Eminem Recovery Album-Review

 Recovery is Eminem's seventh studio album, released on June 18, 2010, by Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. Recovery is said to be the best album that Eminem ever made. As where a few his previous albums were rather a disappointment to his fans, Recovery is Eminem's way of saying sorry.

   Recovery is meant to be all about Eminem's troubles in life. The lyrics talk about how he got out of depression and drug addiction. It's about him recovering, hence the album name, Recovery. Almost all of Eminem's songs in this album talk about his depression and drug addiction. 
   "Not Afraid," and "Talkin' 2 Myself," are two particular songs that I think represent the whole meaning of the album. In these songs, he talks about how he wants to become a new and better person. He regrets all the mistakes he made in his life, and tries to move on, knowing that his past will still follow him. A quote from Not Afraid: "This f***ing black cloud still follows me around but its time to exercise these demons these mother******s are doing jumping jacks now!" 
In "Talkin' 2 Myself," he wants to prove to his fans that he's the best he can ever be. He's telling them to not give up on him yet, because he's got something great coming up.
  
  What I like about Eminem so much, is that he sings from his soul. He talks about his past and emotions. Unlike many other rappers' lyrics, Eminem's are so meaningful and true. I think other rappers are jerks. They just talk about getting money and girls. 
Many people may not like Eminem because of the fact that he swears a lot in his songs. However, Eminem uses swearing for emphasis.
He can't help always swearing. He had a terrible childhood, growing up in the Detroit ghetto. People around him would always swear, so he caught on to that, and now it's embedded in his vocabulary. 
If you pay close attention to Eminem's lyrics, you'll realise how clever he is. The way he puts words together is mind-boggling. An example from Not Afraid: 

"No if ands or buts don't try to ask him why or how can he
From Infinite down to the last Relapse album he's still s**ttin'
Whether he's on salary, paid hourly
Until he bows out or he s**t's his bowels out of him"

Although these particular lyrics are rather inappropriate, it's amazing how he's able to put all that together, and rhyme it so fast. As a child, Eminem was very good in English. I was reading about Eminem on the Internet, and it said that he would read the dictionary as a kid!

   
  Originally, Eminem planned for Recovery to be a continuation of his previous album, Relapse (2009), however, the music on Recovery came out very different from Relapse.  Recovery finds the real Eminem, as this is his best work yet. Unlike all his other albums, Recovery takes a more serious turn. Eminem finally declares that he wants to concentrate just on himself, his family and his music.
When I listen to Eminem's songs in Recovery, I feel inspired and motivated by the lyrics. Also, the sound of the music gets me into a great mood. It makes me feel like I can do anything. I feel stronger, and I only focus on myself. However, other songs express more of a sad mood. At times, the songs are depressing when you hear the types of things Eminem raps about.

   Eminem does not only talk about his drug addiction and depression in this album. He also talks about his troubles in his relationships with women. "Love the Way You lie," "25 to Life," and "Space Bound" are three songs that are all about Eminem's past love life. 
-(Space Bound by Eminem)

  I think that "Not Afraid" is the best song of the album. He talks about his past with drug abuse, depression, and family problems. In this song, Eminem goes on to admit to some mistakes he made in his previous album: “And to the fans, I’ll never let you down again, I’m back/I promise to never go back on that promise, in fact/Let’s be honest, that last Relapse CD was eh/Perhaps I ran them accents into the ground/Relax, I ain’t going back to that now." "Not Afraid" is the most popular song of the whole album.

Eminem tries to portray an important message in Not Afraid, and I think it really gets across to people. His message is saying, for everyone who's been through the same things he went through, to follow him, and he'll lead them to a better place. The chorus of the song portrays the message:

" I’m not afraid to take a stand
 Everybody come take my hand
 Well walk this road together, through the storm
 Whatever weather, cold or warm
 Just let you know that, you’re not alone
 Hola if you feel that you’ve been down the same road"                            

                                            (Not Afraid by Eminem)-

In "Not Afraid" Eminem also talks about how he's trying  to move on and become a better person. He regrets all the decisions he made in the past, and now realises what he should do. He willingly wants to change and become a new and improved person. "Not Afraid" portrays a lot of willpower and courage. I love this song because it gets me into a great mood, and makes me feel a lot more powerful. It helps me find great willpower and courage within, making me more focused on the things that I want to succeed in.

