The First Semester in Ceta

As Finals approach, I realize that my first semester at UHart in their CETA school is coming to an end. Keeping that in mind I think I have gathered a pretty good idea of what my future will be like here. One of the biggest things I noticed right off the back was the difference in the work load. While this isn’t something that just happens at UHart, I still believe it is worth mentioning. An essay in college is something equivalent to a simple worksheet in high school. Every teacher gives them out and they are given out very frequently. In some classes they are assigned as often as every class. This was a huge shock at first. Trying to imagine how an essay could be written every other day was hard. However, at this point, the essay is just a worksheet. They are given out frequently by all teachers and they really aren’t all that difficult. The next thing I noticed had to do with CETA itself. I can’t speak for all the colleges on campus but it seems that CETA doesn’t really focus on general education. This too is a college vs. high school thing more than an UHart thing but it is still notable. In CETA, the only required English class in the freshman rhetoric and writing course. After that point all other English classes are optional meaning that if you don’t want to take it u don’t have too. Science is a large part of engineering and yet not really noticeable in the courses CETA students take. Other than physics, there are no classes in my future curriculum that are specifically sciences, only classes that involve science as a piece of it. Math is the only subject that I continue to take throughout college.

This semester had been difficult in terms of work load and learning, but all the while quite manageable. That alone makes for good news. Every upperclassman I have spoken to both in CETA and in other colleges have said that it gets easier after the first semester. Even my mentor for freshman dialogue said that it would be easier after this semester and that thy only make it so hard right at the start to make sure that the students are serious about the decision the made and the career they chose. This was very good news for me. It meant that I would do fine in future classes. If I struggle now it will get easier and if it’s easy now then it will be as simple as can be. I assume the main way that this could happen is by lessening the work load. However, it may just be easier the further I go simply because I have learned how to deal with the extra work and the extra time to manage it into. Above all else, the part about CETA I like more than anything is the style of teaching in CETA. It is very hands on and project based which means that I learn and begin to understand things by actually building them or even taking them apart. One assignment involved assembling and programming the “Boe-Bot” to do a specific task. While the assignment was very frustrating  because it is do difficult to get it to even go straight it has taught me something very important. I learned that even the easiest tasks can become difficult because of unforeseen variables. In the case of the Boe-Bot it was the fact the wheels are powered separately by to separate motors. Along with in class projects, I found out that for most courses in CETA, they don’t actually have exams. Instead, most of them have final projects. I have found this to be both good and bad. While I don’t have to study for a test and then sit down and try to regurgitate what I studied, instead I have to complete a number of projects before the last class meaning that my work load increases significantly. However, completing it this year will only make it easier in the future the same as with all the other assignments I have completed.  

Re: Re: Originality. Where did you go?

The lack of creativity is a problem that i have also noticed. As Matt said, television has very few new ideas nowadays. Instead, it is a mix of spinoffs and shows that are too similar for it to be a coincidence. Its become annoying how many generic law enforcement shows have surfaced in the last decade. They all have the same premise with a slight alteration that makes them "unique". Television isn't the only problem though. Movies are having a similar problem. Movies are shifting towards a trend of "borrowed ideas". Almost half of the movies that are showing in theaters at any given time can be trace back to a book, comic, or even video game. This means one two things to me. Has our generation just run out of ideas, or have we just become too lazy to try to be original.

A Response to Kyle Responding to Dakota Responding to Me

I noticed that Kyle's largest problem with super hero movies was there lack on continuity these days. A like him, i think this is a huge part of super hero movies. A super hero's story cannot be told in one hour and a half block of time. In fact, it could take years to tell enough relevant information to truly know the story of any hero. That being said, that would be outrageous. However, that doesn't mean they cant have enough continuity for possible sequels. One movie would never be enough to tell a hero's story. But unfortunately, many sequels are vaguely related and simply just the same character in a different story all together. Unfortunately, this is not all that's wrong with superhero movies today. Their greatest flaw is their separation from the comic story lines. Dakota touched base on this fact greatly. There are many instances in super hero movies that would be confusing or upsetting to someone who has more background knowledge of the hero involved. By going away from comics they disappoint the people who look forward to these movies the most. The only reason this issue is such a large fault is that the people the create the comic books are the same company that produce the movies. With that knowledge i would think that they could effectively capture their own characters and accurately depict who they are to all audiences not just those that are naive and believe it to be true. Unfortunately, this poor depiction of their own characters is something that happens in many movies beyond just super hero movies. Whether it be books, comics, or even video games, writers and directors have decided that the idea that the original creator was good but they wanted to do it all different to make something even better. The thought process behind this mindset is wonderful, but the execution is not. Whenever i hear that some thing i enjoy in one of those categories in being made into a movie i become torn. part of me wants nothing more than it to already be done so that i can see what i have always seen but now on the big screen. However, another part of me is scared,scared that the movie will be another flop that succeeds on its name alone and on no value to the piece that inspired it. My most recent experience with this involved The Dark Tower series by Steven King. These books, whether individually or together, are the best thing i have ever read. I first heard about a trilogy of movies being released that would have  2 miniseries to fill in the gaps in between the movies. This news made me ecstatic. Seeing these books on the big screen is something that me and my dad would always talk about (I got him hooked on the books). When i heard the news i didn't question if they would mess it up i was simply excited. To my dismay, universal dropped the project July of this year because they felt it was too costly and was a risky undertaking. It was at this time, that i realized, possibly to get by the fact that it was gone, that the movie may have simply shattered the hopes i had fr it when  heard about it. The last i heard for The Dark Tower project was "While talking to The New York Post, [Brian] Grazer revealed that the pair are currently 'trying to get outside financing to make it, and distribute it through a major [studio]' and plan to air the TV portion of the Dark Tower adaptation on other networks or outlets like Netflix" (http://www.reelz.com/movie-news/11467/ron-howard-and-brian-grazer-not-giving-up-on-the-dark-tower-javier-bardem-still-attached/).When i heard this news i was still quite happy though i will never think about the project as i had when i first heard about it. If it ever is released, i will see each part of the movie regardless of what they do to it just to support The Dark Tower itself. It's the harsh reality of the movies that they will never perfectly capture what we expect them to be. However, i hope that in the future, super hero movies, and all other movies that are based on someone's work will accurately depict what the original creator intended for us. 


