Saturday, November 28, 2009

The Blind Side Movie Review

Author's Note: I am a movie freak and I like to help other people learn whether or not to go to them. So, as I have previously, I wrote a movie review to inform you of this film.

I recently saw "The Blind Side" with Steve. This movie is a true story about an oversized homeless boy who gets brought in by a rich family. From watching a commercial you would immediately think that it is purely a football movie. However, that is not true. The football part is just a side note in a movie that really helps you appreciate what you have, like a bed and extra clothing.

On a scale of 4 stars I would give it a 3 1/2. This was one of the best movies I have ever seen and I am hoping that I will see it many times in the future. It was a very well made movie and very motivational. The performances were also very good. The main character was in his first movie but acted like he was a seasoned veteran. Also, I am not a huge fan of Sandra Bullock (personally I find her annoying) but she still had an amazing performance and some big name movie critics said that this was her best performance ever.

So, if you are looking for a good movie to see I strongly recommend "The Blind Side" even if you are not a football fan.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Ryan's Thoughts #2: From the Dead

Author's Note: Hello there.
Technically this is a dream I had a while back but it was very odd and to me it felt like it had some truth to it. So here it goes:

I stand there in a graveyard with my family and other families around me. Everybody has tears in their eyes. But their tears are not ones of sadness, but ones of joy. We all look up towards the sky, for this was supposedly the day where heaven would come to earth, and where all of our loved ones that have passed away will come back and live for eternity with the rest of us.

All of a sudden, a ray of light shone on us, and the clouds separated. What occurred next was the most significant thing one could see in their life time. People that were the color of gold floated down from the heavens with their hands spread out like Jesus on the cross. As they touched the ground they embraced their families and everyone was happy. Except for my family.

We had been waiting for my younger brother who had died at a young age (this is kind of freaking me out because I really don't have a little brother). His cause of death was unknown but we were still grief-stricken. So, we waited and waited for him to come down but he never came. That meant only one thing. He wasn't dead (dun dun dun). So, we started to look for him.

We looked and looked but never saw a clue. Until one day, where I spotted a crystal skull in the forest that lies behind my house (I had this dream when that Indiana Jones movie came out so its actually not THAT random). Etched in the top of its head were the words "To find your brother you must find my twin". When I touched the skull, a surge of power shot through my hand, up my arm, into my head, back down to my other arm, down to the hand and back to the skull. It was an everlasting circuit. As this happened, a memory came to me. I don't exactly know where it came from but it told me were the other skull was. It was in a concrete warehouse down in Arizona that apparently had many wooden crates stored inside (see another Indiana Jones reference).

I told my family and we made quick arrangements to get down there as fast as possible. We landed at an unusual airport the next day. This airport was very futuristic and it had many inventions that we do not have in the modern day. The most notable one was the way we transported. On the white tile ground there were blue lines that lit up. These were each tracks. To get from place to place you hop on a one foot by one foot board that looked like a Wii Fit thing and you just let the board do the rest.

Once we got to the area we needed, we got off and rented a jeep. We hurriedly drove off into the desert for the warehouse and it took about half an hour to get there. We ran out of gas with about a mile and a half to go so we just walked from there.

A half an hour later, we were all parched from the heat, but on the brink of our vision we saw a humongous building so high that you thought that the tip could reach the heavens. Once we got to the building, we became aware of yet another obstacle. The door was on an old rickety porch and was locked up. About five feet to the right there was a bronze key with rust that sat on a stool. You might be thinking how is this an obstacle. It wasn't. What was is the ferocious greyhound that stood in between us and the key. It ran in circles as saliva dripped down from its powerful jaw. We inched forward very slowly, but with even the slightest movement, the hound released a blood-curdling bark. We realized we couldn't do this with just man power. We had to do this with skull power (that was really cheesy but that's what happened). I carefully took out the crystal skull from my back pack and looked for the sun. It was northwest of me which was absolutely perfect. I raised the skull above my head and positioned it correctly. A bright ray shot from skull and hit the greyhound right between the eyes. Its legs wobbled, and three seconds later it was on the ground out cold.

