Full House: El Problema Grande de D.J.

D.J. has good grades (six As) throughout her report card, except for in Spanish class, where she was given a ‘D’ (while Kimmy had gotten a ‘C’). Danny decides to talk to her Spanish teacher, Senorita Linda Mosley, about the grade, and D.J. thanks him for that.

When Linda comes over to the house to have a private discussion with Danny about it, it starts as a simple parent-teacher conference (with Linda showing Danny some colored flash cards with Spanish words on them, such as “el sofa” for sofa (and Danny remarks, “The sofa is ‘el sofa’? How could she get a D in this language?” and Linda replies, “Well, they’re not all that easy.”) and “perro” for dog, respectively, in the living room with the blue-and-white checkered couch. It soon ends with an unexpected burst of passion as the smitten Senorita Mosley tries to show him how to roll the double R in Spanish (after telling him the importance of the letter ‘R’ in the Spanish language), only to plant a kiss on him. When she apologizes, Danny tells her it felt nice, and Linda feels better. So they kiss a second time; however, the second kiss is ill-timed because that is when D.J. and some of her friends walk through the kitchen door and into the living room, and they take notice of it. Much to D.J.’s utter mortification, the kiss is an event that the whole school is soon buzzing about.

D.J. soon becomes a target for highly unwelcome teasing, and she is absolutely furious at her dad for making her a target for teasing (and for not getting her Spanish grade changed).

Danny apologizes to D.J. for making her a target for teasing, and then eventually gets her to admit that the more difficult the Spanish class became, the more she just gave up on it, because she thinks she is no good at it. However, Danny manages to encourage his oldest daughter that he will be proud of her for trying as hard as she can, especially in something she finds to be hard to do, and D.J. thanks him.

Meanwhile, Mr. Malatesta gives Michelle a spot in a marshmallow commercial that Joey and Jesse have been assigned to work on. Joey and Jesse groom Michelle to star in the commercial. She is to sit on a cloud, eat a marshmallow, and exclaim, “yummy in the tummy.” However, she overpractices by eating too many marshmallows before the actual filming, and as a result, Michelle is full when the camera starts rolling.

Also, Stephanie has gotten a good report card, but her teacher writes, “Stephanie is a wonderful student, but she needs to control her talking in class.” When Danny makes the mistake of telling her she has to “stop being such a little chatterbox,” she says, “So, my own family thinks I’m a chatterbox? How rude.” When Danny says, “Steph...” she interrupts him, saying, “No, no, it’s fine. From now on, this chatterbox is all locked up” before making a motion of zipping her mouth and throwing away the key. With that, Stephanie stops speaking for about three days — which makes Danny feel a little regretful.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Dracula

Dracula: You are magnificent.

Buffy: I bet you say that before you bite all the girls.

Dracula: No, you are different — kindred.

Buffy (to Dracula after staking him a second time): “You think I don’t watch your movies? You always come back.”

Nostalgia and the Good Old Days

It’s easy to become nostalgic for what people refer to as the “good old days,” when almost everyone was trusted.

Back then, children would play for hours in the neighborhood — and in other people’s homes and yards — unsupervised. Back then, children would walk to school, head gleefully to sleepovers, and participate in overnight camps, all without an ounce of parental concern.

But those times are past (meaning long since over) now. We are a sadder but wiser society. The knowledge we have about child molesters has come at a heavy cost and is often shared by people out of the pain of their personal experiences. It’s time we heeded this information and did all we can to protect children.

The Two Coreys

We all have our teen idol fantasies. For me, there are two teen idols of the 80s — Corey Scott Feldman and Corey Ian Haim. Corey Feldman is so cool with his charisma. Corey Haim had green eyes that were so intense, as well as an aura that makes him so irresistible to girls and women as well.

Together, the Coreys are an unstoppable force to be reckoned with. And they’re brilliant actors.

An example of Corey Feldman’s brilliancy is the 1986 movie Stand by Me, where he played the character of Teddy Duchamp.

In the movie, Gordie Lachance (who’s a writer at the beginning of the film) says this about Teddy:
“Teddy Duchamp was the craziest guy we’d hung around with. He didn’t have much of a chance in life. His dad was given to fits of rage. One time he held Teddy’s ear to a stove and almost burned it off.”

And one of what Teddy considers to be his “words of wisdom” is “I’m in the prime of my youth, and I’ll only be young once.”

