Hold Your Head Up and Stand Tall

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

Tonight I’m going to briefly talk about something that I’ve been avoiding because it’s not my particular field of expertise. Yes, it’s been prevalent for the past year and it will linger on our newsfeeds in the four years to come. Yes, you guessed it, it’s the election.

Donald Trump is our new president-elect and most people are against this. Demonstrations and protests have emerged in our nation, tags #notmypresident and #nevertrump have appeared on social media, and even safety pins have popped up on citizens. Trump has struck fear into many people’s hearts especially those of the LBGTQ community, those of different ethnicities, and women like myself. We reflect on the horrible things Trump has said from building a wall to the mentally/physically disabled and even the way he views women. Trump has also carried himself on threats and lies and in the future he will have to act as president and not give way to empty words, but actually do something. So what will he do? Will he live up to his word? Or will he hide behind the media’s veil and continue to spout false promises?

To be honest, I’m still digesting that we have this monstrosity as a president. My mind is still racking from the disbelief this election has brought. I also feel incredibly angry as a woman that America would rather have this incredulous carrot for a president as opposed to a woman. It’s as though they believe that a ‘woman’ (someone of their own gender) can’t handle the responsibilities of being president.  These next four years will not be easy on those who Trump has specifically targeted.

I know the phrases are usually “it’s always darkest before the dawn” and that “there’s a light at the end of the tunnel” and yes, those words offer mild reassurance in this time. Our nation is filled with so many ethnicities, women, and those of LBGTQ – it’s hard to offer such a grand amount of strength to tons of people.

Yet, it is in this time that we must band together and stand all. Accept each other as fellow brethren and sister of humanity, fight for those who deserve every single right as you do, and educate instead of breeding hate. Yes, there will be those who will not listen and cannot be saved, for they are too mired in their ignorance that Trump and his army feeds. There will be others who will open their minds and ears to what you tell them and those will be the ones who will hopefully join your side.

I was against Trump from the start with his fear mongering tactics, his ungodly slurs, his childish jabs at everyone, and even the mere sight of him: a screaming tangerine that ought to keep their lips shut. I stand with my fellow friends of the female gender, the LBGTQ community, and different ethnicities. We’re all humans who deserve equal rights as anyone else – what’s wrong with that?

Thank you for reading tonight’s entry. If you enjoyed it, feel free to share, subscribe, comment, and critique.

So tell me, what are your thoughts on the election?

It's Time to Get Wet 'n Wild

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

Summer is the time of year where water parks are pumping as well as other water based activities. So if you’re ready to cool down, here’s my top five water slides.

5. Toboggan – Hotel Citta del Mare, Italy

Have I mentioned we Italians are a crazy bunch? Sure, most places with water slides send you into a chlorine filled pool, but with this slide you’re getting a face full of sea water. Situated at the Hotel Citta del Mare, this slide is open to guests of the establishment. It’s a racing slide which takes you past three scenic views and pools before dropping you into the Gulf of Castellamare.

4. Dangerous Flits – Tikibad Duinrell, Netherlands

Want to feel like a speeding bullet? Look no further. Resting in the Tikibad Duinrell waterpark, this single rider slide will make you feel like you’re flying through the water with no sign of stopping. As you barrel down the first, steep drop you’ll notice that the ride offers a glimpse of the slow, stagnant outside world.  Only then is that precious daylight snatched away by your gaining speed and the imminent darkness of the tunnels before you. You’ll be thankful when you reach the end of this mortifying masterpiece of a slide.

3. L2 – Worgl, Austria

You like your water slides like you like your roller coasters: without logic and filled with loops. Austria has created the world’s first inverted double looping waterslide, a feat so extraordinary that it causes the human body to be like Elphaba and defy gravity.  Climbing into the capsule, you cross your arms as the countdown to the thrill of a lifetime begins. The floor gives way and you are rocket launched into the slide, followed by two loops, and a final race to a miniature pool that welcomes you back to reality.

2. Tantrum Alley – Wild Wadi Water Park, Dubai

One funnel on a water slide is insane, but three funnels? That’s about as crazy and wild as a runaway convict riding a blazing Harley Davidson motorcycle. Dubai does not disappoint with this water slide, its towering presence often frightens riders while encouraging others.  Its three funnels determine park goers to give this terrifying ride a whirl, but if the three funnel slide is too much to handle there is another slide to this attraction with two bowls that spin you around until they decide to spit you out.

