ASSIGNED TOPIC 2: FIU Bans Smoking

This article, titled "Florida International University Bans Smoking on Campus, Even in Cars," came out recently, and it's been hotly debated among my friends. Read it, and then, in your own blog, write a reaction post to this article. What do you think? Do you agree with the ban, completely? Do you disagree with it? Do you agree with some parts, but not with others? Why?

ASSIGNED TOPIC 1: Winter Break

The winter break was a nice break from school, though I'm sure most of you (if not all) would agree it wasn't long enough. With celebrating holidays and gathering with family, before we knew it, it was time to buckle up and get back to school. That leads me to the first assigned topic of the semester: what did you do this winter break? Did you travel? Visit family? Stayed locally and worked? How did you celebrate the holidays, if you celebrated at all? Remember to keep posts at about 150 words (minimum).

Welcome to Winter Term!

It's a new year and a new semester. Everyone seems to be shinning with possibilities. At the beginning, we start strong, with momentum. We can tackle the world and we can make it.

Let's try to keep that momentum going throughout the semester!

It's so easy, half-way, to get discouraged, derailed. With the mounting pressure of deadlines and projects, some of us get unnerved and wonder whether we will, in fact, succeed. We will - if we remind ourselves that, like a good run, we have to keep it steady and even, or we will burn out. If we start out fast, we run out of breath and won't make it to the end. But if we keep ourselves at a pace that we can handle, we will finish that race, or, in our case, this semester.

So, here's to a great year and a great semester. Let it be one of success, knowledge, and possibility. We CAN do it all. :)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1

I finally watched it and it was disappointing. I liked it, sure, but I wasn't wowed. I'll be writing a longer, more detailed review in my personal blog once I get some sleep, but, in a nutshell, I was not impressed. Though I know the movies will never be the same as the books, and usually, the book is way better than the movie, I was expecting a certain faithfulness to the order of events, scenes, and characters. This first part of the two-part finale fell short (in my humble opinion) of what the storyline offered. It felt rushed (possibly because they crammed two-thirds of the book into the first part (almost three hours). The scenes felt choppy, unfinished; before I was finished figuring out what was going on in one, the next one happened. It's like they had to get all this stuff in so they jumped around.

Some things worked (like the shortening of the beginning, before the trio leaves - it worked for me) but some things didn't (the whole added dance scene in the forest after Ron leaves - eh. Didn't work for me AT ALL). But that's movie-making.

But again, I will be writing a more detailed review, in case anyone's interested. :)

"Behind the Scenes: The Score"

This is for all you music enthusiasts. In films, music is as important as the characters; in fact, it can be said that music is a character.

Cafe Attack in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

After today's class discussion, I looked it up and here it is: A sneak peak of the "Cafe Attack" scene from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1. Anyone pick up on the differences from the book? It's maddening!

ASSIGNED TOPIC: ALL CLASSES

Since I haven't done this in a while, here's an assigned topic:

What movie have you recently seen that you absolutely loved? Why? What was so great about it? If you can't think of one you loved, you can write about a movie you hated, and why.