If I Were Chris McCandless…

If I were Chris McCandless and decided to take to the nomadic life, I think I would really enjoy it.  I have often thought that I feel just about the same way about nature as Chris does.  I love the outdoors.  I love getting up and doing anything outside, even if it’s just out of impulse.  While I was reading about Chris’s endless adventures and encounters with people around the country all I could think about was how much I would of enjoyed being right there next to him experiencing it all with him.  I would without a doubt leave my hometown for a period of time and go somewhere I have never been before.  Just to be on an adventure and not knowing what lies ahead is what gets me excited about it.  And that is why I am all for Chris and his journey across the country.  However, the only thing I would do differently than Chris, is change the destination.  For me, I don’t like being cold so I wouldn’t choose a place like Alaska, where in the winter gets very cold.  I would want to choose a place that has a better climate.  For example, California.  California is a state I have always wanted to visit but have not yet gotten the opportunity.  But if I were to go an expedition across the U.S., California would be one place I would stop at before I came home.  I mean what’s there not to like about California?  There’s warm, sunny weather year round, there’s plenty of things to do, plenty of cool people to meet; and best of all, you could be sitting on a beach everyday of the week if you wanted too.  I mean what more can you ask for?  If I were to take off to Cali the first place I would go is the coast.  I would visit Hollywood, San Francisco, San Diego, and any other city I found on my way.  I have wanted to visit these cities for some time now and I feel like every American should visit these cities at least once in their lives because they really are amazing from the pictures that I have seen.  There are some specific spots within these cities that I would especially like to visit.  One is Hollywood Boulevard.  I think seeing the ground with all the celeberties’ stars engraved in it would be interesting.  Another place I would like to visit is the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.  For as long as I can remember I have wanted to stand on the Golden Gate Bridge just because it is so big and it overlooks all that water.  Finally, I’d have to stop by the San Diego Zoo for sure because it is known as the best zoo in the U.S.  I think I would like to experience the best zoo in the U.S..  In conclusion, the adventurous spirit of Chris McCandless has led me to wonder how the life he chose would turn out for someone like me.  Leaving all that you know behind you and going out to experience the world and what it has to offer takes a lot of courage and determination, and the fact that Chris McCandless was able to do it overwhelms me.

McCandless/Zine

Chris McCandless I feel is somewhat like me.  He loves the outdoors, he loves traveling, and I sort of get the impression that he is a spur of the moment type guy.  He is very dedicated to what he is set out to do.  If he has a plan, he  makes sure he does everything possible to get to the end.  When I started reading Into the Wild,Chris sort of inspired me a little because the fact that he just left his entire life behind him and traveled the U.S. was pretty badass I felt.  However, I don’t fully understand why he would give all his money away and burn the rest he had because he always seems to find himself seeking help along the way to his destination.  All I know is that what he is doing is pretty amazing on his part, but I feel like he could of went into it with a different attitude, like better preparing himself for what he has to come.  Also, the way he “disappeared” could of been dealt with a little differently.  The fact that he just up and left one day without telling any of his family or friends where he was going or when he was planning on coming back was disrespectful I thought.  I know for certain that my parents and family would be worrying sick if they didn’t know where I was and no trace was left behind, so leaving without telling anyone is not the right way to handle the situation.  Other than that, I’m all for Chris and what he intends to do, if I could I’d be right there next to him.

 

 

A zine is supposed to be about  something you have a passion for.  Well for me, I have two passions, music and movies.  I think music outweighs the movies, so my zine is going to be more about music.  Honestly I haven’t thought that much about it but I will probably have a list of my favorite artists, songs, albums, and type of music.  I’ll add a lot of images, text describing how I got into music and why I enjoy it so much, and probably some resources for good music downloading sites and forums you can use to find torrents and different muisc sources.  With that I’ll talk about the piracy laws dealing with downloading music, and ways to avoid getting in trouble.  Moving on to movies, I’ll again have a list of my favorite movies, actors/actresses, and genres of movies.  I will talk about why I have a passion for movies and when I first got interested in them.  Also, along with music downloading, movie downloads are just as easy, so I’ll be sure to remind the audience of that.  Other than that, I am not for sure what else is going to make up my zine.  I am certain I will have much more detail, and more diversity, but as of now that is all I have.

