Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes is a website that rates movies. And being a movie fanatic, I am always looking up new movies to see on wikipedea. And the Rotten Tomatoes score appears which is such a pain. This is because more often than not, they don't people form their own opinion about the movies. Sometimes my friends or I will see that the movie scored low, like below 50%, and I will just not watch it. For example, a friend of mine said that he wouldn't watch Kicking and Screaming because it only scored a 41% on Rotten Tomatoes. Come on guy, how could you not even give the Ferrell and Ditka duo a chance?

The movie was about an overly competitive soccer dad who would do anything to win. It was hilarious! Did you even read the description? I also think that's the problem is the descriptions. The description comes after the rating. So if you even want to read the description, you have to see the score first. Already people gain a bad impression without even reading the description and might not give it a chance. Save your opinion for later Rotten Tomatoes!

Let's talk about iPhones

I still have an iPhone 4. Some people may say, "I live in a cave" because I am so far behind in the latest trends. First off, I must have heard the cave joke a thousand times, your'e not clever bud. And second, why would I spend my money on something that is practically an exact replica? The iPhone 6, what is the difference between that and the iPhone 4. And don't just tell me it's bigger. Whenever I ask someone the difference that's the only thing they tell me. Okay so it's bigger, does that make any improvement on my life at all? So I can play more games? So by those standards, would you also buy this phone?

Probably not right? I was actually holding my friends iPhone 6 and it didn't even fit in my pocket. Why would you want that? That's not very convenient. What are some other differences? Are you stumped yet? Exactly, there is no difference. So why would you spend money on that junk? I can already tell that the next iPhone will look exactly the same. Maybe it will be a little bigger, maybe the home button will be the shape of a triangle. No matter what little change apple does to the next iPhone, it will still make a heaving load of money because people will just buy anything that is new.

Miss Representation

Women in our society today feel pressured to meet mens' standards of perfection. This is through the media constantly conveying attractive and desirable women through magazines, television, movies, etc. One might argue that women don't have to try to meet these standards, they could just not pay attention to the media. But is that actually possible in this day and age, when on average 3,000 ads are see a day by teens? Since women are constantly seeing billboards, commercials, magazines with very attractive women, they are obviously going to feel that they need to look like these models to be noticed by men. As a result, women of all ages will feel obligated to always look attractive by putting on makeup, wearing appealing clothing, undergoing procedures to change their looks, and so on. That is tragic, that women will not accept who they are as a result of marketing to men. I recently asked a few of my fellow classmates if this is true, and they said it is. They even went as far as to say that some of their friends will put on makeup just to go to get some donuts at night. This definitely reveals the pressure of appearance of a woman compared to a male my age. Most days I wake up, eat a muffin, and go to school. No shower or anything. It is also tragic knowing that most women nowadays feel that the only way they can attract a man is through appearance, not a personality. How does one expect to form a relationship based on appearance? There is no possible way of having a love connection based on these standards. A woman's, or a man's for that matter, worth should not be based on appearance. But it is in this day in age as a result of the media constantly revealing beautiful women, and in effect, shapes mens' ideals of a perfect woman.

Workaholics and the Youth Culture

One show that is definitely popular right now for teenagers is Comedy Central's Workaholics. I would say the show targets my friends and I and other males ages 13-25. The premise of the show is that three guys, around the age of 23, dropped out of college and end up rooming together. They work at the telemarketing company "TelAmeriCorp" in Rancho Cucamonga. Adam, Blake, and Ders take a wide variety of drugs, talk sex, inflict physical pain to each other, and just hang out (which is often seen in any sitcom). I believe this show definitely reveals a change in the common assumptions of youth culture. Common television shows targeted for teenagers a few years ago included Zack and Cody, Drake and Josh, iCarly, and so on. They contained clean content and obviously targeted for teens considering that they aired on "TeenNick" or "TeenDisney." But the sitcoms aimed for teenagers today are much more foul and inappropriate than these shows. This shows the change in assumption about our youth culture that kids are going to talk about sex, take drugs, and choose poor decisions. In some respect, I think Workaholics is a reflection of our youth. It's a reflection because those who were creating television shows realized that their clean content was not precisely following youth culture. As a result, they had to change to something more accurate to attract the youth. However, the characters of the show are the common mook archetypes. I believe these mooks mold our teenage culture to become more mook-like themselves. Ever since watching shows that include mooks such as Check it Out! with Dr. Steve Brule and The Eric André Show, I have felt more inclined to act like them and attract attention like they do with their shows. So in a sense, the shows are both reflections of the youth and shape our youth. 

