sometimes I think no one reads these things, so I wanna put really dumb stuff for the title to see if anyone notices

The subject of this particular blog tonight is is something I think deserves everyone's appreciation: music in movies. Normally, when I'm watching a movie,  music is the one of the last things that I tend to notice. It's something that usually isn't in the foreground and plays more of a support role. However, without music, films would be absolutely abysmal. I was thinking about this recently as I've been nerding it up this week and watching The Lord of the Rings film series again. Howard Shore, the composer for the trilogy, is able to capture the emotions of what is happening in a particular scene and translate each feeling into music in a remarkably beautiful way. His music isn't something that you consciously hear as you watch the movies. It is something that you feel. Often the music is in the background and seeks to only enhance the emotions of each scene. This is exactly what I think music in movies should strive to accomplish. However, what is so brilliant about his composing is that he knows when to make the music the audiences main focus. This is often done in battle scenes or when there is little dialogue between the characters.  The music makes what the actors are doing something more. Their is a greater sense of what is happening could be real and isn't just being acted out by full grown men in make up.


This song perfectly exemplifies how Howard Shores composing is able to make a scene feel like more then just a movie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAb-fqBrUsY

Space is a Pretty Cool Place

So if I'm not mistaken I recall you saying that we could occasionally have a few blogs that weren't totally related to English. And seeing as my recent blogs have been the paragon for all blogs I figured I would be a hipster and deviate away from the mainstream blog posts. Anyway, I came home today and was perusing the google news website and found an intriguing article in the science section. This one to be exact: http://www.space.com/20720-earth-like-alien-planets-discovery.html
For those of you without computers but who are still somehow reading this blog I will elaborate on what the article says. Basically,  it says "Science is like the coolest freaking thing ever and we should all do sciency stuff all the time because that would be rad". But actually, apparently 3 planets were discovered outside of our solar system that may have the perfect conditions for life. The zone in which these type of planets exist is known as the "habitable zone" and is considered a place where theoretically, and on a large enough time line, life should be able to evolve. The star around which these planets is 7 billion years. By comparison, our sun is roughly 5 billion years old, so these planets have had ample time to develop life. Of course this solar system is 1200 light years away so we'll never be able to visit it in my lifetime. But it is encouraging to think that life on other planets seems to be an almost inevitable event, especially when you realize the sheer amount of galaxies and solar systems in our universe. 


 SCIENCE!!!! WOOOOO!!!!!!

Hobbitssss

So I finished my third and final independent reading novel a couple of weeks and this of course meant only one thing: I could finally start reading The Hobbit!!!! I was finally able to open this beautiful book that had been left unattended next to my bed for nearly 4 months. I understand that The Hobbit probably isn't the most demanding book to read, but it's definitely better then reading nothing. I was especially interested in trying this book after I saw the film adaptation and thought "Wow, that kinda sucked." I was certain that Tolkien had written a better novel then that which was portrayed in the movies. And of course, I was right. I'm only 136 pgs into this book so far but I've read more then enough to form an opinion on it. When I first began this novel I noticed something about Tolkiens writing style. It was oddly simple in a way that brilliantly worked with the events occurring. I'm pretty sure that Tolkien initially wrote The Hobbit to be a children's book and this perhaps explains the more simplistic diction. This is of course, not to say that his writing style is inherently bad. Tolkien presents himself as an author who doesn't need to prove his merit through long ACT words and convoluted sentences that are free from order and relevance. Instead, he describes through an omniscient eye what is happening, using only words that a child could understand, but that a young adult could still appreciate. The Hobbit is a book rich in imagery and detail that finds the most adequate ways to depict a seemingly simple tale of adventure. It is also very different from the film. Mostly, in that unlike the movie, the first hour of the book isn't a dinner party