Skateboard Heaven
I come around the corner, and a smile comes across my face. I love
it when there isn't a crowd. Only two other people braved the chill, and
had the will, to get up this early. Upon arrival, my view is enhanced.
Though I've seen it enough to burn an image into my subconscious, each
visit brings new wonder. I climb onto the lower platform, and quickly
scale the small wall to the upper. I nod at the other already standing
there.
I've seen him before, but I don't need to know his name. A silent
friendship binds us that rarely needs words. An occasional cheer or wince
says more than the daily chat most are forced to endure. The sound of the
second person rolls softly in my ears. His image creeps into the corner of
my eye while I inspect my shoes. I scrub the soles back and forth on the
pavement, out of habit, to insure a dry surface. I don't bother to watch
him. I can hear him rolling smoothly down low. His slow, relaxed warm up
run tells me he probably arrived short time ago. He makes his way up the
back wall and his wheels go silent. The other one puts his foot on his
tail and effortlessly rolls his truck over the coping. I watch him quickly
drop away and coast to the hip. He glides past it, and I start to notice
the entire view before me as he blends into a larger picture.
I see grey. Every shade of grey, in all its variety blends and
curves from the lightest near whites, to a deepness rivaling black. The
darkness overhead drones with the sound of a thousand automobile tires
humming on the top of the bridge. Though designed for another purpose, it
serves well as protection from the rain and weather. The sun and light, as
well as the wind, come from the sides. The wind blows softly this morn,
yet it nips at exposed skin. I know I will soon appreciate its soothing
aspects as I warm up, so I try not to be bitter about it chilling my
already cool body.
I hear the familiar pop of an ollie and my eyes automatically track
...appenings of everyday life turned into something more. From the belief that women were more susceptible to evil intimidation and for having a weaker constitution since Eve was tempted by the Devil to having a non-existent court system to settle disputes between neighbors or just the fact that there were people who saw an opportunity to gain personal wealth, the Salem witch hunt and trials was more than just a religious cleansing of the community by pious people. They were a microcosm of what could happen when people do not understand the relationships between themselves, their neighbors and the natural cause and effect of the world around them.
During the time of the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692, more than twenty people died an innocent death. All of those innocent people were accused of one thing, witchcraft. During 1692, in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts many terrible events happened. A group of Puritans lived in Salem during this time. They had come from England, where they were prosecuted because of their religious beliefs. They chose to come live in America and choose their own way to live. They were very strict people, who did not like to act different from others. They were also very simple people who devoted most of their lives to God. Men hunted for food and were ministers. Women worked at home doing chores like sewing, cooking, cleaning, and making clothes. The Puritans were also very superstitious. They believed that the devil would cause people to do bad things on earth by using the people who worshiped him. Witches sent out their specters and harmed others. Puritans believed by putting heavy chains on a witch, that it would hold down their specter. Puritans also believed that by hanging a witch, all the people the witch cast a spell on would be healed. Hysteria took over the town and caused them to believe that their neighbors were practicing witchcraft. If there was a wind storm and a fence was knocked down, people believed that their neighbors used witchcraft to do it. Everyone from ordinary people to the governor’s wife was accused of witchcraft. Even a pregnant woman and the most perfect puritan woman were accused. No one in the small town was safe. As one can see, the chaotic Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were caused by superstition, the strict puritan lifestyle, religious beliefs, and hysteria.
The astounding perils of young love has been eloquently captured in the story of Romeo and Juliet. Franco Zefferelli and Baz Luhrmann are the creators of the two most renowned film adaptations of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Zefferelli, the more traditional director, created his Oscar winning version in 1968. Baz Luhrmann put an abstract, modern twist on Shakespeare's classic and created the 1996 version that raised millions of dollars in box office sales. Being that these two films are so different, I have chosen to compare them to one another, using the famed balcony scene as my focus.
The article titled Sisterhood of the Skateboard, is piece written from the New York Times. It was featured in both the online website and in the paper copy of the New York Times. With the online articles, there is a video and a slideshow featured in the article. However, in the paper copy, there is no forms of multimedia. Articles that utilize various forms of media to enhance the reader’s experience of the article possess both the positive and the negative effects that affected the quality of the article
The first skateboards were made in the 1950’s being used as an exciting activity to take part in when the waves were down. From then and now the sport has changed tremendously, thanks to a group of young skaters from a slum area of Venice Beach or Dog-town, as the locals called it, known as the z-boys in the 1970’s. Even though skateboarding was already known and invented, the z-boys are the ones who made skating famous and took it to new heights in popularity. But how did they do this? The Z-boys made this sport what it is today, and played a very important part in the history and evolution of skateboard style and quality.
