Thursday, April 26, 2018

Infinity War Deadpool By Robert Cohan


Avengers: Infinity War  is probably one of the most anticipated movies of all time, but one thing people on the internet keep guessing about is who will die in it. And seeing as it comes out tomorrow, it’s time to throw my hat into the ring, so here are my picks for who will die and why.
Captain America: Cap has always been the leader of the team, but even more importantly has always been willing to sacrifice himself for the rest of the team. Another point is that he is holding back Thanos’ hand in one of the trailers and I believe that may be his last heroic act.
Hawkeye: Hawkeye has always been a sort of joke Avenger. He doesn’t have any special powers and of all weapons he uses a BOW! I just doubt that someone like Hawkeye can survive Infinity War. Also he doesn’t seem to be in any of the trailers or the poster leading me to believe an early death.
Loki: Loki is one of the best villains to ever grace the big screen, which is why it’s time for him to retire. I also believe if doesn’t die when he gives the power stone to Thanos he will be a repeat of Scurge from Thor Ragnorok.
Vision: I think it’s pretty much a guarantee that Vision dies. I mean he has an infinity stone IN HIS HEAD! And I don’t think Doctor Strange will die because of the time stone in the eye of agomoto, I think strange will die in Infinity War part 2.
And that’s everyone I think that’s going to kick-the-bucket in Avengers: Infinity War. Also one person who I think is completely safe is Spider-Man. The MCU just got spidey, they’re not going to kill him off right after-wards.

Saturday, April 21, 2018

Wondering by Steven Roberts

when we were kids we wondered a lot and we probably keep wondering about a lot of things. Some things i wondered about as a kid was like an ant pile and how many tunnels it has or how many ants are actually in it, and i also sometimes looked up at the sky at night and looked at all the stars and wondered how many planets and suns there actually are. But now all the things i wonder about are like what kind of job do i want to have or what college i want to have, and there is plenty more that i wonder about. What do you wonder about sometimes?

Thursday, April 19, 2018

Victory Royal By Robert Cohan


So Fortnite, if you haven’t been living under rock for the past few months you would have heard of it. But for you rock dwellers there is a post about the game on this blog all about it because I won’t be explaining a thing about the game. So now that you’re back from that post we are going to focus on the battle royal portion of the game or more specifically, its effects on its players. So almost every media outpost desperately clawing for a scoop has being saying Fornite makes kids aggressive and violent! Of course some parents who have kids playing the game are taking everything these shows, blogs and videos are saying as fact without any look into it. This why we are here today, see the thing is, these shows, blogs and videos are saying Fortnite is bad without doing any research into it, if they did they’d find that there is no real evidence to support this. The real reason you see aggression in people who play the game is because that’s how the game is played, it is in fact almost comparable to war, you don’t see people in war with each other going around prancing through flower fields do you? No, you see them out on the battle field aggressively fighting. The same can be said for Fortnite and any other first/third person shooter battle royal game, you aren’t going to win by playing passive, you’ve got to be aggressive. Another reason people who play Fortnite are more aggressive is not because of the game, it’s because they already have that aggression and Fortnite is more appealing to them, whereas people who are very peaceful and calm prefer different games. And for people who do actually have a level of aggression that can cause them to harm others, Fortnite can act as a sort of stress ball. In conclusion Fortnite is not some evil game that makes people more violent, and in some cases in can be very beneficial to the player.
Also click this link for the video I got quite a bit of my evidence from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgV5OX9sKao

