Videos worth watching: Marching band edition

So, I am a fan of marching bands. I have friends in them, and I great respect for what they do.

The other day, I came across what just might be the coolest half time show ever. And I mean that.

Ohio state university is widely considered one of the best marching bands in the world, and this video only adds fuel to the fire. It is really remarkable what these guys and gals pull off.

~Elessar

Politics, the VP debate

Well, one thing is for sure, this debate is not as clear cut as the first presidential debate was. It seemed to me almost like a cat fight at times! Here are my goods and bads for each man:

Ryan: He hit the jobs point home really well. Romney is a business man, and Ryan is an economist, they are jobs guys. I also like how respectful he was, much more so than Biden was. I think he handled himself very well, though he did say "I agree with you" to much.

Biden: he handled the foreign policy question very well. Some of what he said simply wasn't true, but that was his question, for sure. Now that I have said something nice about him, Joe Biden is an ass. The man was so disrespectful with all his chuckles and stupid smirks, I would be mad at any one doing that to anyone else. He also recited a number of flat out lies, about what Obama has and hasn't done, and Romney as well.

And don't even get me started on that abortion question. Joe Biden calling himself a catholic is an insult to Catholics everywhere. It is really quite simple, you cannot call yourself a catholic and agree with abortion in any way. I am actually against Ryan's "except in circumstances of rape, incest, and health of the mother." Why should an innocent child have to pay for what some a$$hole did to a poor woman? I realize the woman is traumatized, but that is no reason to kill a baby.

All in all, it was an interesting debate, and I must admit Biden did speak more eloquently than I thought he would. I may write some more about this for my catch of the day, but right now I am way to tired.



~Elessar

Thursday politics. HEADSUP

Hey guys, so I'm totally still planning to do my Thursday politics post. I just want to give you a heads up because it's going to be really late, as I want to talk about the VP debate.

So, expect my post half an hour or so after the debate ends. : D

~Elessar

First weekly meeting of BAA

Hi everyone, my name is Elessar, and I'm addicted to books.

My username is from Lord of the Rings (it is Aragorn's name, before they tell him he's Aragorn. It also means star in Elvish) my blog title is a combination of LotR and Harry Potter. I am a hardcore book addict.

Currently for school I am reading "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens.

I read this book once before, and utterly hated it. I am not a huge fan of Charles Dickens in general, but this story of goings on in Paris and London during the French Revolution just seemed to go on forever.

Since then, I have fallen head over heals in love with the play/book "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo. That gave me a new interest in the French revolution, and now I am finding I can stomach ToTC much easier this second time around. I might even go so far as to say I and quite enjoying it.

~Elessar

Song of the day: Year 3000

This song literally represents the beginning of my tween/teenhood. The Jonas Brothers were my first major obsession, and this is the first time I ever heard them sing.

They wrote "Year 3000" for the soundtrack of the movie "Meet the Robinsons." The movie was so-so, but this song got me hooked. Not long after hearing it, I had every album the JoBros put out, not to mention pictures of them plastered all over my wall. One of the highlights of my life so far was attending a live Jonas Brothers concert.

I have fallen out of love with them as I grew older, but the Jonas Brothers, and this song in particular, will always be a gold star on the map of my childhood.

~Elessar

OH SNAP!

So, I just found out there is a ten thousand dollar scholarship for college students with quality blogs.

This is happening.

I am going to post once a day, on the following topics:
Monday: Life in My world (observations)
Tuesday: Song of the day
Wednesday: Weekly meeting of book addicts anonymous
Thursday: Politics
Friday: Videos worth watching
Saturday: A movie a day keeps the zombies away*
Sunday: Catch of the day (something random)

There will be a lot more detail than what it sounds like on that list, and I'm really excited. Gunning for this scholarship also means I'm going to try and get some more readers. We'll see how well that goes.

Here goes nothing!

~ Elessar

* Just a note, I did not make that phrase up, I saw a guy on tumblr who had a blog called that, and I liked it.

Feeling down?

So, given a number of stressors and other things, I have been feeling a little low lately. Naturally, I turned not to family or friends as most people would, but to books, movies and music. Here is my personal tears of joy/get happy playlist. Some are deep and moving, some are laugh out loud funny, and others... I'm entirely sure why some of these just give an automatic serotonin rush. But they do. And now I share them with you.

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Through Heaven's Eyes

Happiest bit: "When all you got is nothing, there's a lot to go around."

Why: Well, first off, the entire movie "Prince of Egypt" is pretty amazing, and certainly gets me happy every time I watch it. This song in particular, is a beautiful and resounding reminder that you can never see how truly important you are to the world. God put you here for a reason, and whether you currently know it or not, you have a purpose, you are worth it.

Miss Congeniality

Best bit :"Man, with all this foil in my hair I'm getting HBO."

Why: This movie is just to darn funny. It's about a rough, tough, very tomboy-ish FBI agent who has to go under cover at a beauty pageant. I can't not laugh my head off every single time I watch this movie.

Lord of the Rings, the Return of the King

Best bit: "But you forgot one of the most important characters! Samwise the brave... Frodo wouldn't have gotten very far without him."

Why: It should be known that I can open any book with the title "Lord of the Rings" on it and be ecstatic in mere moments. The third book in the trilogy is especially wonderful because everything turns out just as it should. Happy endings, joyous but sad partings, and above all else, good triumphing over evil no matter what.

Carpe Diem

Best bit: "There's no such thing as just an ordinary day."

Why: first off, I should hope everyone knows carpe diem stands for "Seize the day." carpe diem was around centuries before that stupid effing phrase "Y.O.L.O." And it sounds cooler too. Phineas and Ferb just happened to put that loverly phrase to music, and it worked.

Amazing Grace

Best bit: "No one our age has ever been in parliament."

"Which is exactly why it must be now! We are to young to realize such things are impossible, so we will do them anyway!"

Why: This is the story of William Wilberforce, the man who gave his entire life in the pursuit of abolishing slavery in England. Wilberforce is played perfectly by Ian Gruffund, and this movie is a perfect example of the triumph of human spirit.

The Avengers

Best bit: "There's only one God ma'am, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that."

Why: come on, did you think I would write a post about what makes me happy and not include at least one superhero movie? It's loud it's action packed, it's wild, it's funny, it's the Avengers. 'nuff said.

The River Flows in You

Best bit: the whole song

Why: This is a very peaceful, pleasant tune, and it just makes me feel good.

My Curious Uncle Dudley

Best Bit: everything

Why: Just read it and thank me later.

Jump

Fun, loud, old school rock and roll, it's just a great song to blast.

Runnin' With the Devil

See explanation for Jump

The Dark Knight Rises

Best bit: Anyone can be a hero

Why: I have talked about this movie before. It just hits me. And it's actually a rather depressing movie at times, but every time I watched it I just come out satisfied and happy... and crying. Always crying.

Miracles

Best bit: "“Miracles do not, in fact, break the laws of nature.” "

Why: I love Lewis's scientific, logical approach to talking the case for miracles. It's refreshing.

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Alright, I'm sure I missed a few, but there is at least half of the list of stuff I got to when I need some happy time. 

Enjoy.