Costumes

     Every year on the same day you could look outside your window and probably see mass amounts of children and teenagers running around in different costumes. The costumes can be anything you want, if you want to be a leaf, you can make a leaf, if you want to be an emoji, you be an emoji. You just have to use your imagination when coming up with a costume so you don't look like everyone else. Also homemade costumes are the best costumes because no one can have the same exact detailed costume as you if you make it yourself.

     I think the most popular costume this year will be from the movie Frozen. Frozen came out around two years ago and it is still one of the most popular children's movie out there. I have already seen many kids that are planning on going as the characters from Frozen. The next costume that has been popular over the years is dressing as a cat. Usually people don't actually wear fur coats and everything, pretty much people put on cat ears, whiskers, and a black body suit and call it good. In my opinion being a cat is already done and everyone wears the same thing, people need to try to be more original if they want to dress as a cat.

   Another costume that has been popular over the years is dressing as a ghost. This costume used to not be very original because everyone just threw a white sheet over them and called it good. Now people have started to put blood on the sheet or drawn different scary faces on the face. Again being a ghost is not very original, but it is all about your creativity with it and you can easily make a unique ghost costume.

     Halloween is when you can you leave your identity and personality behind to transform into something else or anyone else. You can choose whatever you're going to be and make it as unique as you like. This time of the year is the perfect time to show your creativity and not be judged for it because everyone likes a good costume. Now don't forget to hand out candy to all of the little children and to have as much fun as possible when it comes to picking out your costume.

**all pictures are provided by Google

Halloween Movies

Hocus Pocus

     Besides Christmas, I think Halloween movies are highly anticipated every year, especially when your childhood Halloween movies are only shown once a year. The Halloween movie list's can range from gory/horror to Charlie Brown Halloween special. I think the most anticipated movies are the one's from the 1980's to early 2000's, when people knew how to actually make good movies. For example; Hocus Pocus, Halloweentown, the Halloween series, Beetlejuice, etc. Actually the early 2000's, Disney Channel movies are my favorites, but not the current Disney Channel, they are poorly scripted.

     The Disney Channel movies that I think any 90's kids loved are the Halloweentown series, which is basically three teenagers who have magical powers, and they go to a school to develop their magic and it continues into three more movies. The next is Hocus Pocus, this movie was my childhood, it is the perfect amount of scariness to give you that Halloween feeling but not too scary at the same time for children of younger ages. Another one is Twitches, this movie is for the people who like watching people develop powers and master it to beat the bad person. That may sound cheesy but the movie is produced perfectly, making it feel like this could actually happen in real life. 

     On to the more classic movies, movies my parents liked when they were younger. A popular one is the Halloween series, this series is more on the
horror side. The first movie was made in 1978, and the eighth and final movie was made in 2002, there are two more but they are just remakes. The next classic is Beetlejuice, this movie is more on the comedy side of horror, so if you want a classic, funny yet scary Halloween movie to watch, this is the one for you. One that might be a little less classic, but is known pretty well, is the Addams Family, this movie is a comedy for the people who want a good Halloween movie but don't want to be frightened. 

Paranormal Activity

     Now for the current Halloween movies out there that, yes may be poorly produced, but are still popular. One that pop's into my head right away is the Paranormal Activity series, the first two or three have me really freaked, but as they go on, the movies seem to become less exciting and thrilling to thinking why am I watching this. The next movie that came out in the last year or two is Ouija. Ouija is a popular game to play late at night with your friends and try to talk to the dead, and it became so popular that there was a movie made on what can happen if you don't play the game right. Another recent movie is Annabelle, personally I did not see it but I heard that you will never look at a doll the same way. Annabelle is one of those movies that gets you freaked out over inanimate objects being possessed. The recent movies I have to say are not the best, but please leave your opinion of what you think of Halloween movies today. 

     Halloween movies are perfect for anyone because you can choose if you want horror or you can choose if you want comedy Halloween. A trend I see in the world and for me, is that the more dated Halloween films are the more popular ones, because they give you nostalgia of your childhood and bring back memories. Halloween movies, I believe, are probably one of the most anticipated movie times of the year, because you get to watch the classic's and the newly produced one's to give yourself that little bit of horror satisfaction to last you till next year. 