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

If Time Had Frozen 30 Years Ago by Autumn Snow


Let's face the facts here. Life in 2018 isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Now, life in general is another story (in some situations), but honestly, the past ten or so years have been pretty darn . . . well . . . boring.
Depression and anxiety rates are higher than ever before, as well as teen suicide (which is almost always linked to depression). Of course, these things have been going on since the beginning of time, but if you look back 20+ years ago, such occurrences were fewer and farther in between.
Take the 80's. Man, do I wish I had lived to see the 80's. I feel like they should have taken the "Roaring" out of the 20's and put it in the 80's instead. Of course, I have no personal experiences from this time era, but it's far more interesting to me than the modern day. This decade was filled with iconic movies (Steel Magnolias, baby), amazing music (Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Barbara Mandrell, Bonnie Raitt, etc.), and just about everything that has ever been appealing to me. But this is us, we're talking about. This is the statistics of the world, so let's get back to it. Though technology has advanced a significant amount over the past few decades, it's hard to say whether it's for the better or not. I mean, we already had the television, the radio (aka the pinnacle of happiness), the telephone (sorry, kids, no iPhones in the 80's), and so on. Did we really need all of the same things in "better" forms? I think not. Twenty/thirty years ago, people used the telephone to call people and talk to them. Texting had not been invented until 1984, and the first text message had not officially been sent until 1992. Even then, texting on cellular phones wasn't utilized regularly until the early 2000s. There was no YouTube, no PlayStation, no Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, etc. So what in the world did kids from about a generation ago do? Whatever did they come up with to entertain their young, impressionable minds? Well, there was always music. "Summer of '69" would probably have been blaring through the speakers of your cassette player while you did your homework. During the day, you might have tried to catch Full House or Growing Pains on the box television in your living room. The thought of doing something "more interesting" like watching cat videos on YouTube or scrolling through the newsfeed on your social media account would never have crossed your mind because such things had not yet come into existence. And you would have been absolutely fine.
My personal opinion on the modern day is pretty negative, but again, it's just my opinion. I (personally) think that, 30 years ago, the world had most everything it needed to be the convenient world it had already become. Now, things have gone so far that technology and such have become quite inconvenient in most aspects. The cellphone has become man's best (and only) friend, the internet can be a dangerous, dangerous place if one isn't careful, television certainly isn't what it used to be, and I could go on. So, the gist of this post is more a question made from an observation rather than the answer to the problem. And we all know we've asked this question ourselves once or twice when dwelling in the deepest and most profound areas of our thoughts. And that question is . . .
Dude, if we're so technologically advanced and stuff in this modern time, then why hasn't somebody gotten around to inventing a time machine yet?


Thursday, April 12, 2018

Under The Sea! By Robert Cohan


Recently a well-loved, highly anticipated game has had its full release. I am, of course, talking about Subnautica. Subnautica (by Unknown Worlds Entertainment) is a game where you are crewman aboard the spaceship The Aurora, until it got shot down by a giant alien laser canon. You are the only survivor (except for the 16 other survivors who died on the planet). You must find a way to survive by keeping up your food, water, health and air. Yes air, because well I hope you like swimming! Because this planet is 95% water, but don’t worry you can build structures, vehicles and oxygen tanks. You want to know what else is great about this planet, most of its inhabitants are trying to kill you! But hey your great at living, you’ve been doing it for years, so you survive and even thrive! And now you have a disease with no cure. TOO BAD! So now you must go on your quest to be cured of carar (the disease), get of this planet and find a Markiplier doll (yes it’s a real thing in game). So good luck and watch out for reaper leviathans!

What happened to Destiny? by Grayson Perry


Destiny is a very popular video game series on console that recently expanded to PC. The first game, simply titled Destiny, was released in 2014 and was a massive success that revolutionized gaming due to its combination of the FPS (first person shooter) and RPG/MMO (role playing game/massive multiplayer online) genres. Upon its initial release, it received mixed reviews because of the lackluster story telling in the campaign. However, the reviews grew more positive after release of a few DLC, which dramatically changed the game multiple times, and received astounding reviews from many game critics. Destiny acquired a total of 4 DLC expansions over a span of 3 years, 2014-2016, which kept the game alive for 4 years.
This 4-year span was cut off by Destiny 2, the sequel to Destiny that continued the story of our character. This game was released in late 2017, and many fans from the original Destiny purchased it with high hopes. The marketing team did very well with getting the game noticed, from commercials during a football game to merchandise on shelves of everyday stores. But what ever happened to this game?  
Not many reviews on the game have been positive lately, and the developers of Destiny are looking to change that. Upon D2’s initial release, it was considered by some to be more successful than the entirety of Destiny, but that has changed in a few short months. The game has only had 1 DLC expansion so far, with another promised sometime this spring. This 1st DLC was highly criticized, with only 4 ½ hours of gameplay in the campaign, which is less than half than that of D2’s original story. Not to mention that the new planet players are allowed to explore is very restricted and doesn’t allow much more gameplay than what’s in the short campaign. All of this with a $20 price tag. Most loyal Destiny fans, including myself, are hurt by this.
Players have been suggesting that Bungie, the developers of Destiny, should have not made a new game. Rather, they should have continued to add DLC and update the original game. In it’s prime, Destiny 2 was popular across Twitch and YouTube, getting millions of views on videos such as gameplay moments, tips, and lore theory videos. Today, the game is merely a thing of the past, and not a thought that comes to mind when one thinks about popular video games. Like most movie and video game sequels today, Destiny would have been better with no sequel at all, but we cannot change the past.
Thankfully Bungie is listening to the community and making changes to the game that are needed. Many updates have been released helping the game in a major way and are reviving the community. Players have started to return to this once beloved game, enjoying D2 for the first time in months. With these returning players, a new expansion set to release soon, and constant updates, hopefully we will be able to see Destiny 2 in all of its glory.

