I'm not done with my 'to watch' list yet for movies released in 2011. I'm currently in the middle of watching The Adjustment Bureau, and there's still a lot more that I need to watch, so I plan on trying to find them all online within the next week or finding the closest movie theater where they are playing.
A movie that I have been looking forward to seeing for a while now is The Artist, and the closest place its playing is an hour away from where I live, so unless it shows up online, then the list might exclude it. But all 'Best of' lists that I make are subject to change.
I plan on watching The Ides of March and A Separation tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Occupy Providence
Protesters began to gather in Burnside Park Providence Saturday October 14th, 2011 , spreading the Occupy movement to even more cities across the country. Being inspired by the notoriety of Occupy Wall Street and the message of socioeconomic change, the protesters have been “occupying” the park for more than three weeks as of today and hold general assemblies every day at 6 p.m. which consist of a march around the park and around Downtown Providence.
Entering the park, there are signs that state, “Excessiveness is aggressiveness” and another that said, “I am Troy Davis”, the name of a man who was just recently was executed under the death penalty for the 1989 murder of a police officer in Georgia
The statue of General Burnside was visible in the distance and had a large “OCCUPY PROVIDENCE!” banner posted under the statue and a red flag hanging off the statue itself that read, “No borders, No masters” and “Love, Solidarity, Freedom” and other sayings of that nature. Other signs throughout the park featured other slogans such as, “Occupy Everything!” and “Tax the RICH!”
The now muddy park as a result of the weather was crowded with tents that featured slogans painted on such as, “Whose tent? Our tent!” and “Solidarity” with peace signs and hearts also painted on them.
People of all ages occupied the park; some of the occupants ranged from teenagers and college students to the elderly all joining together in the freezing weather for hope of change in the USA
One of the most interesting occupants was a man who appeared to be in his 50’s wearing a yellow fleece jacket with matching pants and walked around the park and said, “I am not General Burnside. We will leave peacefully; we have not lost a man yet. I have stood, not fallen through the rain and snow. There will be two tutors to a classroom, and don’t worry about money, we will rise above money. We will develop a Starfleet and fix the galaxy, starting with this planet! We will shoot all the women, all they care about are shoes! A WOMAN NEEDS A MAN TO SURVIVE!” The man answered with this response no matter what was asked of him or said to him and often stood on top of benches as if he was channeling Captain Morgan.
On the other side of the park, they gave the opportunity for people to stand under the statue of General Burnside and let their voices be heard.
One of the organizers of Occupy Providence stood at the base of the statue, “This is your chance to speak your mind,” he told the crowd, “Let your voice be heard! Any one of you can come up here and speak!”
One protestor, wearing a revolutionary war type hat, went up there and spoke of his love for the movement and his city. “Occupy Providence
Around the statue there were around 15 to 20 people listening in on words of inspiriting revolution-fueled speeches and tales of financial woes; a young male protestor declared, “This is our land! We have rights, we need to stand strong! We cannot let the police stop us and what we believe in, they aren’t right, we are!”
The latter of his speech referred to the Mayor of Providence having recently stated that the city will file legal action against the protestors, seeking eviction for the protestors and Police Commissioner Pare visited them a couple of days ago to deliver a notice that stated that they must leave the park within 72 hours.
To the side of the statue and soapbox area for speaking, there were booths set up where you could get food, information, schedules, and sign a petition to let the occupants stay in Burnside Park
The march at 6 pm went on as scheduled with all the occupants following the Occupy Providence banner throughout the streets of Downtown Providence without police intervention. The now iconic slogan, “We are the 99%” was inspiringly chanted as they marched their way through the city streets as the sun began to set over the Providence
The first part of their mission statement is, as recited in a video posted on YouTube, “Occupy Providence is a gathering of people who seek to exercise their right to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly, inspired by people’s occupations spreading rapidly across the globe.” Even though the range of different protestors is vast, they are all united and inspired by the same goal: change.
As expected, the protestors show no sign of wanting to leave until their needs are met and socioeconomic change has descended upon the USA November 2, 2011 , it was announced that legal action against the protesters would be postponed.
At the moment, change on a national or even global scale seems indefinite, but none of the occupants in Providence
RoboTripping
“The couch turned into a giant fish, like the one in the opening credits from Spongebob, and then on the other side of the room, a giant potato appeared. I knew the couch wasn’t a fish, but my brain was telling me that it definitely was a fish and that it wanted me to eat the potato,” said a DHS student who has experimented with the drug Dextrometorpohan.
