"The Land of the Dead"

I'd like to start by saying that the movie was pretty good!! Originally, I didn't think I would like it that much, seeing how zombies don't interest me AT ALL!! But, I ended up really enjoying the movie!! I was pleased that we were able to watch a movie instead of just sitting around in class while a couple people discussed the readings that EVERYONE was supposed to read!! However, with that said, I don't know what to say about this research paper................

Honestly, I have NO clue about how I'm going to do this essay. I mean, I just don't like the fact that the research paper topics seemed to be limited to zombies and horror films!! Honestly, I feel like we should be able to do a research paper on any film that interests us for good reason, instead of limiting it to something that only interests a couple of people!! And I KNOW I'm not the only one that feels this way, but I guess I can't do anything about it, so, I'll just have to find a way, ONCE AGAIN, to fill a long essay, this time 8-10 pages, on something I could CARE-LESS about!!

Although the movie was good, all the "suggested" topics to write the paper about are INCREDIBLY confusing to me, and I think the paper needs to be discussed MUCH MORE in class!! I feel like it's just ASSUMED that everyone knows what to do after a half-hearted discussion about this 8-10 page paper!! Then once it gets turned in, people receive bad grades because they didn't know what was REALLY wanted, and how to do it, from jumpstreet!! But, oh well, I guess this is just my opinion, but I'm POSITIVE I'm not the only one that feels this way. But I may be the only one with enough guts to say it!!

REAL TALK

"College Hill 4" 3

Once again, this week's episode was kinda wack, to say the least!! I guess nothing really interesting has been happening in the house because all they've been showing the last couple of episodes is Krystal getting into it with the rest of the house!!

This week's episode was no different and completely focused on Krystal and her antics!! The highlight of the show was when everybody basically confronted Krystal and told her how they felt about the way she was acting. Fallon came up with the "brilliant" idea that they should all sit down and talk about what they don't like about other roommates to clear the air. But, what she REALLY meant was that everybody should tell Krystal how much they don't like her, because everybody else gets along for the most part. Willie tried to tell her that her idea wouldn't work, because he knew that it would just turn into a HUGE argument and it wouldn't solve anything!! And he was completely right!!

The beneficial sit-down that Fallon envisioned ended up turning into a shouting match between Krystal, Vanessa, and Andres that resulted in Krystal storming away from the table, and eventually breaking down into tears. Honestly, the girl deserved every bit of it because she complains ALL THE TIME!! I mean, at some point, she needs to realize that NOBODY, including the viewers, wants to hear that s***!! But, what they didn't know was that Krystal doesn't take crticism too well, and that her immaturity would get even worse!!

Hopefully, on the next episode, they can move past Krystal and her childish attitude, and start to have fun again!! I'm sure I'm not the only one who's SICK and TIRED of Krystal; so, hopefully, we won't have to watch another episode focused entirely on her!!

"College Hill 4" 2

Well, it's the third week of College Hill, and things seem to have toned down a little bit. I guess it would be asking too much to expect each episode to be as exciting as the premiere, but it was drama-filled nonetheless!!

At the end of the last episode, the show closed showing Idesha sneaking into JT's bed one night, and messing around with him under the sheets!! So, on this episode, JT, who's starting to annoy me because he fronts SO much, claims he's still trying to be faithful, and hopes to keep Idesha at arms length. JT actually had the nerve to get mad at Andres because he put a condom on top of his sheets while he was sleeping as a practical joke. He explained to Andres that if his girl back home saw the un-opened condom on top of the covers, he would be in even MORE trouble!! But Andres wasn't having it!! He told JT that he had already gotten himself in BIG trouble by making out with her in the hallway, and then sleeping in the same bed with her!!

I REALLY wanted to ask JT how he could get mad at his boy for joking around with him as if Andres, of all people, was going to make things even worse with his girl. He acts as though he doesn't like the attention that Idesha constantly gives him, and that his relationship back home is more important!! But then he does everything BUT the "nasty" with Idesha everytime she comes on to him!! He's a CLOWN, if you ask me!!

But anyway, the main issue on this week's episode was still about Krystal, the girl from Orange County, continuing to get on everyone in the house's nerves!! They keep talking about how she constantly complains about everything from shopping prices to leaving a tip at a restaurant, but they never say anything to her about it. But on this episode, JT actually had the guts to say it to her face when she started yelling at him because he ate all the ground beef that she was going use to cook spaghetti. I guess JT WAS wrong for using ALL the ground beef to cook himself 3 hamburgers, but she just went ON and ON about it, so he didn't hesistate to tell her about herself!!

All in all, the first BIG argument in the house was kinda stupid, but it was just a matter of time before it happened!! Hopefully, the next argument will be about something actually worth arguing over!!

"Reality on Televison" Essay

Well, I must say, this essay was MUCH harder than the first one!! Originally, I didn't think it would turn out to be as hard as it was. Because I'm a good writer, I thought I could wait until a couple days before it was due, and then work my magic!! However, I found it particularly hard to come up with 5 pages of good, worthwhile discussion about the topic I chose.

I ended up choosing the 3rd option which was about whether or not I believe dramas and comedies are more or less realistic than reality television. I said that they WERE more realistic, but I had trouble typing 5 pages explaining why. I felt like I kept repeating myself just to make the paper longer, and I've never really had to do that. Luckily, my sister, who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, was able to help me come up with different ideas to talk about that would make the paper longer. I think if it wasn't for her, my paper would've ended up being even shorter than it was.

As I look back on it, I probably should've set aside more time to work on the essay. Normally, even though I procrastinate, the paper usually ends up being A or B worthy. And, while I think this paper is too, I don't want to make staying up 'til 2 in the morning working on a paper a trend. All in all, I think my paper is in the B to B- range. I got an A- on the first essay, so, hopefully, I can remain within the first two letters of the alphabet on this one as well!!

