was a pretty cool movie. Just as a movie, it's so-so.

What I Disliked: Many parts of the movie were pretty dumb, especially the romance between David and Jessie and the random Lollapalooza scenes, as well as many parts not making much sense, seeming kind of pointless, and kind of boring.
I'm not going to get too involved within it, in order to avoid spoilers, but when you watch the movie, you'll get those same feelings about the movie as well. But I'll cut the movie some slack, for it is a Michael Bay movie and I knew it was a Michael Bay movie paying at the door and walking in the theater, and it still was entertaining and fun with some good characters.

Conclusion: Far from the most realistic, most original, best movie ever and with several notable flaws, it's still one heck of a ride.

Recommend to: Teens

Rating:

7 out of 10

1/26/15: MY FAVORITE INTERNET MEMES

Today I'm going to be talking about memes, specifically Internet memes, which---like normal memes---are "cultural ideas, symbols, or practices" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme) conveyed to and through people by various public-communication techniques---but unlike normal memes, are conveyed through the Internet. They're usually something deprived from pop culture phenomena that is shared and shared by a large amount of people that can turn something random into an Internet meme. If these memes are shared and shared more and more by more and more people, they can become viral, becoming viral trends, viral videos or even hit mainstream.

These are 5 of my favorite Internet memes, or at least one's that I've heard/seen a lot of or know of. Let's take a look:

One Does Not Simply...
"One does not walk into Mordor" is a phrase from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring where Boromir tells the Council of Elrond about the dangerous place that is Mordor, which is where Mount Doom is, and where the Council of Elrond could destroy the One Ring by throwing it back into Mount Doom (seen in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King). Eversince, fans of LOTR decided to take that phrase and turn it into something funny. The meme fired off with "One does not simply [blank] into Mordor," where [blank] could be replaced with any verb, like this:

Eventually, it transitioned into making fun of simple but difficult things that we humans simply cannot resist/give into/or cannot do, as much as we know we shouldn't:

As you can see, the meme is a screenshot of
Sean Bean's character in the actual movie,
just with added text, usually split between
the top and bottom.

That's where the One Does Not Simply... memes, as well as Internet memes in general, get their humor from: relatable sad but true things.

I Used to be an Adventurer Like You, Until I Took an Arrow to the Knee
"I used to be an adventurer like you, until I took an arrow to the knee" is a phrase you hear a lot in the RPG The Elder Scrolls V: Syrim, told to your character from many A.I. pedestrians. Well, people heard this phrase so much throughout the course of the game that it was turned into a meme (specifically the "arrow to the knee" part):

Trollface
The act of "trolling" on the Internet is people messing with other people online, using ridiculous methods to draw attention to themselves. They're there to make you mad, my friends, and keep doing it if you "feed them" so to speak. But with all this trolling going around, it eventually became a meme, and this viral video,  was the poster child:

With some research, this weird, random but hilarious (the three words that usually create and define memes) music video by a Russian singer Eduard Khil, and in this song (if you want to call it that) he's interpreting "I Am So Happy to Finally Be Back Home," but sung in a vokaliz style. This song probably has a deeper meaning, with some pointing out that this was satire on Soviet censorship, for Khil was born and made this in the USSR. The reason it went viral just a few years ago, even with it being decades old now, I can't answer, but whenever you're getting trolled on the Internet, trolls will sometimes use this meme, created in representation of Khil's facial expression:

This anonymous drawing has basically defined all Internet trolls, who creepily smile out of satisfaction of ticking people off online or for taunting purposes:

This is what's called a GIF.
It's a moving set of images
used to get someone's
point across in a short period
of time.

Illuminati Confirmed
For quite a while, people have been obsessed with the Illuminati, a secret society thought to have dispersed a long time ago, but conspiracy theorists have spilled their silly propaganda all across the web, saying that the Illuminati still exists to this day, who many famous and influential figures are members of, and plans for a new world order.
      But if you don't know, the symbol for the Illuminati is this:

A human eye within a triangle
shape 

Eventually, people decided to make fun of conspiracy theorists and their outlandish theories by satirizing them.  This was the birth of the "Illuminati Confirmed" meme, where people spotted triangles in random images and "confirmed the Illumainti" still existed, making believe that the secret society was behind it all.

This is an example of someone making fun of the people
that make fun of the conspiracy theorists.

Face-Switch Memes
Of all the bizarre memes on this list, this last but definitely not least meme claims the top spot, with the highest "Seriously, da heck?" measurement on the scale. With a glorious image-manipulating program like Adobe's Photoshop, it wasn't long before people discovered that they could create some of weirdest pictures out there, and really skilled Photoshop hobbyists can create pictures that make them look like "average, normal, every-day pictures" even when you're not. The Face-Switch Meme is a great example:

I'm going to have nightmares now.