Arrested Development: Season 1, Ep. 2-Top Banana

In this episode, we see the several problems the Bluth family faces after the arrest of George Bluth.  Michael Bluth cannot find some flight records for the Bluth Company which causes a freeze in the company funds and therefore decides to confront George about where he can find said records. When he arrives, he is shocked to find out that George is having the time of his life and having a “love affair” with ice cream sandwiches. George’s friend T-Bone, a flamer, stops by the visitation table  where George informs Michael that he is going to be released that day and that he give him a job at the company. Naturally, Michael is upset that George would even consider that as well as George’s overall lack of concern over the severity of the situation the family is in.

                Meanwhile, George Michael realizes what a challenge it is living with Maebe as he still has not gotten over his crush on her. In order to escape the awkwardness of being around her all the time, he proceeds to ask Michael for more hours. Impressed by his eagerness to work, Michael promotes George Michael to “Mr. Manager” and informs him of his new power to hire people.  Perhaps one of the most ridiculous moments of this episode, is Michael’s finding of a dead dove in the freezer which is labeled “Dead Dove-do not eat.” This of course, is one of Gob’s actions as he bought the dove for his magic act but instead crushed it as he exited the pet shop. For some strange reason, Gob thought he would be able to return a dead frozen dove.

Michael then decides to confront Lindsay and Tobias who as always, are doing nothing. Lindsay states her job is “supporting her husband” while Tobias is informed that he is not an actor as he’s never actually had an audition. This causes Michael to decide that Maebe be employed at the tiny banana shaped frozen banana stand with George Michael to avoid ending up like her lazy parents. Michael tells George Michael to “stay on top of her” and not to be afraid to “ride her, hard” which to Michael is just a saying but leads one to believe George Michael would take this as sexual.

                While at the banana stand, Maebe suggests that they go play skee ball and steals the money for skee ball from the banana stand register. This of course freaks George Michael out. Meanwhile this is going on, George Michael visits Lucille to ask her if she knows where the flight records are. She claims to not know where they are but then tells him they are in a storage unit but does not know where they are. Instead, Lucille yells at Michael for not including Gob in the business.

Meanwhile, Tobias is part hunting when, in his infinite wisdom, decides to buy “Actor Pull” magazine which is actually “Tractor Pull” and is surprised to see so many “Parts” ads. Tobias realizes his mistake but of course, Michael helps him out by pointing out a flyer for an audition. It is here that Michael realizes how to get his mom to show him where the storage unit is. He calls Lucille and tells her the IRS is going to be stopping by her apartment to check for any luxury items she may have charged to the company. This of course frightens her and she sends her housekeeper, Luz, to hide the furs in the much sought out for, storage unit. Michael follows Luz on his bicycle as she pulls an entire rack of furs onto several buses and leads him to the storage unit. However, to their surprise, they find the storage unit in flames which as Michael suspected, was T-Bone’s work upon receiving orders from George.

The day of the audition finally arrives and Lindsay goes with Tobias for “support.” Tobias screws up his audition after he believes the “Fire Sale” was actually a real fire. He rejects the opportunity to re-audition. As Tobias exits, Lindsay notices that the guy holding the auditions was her “male counterpart” in high school and impresses him with her reaction to the fire sale. This causes Tobias to lose the part and instead, Lindsay earning it. She rewards herself by going on a shopping spree and taking her mother out to lunch with money she hasn’t even received. At this lunch, we see another example of Lucille’s horrible parenting and her overall lack of interest for anyone’s feelings.

Michael goes to jail to confront his father for running the business from inside jail but George continues to ask him to give T-Bone a job. To his surprise, Michael returns to the banana stand only to see T-Bone, Maebe and George Michael all working there. Of course, Michael is infuriated that George does not understand that he is no longer in charge.

In an effort to avoid Michael finding out about the stealing of money from the register, George Michael, with the help of T-Bone, decides to burn down the banana stand. Luckily, Michael gets there in time to stop him but instead decides to help burn the stand along with Gob who was jealous of his brother all along. After the cathartic burning of the banana stand, Michael realizes that Gob had not mailed the stands’ insurance check. The next day, Lindsay awakens only to be informed that she slept through her commercial shoot and Michael goes to tell George of what they had done. George of course received the news about the banana stand terribly as he had always said “there was money in that banana stand” which Michael took as a successful business when there was actually $250,000 lining the walls of the stand. Upon realizing the stand was the only good thing the Bluth’s had ever made, George Michael and Michael decided to rebuild it together.