Then in 1987, on the set of the film The Lost Boys, he met another actor/teen idol who shared his first name — Corey Haim. They portrayed Sam Emerson and Edgar Frog in the fictional small town of Santa Carla. Showing they saved Santa Carla from four teenage vampires made moviegoers realize that the Coreys had chemistry.

In the 1988 film “License to Drive,” the Coreys bring back memories of what it was like to be sixteen years old and get your driver’s license.

“It was really, really hilarious.”

“It reminded me a lot of me.”

“I borrowed my father’s car once.” (Les Anderson’s father, Robert: “What?!”) “Just kidding, Dad.”

“I’ve had some pretty wild nights, but nothing like this.”

In the 1989 film “Dream a Little Dream,” the Coreys explore what it’s like to be in love, and Jason Robards’ character, Coleman Ettinger, learns what it’s like to be a teenager with some help from Bobby Keller (Corey Feldman), whom he has accidentally switched bodies with.

May the Coreys live on in teenage dreams forever!

Update: I have learned that Corey Haim has, as of March 10, 2010, gone the way of all the earth. He will be missed dearly.

Rest in peace to Corey Ian Haim (December 23, 1971 — March 10, 2010), Jason Robards (July 26, 1922 — December 26, 2000), Marc Rocco (June 19, 1962 — May 1, 2009), and Marc’s adopted father, Alex Rocco (February 29, 1936 — July 18, 2015).

Full House: D.J. Tanner

Donna Jo Margaret “D.J.” Tanner is the oldest girl in the Tanner household. She has blond hair and azure eyes. Her wanting to be the best in everything came from her mother, Pam Katsopolis-Tanner. When Pam died in a car accident caused by a drunk driver, D.J. was ten years old, Stephanie was five years old, and Michelle was six months old.

Shelly: I’ve got to tell the guys this one.

D.J.: And I’ve got to find a new school.

Being the big sister isn’t always easy, but she pulled it off with aplomb.

D.J. handles many tough situations with general ease. Though she gets upset at times over her father prying into her affairs or otherwise embarrassing her (and usually runs off to isolate herself in her room), she is always quick to apologize when she has acted rudely.

Sometimes D.J. gets quite angry about the limits her father places on her; in many episodes, she ignores these limits. Nonetheless, she does eventually learn her lesson (usually the hard way). This structure of one of the “Tanner sisters” learning a life-important lesson is shown in many episodes.

The Great Outdoors (1988): My Thoughts

Nostalgic about the good old days in the honeymoon cabin, the patriarch Chet Ripley and his family set off to the idyllic woods of Wisconsin for the summer vacation. However, their plans for a peaceful family bonding in the heart of the untamed nature will be thwarted when Chet’s high-rolling brother-in-law Roman Craig and his family decide to crash the party. Eventually, as the two families try to have a good time together, a seemingly endless series of misfortunes and mini-disasters — including thirsty leeches, cunning raccoons, and a mythical wild bear — threaten to ruin the vacation. What will it take to salvage the weekend?

It is summertime, and Chicago citizen Chester “Chet” Ripley (John Candy), his wife Connie (Stephanie Faracy), and their two sons, Buckley “Buck” (Chris Young) and Ben (Ian Giatti), are on vacation at a lake resort in Pechoggin, Wisconsin. All is going as planned until Connie’s sister Kate (Annette Bening), Kate’s husband Roman Craig (Dan Aykroyd), and their twin daughters Mara and Cara (Rebecca and Hilary Gordon) show up, thus crashing the vacation.

Among the ghost stories told at the family BBQ is one about a man-eating grizzly bear that Chet met face-to-face one day when he was younger. Chet says that, while he and Connie were honeymooning at the same lake they are at right now, he was attacked by a giant grizzly bear. When Chet fired at it with a shotgun, the buckshot shaved the hair off the top of the bear’s head, and from that day on, it was known as the ‘Bald-Headed Bear’ of Claire County.

After Roman pulls Chet around the lake on an impromptu water ski ride with his rented speedboat, tensions between families erupt. Chet is ready to pack up his family’s things and go home — even as teenager Buck tries to romance a local girl named Cammie (Lucy Deakins).

