Life Is Beautiful

     A movie that we watched during class, about the Holocaust, was Life Is Beautiful. It was about this man named Guido, who happened to be Jewish, who falls in love with a woman named Dora, who wasn't Jewish. I am going to try to summarize everything, so that you know the basics of what happend in the movie. Guido and Dora have a son named Giosue, who loved dearly by both of his parents. Since this movie is set when the Holocaust was happening and Guido was Jewish, the Nazis came for him. When they took him away to a camp, he was with his son and he kept on asking where they were going. In order to make his son not feel worried or scared, he started telling him jokes and saying that it was all game that they had to win. Even though Dora isn't Jewish, she wanted to be with her family so she also got on the train to go to the camp. This movie is basically about how Guido and Dora fall in love and start a family, but also about how all three of them do the impossible to continue to be together but as well as for all of them to survive.
     Since this movie has something to do with the Holocaust, it does have some aspects that are similar to the real thing. The events that happened in the movie that also happened in the real Holocaust was how they would the Jewish inside the trains in big amounts. Another thing was similar was when they got off the train and they separated the women from the men and categorized everyone from age. Those that were dubbed to young to work or too old were told that they were going to go take showers, but were actually sent to their deaths in gas chambers. Another thing that happened in both was when those who were old but young enough to work were analyzed, to see if they could work by Nazi doctors. One major thing that I found different or thought that couldn't really happen was the freedom they had in the camp. In some scenes you could see Guido and Giosue walking around the camp after hours and no guard catching them. I found it odd because based off what we read and learned about the Holocaust, it seemed as if you couldn't just walk wherever you wanted whenever you wanted. Another thing that I think was different was the help Guido got from a Nazi doctor, who before the Holocaust Guido actually worked for. I knew that in ghettos some people would pay Nazis to let them escape, but in the movie Guido didn't pay anyone and yet the doctor helped because he knew him. It may have been possible but I haven't read anything saying something like what happened in the movie actually happened in real life. Those were just some of the similarities and differences the movie had with the Holocaust, there are some more but I just stated those as few examples.
     In this movie, there are different characters that gave the movie a different tone from others. Guido gave the movie a humorous tone. Even when they got sent to the camp, he would use humor to comfort his son. Dora in the first half of the movie had a humorous tone because there wasn't anything happening that would make her mood turn to suspenseful. The second half of the movie, she has a more suspenseful mood because you didn't see a whole lot of what was happening with her. Another character that gave the second half a humorous mood was Giosue. Since his father made him think that the reason they were in the camp was because of a game, he didn't know what was happening so it lightened the mood. Sometimes his presence in some scenes would give the movie a suspenseful tone because you weren't sure if he was going to get caught or not.
     Life is shown as beautiful throughout the film because it shows how everything was so simple, and as the Holocaust continued to happen families continued to try to be together and survive. This shows that they cared more about their families than anything else. An example of that was when Dora told the Nazi soldier to stop the train because she was going to get in it. Even though she wasn't Jewish, she risked her life just to maybe see her family one more time. An example of how everything was so simple in the film was before the Holocaust. When Guido and Dora were falling in love it seemed as if the only thing that was important was their love and them being together. Everything they did when they met were very simple and humorous. It didn't seem as complicated as most things seem now today.

Shooting the Moon- Frances O'Roark Dowell

     The book I recently finished was called Shooting Moon by Frances O'Roark Dowell. This book is about a 12 year old girl named Jamie Dexter and her brother TJ, who joins the Army and was sent off to war in Vietnam. Before leaving off to Vietnam, TJ was very into photography. In Vietnam he would take pictures of everything he saw and send them back to Jamie. Back then you had to develop the film, Jamie had to learn how to do that. As time went by, TJ would send more gruesome pictures. The one thing he would always send her at least one picture was of the moon. Jamie learned how to develop film in her local rec center, where she volunteered over the summer because her two best friends had to move away. At the red center she meets this guy, who soon becomes her best friend. In the end, this book is just about her journey coping without her brother and best friends, and the new experiences she makes with new friends.
     I really liked this book because it was easy, fast, and straight the point. It didn't have so much detail that made the book long and boring. It was detailed just enough so you could visualize what was happening in the book. I also liked how the character develops throughout the book. I would suggest this book to someone who wants a quick read and is interested in learning how the lives of army children were back when the Vietnam war was happening.

