One Chip

Recently, we sat down to do a Hill Talk Podcast where we partook in the One Chip Challenge. We didn’t do the real challenge of eating the whole chip because our teacher is liable for our health and safety, but I must say, that shit still hurt. I can’t even describe the chip as spicy, it was just painful. As soon as I bit into the chip, I tasted a disgusting flavor of heat and pepper. The chip was thick, crispy, and dry as hell. Thus making it very hard to chew. It resembled eating sandpaper in my mind. My first reaction to the heat was to hiccup. My diaphragm began to convulse with the power of 1,000 stampeding wildebeests. I could’ve sworn I was gonna throw up. This all happened in a blink of an eye, and as time progressed, so did the pain. The chip lit up my spice receptors like a Christmas tree, it would be safe to say that the only thoughts on my mind were the exponentially increasing pain, and the chocolate milk I was thirsting to chug. Breathing became a difficult task, and speaking became an unintelligible blabber. This one chip fucked me up. If it wasn’t for the lemon juice chemically neutralizing the capsaicin, I’d be a goner. Even with this bitter miracle of fruit juice, the chip still put me on my ass. I could’ve sworn I contacted IBS, I mean, how could a healthy intestinal circuit feel like it’s moving shattered glass all because of one chip. I will rue the day that I participated in the Paqui One Chip Challenge.

Amazon.com: Paqui Carolina Reaper Madness One Chip Challenge Tortilla Chip
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The Worst Movies I’ve Ever Seen

As a kid who was raised by a father who really likes movies, I can happily say that I have seen a lot more good movies than bad ones. Even the ones I didn’t thoroughly enjoy, are usually just slower movies that are hard to watch with a teenage attention span. However, at one point I did have a girlfriend who liked to watch the bachelor so I’m pretty well versed in awful media now and I can say with certainty that I have seen some pretty awful movies. Some on my own time some because I was forced to watch them.

Alright, let’s start with a steaming hot take. If you get mad at this one I would definitely stop reading this blog now. If you know me, you know I have a primal hatred towards musicals. Especially ones dealing with love and/or falling in love. In my opinion not only is love not that exciting but there is literally no emotion exciting enough to warrant breaking out into song and dance. And that is why I literally hate La La Land. I’m sure I will get crucified for this but I will die on this hill with pride as I am certain that this is a garbage movie. First I will agree that it does have its funny moments. But this movie literally cannot decide what the hell it wants to be. First, it’s kind of a drama about this scum bag dude who never deserves love in his life, then kind of a comedy as he meets the most mundane and indecisive woman in the world. Then it’s kind of a comedy but the whole time I’m just hoping that these two just cut their losses and go find someone else. Neither of them is an interesting character and neither of them is charming at all. Watching them fall in love is like watching paint dry with a bit of song and dance in between. This movie to me is the epitome of Millennialism, no I will not elaborate. This movie is a solid D- for decide what the hell you want your movie to be. (Sorry not sorry to the La La Land Stans in here)

Photo Credit: https://www.goldenglobes.com/sites/default/files/articles/cover_images/2017-la_la_land.jpg?format=pjpg&auto=webp&optimize=high&width=850

The second movie on the chopping block is Ready Player One. As someone who both adores the book and most of Spielberg’s films, I was hoping for an absolute banger when I went to see this movie. What I got was an absolute sell-out of a rom-com with a pretty boy as the lead actor. Not only does this movie completely betray the book harder than any Hobbit or Lord of the Rings could possibly hope to, but THEY ALSO TOOK THE F***ING RUSH REFERENCE OUT. And as someone who was born in Canada, I will never forgive the writers and Spielberg. This movie sucks and Spielberg is on thin ice. Solid F- for F*** this movie.

