Sunday, 27 May 2012

Bullying Speech

Hey guys, I recently did my speech on Bullying. I thought I would post it here, because you may know that I speak very strongly on the subject of Bullying and I am doing my best to make a stand against it. This speech was made to say, so if there are any errors in the writing its because of that. I ended up getting an 85% so I am pretty proud because public speaking is not my best subject. Here you go:


You stand there, speechless. People are throwing insults at you, you try to miss some but others hit you so hard you can’t breathe. You can’t bear it anymore. Where will you run? You know that when you get home, it will be waiting for you. Waiting for you on your computer. You just wish someone would stand up to this torture you are going through. 
64% of students say that bullying is part of their normal school life. 64%. Do you know how much that is? Bullying can happen to anyone, everywhere in any way, shape or form. That is what makes the bullying so scary. You don’t know if you will be waking up tomorrow, and the bullying will turn on you. What exactly is bullying? Bullying is when someone says or does something to offend someone in a way that makes them feel hurt, or us unwanted. Bullying isn’t just hurting people physically, its also hurting people by saying things. 
Bullying has gone to such a terrible extent when people don’t want to live anymore. Suicide . Suicide is the 3rd leading cause among deaths in teenagers. Bullies make the people think that the world would be better off without them, causing them to spiral in a long period of depression. They may try alcohol and drugs, but in the end they might get so depressed that succeed becomes more, and more of an option. At least half of succeeds among teens and youth are at the cause for bullying.
There are 3 types of people that take place in the bullying cycle. The bully, the bystander and the victim. The bully is the person who torments, they try to find every last flaw, every last insecurity in the victim. They try to mentally and physically abuse the person as much as possible. Studies show that girl bullies tend to use words more while guy bullies tend to use more physical abuse to hurt someone. There are several reasons why the bully does what he or she is doing. They may envy you, so they might want to put you down. They may feel so bad about themselves, that they want you to feel bad about yourself as well. But being the bully in a situation like this is crying for help in the quietest way possible. We need to take action, tell a trusted adult, maybe the bully is suffering as well. 
The victim. The bully can’t torment without a victim. Someone that the bully makes feel bad. The victim is going to be the one that goes home suffering the most. Victims can suffer from depression, cutting, eating disorders and even can choose to commit suicide. The best thing a victim can do is talk to someone they trust, get friends to stand up with them or tell the bully to stop straight to their face. If the bully still doesn’t stop, the victim can issue police involvement. No matter what the victim does, they will still suffer with a scar that lasts a lifetime.
Lastly the bystander. The bystander can be a nice person or a mean person. They can stand there and do nothing or join in and laugh. Nowadays the bystander is being punished almost as much as the bully is because they aren't doing anything to stop it. Bystanders have the ongoing fear that if they stand up, they will be the ones picked on the next time.The bystander is stuck between 2 worlds, so they stay in the middle.If bystanders would stand up to the bully, they wouldn’t be bystanders, they would be hero's. But it is easier to do nothing than to do something.
The internet is a wonderful place, if used wisely. But with the high usage of social networks like blogs, Facebook, twitter and form spring, things can get from good to bad in a matter of seconds. Harassment occurs more than ever on the internet, 9 out of 10 students report being hurt from a social network or chat. That rate is really high!The reason why people tend to hurt people over the internet is because since they don’t have to say it face to face, its easier for them so say things they wouldn’t even say in person. The internet is a worse place to bully others because what is said on the internet stays there forever, even when its deleted. Nothing you say will ever be erased. When you see something mean directed towards someone else, even on the internet, stand up. Tell them something nice about the person. Positive, never negative on the internet. 
But why do I care? Why is bullying so close to my heart? Even if I am not bullied at this time, I have been bullied. I have felt the pain and the pain is undeniable. Even if you aren’t being bullied, the pain will affect you. You never know who bullying will take, your family, your friends or someone you love. We all have the power to end bullying. We have to use it. No matter our appearance, race, sexuality, religion, hobbies, eye colour, interests, money, intelligence every human life is worth the same so lets treat it that way.

Thursday, 24 May 2012

I got INSTAGRAMMED!!!!

Hey everyone, just a quick update.

I recently got instagram. I have to say, I'm obsessed. I have heard of it before, but since I don't own an iPhone, I couldn't do much with it. So i used my dads iPhone and posted some other photos! I am too obsessed. I love how simple and easy the layout it and how it doesn't bug or crash. I love the tags and I love the filters and effects. They aren't too crazy, but make your photos look great!! I love it so much! I would recommend it to any iPad or iPhone user who loves taking photos and videos like I do!

So get INSTAGRAMMED!!!