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

How Senioritis Affects Me by Spencer Ward

Let's first start out with the fact that this "disease" is a thing that affects all seniors. I am just letting you all know that the way it affects me. So let us dig right into this topic.

In my everyday life, I get distracted by my phone. The first thing I realized was when I was on a game. So to try and fix that problem I was having I deleted all of the games I own. I will be trying not to get on any other games whether it be Fortnight or PubG. No matter the circumstances.

Henceforth and forevermore I Spencer Ward will try not to get distracted with so much of these trivial things. I will try and get out of the Senioritis zone. Moreover not to get sucked back into the life of the gamers. Not that that is a sin. But it is indeed a distraction to some like me.

Oh yeah, and look at the time I posted this. I definitely have what everyone calls senioritis.

---Spencer Ward

How to Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking by Allyson Reyna


There will most likely be a point in your life in which you will have to public speak. This may be for a class presentation, a wedding toast, or a banquet. Whatever the case may be, you should always be ready to speak in front of others. However, fear sometimes gets in the way of confidence which intervenes with the overall message you are attempting to tell. To combat that fear, here are some ways to overcome your fear of public speaking…

·      Organize and preparation are key to a good speech. When your materials are organized it helps you to relax and stay calm. The reduction of anxiety is made by keeping your thoughts clear and organized. Make sure you do not procrastinate because this is a speech. A speech must have a good amount of preparation time which includes practice time.

·         Practice. Practice. Practice. Without practice, your speech will never be up to par. Practice in front of the mirror, by recording yourself, or saying it in front of others you trust. Then practice again. But don’t over practice because this could cause a rigidness in your speech and a fumbling in your words since you did not say it the way you practiced it. Keep your speech flowing nicely and casually but not memorized word for word. This is done by an immense amount of practicing.

·         Keep your speech rhythmic and flowing cohesively. By establishing a good speaking pattern, your fear will be decreased since you have an overall tone which goes hand in hand with one another. When your tone is broken up by differences this increases anxiety since it is not unified. We are creatures of habit which flows into sameness, even in our speaking. This means we must obtain a pattern which flows throughout the duration of the speech.  

·         Do not worry what others may think. This is easier said than done and you have probably heard this more times than you can count. However, it is an extremely important aspect to speaking. When worry enters your mind, words become fumbled and disordered. For the entirety of your speech, the elimination of fear and rejection must be completely extracted from your mind. Confidence is key when speaking. Just know that you having the courage to speak in the first place will ultimately lead you into the courage you need to complete your speech.

Friday, April 6, 2018

Pacific Rim Uprising Review by Grayson Perry

Before we start, obviously there are major spoilers to both Pacific Rim and Pacific Rim Uprising.

I recently went to see Pacific Rim Uprising, and that was a mistake. I remember when the original movie released back in 2013, and it was beautiful. The thought of giant robots fighting monsters to save the world sparked my young imagination. Not to mention that the score for the movie (soundtrack, music) was composed to perfection by Ramin Djawadi. The movie had a consistent plot and did not stray from it. The movie was based around a “rift” that allowed skyscraper sized monsters, nicknamed Kaiju, to come to our world from another dimension, and the human race had to come together to close the rift. To combat these monsters, they built Jaegers, skyscraper sized robots that would kill these monsters to prevent them from causing mass extinction. The Jaegers required two pilots to sync brains in a process called Neural Handshake, once done the robot would copy the movements of the pilots. The head of the Jaeger program, Stacker Pentecost, enlists the help of Raleigh Becket, an ex-Jaeger pilot who has retired to rebuilding cities, to help his close the rift. They plan on entering the rift and detonating a nuclear bomb to close it for good. They are successful but lose almost all of the Jaegers and Jaeger pilots in the process, including Pentecost. The original movie was simple and brilliant and I immediately bought it on DVD when it came out. You can remember the names of the characters and robots, the most popular bring Gypsy Danger.


