Blog:10 All I ever wanted

One of my other favorite bands aside from “The Killers” is “ The Airborne Toxic Event” originally came out in 2006, from Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California. Mikel Jollett is the lead singer, Steven Chen is the lead guitarist, Noah Harmon is the bass player, Daren Taylor is the drummer, and Anna Bulbrook is the violin player. I liked this band because of their lyrics, sound, and their live performances. They named themselves after a section of a book called “White Noise” by Don DeLillo.

Mikel was a song writer but was hit with many hardships all at once, his mother was diagnosed with cancer and himself was diagnosed with autoimmune disease, which led to two cosmetic conditions: Alopecia areata and Vitiligo, so after all this, he went through intense song writing. Most of the songs that he wrote such as “Wishing Well,” “Missy,” “Innocence” appeared in their self titled cd in 2008.  Their first music video was “Does this mean your moving on” which is pretty much what the song means someone moving after a heart brake. Another song that was released which gave them their hype was “Sometime Around Midnight” a song about meeting a girl at the bar and well one night stand type of deal but the girl was so amazing that you can fall for her but she wasn’t a type for commitment.

Under their first label with the Uk indie label but the band changed to a different label that was located in the Los Angeles area. In two year they performed over 200 shows and ended their tour at the Disney concert hall here in Los Angeles, they had a string quartet, and Belmont’s hs marching band, and a choir of little girls at this event. The concert was sold out and was made in DVD, which I own and love the concert they had. After they started to work on their next cd named  ‘All at Once  ‘ released on April 25, 2011. That same day I got to see them live at Jimmy Kimmel Live for free, I got to see them front row, I loved that concert and marked it down as one of the best concerts ive been to, their cd was really well done I loved all the songs on that album by far, just like the Second Killers album (which I love also) The next song that came out from their new album was “Changing” a song about someone that never worried about changing but their other always worries about making them change and only wants them the way they want them to be. The next song that came out from the album was “Numb” a song pretty much going through the pain of loving someone but want to feel numb by drinking so you can for get them for that moment. They had a tour in the U.S, which I got to see them live again on October 25 2011, they through another great show and I got to high five Mikel and well another list of best performances ive seen on my list.file:///Users/mayracastillo/Desktop/The+Airborne+Toxic+Event++3.jpg

Blog:9 Great Scott

One of my favorite movies of all time, which I never get tired of watching, is the Back to the Future series. Michael J. Fox at his best, well his career blew up from the series but this movie was just so well done and written. The special effects were well done for its era, and I loved how all three intertwined all into each other. In part one you learn about Marty Mcfly, he is called a slacker by his principal and his family isn’t considered cool, his father George Mcfly isn’t very confident and lets his old school Bully Griff Buchanan punk him his whole life and well even crashed their car and blamed George but it was Griffs Fault. Marty was friends with a scientist in the town Named Doc Brown but everyone considered him crazy. One night Doc (brown) asked Marty to help him with a science experiment at their mall’s parking lot, and well we learn that he built a time machine with a delorean (which got really famous and sold more than usual after the movie was made) it was completely functionally, all it had to do is go to 88mph so it could work. That’s when things turn for the worse, terrorist came after doc because he built them a fake bomb and stole their plutonium so he can use it as a fuel source for the time machine. They shot the Doc and Marty was forced to use the time machine and went back to the year 1955.            

He ran into a guy named George and well saved his life from getting hit by a car but we later find out that was his father and he just ruined how his parent were supposed to meet. He finds Doc in 1955 and convinces him that he’s from the future and his science experiment was a success but he needs help getting back to his year but before he has to help get his parents back together. Marty has to deal with Griff trying to get with his mom, plus to make things all for the worse, his mom got the hots for Marty (awkward) Well he helps his father man up and to try to talk to the girl of his dream but it just took alot of determination, so Marty has to cut things short because on the day the lighting bolt that will help him send him back but he has to get his parents together or he will disappear. He came up with a plan to take out his mom but he would make things look he’s having his way with her in the car but the plan back fires when Griff beats up Marty and has his Gang throw him in a car, Then George has to build the courage against Griff and ends up punching him. Then Marty has to help his parents kiss at the dance but in the end things worked out and he got sent back to 1985 and his family was completely different because George stood up for himself back in 1955 and it changed the family from what they were. Then find out Griff works for George and things end up better. 