“Right before I threw up,” said another student, “my body perspective shifted to third person. I could see myself lying down, I could see my body, and then it condensed into a ball of human matter, like eyes and ears sticking out of a ball of body parts mashed together and then I shot back into first person and wasn’t aware if I threw up or not, so I asked, turns out I did.”
The recreational consumption of DXM, found in most cough and cold medicines, is commonly used among teenagers who are experimenting with drugs. The most popular slang term for the act is ‘Robo-tripping’, derived from the brand of cough medicine, Robotussin. When DXM is consumed in “recreational” doses, the drug has euphoric, psychedelic, and hallucinogenic effects that resemble drugs such as ketamine, PCP, and LSD. The drug does not produce a physical addiction or withdrawal symptoms but there have been cases of psychological addictions.
In 1995, an online essay, written by William E. White, was published that classified the effects of DXM into five levels or “plateaus” of high-dose effects. The essay distinguishes the plateaus by the amount of DXM consumed by the body mass of person taking the drug. The first plateau has effects that include, but are not limited to, alertness, increased heartbeat, increased body temperature, euphoria, and loss of balance. The more DXM consumed, the more intense the effects are.
Plateau Sigma, the highest level, is described as taking the maximum amount every three hours for 9-12 hours, and features severe visual and auditory hallucinations. White said that more than half of the reports he received about someone reaching the Plateau Sigma were described as “unpleasant.”
In multi-symptom cold medicines that include drugs such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) and phenylephrine, grave side effects such as permanent kidney failure, and even death are possible when consumed on the same scale as a casual user of DXM. So most people only experiment with cough medicines containing only DXM, yet excessive use of the drug can result in brain lesions.
“Every ridged surface became smooth, my house looked like it was made out of Legos,” said the same student, describing his hallucinations, “I saw red flashes of lights and I imagined God as a lightsocket in a cloud. The whole experience was like a different plain of existence.”
“I’d describe [robotripping] as kind of being drunk,” said another student. “I felt sensitive to everything around me, like when listening to music. I felt all the notes come through me and merge with my body.”
Side effects of DXM include, but are not limited to, delirium, muscle spasms, cardiac arrest (if taken in higher doses, a lower dose raises your heart beat and body temperature), and vomiting.The students said they experienced all of those effects in one way or another.
“There is a hangover effect in the morning too,” said a student, “but that’s probably due to severe dehydration, which made it neutral for me.”
“There is also no feeling of being tired,” said one of the students, “you get this huge burst of energy and then for the last four hours, you collapse and sink into whatever you fall on. During that time, my friend and I felt like we couldn’t move and talked to each other for a couple hours by touching each others heads.”
The student’s friend said at that moment they blacked out and imagined the universe turn into a purple walnut and watched it collapse into a black hole with only the sun escaping.
In the USA, there is no law that penalizes using DXM for recreational purposes rather than for a medicinal reason. Some states make stores that carry the product to restrict the purchase of it by requiring an ID, and a signature. Some of them even go as far as to limit their stock of cough medicine. There have been cases of people having to spend time in prison as a result of selling DXM in its pure powder form, but only for the resale of medicine without the proper warning labels.
DXM was also excluded from the Controlled Substance Act of 1970 and still is, yet officials have said that if the amount of people who abuse the drug raises that it may be added.
“Right before I threw up,” said another student, “my body perspective shifted to third person. I could see myself lying down, I could see my body, and then it condensed into a ball of human matter, like eyes and ears sticking out of a ball of body parts mashed together and then I shot back into first person and wasn’t aware if I threw up or not, so I asked, turns out I did.”
The recreational consumption of DXM, found in most cough and cold medicines, is commonly used among teenagers who are experimenting with drugs. The most popular slang term for the act is ‘Robo-tripping’, derived from the brand of cough medicine, Robotussin. When DXM is consumed in “recreational” doses, the drug has euphoric, psychedelic, and hallucinogenic effects that resemble drugs such as ketamine, PCP, and LSD. The drug does not produce a physical addiction or withdrawal symptoms but there have been cases of psychological addictions.
In 1995, an online essay, written by William E. White, was published that classified the effects of DXM into five levels or “plateaus” of high-dose effects. The essay distinguishes the plateaus by the amount of DXM consumed by the body mass of person taking the drug. The first plateau has effects that include, but are not limited to, alertness, increased heartbeat, increased body temperature, euphoria, and loss of balance. The more DXM consumed, the more intense the effects are.
Plateau Sigma, the highest level, is described as taking the maximum amount every three hours for 9-12 hours, and features severe visual and auditory hallucinations. White said that more than half of the reports he received about someone reaching the Plateau Sigma were described as “unpleasant.”