- Kassy

follow me on instagram
kassy98

Wednesday, 16 May 2012

Shooting Star EP (Owl City) - Review



" Close your tired eyes, relax and then count to one to ten and open them". The first words I heard on the EP. After that, I knew I would love it. Adam Youngs music is some of the best music I have listened to. Why? Because his style is so original  and he finds a way to communicate feelings to his audience. This EP is a preview for his new album, coming in Summer/Fall. The 4 tracks are self motivating, confidence bearing songs. They offer to encourage and help audiences out of their darkest moments. I am so happy I get to go to his concert!! So excited!!!!

1. Shooting Star
2. Gold
3. Dementia (feat. Mark Hoppus)
4. Take It All Away


From start to finish, I don't know how much I have listened to this album. Its on repeat on my iPod!! People may say the style is different, and I agree. I don't think it is bad. He wants to experiment with his style and sound and let him do that. This will help him continue his passion in music.He hasn't strayed from his original style a lot at all, it just has changed slightly. I still love this EP!!!!!!!


Adam stated on his blog "There is no old Adam Young, there is no new Adam Young, merely different colors and different brushstrokes over the same canvas. Creativity is all about pushing boundaries and pressing onward and I prefer the Darkwing Duck approach to artistry. So thank you. I’m feeling the love. Let’s get dangerous"

Saturday, 12 May 2012

My Youtube subscription list.

MeekaKitty


Her funny, humorous videos make my days. Not to mention her vlogs. She also does several music video covers which are always very interesting. MINDGEEK.

Favourite Video


Vlog










Greyson97


No words, just music. He is amazing, he has several of the songs he has already wrote before his rise to fame and they are amazing. He doesn't update that often, but when he does his videos are amazing.


Favourite Video








TiffanyAlvord


Her covers are amazing. She gives a complete twist to the songs and they sound so good. She has such a pretty voice as well. She is one of my favourite youtubers. Its hard to pick which cover I like the best!






lukeconard


He covers songs like tiffany and also does many blogs. He does a lot of collaborations with other youtubes and sings in many fan bands. ( Ministry of magic, the tributes). His videos are also very well done!






meganandliz


They are huge fans of Taylor Swift ( Like me!) and cover a lot of songs. They also write some really good songs! I would recommend to check them out if you haven't heard of them! They do the perfect duets and have the perfect voices. They also have a good beauty channel if you are interested in their fashion and what they wear to parties and stuff.




Favourites







Nanalew

She does several videos with Meekakitty, as mentioned above and she is a great filmmaker and artist. The colours in her videos are amazing and her channel is very well balanced with music videos, vlogs and other stuff. 

Favourites








JoeyGraceffa




He has some of the funniest and silliest vlogs. He also posts some really cool stuff, check out winterspringpro for some really cool parodies. 






NikkiYanofsky




She sang the song " I believe" at the olympics. She is one of the best singers....
 EVER. She does covers
and stuff to showcase her amazing voice.




victoriajustice4all

Although she is a Nick Star, you wouldn't expect the amazing voice. Victoria has it. She can sing really well. She also posts some vlogs and travel diaries on her channel.






OTHER CHANNELS I SUBSCRIBE TO: 

whitneyleemilam
missglamorazzi
cimorellitheband



And these are just a few of my MANY subscriptions! What channels do you subscribe to?
Comment Below!!







10,000 views! One Year! You are the best!

I thought I would say, that I am so happy! This blog has reached 10,000 page views! I am so happy!!!! Thank you so much for your support and awesomeness! Couldn't have done it without you!

Tuesday, 8 May 2012

The Avengers- Review


If you are a marvel movie fan like me, you know that Marvel offers up some of the best movies of the year. With their superb opening titles and credits, plus the good choice of actors and a great action filled story. The Avengers, has all of that, plus more.

The acting is stunning, all the characters are really well developed and they played the characters so well. There were no useless characters, and everyone played roles and worked together. The acting from some of the best known actors of 2012, was really good. I think that they all played their roles really well and with thought.

As mentioned in other reviews I saw, the camera angles of this movie are very smart and satisfying. They give you the total depth of the scene, and what is going on. They put the idea in motion that everyone is working together, despite their flaws and differences.


The Avengers is a movie for all age groups, its for those little boys with the toy figurines, to the little girls who dress up in superhero costumes. For the teens that have seen the many superhero movies, to the adults who have read the many comics as kids. This movie is suitable for everyone and the action in it is really undeniable and awesome. You will enjoy this movie, from start to finish!!! A-

10 reasons why you have to watch the Others!



1. The Others is a classic. It is a old movie, but the story is so well done. It is well plotted and seems to actually not have stupid characters.