Blog #8 Its Not Luck, Just Random Events

So I decided to change the topic for this week’s blog, so people can learn more about me. I am a huge fan of music and movies, so pretty much I like to go a lot of concerts and other types of event. My first concert was when I was in 9^th grade with a band called “She wants Revenge” at the Greek theatre in Hollywood. When I went, I got upgraded to the very front in the pit area, after that day I just enjoyed the atmosphere from all the people cheering, singing along, and from that day always loved concerts. My next concert wasn’t until senior year in high school, at The Roxy, “The All-American Rejects“ were performing, and me and my friend Alfredo got to the front but got separated. He go pushed back and I got pushed forward but he lead singer actually got off the stage in front of me and I actually got to hug him along with the crowd. A week after I went with my sister at the Gibson amphitheater in Universal for the “KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas” which is where many bands perform, that day was too see, “Anberlin, Three days Grace, 30 Seconds to Mars, Sublime, Rise Against, and AFI.  I was excited to see AFI, Rise Against, and 30 seconds to mars. Before the concert I purchased a CD from the 30 seconds to mars, but my sister told me why am I buying, all I told her was because I never bought their latest one, it turned out to be the best idea I had because at the end of the concert the band was going to autograph their new cd in the lobby.

Later things like this kept happening when I got to go to concerts, like meeting Neon Trees and Jet. Other times I would be able to get to be front row for other bands like The Bravery, The Airborne Toxic Event, and Brandon Flowers. I had the chance to meet Brandon Flowers because I knew the security guard, but because he was a huge inspiration with for me, but I chickened out. I would also go to events like the Premier for Alice and Wonderland and actually got in without a ticket for the event and see the cast, like Johnny Depp, Helena Broham Carter, Tim Burton, and Anne Hathaway. Later they had a concert with many bands from the soundtrack. Then another event I went to which I wrote about in my narrative essay was when I went for a signing for Scott Pilgrim Vs the World, I got a maybe ticket from the other day but it wouldn’t assure me to be able to meet the cast so me and my friends decided to wait outside for 8 hours to see if we were lucky enough to be allowed in. Amazingly the plan worked and got a chance to meet the cast like Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Edgar Wright. I would not say im lucky because its just a weird turn of events I would say or even I was just at the right place  at the right time but overall its quite amazing sometimes.

We must stop Lucifer (part 2) blog :6

Well this is a continuation from my last blog, so ill get back into it with the 4^th season of Supernatural, we now know that Dean was sent to hell for selling his soul to save his brothers life, Sam. It has been four months later after Dean’s death, but the episode starts off with Dean coming out of the ground, he was brought back from hell. All he see’s around him is a forest destroyed, but he looks around and searches for a phone to reach bobby, a family friend (which I for got to mention since season one) He finds a way to contact him but when bobby answers, he hangs right up because he doesn’t believe it. After dean starts to hear a loud ringing noise but he doesn’t know where it’s coming from, the noise is so loud that it breaks all the glass around him. The next seen shows Sam with some random girl but after you find out that its ruby (the demon that was helping the brothers take out lilith). Later we find dean at the front door of bobbies house, but bobby thought dean was a zombie, or a demon but finally accepts that its actually dean.

            This season you find out more about angels, that they finally came out of hiding to try to stop Lucifer from coming back, he will be the cause of the apocalypse if he is brought back. An angel named Castiel was ordered to get dean out of hell because God chose him, to help stop the apocalypse. We find out there are seals that are holding off the apocalypse, but many have been broken. Dean was the cause of the first seal being broken, when he was in hell, there was a demon that would torture him everyday (in hell 4 months is 4 years), the demon would offer him the same offer which was he would stop torturing him, he dean would begin to torture the other souls in hell. After that the demons where trying to destroy 66 seals which would allow Lucifer to get out of his cage in Hell. Later we find out that Sam has been drinking demon blood, which gave him more power to kill demons, but later find out he was being used by ruby to kill lilith which was the very last seal to open Lucifer’s cage. After that we found out that the angels want to the apocalypse to happen but dean talks Castiel to join their side, to stop it, but in the end, the other angels plan happened. Lucifer was released from his cage. Sam and Dean killed Ruby for tricking them. The season ends with Lucifer coming out.