"College Hill 4"

This week, I was able to catch the premiere episode of College Hill. Fortunately, BET decided to air a fourth season of the hit black reality show on Tuesday nights. As a person who watched College Hill 3, I was extremely happy to see that another season had been made. While 3 was good, producers say that 4 is supposed to be even better, and the hour-long premier definitely echoed those feelings!!

This season of College Hill was based at the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas, V.I. The cast features eight students: four transfers from California, and four native Virgin Islanders. The Cali students include an annoying girl from Orange County named Krystal, a wannabee rapper named JT, a laid-back girl named Fallon, and a silly dude name Willie. The Virgin Islanders include a thick, freaky chick named Idesha, a soft-spoken star athlete named Devon, who everyone calls "Chicky", a laid-back, light-skinned dude named Andres, and a cute light-skinned girl named Vanessa, who's probably the BADDEST girl on the show!!

Anyway, during the first half hour of the premier, nothing really outrageous happened. The Cali students arrived at the house first, then the Virgin Island natives arrived, and eventually they all jumped in the pool and hot tub together and started to get to know each other. But once the second episode started, the house really started jumping!! Once they got out of the hot tub, they immediately took out the alcohol and started playing TRUTH or DARE!!

As I expected, the dares got crazier and crazier the more shots the students took!! Everything from kisses, to lap dances, to jumping in the pool naked, it just kept getting better and better!! But the drama really started when the "freak" of the house, Idesha, started flirting with JT. Now, JT, who has a girlfriend back in Compton didn't want mess up his relationship back home while he was on the show. But, like many other men would've if they were in a similar situation, he succumbed to the TREMENDOUS temptation, and ended up making out with Idesha in the hallway. Obviously, it was just a matter of time before they kissed, and it's still just a matter of time before they do the "nasty"!! So, JT can pretty much say goodbye to that relationship he has back home.

The good thing is, I can tell that this season is going to be the best yet!! The preview showed that eventually almost everyone in the hosue has sex, two of the girls get into a fight, and two of the guys almost get into a fight!! Obviously, they'll be lots of arguing, fighting, drinking, and sex which makes for a GREAT reality television show. So, it seems like I'm going to have a new favorite show for a while!!

"Homosexuality on Television"

On Monday, in class, we watched a couple clips from "Dawson's Creek" that was centered around homosexuality. Now, I must admit, I've NEVER watched a minute of Dawson's Creek, and obviously, for GOOD reason. As far as the show alone, I thought it was terrible. It was corny, boring, and the characters that we were able to watch really annoyed me in more ways than one!! But, anyways, that wasn't the point.

Afterwards, we sorta talked about the representation of homosexuality on television. Then, Ellen asked us if we knew any gay people, and if we did, who did they act more like: the gay football player or the nerdy, weird gay guy!! I wasn't able to answer this question, however, because I can't say that I know any homosexual people. Then, one boy, I forget his name, spoke up and said if there ARE gay people who watch those types of shows to see how they should act, they have bigger problems than their sexuality. I couldn't agree MORE!!

I think it was really silly how that particular episode of Dawson's Creek displayed "gay" behavior, I guess. I mean, if you want to be gay, that's cool; and if you want to be straight, that's cool with me too!! I don't think a person's sexuality should determine how they're treated at all. Unfortunately, people are ridiculed if they're homosexual; and Dawson's Creek taught me that "popular" gay people aren't well-liked by "not-so-popular" gay people. All in all, I was quite confused this week in class!!

"Survivor: Fiji"

This week, I decided to switch it up and write about an episode of Survivor: Fiji. I wasn't able to watch any of the shows that I normally do my blog entries on, but I was pleasantly surprised by Survivor. Obviously, the show has had great success over the years, so I usually try to give it a chance every once and a while. Normally, whether or not I watch Survivor depends on the people they choose to be on that particular season. This season, the show is in Fiji; and, luckily, the cast has a mixture of different races.

On this particular episode, the Ravu tribe was still suffering at their mediocre camp, and it seemed as though their tribe was starting to fall apart. Seeing how they haven't won a single immunity or reward challenge, their team morale was probably at its lowest point since day one. Some of the tribe members were starting to blame each other for the constant losing, and it didn't seem like anything was going to get better. The Moto tribe, on the other hand, was still sitting in the "lap of luxury" at their camp. They had recently won fishing equipment at a reward challenge to go along with other numerous rewards that made their survival much easier than the Ravu tribe. Of course, they were looking to continue dominating in the reward challenges and the immunity challenges as they were yet to lose a member.

Shockingly, at the next reward challenge, the Moto tribe dominated Ravu and won a king-size bed and a HUGE platter of fish to eat. Once again, the Ravu tribe had come up short, and the loss sent one of their members over the edge. Once they got back to camp, Rocky erupted on his Ravu tribe mates explaining how he was SICK of losing. But, it turned out that their luck was about to change.

At the immunity challenge, Moto dominated AGAIN, and it looked as though the Ravu tribe was going to have to vote off a third consecutive member. But at the end of the challenge, Jeff revealed a twist that would drastically shake up the game. A note went to Moto that told them they either had to switch beaches with the Ravu tribe, or go to Tribal Council and vote off their first tribe mate. After a brief huddle, they decided that they would keep their beach with all their luxuries, and go to Tribal Council. Ravu had finally found some GOOD fortune!!

The moral of the story is: even when things look dire and grim, all you need is one good thing to happen and it could change the entire situation. On Survivor, the Ravu tribe showed that they would never give up even though things weren't going there way; and now, it looks as though the tables may have turned in their favor!!