2. The actors can actually act. Its not that forced acting that we see nowadays. Its Real, raw talent.


3. The Others is a real horror movie. Not that stupid gory stuff. It actually gives you the chills with the story, not the gore that is in it.


4. The others isn't about the stupid stuff. Its not all meaningless like horror movies now. Now about people doing drugs, or smoking. Its actually about a family.


5. The Others has a lesson to learn. It has lessons in it about parenting and about how you should treat others. It talks about second chances and how people can change.


6. The twist is fantastic. THE TWIST IS SO FANTASTIC.


7. It is not terribly inappropriate . Not much swearing and stuff like that. Children who have a good tolerance to scary stuff could watch it.


8. It will give you chills. The whole idea and story and events will give you chills. Legit, real goosebumps!


9. It has family morals. It has morals on how to treat your children and how much family means.


10. It will make you think. I stayed up at night thinking about this movie because it left me so amazed about how good it was!

Saturday, 5 May 2012

Catchup!

Its May and it's almost the end of the school year! Only 2 months, less than 2 months. I haven't updated this blog in a while, but I promise I'll get back to the spin of it because I have been soooo busy. My band concert is in a week and I just finished with the planning for a major school event! Ecolympics! A eco activity event for half day! Ahhh so relived that it is over with, but had so much fun planning it at the same time. ( Eco club, your amazing!). Grad is in a month, and yearbooks are being pre ordered! All is well! Once things start to slow down, I can update more. Tomorrow i'm seeing the avengers, so Ill post a review on that. Also, I saw The Hunger Games 3 times. Yeah, thats just me.

Hope you are having a great weekend!

- Kassy

Monday, 23 April 2012

Sky Sailing- An Airplane Carried Me To Bed




Owl City has always been one of my inspirations. Something about his music has always inspired me and made me so happy just by listening. When I found out about his Sky Sailing album, I bought it on the spot. Why? This is the first music he made, under a different name. He goes by " Sky Sailing" and his music is a peaceful break from the world around us. He was not on a record deal at the time that he made this, and I think its what makes it so inspiring. He did all this, and basically created his own success, something we all strive to do.

Captains Of The Sky is by far my favourite song on the album. Its upbeat, but it makes me think. It is such a hopeful song and I applaud it for that. Other favourites are: Tennis Elbow, Blue and Red, Alaska, I live alone and Saiboats.

How is this album compared to the "Owl City" albums. Well they are different, in the sense that I can see the real Adam Young, I am a huge Owl City fan but these songs are filled with his emotion and this just feels so real. When compared to his new music, I would rank them the same, Owl City fans might enjoy this and so will people that aren't all big on the electronic on his new albums. I would recommend this.



Saturday, 14 April 2012

Bullying- Get your number!

Recently I have done a project for my music class on bullying. I feel strongly for this topic so it helped me make my presentation. The song I chose to convey my message was " Love is louder" because it has the emotions, hate hope and justice that are needed to put an end to bullying.



I discovered a website called: standtogether.tv . I encourage you to sign up and sign the pledge to put a end to bullying. Take a picture with your number and then put it back on the site to show that you signed the pledge!

See my video here:


Thursday, 12 April 2012

Mirror Mirror Review




Mirror Mirror was the start of a upcoming trend in movies- Fairy Tales. With the huge start of many fairy tale twists including Grimm, once upon a time and the upcoming releases of snow white and the huntsman and jack and the beanstalk Mirror Mirror was looking for something new. They wanted to add a humorous twist to the movie, without it being parody like. They wanted it to be heartfelt, without being cheesy. Did they do that right?

Upon seeing the trailer for mirror mirror, I wasn't happy. I thought the movie would be more parody like and I was set on not seeing the movie. It looked pretty darn stupid. I ended up seeing the movie because well- people were telling me it wasn't as bad as it seemed. It wasn't nearly as bad.

Theres nothing majorly impressive, but this movie has a powerful twist to the typical snow white tale. For a first time in fairy tales a woman takes charge and doesn't rely on a prince to save her for what lies ahead. A woman defeats evil for a change.

The acting was good, Lily Collins proves her diversity of roles in this role and Julia Roberts delivers. The story was pretty good, had some funny moments and heart warming moments as well.

So in the end, mirror mirror wasn't cheesy, wasn't stupid it was just good. The twist as pretty excellent and the ending was not what I thought it would be. Its a great family movie. C+

Saturday, 24 March 2012

The Hunger Games Review



I have to say, I have loved The Hunger Games from the beginning. I started reading the novel in grade 6. My mom bought it for me, she told me that the idea was kinda sick and if I got scared to return it. I have to say, The Hunger Games is more than just fighting to death. Its so much more than that and thats what makes it so good.