This is Spinal Tap

Rockumentaries, I can dig those. Just to name a few I enjoyed were Gimme Shelter, Woodstock, Searching for Sugarman, etc. But there was one that stood out to men, and was anything but an ordinary rockumentary. I first saw Rob Reiner's spoof/ rockumentary This is Spinal Tap the seventh grade, and it has ever since been one of my all time favorite movies. The movie follows the parody english heavy metal band "Spinal Tap" and their struggles to get back on the charts. "Spinal Tap" was actually a real band, they were actually pretty good for being a bunch of goof-offs. They were around the same time period as the British Invasion, with a similar sound to the bands of that era. Imagine an Animals/ Zeppelin hybrid. One of their songs was actually on the first guitar hero, "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You." Anyways, Rob Reiner created one of the best movies ever for a number of reasons. Firstly, the songs included are quite good. They range from their early hippy beatles stages as seen in their song "Flower People", to their late metallic sounds as seen in their song "Rock 'n' roll creation". The songs span from soft and easy to heavy metal, which were most definitely included in their soundtrack, revealing their true talent as great musicians with a broad horizon. Secondly, the movie gives an insight to the disorderly life of a rockstar making it big, and on the other end trying to get back on top. Their times as admired rockstars can be seen with their numerous concerts and fans, but their moments that were not so hot can be seen with their performances at puppet show venues, failed choreography onstage, and their split ups. This all gives an interesting look at life as a rockstar. Lastly, the great one-liners and characters are what make it laugh out loud funny. Here's a clip from the movie so you can see what I mean.  Overall, this is one movie that I wish I could have created as a director, which is a field that I hope to go in someday. Oddly enough, it was inspiring to Paul Thomas Anderson. Anyways, the movie is currently on netflix, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Thoughts on Meeting Michael Cera

Now here is one guy that I really want to meet. Michael is hilarious, talented, and he sounds like an overall good guy. And boy is he handsome, but I'll try not to get carried away here. You see, I enjoy watching Michael Cera because he I feel like i can relate to the roles he plays. Like in Arrested Development, he played the innocent George Michael. He stayed out of trouble and was always working to prove himself to his Dad and just being a goofy kid. Like George Michael, I feel like I have also stayed out of trouble to remain loyal to my parents. I have worked hard, and I have a close relationship between my family members. He was also in Superbad, which was rollicking. He played Evan, the awkward high-schooler who had two close friends. Similar to me, I also know very few people I would call my best friends. In fact I don't know many people at all I could call friends. I am also I kinda awkward person. But recently, he began to lose his innocence to some extent in some of his recent movies. He was in This is the End. Horrible movie, I may add. I was expecting something funny, but it turns out it was entirely hyped up by the media. Never mind that, but in the movie he did a lot of cocaine. It was startling to see that. He also did a lot of drugs in the movie Crystal Fairy and the Magical Cactus. Now this movie was hard to watch. Primarily because Michael did a lot of insane drugs. Although Michael has began to take a different approach in the roles he chooses, I would still very much like to meet him.

Top 3 Songs

Starting at number three: Time-Pink Floyd

I never really knew of Pink Floyd until I was fourteen. Two years ago, I bought Dark Side at a music store in Santa Cruz. I never discovered them because most of my taste came from my parents, and they were never into Pink Floyd. Whenever I asked, they told me it was too psychedelic to enjoy. This holds true in some of their albums, but I believe that The Dark Side of the Moon is sheer brilliance. I bought it because I heard about what a great album it was, and I was getting tired of listening to the same stuff. I am always looking to find new bands. When first listening to it, the first thing that hit me were the bizarre noises of cash registers, helicopters, grand-father clocks, and crazy men laughing in the most sinister ways imaginable. But I soon began to enjoy its surreality, and realized its trippiness enough to the point where it cannot be enjoyed. In fact, when listening to this album, I typically lose myself in a deep thought. I ask myself several questions when listening to this song. How much time is left? How much time have I wasted? Will I be content when time is up? These questions evoke my greatest fears and lead me to the unseen core of Isaiah Tait. 

