Currently Browsing: Entertainment
MTV’s Bucket List: The Buried Life
Photo Credit: Photo courtesy of fresnobee.com
.
Written by Danielle Bradley, Op-Ed Editor
“What do you want to do before you die?” It’s quite the forward question: novel, wholesome, simplistic. What do you want to accomplish before death greets you? The Buried Life, one of the newest, and possibly the greatest, contributions to the MTV show lineup, is based around this question. Four guys, Ben Nemtin, Jonnie and Duncan Penn, and Dave Lingwood, and their purple transit bus, Penelope, travel the world with the intention to complete their list and help others along the way. The quest is a beautiful one, and the outcome is even more captivating.
Their complete list consists of 100 things, all equally unique and all with a deeper meaning. The tasks range from easily accomplished ones (number 29: Scream at the top of your lungs) to ones that require far more ingenuity (number 79: Dance with Ellen DeGeneres). The show featured tasks such as, attend a party at the Playboy mansion, make a toast at a strangers wedding, compete in a krump contest and ask out the girl of your dreams. Each task represents a part of life that most would like to experience, but are too timid to do so; the tasks are dreams and the journey to complete them is the shovel to ‘unbury’ them from all the insignificant day-to-day occurrences.
The group, along with checking off their own tasks, helps others to do the same. They ask their question, and then pursue full-force until they get the desired outcome. From getting over the fear of riding a rollercoaster to helping a man come in contact with his son, the guys are always assisting people achieve their ambitions, and, more importantly, proving that anything is possible.
The Buried Life is a new type of television, it isn’t simply entertainment, but rather it’s inspiring. It proves that anything can be done as long as one remains creative and persists, and it has definitely caused audiences all over the world to create their own list and to get that much closer to achieving their life’s dreams. So ask yourself the question, “What do you want to do before you die?” And then go achieve it.
Email This Post
Print This Post
Currently Browsing: Op-Ed / Top Stories
A.P Applications
Photo Courtesy of Imesha at Flckr.com
Written by Danielle Bradley, Op-Ed Editor
Reach for the stars. Be all that you can be. But first, be sure to fill out these applications in the process. This philosophy seems to be a bit hypocritical. We’re constantly told to strive for excellence, constantly reminded to live up to our full potential, but then are told that we are only as good as the application we fill out? Striving for the future and trying to better oneself is difficult when all our ‘superior’ evaluator sees is handwriting and various facts. This type of scrutiny is usually reserved for college applications, and of course, applications for the so-called ‘real-world’; but now, thanks to the Advanced Placement applications, the harsh criticism can now begin in high school.
The guidance department, that once was an oasis of optimism and ambitious spirits, has suddenly become yet another place telling students that they are not good enough. It’s clear that can A.P class is a challenge; it’s purposely rigorous, and is a glimpse into what lies ahead. And by being coerced into filling out these packets, the school can only puncture the morale of the students looking forward.
There is the obvious argument that these packets are a waste of time and paper, but it’s about more than being both a damper on time and trees. It’s about these blunt packets killing the aspirations that students have while signing up for the next year, and also causing hesitation amongst students who have previously taken A.P classes and could easily handle them. This process discourages students who are new to taking higher level courses, and has the potential to keep bright students from pursing further knowledge.
These new applications may save the school some time when students are attempting to drop classes, but that saved time will pale in comparison to the knowledge lost.
Email This Post
Print This Post
Currently Browsing: Op-Ed / Top Stories
Prosthetic Beauty
Photo Courtesy of JaredR at Flickr.com
Written by Danielle Bradley, Op-Ed Editor
Obsession is what drives American society. People obsess over material beauty: luxurious homes and cars, clothing, celebrities, how much something costs, and more extremely, beauty. Annually, Americans spend hundreds of millions of dollars on “get skinny quick” remedies, “miracle” anti-ageing cream, and thousands of other products that are nothing but a scam. Prosthetic beauty has been sweeping America, and needs to come to a halt.
We all know the basic beauty fixes that are done in homes all over the county, but plastic surgery is one extreme that has become too expected in society. Liposuction, nose jobs, and implants are among the more common procedures done, and here in Boca just embarking on a quick trip around town is like taking a class on cosmetic surgery. “Getting work done” should be doing something productive and worthwhile, as opposed to the way it’s used today. Whatever happened to just applying makeup? It used to only be about enhancing your beauty, but now it’s all about creating it.
“Only in America…” can you see fourteen year old girls with nose jobs, mom stopping to get some quick Botox before picking up their sons from soccer practice, and fathers frequently writing checks out to their monthly membership in The Hair Club. Rogaine anyone? Are we really that shallow? America needs to grasp reality and realize that, in the end, beauty is more than skin deep.
Email This Post
Print This Post
Currently Browsing: Entertainment / Top Stories
Red Hot Chili Peppers Back in the Studio
Photo Credit: Photo courtesy of Michael Van Gelder
.
Written by Danielle Bradley, Op-Ed Editor
“Songbird sweet and sour Jane, and music is my aeroplane…” This phrase is possibly the most appropriate line to ever pass over the lips of Red Hot Chili Peppers front man, Anthony Keidis. Any true fan of real rock music can quickly identify the unique and diverse sound of this monumental band knows as the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Their mix of driven guitar riffs, decade long drum solos, sweet underlying tone of the base and quick talking psychedelic phrases are what not only gained them fans at the beginning of their career in the early 80’s, but kept their fan bases as one of the most vast in all of rock history.
Tens of member changes have led to the final band that consists of lead singer, Anthony Keidis, bassist Michael “Flea” Blazary, drummer Chad Smith, and lead guitar John Frusciante. Almost as know as the bands music is their “break” that started after the wrap-up of their Stadium Arcadium tour in 2007. It was been two long years of impatient waiting, but the Red Hot Chili Peppers are at last beginning to start on new things. October 12, 2009 was the bands first official day back together, and more importantly their first day back to creating new works of art. The bands new music is said, by drummer Chad Smith to Spin magazine, to be released in 2010, and the masses will finally be able to experience what can only be supplied by the ultimate rock band, the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Email This Post
Print This Post