Uprising picks up 10 years later, with Pentecost’s son as the protagonist. I find this odd as Pentecost never mentioned he even had a son, and cared more about a girl he found on the streets in the first movie. The son, Jake Pentecost, was kicked out of the Jaeger pilot program by his father when he was younger. He gets arrested and has the choice of going to jail or re-enlist in the Jaeger pilot program. He chooses to re-enlist and becomes the leader/instructor of a group of young teens. During this, a rouge Jaeger attacks a city, which is barely stopped by Jake and another pilot. The rouge Jaeger attacks a second time, when it is destroyed by Jake and the other pilot. They discover that the Jaeger doesn’t have pilots, rather it has the brain of a Kaiju. The world is then attacked by many Jaeger/Kaiju and decimates the world’s defenses, including killing many veteran pilots. In the process, the Jaeger/Kaiju open several rifts and allow Kaiju to pass through. The Jaeger/Kaiju are then destroyed due to someone hacking their “Jaeger” parts and causing them to self-destruct. Three Kaiju successfully make it through the rifts and start headed towards Japan. Apparently (and I use that word VERY loosely) the Kaiju in the first movie had one target, Mount Fuji. They were trying to mix their blood with the “rare earth materials” in Mount Fuji to cause an explosion that would activate a chain reaction on the ring of fire. This is unrealistic because all of the Kaiju in the first movie took separate paths, and some would take forever to reach Mount Fuji, because of their EXTEMELY indirect paths. Because of all of the veteran Jaeger pilots being dead or critically injured, they enlist the help of the teens that Jake is in charge of. The teens all pilot a group of Jaegers and try to stop the Kaiju in Japan. They are very unsuccessful and many of the teens die, who we barely got to know. The three Kaiju them morph into one super Kaiju and face Jake’s Jager alone. Jake looses and his Jager is damaged horribly. They then come up with a plan to use one of the rockets that the Jaegers used to catch up to the Kaiju, which is almost at the top of Mount Fuji. They use the rocket, blast off into the sky, and use gravity to hurl towards the Kaiju. They eject, and the Jaeger collides with the Kaiju, killing it. The End.

Time for everything I hate about this movie. My biggest complaint is that Raleigh from the first move, doesn’t even show up. His name is not even mentioned, even though he saved the entire world. He was humorous, which added a little light-heartedness to the first movie. The second movie had SO MANY STUPID TEEN JOKES that I wanted to jump off a Jaeger and commit Kaiju-cide. Even the dead meme song “troll-lol-lol” made it into the movie. There were so many “empowered teen” moments in it, which is strange because they got their butts handed to them during the fight. There were middle fingers, which is childish. There were a few mentions of feminine parts, obviously they didn’t respec women. The fight scene was shorter than Tom Cruise, which was what the movie was about in the first place. They killed off main characters from the first movie without regret. They couldn’t even keep their own plot together. At the beginning of the movie, someone mentions that people are building their own Jaegers to prepare for the next Kaiju, but those Jaegers never showed up. I thought it would’ve been a neat idea to have a group of rag-tag Jaegers come in to save the day when the other Jaegers were destroyed. Nope. Never happened. And the thing that I was most upset about (besides original characters not showing up) is that in the first movie, the Jaegers and Kaiju seemed huge because of the awesome scenes on ground level looking up at them fighting. I didn’t have that same feeling. The Jaegers and Kaiju in this movie just seemed like oversized toys. If you were to ask me the names of main characters, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. In the first movie they even named the Kaiju… which I don’t think happened in Uprising. They didn’t even bother to bring back the original composer from the first movie… disappointing. Looking at this movie as a whole, I’d give it 5 out of 10 toppled skyscrapers. This movie just didn’t deliver, as all sequels, and I truly hope there will be a 3rd movie to fix this mess.