The American Dream

I had always heard from my uncles stories of successful Bangal’s in America. Bengal’s who owned chains of convenient stores and drove taxis. It was my pursuit for a better life that led me to America.

  

I had just stepped out of the plane; the fresh airport smell hit me like a gust of wind. It smelled different…different than the raw sewage stench I had grown to love in India. Maybe coming to America wasn’t such a good idea.

I made my way through the boarding bridge and went directly to customs. I stood in line for what seemed like an eternity, but when I looked at my watch only to realize five minutes had passed.

The man in front of me finished his verification and I stood in line until they called “next”. I stepped up to the customs officer and presented my passport. The woman opened my passport, looked at me, and said “Apu Nahasanamama?”, “It’s Nahasapeemapetilon” I said back. Immediately the woman reached for her radio, and said “code 911”, next thing I knew I was surrounded by the security.

I was escorted by security to a secluded room. After extensive questioning, background checks, and full body cavity searches, I was allowed to leave the airport.

I stepped out the main gates of the airport and looked at my watch. I was already an hour late for my first shift at the Kwik E-Mart. I thought to myself that I would surely get fired for my incompetence. Without wasting another minute, I called a cab and headed for the Kwik E-Mart. The whole cab ride I looked at the cab driver with envy as he was living the dream life, the life I wished to lead.

Once the cab arrived at the Kwik E-Mart, I reached for my wallet but could not find it so I opened the cab door and started to run towards the Kwik E-Mart. As I approached the automated door, it opened and I ran inside. I was surprised with the barrel of a pistol pointed at my chest and my cousin Sanjay was behind the register with his hands in the air. Without spending a moment, the man told me to get on the ground. I had no desire to get shot so I did as he said.

I lay on the ground with my head down; my life flashed before my eyes and I realized all the opportunities I missed in life.

I looked up to see what the robber was doing and before I knew it, the door made the familiar “ding ding”. I looked over and there stood the cab driver with a shotgun. “Alright this is the last time you punks get away without paying me!” said the cab driver and then boom! Next thing I knew the robber was on the ground grabbing his groin. I stood up and thanked the taxi driver and explained to him all that happened. The taxi driver then said “so you didn’t call the police yet?”, “No” said Sanjay from behind the register. The taxi driver then looked at me in silence, raised his gun, and said “give me everything from the cash register”. With the gun pointed at my face, I realized America was not as glorious as the stories made it out to be.  

Letter to Doc Brown

20 Evergreen Terrace

Springfield, FL 90210

October 24^th, 2014

Mr. Emmett Brown

President, Mad Scientists Incorporated

1 Future Street

Hill Valley, CA

Dear Mr. Brown:

I am the man who bought the Delorean from Back to the Future at last week’s auction. I am writing this letter to inform you that the flux capacitor for the vehicle is missing. I received the vehicle without the flux capacitor, and I demand a replacement.

If I do not have the flux capacitor, I will not be able to time travel. My main reason for purchasing this vehicle was to go back in time and publish Microsoft Windows before Bill Gates so that I, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, could become the richest person in the world. Without the flux capacitor the vehicle is not able to serve its purpose, and I demand either a new flux capacitor or reimbursement.

I have always been a loyal customer to Mad Scientists Incorporated. Last year I purchased the hover boards and was very pleased with your product and service. I am interested in purchasing the x-ray glasses in future, and I hope to hear from you about replacement of my flux capacitor.

Sincerely,

Supreme Leader of North Korea Found in USA

Earlier today the CIA apprehended a man impersonating as The President of the United States. The man looked identical to Barack Obama which may have allowed him to get past all security measures in the White House. The man carried on his act for three hours until the secret service started to become suspicious. Soon after the man was apprehended and identified as none other than Kim Jong Un.

The secret service revealed that the man was very convincing in his portrayal as Barack Obama and had everyone fooled from Obama’s facial features to his style of speech. The secret service started to become suspicious of the president when he requested to see America’s defenses against a North Korean invasion. The President’s request was rejected by vice president Joe Biden who believed that there were far more pressing matters at hand than a silly North Korean invasion. It was at this point the President became furious and called Joe Biden “A western capitalist pig”, and spit on his face. Biden retaliated by slapping the president and to his surprise saw that his hand had suddenly become darker and the president’s face suddenly became brighter. Joe Biden called the secret service immediately to restrain the President.  