The next season which is the 5^th we see Sam and Dean are trapped in where Lucifer is coming but magically get disappeared on a plane up above, and Sam is no longer addicted to demon blood. Demons and angels now hunt the brothers and Castiel, plus they now got to look out for Lucifer, this season is my favorite by far but I have to cut it off right now. Till next time, to be continued.

Two Brothers, Demons, Ghost? Oh My!!!

My favorite show that I got into because of my friend Miguel is “Supernatural”, its got to do with two brothers Sam and Dean Winchester who kill anything that’s supernatural like ghost or demons. It first began with when their mother was killed by a yellow-eyed demon when they were young. Their father John Winchester wanted to kill what ever killed his wife, so then found out how there are a group of people called Hunters that kill anything supernatural. 20 years later Sam and Dean are hunters like their dad, it’s a life they didn’t choose, Sam always argued with John, but Dean always relied on his dad. The first episode, Sam and Dean hunted down a Llorana or the Lady in White, which is a women who killed her children because she went insane after finding her husband cheating on her. The beginning episodes showed what kind of monsters they went up against like demons, ghost, and poltergeists. During the first season they introduced the demons more commonly because at first they didn’t have anything to kill a demon, all they could do is exorcise back into hell. Later they found their dad, who was looking for a gun that was invented back in the west, with it would let them kill the demon that killed their mom. They found the gun but were pursued by many demons and the season ends with them driving in their car but getting hit on the side by a semi truck.

 The next season the brothers and their father ended up in the hospital but Dean was in a serious condition, which meant he wasn’t going to survive. Their father summoned the yellow-eyed demon and made a deal with him to keep Dean alive but would give his life and the colt. This season you find out more about the yellow eyed demons plan and you find out he was going to different houses 20 years back and giving some o his blood so the babies can drink and have powers later, then he would send them all to a private place, so they can all fight so he can have a leader for his army to open the door to hell, to release more demons to the world. Sam ended up getting killed by one of the other people, but Dean didn’t want to be the lone survivor of his family so he went to a crossroads demon and gave his soul to have his brother back, but the down side all he was given was a year to live. With Sam back, Dean and his brother went to where the door to hell was and killed the guy who killed Sam but many demons got out of hell, but dean ended up stealing the Colt from the yellow-eyed demon and killed him. That’s how second season ended but the next season was a race between time, to get Dean’s soul back, but later found out a demon named Lilith was after Sam because she was a follower of the yellow eyed demon. Another demon named Ruby was trying to help the brother by killing her, but in the end Dean was dragged down to hell by Hellhounds, which are like dogs pretty much. In the end they couldn’t save Dean but Lilith couldn’t kill Sam for some reason so, she left. That’s how the 3^rd season ended, but I will tell more in the next blog.

To be continued  

(Sam on the left Dean on the right)

What Harry Potter Did for me

Reading has always been important for me, before when I was around 7, I really didn’t read. I would play videogames and was shown to violent games, but once I saw Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, I got intrigued about the magical world, wizards and witches, and just the thought of quiditch was quite amazing. My sister and I went to the bookstore and went to buy the first two books, around a week in a half I completed both books, my sister was amaze by how I completed them. The next day I got my allowance from my parents and I went straight to the bookstore and bought the third book in the series “The Prisoner of Azkaban”. After I finished the book in less than a week I noticed that the series was getting darker and the wizard world was getting darker. The thing I liked about Harry Potter was that Harry was getting older and he was going through things just like any teenager would go through, except for being a wizard part but in love interest. After two weeks I got to read the 4^th Book ‘ The Goblet of Fire” I was amazed about how they bring death and darkness in this part, with Cedric Diggory and the return of Voldermort. The fifth book wasn’t supposed to be released for a year later so I decided to read Lord of The Rings, I wasn’t as intrigued by the series as much as Harry Potter but some people thought it was weird seeing a 8 year old read such a series but after the end I actually liked the series, my favorite character from the series was Legolas, because he was the most daring and was part of the comedy with Gimli.