  I think the worst part, or most unnecessary part of the album I should say, is the song "W.T.P" (White Trash Party). There's not much to say about this song, only that it doesn't really fit the mood of the album, and it doesn't have much meaning behind it. Now, I'm not saying I don't like this song, I just feel it shouldn't be a part of the album. "Recovery" is a serious album for the most part, but this type of song ruins the mood. Perhaps Eminem didn't know what to do with this song, so he just made it a part of Recovery. However, I don't think that was a good choice. 

  Overall, I really like Eminem's album Recovery.  I think it is definitely his best work, and it is his most popular album. Recovery is all about Eminem's past history, his emotions, and how he resolved his problems. Before this album came out, I wasn't a huge fan of Eminem. I thought he was just one of the rappers. However, now I realise that Eminem is very unique and he is a great rapper. Eminem stands out from the other rappers, and not just because he's white. Obviously, Eminem wanted to come up with the best album ever, so he put a lot of hard work into it. Almost every single song in this album is perfect. This album really changed the way I felt about Eminem before and I hope he will come up with another great album.

  Recovery shows a lot of improvement in Eminem's career as a rapper and song writer. I think he is the best rapper alive, and maybe even the best rapper of all time. 
I rate this album a 9/10.

Jack Reacher-Movie Review

    Jack Reacher is a fantastic crime thriller film with a great performance by Tom Cruise. The movie is based on Lee Childs' ninth Jack Reacher book "One Shot." This movie always keeps you on the edge of your seat, and can even make you laugh.

 

James Barr (accused killer)

   This film takes place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The plot is about the killing of five innocent people by an expert sniper that has thrown the city into a state of terror. However, in no time the police have the case wrapped up. All the evidence the investigators found lead to a former American military soldier, James Barr. The police quickly catch the culprit and arrest him. However, the case might not be over yet. The police take the man into custody and Emerson, the head detective, starts questioning him. Barr claims he is innocent, saying, "you've got the wrong guy." He takes a pad of paper, and writes, "Get Jack Reacher." 

Emerson (head detective)

   Reacher is a man with no known address and no criminal record, so therefore it makes him impossible to find. Luckily for James Barr, Reacher suddenly shows up at the police department because he saw the news on television. Jack Reacher knows this skilled sniper from when he served in the military police. James Barr was a bit mentally unstable, and he would always have the urge to snipe someone down. However, Reacher believes Barr was framed, and suddenly the whole case had turned around.  Reacher was teamed with defence lawyer, Helen Rodin, as they moved closer to finding out who's behind all this. Later on, Reacher and Helen find out who the killer is; a man by the name of Charlie. Charlie, who is a very wise and tactical man, takes the defence lawyer as hostage, to lure Reacher.

Helen Rodin (defence lawyer)

  Charlie calls Reacher, telling him to come to where Helen is, but to come alone. Obviously, Reacher isn't stupid to come alone, so he comes along with a shooting range owner, Cash. Although Cash is old, he is a very skillful sniper. Reacher and Cash arrive to rescue Helen. Cash snipes down a few of Charlie's men from on top of a hill, as Reacher takes down the rest using a handgun. Finally, he reaches Charlie. They have a short stare down and small talk, then they throw away their weapons. Reacher and Charlie fight, and finally, Reacher takes him down. He then finds Helen and rescues her. Reacher starts walking away, but Helen stops him and says, "Wait, what if I need you again?" Reacher responds, "You know how to find me."

Reacher and Cash
ready to go after Charlie and
save Helen

Characters

-Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher
-Rosamund Pike as Helen Rodin (defence lawyer)
-Robert Duvall as Cash ( shooting range owner, helps Reacher)
-Joseph Sikora as James Barr (the accused man) 
-Jai Courtney as Charlie (the real murderer)
-David Oyelowo as Emerson (the head detective)
-Richard Jenkins as Alex Rodin (father of Helen Rodin, detective)
-Werner Herzog as The Zec (A.K.A The Prisoner, in Russian)

Reacher getting out of his car

   I think the best and most funniest part was the car chase scene. In the car chase, Emerson, the detective, believes Reacher could be a suspect. During the night, Reacher is cruising around in a nice, stolen SS Camaro, and all of a sudden, Emerson sees him. He orders all the police officers to go after him. Emerson hops into his car and starts chasing after Reacher. This is the part that got me really excited. As the chase was going on, Charlie, who was in a 
silver Audi, sees Reacher. Jack doesn't notice Charlie until he gets   closer to the Audi.
   