**all pictures are provided by Google

**all information was provided by Wikipedia 

     

Halloween

     Halloween is approaching fast, by fast I mean less than a week! Halloween is the day many sci fi, horror, thrill seeking lovers have been waiting for. Actually the whole month of October is when everyone truly celebrates Halloween. There are many way's people express their love for Halloween, it could be through decoration, movies, make-up, haunted houses, pumpkin carving, trick or treating, anything that is scary, dark or involves candy, you name it. Halloween is also the time people associate with fall, because the leaves turn orange and the temperature drops, reminding you of Halloween.

     One Halloween tradition that I know everyone has done once, at least in America, is pumpkin carving. Pumpkin carving is probably the second best thing (next to candy) when it comes to Halloween because you can carve anything you want. For me, I always carve whatever I am loving that year, for example I carved 5SOS because it is my favorite band currently. The most common carving is typically a scary face, meaning two triangles for eyes, and a jagged mouth. When I was younger and could not carve very well, that was the face I resorted to. After you de-seed your pumpkin and carved whatever you wanted, you then place a small round candle inside your pumpkin, that way it can be seen in the dark. Putting the candle in really brings alive your pumpkin, and brings the whole thing together.

     For the thrill seeking people, haunted houses are your sanctuaries. I have never been to a haunted house before so all of the things I say have come from my friends experiences. When going through a haunted house you typically encounter clowns, axe doctors, blood, darkness, and usually a maze. Now if you get nightmares easily like I do, then haunted houses are not for you. When going through one, you usually endure a fast pace heart beat from the suspense and jump scares. Also you endure either hours of screaming or laughing, my friends were the ones that laughed the whole time, but
from watching videos of other people going through a haunted house, it is usually screaming and then laughing. Haunted houses seem to be more popular as you get older.

     Halloween is the best time of the year for fall lovers, horror/thrill lovers, classic halloween movie lovers, etc. There are many things to look forward to, especially if you love to dress as other things or characters/people. It is also the time for children to stock up on as much free candy as possible. In my next two posts, I'll go more in depth on the classic halloween movies everyone loves, and the many different costumes a person can wear.

**all images are provided by Google
   

YouTube

     YouTube first started in 2005, it started off pretty slow, most people just uploaded random videos for fun. As the years have progressed, YouTube has started to become more popular. YouTube has become so popular that they pay people to upload videos on daily basis. You could earn millions of dollars through YouTube by just uploading a video of you doing something interesting and that's it. To earn the money you have to have the views though, the more views, the more money.

Zoe Sugg

     For most people YouTube has started out as a hobby, videos you just did for fun. Now people are uploading daily vlogs, impressive trick shots, beauty videos, cooking, etc. The people who started as a hobby and turned YouTube into a job, are the people who have gained massive amounts of views over the years. For example, Zoe Sugg is a British YouTuber, she started in 2009, just doing videos for fun. Now currently in 2015, Zoe has gained over 9 million YouTube followers and counting. Zoe Sugg has released two books, both have become a national bestseller's and she has launched multiple beauty product lines, and guest started on popular T.V. programs. Zoe is a prime example of what YouTube can do for a person in a short amount of time.

     Not only has YouTube become popular in the internet world, it has become popular in the television, music world and book selling. The common phrase that people have been saying lately from the success of YouTube into the non- internet world is "Team Internet". Team Internet has come from the YouTube stars that have been winning awards, creating national bestselling books, making movies, getting cooking shows. Team Internet has become so powerful over the last three years, and it is becoming so popular that it has just announced YouTube Red, if you want more information on YouTube Red, click here.
    