1.Verruckt – Schlitterbahn, US

There are things that should not be tampered with in life. Oujia boards, fate, Furbies to name a few, but now to this collection we can add Verruckt. Standing taller than Niagara Falls and Lady Liberty herself, this water slide is a beast. It is the slide to end all slides as you rocket through the attraction at a terrifying speed of fifty five miles per hour. Verruckt is German for ‘insane’ and after tearing through this slide, you’ll understand why it was given that title.

Thank you for reading tonight’s entry. If you enjoyed it, feel free to comment, share, subscribe, and critique.

So tell me, what’s your favorite water slide?

Roller Coasters to Thrill Your Summer

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

Summer’s here which means theme parks are open for business. Some of you are coaster junkies like myself and enjoy the rushing sensation of the wind in your hair while screaming for your life.  Others simply enjoy watching coasters speed through the air which is an art in itself. The fluidity of the track, the unexpected drops, it’s a feast for all the senses.

Here are the top coasters of the summer:

5.  Cu’ Chulainn – Tayto Park, Ireland

So you are a plain Jane/Joe type of rider, looking for something with thrill, but nothing too extreme. Look no further than this wooden beast of a coaster situated in Ireland.  Cu’ Chulainn is actually the name of a medieval Irish warrior who defended the province of Ulster against an incredulous army and bore wondrous strength. Needless to say, he was not to be trifled with combat and this coaster is not meant to be trifled with either. Boasting the title of Europe’s largest coaster with an inversion, this ride will have you holding on as you tear through the tracks like a powerful hero.

4.  Black Mamba – Phantasialand, Germany

So you’re looking for a hanging coaster with tight turns and smooth drops? Black Mamba has just what you need. Black Mamba is an inverted steel coaster named after a lethal, ebony snake that shares the same name.  Power packed with 4Gs, this ride will have you nearly missing walls, giving you the notion that you just may not survive this ride. With a wild, African flare this roller coaster will spiral you into the jungle searching for a means of escape.

3. Takashiba – Fuji-Q Highland, Japan

A recent holder of the world record of the world’s steepest coaster, this ride puts the thrill in ‘Thriller’. Bearing a drop angle of 121 degrees and standing at a staggering 141 feet, this coaster doesn’t mess around. Even its name translates to “high fly car” in kanji and “domineering”  in English. Packed with inversions and loops, this coaster will take you on the ride of your life.

2. Goliath – Six Flags Great America, Illinois

Smashing three of the world’s records for steepest, fastest, and tallest roller coaster, Goliath is a monster to behold. Towering at 165 feet, this beast tears through steel tracks and surrounds you in tight loops. At one point it even has that audacity to slowly stop you in mid air, only to pick up the pace more powerful than before.

1.  Batman: The Ride – Six Flags Fiesta, Texas

Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “The only thing we should fear is fear itself.” This coaster is the definition of fear. Strapping into a car on this monstrous B roll formation coaster, this ride will have you rolling with no end in sight. Just when you think you’ve stopped flipping and rising, you couldn’t be more wrong. This roller coaster is so intense that even watching footage of it makes me stop the video in fear of losing my lunch.

Thanks for reading today’s entry. If you liked it, feel free to share, comment, and critique.

So tell me, what is your favorite roller coaster?

We Need Our Girls Back

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

On April 14^th, 2014, in Chebok, Borno, 276 Nigerian girls were abducted by Abubakar Shekau, a Nigerian Islamist rebel leader of the group, Boko Haram.  Since the time of the kidnapping, some of the females have been able to escape. For the past month, we have heard little to nothing at all about the troubling situation. Instead, we have been fed stories of the hostages being forced to marry their kidnappers, being sold as sex slaves, and being trafficked over the border to Cameroon.

Today was possibly the first time I heard anything on these girls. I happened to hear a brief and detailed report about them on the Channel 6 News. The Islamist rebel leader submitted a video through Youtube, announcing that he will exchange the girls for Boko Haram’s prisoners. In the video we also witnessed the Nigerian ladies clad in ebony and grey veils, sitting on the ground, chanting and singing in Arabic. However, the strangest factor of the video is the speaker himself. According to sources like CNN and other web sites, Shekau is supposedly deceased. Clearly, this must be someone impersonating as him, carrying on his name, and actions of his departed leader.