In multi-symptom cold medicines that include drugs such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) and phenylephrine, grave side effects such as permanent kidney failure, and even death are possible when consumed on the same scale as a casual user of DXM. So most people only experiment with cough medicines containing only DXM, yet excessive use of the drug can result in brain lesions.
“Every ridged surface became smooth, my house looked like it was made out of Legos,” said the same student, describing his hallucinations, “I saw red flashes of lights and I imagined God as a lightsocket in a cloud. The whole experience was like a different plain of existence.”
“I’d describe [robotripping] as kind of being drunk,” said another student. “I felt sensitive to everything around me, like when listening to music. I felt all the notes come through me and merge with my body.”
Side effects of DXM include, but are not limited to, delirium, muscle spasms, cardiac arrest (if taken in higher doses, a lower dose raises your heart beat and body temperature), and vomiting.The students said they experienced all of those effects in one way or another.
“There is a hangover effect in the morning too,” said a student, “but that’s probably due to severe dehydration, which made it neutral for me.”
“There is also no feeling of being tired,” said one of the students, “you get this huge burst of energy and then for the last four hours, you collapse and sink into whatever you fall on. During that time, my friend and I felt like we couldn’t move and talked to each other for a couple hours by touching each others heads.”
The student’s friend said at that moment they blacked out and imagined the universe turn into a purple walnut and watched it collapse into a black hole with only the sun escaping.
In the USA, there is no law that penalizes using DXM for recreational purposes rather than for a medicinal reason. Some states make stores that carry the product to restrict the purchase of it by requiring an ID, and a signature. Some of them even go as far as to limit their stock of cough medicine. There have been cases of people having to spend time in prison as a result of selling DXM in its pure powder form, but only for the resale of medicine without the proper warning labels.
DXM was also excluded from the Controlled Substance Act of 1970 and still is, yet officials have said that if the amount of people who abuse the drug raises that it may be added.
Snapbacks
The clock strikes 2:03 at Dartmouth High School and the students anticipate leaving the building and heading home. This time is significant to others as well as the majority; it’s the time when students may put on their hats inside the building as they head outside to catch their bus or their ride home. If one looks around at the students who are wearing hats, they may notice that many students are wearing the same style of hat, the snapback which has become the latest vintage style to come back into fashion and gain stunning popularity.
Snapbacks are adjustable hats that are made out of cotton for a more comfortable fit than its fitted counterpart. The underbrim of the hat is usually a bright and distinct color, and the snapback mechanism on the back gives the hat its signature style. The average cost of a snapback is 22 dollars, but a rare vintage one can sometimes reach over 100 dollars.
Freshman Paul Melo, while wearing a white Red Wings snapback on his belt loop, said, “I don’t know why they’re back in style, I just like to wear them. I like the style and the team on the hat.”
“I wear it on my belt so it doesn’t get crushed in my bag or in my locker,” Melo commented, “One time when I was late, I shoved it in my locker and the hat got crushed; I need to make sure the hat keeps its shape.”
Junior Jeff Smead said, “Everything is terrible right now. Snapbacks are in style because they’ve run out of ideas.” Smead said that he liked the style and that he doesn’t own a snapback at the moment, but is looking to purchase one in the near future.
“I wore this hat before everyone else started wearing snapbacks because I’m gangsta,” said junior Dylan Miranda while wearing a worn-out, black Red Sox snapback. He then said that he didn’t have an answer for why they’re as popular as they are, but then criticized the people who have jumped on the snapback bandwagon.
As with every fashion trend, there are critics of the snapbacks fad, such as junior Katherine Bethoney, who said, “They’re stupid. They are not cool. You like you’re five when you wear that.”
Senior Ethan Fernandes said, “They just look stupid. What’s with wearing a hat on your belt? Why are they trying to copy truckers? Now they’re the ones who started it.”
Snapback hats just recently came into style again; they were first introduced in the 1980’s and peaked in popularity in the ‘90s. Back then, members of N.W.A. (Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and Eazy E) and Tupac Shakur were most famous for wearing them, but also some professional basketball players wore them, such as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant which contributed to their popularity over 20 years ago.
Most snapbacks feature a sports team, but ever since their recent popularity, snapbacks with classic superheroes such as Batman, Superman, and the Green Lantern, hats that feature popular musicians such as Lil’ Wayne, Eminem, and Blink-182, and hats with popular cartoon characters from shows such as, Phineas and Ferb, Yo Gabba Gabba, and Adventure Time with Finn & Jake are now on sale at stores such as F.Y.E. and Newbury Comics. Some popular rappers today have even written songs about their snapbacks such as Mac Miller and Tyga.
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