     YouTube has opened so many doors for so many people in not only just sharing their ideas into the world, but also YouTube has provided a place for people who don't know what they want to do in life. YouTube is a great way to express yourself through videos and share it with other people. Through this website people have travelled all over the world for conventions, or meet and greets. There is a convention called VidCon, where YouTuber's from all over the world get together in one place and they get to meet viewers through small meet and greets and the YouTuber's get to do a talk session to the viewer's. Overall YouTube is a place to express yourself to people through your videos and if you have a lot of viewers you just might get paid for it.

**all pictures are provided by Google

Back To The Future

     On this day 30 years ago, a man named Marty travelled into the future to October 21st, 2015 in a movie called, Back To the Future. Once Marty Mcfly made it to this day the movie predicted there would be new technology inventions, many things that were predicted are not here today. For example, Jaws 19, flying cars, barcode license plates, ejection seats, a woman president in 2015, just to name a few. In some way's futuristic movies should not be made and in other way's they should be made.

     The problem with making futuristic movies is that nothing is set in stone for the future, the earth could explode at any time. I know these movies are made to be funny and to give people hope for future things, but it can also make us look stupid. For example, flying cars was predicted in the movie to have been created by now and used in everyday life, that obviously has not happened and that makes humans look bad that by now technology has not been advanced enough to make flying cars.
On the other hand futuristic movies should be made because they are funny and it is fun to see what movies predict the future could be like.

   

Flying car

Weird things that are happening on this day today in honor of it being the day Marty travelled to, first off a police unit was called to a traffic scene where a 17 year old person crashed into a telephone pole. When he showed his license, it showed that his license was 30 years outdated. It was obviously a prank but how weird would that have been if it was true. Another thing that has happened today is a movie theatre lost power, and a person came in and asked for a Pepsi and when Jaws 19 would playing. Again not true but still that would pretty cool and strange if it did really happen.

     This day has been highly anticipated throughout the years to see what things that were predicted would come true. One thing that was predicted was that the Cubs would win the World Series in 2015, that hasn't come true yet, but the chances are looking pretty slim right now for the Cubs. Futuristic movies have their good and bad qualities, and will mostly be remembered for what they did not predict correctly. People have done some weird things today, but it is all out of high anticipation for this day to come, and yes in some way's today was disappointing for the people that were looking forward to certain inventions being made.

*all pictures are provided by Google*

Meal Time

     Typically a person has three meals a day, it is usually breakfast, lunch and dinner. Everybody has a different place and time they have these meals. For example, some people may eat in their room by themselves, some people may sit on the couch and watch T.V. while eating, and some people may sit at the table to eat. Meal time is different in every house, it depends on how old fashion your parents may be or how laid back your parents may be. For me, my dad is a clean freak and only allows food to be eaten at the table, not on the couch or in your room.

     When it comes to time to eat, I find it important to have a scheduled time at least three times a week where you sit down with no T.V. and phones, and it is just you and your family. That allows the people in your family to say how their week is going, or what problems have come up during the day or week. I feel this is important because if you don't have a regular time to talk to your parents or siblings, you don't have that time where you can say your accomplishments of the day or just see how everyone is doing. Personally, dinner time is when my family sits down together and talks about how their day went and what we did.

     A different time that everyone could all eat together is breakfast time. Breakfast time on Saturday's or Sunday's is a great time to make a lot of great food and talk about your week. Breakfast as everyone know's is also the most important meal, so by making a lot of food and getting everyone together can really start your day/ weekend well. In my family we call it big breakfast and my mom makes either pancakes or waffles and other side dishes on Sunday's if everyone isn't busy.

Tapas in Spain

     Meal time differs for everyone, there are so many way's, places, and times a person can eat their meal. It differs from all over the world, in Spain, they eat breakfast in the morning like usual but then they eat lunch at around two in the afternoon, between lunch and dinner then snack on foods called tapas and then dinner at around nine or ten in the evening. Also for lunch you may go out to lunch with co-workers to the local cafe. Everyone is different with their meal time and what they do at meal time.

Organization in School

     There are two different types of people when it comes to organization in school. You have the person who color coordinates their subjects, highlight and has a place for everything. Then there is the type of person who throws their papers randomly in their backpack. Your organization process wavers as you go through the school year, I know from experience.