After I finished Lord of The Rings I got back into Harry Potter series because the book came out a week after I was now in 5^th grade and I was pretty much done with the book in 4 days, sadly I cried when Bellatrix killed Harry’s Godfather. Then the battle between Dumbledore and Voldermort made it very intense, and made the book great. Now that I had to wait for Harry Potter for some time I read different books while I waited like from Tom Clancy, I read “Rainbow Six”, “Splinter Cell”, and “End War”. After I read “A Series of Unfortunate Events” by Lemony Snicket. Next I read “Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy” I found this story funny because of the witty of comedy it had, then when I was done I got back into the next Harry Potter book which got darker and killed Dumbledore which was a very sad moment for me and my sister, because we both cried about it. Then once again I kept on reading anything I found interesting like Japanese Manga which is pretty much graphic novels, I read Bleach, Naruto, Death Note, and Air gear. These got me through until the last Harry Potter book was released and made me feel quite sad because it was the reason I began reading and made me have sentimental value to what made me the person I am. I finished the book in 3 days and was remarked by how many characters were killed but the ending made me feel glad and accomplished. Reading opened up my eyes to new boundaries and I enjoy it no matter what.

Favorite Musician

My favorite band of all time are The Killers, when they first came out the had a big buzz going around, the reason I liked the was the word play they had in their music and the sound they had, it was alternative rock but their music was catchy but sentimental at the same time. The band consist of the lead singer Brandon Flowers, lead guitarist Dave Keuning, bass player Mark Stoermer, and drummer Ronnie Vannuci Jr. They formed in 2001 in Las Vegas, Nevada, they practiced a lot in Ronnie’s house because he was the only one with a house, then later at night they would sneak into the band room in UNLV where Ronnie studied percussion, in that room they wrote most of the songs for their debut album Hot Fuss which came out in 2004. This cd had countless hits off the start like Somebody Told Me, a song about getting a girl in a club. Mr. Brightside a song in which the title is the meaning about a guy whose propensity for getting overly involved emotionally with women he has just met, and suffering heartbreak when his love proves to be unrequited. These two songs have a word play that you would have to read slowly to understand the meaning behind the song, and they show hints about where they live. Another great single that came from the cd is “All the things ive done” a song about asking help from god, the most memorable part of this song is when it says “ I got soul but im not a soldier” this part shows that we got faith in god but never fully encourage it. They weren’t the only band to incorporate things like this in their music but Coldplay and U2 have done the same in their music. To show their encouragements they both performed this song together with The Killers in a concert last year.

            Their second cd came out in 2006, Sams Town had many mixed reviews but if you would listen to the cd and actually pay attention it is one of their best cds they have. In Sams Town you can hear how much time and effort when into it, plus the motivation that Brandon Flowers got from his brother. The cd was meant for his brother because if it wasn’t for him he wouldn’t of liked all the music he listens to, the first single from the cd was “When You Were Young” a song about a young Latin woman who imagines her future husband is like Jesus, but she found one that doesn’t look a thing like Jesus but that he talks like a gentlemen, but it the video he cheats on her and is a thing is that Jesus would never cheat, the song is about how we all do sins but they are mistakes we commit on accident. This cd went through many aspects of life and things we believe in, Their Next album was Day and Age, their latest album in 2008 became a hit right off the start, the single Human, was another song that took a time getting used to, but it should the aspects that we may be only human but we can become great things with time and effort. All their songs have great story telling and show religious views in their lives, but overall I will always like their music, no matter what.