The Salem Witch Trials were a time of confusion, where half a dozen girl accusers threw the town of Salem on its head. The end result was 19 hung and one crushed to death for failure to admit or deny witchcraft and 150 more were imprisoned throughout the course of the trial (Hall p38). The Puritans came to the “New World” for their religious freedom to fallow their ideals for a new way of life, the “perfect way of life.” They were issued charter--to live on the land--. The King Phillip’s war labeled as “[t]he bloodiest war in America’s history …which…took place in New England in 1675” (Tougias par.1) had a dramatic effect on the Puritan society. Their charter was revoked and reinstated at least twice throughout the course of the war. This stress of having their land revoked and reinstated without a doubt placed pressure on the society as a whole to develop and become self-sustaining entity free from England. After the war people would look to the church even more than they had in the past for guidance. This set the seen for the problems to come. The churches relentless attempt to maintain the society that they had established was the cause of the Salem witch trials.
Romeo and Juliet is a play about two adolescents—Romeo and Juliet from two hostile families fall in love with each other. This prohibited love ultimately turns into a romantic tragedy, in which they commit suicide for each other. Both Franco Zeffirelli’s (1968) and Baz Lurhmann’s (1996) versions retained the dialogues written by William Shakespeare in their movies. However, these two movies are directed in their own unique ways, which have several distinctive differences.
Skateboarding was the new way and most fun way of transportation in the 1960’s. One of the reasons that I think this is because of the history of skateboarding and what the idea of skateboarding came from. I also think that skateboarding was the most fun way of transportation in the 1960’s because that was when the first major advancement to the skateboard happened. And last but not least is that the ollie was invented in the 1960’s. And by the way did you know that the brilliant idea of skateboarding is actually from the idea of surfing.
In 1950, the recreational activity that involves riding and performing tricks was started, skateboarding. It could be seen as a form of art, a job, or just transportation. Skateboarding has changed throughout the years, giving people the opportunity to do it their own way. Beginning with the surfing craze.
...e tragic celebration of young, forbidden love told by William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, has been tailored for many motion picture adaptations. The most famous of these adaptations are Franco Zeffirelli’s version and Baz Lurhmann’s film produced in 1996. These two films applied Shakespeare’s most well-known work as a basis for their motion pictures. Both films had similarities, but the differences were much more apparent. Ever since William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has been debuted, it has and forever will be an artistic influence for playwrights, directors, and other artists.
Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet is a film that converts Shakespeare’s famous play into a present-day setting. The film transforms the original texts into modern notions, whilst still employing Shakespearean language. Compared to Franco Zeffirelli’s adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, Luhrmann’s picture is easier for a teenage audience to understand and relate to because of his modernisations. Despite the passing of four centuries Shakespeare’s themes of love, hate, violence, family and mortality remain the same regardless of the setting.
Baz Lurhmann’s creation of the film Romeo and Juliet has shown that today’s audience can still understand and appreciate William Shakespeare. Typically, when a modern audience think of Shakespeare, they immediately think it will be boring, yet Lurhmann successfully rejuvenates Romeo and Juliet. In his film production he uses a number of different cinematic techniques, costumes and a formidably enjoyable soundtrack; yet changes not one word from Shakespeare’s original play, thus making it appeal to a modern audience.
Thirdly, Brian Johnson honors Baz Luhrmann 's version of Romeo and Juliet as "just the kind of movie Shakespeare might make if he is around today." In Maclean 's interview with Baz Luhrmann on his directorial accomplishment in William Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet, he states: "What people forget, "begin Luhrmann, "is that Shakespeare is a relentless entertainer. When he plays the Elizabethan stage, he is basically dealing with an audience of 3,000 drunk punters who were selling pigs and geese in the stalls. He plays with everyone. . . . And his style is to have stand-up comedy one moment, a song and then the highest tragedy right next to it. He is a rambunctious, sexy, violent, entertaining storyteller, and we have tried to be all these things" (qtd. Johnson). Elaborate on how this contributes to the relatability of the
Skateboarding is a new experience, expressing styles and fashions flourishing creative minds, new abilities, experiences and expanding community. Skateboarding is a highly growing sport in the young community and globally making a change in stereotypes and visual culture. Skateboarding bringing society a sub-culture and history with a challenge and experience for people to want to try and do skateboard.
The film is filled, from its opening moments, “with glancing references to and overt borrowing from the cinema of violence: the Western, the gangster movie, the kung-fu pic, the urban drama, the crime thriller, [and] the action comedy.”6 As Philippa Hawker implies, the film is a kaleidoscope of recognisable film tropes and images, notable instances might be the dramatic slow motion shot of Tybalt 's cowboy boots stubbing a cigarette, followed by his dramatic flair when shooting the retreating Capulets; both based in a fight scene in which the choreography may have been recognised in the tradition of melding both 'western ' and 'action comedy '. Alfredo Michael Modeness appears to also concur with this judgement of Luhrmann 's style, but adds that the brawl is “underscored by more spaghetti western music and choreographed through a mix of formulaic moves from classic action films and comic strips.”7 Modeness 's assertion allows a consideration of why Romeo + Juliet has become such a part of the epoch in which it was created, and still remains to resonate today, as it follows formulaic film codes that are detectable to a modern audience, especially its target audience of youth culture, and therefore makes its perhaps 'dated