Photo Credit: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BY2JiYTNmZTctYTQ1OC00YjU4LWEwMjYtZjkwY2Y5MDI0OTU3XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTI4MzE4MDU@.V1.jpg

Now for actually the worst movie, I have ever seen. Although I have infinite amounts of hatred for both Ready Player One and La La Land, I understand that there is appeal there and that people like this movie. The one movie that I will never understand or ever have an ounce of respect for is The Kissing Booth. I hate this movie. It is so bad that I can happily say that I would rather watch paint dry for two weeks than watch this movie once. I have seen this movie twice and both are the most torturous experiences of my life. This movie sucks so bad that if you like it, I urge you to go get some taste. Netflix literally made one of the most unrelatable teen movies ever made, but the plot might literally be the worst plot ever written. Solid H+ for hiring some new writers.

Photo Credit: https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/07/14/arts/14kissing-booth/merlin_137375604_96e0246a-a5b0-4bbc-a5c6-22facd9d3e92-superJumbo.jpg

Pre-Chip Journal

This Monday. 10 Am. Ojai Valley School. The last conference room on the right. It’s going down.

I will be orchestrating the show of the century via my video podcast. Myself, my co-host, and my newspaper’s editor will be eating the world’s spiciest chip. On camera. It WILL be the highlight of my year or the reason I get violently ill and have to leave school.

Going into the new year, I needed new ideas for my budding podcast. To be honest, my coverage and predictions about Omicron were shaky to say the least, some would even say disastrous but hey you live and you learn.

ANYWAYS, a ton of planning has gone into this. I had the idea on a crisp Thursday morning at 7:15 am on the toilet browsing Tik Tok. I saw this random old dude force feeding himself for views on tik tok when I saw him down 4 or 5 very spicy chilies, some daused in the world’s hottest hot sauce, followed up by a shot of vodka and him spraying WD-40 down his gullet. The funniest part is he starts with this cute little gag accent which slowly transitions into him moaning, whining, and crying as he forces himself to eat them (attached his so-called highlights at the bottom). Truly enthralling stuff. When I got to Journalism that day, I was instantly bombarded by my teacher and editor about not doing enough during my time between episodes (true but no way I would admit it).

“I’m gonna make my editor eat something so hot, she doesn’t have a tongue to tell me to slack off less,” I thought to myself.

It’s a pretty great plan if you factor our the fact that I will be torturing myself and my co-host for a gag/to see my editor’s face when she eats this chip.

I have created a whole show around the one spicy chip which I will outline:

First, we will chat around for a second, maybe get a cameo on the fourth mic from our teacher, get some other Journalism students to chime in and what not, setting the stage for the main event. Then, we will spin a wheel to determine the order in which we eat the chips. Then, another wheel will be spun to determine how much of the chip will be eaten: 60% for 1/3, 35% for 2/3, and 5% for 3/3. You are gonna hear “another wheel” a handful more times throughout this blog. Get used to it. After this spin, we will eat the chip, and film our reaction for 3 minutes. We will then all play Family Feud while handling the heat. The winner will get first dibs to spin two wheels that are mostly filled with things that help heat like milk and carbs, but also some negatives like tonic water and an onion. The other two will spin this wheel in the order of their points in Feud. After this, we will have a spelling bee, something my editor is impossibly terrible at. After this, we will probably wrap up, and that will be our show.

I am pretty excited, but I hope nobody gets a stomach ulcer leading to me getting sued. I’ll attach the podcast to my next blog so stay tuned.

VC: TikTok Legend

My Favorite Mobile Puzzle Games

A year or two, I had a puzzle games hyperfixation. Instead of going on TikTok or watching YouTube, I would listen to music and play puzzle games for hours. They’re actually super fun. Here’s my favorite ones.

Connect

The connecting games are definitely my favorite ones. When I got a new puzzle game, I would be done with every single tier of difficulty (each having around 100 levels to play) within an hour or two. They’re super fun and I don’t know why. There’s just something so satisfying about figuring out the way that they all go together after thinking about it and trying different combinations.

App: Puzzledom

Car Parking

The car parking puzzles are addicting. There’s a game I have that’s just car parking puzzles and as far as I can tell, it has an infinite amount of levels. (I’m on level 1,466, so I’m pretty sure there’s not an end to the levels.) The escape games can be included in this category since it’s exactly the same game, but I prefer the ones where you’re moving around cars instead of just blocks.