We took the key and inserted it in the keyhole. Fortunately, the key turned and we unlatched the door. As we walked inside each one of us was swallowed by utter awe. In the center of the warehouse was a fifty foot diamond pedestal with the "twin" crystal skull sitting atop it. Also, rotting wooden crates went on forever. There must have been 50,000 crates in warehouse. We raced down the stairs at a reasonable pace, for we wanted to get down quickly, but it would put quite a damper on things if one of us fell through.

When we got down, we opened up the first crate we came to. Documents. The crate was filled with nothing but documents. Oh, wait, there were about ten spiders crawling around them but that isn't very relevant. So, we tried the next crate. Same case. We tried a third one. Same conclusion again. This went on and on and we gave up after looking at about forty five bins. We decided to start looking through the papers to see if there was a clue embedded in them.

It turned out that each paper described a person. Extensive information about each person was on the papers, but there was one little section that caught all of our attention immediately. It was a section entitled 'Where are they now?'. As if by magic it showed where each person, and if they moved locations the words would change, too. Our second discovery was that all the sheets were alphabetized. We started to search for Jacob Richard Hegna (now that part reaaaallllyyyy freaked me out, like a lot).

We searched and searched and searched. It was a tiring procedure but we all knew it was worth it. Then I heard the best sound I could have heard at that time. My sister shouted "I found it!” Our heads shot around as we saw her face bright with joy, and her hand stretching up with wrinkled brown paper. The rest of my family bulleted over to her and looked at the paper. 'Jacob Robert Hegna, 9 years old'. Our eyes scanned the paper looking for the 'Where are they now?' section. One by one, our eyes hit the hallowed words.

Nothing. That is what you heard as we all just stared. It turned out my brother was at Dove Cabins. We all knew the place. It was a camp ground that kids went to for fun. It was located in Wisconsin, but we never went there. Once again we buried to the neck in awe (By the way, there actually is a Dove Cabins in Wisconsin, but I never heard about it before this, so yet again it got really freaky). We quietly left and got to our car and drove home.

Once we got home we got refreshed and rested. But the next morning we were heading to Dove Cabins. The drive took about two hours but those two hours felt like two days. We pulled into a parking lot and got out. We looked for some staff to help us out and eventually we found a Hispanic man named Eduardo. We told him our story and surprisingly he took us seriously. He told us that he may have an idea were Jacob was, because there was no Jacob Hegna registered at the camp. It turns out that there was one bunk that whatever person slept there, they reported to have heard banging in ceiling.

So, we headed over to Cabin 6 and Eduardo led us to a bunk bed labeled 13. All of us just stared up at the ceiling above the bed and think to ourselves "Could this really be?". Eduardo gets some tools from a shed located nearby and he comes back. Within seconds he is cautiously hacking away at the stone. With each collision the anticipation rises. Until finally, we hear a gasp. We look inside through the small hole that has been made, and we see a small eye peering back at us. Eduardo keeps going and more and more is revealed until finally a boy falls down onto the bed that has sat beneath him for three years. The boy looks down at his feet, and back at us, before he is embraced by the most painful bear hug one will ever encounter.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The Lonely Tree

Author's Note: This was a poem that was derived from a stream of consciousness about recess. It symbolizes more than just trees having a boring life, it symbolizes those people that are in the background. If you find this topic interesting and would like to see another post, go to Brad Wahlgren's blog, also know as "The Blog of Wahlgren" and read the "Wallpaper" post. It is very cool. You may need to follow it but here is the web address anyways:
http://bradwahlgren.blogspot.com/2010/02/wallpaper.html

I stand here by myself for
                               years,
                               years,
                               years,
I wish to do with my life
                               something,
                               something,
                               something
As the kids rush by I wish to
                               run,
                               run,
                               run
Deja Vu overwhelmes me
                              forever,
                              forever,
                              forever
And all I have ever thought is
                              if only,
                              if only,
                              if only

Monday, November 9, 2009

John F. Kennedy Poem

Author's Note: I wrote this poem for a 6th grade project I did on John F. Kennedy and I really liked it so I thought it would be fun to put that in here. If you don't already know some background on him a quick run down was that John F. Kennedy may have been the best president if he didn't get assassinated early in his time in office. I hope you enjoy.

Some people may have doubted him at first thought
But that was not how he would be taught.

For he was not anybody out of the lot;
He was the one to bring Camelot.

It is such a terrible thought
That peace fell to the ground with just one shot.

R.I.P. John Fitzgerald Kennedy
(1917-1963)