10 Aspects of Current Popular Culture That Need To Die

 

1. Zombies, zombies, and more zombies. C'mon already! The Walking Dead, Pride And Prejudice And Zombies, zombie survival kits, zombie jokes, zombie shirts, zombie printed stuff...Let's be honest here, people, the only reason we try to love zombies is that we are trying to distance ourselves from the vampire/werewolf phenomenon that was born out of Twilight. But the truth is, zombies are gross. Really gross. And I can hardly wait to see what ridiculous obsession people will come up with once zombies fade away. 

2. Exploiting rednecks and southerners. I understand that there is a show for everything now. But considering that being a suburban liberal is mainstream now, it's no surprise that many shows like Duck Dynasty and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo are aired to make those suburbanites go, "Aha! Look at the stupid Walmart people! We're so much better than they are!" And maybe you are better than they are...in a much shallower kind of way. 

3. Trying to be a "cool nerd". Also known as a Hipster. I'm sure I am not the only one who is getting tired of seeing steampunk, My Little Pony, and scads of other "hip" nerdy stuff. Let me put it to you this way: If you are trying to be hip, then you aren't really a nerd. You're just as mainstream as everyone else.

4. Trying to be a cool parent. This is perhaps the most annoying thing on the list. I cringe when I see parents using the words "totes", "adorbs", and "totally". (Not that anyone really says "totally" anymore). Parents are never really going to be cool, because if they are, then their children are born cool and cannot experience the true teenage rebellion that would have made them cool. They are essentially doomed to exist inside of a paradox. This issue was addressed on a recent episode of The Simpsons if you want to look it up. 

5. Dubstep. It makes no sense, and it can hardly be called music when it has the sound of a computer having a seizure. I don't care who calls it "art"; essentially, it's dumb. 

6. Obsessing over Nutella, waffles, bacon, muffins, and cupcakes. I thought we were supposed to be advocating for crazy-healthy bland food? Maybe people just love to fantasize about what they could eat if they wanted to....just eat it, for the love of criminy! I'll admit that Nutella is good. But for crying out loud, people, give it a rest already with the Nutella recipes. (I'm looking at you, Pinterest).

7. Anime. The problem with anime is that it pretty much looks the same no matter who draws it. So really, how could one be able to tell them all apart? Newsflash: you can't! What is the entire fascination with Japanese culture anyway? If you want to know the truth, read this article: 5 Things Nobody Tells You About Living In Japan

8. Chuck Norris jokes. How does Chuck Norris feel about all this? We know that he isn't really a superhuman, though he is a badass, so the jokes should stop. They're getting old. 

9. Merging fandoms together. Horrifying as it is, there are too many people making cartoons that merge Harry Potter with Mean Girls, The Avengers with Twilight, Harry Potter with Twilight....STOP! They should all stay in their respective universes. Merging them together just discredits them and it makes no sense. 

10. Supporting everything! How many people have you met that proudly wear a ribbon of every single color in existence? One for breast cancer awareness, one for gay rights, one for domestic violence, one for autism, one for pancreatic cancer, one for cyberbullying.....MAKE IT STOP! Become a doctor or a medical engineer if you want to fight cancer that badly. Money isn't enough; we need manpower. 

Pinterest Crafting

   Okay, so most of you know by now that I'm a bit of a Pinterest addict. But most of the projects I pin I don't actually end up doing, and I'm sure this is true for a lot of other people. Maybe it's because we feel that our version of the project will never come out as good as the original (see the website Pintrosity). However, you can successfully complete a craft even with a few minor alterations. If it is completely the same as the original, then it isn't really that creative anyway.

For instance, here is the original pinned craft for a beaded pendant:

And here is my version: 

The perfectionist crafter is a gene instilled in most of the Pinterest users, which is why many of our boards are filled with complicated projects we pretend we will eventually do, but in reality we forget all about it. Here are some tips for getting yourself motivated to start crafting again: 

   1. Pick a craft, any craft. You have to start somewhere, and one completed project usually leads to another.

   2. Assess the skills and materials needed. I can understand if you don't want to make an ottoman out of an old tire or hand-paint an entire cabinet right away. But many crafts range from all types of difficulty levels, so you should be able to find one that is easy for you. 

   3. Don't worry about perfection. Realize that many of these projects are formulated by skilled experts. So what if your candy corn cupcakes are a little lopsided or the buttons you made into a necklace aren't all the exact shade of blue? Imperfection is beauty in its own right. 

"The Purge" Movie Review

  Only because this movie is actually the reason I started a blog in the first place.