However, while the budding romance between Buck and Cammie goes well, Chet, Roma,n and their families don’t get along, whether they are fighting over what type of boat to rent, how to wrinkle newspaper in order to start a fire, or what to grill for dinner — until one night, when they go to Paul Bunyan’s Cupboard. Roman inquires about the Old 96’er, and is informed that it is “a 96-ounce prime-aged beef steak,” which lands them all a free meal if it’s consumed entirely. Chet decides to take the challenge and manages to stuff it all down — or so he thinks. He is then confronted with a pile of fat and gristle, which he finds out he is required to consume; not only does he do it, he also gets a dessert down, earning them some free hats. However, Chet’s taking the challenge of eating said steak causes Buck to break his date with Cammie. Buck tries to apologize to Cammie for being late, but Cammie refuses to speak to him.

While at a local bar, Connie and Kate bond with each other when the conversation drifts to Kate’s challenges of being wealthy. Later, just at the peak of tension between families, a revelation of sorts emerges. Roman had spent some of the time flaunting his wealth and success and encouraged Chet to give him money for a deal; when they are leaving, Kate mentions how that was a lot for them. Roman feels his conscience eating away at him and stops the car, saying he has to go back, and Kate wonders if he forgot something; he turns the car around and heads back to the cabin. When Kate asks if he’s all right, Roman replies with “I’ll be all right once I settle this.”

At the cabin, Roman tears up the check that Chet had given him (symbolizing his decision to be honest with Chet and Kate). Finally, Roman makes a confession: he is actually broke and has been living beyond his means for some time in order to keep up appearances, because he has lost his job as a commodities trader and everything else after a deal went bad. When Kate asks why he didn’t tell her, thinking he felt she wouldn’t understand, Roman explains that she would have understood — but he also knew she wouldn’t let him “come up here to put the bite on Connie and Chet” because Chet was Roman’s “only last hope.” Chet replies that Roman knows he “would never turn (his) back on family,” and Roman agrees with that.

Later, during a thunderstorm, the twins leave the car and wander off; they eventually fall into a mine shaft. Chet and Roman eventually find them, but the claustrophobic Roman is reluctant to descend into the tiny mine shaft. After some encouragement from Chet, Roman summons up all his courage while Chet goes in search of a rope to pull them out. When he realizes the mine is stocked with old dynamite, Roman takes his daughters and manages to climb out of the shaft on his own.

When Chet returns with the rope, he is horrified to discover the ‘Bald-Headed Bear’ lurking in the mine. It chases him back to his house, where it smashes through the door; as it rampages through the house, Roman, Kate, Connie, and the others are shocked when they realize the ‘Bald-Headed Bear’ is actually real. Roman attempts to ward the bear off with an oar and a fire poker. Wally (Robert Prosky), the cabin owner, bursts into the house with a loaded shotgun; Chet takes the gun and shoots the bear’s rear end, blowing off the fur and leaving the bear’s rump exposed. Roaring in embarrassment, the bear runs out of the house and heads into the woods.

The next morning, the two families part on good terms. However, unbeknownst to Chet, Connie has invited Roman’s family to stay with them until Roman is financially able to get back on his feet. Cammie and Buck make up and end their summer romance right before Buck and his family head back to Chicago.

I cannot find any more good and positive things to say about this film. As Chet Ripley, John Candy gives one of his best performances in this film, and he does a phenomenal job as well.

According to the film’s trivia, in real life, there is a restaurant called Paul Bunyan’s Cook Shanty in northern Wisconsin; however, the Old 96’er isn’t on the menu.

If I had to pick a favorite scene, it would be this one:

Roman: Chet, I’m gonna level with ya. I’m a phony, I’m a fraud, I’m a fake — from my fifteen-dollar imitation Bally slip-ons to our replicated Rolexes. (Kate looks at her watch and is shocked, realizing Roman is right) We’re broke. We’re bankrupt. We’re busted.

Kate: We’re busted?

Roman: We were living well, right? (Kate nods, mouthing “Yeah” soon after) Well beyond our means. (he then turns to Chet) I’m full of (nonsense), Chet. I haven’t been trading in over two years. (sighs) This deal came up; it looked good. I got overextended. Couldn’t meet my calls. I lost my seat on the Exchange. I got to work every morning — but now I wear a blue runner’s jacket and fetch coffee. I lost everything.

Kate: Why didn’t you tell me? Did you think that I wouldn’t understand?

