Hey Ma, I’m on the Internet!

  I was surfing Youtube watching Super Smash Bros Melee combo videos (I’m such a tool :O) when I found this atrocious comment on a Captain Falcon (The Faclon Punch guy…) video.

   ” This looks like a sweet game whens it out on PS2.”

Does anyone see the problem with Nintendo characters appearing on a Sony console, Nintendos biggest competitor? Was this really worth a blog update? I guess I’m just frustrated by the ignorance of the statement…

-Yours truly, that one kid named Brandon.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=MLYGYKBGOGQ2DQFIQMFSFGGAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2007/11/12/wtree112.xml

:OOOOOOOOO!!!!

  In these chapters the book begins to wind down. The entirety of chapter 11 is Pony talking with Randy (Bob’s friend). In chapter 12 Pony goes to court, deals with greasers, and basically tries to get his life back. He’s assigned a 5 or more page story to be written. When Pony and Darry argue one night, putting Soda in the middle of it, he storms out of the house. They have a brotherly moment and calm down a little. Looking for reading material, Pony finally decides to read the copy of Gone with the Wind that Johnny left for him. In it he finds a note that helps him understand; to cope with his loss. He decides to write his essay on the recent events in his life.

  I’d like to point out that this isn’t a happy ending. We don’t know if Darry and his brothers get to stay together, we don’t learn if he salvages his marks, and there may be more trouble down the road with the Socs and the Greasers. Considering the plot of this novel, this is as close to a happy ending you’ll get.

  These two chapters are about… survival. Under a lot of emotional, physical, and mental stress Pony has sort of shut down in order to survive. He ignores the facts and becomes ignorant to Johnny’s death and the murder he [Johnny] commited.  He survived the flaming church, almost drowning, and running from the law, but now he’s surviving in a  different sense. He’s surviving mentally. His sense are kind of dulled now, to, to deal with all of this.

  “Two-Bit was inside talking to some girls when a car drove up and three Socs got out. I just sat there and looked at them and took another swallow of the Pepsi. I wasn’t scared. It was the oddest fealing in the world. I didn’t feel anything- scared, mad, or anything. Just zero”.

  It’s not just Pony either. When Dally went down, he took Two-Bit’s switchblade with him. Two-Bit realizes this, and he also realizes it’s not just the switchblade he is troubled about. He wishes it was, though. Soda is dealing with losing his girlfriend, Sandy, whom he wanted to marry. Darry has to deal with Ponys sickness on top of the rest of his workload.

  Well, I finally finished the lot of the blog posts. Yay me! To celebrate, I present you with a long overdue .gif file.

  In chapter 9 the boys fight in the big Socs vs. Greasers, featuring a suprise appearance by Dally, who used a knife to convince a nurse to let him go. Afterwards Dally and Ponyboy go the hospital, and Johnny dies.

  In chapter 10 Ponyboy, still pretty shaken up from Johnny’s death and his injuries from the rumble, tells the gang of Johnny’s death. They go down to the open lot after getting a call from Dally and witness as he commits suicide with a little help from the cops. Pony passes out and wakes up in his bed.

  These two chapters are about… fear. Pony is too afraid to deal with all these sudden changes in his life, he doesn’t want to deal with the fear of being alone without Johnny and Dally, so he dreams JC is still alive. He’s afraid of the future, and what’s in store for him. His friends and family fear for their safety and his.

  “… I looked at the paperback lying on the table. I didn’t want to finish it. I’d never get past the part where the southern gentlemen go riding into sure death because they are gallant. Southern gentlemen with big black eyes in blue jeans and T-shirts, Southern gentlemen crumpling under street lights…”

  ”…”Johnny…. he’s dead.” My voice sounded strange, even to me. But he’s not dead, a voice in my head said.”

Yeah, boring title.

  In Chapter 7 the three brothers were harassed by the paparazzi. After that they went home and Johnny enjoys it. We get a hint that Sodapop has his own problems…
  Chapter 8, Pony and Two-Bit go to see Johnny. He busted his back and will never be able to walk again. Johnny’s mother came to see him, but Johnny never wanted to see her. They also visited Darry, who hurt one of his arms. They went to the bus stop for a ride home, and Pony met up with Cherry.

  These two chapter focus on…. friendship. N0w that Pony is back home, he can pal around with Two Bit, Soda, Darry and the likes of ‘em. He looks out for his friends, and vice versa, as shown when Pony gets a fever of sorts when Two Bit asks Pony if he’s feeling good.

  “…Two-Bit came running into the kitchen. He caugh me by the upper arms and swung me around, ignoring the fact that I had two uncooked eggs in my hand. “Hey Ponyboy”, he cried gleefully, “long time no see”.

There are too many quotes of looking-out-for-each-otherness and other ways to generally express friendship to list, but this one in particular stuck out to me. I’m not entirely sure why…

In chapter 5, nothing particularly important happened. Ponyboy and Johnny alter their hairstyles to disguise themselves, read Gone with the Wind and Ponyboy mentions a poem by Robert Frost, which turns up later in the book. Dally picks up the kids several days later and they go to DQ for ice cream and barbeque sandwiches.
… Seems kid of weird now that I put it into words…
In Chapter 6, Johnny mentions that he wants to turn himself in to the cops on their drive back to the church. No time for that, its on fire and a bunch of kids are inside. Johnny and Ponyboy rescue them, but a chunk of the building falls on Johnny and the three [Dally, Ponyboy, Johnny] are rushed to the hospital. There, Pony is reunited with his brothers, and for the first time Darry cries.

  This section of the book seems to be focused on heroism. But what is it that makes you a hero? In modern society the term is thrown around a lot, even occasionally as an insult. In my book, a hero is a person who improves someone’s life in some way- pretty much anyone, really. Of course we have different tiers of heroes in modern society. Firefighters, police officers, and other people who put their life on the line virtually every day are heroes of a relatively high tier, while using your manners and trying to be a good person are on a lower tier for example. It’s disturbing how rare a hero is becoming.
  In Chapter 6 most if not all of the heroic actions take place. Rescuing the kids… um, going to the cops to turn yourself in (arguably)… and… erm, that’s pretty much it. The magnitude of rescuing children makes up for it though.