My Power Rangers Experience

One of my closest friends since I was nine months old was in town. For nostalgia's sake, we decided to watch an episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. It is pretty much the same as I remember it, except different. I noticed a lot of little things while watching and decided to share them.

• Zordon is a giant floating head. What happened to the rest of his body? Or is he using some sort of telepathic projection.
• The black guy is the Black Ranger, the Asian girl is the Yellow Ranger. I get it..
• Alpha is significantly more annoying than I remember.
• Kimberly is beautiful.
• The acting from Amy Jo Johnson, Walter Jones, and Austin St. John isn't attrocious. Can't say the same for Thuy Trang and David Yost though.
• Do the monsters really wait for the Rangers to morph and the Megazord to assemble?
• Rita Repulsa is so badly dubbed it's unbearable. Props to her voice actress though, she's got some serious chops.
• It's so obvious that the morphed-Yellow Ranger is a man, would it have killed them to find a stunt WOMAN?
• The special effects are well.....bad. 
• When Rita throws her magic wand, how does she get it back?
• Why does Rita send the Putty Patrol, then the monster, THEN make it grow. Has she ever considered just sending down an extraordinarily large monster? All that time in a space dumpster must have seriously damaged her mind.
• If Squatt and Baboo annoy Ms. Repulsa so much why doesn't she just zap them with her trusty dusty magic wand? They don't serve a purpose anyway.
• The clothes are so totally 90's.
• It's disappointing knowing that they had to use footage from the Japanese version of the show for the fight scenes. I mean c'mon with they money they were making off this show from toy sales alone could've paid for some extra film and stunt actors.
• How could nobody tell that they were the Power Rangers? They always are hanging out together and wearing their respective colors.
• It's hard to watch Trini without thinking how the actress that played her passed away
• The first Rangers really are classic, I was so mad when they replaced them.

That's all for now. Have a morphinomical day.

Paula Deen, the Rap Game, and My Humble Opinion

If the American public is going to persecute Paula Deen for saying the n-word, then I think the only rightful thing to do is to also persecute the endless number of rappers who also use the word. I don't know what ever made that word acceptable for black people to say. I don't know how it ever became a compliment r nickname amongst them, but I think it should stop. As Africans, they should honestly know better. they should know the stigma associated with that word and know that to use it they way they use it today is wrong. Thank you, and good day.

My Graduation Speech

In life, sometimes we are thrown a curveball.  That is exactly what happened 4 years ago when I first came to Westpark Christian Academy.  I did not want to come here, it was my mom's decision not mine.  What I wanted more than anything in the world was to go to a normal high school. I had gone to private schools my entire life, I wanted a change, I wanted this new and exciting experience that all my classmates at St. Joseph Marquette were about to experience.   

WCA and me got off to a rocky start. My computer broke down on the first day, I was placed in advanced History with kids much older and scarier than myself. Not to mention, the fact that I had to get to know an entirely new group of people. As time went on I was able to connect with these people in ways I didn't think possible. I found myself smiling, even laughing at what was said out on the playground.

Since then I have made so many incredible memories here at Westpark. Being a part of the Collide on Campus Bible study. My sophomore dance, a first for both me and the school. National Day of Prayer, where we got to get closer to God and run amuck in Walmart all in the same day. Every crazy day of spirit week where I got to see my classmates dress up at nerds, superheroes, celebrities, and 80's aerobics instructors. Pastor Colleen stealthily closing the doors and playing "Hotel California" by the Eagles at full blast. Fishing Day at Lazy F, where I got to run around in the woods with my friends. These moments will remain with me for the rest of my life, not just because I have pictures of all of them.

I have so many people to thank.  First of all, God my Heavenly Father.  You have bestowed upon me more blessings than I can count.  I will be eternally grateful for your presence throughout my life.  Mary Jane, thank you for opening the school doors every morning and for your time as the supervisor of Collide.  Ms. Susan, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to run student council this past year.  Gracias Senora Gonzales para eschuchando me espanol.  Pastor Gary, I may not have always paid attention or fully understood what you were talking about in class, but along the way you made me a better writer.  Also, because of you I will forever know the locations of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lichtenstein, and Mesopotamia.   Ms. Judy, I can never say thank you enough to you.  You have passed on so much artistic wisdom to me, and every other student.  Thank you for volunteering your time and money, and for bringing art back to Westpark. Thank you to every other WCA staff member for doing the jobs that I would never want to do.  Mom, you have done more for this school than any paid employee, and I have appreciated everything.  If it weren’t for you the library would still look like a dump, I would have no art class, and there would have never been a lecture series.  Dad, thank you for going along with mom’s crazy schemes and helping out whenever your busy schedule allows it.  Pastor Colleen, where do I even begin?  You have been there from the very first day.  Your wisdom, guidance, kind spirit, and honesty have helped me through some very tough times. I honestly don't know what I would have done without you.

