Entry #6: My Favorite Movie

 I have watched and enjoyed countless movies. I enjoy movies of nearly every genre. The genre that has appealed me the most is action and story telling. This brings me to my favorite movie and my favorite franchise. Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War has been my favorite movie ever since I saw it as a kid. It is a film that combines all of Marvel's superheros to fight together in one singular movie. There are spoilers in this blog if you have not watched it.

In the Marvel Universe, there were numerous superhero movies that each contain a different protagonist with some form of special abilities. These abilities can range from intellect to super strength or magical powers. After all these different movies of countless superheros and their own story, Avengers Infinity war brings them all together to fight for one cause. This cause is to save half of all life from the main villain Thanos. 

Thanos is a very talkative, strong, and skilled titan. He believes that by removing half of all life, the other half would thrive and create a better universe. I like him because he believes that what he is doing is right. In order to accomplish this, Thanos must find all six of the infinity stones created by the big bang and snap his fingers holding them. Every single stone is held by a certain hero.

Thanos defeated each and every single hero and was able to obtain all 6 of the stones. One of the superhero's "Thor" was able to defeat him with his new axe and stab him in the chest. Thanos then said one of my favorite lines ever. "You should have gone for the head." He then snaps his fingers and wins, removing half of all live in the universe. The movie ends shortly after Thanos rests in his retirement home, alone on a random planet. 

Even though I was very sad seeing my favorite characters turn to dust and die, I was also very surprised by the ending as this was the first movie I had watched where the villain actually won. I got to see all my favorite characters fight side by side, and they still were not enough for the genius of a villain Thanos was. 

Before the movie was released in 2018, it was the most hyped movie of the century. Millions of people anticipated trailers and its release date, and tried their best to hide spoilers. It was truly one of its kind.

On its release day, I went to watch it in theaters with my family. Nearly every 10 seconds, there was a big laughter or applaud amongst the crowd. Of course, there was a deep sorrow and morning at the ending. The experience for seeing it the first time was unreal, and I could watch it for the first time again. 

In conclusion, Infinity War has been my favorite movie for six years, and I will be surprised if anything could top it. Whenever I can get the chance, I will continue to watch the movie with newcomers as I get the same goosebumps every time.

Entry #5: AD Analysis

 Advertisement

This advertisement is a comedy skit for the insurance company Allstate. The advertisement starts out with a man riding a pink princess bike holding a teddy bear. His hair is half shaved and he is wearing a sign that says "honk at me." The man states that he is a man who had lost a bet. He then states that his favorite sports team lost which signals that the bet he lost was over a sports game. 

The purpose of this is too engage with viewers that love to watch sports and often do fun bets with their friends. These bets can include a loser dare. A loser dare is when the loser of the bed has to do something publicly embarrassing that the winner decides or that both players agreed on before the bet. The man in this advertisement had lost a bet, and as his loser dare, he has to ride around the road on a princess bicycle with ugly hair and embarrass himself. Another purpose of this starting bit is to engage a large audience that enjoys comedy. A big percentage of people love to laugh, and the start of the video is designed for that. 

The man continues to ride his princess bike on the road in the middle of traffic. This caused the drivers in the cars to get angry, distracted, or caused them to laugh and humiliate the man. Because of this, a distracted driver rear ends another car. The man then states that with any usual insurance company or no insurance at all, someone would have to pay for all the damages themselves. He then states that All State insurance will cover damages for maniacs like him. The purpose of this is to relieve viewers that there is insurance that will pay for their damages when they get into a crash because of someone annoying like the man in the video. The idea is that the revenge and want for safekeeping will cause the viewers to choose and buy All State's insurance. 

Overall, this advertisement does a good job at hooking a large audience and viewership to their companies name and what they can do. They do very well at hooking viewers through a funny and engaging comedy skit. They also do well on using viewers emotions about maniacs and annoyance on the roads that can cause them money they do not want to spend, and ensuring them that the company can help with safekeeping their money on these matters. 

Entry #4: My Favorite Card Game

 Over the many years I have lived, I have learned and memorized nearly every single popular card. Of all of these card games, I have a clear favorite. One that I would definitely choose to gamble when I am older. That is the card game Black Jack.

In black jack, everyone starts with two cards. The goal of this game is to have all your cards add the closest to 21 without going over. Players can draw as many more cards as they want (a hit) with the risk of accidentally going over 21. If the cards equal 21, then the player wins or unlikely ties with another person who achieved it. If a players cards go over 21, their final count is 0. This is known as a bust. 

In Black Jack, cards other than standard numbers have different values. For example, all of the royalty cards (Jack, Queen, and King) are equal to 10. The Ace however, is worth either 1 or 11 depending what the player chooses. 

Image Source

In this card game, the shapes and colors do not have any meaning, just the number values. I really like this because it makes the game is easy to understand and pickup. 

Black Jack is so popular that it is the most played card game at casinos. This is because Black Jack has the highest return to player rate (money made) then any other card game. It is also one of the few options at a casino that allows for some skill instead of luck. 

Instead of trying to beat everybody else, at a casino, the goal is to beat the dealer 1 on 1. This allows some players to develop strategies on when to hit or stand (not drawing any cards).

Example of a Popular Strategy Card

Of course, the dealer always has a slight edge over you due to house rules like the dealer always has to go last. Its a casino they want you to lose money. The odds of a person beating the dealer is 42% though, meaning the chances of wining are much higher than other games and slots.

Overall, Black Jack has been mine and many others favorite card game. I highly recommend it to those who have not tried it, as it is very entertaining to play with family and friends. I will continue to play this with friends and hope to win at the casino when Im older. I'll make good choices!

Entry #3. The Power of the Mint

After many hours of completing assignments, staring at a screen and sitting in the same spot all day, my mouth had become very dry. This feeling sends emotions throughout my body, craving for something to remove this dry sensation. I pull a small package out of my drawer, containing the objects my body desires. After a struggle of opening the wrapper, it makes a satisfying scratching sound, signaling the greatness that is about to come. They are round, white, and very smooth. The strong smell travelled through my nose. This is what I was looking for to achieve my desires. I pop one in my mouth and experience something new and mythical.

Before I can chew, the strong flavor surges through my mouth. This is through both taste and aftertaste. I could feel how my breath instantly smelt better, before it even left my mouth. The temperature of my mouth dropped, like Antartica rested on my tongue. These instantaneous changes felt mythical. I could feel the power inside my mouth, before I even started chewing.

As I bit down, and new sensation hit me hard. A new sweet, tangy taste filled my desires. My mouth turned from dry to hydrated with the feeling of drinking ice cold water on a hot summer day. The powerful substance did not move around, and allowed me to morph it into whatever shape I wanted as I kept chewing, Each chew brought more waves of this wonderful, legendary experience, to the point where I couldn't stop myself. 

Somehow, after it had fully dissolved in my mouth, another appeared inside. This cycle seemed to continue until there were no more in the bag. Was this an addiction? No. Rather a memorable experience that I will never forget, and hope to experience again in the future. 

Image Source