     Let's talk about the person who highlights and sticky notes everything. At the beginning of the year you start with a fresh planner, fresh highlighters, fresh sticky notes, and fresh notebooks, etc. By the time you get home from the first day of school you have everything perfectly highlighted, sticky noted and coordinated in your backpack. Just wait until you get to the middle of the year. By the time you get through your first final, all of the perfect organization is gone, everything is a scribbled mess. Yes I think everyone has gone through this phase at least once a year.

     Now there is the person who just shoves random papers into their backpack, no organization skills at all. I bet every single person has encountered someone whose just pulls a pile of paper containing their science, history, math and who know's what else. Those are the kinds of kids teacher dislike the most. If that method works for you then hey who is stopping you I guess.

     When it comes to school organization, there are different ways people tend to organize, it all depends on what works for you. If throwing papers into your bag randomly works for you, then go ahead. If you want to highlight and sticky note everything and that works for you, then go ahead. Organization is all about what works for you, no matter what way you do it. Sometimes when you try new things and they don't feel right and you find yourself going back what you used to do, that is kind of what organizing is. Someone thinks you do a bad job with organizing so they try and change it, but that makes it worse. Find what works for you.

Album Release

Provided by Google

     When following your favorite artists/ bands, you go through a journey with them. You follow their up's and down's and something that can easily go up or down is the album release. Artists can spend up to months or up to multiple years writing their album. A lot of stress and hard work goes into making an album, so when it comes to the release date, that can be the most stressful time for artists.

     Over the years of following different artists and bands, I have noticed patterns and differences when it comes to making an album. The most accomplished or the most awarded artists are the one's who take multiple years to make an album. Take Taylor Swift for an example, it took her 2 years and five days to make her current album. Taylor Swift sold over one million copies in just the United States alone in the first week! The 1989 album has won multiple awards ranging from Album of the Year at the AMA's to being nominated for record of the year at the Grammys.

     After looking at Taylor Swift's success, you look at artist's who write albums in maybe a year or less. Those are the type of artists who are just pop up artists, they are in their peak stage and the artist wants to put out as much music as possible in the amount of time they have. The artist's that release music every year are the one's who may not be in the music industry for very long and they can not take two years to write an album like Taylor Swift because they never when their popularity might die down. I'm saying it about everyone, but for some artist's like The Wanted, they only have a short amount of time.

Provided by Google

     Another trend that I see is the leaking of albums. When an album is leaked, basically all of the hard work and excitement that goes into the release date goes down the toilet. Most artists put a smile on their face and say it's not a big deal, but actually on the inside the artist feels disappointed. You put a release date out there so that way you can let people know the album is coming soon, get excited and be patient. So if you are one of those people who try to leak an album, or tell people to leak an album, you need to stop because the artist who made that album wants everyone to hear it at the same time when it is suppose to be released.

     Album release day is the day that the artist finds out if their hard work is a success or fail. Usually if the artist does a lot of promo or get's people to spread the word about the album before it's released, it is usually a success. The release of an album can take however long the artist want's to take to write it. Generally the longer it takes to write an album the more successful it would be, it depends on the fan base. The album release day is the most important day of an artists career no matter what, all of the work you have put into making that album is finally shared to the world.

    

Postseason/ World Series

Provided by Google

      Right now in the baseball world, the postseason is in full swing. Last week was the final week of 2015 regular season baseball. The postseason is for the teams who come out on the top in their leagues. The first round is the team who came in first for their league and the wild card winner. The wild card winner comes down to the second and third place teams and they play one game and that one game determines if they go on to the first round. After the first round, the second round is the NLCS and the winners from that will play in the World Series. It will be the National league vs the American league in a seven game series. Whoever wins that series is the World Series champion.

     Many baseball fans look forward to the month of October the most because that is when the World Series is held. It can be the best month ever or the most depressing month. For my dad and I, it is the most depressing because the Yankees were knocked out in the wild card game. For my mom, it is the best month ever because the Cubs are dominating in the first round right now.