But how can I thank anyone without mentioning the wonderful people that have walked the halls of Westpark along side me: my classmates. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined a group of people quite like you.  If were to have gone to a normal high school, I would never have had a chance to get to know every person in my class personally. We have become more than simply a group of classmates, or friends, we are a family. We know each other well enough to know when someone is hurting. When one of our peers succeeds we celebrate their triumph, and in times of sorrow we are able to band together. You all have meant the world to me. Each of you has a personal story, and every single one of these stories has inspired me more than you will ever know. Words will never be able to describe what spending the last 4 years with every single one of you has meant to me.

I don't really know if I am in any place to give out advice, but I do have a few words of wisdom for you all:

Be fearless. Say what you are truly thinking. Be honest with other people, and be honest with yourself. Don't worry about trying to make friends. When you try too hard, you'll attract the wrong kind of people. True friends will be with you through thick and thin. They will never desert you in your time of need. Who cares if you make a couple of enemies along the way? To quote Kurt Cobain, "I would rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I'm not." Don't ever be in a hurry to grow up. Treasure every moment, make memories you will want to keep for a lifetime. You only have one shot to be a kid. Do not squander these moments of innocence and bliss; do not waste your time trying to grow up, you have the rest of your life to be an adult.

4 years ago I wanted to venture out into the real world, but I was not ready. My mom knew that, and deep down inside so did I. Here at Westpark I was given a chance to have a little bit more time to really become more of the person I was meant to be. That is why any student comes to Westpark, not to use the school as a crutch, but instead as training wheels. And yes, the school does have it's downsides I never said it was perfect, but being at this school has shown me so many things about God, life, friendship and myself. When I look around the campus of Westpark Christian Academy, I see that there are no kids eating their lunch alone, no child is standing on the sidelines dying for someone to ask them to come and play. Because that is what Westpark is truly about: diversity excelling, kids who would never even have spoke to one another at a public school becoming the best of friends. The 7 of us are about to embark on separate journeys, but I think I can speak for all of us when I say that attending Westpark is an experience like no other.

I would now like to close by sharing a quote that I love by none other than Winnie the Pooh. It says, "If there ever comes a day when we can't be together, keep me in your heart I'll stay there forever." You all will have a special place in my heart for the rest of my life.

Thank you, for everything.

License

I still can't believe I got my license. Everything is so surreal right now. It took me almost two years to get my license. I started off my driving tenure on the wrong foot, literally...I had the gas and brake pedals confused my first couple of drives. Things didn't get any better with my driver's ed. The teacher was a complete jerk-face who would yell at me constantly. He made me extremely nervous and was not afraid to point it out to me, referring to me as "schizophrenic", and said I "shook like a hooker in church." Instead of teaching me how to drive he would make me go get him coffee. I was so intimidated by him that I never went back to driver's ed to finish my final drive. So instead of getting my license 6 months after I got my permit (Plan A), I now had to resort to wait until my 18th birthday (Plan B). The only thing was that I was still a suck-tacular driver. So now, 7 months after my 18th birthday, my dream of being behind the wheel has finally come true. God is good.

Every New Beginning Comes From Some Other Beginning's End

It's so weird to think that I will be graduating in a month. Right now I have mixed emotions on the subject. On one hand, I am really going to miss all the friends I have at WCA. On the other hand, that school is stressing me out. I am definitely not going to miss fundraising, or annoying teachers (although I will probably have my fair share in college). Westpark has become sort of a security blanket for me though. I'm not really sure what else is out there in the world. The last time I used a legitimate textbook was 4 years ago and I kind of miss them.

For my graduation ceremony I was selected as my class salutatorian. So now I've got to write a speech. Right now I've got a few ideas floating around in my head, but I still haven't started writing yet. I can't really write with my family constantly bugging me so someday I'm probably going to have to send them all off to the grocery store. I want my speech to be different, not cliche, and very personal. Really hoping I'll be able to write something decent...

Wolverine and the X-Men Review

Hello there Blogverse. I recently completed viewing the 2009 TV show Wolverine and the X-Men. Now I've decided I need to write a little review. So here it is.