  Charlie rams into the side of the SS Camaro, making it even harder for Jack to get away from the cops. That made Jack pretty angry, so he went after the silver Audi. After pursuing Charlie for a while, the police were getting on to Reacher. So, he walks out of the car, and quickly blends in with a group of bystanders. A man standing beside Jack, gives him his baseball cap so the cops won't notice him. This was my favourite part, and preferably the best part of the film because it was very action-packed and at the end of the scene it was very funny! (Part of this scene is in the trailer above). 

Charlie

 In this movie, I believe there are no bad parts and there is no worst part. I think all parts were important because the movie is kind of like a puzzle. All parts are like pieces or clues, all connecting the story, and leading to the hidden killer. Obviously, the producers of this film devoted a lot of effort and attention to detail. Every part of the movie connects, and flows very well, and enables you to enjoy watching it.
You are always waiting to see what happens next, and that constantly keeps you on your toes.


    I think that Jack Reacher is a fantastic, action-packed film, and the bit of comedy at the right moments is the icing on the cake.  It's a great family movie as well; I went to see this movie with my younger brother and my parents.  My parents said Tom Cruise is better than ever and his performance in this role was outstanding.  My brother is only nine years old, and the movie captured his interest from the moment it started and all the way to the end.  I was actually surprised because he usually cannot sit for ten minutes during a movie.  Obviously this movie is full of suspense and keeps you on the edge of your seat for the full 130 minutes.

  I would rate this movie a 9/10.

Reviews- NBA 2K13

     If you have ever played NBA 2K13, you may find it hard to believe that a few years ago, the NBA 2K series was nothing special. Then came along 2K11 with the explosive "Jordan Challenge" game mode, followed by NBA 2K12 and the "NBA's Greatest" mode. Both games took basketball gaming to a whole new level. And this year's game, NBA 2K13, is outstanding.

   This year's edition of the best-selling basketball franchise welcomes rapper—and owner of the Brooklyn Nets— Jay-Z,  as executive producer. I really like that Jay-Z is the executive producer for this year's game, because the songs are really good, and they motivate you to play the game. The songs get you pumped and into your game zone.

   On the court, NBA 2K13 plays better than ever. Last season, in 2K12, I would always get frustrated with two things--inaccurate passing and fast break execution. In 2K13, that has been significantly improved. Lazy passes will still be intercepted, but a higher percentage of “safe” passes and outlets will make their way to their intended targets. You’ll finish on a lot more fast breaks too, as the speed of offensive players on the run feels much more balanced with that of trailing defenders. Now the flow of the game is really smooth, and that's important in order to play a good game. Also, the controls of the game are fairly simple, just like in last year's game. There is a slight change to the controls in 2K13, to make the gameplay easier and less frustrating. To perform the alley-oop, the most commonly used play on fastbreaks, you simply press the buttons X and square, and its convenient because they're right beside each other. That's the only change to the controls.

PS3 Controller

 

   A huge problem that has been dramatically improved this year is the online experience. Online games are running rather smoothly, compared to last year, where it would lag almost every thirty seconds. Im really glad how much effort the 2K Sports developers put into these modes. 
 
    Let's take a look at the graphics. The developers lacked in this category a little bit. The graphics are still great, just like in 2K12, however, the players in the game don't look that realistic. In 2K12, they made the players look just like they do in real life.
Being a new game and all, I just expected better graphics.

   Despite the graphics, NBA 2K13 is still really good and fun to play. There are various game modes to explore, such as, MyPlayer and MyCareer. MyPlayer and MyCareer are two game modes where you basically create your own NBA player, then you can play NBA games, win awards and money, and you can even style your own player! Those two game modes are my favourite. A celebrated addition this year is the inclusion of the 1992 Dream Team and the 2012 Team USA Olympic squad. While the addition of these teams is great, the Jordan Challenge and the NBA's Greatest Mode, the two most popular, and arguably the best game modes in NBA 2K, have been removed. To take its place, a new online-only MyTEAM mode has been introduced, which was bound to happen, considering the success EA has had with its famous Ultimate Team mode. You gather cards from packs to create, build, and lead your team to victories. You can also spend the coins you earn in-game to purchase players to enhance your team. Yes, MyTEAM has proven to be fun in limited playtime--but it’s too bad that the historical modes had to be sacrificed for its creation.