Number two: This Must be the Place-Talking Heads

I must've been listening to Talking Heads since I was four, and they are still an ultimate favorite of mine. I remember dancing to it in my underwear in our kitchen and making my parents laugh. I really just listened to it because I listened to what my parents listened to, and I also enjoyed its lively and original beat, I still do. But I guess I still listen to it to remind me of those days I spent without having to care about a thing and free from responsibilities. I will always love this song. I can see myself forty years from now, listening to this song and reminiscing on my childhood. 

My number one song, yes number one: The Song is Over-The Who

There's not a whole lot of reason as to why this song, other than it's true beauty. It's another song I've been listening to for quite a long time, encouraged by my father. One day, I want to learn how to play it on the piano. Maybe it's just encouraging. I can't really explain my love for this song. Just give it a listen and maybe you'll see why.

I recently deleted my app of snapchat because I'm not a tool. The other reason I deleted it was because there is this story that pops up everyday of people endorsing a different city. How the city is advertised I guess is what made me so angry. The story includes people taking selfies, taking pictures of food, recording people getting drunk, being frikkin annoying, and just flat out being overly attached to their phones. I find it depressing, that someone would actually go to a beautiful city, it was Chicago this time, probably just to be glued to their phone. I've been to Chicago several times, actually the summer before this school year I was their for a week. We took an architectural kayaking tour down the Chicago River, took another architectural tour on bike of Frank Lloyd Wright in Oak Park, visited the University of Chicago, played soccer at a summer festival downtown, and did a little of everything. In a city like Chicago, how could you ever be bored? There's an infinite amount of things to do in such a beautiful city. Why would you waste your time being on your phone and not looking around to see how gorgeous Chicago really is? Get off your phone and look around for a little bit. Don't worry about uploading a picture of the city with the perfect filter. For once, just put your phone in you pocket and immerse yourself in beauty. It saddens me to see people not have the experience of seeing all the city has to offer. I'm not sure what city this is but you see what I'm getting at.

I was watching an episode of Seinfeld when I first noticed an example of breaking through the clutter

. The episode was titled "The Junior Mint". The Junior Mint, in this episode plays a very large role actually, opposed to other product placements you might see. They usually play a small role, such as a pair of sunglasses, a fresh car, or a case of beer. Here's the premise of the episode, Elaine's boyfriend, (I don't know his name she gets a new clam of a boyfriend just about every episode), is getting a procedure done at an operating room that includes students to sit above so they can take note of the system the doctor intitiates.

Kramer really wanted to see the patient be sliced up and dragged Jerry along. While at the facility, Kramer is nashing on a some Junior Mints and asks Jerry if he wants any. When Jerry declines, one can easily tell that the Junior Mints are product placement. Kramer replies, "Who's gonna turn down a Junior Mint? It's chocolate, it's peppermint, it's delicious!" Kramer then physically forces the Junior Mints into Jerry while he continues to resist. Then, Jerry slaps a Junior Mint out of Kramer's hand and it lands inside the body of Elaine's boyfriend. Yeah. They had to open up his his torso to work, and the Junior Mint fell in the area the doctors were operating on. Nobody noticed the Junior Mint either. Eventually, it ends up saving the patient, George doesn't find a solution to any of his problems, yada yada yada. I couldn't believe that I had watched this episode over a dozen times, but never realized that it was not Seinfeld's and David's original idea to include the Junior Mint. This made me somewhat upset. I believe it is wrong, to not let the best comedic minds this world has to offer work to their full ability and just let their imagination run wild. Why would anyone give them more obstacles to include in their show? What kind of a sick monster would stand in the way of Larry David's sheer brilliance? However, the fact that they created a hilarious episode that actually fully utilizes the product almost makes up for these corporate boguses.