15 Pictures That Will Cheer You Up On A Bad Day

Bad days.  We all have them.  They suck, but there are some things you can do to help yourself feel better. One of those things is to look at these 15 pictures.

1.  A shaved llama.


2. Imagine a t-rex making a bed.


3.  Ryan Gosling and Ellen wearing onesies.


4.  Speaking of Ryan Gosling, here's his baby self with Justin Timberlake.


5. Now, speaking of Justin Timberlake, this happened at some point.

You will never have to wear those clothes.

6.  Check out this dog's stache.


7. Look at this diver's face in midair.

This one is slightly more disturbing than funny.

8.  You're not a hamster stuck in your slide.


9.  Look at this hipster dog.


10.  This will never happen in your city.


11. Look at this squirrel that got his face a mask and ran around scaring a town last Halloween.


12.  You're not wearing this shirt.


13. This disturbing picture that will be on the internet forever is not of you.
 

14.  Look at this lamb's face.

15.  Give it time.
Matthew Lewis looked like this.

Megan Fox looked like this.

Jake Gyllenhaal looked like this.


And most of all, Zac Efron looked like this.



Feel better yet?

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters

I have to admit, I am a pretty big Percy Jackson fan.  I loved (read: obsessed) over the books when I was younger and was so excited when the movies came out, especially with one of my current favorite actors, Logan Lerman, as the lead. Last year I was a little disappointed with the movie because it was so different from the book, but as a movie itself it was pretty good.  So I was really excited to see this next movie, especially because this book, Sea of Monsters, was my favorite in the series.

Now, let me just start off this review by putting this out there: I am not even going to go into comparing this to the book, because it would take the entire review to say what the movie left out in the plot and the characters and their development.

That aside, I am going to talk about movie itself and what I thought of it.

First off and most importantly, it was very poorly written and the direction was lacking.  The poor writing was clearly shown in the movie's development - the opening seemed excessively long and the adventure it had been leading up to seemed, well, uneventful, while the ending also was excessively long.  It felt as though the movie's purpose had just been to cram as much action as possible into a two-hour long slot, whether or not it would make that much sense in the overall arch of the story. This intent made it impossible for the interesting, clever mythology-based subplots that were in the last movie to be there at all.  This endless stream of action also did not help the already very flat characters.  There wasn't really time given to get to know the characters in the blur of action, and the lack of shape in the plot was also apparent in the characters, particularly Clarisse.  Leven Rambin did make the absolute best of what she was given as that character, but there really wasn't a lot that she could do.  The same is true for Lerman, who can really thrive as the lead in a movie, like he did so amazingly in Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Lightning Thief, had he had the time to actually be a character instead of just a fighting machine. Jake Abel's character, Luke, also could have been a very flat, average villainous character if it weren't for his great acting. Hats off to Abel and Rambin for being such a great actors under such poor directing, especially when Rambin herself seemed pretty miscast in the first place.

Apart from those issues, the movie itself was pretty fun to see.  The same goofy humor in the last movie was still somewhat there, and it was not bad if you want to take your little brothers and sisters to see.  (Besides, Logan Lerman isn't exactly hard to look at for a few hours.)  But if you are going in search of a really good new action movie like the Hunger Games or Harry Potter, this isn't the place to be.  Let's just sit and wait for Divergent with our fingers crossed instead.

Back to School!

Yesterday, after an absolutely amazing summer, I officially returned to school. Although I'll miss the unlimited laziness of summer, I'm actually looking forward to this school year - I'm starting lots of new classes, and they're all still far enough away that I can focus more on the exciting parts (new notebooks! new pencils! yay!) than the awful parts (...homework).

To wrap up this awesome vacation, here are my top ten summer memories:

1. Spending 3 weeks with Maereed, my best friend from Indiana. She came to Austin to visit and explore the city with us for a week, and then she, Benja and I flew back to Indiana to hang out with their family and go to the summer camp that they direct - we spent a week in Adventure Camp, where we went caving, canoeing, ziplining, pontooning, and generally having a great time.
2. Swimming in the lake near Mansfield Dam practically every night with my family. Even though the lake is more than half empty, we can still swim (and explore the islands that only appear during droughts). This weekend we went to the hot air balloon launch held there, which was amazing (despite having to get up at 5 A.M.!)
3. Spending hours (and hours) (and more hours) (and pretty much the whole summer) with Adair and Simone, my blog-writing besties. 
4. Baking cookies every. single. day.
5. Reading! So much reading! I reviewed Eleanor & Park and The Book Thief on the blog, but I also loved The Disenchantments, Are We There Yet?, Beauty Queens, An Abundance of Katherines, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Last Days of Summer, and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.
6. "Faffing." This is a British slang word (that I know because obviously studying British slang words is a good use of my time) that means to hang out, doing lots of little menial tasks that don't amount to much. However, Benja and I use it to mean sitting in our pajamas for hours at a time, eating dry cereal and Netflix-marathoning. This summer I got some quality faffing in, and I finished watching Freaks and Geeks, which is one of the best shows I've ever seen. Unfortunately, it stopped filming after the first season, so there isn't an official finale, but oh my god it is so good. You should definitely check it out - just prepare yourself for a premature ending.
7. Settling into our new house. Benja and I returned from Indiana to find our entire house unpacked and set up for us, with friends waiting inside! It was an amazing surprise (thanks guys! you're the best!!) and we've been able to spend the past few weeks hanging out and getting reacquainted with all our stuff (some of which we haven't seen for two years).
8. Having "Austin Days" (also known as Ferris Bueller Days) where we go downtown, explore the city, and try to find even more things to love about Austin. This summer we've been to Barton Springs, Bookpeople, Blues on the Green, and Guero's at least twice - not to mention just wandering around the streets, finding really cool street art and, of course, very interesting people.
9. Swimming in at least one pool practically every day. I've been so chlorine-drenched I don't think I'll ever recover (and it was amazing!)
10. Writing for this blog, of course! (Awwww)

I can't wait to see what the school year brings!

~Maya

18 Things To Watch With Your Younger Siblings (that don't make you want to kill yourself)

As a teenager, I understand that movie night with your younger siblings can be torturous.  There's only so much animation that you can take before you kind of want to shoot yourself.  But fear not, fellow teens (and parents, too): here are fifteen movies and TV shows that you can watch with your younger siblings that will not make you suicidal!

18.  Toy Story/Monster's Inc./Nemo/Ratatouille/Up etc.

The Pixar classics.  These movies are always going to be cute and funny no matter your age.

17.  Megamind

Yes, I know.  But bear with me on this one.  Let me just say: Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey, and Jonah Hill.  Still doubtful?

16.  Rango

I know, you doubt this one too.  But Johnny Depp.  This is one of the weirdest kid's movies I have ever seen and I would totally watch it again.

15. Fantastic Mr. Fox

This movie is just plain cute.  Everything from the animation, to the story, to the voices are just adorable.

14. How To Train Your Dragon

Clever, cute, funny.  Watch it.

13.  Bedtime Stories 

The picture basically summarizes this movie.

12. Despicable Me

I'm more excited to see the second than either of my younger brothers.  And if you haven't seen Steve Carell being Gru on Ellen you need to go watch it now.

10.  Diary of a Wimpy Kid

This one is a little bit stupid but kind of great in the same way.

9.  My Neighbor Totoro

I'm not entirely convinced this movie is not actually meant for teens, not kids.  Either way I loved watching it.

8.   High School Musical

Come on, just admit it.  It's impossible to not like High School Musical.

7.  Wizards of Waverly Place

I am am happy and unembarrassed to watch this by myself.

6.  Hugo

This isn't even a guilty pleasure thing - this was a really, really good movie.

5. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (newest version)

This is a freaking weird movie.  And I love it.  (Also...Johnny Depp and baby Freddie Highmore.)

4.  Avatar: The Last Airbender (tv show!)

Yes, really.  Bear with me here...I truly love this show.  It's so good.  Just steer far clear of the movie.

3.  Alice in Wonderland (newest version)

One of my favorite books, this blog's namesake, my favorite installment of the movie, amazing cast, possibly my favorite film score of all time.  Watch it!

2.  Adventure Time

I'm still not entirely sure this show is actually meant for kids, not teenagers.  It's some of the craziest stuff I have ever seen and you need to go watch it.

1.  Phineas and Ferb

I can't even describe this show other than to say that it is perfection.  My whole family watches it together.  I promise, it's not just another kids show.  It is BRILLIANT.

Fact of the Mostly Daily

Fact:

     A blue whale's heart is the size of a Volkswagen Beetle!

~Adair

Seven Years Old

     This week I volunteered in a three day camp for kids from ages 5-8, and during that time I realized that I have already completely forgotten what it was like to be seven years old. Many of the things I heard and saw amused me and I thought I'd share with you the glimpses I got into the world of a six year old.