  

From my Facebook page:
  Okay, after seeing The Purge I didn't know whether or not to just rant about it, but once I thought about it I decided I should at least put my two cents in.
The Purge takes place in 2022, when the economy is flourishing and unemployment is at an all-time low because of this twelve hour period one night a year known as "The Purge", when most crime, including murder, is legal, and the only rules are that some weapons may not be used and politicians cannot be touched.
There are a few problems I have with this movie:
1. The premise itself was very interesting and original. They could have really expanded upon the story instead of focusing on one family and making it....a typical home invasion movie. We've seen that in movies before, it's disappointing that they choose to do the most cliched, overdone plot instead of actually making the "murder is legal" premise a big part of the story. But really,it just becomes a minor convenience, which is annoying.
2. That being said with the cliched plot, there's also the issue of a few plot holes. This movie takes place in the future, and they give you a brief little couple of quotes about the Purge, but they never explain it. They talk about the "New Founding Fathers" repeatedly, but who the heck are they? What do they bring to the story? Give us something, at least. And there's also a lack of background for most of the people in this movie, and makes it hard to see their motivations. Which brings us to:
3. Characters. They really just come out of nowhere and expect us to sympathize with them. And most of their actions makes you go, "What the....?" Like, for example, the boyfriend of the oldest girl wants to go talk to her dad so they can continue to see each other, but then he just pulls a gun out of nowhere and starts shooting at him! No real rhyme or reason to it, guess it was for the plot device. And so many of these characters go through personality changes to quickly to be real. Like, the neighbors suddenly go from being mildly irritated to downright evil at the flip of a switch. What, crime is legal for 12 hours and suddenly EVERYONE wants to be a murderer??? How realistic is that? Which is why it's also hard to take the evil characters seriously, because they look like they are enjoying themselves way too much. Are they honestly thinking, "I just love being so evil; ha ha ha!" And when the evil leader couldn't stop laughing while he was stating how he was going to kill the family, I lost it.
4. Dialogue. Really just the same four lines being repeated over and over in a somewhat different context. The script also sounds very hurried, which is weird because the movie wasn't even and hour and a half long. It's okay to slow down and add some detail; the movie won't eat you.
5. Political Messages. This is by far the biggest one. They are so blatantly obvious that you feel like you're being beaten over the head with a bat. I fully understand what they were trying to say, though others may interpret it differently, so YES, HOLLYWOOD, WE GET IT! Also, I felt that the movie was a little anti-feminine. I mean, the female characters are weak and dress ONLY in skirts, dresses, or tight-fitted pants. And when they are interacting with the men, they alternate between making out with them, playing around with them, or being comforted by them because they are SOOOO SCARED!!! And another overbearing message was the severe sense of being Anti-American. The characters state repeatedly that they must kill because of their "duty as Americans." Wow, you really think we're that stupid that we won't get what you're trying to say there? Go make another bad sequel, Hollywood.
Long story short, this movie was not scary at all and actually very funny. Was it even supposed to be funny? But overall, a lot more could have been done, and it's virtually nothing we haven't seen before. This movie is ridiculously hilarious. Somewhat well-acted, but otherwise just something you aren't going to remember after two days.

A Note To All My Readers

  Okay.
  I'm going to be in college starting tomorrow...
  (AAAAAHHH!!!)
  So I'm probably not going to be posting every day like I have all summer. I'll still post, but probably only once a week or so. Stay tuned, I promise I will keep this up!

Things I Did This Summer

Just because....I do this every year.

1. The Purge
2. Started a blog
3. Saw Mama, Man of Steel, Dirty Girl, and countless other movies.
4. New computer!
5. Discovered a new mixture of tea
6. Saw Rush in Saratoga Springs
7. Saratoga Springs is awesome!
8. Drove through a torrential downpour in the Saratoga battlefields. 
9. Started an Ebay store
10. Sold things and made some money
11. Went to the Country Pickins Auction numerous times
12. Looked for jobs and somewhat failed
13. Went to a few parties
14. Went to Florida
15. Wizarding World of Harry Potter <3
16. Universal Studios (the downpour, the gift shops, the overall experience)
17. Sanibel Island 
18. Winning Trivial Pursuit twice in a row
19. The painful, delayed flight back home
20. Shrink plastic jewelry!
21. Started writing a brand-new book
22. Read several other books, including Candide and A Tree Grows In Brooklyn 
23. Purged my room of my childhood
24. Bought textbooks with my own money
25. Discovered a new face of Rush, along with Nirvana and Death Cab For Cutie
26. Obtained a whole new college wardrobe
27. Monitored the slow decline of America 
28. Suffered a Pinterest addiction
29. Worked on Dream House blueprints 
30. Delved deeper into my sense of Bohemianism 

Current August Playlist

1. "Home Is A Fire" by Death Cab For Cutie
2. "Resist" by Rush
3. "Something In The Way" by Nirvana
4. "Alive" by Pearl Jam
5. "Unobstructed Views" by Death Cab For Cutie
6. "I Will Possess Your Heart" by Death Cab For Cutie
7. "New World Round" by Marco Beltrami
8. "Stay Away" by Nirvana
9. "2112" by Rush
10. "Stay Young, Go Dancing" by Death Cab For Cutie

Anticipation For Autumn

  How to tell when autumn is coming....

1. People are coming back from their vacations.
2. The back-to-school sales are making an appearance.
3. Halloween costumes are being advertised.
4. You need a sweatshirt on most nights.
5. There don't seem to be enough hours in the day.
6. Mothers are merrily skipping around the neighborhood and reminding themselves that September is around the corner.
7. People are posting their "Best Movies of the Summer" lists.
8. You are actually growing bored of sitting around all the time.
9. You feel that your summer has been going on forever.
10. You classmates just went back upstate to get situated with their dorms.