porkchop.

the burden of school

2008-02-21T13:23:00.000-08:00

School takes up so much unecessary time in my life. Every night I have at least 2-3 hours of homework, AFTER i spend 2 1/2 hours after school to PLAY SPORTS. SDKHGDUER! In addition to normal school homework, I have the extra stress of research/term papers, tests, and exams. This semester, I needed to take an elective in order to fill my five course requirement. I would love to take Ethics but, what do you know, there's no class to take during my free block. Now, I'm being forced to take a stupid music elective. I'M NOT EVEN GOOD AT MUSIC. Everyday, I dread going to this class because I'm afraid to be put on the spot in this class of 4, where 2 out of the 4 have been doing some type of music for more than 2 years. While this stuff sucks, the worst part of school is the horrible mood it puts me in. During the winter, the largest part of the school year, I'm basically depressed. The only thing I have to look forward to in the winter is the small possibility of a snow day. The only reason I'm happy in the fall is because I'm coming off the high of summer; and in the spring I'm happy cause summer is really close. I just wish that school didn't have to suck so much. I wish that 9 months out of the year, I didn't have to hope that it would be nighttime for several more hours. Most of all, I wish there was someone that could change this.

psa's

2008-02-09T09:06:00.000-08:00

About a month ago, we made PSAs (public service announcements) on different subjects. We split up into different groups and taped ourselves talking about different topics. My group talked about teen pregnancy, specifically in Philly. I was really surprised about the statistics after doing some research on the subject. There are a lot of teenage mothers in the city of Philadelphia alone, about 1100, if I remember correctly. After taping the PSA, i think it was a lot of fun getting to edit and add music to the video. I was the "producer" of my group, so I was supposed to make a lot of the decisions for the group, but I think it was better that our group made all the decisions together. We worked really well together and I was really happy with the final product. Overall, I thought that the activity was fun and definitely a learning experience.

prop-po-ganda

2008-02-09T08:32:00.001-08:00

HERE, AT THE ACADEMY

not-so-super bowl

2008-02-07T14:09:00.000-08:00

This year’s Super Bowl was surprisingly boring for me this year. I started watching it and I was like okay… I’m sure it’ll pick up. But by the half-time show, I was bored out of my mind, especially when Tom Petty came on. I don’t have anything against Tom Petty or anyone that enjoys listening to him, but personally, I just didn't like it. So, I decided to go work out… weird, cause I don’t even like working out. I wasn’t even interested in the commercials, which is usually the biggest part of the Super Bowl for me. In the first half, I didn’t see any particularly memorable commercials. Now, after going to school that Monday, I do kinda wish I’d watched the whole thing, cause a lot of people were talking about the commercials, but I was just too uninterested. One thing I am happy about with this year’s Super Bowl is the Giants’ win over the Patriots. It’s not that I don’t like the Patriots, I don’t even like or hate the Giants, but I was just tired of hearing how good the Patriots are. It’s good to see a total underdog come out on top. Plus, two of my friends are absolutely in love with Eli Manning, so I was happy for them. Basically, the Super Bowl was rather anticlimactic for me this year... pretty disappointing.

go, gramma, go!

2008-02-07T13:35:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, when I’m in the car with my mom, I just wonder… who gave this old person in front of us a license? Okay, I realize that as you get older, some of your motor skills deteriorate, but honestly, there are some people that are just an accident waiting to happen. There should be an age, about 65 to 70, where people are just required to take a driver’s test at least every two years. Not trying to be mean, cause I love my grandma to pieces, but she just really can’t drive. I don’t even have my license and I know for a fact that I could drive better than her. For one, she’s basically afraid to drive… I spent a week at her house and we went out the house once. Second, she has no sense of direction. We went to a shopping center, I simply asked to go to the one across the street, and my grandma replied, “I don’t know how to get there!” I said, “Grandma, I can tell you… you just follow the path of the roads, and pay attention to the signs.” Alas, we didn’t go. Basically, the moral of the story is… OLD PEOPLE WHO CAN’T DRIVE, SHOULDN’T DRIVE.

supapowa

2008-02-07T13:29:00.000-08:00

Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman… If I could have any super power, I’d want to have that power, just like that movie, JUMPER. That would be the ultimate super power of all time. I could go anywhere I want… like life dream basically.

Frightening Food

2008-02-01T13:31:00.000-08:00

There are some foods that I would never ever eat, even if it was the only food on Earth.
1. Dog. I can’t understand what would possess someone to even try to cook a dog. How could you even contemplate eating something known as “man’s best friend?” Dogs have become one of the most integral parts of family life in the society that I live in. Just thinking about eating something as precious as a dog makes me sick. I think that people who eat dogs should be imprisoned for life. Eating dogs, in my opinion, is immoral and should be illegal.
2. Calamari. I’ve dissected a squid and I definitely have no interest in ingesting one. While the cooked version may be delicious, just knowing that I’m eating would make me want to throw up.
3. Bugs. Ants and grasshoppers and praying mantis... in my mouth? Uh, no thank you.
4. Rats. That’d be the lowest of the low. End of story.

mortal kombat.. fo'cereal.