Provided by Google

     For the 2015 postseason the National league is made up of; The New York Mets, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Chicago Cubs, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The American league is made up of; the Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays, and the Texas Rangers. These teams have all
had their up's and down's throughout the year, but the reason that they are here is because these teams have come through in clutch positions. If you break under pressure, you won't even get a whiff of the post season.

     Every year in the month of October there is the World Series, just like there is a Super Bowl, the NCAA Final Four, the Masters, etc. The World Series is for the die hard baseball fans that support their team constantly no matter what. Take the Cubs fans for example, the Cubs have done poorly for as long as I can remember, and now they are doing great! The fans that stuck through that rut are the die hard fans. The postseason is when the teams really need to come through and perform their best and use all of the changes they have made through the season. The World Series is the most exciting time in baseball, it is what everyone works toward.

TV Shows: American Horror Story

Murder House

     American Horror Story is a very popular television show that started in 2011. The thing that makes this show so interesting is because every season has a beginning, middle and end. I would caution using the word series because of the fact that every season has it's own story line, meaning you could watch the third season without watching the previous two and not be confused because it is a new story line. For example last season the story line was based on "Freak Show", and it was all about the characters living their lives in freak show. This year the show's story line is "Hotel" based on it being in a hotel, it has nothing to do with last season's freak show.

Asylum

     Since every season has different story lines, you get new characters, old characters, in every season. Here are some veteran actors, it looks like Jessica Lange who has played Constance in the first season, Sister Jude in the second season, Fiona Goode in the third season, and Elsa Mars in the fourth season, but it appears she did not return for the latest season. Evan Peters has been in all five seasons expect for the third season. Sarah Paulson has done all every season except for the first one. A new character that is bringing a lot of attention to the show this year is, Lady Gaga. Lady Gaga is the warden of the hotel and she is also a blood sucker, her character name is Elizabeth or the Countess, Lady Gaga is also rumored to be in the next season as well.

Hotel

     As I mentioned earlier, every season has it's own story line, they are all interesting in their own ways. The first season was called 'Murder House', and it is around a family who is living in a house that is haunted with ghosts. The second season is called 'Asylum' and is based in Massachusetts in 1962, and it's about the story of treating the criminally insane. The third season is called 'Coven' and it follows the witches who survived the Salem Witch Trials. The fourth season is called 'Freak Show' and it is following the characters lives as they live in freak show. The current season is 'Hotel' it follows the lives of the people inside the hotel, and the guests that will never check out.

 

American Horror Story is highly anticipated for different reasons. The first reason being because it just came out with the fifth season, being highly anticipated. Also because one of the new characters is very popular for her music, Lady Gaga. Everyone is very excited to see how a singer would do in a horror tv show. Lastly because people want to see what the new story is, how it is going to be different and more enticing from the other seasons. If you have never seen American Horror Story before but want to watch this season, it is okay because again, you don't have to know what has happened in past seasons to understand this season. There are all new character names and backgrounds.

*all information came from this website; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Horror_Story
*all photos are provided by Google

Movies vs Books

     Movies and books are two different things but they are also the same thing. A movie has a story and plot to follow and so does a book. The problem there is, when you're a reading a book that get's turned into a movie, the story and plot might change from there. Have you ever read an amazing book and then they announce it will be a movie, but when you see the movie, major things are missing? That has happened to me with several movies.

Provided by Google

     When reading The Help, it had the most amazing story of following a white female writer who wants to interview the help (African American women) for a book, and the book was based in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960's. That was a very hard time because that was around the time when Kennedy was shot, making the African American population very nervous. It was very hard for this white female to interview the help, because if the white women the help were working for found out, they would be fired instantly. In the end, the woman did get her book written and what happened after that is what was vastly different in the movie. When the movie changes what happens after the book is released in the movie, it is taking away the plot and story point that I loved from the book.

     Being fair towards movies, I believe the reason movies have to take out details in books is because people don't want to watch a three or four hour movie. You go to movies because they are nice pass the time activity that you can stay awake for, but if it is a three or four hour movie you might find yourself dozing off or getting bored.