After the video was presented, the reporters made their remarks. One in particular triggered my brain into a frenzy of confusion, anger, and concern.  This comment included that the president of Nigeria was possibly considering returning the girls home.

The word ‘possibly’ shouldn’t even be used in that sentence.  ‘Definitely’ should replace ‘possibly’, especially when it comes to rescuing the lives of young, human beings who haven’t even seen the world yet. We are dealing with youthful lives here and not property or inanimate objects. These lives should be treated as humanly as possible and should be returned home; not possibly considered, but definitely considered. What troubles me even more is the fact that everyone is just now reporting on this dire situation and taking a stand to do something about it. It baffles me that nothing was being done over a month ago when it originally occurred.

On May 10th, Nigeria’s government has assigned two army divisions to find the girls. The Nigerian president has claimed to meet with neighboring countries as well as Britain, France, Israel, and America.  Let us hope we can find these girls and bring them back home, where they belong, and not in the possession of their captors. 

Nintendo's News for the Gaming World

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

With E3 just around the corner, Nintendo has tons of surprises in store. E3 is basically a gamer convention where companies like Sony, Nintendo, and other game industries show off their latest projects. One of Nintendo’s main features for E3 is that once again there will be no press conference. Instead, there will be a constant live stream entitled the Nintendo Treehouse.

Another treat Nintendo has for us gamers is the latest Fatal Frame game for the Wii U. While this is a Japan release only game, we can only hope that it will come to America. Fatal Frame is a game where you shoot pictures of ghosts, aka an occupation that any Ghostbuster or ghost hunter would love to have.

Another interesting game on the horizon is the latest Phoenix Wright game. As opposed to being set in modern times, it will be sent back in time to hundreds of years ago in the Meiji era of Japan. This game will focus on the ancestor of the titular character, as well as the ancestors of many other characters in the franchise.

For all the Pokemon lovers, there will be a new game released entitled Pokemon Art Academy. In this game, you draw Pokemon. Any Pokemon from Gen One to Gen Six are at your artistic mercy. For now it’s only a Japan release, but it may come to the United States.

Lastly, Mario Kart 8 has been mostly featured throughout Nintendo News. However, today we’ve received some good news and some strange news. The good news is that your vehicle comes with antigravity technology which allows the wheels to spin sideways and provides a spin boost if you run into other characters or just feel like spinning. There is also a new feature called Mario Kart TV (MKTV), where you can view your past races, and upload them to Youtube. This is the first time that one of Nintendo’s games as ever connected to a social site. The final piece of good news is that we now have a full cast of characters for the game, including Baby Rosalina.

pidgi.net

Look at those cute little cheeks! 

 As for the odd news for Mario Kart 8, it’s a character that for some unknown reason has been added. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Pink Gold Peach.

mariowiki.com

Look at that cold, unfeeling girly stare!

You may leave your confused remarks and concerns in the comments section. Also, feel free to follow me and as always feedback is welcomed. One final question of the night though:

What are you looking forward to in the future of gaming?

Coca Cola's Vision of America

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

With the Superbowl finished (the Seahawks slaughtering the Broncos and taking the trophy (just as The Oatmeal predicted)), people are still abuzz about a few things; namely, the game and the Coca Cola advertisement.  For those of you who didn’t bother to watch the game, here is the Coca Cola commercial that everyone is fighting over:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8iM73E6JP8 – Coca Cola: America, the Beautiful

People have been tweeting Coca Cola no sooner they saw the commercial. Each tweet contained a message of people deeming Coca Cola “un-American” and vowing to never drink their product. Their ultimate reason for this is because that the song America, the Beautiful was sung in eight foreign languages.

(theblaze.com)

But what is America exactly? Most of us have different definitions of it. America is patriotic, idealistic, the land of opportunity, the home of dreams, and my personal favorite, the ultimate supplier of bacon. Coca Cola envisions America as a diverse melting pot, culminating with races and languages of different nationalities. This theme was seen and heard throughout the ad which featured a homosexual couple roller skating with their daughter, a family dinner, friends engaging in various fun activities such as surfing and watching a movie, and various nationalities joining in on the fun.