After identifying him as an imposter, the secret service quickly restrained him, and it was revealed that through the use of high quality make up Un was able to impersonate Obama accurately. Un supposedly hired the same makeup artist from Tropic Thunder, a movie which won an Oscar for exceptional makeup, so he could look as similar to Obama as possible. He also took vocal lessons so that he could impersonate Obama’s vocal style exactly.

Robert Downey (right) was unrecognisable on Tropic Thunder (left) due to the makeup

After several hours of questioning Kim Jong Un revealed Barack Obama’s location. The President was found in the Presidential bathroom nude and tied up. He was unharmed and revealed that he was knocked out when he entered the bathroom. Reports surfaced last week that the North Korean leader has not made any public appearances for more than a month leading to speculation that he is either seriously sick or there is a coupe but the reality is he has been in USA all along. As of this afternoon Kim Jong Un is being transferred to a high security prison in the middle of the desert. The President hopes to reach a deal with North Korea for the safe return of Kim Jong Un.

The King Of All Kings

Hello everyone!

This is week five of my English blog. For this week my professor wanted us to write a concrete poem. A concrete poem is a poem where the words are shaped like an image. This form of poetry helps to visually convey the message of the poem. Here is my concrete poem called "The King Of All Kings". I hope you all like the theme of the poem.  

-Apu

Destiny Review

Destiny Review

Overview

Destiny is the multimillion dollar game developed by Bungie and published by Activision. The game is set in the future and allows players to interact with one another and complete missions together similar to a MMORPG. The game was released on September 9, 2014 and is available at your local video game store.

Story

Destiny begins by allowing the player to create their own characters. Soon after it is revealed that the player had been dead for quite a few years and was resurrected by some unknown force. The player is revealed to a guardian one of humanity’s last hope of survival as the forces of darkness have come back. The player is tasked with an intergalactic journey to save the human race.  

Destiny doesn’t do a great job of explaining its story. There’s even one part of the game where the player asks a character why the darkness has returned but the character only responds with “I can tell you but I’d rather not”. The player is never given a real reason to fight. The story has only a few cut scenes and the rest of the world is presented through little dialogues that could easily be missed during gun fights. The lack of story made me feel like my actions did not have an impact on the world.

Gunplay

Destiny is a first person shooter set on different planets. The character chooses between three classes Titan, Hunter, and Warlock. These classes are not very different from one another. They all use the same guns and have the same skills the only thing that sets them apart are their special abilities. The titan is able to slam the ground and wipe out any enemies in the radius while the hunter is able to use a special gun which fires three bullets and finally the warlock is able to shoot a ball of magic which stuns and deals massive damage to enemies. The gunplay is very similar to Bungie’s Halo games, so fans of the game series should feel right at home.

I played more than twenty hours of destiny, and one of the things that kept me engaged was the gunplay. The well polished gunplay kept the firefights dynamic and intense until the credits rolled.

Multiplayer

Destiny’s multiplayer mode is called the crucible. It consists of the general modes, such as team death match, conquest, capture the flag, and all the modes you seen in your basic shooters. The multiplayer mode allows players of all levels to fight against one another. This also allows the players to carry their weapons from single player to multiplayer and vise versa.

Destiny’s multiplayer is very fun to play because it puts all the players to the same level even though some of them gained higher level in the single player mode.   However, their weapons remain the same which gave an unfair advantage to some of the players.

Verdict

Destiny isn’t a perfect game; it has its strengths and weaknesses. The story isn’t explained very well and may have some scratching their head while the gunplay is very well crafted and will provide plenty of intense moments. The multiplayer is also very well done except for the weapons not being scaled down but that will most likely be fixed in a future update. I wouldn’t classify Destiny as a must buy; I’d recommend that you wait until the price drops or it goes on sale.  

Score : 7.5/10

Pros

-Intense well crafted gunplay will provide a shooting experience like no other

-Well crafted multiplayer modes and team cooperation

-The plethora of content will keep players entertained for a long time

-Feels just like Halo

Cons

-Weak and unexplained story

-Weapons in multiplayer not being scaled down provides an unfair advantage


-Apu

   

2 Pics 1 Blog

 

At first glance, this photo may seem like fireworks but in reality this photo was taken during the First World War. It was posted on Reddit, but it was originally taken by a British photographer. This picture truly shows the meaning of trench warfare. In school, people are taught that trench warfare is just people sitting and waiting on their enemy. That is true but there is more to it. All the white streaks in the picture are mortar shells being fired towards the enemy. Mortar shells would hit the trenches and people would die in an instant. One second they’re alive and in the blink of an eye they’re gone, no trace of them left.

