Valentine's Day

"Relationships don't work they way they do on television and in the movies. Will they? Won't they? And then they finally do, and they're happy forever. Gimme a break. Nine out of ten of them end because they weren't right for each other to begin with, and half of the ones who get married get divorced anyway, and I'm telling you right now, through all this stuff I have not become a cynic. I haven't. Yes, I do happen to believe that love is mainly about pushing chocolate covered candies and, y'know, in some cultures, a chicken. You can call me a sucker, I don't care, because I do, believe in it. Bottom line: it's couples who are truly right for each other wade through the same crap as everybody else, but the big difference is they don't let it take them down. One of those two people will stand up and fight for that relationship every time. If it's right, and they're real lucky, one of them will say something" -Dr. Cox (Scrubs)

One of the few pictures he is smiling... creepy

I know Scrubs is a weird place to get a love quote but I still hold these words spoken by Dr. Cox and likely written by some wise writer as truth. Love is complex. And Hard. How many times have we seen the chick flicks, the princesses, the happily ever afters.... Do I really need to start listing all of those?

Either way... It is the small things and the little things. Love at first sight? Maybe it does exist somewhere but overall a relationship is hard work which I think many people forget. They think its an easy thing but its not and it takes work and care.

I know this was a short post, but to me it means alot. Too many people let relationships go just cause things got a bit too hard. Fight for it if you want it.

Dolphins and Apples

Yes, I am well aware that both Apple and Dolphins are unrelated unless apple has some great big secret about idolphins next...I can see it now... Conquering the oceans by use of dolphins with secret apple chips placed inside.

 

Apple... the dolphins are next....

But all jokes aside from Apple using dolphins to conquer the world even more (I would not be surprised by the way). This blog post was supposed to be about the Taiji Dolphin Slayings, but due to an unfortunate event I am dedicating it partly to Apple just cause I can.

So first on the agenda is Taiji. Taiji is a small fishing community with some big news. For those who have not seen The Cove, a Documentary on the Dolphin killings that go on there... well... I just spoiled it. So yea... reason why I bring it up now was I saw a newspaper article about it. Thing is we kinda already knew what was going on since the whole movie... I guess they were out of story ideas.

Then again seeing dolphins die was not how I thought that film was gonna work but hey... surprises for everyone right? I love dolphins, I have loved them since I was a kid and Orcas are my favorite and yes they are a Dolphin.  Taiji, Japan is a coastal town that seems devoted to dolphins of all kind. But their biggest source of income is not tourism, but catching dolphins to go to water parks or for meat.

er.....yum?

Worse of all, is the fact that the meat often contains high levels of mercury that is unsafe for human consumption. So many Japanese people can get sick from consuming the meat. Sometimes the meat is labeled as more expensive whale meat and people are conned into buying it. Recently they removed it from children's school lunches.

For anyone interested in the issue I encourage you to watch the film and do some of your own research. Alot of interesting things can be said about this issue. So if anyone wants me to focus on the effects and what not I think I'll save it for a later blog post.

And as for Apple.... well


I guess i'm only angry that a charger

Similar to this but a little newer...

Cost $85 dollars... Yes.... I totally spent $85... on a charger.... Darn you apple and your supplies... and high prices.....

I mean Its surprising to me how much they charge and what happens when something goes wrong.  A while back my hard drive stopped working randomly... I didn't even know it would. Needless to say I lost everything and WORSE of all... was the way apple explained it. Basically my hard drive scratched itself. How is that even possible... I dunno

All I know is Apple is not very nice. But I do admit even though macs are stupid for gaming (and yes I get alot of grief about it) the movie making and audio making programs that are already installed on here are amazing.

Chicago

Since this blog is pretty new, I am sure you guys will soon learn I love music, especially musicals. My current obsession:

Chicago is a musical that takes place in the 1920 era of Chicago. It's creative and just an all -around fun experience. The Characters are dynamic and make quite the impression. Tonight while hanging out with a friend of mine after our Journalism meeting we went to For Your Entertainment (FYE) and there I found a copy of the movie soundtrack. Ever since the Nostalgia Critic's List of Villain songs which featured the Cell Block Tango, I had slowly listened and eventually watched Chicago and enjoyed it. So when I saw the movie soundtrack today, I knew I was going to buy it. (I've been singing the songs under my breath all day.) There are two favorite characters of mine which are listed below.