P.S. I strongly recommend The Dark Tower series to anyone who enjoys fantasy adventure fiction (it is not a horror story like all of Steven King's other works)

Response to frank's Blog

Football is the favorite sport of most people in America. Everyone is excited when the season starts and often begin to draw conclusions of the season to come based off of the first game. Frank focused on the Jets vs. Cowboys game being a Jets fan. The game sounded as though it was hard to watch until the fourth quarter where the Jets really picked up there game. This game told him that the Jets would have a good chance of returning to the playoffs if they could consistently play like this. However, I am not a Jets fan; i am a Giants fan. After there first game, I was feeling worried about the season to come. Thankfully though, the first game I not the only game. After there first loss the Giants went on to win 2 games the past two weeks, first against the Rams and then the Eagles. After a rocky first game its clear that the Giants are starting to pick up there game play. If they can keep this up, I think the Giants could also be heading for the playoffs. 

My Thoughts on Super Hero Movies

I was sitting here thinking of what to write and I remembered that you had mentioned we could write about a movie we had recently seen. While I like this idea, I haven't seen any new movies in a while. However, I began to think back to the last movie I saw in theaters, Captain America. After the movie had finished and the credits had ended, there was another scene. However, this scene was a preview more than anything. It was a preview of the Avengers movie they will be coming out with next year. At first I was excited being a huge super hero fan, but this soon passed and replaced by fear. In the past, movies of this nature have been butchered by overzealous writers and directors. To see this happen again in such an important movie would be almost painful.  One Movie that will forever linger in my mind is the first movie in the sub series X-men Origins: Wolverine.I enjoyed the movie as a whole and I thought it had accomplished its goal of telling Wolverine's past. But as much as I like Wolverine, I was drawn to this movie for a different movie. My favorite Marvel character, and possibly my favorite character of all super heroes, Deadpool, would be making his first non-animation appearance onto the big screen. This fact alone made me excited for this movies release. When i went to see it, I was honestly impressed. While I didn't expect a perfect representation, it did seem to be close to accurate at the start. However that soon changed. The writers of this movie decided that Deadpool would be done there way in what they probably thought was a cool idea. Playing on the name, they decided to pool multiple different mutant powers into him while at the same time ripping from him his emotions ad personality. Thus he was a "pool" of powers that was basically "dead". I was almost horrified as I saw this unfold. One of my favorite heroes, if not my favorite, was being abused and tampered with in a horrible way.  If you are unfamiliar with Deadpool, his only true power is enhanced regeneration that he received from the Weapon-X project. He is also talented in martial arts, sword fighting, and gun use. Beyond that, he has also utilized teleportation in the comics. However, this is not an actual ability of his, instead he achieves this result through a device he carries with him. I can accept the fact that they gave him the power of teleportation in stead of the device. And I can also deal with the fact that they put his katana in his wrist to make him more similar to Wolverine. However, there were two aspects that were so far from the truth that I couldn't handle and partially ruined the movie for me. The first is that they sewed his mouth closed. While this may not seen to be that big of a deal, it is in fact a huge part of Deadpool. He is famous for his witty remarks and psychotic chatter. I have even heard him referred to as"the merc' with a mouth". Yet the writers thought it would be a good idea to sew his mouth closed. One of the largest parts of the character Deadpool is how much he utilizes sarcasm and wit when he talks. The second thing that really bothered me was how far they took the pool of powers they gave him. The regeneration was needed, the teleportation reasonable, the adamantium skeleton and "katana up his sleeves" were passable, but there was one thing that was too far from the truth. They gave him the ability to shoot beams from his eyes similarly to cyclops. It was wrong. The fact that they had the audacity to ruin a character that much is the reason that I'm afraid about the new Avengers movie and even more so about the Deadpool movie I heard they were making that I can only hope is accurate. As far as super hero movies go, I love them to death, but they really need to just stick to the foundation that the comics left for them.