Video Games Through the Years

Video games have really changed since the early seventies, from going to the arcades with a large group of friends has now gone to playing at the comfort of your own home, playing against someone either in a different state or country. The first gaming console was the  Magnavox Odyssey but it didn’t have much success until the Atari came out with its hit game pong. The graphics for the games in this era was nothing but pixels with not much detail. The consoles did well in the market until 1977 when the market stock went down but Atari stayed strong because it released Space Invaders onto the console but the market yet crashed again in 1983. The whole video game market crashed by the crappy games that came out around that time, the worse on the list was E.T the game, it was so horrible that they buried the game in an unknown location in Arizona. Most companied filed to bankruptcy, or just gave up on the company, around 1984 all North American came consoles were discontinued.

            In 1985 the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was released in North America, with Super Mario Bros. Nintendo brought back the videogame industry by bringing back competitors until the next generation of console were released, biggest competitors at this time was Sega and Nintendo, they competed until Sega was over thrown because their console the Sega Dreamcast didn’t do so well but it was the first console to have online gaming but it was too ahead of its time. The next big competitor to release was Sony’s Playstation then after Microsoft got into the business with their Xbox, Xbox brought online gaming into view, and became first in the competitors, playstation brought games for the hardcore gamer, and Nintendo brought the family element for their games. Now we have the Xbox 360 which has us playing with different kinds of people around the world and with Hd graphics for games like Halo and Gears of War, that shows much detail in the characters, like even in sport games you can see them sweat. Sony’s Playstation 3 has a Blu-ray player and has everything Xbox has but their games are more depth in their stories like God of War and Metal Gear Solid. Nintendo has been bringing innovation with motion sensors with their Nintendo Wii; they have the same types of games like Mario and the Legend of Zelda. Xbox and Playstation have brought their versions of motion control in the gaming community Xbox with their Kinect which lets your whole body be the remote, Playstation brought a motion control version of the Wii’s remote and next year Nintendo will be releasing their new console the Wii-u which will add more innovation, which will give ideas to the other competitors. The future of the gaming community is bright, it has gotten to a broader audience and it will keep getting bigger because the stories in the games get better and the graphics will keep advancing. 

COURAGE, HEROISM, AND BRAVERY

September 11, 2001, a time of great sadness and of heroism. Some people might not know but two men named Frank Martini and Pedro Ortiz became heroes but with a cost, they worked on the 88^th floor of the north trade center. An ordinary day at work turned into a terrible day when at 8:47 am a plane crashed right into the building 4 levels up, many people in the building got trapped and killed in the impact. These two men stood up and went to go help employees in the building find their way down by the flight of stairs, while they the workers went down the building, Frank, and Pablo went up to help others. Some workers were trapped by something blocking the door, and that couldn’t find their way out. Floor after These two men helped employees but when they got to the 91^st floor they couldn’t get up any higher because the debris was blocking the way up, they had way to help anyone trapped up in the upper floors, so they decided to go back down to check all the floors again, in total they saved a total of 77 employees. The last man they helped out was in the 73^rd floor, this man was trapped in the express elevator, sadly this man did not get out, and he was only inches away before 10:29, when the North tower collapsed. The bodies of Frank and Pablo never where found, the last thing known about them were that they were in the 73^rd floor when they used the walkie talkies to contact the police that something was wrong and that they didn’t have much time, this was 10 minutes before it collapsed. They showed courage, strength, and inspired others to help out during the situation at hand. What made these two regular guys get the courage and the strength to take it in their own will to take this challenge? To risk their lives to save 77 people, even though they had a wife and kids, they thought of others and died like heroes. They showed something to those people that day, Hope, 9-11 was supposed to be a day of tragedy and terrorist thought that we all as a nation should live in fear, but they were wrong. We should follow an example out of this, sure we may no go to these extremes with helping out during a situation, but little things can be useful, like bullying, or helping homeless people.

            I remember 9-11, before I didn’t really understand what was going on, what was the purpose and how can something like this happen, before I didn’t even hear about Frank and Pablo, it took me ten years later to fully understand everything, my prayers go to their family and the people who lost loved ones. On this day we were caught off guard but were made stronger and stood together as one. We as people don’t really realize sometimes out of everyone around there lays some people that will either help us during a situation or not, but are you that kind of person?