This one character I will be talking about next, is the most intriguing character in the musical: 

Amos

The thing that I like about Amos is how throughout a movie/musical about lying, deceit, and so much underhandedness Amos remains one of the most honest and most innocent players in this huge show. It is hard not to feel sorry for this character because he had the hood pulled over his eyes throughout the musical by the woman he loved (Roxie). His solo Mr. Cellophane really gets his nature across. The overlooked character, the invisible one and he is upset, he does realize it, and is unhappy with how he is treated. Half of me wonders what will become of him after the end of the film/musical. At least he ends up getting things sorta all right. He realizes what kind of person she is.

John C. Reilly did a great job with this part. He really nailed it in just the shy mannerisms. You could almost sense that this guy was one who could be pushed around easily. As sad as that is, its how Amos is, but once he sticks to something he is firm unless convinced otherwise. Which is admirable. Like said above he is really that innocent, naive, light in the cutthroat city Chicago.

Another unique character to look at is none other than: 

Billy Flynn

 Billy Flynn is just a fun, exciting and charismatic character to have. He is a slippery lawyer who knows the system and has never lost a case. He just asks for $5000, and then he will work his magic. Just look at him! That oily slick smile... He just oozes lawyer... you can totally tell what he is without the description. And he is not just a lawyer he is a magician. He is the worker of the arts. He treats the courtroom as a whole entire showroom. The paparazzi are his puppets, the jury is the audience, everyone else pawns. The Journalists in the movie are amazing. You can just tell they think they have the best scoop but in reality Billy controls them (which is kinda funny considering a journalist wrote this play). He lies to get his way to the top, it is merely a performance. And in the end I think he is the real winner. He is the one who has lost nothing and is merely a spectator laughing at the other characters as they bend over to kiss his shiny, polished lawyer shoes.

Richard Gere does a perfect job with him. I couldn't picture anyone more suited for the role. He has that aged look but still looks young. He has the charisma to match the character, the energy used to portray him. Not to mention the songs he sings are so relaxing.

Since this is a musical I should probably share my favorite songs: (In No Particular Order):

• Razzle Dazzle
• Mr. Cellophane
• Cell Block Tango
• When You're Good To Mama
• All that Jazz
• We Both Reached for the Gun
• All I Care About

So a pretty good chunk of the music. Its just the lyrics tell so much about the characters and paint an excellent picture of what is going on. I really enjoy it and probably will continue for a long time. The premise is excellent and the moral at the end is interesting although bittersweet cause while you cheer for Roxie, you also wish she didn't win. You wish that Amos won. Or at least I do and I have a tendency to look into things a bit too much.

So yea there is my Chicago review (I could so go further into this).  If you guys want more opinion on the musical let me know. Or if you want me to review other musicals alert me of such. And I hope I do get feedback.

Have a great evening!

~Ali

A Simple Introduction to a Not-So Simple Girl

Greetings people across the web!

Welcome to Simple Takes, a site about my veiws on the world, its happenings, musings, and life. At times I am not so sure what will be on this blog other than knowing that it does belong to me. My name is Ashley and I go by both Ali and Ash. I am currently studying International Studies with a concentration in Asia as well as minoring in Japanese and Journalism. So needless to say I have some very interesting classes and lectures to attend. My dream is to one day be a reporter/journalist whether civilian or military.

I enjoy doing a variety of things in my spare time: Reading, Writing, Playing Music, Singing, Voice Acting, Cooking (In case you haven't seen my cooking blog in dear need of an update: http://cookingdormstyle.blogspot.com), photography, and Jewelry Making (I might show you some pieces I do, who knows?).

So far as you can guess I am excited about this new opportunity to share my thoughts across the web to anyone who might care enough to read. And that is the thing: We all have thoughts and we all have views. Sometimes these seem to get lost in the grand scheme of things. Whether we want it to or not. There are billions of people on this planet all of whom have individual thoughts and dreams, life experiences, and hopes. I may just be one single person on this Earth. But what I have to say is my thoughts, my dreams, and my hopes. And so here I go, opening a new chapter of my life, opening a new blank page of a journal. And the world is my audience...

What about you? Do you have thoughts? Hopes? Dreams? Feel free to comment

Hope to hear from you!


~Ali