Film Review: Straight Outta Compton

The Film Straight Outta Compton tells the true story of the rap group N.W.A. and their coming up in the city of Compton, California. This takes place in the 1980’s when the Los Angeles police department had their Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) unit, which was intended to take down the gangs and gang members in the area. It didn’t take long for racism to develop between the police and the African American citizens in the area. The film shows multiple examples of the police assuming members of the group were gang members just because they were black. The film then goes on to show how N.W.A. fought back against the police with their words, instead of violence and became a sensational rap group.

This film shows the power of words, and that everyone has a voice to use to stand up for what they believe in. It proves that there is power in numbers, and that as a group you cannot be ignored.  I enjoyed this film because of its story of overcoming adversity, and its attention to detail while telling the story. I also feel that N.W.A.’s music is very raw and powerful, and it remains influential to this day. Being that I enjoy their music most likely influenced my positive opinion of the movie, but that does not take away from its educational and moral value. This film is a good depiction of courage, team work, and standing up for what you believe in. It promotes standing up to the adversities in life, and not letting them hold you back from what you want to achieve. What makes this film so influential to its viewers is that it doesn’t try to cover up the challenges they faced, it showed you the truth when it comes to the racism and hate they faced. Their courage is truly inspirational, and is a positive influence on all viewers.

"Selma" Response

https://lettherebemovies.com/2015/09/05/gene-review-selma/

The Film "Selma" tells the story of the fight for the right to register to vote for African Americans, in Selma, Alabama, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The film depicts the historical events that surrounded the march from Selma to Montgomery during the civil rights movement in America. It accurately shows the many adversities that Martin Luther King Jr. and his followers faced including violence, racism, and repeated neglected aid from president Lyndon B. Johnson. The film then ends with the president passing the Voting Rights Act, which made it illegal to impose any sort of voting restriction on an election, thus showing victory for Martin Luther King Jr. I thought the film was a very good depiction of the fight for black voting rights during the civil rights movement. Based off what I’ve seen and read about the civil rights movement I found the movie to be very interesting and easy to follow. I thought it accurately depicted the violence and chaos of the first attempt of the march. The reactions of the people watching it on television in the film felt very real and similar to how I reacted watching it. I also liked how the film incorporated actual historical videos from the time that depicted the march and events that went along with it. I think that seeing these clips, and growing up learning about the civil rights movement and its importance helped me understand the movie more and make it more enjoyable to watch. I think that knowing how much this movement changed America before watching the film makes the movie much more powerful. With that being said I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone interested in the story of the march from Selma to Montgomery for the equal right to register to vote.

Mitchell and Grant Find Stevie

On October 17, 2016, we were informed that Stevie the Pointer was missing in the library on campus. The beginning of our investigation, started with getting a background on the missing mascot. We first went to the first floor to use the encyclopedias to get a description of who Stevie was. Once we located the Encyclopedia of the Dog we used the index of the book to easily figure out which page the English Pointer was on. After getting a good description of what Stevie looked like we were confident and ready to take our investigation further. We thought we would begin by looking at the most current copy of The Pointer, the newspaper that is named after Stevie, to see if we could find any clues on his whereabouts. After reaching the second floor and looking through the paper we received a tip that Stevie had been seen looking through the CD's on the third floor earlier that day. As we climbed the stairs and found the CD's we began looking around for more clues on Stevie's location. After searching the CD’s, we were notified that the kidnapper had been spotted, and we were given a call number range and instructed to search through the books in the range to find a picture of the kidnapper. The call number range was PN 2287 C5** and after we identified that these books were on the fourth floor we headed up the stairs again. knowing that the first two letters sort the book alphabetically and the following numbers sort them chronologically it wasn't hard to easily locate the books that were in the call number range. After locating the picture of the kidnapper, it was very clear that the culprit was none other than a cat. Immediately after this discovery we were informed that there was a hostage situation on the fifth floor. We were told that the hostage was being held in the Zoology section, and we headed there as fast as we could. After careful examination of the area we found the hostage on the bottom shelf. The hostage, a walrus, was a little shook up but okay otherwise. The walrus then told us that the kidnapper was headed to the sixth floor with Stevie to look for a way to escape. Before heading to the sixth floor we took a second to try and reflect and think of where the kidnapper could be hiding Stevie on the sixth floor. Finally, it hit us, the archives room! We rushed there immediately and burst through the door to find Stevie there safe and sound. Shortly after we saved Stevie the kidnapper was caught and taken to the police station. Stevie thanked us many times, but it was all our pleasure to help out Stevie.

Unleash the Hounds

"Dog running with Tennis Ball" -  www.modogfence.com

In the essay My Life as a Dog author Jonathan Safran Foer discusses the issue of off-leash hours for dogs in the New York City parks. Being a dog owner himself, he takes a lot of pride in the value of letting a dog run free. He makes multiple arguments to the importance of not only off-leash hours, but of preserving the park itself.

The most interesting argument to me was his argument of the similarities of dogs and humans. Foer explains that he feels his dog has emotions, and wants and needs. He believes that just as he views his dog as mysterious, she views him the same. I can relate to his perspective because I lived with a dog for ten years. Over time I feel it is almost impossible to not for an emotional connection with a dog or pet. He then goes on to explain that their morning walks together are equally emotionally beneficial for both of them. He even calls their walks the best part of his day. I feel this does a very good job of getting the reader emotionally engaged in the writing, but in my opinion it was not the strongest argument of the essay. Foer could have done more research into the health benefits of walking, for dogs, to support his point here. Some form of statistics or evidence to back his thought would have made them much more powerful.

In my opinion the strongest and perhaps the most eye opening argument was that of the importance of the park itself. Foer explains that due to the price of real estate in New York City the current value of Central Park is half a trillion dollars. This opened my eyes the most to the value of parks and nature in New York City. With the value of land, in such a metropolitan area, that high the importance of having a park where people and animals can roam freely is equally as high as the price. Therefore, due to the low amounts of natural land, the ability for people and animals to coexist is very critical. This made me see the bigger picture of the importance of keeping off-leash hours in the parks of New York City.

A Playlist About Me

http://nyulocal.com/entertainment/2014/12/08/classical-study-jams-people-dont-know-classical-music/

My Playlist:
Santa Monica - Everclear
Mad Sounds - Arctic Monkeys
When the Levee Breaks - Led Zeppelin
Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
All Apologies - Nirvana

All of these songs on my playlist are important to me because each one reminds me of a different point in my life. I have heard most of these songs since I was young, but all have gained some form of new meaning throughout my life. These songs reflect how I feel on the inside, and the things in my life that have changed and shaped me into the person I am. From these songs you can learn that I have been through hardships and have made mistakes, but I am a new person and have always continued to push forward. What you might not see on the surface however, is I'm not always willing to express and show what I've been through. Some may assume that I'm an introvert who bottles things up but, once we get to know each other I'm a pretty open person, and I love giving advice.

From my playlist you might be able to indicate that I am a grounded person. I try to stay as humble as I possibly can. I try not to question the uncontrollable events of my life, because if I did I would be out of breath. Trying to look further into something than you can comprehend, to me, just make comprehension more complex than it has to be. The best thing I've learned when it comes to the uncontrollable is to focus on the now.

Test Post 1

This is a test.