App: Let Me Out

Tangram

I first played with tangrams in, like, second grade. Tangrams seriously felt like a fever dream until I found a game that had a tangram category and I realized that I hadn’t made up the concept and gaslit myself into thinking it was real. Anyways, they’re fun.

App: Puzzeldom

Blocks/Hexa Puzzle

These are kind of the same as the tangrams, but a little different. I like them. That’s all.

App: Puzzledom

Word Shatter

For some reason, I really like word puzzles. The word shatter kind is my favorite since it’s like a word search but less frustrating. An honorable mention is the word soup kind of game where you make words from a certain collection of letters.

App: Numpuz

I play most of these on apps that have a collection of different puzzle games. My favorite apps like that are Puzzledom and Numpuz (not sponsored by them, but I wish). I play my car game on an app called Let Me Out, which is just the car puzzle. Go check the apps out, but be warned- they’re addictive.

More Music

Another week and another set of music that I currently think is quite fire. This week I got my permit and have been listening to music at quite a high volume while I’m learning to drive. Some of the songs that I’ve been playing this week are the following.

To begin Paper Heart by Ollie is a song that has to be a part of my driving time playlist I’m working on. Ollie is a lo-fi pop/rap musician that sings about generally sad topics and delivers them quite well. The song, Paper Heart, talks about how he’s fragile and that a girl is playing with his feelings and making him feel like he’s under her control.

The next song on my list is Lead me on by Sammy Rash, yet another song about a girl that a messing with a guy’s feelings and screwing with his mind. Sammy Rash is a pop artist that has someone upbeat songs that have a lovely guitar melody and have realistic themes in the lyrics.
Second, to last on my list is a bit of a different song because of the fact that the last two were sad songs that were slow. The song, Let the Bad Times Roll, is an upbeat rock-pop song that just feels good and gets my mood going. The Offspring have been making songs since 2000 and their punk rock/ alternative pop music is just amazing. Although they aren’t underground, they are definitely a great listen.
Finally one of my favorite songs of this week is Fuck Authority by Pennywise, this song has a great electric guitar and beat to it. The song came out in 2001 and I wish that I had had it on my playlist a while ago, but it is sitting happily in my main playlist. Pennywise makes hip-hop rap and rock music and they are just killing it. Their vocalist has a great voice for the genre and the sounds just sound great.

I Did Not Expect That Mr. Harry Potter

Spoiler Alert!

I had watched some clips of Harry Potter before, but I just never got interested in it. It’s kind of boring watching them passing that weird shape of the ball, I don’t know, I was just not enjoying it at all. However, this Christmas break changed me, I have found my favorite movie now. It all started with my older brother, he watched the first 4 Harry Potter films with his friends already. Then, my little brother and I decided to give it a try so we could watch it with him during the break. After finishing the first two films of Harry Potter, we are so addicted to it.

Meanwhile, we went to Universal Studios and bought the Harry Potter robes. I know it’s kinda stupid and childish, but I enjoy wearing the robes while watching the rest of the series. We were just so obsessed with Harry Potter. Nevertheless, we always got so hype when Dobby came out because he is the strongest in the Wizarding World. The film hit me so hard when Albus Dumbledore and Dobby died, especially Dobby. Dobby is the king of these movies. Before he died, Dobby said: “Such a beautiful place, Dobby is happy to be with his friends.” I can still remember what he said even now. It’s a pity that the ending was not so surprising. However, the story and the plotting in those movies were just perfect. I never felt the movie is too long and never felt boring.

Here is my favorite part

Video Credit: DutchDfan1992

Euphoria

I really did not want to start watching Euphoria. I don’t know why. My friends all pressured me to watch the show and I simply didn’t want to. It was a tough sell, nobody could really elaborate what was so special about it. I had watched the first episode and did not feel connected enough to the characters and decided the show wasn’t for me. That was until last weekend.