Weapons: Designing the Tools of War by Jason Richie

     This quarter a non-fiction book I read was Weapons: Designing the Tools of War by Jason Richie. This book is talks about seven weapons that have a made a huge impact in the way weapons are made today. Those seven are the Submarine, the Revolver, the Battleship, the Torpedo, the Automatic Machine Gun, the Tank, and the Ballistic Missile. It explains the background stories of how these weapons came to be and the inventors of them. Not only does it talk about those seven weapons but they also briefly discuss some popular weapons from 3000 B.C. to the 1400s. Some of those are javelins, crossbows, catapults, swords, lances, and the first handgun. The book also concisely discusses some of the newer weapons used in war. Some stated are smart bombs, new missiles, torpedoes, depth charges, machine guns, Tomahawk cruise missiles, F-117A Nighthawk (Stealth) fighter jet, laser-guided bombs, satellite-guided bombs, and many more weapons. This book was very informative on the different weapons of time.
     I really enjoyed reading this book. I didn't think that I was going to enjoy it but I did. This book was very informing and fast. There was a lot of information about different things and people but it was a quick read. I really like how you learned about major weapons used today and how they came to be. I would recommend this book to someone who is interested in learning about the history of popular weapons and who wants a quick read. My favorite part of this book was when you learned about the Battleship. It was very interesting to see how before in was made out of wood and now it's this big metal ship armed with large caliber guns. Overall this book was really good, in my opinion.

Forgotten

Forgotten  by Anonymous

You wanton, quiet memory that haunts me all the while
In order to remind me of her whom love I send.
Perhaps when you caress me sweetly, I will smile,
You are my confidante today, my very dearest friend.

You sweet remembrance, tell a fairy tale
About my girl who's lost and gone, you see.
Tell, tell the one about the golden grail
And call the swallow, bring her back to me.

Fly somewhere back to her and ask her, soft and low,
If she thinks of me sometimes with love,
If she is well and ask her, too, before you go
If I am still her dearest, precious dove.

And hurry back, don't lose your way,
So if I can think of other things,
But you were too lovely, perhaps, to stay.
I loved you once. Good-bye, my love!

Regret

     In this life, we do many actions. Sometimes we love the consequences and sometimes we hate them. When we hate them, we usually hate the action itself. We wish we can go back in time and do things differently, but unfortunately that's not what happens. The one thing I regret is not obtaining more time to bond with my brotherNot getting to know him on a brotherly level.
     My brother is in the Navy, so he isn't around all the time. It is very different for all of us because it has always been the two of us. My brother is five years older than me but I see other siblings who are more years apart and talk as if they are the same age. My brother and I know each other but not really, I know a little bit more than the rest of my family. If I could go back in time and change something it would be the relationship I have with my brother.

Jews Are Lice VS Americans Will Not Be Fooled

     During WWII, Nazis used many propaganda to influence those who supported them. They had propaganda that said Jews and anyone different are bad and Nazis are good. One of these many posters is one called Jews are Lice. This poster was basically telling people that Jews had lice. As surprising as it might be now, back then people used to actually believe this poster. It made them stay away from Jews in order to not get lice. This poster was targeted to practically anyone who could read and knew about lice. This poster is not really effective today because it doesn't say why or how Jews are lice. To me it sounds very bias making it untrue. Even though today it maybe ineffective back it probably was.

     In America, they also used propaganda. An example of that is a poster called Americans Will Not Be Fooled. This poster consists of a list of things that Hitler believed in and big letters saying "Hitler wants us to believe that. . ." The ideas on this list are basically ideas that contradict the American Constitution. I think that this poster can be effective in a way. The things it says are not what America is about, so people might agree with it. It can also not be effective today because many people believe their own ideas and many say the U.S. is corrupt, making this poster not effective. I think that the people targeted are anyone who doesn't really know a lot of information about Hitler and what he was doing. If a person didn't know a lot of information then this person could give them some info that government would like them to know.

     Both of these pieces of propaganda could have been effective back in WWII, but now, not so much. If I had to choose one of them that was more effective it would have to be Jew Are Lice. The reason why is because the poster gives the person information but it isn't clear what the maker wants the reader's outcome to be. Jew Are Lice clearly shows that the maker wants the reader to stay away from Jews. In order for this to happen and person to willingly do it, the maker added false advertising about Jews having lice. 

