The Highly Unusual Traditions of TNT

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“We have had the time of our lives and I will not forget the faces left behind. It’s hard to walk away from the best of days. But if it has to end I am glad you have been my friend in the time of our lives.” Tyrone Wells

Click the links to watch the videos of CIMI tradition! 

Every year, CIMI hosts a variety show on the second to last night.  We call it TNT (Talent or No Talent).  Campers, counselors and instructors alike are welcome to enter the show and perform in front of the entire camp.  Over the years and throughout the sessions, CIMIans have developed their own little traditions that are passed down each summer.

A definite camp favorite would be the famous Watermelon Duel.  Staff members, Straka and Kyle established the first Catalina Sea Camp Watermelon Duel in 2008.  The tradition was continued in the Summer 2011 Watermelon Duel during the second session of CIMI by Wyatt and Garrett.  “This was a tribute indeed,” said Wyatt, “Garrett is Kyle’s younger brother, It only seemed right.”

Campers spell out “WE LOVE CIMI” in Scrabble tiles for the Board Games Carnival

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Thao & Mirah.

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Thao & Mirah
Sometimes I find myself searching for music that is both relaxing and fun. These two words rarely are put together to describe music, but in the new album, Thao & Mirah, these words describe the sounds perfectly.

Created by San Francisco-based solo artist Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn and alternative, rock singer and star of Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, Thao Nguyen, the album is truly unique. Using an array of sounds and tastes every song explores a different sound ranging from classic folk, to indie rock.

Released in April 2011, the collaboration of the two individual talents works perfectly. Full of great guitar and acoustic melodies mixed with delicate and rough vocals the album is perfect album to relax to but also sing along and dance to. I would recommend it to any one.

2:46PM March 11th, 2011

thehungryrunnergirlLeave a comment

In Japan, earthquakes happen at least once a week. There’s a system that predicts earthquakes five seconds beforehand to help you prepare.

On March 11, I was working out in a gym. Suddenly, the power went out and the ground started to shake. I thought to myself, “Well okay, again. No big deal.” But the shake didn’t end, and I soon realized that this earthquake was huge. Personal trainers told me to evacuate. I couldn’t walk. I felt as if my legs lost control. Fortunately, the buildings in Japan were built strong for earthquakes so we were safe, but phones had no service and I couldn’t communicate with my family. It was chaos.

When I got back home after walking for an hour, I turned on the TV. I was shocked out of my wits. Tohoku was destroyed by a tsunami. I saw people on the top of a hospital waving and asking for help. It was absolutely unbelievable. Cars, houses were all gulped by the tsunami.

Why? Why did this happen? Why Japan?

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A week later, the death toll went up to 6,900 people. I was just shocked. What if I lived there? What if my families and friends were there…?

But in the midst of this heartbreak, there was a one thing that made my happy. I discovered the beauty of Japanese culture.

There was a very little looting. People waited patiently for food despite the length of the line. This summer was all about saving electricity for Tohoku. It was over 90 degrees everyday, but the air conditioners on trains and some parts of shopping malls were off. But nobody ever complained. We had only one thing on our minds: to help rebuild Tohoku, and still today, we are striving for that.

Before the earthquake, nobody was truly patriotic. I was a little bit disappointed how people didn’t appreciate the country. After the quake,  I was very moved and proud of being Japanese. I’ve never seen people working as one for people who are suffering from this disaster.

Please, pray for us.

For more information/photos, click here.

Gaming, in all its glory

venturatreker1 Comment


As many people are already aware, I am quite the dabbler when it comes to video games.  Really any kind of game “floats my boat.”  Whether that be shooting terrorists, saving the universe from some alien race or just driving a Bugati Veyron at top spead into oncoming traffic.

The thing is, video games allow one to really do well just about anything.  A lot of people often associate gaming with nerdy or geeky people, and the really only exceptions is frat boys getting together to bust out some Call of Duty multiplayer.

But the truth is, video games are an art form in themselves. The countless months, and sometimes years it takes to create a game is remarkable.  In essence video games create an entire article virtual world with its own laws and physics, when said that way, they seem pretty awesome.

It really is a true business.  As much as designers wished gaming studios ran similar to Grandmas Boy, they don’t. Many designers really put their heart and souls into designing their games.