Roman: Oh, baby, I knew you’d understand. But I also knew you wouldn’t let me come up here to put the bite on Connie and Chet. He was my only last hope.

Chet: Now, look, Roman. Now you know I never turn my back on family.

Roman: I know. That’s why I came up here.

Plus, the film shows a good message: helping your family out if they need it is a good idea.

I highly recommend this film to all John Candy fans — and I give it five stars as well.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Photos and Crossover Manips

Degrassi: Heat of the Moment

Teenagers and kids of all ages have probably been bullying and pushing each other around since the beginning of time. But now, since the invention of the Internet (which happened on January 1, 1983), with texting and IMing and MySpace and YouTube, bullies no longer have to face their victims on the school yard, like they did in the days before computers were invented; instead, they’re able to hide in the shadows and torture their victims online. The term for that is “cyberbullying” — and has since become very widely known ever since it entered the English language.

The Season 8 episode Heat of the Moment from Degrassi proves how hurtful cyberbullying can be. And in the case of Megan Meier, who was 13 years old when she killed herself in 2006, cyberbullying can also be harmful.

Holly J’s watching the Power Squad practice, and Allia “Alli” Bhandari notices this while walking by with her friend Clare Edwards (the younger sister of Darcy Edwards). She then remarks about how bitter Holly J must be for getting kicked off the Power Squad (which happened in Money for Nothing), and Holly J tells her to shut her mouth. Alli replies that maybe now Holly J can use her free time to find true love. Holly J says Alli wouldn’t know anything about romance, which makes Alli admit she’s going out with Johnny DiMarco. Holly J doesn’t believe it, so she goes up to Johnny and asks him if he and Alli are dating in front of his friends. Johnny denies this before breaking up with Alli, and Alli is heartbroken.

Hurt by what Johnny did, Alli then snaps at Holly J for ruining her relationship and that she can’t be mean to her. Holly J says she doesn’t need a reason to be mean to Alli. 

Alli then goes on Facerange (which is the Degrassi version of Facebook) and starts a group called “I Hate Holly J”, which many people sign up for. Holly J sees the site, and confronts Alli, insulting her. Alli then sees threatening comments about Holly J from people who had joined her group. However, instead of noticing that her dislike for Holly J has gone too far, she feels excited enough to write this post:

“Holly J is a dirty ginger virus infecting Degrassi. She needs to be eliminated. I’D LIKE TO STRANGLE HER WITH MY BARE HANDS”.

Then, the next day, Clare is stating that Alli’s actions are going way too far, but Alli disbelieves her. In the most famous scene of the episode, Bruce (aka Bruce the Moose), along with Derek Haig, takes what he views as an opportunity to lead the the other students in chanting “I Hate Holly J”. However, Clare is the only one that does not join in (as she is shown to be severely disappointed in Alli).

Angered and hurt, Holly J proceeds to storm out of the cafeteria after yelling “Like I care what you losers think!” She then decides to not return to school or her work at The Dot, out of her fearing the growing hatred towards her.

Alli then randomly gets called to the office by Mr. Simpson and her father, where they discuss that her actions were unethical. Even though she gets suspended from school, she still refuses to believe that her actions were wrong, and even states to her older brother Sav (who also knows that she should not have done what she did, even though he himself is implied to have something against Holly J) that “it was totally worth it.” Suddenly, he gets a call from their father, who says the Sinclairs called the police on her for the threats on the group. Alli still believes that Holly J is just trying to make her life miserable, even after the cops explain to her clearly that her actions were illegal (as well as mean), and that she now has a criminal record.

Anya and Alli go over to Holly J’s house and, after seeing what a depressed mess Holly J is, Alli has an epiphany and finally sees that what she did was wrong. Holly J reveals that she did not hate Alli, and adds that she is not returning to Degrassi, and that Alli got what she wanted.

A few days later, the group is deleted, and Alli apologizes to the school and Holly J about her actions. Plus, Anya reveals that she convinced Holly J to give Degrassi another chance. However, Derek shows up and shows Alli the rope (in reference to the comment “Want to strangle her? I’ll bring the rope” about Holly J), which embarrasses Holly J.

From my perspective, this episode is really good and inspiring, as well as very well-written, too. Plus, in the words of Steve Barkin (voiced by Patrick Warburton) in the Season 1 episode Downhill from the Disney Channel cartoon show Kim Possible, cyberbullying is “sick and wrong” (and I couldn’t agree more there).

