Bless Me, Ultima (chapters 15-16)

Okay, first off, I'd like to say I'm only doing these two chapters because my last post consisted of chapters right through fourteen. Also, a Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your vacation. I think it's funny that we read the part of the book that takes place at Christmas on Christmas day. And I knew Ultima was going to have some sort of trouble. I knew it. I applaud her though, because she doesn't make it seem like it having any negative effect on her. Especially after saving Antonio's uncle's life and dealing with Tenorio and his daughters. I also think Antonio is looking forward to his First Communion because it will bring him closer to God and to the path he must choose with having to pick his career and all. Also, it may bring up another aspect to believing in the magic gold carp. Which I still think is strange. But it is what it is. I just really hope everything goes okay with Ultima and Tenorio. Though I have a hunch there will be a big battle between them because of all this build up of anticipation occuring between them.

Fear Factor is Back!

Yes, that's right, the beloved Fear Factor is back. It first aired in 2001, then started dwindling in 2006 once new reality shows such as "Jersey Shore" and "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" started showing up. I'm personally pretty excited to see it back. I remember when I used to watch the show with my family. As gross as it was, we loved it. But I just recently watched one of the new episodes and it definitely bring me back. With the same host, Joe Rogan, and same format as before, it will attract many of the old fans. Also, with Joe Rogan commentating on Ultimate Fighter, he may attract a few of his fighting fans as well. This show has definitely always freaked me out. Bugs and creepy crawly things scare me. And I can't even imagine how awful it would be to eat a live scorpion.
The purpose of this article is to promote, as well as entertain. It's promoting the show and more importantly, the resurrection of the show. The new Fear Factor is bigger and better than it was before. As Rogan says, "'Our limit to pull someone through the air used to be 100 feet and to drop them was like 10 feet, but yesterday we pulled someone 600 feet through the air and dropped them 150 feet. There was no way that we could've done that six years ago. It basically means we're just always trying to top ourselves now.'" (Lang, quoting Rogan). The article also informs viewers of what exactly happened to Fear Factor, how it had trouble competing with other reality shows so it slowly dwindled. After leaving, the producers went to work on Wipe Out. Then, they decided to retry Fear Factor. And because of all the new technology, they were able to make things bigger and badder and scarier.






Article: 'Fear Factor" crawls back to TV by Derrik J. Lang

Bless Me, Ultima (8-14)

The book is definitely getting more interesting as I continue reading it. I think there's something about this type of foreign witchcraft that interests me. It's not the typical type that is found in stories like, "The Crucible" that I've heard of many times. It's quite different. It's more on the "earthy" side, I guess you could say. It's more of remedies involving herbs and other such things. That was one of my favorite parts in this section of reading. I liked how Ultima asked Antonio to come with to help heal his uncle. I secretly think that Ultima, who is kind if the only one to really know his destiny, chose for him to take her place when she's gone. He certainly can handle it, especially since he proved himself worthy after helping Ultima heal his uncle. Antonio is a spiritual person, who has important dreams, making it very possible to help Ultima as his future instead of being a priest.
Which brings me to the next topic of the magical golden carp. He starts to question his own god for the belief that this fish is god. I think that's pretty weird. I also think he is doubting himself because instead of believing in a god he must trust to exist, this carp is actually there. There's no imagining of a god when he sees this carp with his own eyes. I think it's weird to worship a fish and all, but hey, whatever floats your boat, Antonio.

Bless Me, Ultima (1-7)

First off, I'd like to say that I wish I knew Spanish. That would help me so much while reading this book, as there are many Spanish phrases and lines throughout. However, I do manage to understand what the kind of mean just by using context clues and whatnot.
In the beginning chapters, I've had difficulty getting through pages at a time. But I feel as though the book is getting better and better as I continue. I cannot believe that Antonio is only six years old right now. Why would a six year old chase his father and another man into the night when they are going after a killer? I feel as though the younger you are, the more fearless you are. You aren't afraid to make mistakes.
I really like how Antonio's dreams are so involved with the story. Just by knowing the first dream lets you know that his dreams will play a significant part in this story.
So far, I really like Ultima. She is very kind yet mysterious and I like that the audience is left trying to figure her out. I feel like something will happen to her later in the story that will turn people against her eventually.
I also don't know how I feel about Antonio having to choose his destiny t such a young age. I know it seems to be a big deal with family history and everything, but a mother telling her six year old son that he is to be a priest when he grows up leaves no decision for him. It's like telling your child to be an accountant. Childhood is when you explore your options and see what you're good at and discover passions.
These are my thoughts on the beginning impression of the story. More rambling to come next time!

