Senior Comp. Photographic Essay

As the sweat dripped off his face, he faced his opponent with what could be misconstrued as a cocky smirk.  His heart was racing.  The ball went from his hand to the gym floor and back as he watched the seconds slowly dissipate.  The sound of the crowd ripped through the gym like a volley of gun shots.  Deafening.  The clock read 10 seconds.  His heartbeat pounded to the rythm of the bouncing ball now.   The opponent glanced right and then left looking for a possible screen.  No screen was needed.  The sound of the ball hitting the floor was now merely an echo of his heartbeat as it seemed to slow even more.  9.  Their season had come to this moment.  8.  The sound of the manic crowd slowly faded.  7.  He focused on the hoop over his opponent's head.  6.  He glanced into his opponent's eyes and could tell that it was his pulse that was racing now.  5.  He exploded to his right.  4.  The defender lunged after but was too slow.  3.  He rose up having taken this shot 1000's of times.  Time slowed.  2.  The ball left his fingertips in one fluid motion as the opponent looked on helplessly.  1.  The ball's rotation was perfect.   0.  As the horn sounded, the player watched knowingly as the ball fell through the net.











Emotion: Confidence

Moronic Movies Make Me Mad

Your topic this week is to talk about some of the best movies you have ever seen.  What did you like about them?  Are there any coming out soon that you are looking forward to seeing?

My English 10 classes had Mr. Miller in class last week to speak about his Classic Film Studies class.  His discussion was the inspiration for this blog.  I am an avid film lover.  If a movie is worth watching, I have probably seen it.  In fact, my English 10 classes are being introduced to a classic 80s film (Wargames) this week for our Science Fiction and Fantasy Unit.  Anyone familiar with 80s films would recognize the two headliners from this film: Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy. 

Since I have seen so many movies and have such eclectic tastes, I think the easiest way to mention some of the greatest movies I have ever seen would to be by genre. 

Disclaimer:  Many of these movies are rated R, and I am not suggesting you go see these films.  I am merely pointing out my personal preference.  These are not necessarily my picks as the greatest films in each of these genres either.  They are just the first films that came to mind.

Action:  Die Hard. 
Adventure:  Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade
Comedy:  Happy Gilmore
Crime:  The Town
Drama:  A Time to Kill
Epics:  Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Fantasy:  See above...but I'll throw in The Neverending Story as a personal favorite from my childhood.
Horror:  The Shining
Musical:  The Sound of Music
Science Fiction:  Donnie Darko
War:  Enemy at the Gates
Western:  Tombstone

If Time is Relative, Can One Truly Waste Time?

For this week's topic, tell me things you like to do that might be considered a waste of time...

This is an interesting topic because it doesn't ask for what you enjoy to do in your free time.  To me, that is different.  I like to play basketball and work out in my free time.  However, I dont think people would think these activities are a waste of time.  

However, I play Angry Birds quite often and this is a waste of time.  It is even more a waste of time when you consider that I have beaten every level, and I am now going back through the game to beat each level with a three star rating.  I think video games are a waste of time.  Many would disagree and that's ok.  Trust me.  As I rotate from COD, to Assassin's Creed, to Alan Wake, I know that this is not a wise use of time.  

I'm sure many of you have watched movies multiple times.  This is one of my favorite ways to waste time!  There are some movies I could watch over and over.  When I was little, it was all the Disney movies.  I still can sing all those songs from those movies.  When the First Lord of the Rings film came out I think I saw it something like 11 times in the theatre.  Yikes.  That is nearly a day and a half of watching one movie.

Finally, I am proud to say that I read some books over and over again.  In the early 90s I discovered Robert Jordan's The Eye of the World.  It is the first book of the Wheel of Time series: a series that makes the Harry Potter books look like glorified Dr. Suess books.

The Eye of the World was actually first published in 1990.  There are now 13 books in this Fantasy series.  The 14th and final book will be released sometime this year.  Robert Jordan wrote the first 11 books, but passed away of a rare blood disease in 2007.  He selected Brandon Sanderson to finish his series using his outlines and notes.  I have been reading this series for the past 15 years of my life.  It seems like every two years I go back and reread the books form the beginning.  A waste of time?  Certainly.  Do I care?  Certainly not.