                I watched this episode with my sister who had not seen the first episode but still found it funny although she was irritated by the narrator. I personally found the narrator (Ron Howard) wonderful as something about his voice is cheerful and hopeful. Also, he helps explain what exactly is about to go down. Also, I loved the flashbacks such as Lindsay’s Best Hair photo in the year book and Michael working at the banana stand. I feel these flashbacks really help explain why these characters are the way they are. Overall, I gave this episode a 4.2 because of its many moments of hilarity.

Rating 4.2/5

Arrested Development: Season 1, Ep. 1-Pilot

 Rating: 4/5

When I first saw the list of TV shows available for the Mass Media Blog Project, immediately I knew I had to choose of course, Arrested Development. This is for several reasons the most important being that Michael Cera is in this show and I absolutely love his style of acting which is often, that of an awkward person. Additionally, my friends and several of my mother’s friends expressed their love of this “unfortunately short-lived show.” However, to my surprise, this show revolves around Michael Bluth, played by Jason Bateman, and his attempt to hold together his very dysfunctional family together after the arrest of the patriarch, George Bluth.

I find this show to be pretty hilarious due to the fact that George Sr. was arrested because of the family’s usage of Bluth Development Company money for the funding of their own, often selfish, needs. The funny thing about this is that this is unbelievably similar to the events that led to the 2008 economic crisis. Selfish Wall Street CEO’s were found to have given themselves raises to support the multimillion dollar homes and flashy cars while they knew their actions were going to have an unbelievably negative effect on investors and the public in general. I cannot help but think this is part of the reason why people still love Arrested Development.

                Anyway, this episode starts off on a boat party where Michael is expecting to be promoted to partner of the Bluth Development Company and his mother, Lucille Bluth, expressing her feeling of annoyance caused by gay protestors who are sailing alongside the Bluth boat. It is then that we are introduced to the rest of the Bluth family which is made up of Lindsay Bluth Fünke (Michael’s twin sister), her husband Dr. Tobias Fünke, her daughter Mae “Maebe” Fünke,  the eldest Bluth sibling, George Oscar Bluth, and the youngest and probably the most helpless, Byron “Buster” Bluth. This show is filmed in a way that you feel like this is a reality show and often shows flashbacks and events that led up to whatever is going on in a certain scene in this case, the lifestyle of each Bluth. Even before stating each family member’s background, you can already tell that Lindsay married Tobias just to spite her family because she along with Michael are really the only sane Bluth’s however, it is unfortunate that her love of clothes , fashion and cheese and wine fundraisers prevents her from sharing a common value with Michael which is, family. It is particularly sad that when Maebe approaches the Bluth Frozen Banana stand where George Michael works, George Michael doesn’t even recognize her as being part of the family.

                Because of this, Maebe suggests that she kiss George Michael in front of Lindsay to “teach her a lesson.” This too is unfortunate because you can tell upon their previous encounter that George Michael isn’t the smoothest when it comes to ladies and therefore, cannot control himself from honestly developing feelings for his own cousin while she is only interested in rebelling. Then again, what can you expect from a clearly dysfunctional family. I can already tell that the Segway driving Gob will be annoying due to his lack of concern over the family. His failed attempt at hiding his father shows that he lives to satisfy him but is a coward when it comes to facing Michael which can be seen in his constant fleeing when trying to speak to him.

                I can’t help but feel that Lucille cares is a selfish, self centered person as she is only interested in maintaining the famiy’s appearance of high status even though at this point, they are broke. Additionally, her babying Buster and openly expressing dislike of her children goes to show how terrible she is. Michael really is the only hope this family has for getting themselves out of this deep hole they got themselves into.  

                So far, I have grown to love Tobias. He is unwittingly funny and it is sad that more attention isn’t paid to him but this is understandable and he is not directly part of the Bluth family. I really hope that he and Michael somehow turn Lindsay around because as previously stated, she and Michael are the only ones in this show with a brain. Also, I’m really glad Michael decided to not completely abandon the family although I was secretly hoping he would and am alright with his decision in allowing Lindsay and her family staying with them in the model home although you can tell Maebe and George Michael sharing a room isn’t the best decision.I just loved the irony in the song “Love will keep us Together” when it was stated that Michael had decided to never speak to the family again. Additionally, this show has really turned out to be everything I hoped it would be as it has been a while since I’ve seen a show that isn’t mindless.

