Padd Solutions

Bonjour! These last few weeks have been crazy for me, tests popping up like daises and just alot of events happening around school. Nando Parrado came to talk to AC this past week and it was pretty awesome.
So in the spirit of Halloween, I have decided to write about some of the scariest movies I have yet to see. As well as some good old classic non-scary Halloween movies. The very first scary movie I ever watched was the ever famous "The Ring" staring Naomi Watts and let me tell you I was scared for 7 days of my television.
A terrific classic is "The Shining" staring Jack Nicholson, based off the novel by Stephen King. It combines all the elements that a scary movie needs- shrieking music, ghosts, and a crazy story. Nicholson is fantastic and who can forget "Here's Johnny!" If you are just starting on your scary movie endeavor, I would recommend this be your first. King is a master story teller and the movie is fantastic.
And now on to the scariest movie I have seen yet- "Paranormal Activity." Let me tell you, that movie is crazy scary. When I went to see the movie, there were people walking out because they were so scared. I am not going to ruin it for anyone who has yet to see it, but it some sort of freaky.

I will leave this scary movie subject with a list of movies that will dare to scare you:

• Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 with Donald Sutherland)
  
• Jaws
• Psycho (the Alfred Hitchcock classic)

Now on to some good old Halloween classics that are there not to scare you. One of my favorites that is on every year is "Hocus Pocus." Yes, it shows itself every year on the Disney channel as well as ABC Family, but it is just a good classic.
I also enjoy "Interview with the Vampire" starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. But I do not reserve this movie just for Halloween, it's a good all-year movie. It is a wonderful movie based off the novel by Anne Rice. It's a good vampire story if you are looking for one.
And last but not least is "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." I have been watching this every year since I was little and it has become tradition to watch this once every year. And the Peanuts cast never fails to impress.

I hope everyone has a wonderfully awesome Halloween!

And those of you who are free this Thursday, Jonny Zavant is coming to AC. He is a mentalist, meaning he can read minds and do some crazy tricks. The (free) event will begin at 7:00 pm in the AC Concert Hall Theater, but free food and coffee will be avaliable at 6:30 pm.

Last Thursday in my Fundamentals of Photography class, we were given the assignment to go on Sixth Street and find certain items listed on a sheet of paper our teacher gave us before we left.

Miguel had an interview for The Ranger he needed to get done before we left and since I’m not too familiar with Sixth Street, I stayed with him to help out so we could go there together. After the interview we got in my car and headed for our destination.

When we got there we immediately started taking photos. After we walked about a block or so, we found some of our classmates and asked them how many items they had found. While we were talking to them, I turned around and there was a man in a Gorilla suit standing at the other end of the street wanting us to go over there.

So, Miguel and I go over to him and take a couple of photos of him sitting on a bench, waiting for a bus, then we both posed for pictures with him and as we were trying to leave, he kept motioning for us to follow him.

I kept thinking to myself “I’m not following this crazy Gorilla guy! Where is he going to take us?!” But we followed him anyway and he opened the door to one of the shops on Sixth Street and motioned for us to go inside. At this point, of course I knew it was a stunt to get us to buy something, so we went inside and realized it was a little restaurant and when we walked toward the front. I saw Gelato and remembered seeing a feature story about Cowboy Gelato on the news a while back.

There was a guy standing in front of us wearing a red jacket tasting all the different flavors of Gelato so Miguel and I joined in the tasting. I had never had Gelato before but my friend who always used to go to Italy told me how phenomenal it was, so of course we had to get some!

The lady who was serving us was having a hard time getting the cones out for our order and she apologized for taking so long because she said they weren’t open yet. So of course, without even thinking, the first thing out of my mouth was “we followed the Gorilla and he told us to come in here…I’m sorry we didn’t know you weren’t open yet…the Gorilla made us do it!”

While we were waiting for my order of white chocolate Gelato and some concoction of two flavors mixed together that Miguel ordered, I realized more and more people were coming in this little restaurant and they were all wearing red blazers, I guess they were official taste testers or something.

After we got our Gelato, I made the suggestion that we should stay there and eat it so we wouldn’t get it all over ourselves. But we didn’t and we started off on our scavenger hunt again…Gelato in hand.

At the time, it didn’t seem like such a bad idea, until the Gelato started melting like crazy! Miguel had most of his eaten while I was still working on the top part of the cone. We kept finding more and more of the items we needed but it was harder to take photos now that we had our hands full.

Then Miguel was finished with his Gelato and mine was completely melted inside my cone. The paper with all the items on it was all sticky because I kept spilling Gelato everywhere. I looked down at one point and realized I poured Gelato all over my pant leg and shoe and when we got in my car to head back to AC I looked at my right shoulder and noticed I had it there too! I have no idea how I got Gelato all over me! So, as it turns out we should have just stayed and ate our Gelato at the restaurant like I suggested because I knew it would be messy…I just didn’t know it was going to be THAT messy!

 

This past week has been pretty busy, having some of my first tests in some classes. Have you ever realized that tests always come in twos and maybe three? It's like they cannot be taken alone and must find a buddy from another class.

Anyway, this weekend I went to Arena Cross. Talk about intense. I did not know much about the world of motocross outside that really, really old Disney movie "Motocross." It was pretty cool, they do all sorts of races for all ages. When the pros raced, it was awesome, it was very fast and very cool. And then there was a monster truck that did a flip, complete 360. That was neat to watch. And the announcer was entertaining and excited about every little thing, I thought it was pretty hilarious. Overall, the event was pretty awesome and I learned a heck of alot. Like whoops, I thought that "whoop" was just a used in describing a sound but turns out its also the small hills on the track. Just think of Mario Kart for all you gamers out there, think of Wario Stadium and you have a dirt bike track. If you are able to go to Arena Cross next year, go.

Last week, the movie "Away We Go" finally came to dvd. This movie was one of my favorites from this summer. It stars John Krasinski (Jim from The Office) and Maya Rudolph (SNL star) as a couple trying to put down roots before their baby is born. The movie is very sweet and touching. I highly recommend "Away We Go" to anyone looking for a good movie and the soundtrack to the movie is amazing as well.

Some upcoming events around AC:

• Johnny Zavant- He is a mentalist, which is a guy who can read minds and play tricks on the mind. He is going to be here October 29th. I am getting some posters and flyers ready.
• Nando Parrado- The author of Miracle in the Andes will be here October 20th. This is going to be awesome, he is coming up from Uruguay. The book is amazing and anyone who can go should.
• THIS WEEKEND LEADERSHIP RETREAT: October 9th and 10th. Its going to be neat, its going to be based on the book Miracle in the Andes and if you can go, go. To register go down to the CUB Basement and talk to one of the student workers down there.