Optic Barrel

Dear Followers, This post needs more cowbell. C.S. Lewis and I never really got along well. The start of our academic Cold War began years ago, in Mrs. Dorsey's 4th grade classroom. Back then, everybody had just started reading "The Chronicles Of Narina," C.S. Lewis' most famous children's series. A mixture of teacher coercion and youthful curiosity pushed me to pick up a copy of "The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe." I loved the fantasy feel of the novel, but there was something I couldn't get past: his writing style. I cannot stand the way that C.S. Lewis goes about when using descriptions and explanations. When I was reading through "The Inner Ring," I felt like a set of finely sharpened nails was screeching down...

Three Reichs You're Out

Dear Followers, Some of you will look down upon my speech choice. In modern society we have become so accustomed to denouncing the words "Nazi" and "Hitler" face on. I do not support what Hitler did. I do not support what the Nazis did. However, that does not mean I cannot admire Hitler's oratory skills. Following WWI, Germany was in a state of devastation. Taking full blame for the war, having been subject to a military drawdown, and having been constantly watched on by nervous Americans and Europeans, emotions were running high in Germany. The Communist and National Socialist parties were contending for political power as the Weimar Republic became more and more a sham government. Tapping a wealth of economic and social fears, Hitler maneuverer his way into power. As one...

Pizza Hut Supports The Rebellion

Dear Followers, Source: Oxford English Dictionary http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/index.html NOTE: The original content was over 55 pages long in Microsoft Word 2007. What follows is an abridged version developed by yours truly. Oxford English Dictionary, as do I, probably needs to work on being concise. PARADIGM – n. ETYMOLOGY: < post-classical Latin paradigma example (late 3rd cent. as a technical term in rhetoric; recorded in classical Latin authors as a Greek word), (in grammar) pattern or table of inflected forms (13th cent. in a British source) < ancient Greekπαράδειγμα pattern, example, precedent < παρα-PARA- prefix1 + δεῖγμα sample, pattern ( < the stem of δείκνυναι to show (seeDEICTIC adj. and n.) + -μα: see -OMA...

Not Every Argument Is The Same

Dear Followers, Sometimes, peer pressure can produce some very unexpected results. During the summer of 9th grade, the only thing I was focusing on was playing videogames, going swimming, and waking up to get yelled at by Coach Prondzinski every Monday through Thursday. Who would have thought that one conversation would alter the course of my high school experience forever? One day, I went to the weekly party at Katherine Law's luxurious yet comfortable home in Minnetonka. After a night of good food, good friends, and good fun, I found myself on the green couches in the basement in front of the 9-television wall display (only a few actually work). To my left was Cosette Haugen, and in front of me was Evan Chen. They were talking about how they were going to enter the Wayzata Debate Program...

Johnny Hunt

Dear Followers, I have anime depression. The journey of the American otaku is an emotional rollercoaster. When you find that a good show you can feel on top of the world, but when the last credit jumps across the top of your computer screen one of several things may happen. You can close your video player window and head over to Facebook to comment on how much you loved or hated the ending, scan the internet on search engines for any thread of information pertaining to a new season, or just slowly realize that there is no more left to watch. What I am experiencing right now is a mix of all three. This Thanksgiving break left me with so much time that I didn't even know what to do. For some unexplainable reason (probably Jesus), my download...

Transformers, Robots In Disguise

Dear Followers, A Closer Look: Japanese Pepsi Nex Billboard With the advance of modern technology, visual media has become the predominant mode of advertisement. The average person is bombarded with thousands of visual images every day, and one cannot look around without finding an advertisement in many parts of the world. In this new environment of visual entrapment, we as the viewers need to be able to evaluate the messages behind these images more than ever. As marketing executive Jay Chiat explains in his “Illusions Are Forever,” we need to “come closer to seeking our own truth” or forever be overwhelmed by the constructs of visual media. What follows is a thorough analysis of a single example of this visual media. Some of us have...