A Students Dilemma

Ah the lovely task of crunching down on school assignments and making a final decision on a college major before spending another couple thousand dollars here and there on basic education.
By the end of my Junior year I was sick of the so called organization of the school system. Education is like a chore in these modern times, like clock-work the youth of America gets up and gets to school by 7.30am and rushes out the door a.s.a.p. at 2.20pm. How depressing. I lost a lot of hope and enthusiasm for my favorite class this past year when my physics teacher blaitently told our class that we learn near to nothing worth remembering in school because all of the teaching is geared toward a certain test. The youth of American is learning material for a test, and when the test is over the bits and pieces don’t form a concept. Instead the bits and pieces of material fade with the dormant-minded summer months and fail to resurrect upon return to school.
Now prove me wrong that college will be different! I am looking forward to my college experience and education, but I find it hard to imagine a college experience that is extensively different to my high school experience. As it is my parents have always been lenient with and trusting of me and a good number of my friends are older than I am, I find sometimes that I have more in common with the “adults” than with the “kids”. A misfit I guess you could say. So tell me… after that and the AP and college courses I already take… what am I waiting for? Paying for that same experience? I hope not.
I love to help people in general and if I find that I take a liking to law or business, I’d really like to start some sort of organization to reform the school system. I almost agree with President Obama to an extent regarding the lengthening of the school years. After all the original reason children are given an entire two and a half months break in the summer was with the intention of helping out with the harvest and the crops in the fields. Now since our economy is rapidly changing from a manufacturing and agricultural economy to a service economy, the summer camp business is the only preventative to lengthening the school year.
However I do not agree with lengthening the school day in addition to the year itself. It is my strong belief that teachers these days are getting lazy as are the students and classes are getting easier because there is no effort from either side, ultimately destroying the educatuon system. I believe that schools should not be giving Hw. Some nights, especially closer toward May and June and the end of the school year, teachers are rushing to get through the course material and pile on the Hw, giving students hours of work to bring home with the expectation that the students will complete it all over night and then come back the next day wide awake. This may be fine once in a while but not when students have up to eight or nine different teachers that give Hw five nights a week!
A students dilemma… how does a student make a stand and voice their position when the adults that we need to help us change the system will not take us seriously!? So many adults automatically assume that all teens are up to no good and treat them with little to no respect because we as teens are all pre judged by the few mischevious teens that define our gereration. How does a student who can not legally vote, drink, or fight a war tell an adult how corrupted and disfunctional the eductaion system is when the last time they went to school was in the 70’s and 80’s? The principals and deans have no time, and yet the “suggestion” box is over flowing. It is so frustrating to be a person who struggles to be on time and yet can still show up to a school function twenty minutes later than her procrastion causes and then still have to wait another half hour for it to begin…
Is it just me or this this happening elsewhere?

The Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer

The Twilight Series, originally a trilogy, took the New York Times Bestseller’s List by storm upon being published. Though Stephanie Meyer is a new author to the public, her vampire saga novels are a must read among the teenagers. Typically it is the girls who had fallen for Edward Cullen’s charming and mysterious ways and his damsel in distress who seems to always need saving, however in resents weeks there has been a growth in the number of boys reading Twilight. At this I am puzzled. After all Twilight is a book and there is nothing stopping guys and girls alike enjoying the series but tell me please, what in the Twilight series is of much interest to guys? I understand that there are vampires and small doses of magic here and there but what is intriguing about a love sick and clumsy protagonist, Isabella “Bella” Swan? Not to mention, although Stephanie Meyer has developed an amazing plot with detailed and mysterious characters that spark the readers interest and curiosity, the dialogue and writing itself is not held in such high regards. Stephanie Meyer’s writing style is not one that flows well. Her words and phrases do not always follow the same structure and style. There are some longwinded chapters that strain the stories brilliance and take almost too long to make a point or establish a scene.

Based on the Twilight movie trailer (opening November 21th 2008), I expect to be very disappointed. Trailers show scenes of Edward Cullen hoisting Bella Swan onto his back and racing through the forest which is obviously an impossible task for anything or anyone human, however with today’s amazing computer rendered images and graphics (special effects) I was expecting something that looked A LOT LESS fake! I am in fact so disappointed that I am hesitant about even spending $10.00 to go see the film in theaters opening weekend and will maybe just pick it up on Netflix when it comes out on DVD.

Still I give props to Stephanie Meyer though, I had no intention or desire to read a novel based on vampires and magic especially after J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series but Twilight was truly the first book I read back to back and one that I couldn’t put down (and still have trouble putting down after all I am currently reading it for the 4th time), and I hear her lastest novel “The Host” is also a must read. Here goes another trip to the bookstore.

And for those of you who love and appreciate Stephanie Meyer’s imaginative stories of the Twilight series give this a read: Stephanie Meyer’s unpublished Midnight Sun, which is the Twilight story from Edward Cullen’s perspective.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions of other reading material leave me a message (comment). Let me know how the movie went but please don’t leave any spoilers for New Moon or Eclipse without stating so in the first lines of your comments.

BoDash

iPhone Tips n’ Ticks No.1

Taking iPhone screen shots is simple. First and most obvious is finding or choosing the screen of which you want the screen shot. Then hold down the home button and press the on/off button and the screen will flash signaling that the screen shot has been taken.

Then go to your camera roll you will be able to view the screen shot and upload the photograph into iPhoto when you sync the iPhone with your MAC or PC. Screen shots work with any application but careful how long you hold down the home and on/off button because your iPhone could take you to the home page or “turn off” which may result in you loosing the screen you want the photograph of.