When I played Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, russians invade the eastern seaboard, and you play through a war-torn Washington DC, fighting towards the capital building.  In it their is a scene of the half-destroyed Washington monument, and it is really a piece of art.  The entire world is rendered on a computer with the intention of millions of people playing through it in their own ways. Imagine creating a world that can filter and allow millions of different choices and decisions, it like creating another world.

In essence that is what Video games really are. And I dabbler in them whenever I can.

We won!

rangerthecat1 Comment

There is nothing better than having the best team mates, a supportive coach, and a team spirit that will stay strong no matter what the outcome of the game.
That being said, there is one thing that can make it feel a whole lot better: Winning.

Saturday, September 17th was the first girls varsity volleyball game.

Walking down to the field, ready to set up the courts and play, I had many mixed feelings about the game in my near future. I thought, since we only had a little over a week of practice, that we would suck. I mean really, I knew Midland wasn’t the best volleyball team, but I thought we were going to lose so badly.

But, as six individuals stand on the court, there is some strong bond that makes us all one. Sounds cheesy, but really, I feel like that’s what happened.

Before I knew it, my prediction from a few hours ago had been completely flipped around. We kicked their butt!

And it felt so good!!!!!!!!!

My doubts for the rest of the season have disappeared. I have so much more confidence in myself and the rest of my team than I had before. I really think this is going to be an amazing season, and hopefully we have a lot more of these victories in our future.

The Not So Naked Videos

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Christina Aguilera Helps the Cause to End Worl...
Image via Wikipedia

The sad truth is music videos aren’t as good as they use to be. Remember the good old days when you could tune in MTV at home, and sit back and watch a decently choreographed appropriate music vid?

Well now it just seems to be a rap song to a booty shake sometimes guns, money, boobies and That’s IT!  The quality really has gone down since around  2004. Don’t get me wrong I have nothing against women in tight outfits, but some times the people miss videos that don’t look the same as 50 cent’s Candy Shop.

Luckily there are still a few artist out there care about family values…Sort of. Here a few that I have enjoyed in the past couple of years that I would actually let my kids see ( If I was a dad).

Bruno Mars with “The Lazy Song”

Notice how there are no “Bathing Apes”

Katy Perry with “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F)”

Still 80’s appropriate.

Maroon 5 with “Moves Like Jagger ft. Christina Aguilera”

I bet you don’t know who Mick Jagger is.

The Buffett Tax

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As some people worry about the money they spend on gas or groceries, a group of Americans sit back and watch their money flow in.

I do not mean to insinuate that millionaires and billionaires do not work hard because most of them do. However, I see no argument that their lives are anywhere near as hard as those who are living paycheck to paycheck.

Warren Buffett has over the years called for higher taxes for America’s uber-rich, and now it seems he might get it.

Obama is looking to propose the “Buffett Tax,” a new tax on wealthy Americans that would work to keep some of the wealthy from avoiding taxes and increase the rates that they pay.

Although it would only affect about 450,000 Americans, the tax could very much benefit the economy, which as we all know, needs all the help it can get.

I look back at the arguments I have heard on why the rich should not have higher taxes; they don’t deserve it, it wouldn’t really help, it’s not fair. But none of those arguments make sense to me.

Taxes are not a punishment, they are just a fact of life in a society like ours. If you enjoy the country you have then you better accept the idea of taxes.

Taxing the top 0.3% of Americans (which this would do) a higher amount could really help. And on top of it, the bill wouldn’t actually raise taxes, it would just eliminate some of the Bush tax cuts, which I think we can see did not work judging on where are economy is now.

I hope that this bill can get through Congress during their Dec. meeting on deficit reduction. I think that this could be a helpful bill, but on top of that, it just makes sense.

Tribal Issues (Chairman’s Program)

theycallmedame5 Comments

I want to change lives.
I really, really do.
And now, finally, I’m given an opportunity to do it.

I’ve been doing volunteer work with an organization called Rustic Pathways for two summers in a row. In 2010, I went to Costa Rica to help sustain sea turtle life by building a hatchery for eggs and moving the eggs from dangerous areas to a safe place where they will survive. This year, in 2011, I went to China to volunteer at a Giant Panda conservation center, where I helped care for and feed the endangered pandas.