Shouting Fire: Stop the Madrassa

1.) I feel a newspaper definitely should not be this “partisan”, as in the case of The New York Post. However, as with any other form of media, there is bound to be some sort of issue or tendency to side with only one view/belief. In the particular case of Debbie Almontaser, I think her words were twisted in a way that made the article appealing to read. By this I mean, it’s all about ratings. This reporter chose to use her words in a way that attacked her because of her religion even though she made it clear that she was not supporting or affiliated with the Arab Women Active in the Arts and Media.   Unfortunately, attacking Muslims is “in” and people are made to believe that all Muslims are extremists and affiliated with the attacks on the World Trade Center. Of course, it is reasonable that a newspaper or reporter be so influential because that’s the whole point of news. Obviously, a reporter or newspaper has to convince the audience that they are right and what they’re reporting is true otherwise, no one would believe anything in the media.

2.)Debbie Almontaser stated that the people who are responsible for 9/11 are those who twisted the beliefs of the Muslim faith to justify their own horrendous actions. She made it clear that she absolutely did not agree with that group’s beliefs. Also, when she mentioned the questions that she gets asked like “Is it true you don’t believe 9/11 actually happened,” I felt so terrible for her. I think she was correct in wanting to completely separate the thoughts on 9/11 and what the school actually stood for/what was going to be taught. She wanted people to understand that this was going to be like any other NYC public high school. However, unlike Churchill she definitely did not want to bring any more attention to herself by putting in her 2 cents about the World Trade Center attacks. I feel there are people like Churchill who say something negative about the U.S. involvement/role in 9/11 but aren’t public intellectuals like he was so, they don’t receive any attention.              Also, unlike Churchill these people that have something negative to say about the U.S. probably aren’t confident enough to stand by their beliefs and are scared of any possible repercussions against them.

3.) I think that with this particular question, Churchill and Almontaser have something in common. Just because these people were thought of being affiliated with something negative, they were fired. The University of Colorado @ Boulder fired Churchill out of fear of being associated with a man who had something negative to say and Almontaser was fired out of fear of being associated with an extremist group even though this was something she was not responsible for as she wasn’t the one who decided for her words to be used negatively. What I think that what bothers me the most about Debbie Almontaser’s case, is that both the Board of Ed as well as the New York Post failed to acknowledge the 17 years of work she had to done to improving education and the relationship between Muslims and those who are unfamiliar with the religion. Also, in the documentary, we were told that the school opened without Almontaser as principal and instead hired someone who was not Arabic speaking and therefore could not relate with the student population. This would make one believe that obviously a new principal would have to be put in charge and one who at least spoke Arabic but it took three principals to finally reach one that spoke Arabic and would be a good fit to be put in charge of the school.

 4.) Of course, I am going to believe Debbie Almontaser. I believe her because of the honesty in her voice when telling her story and unjustly fired. After doing research, I read that she wasn’t going to sue the Board of Ed because she wasn’t interested in money. However, an article posted in the Daily News in March 2010 that she might sue even though it was 3 years later except now she had the backing of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission who stated that the Board of Ed forced her to resign because of discrimination. I can’t help but feel some sort of hatred towards the reporter who wrote this story of Almontaser because these two people were practically the direct cause that prevented a potentially wonderful principal from doing her job.