The Famous Person I Want to Hang Out With

     If you could, would you ever want to hang out with a celebrity for an entire day? You get to choose who that special person was, dead or alive, and what would you do with them? If that were me, then I would have a hard time picking only one person. As you might know, I am a part of many fandoms so many that I have lost count. I am part of t.v. show fandoms, movie fandoms, comic book fandoms, musical fandoms, and artist/band fandoms. So, if I had to pick from all of those, it would be Sebastian Stan.
     Sebastian Stan is an actor, who is mainly known for playing Bucky in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He has also been on some tv shows like Gossip Girl, Kings, Once Upon a Time, Political Animals, and more movies and shows. He is from Romania but has lived in the United States since he was 12. He is 34, so he is most definitely alive. That's a little bit about Sebastian Stan and what his Wikipedia page says, but now onto the juicy part.
     The reason I chose this beautiful creature to write about today is because he is my son. Yes, I said my son, you read that correctly. When most normal people like a celebrity, they consider themselves their fans. Other people also consider one or more celebrities their boyfriend, husband, et cetera and vice versa. For me, when a celebrity hits a certain age, that you know you could say is too old for you, I still wish I had a loving relationship so they turn into my children. I also chose him because he is a good actor, funny, invented jaw lines, the cutest thing ever, inspiring, legit 5 year old, a cinnamon roll, there are many reason more that make this post longer than it already is.
     So when my teacher tells me to write this post, you know what happened, I died. I knew that it would be a hard decision because I'm more of a go with the flow kinda person and have too many children, but here is my day with, my son, Sebastian Stan. So starting off the day, we would have breakfast at a restaurant with good food not a fancy or expensive just one that serves delicious food. He can order whatever he wants, I don't really care, and also I would want to pay the check because I invited him. I don't know what I would order to be honest so let's say I ordered some breakfast food, you pick. Once we are done with our meal, I ask for the check. I reach my hand for it and the Sebastian says that he will pay for it because he is a cinnamon roll, I try to fight with him saying that I invited him. In the end we split the check and we are both happy. Just so you know I am basing this off as if it is set in Los Angeles.
     Next on the agenda we would go to a carnival or fair. We would spend around 3 hours there just playing games, walking around, and doing fair stuff. Once we are there for a couple of hours, we start getting hungry so we decide to go to another restaurant for lunch.  During lunch, Sebastian surprises me saying that we are going to a movie premiere. He didn't say which movie, trying to surprise me but I knew which movie was premiering that night. I would most likely be on vacation in Los Angeles so I would that I didn't bring any clothes for that event or I need to go to the mall. We finish our lunch and we go to the mall, we spend here around 2 hours. When we both have purchased our desired pieces of clothing, we decide to relax at the beach. The sun is about to set and we both are indecisive so we sit down for awhile and then starting walking and fooling around.
     It is officially night time, we go back to our house/hotel room and get ready for the premiere. If you want to know my outfit, then I guess I will describe it for you. I am wearing black ripped jeans, a grey shirt, a bomber jacket, and black high tops. We arrive at the place they are holding the premiere and just like I thought, the movie was a new Marvel movie. At most premieres there is like a mini red carpet that celebrities go on and paparazzi take pictures, so at this imaginary premiere there is also one.  I see all the people and big cameras, I start to get nervous because I know I am going to have to walk down that and have my picture taken and also I'm not a celebrity. Since Sebastian knows me so well he quickly realizes my discomfort and tells me that it's just a few pictures and it is going to be okay. The mini red carpet was not so bad, the lights almost blinded me but I thought it was good. We get inside the theater and I go straight to the where the food is, I buy a large popcorn and an ICEE. We get into the room, where you see the movie, take our seats and wait for the movie to start. As I am sitting down I realize who is in front and next to us, the rest of the cast. I completely forgot that Sebastian was in the movie and that he knew the Avengers. I start to soak everything up mentally because I didn't want to take out my phone and take a picture with its bright flash in a semi-dark room, I also didn't want to seem like a crazy obsessed fan. The movie starts, so I start munching my popcorn away.
     The credits start rolling and I know Marvel so I stay seated, as well as the rest of the Avengers and Sebastian. After the movie, I am formally introduced to the other cast member. We talk for awhile but afterwards Sebastian and I decide we are hungry so we go get a late night meal. After our meal, Sebastian drops me off at my hotel, we say our goodbyes, and then he drives away to home. That is what would happen if I were to spend an entire day with Sebastian Stan.

P.S. This blog post is 100% fiction. In no way, shape, or form will this happen or happened.