For those die-hard fans, you guys will like this because it does not stray from the book. The only thing is that Madge didn't exist and Rues lullaby wasn't really there ether. Otherwise our favourite parts of the books still exist in a movie.There are still several chunks of the movie missing, but the director and writer of the movie made it go along very smoothly so it won't be noticed as much.

The acting in this movie was one of the main highlights. Jennifer Lawerence wasn't playing Katniss Everdeen, she was Katniss Everdeen. Her performance was completely outstanding and I was blown away. The same goes for Peeta, Gale, Foxface, Clove, Cato, Rue, Prim, Effie, Haymitch and everyone else!

One thing I didn't like was that the camera style was very shaky. I know the director, Gary Ross made this because he wanted the movie to seem like it was right from the perspective of Katniss. I didn't like this because it was very dizzying and the entire movie was not from Katnisses point of view because of the added scenes. 

Overall, this movie agrees with fans. It does not take any main concepts from the book. The cast made the film real and there is nothing terribly bad to point out. The Hunger Games wins. A-

Friday, 9 March 2012

Hugo Review



Remember the first time you went to a movie? How magicial the expirence was? Take this expirence back a couple decades. The sound of the film spinning in the projector. This expirence was pure magic. That sort of describes the expirence of watching Hugo.

Hugo is a story that is about a boy, Hugo Cabret. His father passed away and he lives in a clocktower which his uncle told him to work in. His uncle has never returned so he stayed working in the clock tower. One day, he gets accused for theft and the manager of the toy store at the station takes his notebook. On the quest to get the notebook back, Hugo stumbles across and girl. Together they go on an adventure to figure out how they can put a robot together and what it means.


Hugo was a truly visually stunning film. It deserved the cinematography oscar by 100 percent. The colours and the camera angles were so amazing and really conveyed so much aspects of the film. This really empathized the personalties of some of the characters and what was going on, without the need to talk. The visual effects were amazing as well and really realistic.

The characters in the movie were really well devolped and so was the plot of the movie. Overall this movie was one of the best movies that came out in 2011 and I would reccommend this movie to anyone of any age and any gender. This movie was truly magicial. A

Sunday, 4 March 2012

This Means War- Review



Everyone loves action, the cool idea of secret agents fighting. Why not add a little romance in the mix? This is the movie this means war. This is going to be a short review because I can't review many aspects of this film.

This Means War is a film about 2 secret agents. They happen to be best friends, one having a younger son and the other being a player. When they both stumble across Lauren, they go into a dramatic fight to see who she will choose, and risking their friendship on the way.

First I would like to say, This Means War was really funny. It had great humour in both good ways and bad ways. The twist with lots of the violence made it really cool to watch. The acting was really funny and the 3 leads played the role really well.

Overall This Means War was a faced paced action filled comedy, although cheesy at points it still was watchable and had some great laughs. B-

Friday, 24 February 2012

Extremely Loud Incredibly Close- Review

Imagine life from your perspective as a child. Everything was in detail, your feet when "pumping" on a swing, the tap water dripping, every little detail in life was magnetized to a big extent. This can prove good, or bad.




Extremely Loud Incredibly Close is a film about a boy,with a keen sense of intelligence and logic. He needs to have an explanation of everything, the world around him. His father always sets up a expedition to hunt for clues. But when his father dies in 9/11, he finds and key. He then goes on a search for the lock.

This movie is jammed packed with stars from head to toe. Tom Hanks, Thomas Horn and Sandra Bullock star, just to name a few. The acting in this movie was incredible. The role that Thomas Horn played was a very difficult role to play and he played it flawlessly. I was 100% convinced that he was the character, nothing seemed forced in his acting. I cannot stress how good the acting was, Sandra Bullock (as always) played an amazing character and portrayed the moms feelings well. Tom Hanks and Max Von Sydow were a couple of other amazing performances in the film.




The cinematography was flawless. The use of lighting and camera angles was to the fullest extent. These shots, expressed so much feeling and emotions and really gave you the story in the point of view of the kid, it added so much and created so much messages in the movie.


The only thing I didn't really like was the boys character. I found it was really hard to sympathize with him and relate to what he was going through by his actions. The way he spoke to adults some of the time was just awful. He was so bossy and had some really weird traits.


Another thing was , there wasn't really a target audience for this movie. I mean to say is that it would only attract a certain audience. The theme, is too mature for kids. I have to warn you, there are some really mature parts. This kid has some real issues, that I wouldn't recommend a kid to watch. The storyline, is pretty mature but it has that kiddy ,charm to it, so it will only attract a certain amount of adults. I can guarantee you, if you cry a lot, you will cry your head off during this movie. 