Shouting Fire: Churchill’s Thoughts on 9/11

Before watching the documentary, “Shouting Fire: Stories from the Edge of Free Speech”, I had not heard of Ward Churchill. Honestly, I did not understand why his statement was so offensive but only because I did not know what the term “little Eichmann” meant but now that I do, I find his view on the 9/11 situation to be one that is insensitive.  I do not understand why he would even think that the death of all those innocent people was a fitting punishment and to question if there was something worse that could’ve happened to them was just wrong. Just because someone worked in the World Trade Center did not mean he/she was an “Eichmann”.  Although I completely disagree with Churchill’s statement, I completely agree with what was said in class which was that the investigation being launched and finding Churchill guilty of academic misconduct was just an excuse to fire him for his comments on 9/11. Churchill definitely deserved some sort of punishment for academic dishonesty but to fire him was just too much.  There are people like Churchill all over the place and sure firing them solves the problem for now but in doing so, the University actually attracted even more of the media’s attention and possibly popularized Churchill among some groups. Again, I don’t really understand what he said but what I have understood is that Churchill felt that a catastrophe such as what happened on 9/11 was inevitable but what really bothers me is that he felt that the victims of 9/11 did something wrong which was why they were attacked. He stated something along the lines of “why would someone be attacked if they did not do anything wrong”. He then went on to explain that the people working in the World Trade Center were “evil people” and “ignorant” who were self absorbed and only cared about profiting. Although there was bound to be someone that was like this, to say that everyone, including the U.S. government is like this and deserved whatever happened was wrong. However, Churchill was free to say whatever he wanted to and ultimately it is the people’s own decision to hear him and actually care about what he has to say or just ignore him.

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why

must I be so dumb?

sooooo

two of my really, really good friends started going out with each and i’m jealous.

i feel like i shouldnt because theyre adorable but the thing is at one point i have

had some sort of feelings for them except not really. its like i had a dream i kissed

one of them but i started to dislike her around october but i really dont because

she’s been my friend since freshman year and she really is a sweet person.

the other is pretty much a dyke (which i find hilarious because she’s on the softball

team and in my school the majority of the girls are lesbians) but she’s sooooo

cute. except i never realized and i always tell her i love her but in a whatever way

because i really dont, i just happen to think she’s gotten incredibly good looking.

don’t get me wrong though cause i’m super happy for them because they’re so cute

togther and its just soo adorable. it just upsets me that i don’t like anyone or have anyone.

whatever.

ryan cabrera!

i hate that whenever i post a blog, the last one was from like ages ago.

i’m home sick and feel like i’m doing nothing. regents week started last tuesday and i went to school tuesday and wednesday for english regents, so i guess that counts. but school started again yesterday and i didnt go to school cause i have a cold. and yesterday it snowed and i went out when it was snowing pretty hard so i became even more sick. well not really but my mom asked me if i wanted to go to school today and my sisters were all “no don’t go” and i knew if i went i’d get worse, so here i am watching fresh prince of bel-air. i was watching saved by the bell and it was that episode where they make the anti-drug commercial and for some reason i found it hilarious. i guess its because the school in the show is bayside high school and i go to bayside high school and everyone in my school does drugs, well not really but definately smokes. like all my friends but whatever. i’m super bored cause all i do is clean my room, the living room, wash dishes and then just wait til someone comes home. i feel like i should practice clarinet because i havent even opened my case or looked at my music in weeks. plus mr. wanat will go all “daicy, you could be in concert band but you dont practice” in his stern voice. additionally, i reallyyyyyyy want to go to school to get my report card and program so i can argue about my new schedule.  like seriously, what junior has a 1-10 schedule the majority of the week? stupid gym, i mean why give me 10th pd. gym and 9th pd. freshie lunch. and the only days i end 8th pd. are tues. and thurs. and thursdays i have to stay 9th and 10th doing nothing just for newspaper. like i’m considering quitting newspaper but i’m one of the few people that are actually dedicated to making the newspaper a lot better and actually go to all the meetings and i always write at least 1 article. idk. i need a new metrocard, cause i dont want to buy a new one. i feel like i should stop rambling and be more consistent in my writing cause i’m reading all this shit i’m writing and i feel like its all jumpy. all right i shall go do my latin and U.S. history homework cause it was due yesterday and i need to write my native american essay. but first i shall watch ellen. omg i loveeee her show.

thanks if you actually read this:)

sooo

idk. i just felt like making a new entry. a lot of shit has happened this past year and so far the beginning of this year hasnt been that super. i’m overwhelmed by all this schoolwork and whatnot. plus, i never have time to chill with anyone. well except shruti. like right now i should be writing my advice column for the newspaper even though the deadline was yesterday.

(i absolutely loveeeee writing the advice column for the baysider cause i love that everyone reads what i write. like i have random people coming up to and telling me how my column is the most entertaining thing in the whole newspaper.)

additionally, i need to buy a case for my ipod. unfortunately i cannot find a cute case for nano chromatic.

i need new hair clips to keep my new hair out of my face.

lol

@yourface

idk.  i keep getting sick. i feel that’s written wrong.