If you won’t say something in person, why say it online? Cyberbullying must be stopped!


What do you think about this? I hope you agree that cyberbullying is bad, too.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

On the morning before his twelfth birthday, Alexander wakes up to find gum in his hair, and cuts it out with a pair of scissors. Then, he gets an email about Phillip Parker’s expensive birthday being on the same day as his. He tells his family that he couldn’t compete, but they don’t listen. On his way to school, a boy is seen photo-shopping Alexander’s face onto the bodies of women in photos, and then posting them online.

By the time he got to school, not only is he humiliated, but he learns that his best friend Paul is going to Phillip’s party. He tries to ask his school crush Becky Gibson, but she refuses as well. Afterwards, Alexander accidentally burns down the periodic table with her notebook and gets blamed for it. While waiting for a long time outside of school, Alexander is put in charge of Melvin, the class guinea pig.

Later that night, Alexander tries to talk to Anthony about his bad luck. While Alexander thinks that Anthony loved him as a brother, Anthony is actually talking to Celia on the phone. While Anthony is talking to Alexander, Celia, thinking that Anthony is trash-talking to her, then abruptly hangs up, and Alexander hears Anthony calling him an “idiot brother.” 

At midnight, Alexander makes himself a birthday sundae and tells Melvin he wishes that his family would see what it was like to have a “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.”

The next day, Alexander is the first one to wake up. While heading down the hallway, he sees Emily having a cold, and then wakes up his parents, who were oversleeping. As Alexander leaves the bathroom, Anthony comes in, and reacts in horror when he looks in the mirror and sees a zit on his forehead.

At school, Alexander hears from Paul that Phillip’s birthday party is cancelled, as Phillip has caught the chicken pox (which is shown in a picture that Paul got in a text from Phillip, which he shows Alexander on his phone). This implies that Alexander’s party was back on. (As Paul puts it: “His pox is your gain.”) Becky even mentions showing up. Alexander even hears that Becky’s brother Elliot Gibson, the boy who made the mean photoshops about him, had gotten suspended.

Throughout the day, while attempting to convince his family that their bad luck was his fault, Alexander learns that Trevor got green ink all over his face. Alexander and his family later see Anthony accidentally trashing their van, which resulted in failing his driving test. Emily gets drunk because of drinking too much cough medicine, and ruins the Peter Pan play as a result.

By the time the Coopers picked Celia up for the prom, Alexander and most of his family play music by using their fists and their mouths. At a Japanese restaurant, he sees his father catching food into his mouth eight times in a row, and then accidentally set his sleeves on fire (which he put out using water from a lobster tank). While Ben walked out, feeling disappointed (and trying to hide it), Alexander follows, along with the rest of the family. After realizing that they got to spend the worst day together, they begin kicking trash cans around.

After going home, they discover a vicious lizard in the living room. In the backyard, Alexander sees his parents had rented an Australian petting zoo for his birthday party. During the party, he learns that Paul and Becky have shown up. 

During the credits, they are seen pretending to surf.

Popularity and Unpopularity

You hear all those stories of cliques and the popular people. There’s a group of them in almost every school. And then, of course, there’s everyone else. Everyone else would usually fit into two basic categories: the ones who completely hate them, and the ones who would do absolutely anything to be a part of them. Luckily, that doesn’t happen all the time. When you are everyone else, there’s no median or go-between within the groups. When you happen to be a hater, you are disliked as well.

It’s seemingly simple, but it really isn’t. Also, the whole “You don’t like me? I don’t like you” concept makes for good drama. And when you’re a worshiper — well, you are hated too. There is something about the stalking and strange obsessions that turn the “in-crowd” to hatred.

Almost every teenager has been the victim and the predator — the one who taunts and the one who is humiliated. It seemingly can’t be helped. But those who are different, they must somehow have to be “punished” because that is supposedly the society of high school. And those who befriend the different (and are different themselves), are viewed as lower than the low in the eyes of judgmental teenagers.

And the social ladder is a frustrating thing. The popular students control the student body — or try to, at least, because some of the students believe they have had it with being mean to others. So, these students try being popular and nice simultaneously.

However, it’s not always like that. The ones below the popularity circle listen — listen and nothing else.

What do you think about popularity and being popular?