I wanted to share this photo because it’s about First World War. I am a big fan of history and loved every minute of history class. I always read about the war in books but being able to see for myself what it was like during the war, it’s a different kind of learning experience. I always like to find pictures about the First World War because there are so many brave stories behind them. As the old saying goes, a picture can tell a thousand words.

 This picture is of vault boy from the Fallout game series. In the picture he is holding out his hand and is holding his thumb up. At first glance one might think that he’s just giving everyone a thumbs-up but he is actually checking if he is safe. He is checking his safety because if a person sees a nuclear bomb explode, it is advised to stretch their hand out as far as possible and do a thumbs-up. The thumb should be put over the mushroom cloud; if the cloud is not bigger than one’s thumb then they are safe from radiation but if the cloud is bigger than their thumb then they are in the radiation zone and must evacuate.

I am a big fan of video games, so I wanted to share this photo for a long time. I enjoy playing this game because it takes me to a different world. Fallout is set 700 years into the future after a nuclear war and you explore a Washington DC which is filled with many different kinds of creatures. All the creatures in Fallout were once normal but changed in horrendous ways due to the radiation from the nuclear bombs. This game maintains a sense of realism which draws me in. I would recommend this game to people because it shows how our future could turn out due to the rapid advancement of technology.

-Apu

Songs and Poems!

Hello Everybody!

Welcome to week two of my English 1080 blog. This week my professor wants me to analyze a song but not just analyze it but analyze it as if it were a poem. So, the song I picked for this is “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” by the late Johnny Cash. The lyrics for the song are below and I have linked a Youtube video in case anybody wants to listen to it. Now without further ado let’s get started! I recommend you read the lyrics to get a better understanding of my analysis.

God's Gonna Cut You Down 

You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time, run on for a long time
Sooner or later God'll cut you down
Sooner or later God'll cut you down

Go tell that long tongue liar, go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down

Well, my goodness gracious let me tell you the news
My head's been wet with the midnight dew
I've been down on bended knee
Talkin' to the man from Galilee

He spoke to me in the voice so sweet
I thought, I heard the shuffle of the angel's feet
He called my name and my heart stood still
When he said, "John, go do my will"

Go tell that long tongue liar, go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down

You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time, run on for a long time
Sooner or later God'll cut you down
Sooner or later God'll cut you down

Well, you may throw your rock and hide your hand
Workin' in the dark against your fellow man
But as sure as God made black and white
What's down in the dark will be brought to the light

You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time, run on for a long time
Sooner or later God'll cut you down
Sooner or later God'll cut you down

Go tell that long tongue liar, go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut you down
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut you down
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut you down

Firstly, let’s discuss the rhyme scheme used in the song; the rhyme scheme used throughout this song is a,a,b,b except for the 7^th stanza where a,b,c,c becomes the rhyme scheme. Cash also uses a refrain in his song.  The refrain “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” is used to emphasize the message of the piece which is that no one is able to escape God’s punishment. 

The speaker of the song seems to be Cash himself and address those who lead sinful lives such as a “gambler” and a “back biter”. Cash seems to present a tone of acceptance throughout his piece. His tone is conveyed in several different parts of the song. For example, Cash seems to accept the fact that life is not eternal and that sooner or later people will die and face their maker. He tries to warn people not to lead a sinful life because “sooner or later God’ll cut” them down. There are several different types of imagery present in the song; one form of imagery used in this song is auditory imagery. “I thought I heard the shuffle of angel’s feet” appeals to the readers sense of hearing, which evokes auditory imagery. Cash’s song also utilizes alliteration. In the piece he says “Tell them that” this repetition of the letter “T” at the beginning of the words is an example of alliteration. Through the use of the alliteration, he is reminding people that their actions will have consequences in the afterlife.

This song is heavily influenced by religion not only because of the mention of “God” but also because the mention of “Galilee” which is the porch in front of churches. The song to me personally seems to convey the message that we should all try to lead righteous lives because we’re not on this planet forever and sooner or later God will cut us down. I like this song because it warns humankind to lead a religious and righteous life on this earth; if my thoughts were a song then this is what it would sound like. This song has remained the same since Cash’s death; it has not been covered by another artist because this song was actually a cover of an even older song. The original song was a biblical folk song called “run on” and Cash took the song and added his own twist to it and made it what it is now.

I hope you enjoyed my analysis of the song “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” by Johnny Cash and please be sure to check back next week. Thank you! Come again!

-Apu