2008-01-25T14:12:00.002-08:00

I think that the two teens that were involved in the death of the 7-year-old child should be charged because as 17 and 18-year-olds they should have the common sense to realize that they shouldn’t have been “body-slamming” such a young child. Imitating the moves from Mortal Combat is stupid, especially on a child that is exceedingly smaller than you. The teens should have immediately realized that the child was in serious danger of dying. They should have called 911 immediately, instead of waiting after trying to revive her. It doesn’t matter that one teen was drunk; they should have to take responsibility for their actions.

(picture by gamespot.com)

sorry, i can't hug you...

2008-01-25T14:12:00.001-08:00

I think that it is absolutely ridiculous that students were punished for hugging other students at school. Hugging isn’t an act that is explicitly sexual or inappropriate, unless taken to that level, so there is no reason that the school should punish them.

(picture by eareeve.blogspot.com)

ac in philly

2008-01-25T14:11:00.003-08:00

I don’t think that building casinos in Philadelphia is a good idea at all. Despite the beneficial consequences of having casinos, I think that the bad consequences outweigh them. First of all, Americans directly associate gambling with an increase of crime activity. Research shows that gambling does foster increased criminal activity. An estimated 40 percent of white-collar crime is committed by gambling addicts. Also, research suggests that $1.3 billion per year in insurance fraud alone is related to gambling. Local businesses, such as restaurants, feel that they are at risk of going out of business. The location of these casinos is not beneficial either. Having a casino 100 feet away from a neighborhood or school is not a good idea. The traffic and attention a casino will attract are not things that children and people in their homes should have to deal with. Gambling can also result in horrible consequences for families. Gambling is associated with material deprivations, and family members frequently experience the trauma of divorce, child abuse and neglect, and domestic violence.

(picture by destination360.com)

stop and frisk?

2008-01-25T14:11:00.001-08:00

I think the stop-and-frisk policy could be helpful, if it doesn’t turn into harassment. If a police officer suspects a person has or will commit a crime, with justifiable evidence, he should be able to prevent this crime or catch this person. I think this could help solve some of the crime/violence issues in the city, as long as the policy proves to be fair and just.

(picture by stus.com)

babies having babies... cute.

2008-01-25T14:09:00.000-08:00

I do not think that it is a good idea to give Middle School students birth control. I agree with the student, Carissa Procurer, because it does seem like schools are condoning the fact that their students may be sexually active. I would definitely not want my child to be using birth control without my knowledge or consent. I think that if a child is sexually active, it’s important for their parents to know, just to make sure they’re taking the right precautions. If I had a sister, in middle school, I would definitely not want her to be taking birth control. I think that when you’re in middle school, you’re too young to be sexually active anyway. If she was taking birth control, I would definitely tell my parents because I think it would be important for “her” and “our” parents to have a talk about it. If I were in middle school, I would definitely not be taking birth control because I don’t think that sexual activities should be a part of any middle schoolers’ life.

(picture by ahajokes.com)

what if my house was on fire...

2008-01-25T14:08:00.001-08:00

If I had ten minutes to take anything from my house before it burned down, I would take my pets, my pillow, and any pictures I have.

(picture by sipbuilding.wordpress.com)

california wildfires vs. hurricane katrina

2008-01-25T14:07:00.001-08:00

The California Wildfires are similar to Hurricane Katrina because they’re both natural disasters, the death rates are high, the damage is enormous, and the method of shelter is the same. But the specifics about each are different. The California wildfires were responded to almost immediately, while response to disaster in Louisiana was slow. In both situations, people seek shelter in their state’s football stadium, a similarity. But, the conditions in California and Louisiana are very different. Southern California is primarily a place of wealthy citizens, while economic conditions in Louisiana are not so great. Living conditions in Louisiana, where Katrina hit, are still horrible multiple years later.

(picture by musicforte.com)

pop culture in school

2008-01-25T13:53:00.000-08:00

I don’t agree with this person’s opinion because popular culture is large part of every college students’ life. This culture is something that can be used in the classroom to relate to other academic studies. Although certain aspects of popular culture come with bad connotations, there are aspects of popular culture that can be beneficial. For example, an article in The Amherst Student, newspaper for Amherst College, featured multiple professors who spoke about the benefits of incorporating popular culture in their classroom. One professor said, “I do make references in class to current TV shows, advertisements, movies and so forth, sometimes to draw a contrast with ancient Greece, but sometimes because of the apparent influence or even continuity of something first attested in antiquity.” Another professor said that pop culture “is a good way to enliven material”. He continued to say, “I think that using pop culture to make arguments [and] analyzing pop culture is a part of what we do here… We are very serious about our studying of the world around us, past, present and future, and that includes pop culture.” In a conference at Columbia University, rapper and actor Ice-T talked about how teachers can use pop culture to relate to their students saying, “You need to be a little cooler. When you’re a teacher, get to know what the kids know … Get into their zone, communicate with them.” I think that Ice-T is right. Although popular culture is not always helpful, there are certain ways to use examples in pop culture that students will understand, helping them relate it to whatever subjects they’re learning.

(picture by fashtastic.net)