   In my opinion, NBA 2K13 is in many ways a tremendous achievement. The game’s fundamentals are great, offering an on-court experience that is the best representation of real NBA basketball yet. You got to hand it to the developers for doing such a great job. I would recommend this game to everybody, you don't have to be a basketball lover to play this game, but I would especially recommend it to basketball fans, of course. I would rate it a solid 8/10. However, I wouldn't say it revolutionized NBA 2K gaming, because there are some down sides to the game. It's tough to improve a video game that has been so excellent over the past few years. In other words, it seems that after reaching the mountaintop, there really was no place to go but down--even just a little bit.

Social Media

   Over these past few years, we have been introduced to many, many new things, like amazing new TVs, games and computers. With all this technology, people have created websites like Facebook, email, Windows Live Messenger, Twitter... etc. These websites have made a huge impact on our society. Today we ask ourselves, is social media making a good impact or a bad impact on our society? Well, there are always two sides of everything; it depends on your perspective on how you perceive it. With social media like this, you have advantages, and disadvantages. I, myself, have Facebook and email, and I really enjoy it. But I do feel a little insecure about some things.

   I think social media is really fun, and great. It is a great way for people to interact, and a chance for people to meet new people. I think social media is more for kids, because us kids want to explore new things, and we find it very interesting.  Social networks started as a place to connect with your friends in an easy an convenient way. I think that is important because you are able to strengthen your friendship with other people, and it is good for people to be socially active and involved. Us kids want to know everything that's happening, and especially now that we're teenagers, we want to stay updated on things that are happening in the social world.
However, if you're involved in social media, you have to have a sense of responsibility. People need to know their limits. Lately there has been talk about the death of the young Amanda Todd girl. This is how social media can be dangerous. Amanda Todd was being cyber bullied over Facebook, and was even being physically bullied at school. There have been so many issues with cyber bullying over the years, and it affected many people in our world. Cyber bullying has gotten out of hand now. Lately, because of cyber bullying, people have committed suicide. We always talk about bullying at school. We're always trying to stop it. But how? With all these social networks, people all over the world are using them, it's nearly impossible to stop. Cyber bullying is happening everywhere.

   Cyber bullying is not the only issue with social networks, however. Safety is another thing that concerns me. I think Facebook, in particular, is an invasion of privacy. They ask for too much personal information, and that's what I don't like. On my Facebook account, I like to keep a private profile, only for my friends to see, because I feel more secure. Social network users need to be careful of what they're doing, because it could be dangerous and it could ruin their lives. I've heard about some issues with hackers, going into people's accounts and finding out all their information. This isn't really a common issue, but many kids don't take this seriously and do whatever they want, but they don't realize how it could effect them. Now with all these hackers, kids have to be careful, and be safe on their social networks.
I've also heard about people losing their jobs, because of what they do on their social networks. I believe a few years ago, a man lost his job, because he was having a party, and skipping work. He called in "sick", but a day later his boss found pictures of him at a party, on his Facebook.

   All of these issues are a result of people not thinking of what they do, and how it could effect them. Many people lack responsibility and do very foolish things. It is not the social networks' fault. Social networks are a priviledge, they were made so people could interact with their friends and have fun. I think social media is great! It's a great thing to have, but the main issue with all these social networks, is safety and responsibility. There are no disadvantages to social networks, all it is, is that, people make wrong decisions.

What's in the Beef?

Between the Lines

   This article informs us about a recent issue that is extremely important, and could affect us all. We rely on the government agency called the “Canadian Food Inspection Agency” (CFIA) to determine whether the foods we eat are safe and clean or not.  We also rely on the  “Public Health Agency of Canada” in cases where the food is maybe infectious or contaminated and emergency and prevention measures need to be undertaken to control and kill dangerous bacteria.  Both of these government agencies play a very important role and we need them to ensure we are not going to get ill from infected foods.  Without these agencies, the chances of people becoming sick in our country would increase.  This could even result in some deaths.  

   It’s because of the CFIA’s timely testing for bacteria and contaminated foods are quickly discovered.  Once they find this, they act quickly to ensure that the food is not distributed to stores and sold to consumers.  The agency finds out the plant or facility where the contaminated food came from and then inspects their facility and investigates the cause.  Once the cause is found, the agency ensures that the facility corrects all “deficiencies” and “sanitizes” the plant.  The plant has to comply otherwise the agency can close them down and they don’t want that because they would suffer income losses and the employees would lose their jobs. 