Overall, Extremely Loud Incredibly Close is a great movie. Its like one of those math tests, prefect, but there are small mistakes that didn't necessarily need to be in the movie, and that if they weren't there, would make an amazing movie. B+ 

Sunday, 19 February 2012

Big Miracle Review



 Big Miracle is a film starring John Krasinski and Drew Barrymore. It is based on a true story that took place in a small town in Alaska. It is about 3 whales a mother, father and baby which are trapped in the ice and only have days to survive. Together, they spread the word to help save the whales.

Out of the wide range of movies that I have watched, Big Miracle stands out. Not just because of the interesting and true to life story, but because it is a movie that evoked all my emotions.

I was impressed with everything that this movie had to offer. It had a great plot that moved very swiftly throughout the movie. I was not bored throughout the story and it was very interesting. The film also had a very light tone to it, it didn't seem so depressing although the plot of it was a very sad idea. What I mean to say by this is that, you were not sad the whole time.

The acting was the cherry on top of a great movie. I was so impressed with everyones performance in the movie, they seemed to really put their heart and souls into the characters that they played. I was particularly impressed with Drew Barrymores performance in the movie. She played her character so well and was amazing in that role.

Big Miracle was a inspiring film. It is perfect for any type of audience from environmentalists to kids. It will make you laugh, cry and everything in between. A

Thursday, 2 February 2012

I could not be happier.... Ever

So I found out that my results for my audition are coming today.... So I rushed home uttering "oh my god, oh my god" the whole time. I was so nervous to see what my results would be and was freaking out the whole time. I got home, rushed to the mailbox opened the letter and then. It was there.

I GOT IN. A wash of happiness went over me. I started to cry, I started to laugh. This was my goal for 2 years. Ever since grade 3 I wanted to be in the film industry and this has began my path! Thank you to all my readers and friends and family who have helped me get to this incredible moment. Thank you.

Sunday, 1 January 2012

Happy New Year

I just want to wish my readers a happy new year! Hope your new year is going to be great and i hope you keep those resolutions!

Another thing: a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit japan last night. I wish hope to the people who lost loved ones and I hope it gets better.

Thursday, 29 December 2011

The Darkest Hour Review



I didn't expect much from the darkest hour, I expected it to be one of those run around thrillers like Shark Night where everyone dies, and it went along with my expectations.

The Darkest Hour is about when aliens attack Moscow, Russia. When 4 Americans visiting stumble on each other, they quickly race into survival, doing whatever it takes to get back to America.

I have to admit, The Darkest Hour was nothing special, i am done watching it and i probably won't watch it again. The story isn't that original, it reminded me a lot of The Happenning.

Another thing I have to critique is the characters. These characters had no depth, and no personalities to them. It was just like they were just there. They didn't even react to the situation how we would react.

A good thing about this movie is that it is action packed. There was never one dull moment in the movie and I wasn't board at all. It was a thrill ride, not that great in cinema, but during the movie you had fun. Thats what I think matters. B

Thursday, 22 December 2011

New Years Eve Review



Think of New Years Eve as an info commercial. To draw your attention to the product, a lot of advertising was used. New Line Cinema added 15 major stars, a big name director and a commercial on every T.V show and wham! New Years Eve became a hit.

New Years Eve is sort of like a sequel to the movie "Valentines Day", but with different stars and a different plot. New Years Eve takes place in the busy new york on one of the busiest days of the year. It covers different peoples stories of how they found love on the big night. 

I dont understand why I decided to see New Years Eve, maybe out of curiosity of how bad it was going to be, how a movie could be even worse than Valentines Day ( Which I walked out of). But I came out of the theatre pleasantly surprised.

New Years Eve isn't the best Holiday movie, but it beat Valentines day by far. New Years Eve is like a 2 hour T.V show. It is always jumping around to different parts of the big city to cover peoples stories of how they are handling New Years Eve. The jumping around is actually quite annoying but useful, it helps you stay in focus with the movie,but it is just so annoying!

The filmmaking and writing was pretty sloppy and strange. First of.... It was really trying to sell New York City in a way. Part of it seemed like a walking advertisement for the big apple. Also, the characters lack feeling, I was never able to sympathize with some of the characters, but the actors did the best they could and their acting wasn't as bad as some people have said. After all it is a comedy!

New Years Eve overall is a movie that a lot of people would rather not see. But if you are going out with your girlfriends, you might enjoy it. If offers plenty of small, cheesy giggles and it will help you warm up to the holiday cheer. But it is still annoying. B-