Good vs. Evil

The specific article I was assigned to read was The Onion article.  It consists of a brief summary of the whole The King of Kong situation, followed with an interview over the phone of Billy Mitchell and how he feels about the documentary.  After reading the interview with Billy Mitchell, all I could think of is how this perfectly displays his overall personality.  And honestly, his personality is one that I cannot stand.  I feel like the ego he developed after breaking the world record back in the 80s is a sort of “better than everyone else” ego, which to this day, still hasn’t gotten rid of.  One response of his in this interview that caught my attention the most was when he was asked about his encounter with Steve Wiebe in Florida.  Now in the movie, it shows Billy walking behind Steve as he is playing Donkey Kong with Steve turning around and saying, “Hi Billy.”  And Billy’s response to this was “Some people, I don’t want to spend too much talking to.”  Obviously this shows how much Billy let his ego get to him.  But when asked about this in the interview, Billy makes it known that the filmmakers cut out what he “actually” said to Steve.  According to Billy, at this time he and Steve actually had a short, friendly conversation.  And the fact that the filmmakers said this is absolutely false, that they didn’t cut out anything at all, was funny to me.  I feel like Billy knows that everyone thinks he is the bad guy out to beat the good guy and he was just trying to shine a little light on his reputation.  Furthermore, I think this helps show that the overall message of this documentary is “good vs. evil.”  After viewing this documentary, audiences will most likely distinguish the two as Billy Mitchell being “evil”, and Steve Wiebe being “good”.  And I think the fimmakers do a great job in distinguishing these two sides.  Even though in the beginning they show Billy pretty much as an icon of the 80s, they slowly show the true side of Billy, when he is not the world record holder, and what it does to him personally.  Now with Steve Wiebe, I feel like the filmmakers worked extra hard on how they can display him as the “good guy”.  I noticed that the cameras’ focus a lot of attention on him when he is with his family, giving him a good reputation of being a family man.  Also, they show Steve at a younger age when he was accomplishing a lot of great things, such as a basketball star, baseball star, artist, and a musician.  So as you can imagine, Steve is a genuine, nice guy that has lived a good life so far.

When reading this interview with Billy, all I could think about is how this guy’s life must be now that this documentary is out and the whole world knows what really happened.  Even though he says that people come up to him everyday and are “very, very, friendly,” I feel that deep inside, Billy is hating it all because he knows, and most likely the people he talks to know, that he is not the Donkey Kong record holder anymore.  And the way Billy is, with his ego and reputation, I think this just kills him inside.  He wants to be the best, but he can’t.  Steve is.  And I love Steve for that.  And that is why when I think of The King of Kong, I think of every other “good vs. evil” story, the good guy ALWAYS wins.

The Dark Knight

I am a movie fanatic.  I absolutely love them.  In fact, I have been collecting DVD’s for about 5 years now, reaching a total of around 220.  Now obviously with this size movie library I don’t have just one all time favorite, I have multiple favorites.  However, there is one film that sort of stands out more than others to me, and that may just be because it is newer than most, but that film would have to be Batman: The Dark Knight.  Most people can agree with me when saying this is one of their favorite movies because for those of you who have seen the movie, you can’t deny the fact that it was made extremely well and the job that Heath Ledger did portraying The Joker was just unbelievable.  But my love for this film goes beyond the script and screenplay.  I can remember the first night I saw this movie; it was actually the midnight showing on the day it was released to the world.  But after it was over I felt like I could have sat there and watched it three more times, that’s how much I enjoyed it.  I was always a fan of Batman, from the old comics to the prequel of The Dark Knight: Batman Begins, but when I saw this film I was just so overwhelmed by the overall performances I couldn’t believe it.  Like before, I think the main thing that did it for me was the job that Heath Ledger did protraying The Joker.  I have always been a fan of Heath Ledger and I always knew he did a great job on every spot he filled, but I seriously feel like this was the greatest role playing I have ever seen in my life, and I have seen a lot of movies.  His acting in this movie sort of inspired me because what I later came to find out while reading a book about his life was that he puts an incredible amount of effort in every role he is asked to play, they even quoted him saying that he had turned down several big roles in what came to be big-hit movies because he felt like there was someone else out there that would be able to do a better job than he would.  He said for every role he is asked to play, he wants to make sure he can perfect it, and that’s just what he did with The Joker.  Now for those of you who haven’t heard all the gossip, some think that his role in The Dark Knight helped lead him to his sudden, tragic death about a year ago.  And this was something that drew my attention right from the start.  In the beginning I had my own thoughts about it all, but the book I read about his life changed my thoughts on the matter completely.  It entailed a lot of information about his life when he was filming the new Batman movie, and some of the things I read were very surprising.  In the end, Heath Ledger is what inspired me when I saw this movie.  Heath Ledger is why this movie is one of my all time favorites.  His determination to perfect roles and follow his dream is i think what got me the most about him.  I can remember at the end of the book about him there was a quote from his father that I think I will never forget.  It said: “Forget about his death and what happened in the end.  Remember Heath for who he was and what he believed him-if you have a dream, go for it, do it.”