Some quotes:

1. "Ew! Boys are gross!"
2. "Look at this fighter jet I made!"
3. "Can I get out my Lego figures?" 
4. "I have a pink poodle in my backpack."
5. "He spilled water in my chair, ON PURPOSE!"
6. "Can I get out my Lego figures now?"
7. "My brother ate my apple, can you get me another one?"
8. "What about now?"
9. "I drew this bird for you."
10. "What if it's only the robber and the policeman Lego men?"
11. "When's recess?"
12. "What's a rectangle?"
13. "Will I ever be able to get out my Legos?" 

Some things I saw:

1.  Water ALL over the floor
2. Pencil shavings everywhere
3. Piles and piles of paper air planes
4. An adorable bird picture
5. A spider elephant with vampire teeth
6. Apple peels and crumbs
7. A stuffed pink poodle
8. A pencil sharpener filled with hand-sanitizer, because how else would you clean it?

Things I did:

1. Confiscated paper airplanes
2. Confiscated paper that would have become paper airplanes
3. Cleaned up pencil shavings 
4. Confiscated paper sharpeners that were making the shavings
5. Saved places in line
6. Drew a castle, a frog, a horse, a grasshopper and an elephant
7. Confiscated magnets
8. Slept REALLY WELL when I got home 

And lastly, there was one little boy who was convinced that Australia had blown up earlier this year.Very Adorable.

~Adair

Emblem3: Nothing To Lose

Emblem3 is a hip-hop/reggae/pop band from California.  They began gathering attention on the X Factor last year, where they came in 4th place, and have since been signed to Simon Cowell's record label.  I have to admit, I did really like them while they were on the show and even went to see them live a few weeks ago.  They were fantastic performers and I had hope for their upcoming album, Nothing to Lose.  This week, the album came out, and though I was a little nervous that the label they had been signed to would make them a boy band, I went ahead and listened to it anyway.

The album started out with Just For One Day.  This one I didn't love.  It was like a toned down version of their older songs like Sunset Blvd. and Reason, but it still had some unique style and gave me hope for the rest of the album.  Next up was Spaghetti.  Though the name itself instantly made me doubt the song, I gave it a chance.  But, as it turned out, I was right to doubt it.  It was a little ridiculous.  The lyrics were silly and while the style that they had somewhat established in the first song was still kind of there, this one wouldn't seem all that out of place on a One Direction album.  Next up was XO.  This one also had cheesy, silly lyrics but I actually still liked it, as much because the song itself was stronger than the last.  There was some interesting phrasing and reggae-ish style in it.  It did, however, sound really overproduced - even though they can obviously sing really well, their vocals were heavily filtered.  But still I had hope for the rest of the album.  Maybe the rest would be more like this one and Just For One Day. 

Unfortunately, it seems I should not have gotten my hopes up, as after listening to the rest, it was obvious that XO was the best new song.  Next up on the album was Girl Next Door.  Just like Spaghetti, the title was not deceiving.  This song had absolutely nothing in it that separates it from a One Direction song, except maybe for some cheesy raps.  From here on, the album completely fell apart.  The next five songs, 3000 Miles, Nothing To Lose, I Love LA, and Teenage Kings.  All of the songs were unbearably poppy with none of the Sublime-esque, unique sound they had in other songs.  But worst of all, they took the beloved, the classic, that is Sunset Blvd., and tore apart its perfect fabric until all that was left was a poppy, boyband shred abandoned on the floor.

Ok, that may have been slightly dramatic.  But they did remove nearly all of the real instruments and change the phrasing in some areas, taken the song that convinced me and many other people across the country to vote for them all through the X Factor and turned it into just another silly summer song.  Things were looking up again at One Day, their version Matisyahu's song.  This one I liked since they changed it a lot from the original version, making it sound much for their style, but like XO, it sounded really overproduced,  but with the next songs, Do It All Again and I Wish, everything went back to the way the previous songs had been.  The album closed out with two live songs, Jaiden and Reason.  Jaiden, though it was super cheesy, wasn't exactly bad, it just wasn't great, though I do have to admit it is a total guilty pleasure song.  Reason, being the only older song of theirs that made the album untouched, was hands-down the best on the album.

I would totally recommend seeing them in concert.  They're really fun, great singers, fantastic on stage, and really nice and humble.  But the album definitely isn't worth the money.  I think that they are signed to a bad record label and I don't doubt that when they're on their own again they will write better songs.  The only question is whether or not anyone will be able to take them seriously.  I don't doubt they probably have already lost most of their older crowd and have probably have grown more popular with younger teens, and with a line of merch already being sold at the teen store Delia's, I may be the only one listening to their new albums in five or six years
.