Coca Cola’s intent was to “get people talking and thinking about what it means to be American” (Lee, USA Today). While their attempt was promising and understandable, most people thought otherwise. As for myself, I’m not a big fan of Coca Cola for what it does to your body, much like other sodas. However, I believe the commercial was decent and carried out a meaning of America that has been always defined this nation.

America has always been a melting pot that speaks more than one language. The most popular languages spoken in this nation are: English, French, and Spanish. They are languages that have migrated to this country by way of people. Over time, more people have come to this country in search of a new life, and with it, they brought their language regardless if it was Japanese or Italian. So why are we now causing a commotion over something that has been happening for ages with this nation?

Feel free to leave your comments below and as always, feedback and followers are welcomed.

A Crown and Controversies: Our New Miss America

Welcome everyone to another glorious end of the week. It’s time to kick off your shoes, forget about your work, and pop open a beer. This is the weekend, a time for relaxing, partying, and hopefully reading this blog.

Not too long ago, we’ve given a title to someone who rocked our nation. She’s a gorgeous woman crowned to represent America in all its star spangled glory. Her name is Nina Davuluri and she is our new Miss America. Born in Syracuse, New York, she represented her state by flaunting her Bollywood fusion dancing skills during the talent portion, and dazzling the audience in the swimsuit competition. For one night, she showed people something exotic, different, and glorious.

entertainment.verizon.com

In the past week, our new Miss America has caused quite a ruckus. The first spark of controversy was a shred of gossip that blamed her for calling Mallory Hagan, Miss America 2013, “fat as (explicit).” However, this rumor was quickly denied by her and she immediately apologized to Hagan.

The second flame of controversy exploded when she was crowned Miss America. What makes Nina so special (other than the title she owns) is the fact that she is not your typical Miss America. Nina Davuluri is the first Miss America of Indian descent. No sooner the crown was placed upon Nina’s head, racial comments swarmed on Twitter like a crowd of bees tackling a fruitful blossom.

Most, if not all of the comments, labeled her race wrongly, and claimed she should not have won because of her race.  She was also referred to as a terrorist, had a connection with Al Qaeda as well as 9/11, and should have been crowned as a queen of 7-11s everywhere. However, the main subject of the remarks is obviously race. For a good while now, race has been a hot button issue in these United States.  In a nation where are we supposed to be united regardless of skin tone we still have hate crimes, racist comments, and stigmatic stereotypes littering our society.

While I am more than happy that Nina Davuluri is our new Miss America, I can understand why people aren't. People claim she should not represent this country because she breaks the mold of the previous winners of Miss America. Some say she is not the face of America based on her appearance.

Growing up, people have adjusted themselves to how Miss America should look. Miss America “should” be a curvy Caucasian girl with a flirty little smile and a die hard dedication to the United States. Yet over the years, we've had this image shattered by those who bore a different skin color, such as Vanessa Williams, who won Miss America in 1984. However, this title for her was short lived when salacious photographs of her were discovered, and she relinquished her crown. 

examiner.com

Also known as the thing every woman wants to wear. 

Yet here we are, living in the present; a time where anything goes. Some people are all right with it, others are not. Homosexuals are being married left and right, we have an African American for a president, and now we have an American-Indian (she views herself first and foremost as American despite how proud she is of her heritage) as Miss America.

These people and our constantly changing society construct our melting pot of a nation. This is America, the land where everyone from all over the globe, regardless of race and color, comes to for vacation, a new life, business, and many other reasons. Lady Liberty welcomes everyone to this nation and promises a land of opportunity and prosperity. What we receive are more people to fill the crevices of this nation, who blend in with society, and become their own person.

The times and society are never going to stop shifting. Nothing will ever be the same as it was twenty years ago. This is a sign of progress or failure in our nation, depending on how people view it. Some may agree change is good, while others think change is bad, and then there are some who believe change is a combination of both.

As for me, I believe change relies on the situation at hand. For example, our new Miss America is a good change. It shows that the pageant is being more diverse and open to the American people. The Miss America pageant has never judged women based on their race or skin. Rather, it has always judged them on personality, background, talent, and swimsuits. Maybe in the future we will have an American-Cantonese or American-Egyptian win which will promote even more equality throughout our nation.

So what are your thoughts on the new Miss America? Is she as cute as a cheery little chipmunk? Did she win your heart? Leave your comments below and as always, followers are welcomed.