  In the worst cases, if the foods have already reached the consumers and a bacterial outbreak has occurred, the Public Health Agency of Canada, is responsible for stopping further spreading of infections and providing help to the people affected.  In order to stop the spreading of the disease, all affected foods are quickly “recalled” (taken off the stores shelves).   
 
 The existence of the agencies and their efficient work not only ensures public safety, but also maintains public confidence.  Anyway, my point is, we need the government food inspection agency, and without them, it would be terrible.  I think the agencies have a good system of inspection and enforcing correction and helping during health emergency situations.

Just Talk About it

   After reading this article, I do feel mostly reassured about the safety of Canada's food supply, because I know the government food inspection agency are always carefully checking foods before packaging them and sending them to food stores. Despite the E. coli 0157:H7 incident in the beef, I feel safe about the foods we eat. Besides, it was the XL Foods of Brooks fault, in Alberta. And I believe that the government food inspection agency will work even more carefully from now on, to prevent any further incidents like this.

   I also do feel a little bit uncertain of the food we eat, because there is always a small chance of there being bacteria in the meats we eat. The government food inspection agency found, "leaky pipes, clogged water nozzles, and smelly drains," (1^st page) at the Brooks facility. The thing I'm mainly worried about is that the XL Foods "supply 35 percent of the beef Canadians eat. The meat is processed at three facilities in Alberta," (THE XL FOODS RECALL), (including the Brooks facility). That's a fairly big percentage, and all those meats go around the whole country. It comes to us too, so there still may be a chance of getting meats with bacteria, from the Brooks facility.

Is there other life in this big universe?

  I believe that we humans, are not the only ones living in this enormous universe. Everyone always asks themselves, are there other people in space ( the universe, more specifically)? Well, its probably impossible to find out, but I think there is other life (related to humans or animals) somewhere because our universe is so BIG!!! I think there might be another version of humans on another planet, far away. Maybe that version of humans is more advanced than us. They might have a different physical appearance, or different way of living, or communicating. I always think to myself, it can't be possible that we're the only ones in this universe. Earth can't be the only planet that has life, out of a billion other planets. There are such vast distances between all the planets, that it is impossible to find any other life with our current technology. It is my personal belief that there is other life somewhere in the universe.

 The most common thing that people think of outer-space life is the existence of aliens.  Aliens is the term we use for outer-space living beings, yes, but many people think of aliens as ugly, slimy, deadly monsters. I believe that is just a myth. Aliens like that are only in science-fiction movies.
I was doing some research about whether there is life in space. Many opinions came up. Some people said no, some people said yes. Some people have a religious point of view on this topic. They may believe that God created new life, or something. This topic brings up a good argument. Like I said before, its about your personal belief. There are no scientific answers that can determine for sure whether there is other life in our universe.

Living things are not only things that we can see, like animals or humans. Living things also includes microscopic organisms that are invisible to the naked eye. There's probably trillions of bacteria all over other planets, but that's not what we're looking for. We're looking for intelligent life, like humans. The questions is, "...do you think there is other intelligent life in the universe?..."
Everyone has a different perspective on this topic, and there is no right answer. There are millions of possibilities of what there could be in the universe, because everyone has a creative mind and a different way of thinking. That's why this topic brings up a good argument. But, its about my opinion, and I believe that there is other intelligent life in the universe.

My Advanced Abilities

  If I could change something about myself, I would change my strength. I would want to increase my strength to become very muscular, stronger and faster. By increasing my strength, I would also do better in most sports, such as basketball, or even running. Strength is not only about weight lifting. Strength would also help me become a better athlete, and benefit me in daily life activities. Many things would be easier for me if I become physically stronger.

  Strength would not be the only thing I'd change about myself, for everyone has their unique differences, but nobody is perfect. I would also want to increase my intelligence. This would enable me to understand difficult challenges and I would be able to absorb a greater amount of  knowledge more quickly. If I was much smarter, everything would be done more easily. For example, homework could be done more quickly and I would always get good grades without worrying. This will give me more time to socialize and enjoy fun activities with my friends. I would have more time to work on other things outside of school, such as practising my piano and playing basketball. With advanced intelligence, in the future I would be able to get a great job.

 If I had these advanced abilities, this would make my life much easier, because I would be able to achieve a lot more than I already can. With my athletic capabilities I would be able to score many baskets in basketball, as well as perform better in other sports.
I would have a greater amount of knowledge, and with this, I would do much better in school and I would have more free time available to do the things I like. This is why I would want to change these two things about myself.