I went over to my friends house and she put the new episode on. It got me invested in the show.

I am so mad I waited this long. I am really invested in the lives of every character, even though not caring about the characters was the thing that put me off in the beginning. The storyline is impossible and outlandish by design, but it undoubtedly sucks you in.

Personally, I really like Fez.

It is impossible to write this blog post without spoilers, so I now understand how my friends felt trying to convince me to watch the show. I can’t say too much, as that would ruin it. I can’t say too little, as then you wouldn’t watch it.

All I will say is, the many storylines that weave together is incredibly entertaining and I implore you to watch the show.

Don’t go below the picture if you don’t want a spoiler

PC: Esquire

(P.S. I hope Fez and Lexi happens)

Music of the month

I have a music taste that I wouldn’t consider to be super traditional to what people my age listen to, this being some form of rap or sad/calm music. I find that the music on my playlists falls into the categories of alt, melodic, and relaxed pop. This month at least I’ve been listening to a variety of songs that fall into these categories and then a couple that seeps out into other genres. For this month, I have been listening to a lot of a couple artists’ music that is different than last month.

The first artist is Jukebox the Ghost, who makes pop music that is not what I would consider being traditional pop because of the way that it’s delivered. The music is almost like jazzy melodic beat pop if that makes any sense at all. I stumbled across them while on the Spotify playlist It’s alt-good. I took a liking to their song Girl and found that I like their other music and have put them on my main playlist.

The next artist on my list is SonReal who makes pretty standard hip-hop, rap music but it has a soft feeling to some of the beats of the songs. The song that I found to link me to SonReal was Can I Get A Witness which has a nice beat and a background of a piano. I enjoy the consistency in good beats and relaxed attitudes in many of his songs.

Going into a blast from the past lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of Maroon 5 which is throwing me back to my childhood. Specifically, the album that I’m finding a lot of joy in is Songs About Jane. Songs About Jane has a bunch of bangers in its midst like Harder to breathe, and The Sun. The music that Maroon 5 makes is pop-rock/ neo-soul and has lovely beats that are paired with the vocals from Adam Levine making almost every song a banger.

IC: inc.com

James Webb update

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has finally reached its orbit at Lagrange point 2. There it will stay in the shadow of Earth to take pictures. Now these won’t be ordinary pictures, while the Hubble Space Telescope has been taking photos in the visible light spectrum, the light we can see, the JWST will be taking photos in the ultraviolet spectrum. This will allow us to effectively see through any sort of cosmic clouds which have previously blocked our view. The photos will be taken in the ultraviolet, translated into black and white, and then colorized to give us some of the most incredible pictures we have ever seen. The telescope can’t take photos right away though, it will take about six months to cool (it needs to be -233 C to detect ultraviolet light) calibrate, and undergo incredible amounts of testing. When photos begin to be taken and released our understanding of our universe as we know it may very well be flipped on its head.

James Webb Space Telescope: How does it work and what will it see? - BBC  Science Focus Magazine
Photo credit: NASA

Goldilocks is a Hardened Criminal

In my Law and Society class, we have a mock trial in which we try to prosecute somebody for some crime. This mock trial happens to be the prosecution of Goldilocks, and I must say Goldilocks does not seem innocent in any way. Goldilocks broke into the house of three bears and decided to ransack the place. She ate all of their food, sat in and broke their rocking chairs, slept in their beds, and jumped through the bear’s window to run away, all throughout a pandemic. Despite being the age of 7, Goldilocks comprehends that what she had done was wrong, otherwise, why would she run? Under the basis of Goldilocks understanding her crimes, she would be tried as a minor, rather than her being pardoned due to infancy. Goldilocks will be facing time, with charges such as Vandalism, Larceny, and Burglary. I believe Goldilocks should rot in prison until the day she dies. Dirty criminals like her have no right to live among law-abiding citizens.

The Goldilocks Effect and How to Harness Social Influence | First Round  Review
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