That was all fun, and helpful, and all that jazz, but I wanted something more.

A week ago, my friend Max (who I’ve done both of the Rustic programs with) called me and told me about this amazing program hosted by Rustic.

“There’s limited spaces available,” he said, “And you don’t get to just sign up, you actually have to send in an application and have an interview to see if you get accepted or not.”

Right away my curiosity was piqued, I needed to be accepted to go? I kept asking Max, one of my best friends since kindergarten, question after question about it until he finally directed me to the site where the trip was explained.

I read through it and my breath got caught in my throat. It sounded so important, so influential, so life-changing.

I sent in my application right away and emailed the director to ask for an interview.

The next day, I received an email from Rustic:

Hello Aria,

Congratulations on being accepted into our programs in Southeast Asia.

I literally squealed, my hands flying to my mouth, and my eyes started to tear up. This is the experience I have been waiting for!

In the summer of 2012, from July 3 to July 20, I will travel with my friend Max and roughly six other students into Thailand, Burma, and Laos. But it will not just be for seeing the other countries and what their culture is, no. I will travel to an estimated fourteen tribes and speak with young men and women there about their life, their hardships, their experiences, and anything else.

I will help sponsor various children to go to school and supply villages with water, food, bicycles, soap, and a friend. I will work with Rustic and the other students on the trip to think of ways to better the lives of all the people in those tribes, and try to set our plans into action.

I want to experience life, and I can’t do that by just talking about making a difference. I have to actually go out there and do it.

And I will go out there.
And I will do it.
And nothing is going to stop me.

I’m an adult: this means I’m better than you.

Yourcupatea1 Comment

respect
As an adolescent I find myself continually being treated like a ‘kid.’ I’m 17, I can drive, make my own decisions, and yes I can dress myself. Yet to some adults they still feel that they are entitled to belittle and undermine me, all because of my age.

I’m independently applying for college and planning my life, an important future decision, yet according to some this is just not enough. I’m beginning to wonder when I will be respected as an adult.

In my eyes I reached my adulthood and gained my independence many years ago, but this is not the case in California. In England, at the age of 16 you are seen as an adult being charged higher fares. I guess age means different things in different countries and cultures. It seems that  in America you reach adulthood at the age of 18.

Some people still believe that with age comes great wisdom, but in my eyes I’m pretty wise already. I guess I will only find out these things with age, but for now I shall just enjoy being a teenager and hope for a little more respect.

 

the endless circle the endless circle the endless…

yrreskrap1 Comment

It’s funny. I didn’t think that I’d find such depth and meaning in my summer reading.

 

A Confederacy of Dunces
Image via Wikipedia

 

I was assigned four books over this past summer, one of them being Toole’s The Confederacy of Dunces. In reading this book, it opened up my eyes of the vicious circle that has been plaguing our society since the birth of mankind and undoubtedly will do so for eternity (or, in my mind, the Rapture).

People want to be viewed by others a certain way. They portray themselves accordingly depending on who their audience is. As shown through the main character of Ignatius J. Reilly, one might strive for acknowledgment but receive nothing but judgement in return.

Prejudice is a instantaneous reaction, an almost inbred behavior. It may take your brain a few seconds to scan a stranger before you feel like you already have a grasp of the kind of a person he or she is.

People, whether conscious of the fact or no, put on a guise in order to recreate themselves. Most people describe going off to college as a time to “start with a clean slate.” This is essentially people putting on a new persona. You are given the opportunity to leave your past behind. So you used to be the girl who was too shy to approach anybody? Well now that same girl is the first to introduce herself at her new college. You are allowed to break the binding chains of the stereotypes that you had been associated with during these chance times. And in this vicious cycle, there are many opportunities to change.

We are afraid to be judged (on different levels of course) yet, we judge almost all we see. The circle feeds on insecurities, on fears, on secrets and it generates even more. Just as Van Gogh‘s potentials were never realized (at least not until after his death) and Ignatius’ motives were misinterpreted, humanity will always reject what is not the norm. And, in one way or the other, people will always strive to live up to the standards of their peers.