     With books you can read a 500 or 800 book and be able to take breaks from it or stop whenever you want. What I mean is that when reading a book you could read 5 chapters and set it down to come back to later. With movies you have to sit there for the entire one to two hours, maybe pause to fill up your popcorn or drink. Reading a book can be as long or short as you want, you can read a book in a day or 2 months, it all depends on you. To some people that might seem boring and take forever, but after reading a book you feel like you accomplished something and you can share the information from the book with other people.

     Movies can be perceived as the better option between choosing a movie or book, but if you really look at it, books are more interesting. The reason books are more interesting is because they are able to fit every little detail the writer wants, making it that much better. In movies you have to cut out parts to make the movie be at the right length. Movies are still a nice way to spend time but having a good book with you at all times is an even better way to pass the time.
    

Birthday

     Everyone has a birthday and everyone celebrates them differently. Some people might have a huge party bash and invites everyone in their grade, while other people might have just have a small celebration with their family, or you might not celebrate your birthday at all. Birthday's are one of the those times that happens in everyone's life at some point. Some people may not celebrate Christmas, Easter, Halloween, etc. With birthday's everyone has one, everyone was born on one day making it your birthday.

     On your birthday generally that is the day you might feel most important, especially if it is your golden birthday (if you can remember it). Everyone is coming up to you and wishing you a happy birthday, your friends might give you gifts, you get a cake from your family. Personally for me on my birthday, my parents and sisters have to be nice to me all day and get me a gift and presents, I don't throw huge parties, maybe a few friends stay the night. But I know there are people who go all out and invite their entire grade even if you don't know everyone.  

     Generally the people that I see throw huge parties are in movies or in books. They describe their parties being thrown in their mansion house with beer and junk food with lots and lots of people. Or you might see in movies the popular girl wanting to throw the best party ever, so she hires caterers, a dj, maybe a live band if you're feeling crazy, and also possibly it has a dress code.

     In real life I do not see those type of things, what my friends tend to do is get together with the family on your birthday over dinner and celebrate with gifts and cake. Then on the weekend get together with your friends and doing stuff like bowling, pool party, rock climbing, scavenger hunts, sleepovers, etc.

     Birthdays happen in many ways, it's just based on how you view them. Also birthday's are in everyone lives, unlike maybe Christmas or Easter, everyone has a birthday. They can be the best day because you feel like the most important person or they could be a bad day because people forget or you might not celebrate it, that is a morbid way of thinking though. Overall everyone has a birthday and everyone celebrates it differently wether it is in real life or in a movie.

Social Media Today

     Back in the 80's and 90's the only real technology there was, was maybe a VCR and a huge home phone. Now, there are touch screen cell phones, touch pads, flat screen T.V's, touch screen watches, so there are many ways to access social media. Social media is turning into the new of communication. Yes people did communicate through emails but that was just a faster way, then writing a letter. People communicate through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. People seem to do/say more bold things on social media, because you are not talking directly to that person, here are some examples.

     On Twitter and Facebook, we have seen an increase of cyber-bullying on those websites. I feel like people tend to say bolder things on those websites because they are just typing it. You can't see the person's face as you say the hurtful things, all you see is a computer screen.  Back in the day
people had to say those hurtful words to the persons' face, and the consequence usually came right away. On social media the consequence might not happen for quite awhile, or not at all. This is one of the reasons why people tend to have a bad thought towards social media.

     A more positive side of social media is how news travels very quickly. That can be a negative but for things like hurricanes and world disasters, we can find out right away through social media and start to donate. Also through Facebook you can use it to check up on family members that live in different states. I use my Facebook to check on my two older sisters who live in Minnesota and Florida, that way I can make sure they are doing okay. Social media can be a good thing at certain times.

     Social media today has its positives and negatives in their own ways. Social media helps bullies accomplish their goal of beating people down, but I do know there are people out there who are trying to bring down those bullies. Social media can be a positive with getting news out and making sure you are still connected to all of your family members as well. View social media as you like but just know there are the negatives and the positives.