And the winner for Losing their Campaign in 30 Seconds or Less Goes To....

Rick Perry. Total jerk. He seriously does not know his audience at all. For those of you who didn't see his new ad, here it is:
You'll agree with my above statement after seeing this.

What this idiot is talking about is fighting for religion in America, and comparing it to gays serving in the military. I am disgusted by this man. He says, "I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Christian, but you don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school." Then, to dig the hole deeper, he continues, "As president, I’ll end Obama’s war on religion. And I’ll fight against liberal attacks on our religious heritage." I can't even describe the stupidity of this man. Clearly, the author agrees with me. 
First off, you can tell the article is supposed to provide some humor with its title, "Rick Perry: More disliked than Rebecca Black". I thought it was funny. She starts it talking about how other candidates should send him thank you cards and balloons. Because this pretty much means that Rick Perry will not make it far in this campaign. The author's purpose is to persuade (although I hardly think anyone agrees with Perry) and definitely to entertain. I agree with Mary when she says, "OK, you gays openly serving in the military! President Perry is going to mind-wipe everyone you’ve come out to! And then he’s going to put a Nativity scene in every classroom! Because that’s what the Founding Fathers would have wanted." (Williams). She even goes on to say, "Excuse me, I have to go wipe these copious tears of derisive laughter off my cheeks." (Williams). She also compares Perry's viral video to that of another hated video from Rebecca Black. This ties in the title of the article to the article.


Article: "Rick Perry: More dislikes than Rebecca Black" by Mary Elizabeth Williams

City Rankings Are Always Wrong

     Have you ever been watching the news and hear talk of "the friendliest cities" or "the safest cities" and try to see where your city landed on the list? I remember watching those pop up on the news every now and then. And I remember thinking, "how do they pinpoint these statistics, exactly?" Well, the thing is, they aren't accurate. In fact, the statistics they use to make these lists don't make much sense either. According to this article, the "saddest U.S. cities" are based on suicidal rates, amount of antidepressants used, rate of unemployment, and other similar statistics. But the thing is, everybody is different. There is no one way to make these lists based on stats that are different from person to person. If someone wanted to go somewhere based on these lists, they really shouldn't believe them. Use individual statistics that are important to you, not "best places to raise a family". Because it is most likely not what you think it is.
     I really like how the author starts off his article with a conversational approach. "Hey, Memphis: Are you happy? Are you sure? Because Men’s Health magazine isn’t so certain." (Doig) catches the readers' attention. The conversational tone makes the article seem like it doesn't require much repertoire to read. He makes several good points while writing this article, and uses facts and examples to back up his argument. Clearly, he was against these lists of top U.S. cities, because he definitely swayed my opinion. Now, I can tell my mom she shouldn't be too sure when she tells me as well as many other people what the "top partying colleges in the U.S." are.


Article: "Why city rankings always get it wrong" by Will Doig

Science Behind Taste: How the Brain Creates Flavor

So, pretty much what this article said was how the brain works while eating food, along with your other senses. I found it to be very interesting. Did you know that the sense of smell has a huge impact on the sense of taste? I didn't, until I read this article. Smell is for sensing the flavor of food. People don't know that because majority of people think your taste of food comes entirely from your mouth. That's wrong. Actually, "the sense of smell was the dominant sense in flavor." (Tepper, quoting Gordon M. Shepherd). Now I know that when someone asks me which sense I'd give up out of all of them, to not say smell. Because without smell you don't have taste. Also, there are really two different ways of smelling. Orthonasal (sniffing in) and retronasal (the way we smell with food in our mouths). Texture and color also have a big impact on what you eat as well. You can really be fooled by what you're eating based on the color it is. It gives us the expectation of the flavor of what we're about to eat. Also mentioned in the article is how you can fool experienced wine tasters by dying white wine red.
The article, actually it was more of an interview with Gordon M. Shepherd about his new book, Neurogastronomy: How the Brain Creates Flavor and Why It Matters. The author, Hannah Tepper, set up the article as more of a question and answer session, with the question in bold and Shepherd's answer following. I found that it made the article easier to read and you knew exactly what you were going to read about based on the question. The article was filled with lots of unknown fun facts. At least that's why I found it interesting. I feel like the author didn't really have a thesis; she was mainly writing this article to inform readers about things they may not have known about smell and taste and how the brain works with all of this.






Article: The Science of Taste by Hannah Tepper