To start here's a rundown of the characters.

Archangel-In the past series' Angel has only been a supporting character, it was great to see him as (almost) a full-fledged X-Man. Loved the storyline between him and his father, and the whole Mr. Sinister stuff.
Beast-Not a lot of screen time, but a great characterization of the real McCoy. Also, it was nice to have every other word that left his mouth not be a Shakesphere quote.
Cyclops-At first he was a little too whiney about Jean's disappearance, but once he got over that he was the good ol Scott Summers we all know and love.Wasn't a huge fan of the trench coat though.
Emma Frost-So SO glad Emma was finally introduced as a full team member.In some ways she is actually more interesting than Jean. I was really surprised when they revealed she was a double agent.
Forge-I'm really glad the producers decided to include him in this series. Haven't really seen a lot of him before except for like 2 episodes of X-Men Evolution. Although his presence was much-enjoyed I thought his mechanical arm could've been a little more powerful.
Iceman-A little goofy, and I would have liked to have seen a little more development. But other than that he was pretty cool (get it).
Jean Grey-Jean was absent for most of the show, and once she was introduced there wasn't really much character there. I wasn't really that impressed with how Phoenix was handled. For me, it seems like it should have been a little more big and exciting.
Nightcrawler-Would have liked to have seen them go a little more in-depth into his past, and a mention of his religious beliefs
Rogue-In the beginning it was a little confusing having her switch back and forth from the Brotherhood and the X-Men, and once she actually remained on the team she was a little under-used. But I thought it was a nice characterization of her. Although there's the matter of her transparent hair...
Shadowcat-Didn't see a whole lot of her, but I guess she as done okay. Definitely a step up from the valley girl from Evolution.
Storm-Didn't like Storm ion this series AT ALL. She was completely under-utilized and I didn't like her circular hair either. Only had one centric episode which was pretty boring.
Wolverine-Even though he was undeniably the star of the show, there weren't a lot of Wolverine-centric episodes. Which, for me, was really nice. Still Wolverine as the team leader felt a little iffy for me at times. Really liked the voice actor though.

Overall, I really liked it. The animation was superb. Voice acting spot-on. The story-arch was amazing and it was great o see all the little pieces of the puzzle fall into place. The whole Days of Future Past thing was pretty cool, although I would've liked to have seen the Professor actually talk to some of the other X-men besides Wolverine. There were a lot of characters that haven't been seen a lot before like the Scarlet Witch, Polaris, and Marrow that were great to see. There was even a flashback which showed the original 5 X-Men. However, my favorite moment in the entire series was the scene in the last episode with Emma Frost (if you've seen the show you'll know what I'm talking about). All I have to say about that is: WOW!

The only real negative about this show is its cancellation after only one season. Especially with the Age of Apocalypse teaser we got at the end. With a second season there probably would have been more character development too. I've never really been too impressed with any of the X-men movies. It seems like television is where America's favorite mutants seem to really shine the brightest. All three shows have been great in their own way; the original remained faithful to the comics in both story and design, the second (Evolution) was great as a serialized series, and the third (Wolverine and the X-Men) had all the positive elements of its predecessors.

Here's a little ranking of the shows:
1. X-Men (original 90's series)
2. Wolverine and the X-men (would be number 1 if it would've lasted longer)
3. X-Men Evolution
4. Pryde of the X-Men (couldn't forget about that now could we...)

Superbowl

This past Sunday I did the unthinkable; I watched the Superbowl. I have never really been a big football fan, but I found myself surprisingly entertained. I predicted the Ravens victory pretty early on. However I was surprised how the 49ers stepped it up after halftime. Maybe Beyonce inspired them...

Speaking of Beyonce in my humble opinion the halftime show was pretty darn good. B was on-key, there were no "wardrobe malfunctions" (Janet's never gonna live that down), and no 90-year-old man was still trying to let it rock. Although I could have seen a little more singing and a little less dancing. My heart skipped a beat when Kelly and Michelle came out. Their mikes seemed like they were turned down a lot lower than Beyonce's though. C'mon who doesn't love them some Destiny's Child? I wonder what LeToya and Latavia were up to...?

The blackout thing was pretty lame. I wasn't about to waste my time watching a bunch of football players sit around and do nothing, so I got up to get me a cold pop... The Budwiser commercial with the horse and Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" was  probably my favorite. "Gangnam Style" pistachios were a close second. So anyway I watched the Superbowl, for the first time. Like ever. Just thought I should share that with the world.