These screen shots feature a free iPhone game application called Tap Tap Revolution, which has a similar concept combination of Guitar Hero and DDR (Dance Dance Revolution). For more iPhone reviews, tips, tricks, and discussions visit: slapphappe.

BoDash

The Perfect End to the Perfect Summer

After my last hugs and goodbyes to the crew I find myself revisiting all of the most amazing experiences and adventures I have had with the staff and the other interns. From learning tons of new tricks and information to great laughs and stories we shared over the summer. And through all the heat, humidity, rain, thunderstorms, cuts, scrapes, and bruises, I have to say this has been one of the greatest summers.

And it amazes me that I have yet to loose track of the days so I just want to thank everyone for such a great time. Heres to the new friends I’ve made that I’ll never forget, to the duck we domesticated, to the knowledge I’ve gained, and to Jeff, Mike, Nate, and John, who taught me the most and took the time to explain to me how and why things worked the way they did. Mike thanks so much for the time you set aside to have “girl talk” it was great fun and something I’ll probably miss most about the summer. And thanks to Jeff, for he might not know it but he has not only made the effort to teach me something about theater tech. but he has also gotten me to actually use my email, a battle that has been fought for years. Duffy safe travels to Oregon and Jeff enjoy New Zealand. I wish everyone the best for the year. I look forward to seeing you all around and next summer back at work.

Just remember this life lesson, CAKES (though delicious) can sometimes be dangerous!

BoDash

“I’m with the Band”

So after yet another awesome day at work and taking partial control of the lighting board with Sam and John and learning to use the Genie for gel changes and then going up into the towers to refocus lights even though I’ll openly admit I’m not great at that just yet (i.e. coming away with 3 cuts from rusty nuts and bolts and 2 scrapes) I’ll give great credit to John for explaining lots about lighting to me in a way that actually makes sense. Thnx. However Jeff I’m not so sure about. He’s never really taught me anything but I decided I like him anyway. And I’m mentioning him because he felt left out not having been mentioned in my previous blogs. So heres to Jeff.

BoDash

The New 16GB Apple iPhone 3G

So my father and I are Apple and MAC product obsessed and went to the nearest mall this morning to pick up the new 16GB Apple iPhone 3G in white that was released just last week. This Is intact what I am using to write this blog and although the new iPhone does not feature select cut copy paste the speed and used friendlyness of this iPhone is actually impressive. I’m a little jealous infact. The new shape resembles the style of the MAC air laptop computer and though the new iPhone is large in depth than it’s original the curved shape gives the illusion of a thin and more stylish design and fits nicely in the palm of your hand. I’m no beta tester like my father but I’m looking forward to trying out all the new applications and testing to see how easy it is to use the iCalendar with the iPhone which my main concern.

For more information on the New iPhone 3G visit slapphappe

BoDash

Not Again!?!

My father works in the city and last night over a cup of tea he told me that a third person had been reported to have climbed the New York Times building, he only made it to the 11th floor (loser) but I mentioned that the guy who signed off on the blueprints of the building and okayed the architectural design must be kicking himself in the face right about now. He laughed at me but all I could think of was what must have possessed someone to scale a skyscraper for crying out loud. Okay maybe the first person was just passionate about climbing large and ridiculously tall buildings but the second and third person? Come on if some guy jumped off the New York Times building would more idiots follow? Maybe that’s the solution to the worlds problem. On that thought maybe more people should scale buildings!

BoDash

A Behind the Scenes Look at Summer to Learn from and Remember…

So now that summer has started everyone who is associated with the school systems, teachers, students, etc. begin looking for summer jobs. I’ve found mine, which by the way is considered to be an internship according to my town but I’m getting paid to do work that I love with people that I love. I work as part of a stage crew for our town’s park which on every night of the week, excluding mondays, contracts artists to perform theater and musical shows. I’m getting the most amazing chance to work with college aged people and professionals who know a good chunk of valuable information about the technical side of theater and shows. I considered myself a “lighting person” until my second or third day of actually working there at the park, and I realized that I know nothing about lighting. My high school stage director had assigned my to be head lighting person, and by the summer of sophomore year I had realized that all that meant was I was the special one who got to push the button the made the lights change for the next scene and if something went wrong, I was to blame, not my prodigy would followed the script to tell me when the cues were coming up. I used to be that person. And it doesn’t sound great but that person has a better job than the head of lighting. By the shows open everyone in the crew knew all the lines and props better than the actors so the lighting prodigy pretty much got to hang out.
However this summer I’m getting the chance to work with and learn from awesome (and I mean awesome) people that can teach me sound and lighting which I’m so psyched about. Evan, one of the guys I work with let me take over the lightboard last tuesday for a small show and it was one of the coolest and most thrilling experiences actually being able to play around with the light and discover and learn for myself. With wise words Evan left me with the lightboard and went backstage. I didn’t screw up but that’s because all it took was those first five minutes to become accustom to the new environment and figure it out. I know and fully admit to being somewhat of a “stagecrew” geek but when you find something you love this much its hard to hide the passion.

BoDash

Peace. Love. ’n Spencer.

So… Yeah… I’m not going to lie I’m no poet or “hardcore” writer/blogger but I must say this whole web page design layout thing so far hasn’t been too difficult. I’ve finally taken back control of my webpage now that I finally know how to us the damn thing. Then there is always the difficult decision of choosing a pen name. I originally thought of “J.D. Spencer” but I’ve always been called BoDash and since the blog is BoDash.com I might as well stick with the name that stuck to me first. The only disappointing thing I’ve come across so far would definately have to be the limited design choices you’re given, especially being an artist with a mild case of self-diagnosed OCD (Not really but I can sometimes be a perfectionist). <3

BoDash