Music

Throughout one’s life, everyone has something special that they enjoy, or enjoy doing.  And for some people, they might have more than one thing.  When it comes to me, I really enjoy music.  Music has been in my life since I was in the sixth grade.  About half way through my sixth grade year I got really interested in the drums, but not just the regular drum sets you see almost everyday, I had a special interest in hand drums, specifically the djembe drum.  My interest in the djembe drum led to it being the number one thing on that year’s Christmas list, and I ended up being a happy camper come Christmas morning.

The djembe drum comes in many different sizes, but the one I picked out is about four or five feet tall with the diameter of the drum being about 20-25 inches long.  Now you might be wondering how did I get interested with these kinds of drums at the age of about twelve or thirteen, and honestly I can recall one time that just set it off.  I was watching a video online of a man playing a djembe drum in my general music class, and when I saw him playing it I was instantly hooked.

Now I’m going to go ahead and guess that most of you have never even heard of a djembe drum before.  And that’s probably because they originated in Africa and are mostly played with Reggae music, which most people don’t listen too anyways.  With this, I would have to say that Reggae music is up there on my list, definitely on my top five favorite types of music to listen too.  Furthermore, listening to Reggae music over the years has opened me up to a lot of different types of music.  Similarly, I feel like certain bands you listen to can somehow connect you with other bands like them, and sometimes you could get lucky and find a new favorite band, and that has happened to me a lot over the past years.  For example, I discovered my all time favorite band from trading cd’s with my one of my best friends.  I traded him one of my Ben Harper cd’s for a Dave Matthews Band cd, and up to that point I had never heard of Dave Matthews Band, or in other words had been missing out for about the past five years on some of the best music that I would ever come to hear.  After that day I have always been open to hearing new music because like I said before, you really have no idea how many bands there are out there that you have not heard of, and one time you might discover something you have been missing out on.

In conclusion, music is something that I have come to appreciate more and more over the years.  Music is something that I can turn to when I’m bored, angry, or sad ( rarely ), and just listening to the music puts me in a better mood.  I guess it somewhat makes me forget about everything going on in my life for a short period of time.  Basically, music is like a friend, it’s always there for you…

Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing…

Quoting-

According to Roger Sipher, “nearly 15 percent of the school-age children in our largest cities are almost permanently absent from school”, a number that I am sure most people would like to see decline.

Paraphrase-

Roger Sipher concludes his essay by giving six positive examples of what could happen to this country’s education overall if we were to follow his suggested solution.

Summary-

Roger Sipher describes his opinion on today’s problem with nationwide education with great detail.  He feels one of the main reasons why student’s test scores are declining over the years is because of the attendance laws that force students to be at school when they would rather be doing anything else in the world.  One solution he suggests is to abolish the attendance laws and just let the students that want to learn to attend, and not worry so much about the one’s that don’t care about their education.  Overall, Roger Sipher’s arguments towards this problem are very interesting and definately worth taking a look at it when deciding on a proper solution.

A Long Awaited Tattoo

Ever since I was about 16 years old I have wanted to get a tattoo.  And honestly, the only reason I am still without one is because of my parents.  They are the type of people who think tattoos are just another scar on the human body.  When it comes to my father, his main reason for being against them is the fact that it is something that will always be on your body, and sometimes you might not want people to see it.  Furthermore, the example he always always brings up when we talk about tattoos is: “what if you have a big job interview out of college and your inteviewer turns you down because you have a tattoo showing?”  And my answer to this is…get it done somewhere that isn’t visible when you are wearing clothes.  For me, that would be my back, primarily across my shoulder blades.  I have always thought of getting a tattoo on my back because I think I would like having the option of showing my tattoo when I wanted, and hiding it when I don’t.  Now with the design of my tattoo, I am not really sure of yet.  I do know that I want the tattoo to sort of branch off of a large sun.  I have always enjoyed artist’s work on different types of suns, and it is something I have been set on getting ever since I wanted a tattoo.  In particular, I wouldn’t mind having the base of my tattoo the same sun as the one you can find on the logo for the popular Ska band, Sublime.  However, I would change the inside of this sun and perhaps add some more color and different images within.  Outside of the sun I would have some type of vines or trees branching off with a lot of color and definition.  Finally, I have always had the idea of adding some type of water background to it, sort of making a beach-like scenery, mainly because I love that type of atmosphere.  I have always dreamed of living on the coast and having a house right on the beach.  I don’t know why, but I just love being outside in warm weather, especially by water.  That sort of atmosphere just always seems to put me in a better mood.  And that is why, the day I get a tattoo, will be the day I have a picture of the Bahamas on my back ha.

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