TO DO
by V.E. on October 3rd, 2007
filed under school, to do, writing
Due Sunday evening, Sept. 30
finish posting for nonfiction unit 1
finish posting for poetry unit 2
post all for nonfiction unit 2
poetry unit 3 including posting
nonfiction unit 3 including posting—8-11 hrs.
More stuff
apply for jobs!!!
complete Javits Fellow app.
internship thingy
one “to blog about” journal entry
begin portfolio on personal website
“Kid Nation” ep.2 recap/review
Thai Iced Tea article
“Witchblade” article
cancel/reschedule therapy appt.
cancel Shopper Services membership
Red Cross interview
openhousenewyork training
—————
(…sometimes I feel like a headless chicken…)
First posted: September 19, 2007 @ 14:23
“Kid Nation” ep.3 review
by V.E. on October 3rd, 2007
filed under entertainment, recap/review
Official | IMDb | Wikipedia
Wednesdays @ 8 PM ET on CBS
Previous episode reviews: 1, 2
Fast Stats
Episode title: “Deal With It!”
Awarded the gold star: Mallory, blue team
Left town for home: No one
Episode favorite: Colton, yellow team
Days elapsed this episode: 3
Total days elapsed: 10
Remaining residents: 39
Greg (blue) started off this episode cursing loudly, slamming doors, and throwing an all around temper tantrum because he wasn’t awarded a gold star when he felt he deserved it. It got so bad at one point that his friend, Blaine (blue), had to pull him off another kid. Can you say “needs anger management”?? A lot of the other kids were concerned for the younger children (the 9 and 10 year olds) and mentioned that Greg shouldn’t be using that kind of language with young people present or nearby. Later in the episode, the town suffered through a sand storm; Jared went down the main street screaming, “It’s a twister! It’s a twister!” An unfortunate side effect of the storm was that all the outhouses tipped over, so some of the older kids (Greg and Blaine included, among others) had to go out after the storm passed and tip all the outhouses back up so they could be used. A lot of the toilet paper was ruined and much of the excrement spilled out onto the ground. How very sanitary, don’t you think? But, in a town like that, what’re you gonna do?
The challenge this episode was 5 minutes of sheep wrangling in which each team had to find the three sheep with Ace cards tied around their necks in that team’s color among the other sheep in the pen. Yellow won, blue was second place, green third, and red last. They did, however, complete the task in the time allotted and were awarded with one of two choices: 40 piping-hot pizzas or a microwave and cocoa. When the council chose the microwave and cocoa, a lot of kids groaned and complained, but most were happier the next morning when they had hot chocolate to drink in the cold.
At the town council, the residents expressed their continued dissatisfaction with Taylor and her leadership of the yellow team. She again said that, since they were the youngest team they should be left off the hook once in a while, but that didn’t fly this time around. Instead, some members started called for re-election and made her begin to cry. When she said she’d do better, they prompted her for real commitment; she said she and the yellow team would help clean up the next day. Even though I don’t like her much, I’ve gotta give Taylor credit: she doesn’t take shit from anyone; her catchphrase has become, “Deal with it!” Mallory (blue) was awarded the gold star—winning out over contenders Greg and Morgan (green). Greg was again pretty peeved and later said that she only won because it was her birthday that day.
So my questions have been relatively consistent through these three episodes. First, in the challenges, why don’t the other teams help the last team complete their part so that they’ll all get the group prize? Is helping not allowed? Or has it just not been thought of yet? What about the gold star? Is there more than one? What happens to the star once it’s been given out? What if it gets stolen? Does the town council have to follow the suggestions given in the journal? They know that the whole thing’s been set up, right, and that they’re not really reading a journal from the 1880s?? Well, whatever the answers, we’re already 10 days in—only 30 more to go. I’ll keep you posted.
“Kid Nation” ep.2 review
by V.E. on October 3rd, 2007
filed under entertainment, recap/review
Official | IMDb | Wikipedia
Wednesdays @ 8 PM ET on CBS
Previous episode reviews: 1
Fast Stats
Episode title: “To Kill or Not to Kill”
Awarded the gold star: Michael, green team
Left town for home: No one
Episode favorite: Zach, yellow team
Days elapsed this episode: 3
Total days elapsed: 7
Remaining residents: 39
The remaining 39 residents have toughed it out thus far, but in this episode they had to deal with killing two chickens for protein in their food. Greg (blue team), the 15-year-old jerk off, proved himself useful to the group by beheading the chickens and showing the other kids how to pluck their feathers. Unfortunately, he was only doing it—and being helpful in other ways—so he could get a gold star (which he wasn’t awarded). On the other hand, he may be a jerk, but he’d definitely survive in the wilderness longer than I would. Emilie (red team) was so opposed to the idea that she locked herself in the coop beforehand to prevent the chickens’ deaths. She seriously considered going home because she was being ostracized for her “animals are friends, not food” beliefs but ultimately decided against it.
Michael (green team) discovered one morning that the water pump just outside of town had frozen during the night. The laundry that hadn’t been hung up the previous day had frozen to the inside of the buckets in which it had been left. After a bit of quick thinking, some of the kids heated up some water to pour over the frozen spout; it worked, so they weren’t without water for very long. Taylor (yellow team leader) and her team didn’t end up doing nearly anything in the kicthen (cooking/cleaning dishes was their duty until the next challenge) including not getting out of bed because of the cold. Plus, they didn’t do any dishes, at least so far as I could tell.
It was revealed that class status can change with each challenge; that is, the winners of each challenge become the town’s upper class until the next challenge. This episode’s challenge consisted of the teams putting together plastic pipelines in an effort to get a water wheel spinning before the other teams and (all together) in under an hour. Their group rewards were either a giant heated water slide or water pumps that had non-freeze handles. Blue won, red came in second, yellow third, and green last. And, they didn’t finish in the time given them, so they didn’t get the group prize. Needless to say, the green team was pretty discouraged at coming in last place twice in a row.
At the town meeting, quite a few residents expressed concern over the yellow team’s lack of work. Taylor responded by saying that since they were the youngest members, they should be cut a little slack. Michael was awarded the gold star, and no one went home. Greg was pretty pissed that he wasn’t awarded the star, but nothing immediately came of it.
I know “reality TV” isn’t reality, and honestly… this show reminds me of summer camp. I mean, summer camp wasn’t really reality, either, right? Real kids were involved, but it was a temporary situation removed from the rest of the world. Only here, it’s being filmed… and there are no camp counselors. I’m pretty sure “Kid Nation” is a lot milder than people were led believe. And, of course, the most annoying kids get the most screen time ’cause they’re the one’s creating the drama people want to watch. Taylor and Greg immediately come to mind. Tune in next week.
Comment spam
by V.E. on October 3rd, 2007
Okay, seriously. Who DOES that anymore? It’s so lame and… lame. Comment spam. I really do NOT need to know about “angel cum whores”—if I want to see them, I’ll go look for them… YOU DON’T NEED TO SPAM MY POSTS to get my attention. It’s just annoying and then I block you. Your loss. Except that I’m irritated and less likely to tolerate crap like that in the future.
Sheesh.
