Opening your mind

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February 13, 2017

By Tori St. Clair / LifeAtStart.com Reporter

When you expand your mind, you open yourself up to different wonders and different perspectives of the world. This not only can help with reducing stress, but you can also discover new and exciting thoughts and ideas you never knew existed. Whether you’re 17 or 62, you should want to preserve your mental acuity for the rest of your life. So here are a few simple strategies to keep your mind working as efficiently as possible and expand your point of view.

1. Listen to music: Music can inspire high brain function, causing you to think outside the box and more creatively.

2. Take a walk: Especially when you walk alone, you can think about all the things you don’t usually have time to ponder.

3. Read a book: No matter what type of book you choose, your mind has to process all the new information you’re thinking. When you open a book, you open your mind.

4. Take a different route to common places: The change of scenery will provide a mental and sensory stimulation because you’re more open and seeing things differently.

5. Write: Whether you write short stories or journal entries, writing will expand your thoughts, and can be a healing exercise in general.

6. Meditate: Meditation narrows our focus and awareness, and calms our mind, allowing us to be more open. It’s as simple as sitting for 10 minutes listening to soft music.

When I’m feeling stressed out I listen to music to relax and read a lot. I usually walk home from school so that gives me time to collect my thoughts if I have something on my mind. Most of these seem to work for me, so I hope at least one of the six work for you too.

Email: [email protected]

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Flatbush Zombies- Aries track deconstruction

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Mary Mandley

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November 30, 2016

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By Joseph Rowan / LifeAtStart.com Reporter

Compared to other Flatbush Zombies songs, Aries focuses on black empowerment and anti-establishment lyrics. The group made the song for the comic book company Marvel for their upcoming Black Panther project.

In the first verse of Aries, the lyrics focus on politics and the mind. They rap “It’s like we stuck in a prison, suffering from lack of wisdom, suffering from lack of determination.” They feel like they’re trapped in a metaphorical prison and that society has a very narrow way of thinking. Then they address the divide between races in America with the line “Aided, but mostly separated by color deficiency.”

This line is very powerful because it says that African Americans can be aided with scholarships and with better opportunities, but despite this fact there is an obvious divide between colors in America.

The second verse of the song addresses the unfair treatment of African Americans in America. They state “Segregation, separation, take my people, chain my people, ship them out, build a nation.” This really shows the unfair treatment that “his people” have been through.

The third verse adds onto the first verse with the idea that the masses of people in America don’t recognize brutality and that people are in a mental prison, or as they state “Taught to follow the system that institution be prison.”

Finally, the outro of the song uses repetition of the line “Break the chain, break the chain” which is telling the people to break the chain of corruption in our current time.

This is my opinion on what the song may mean, if you have a different opinion you can feel free to contact me at my email [email protected].

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Mario Kart review

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Mary Mandley

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February 7, 2017

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By Dom / LifeAtStart.com Reporter

Mario Kart is a very popular Nintendo game that was first released with no high aim, other than some freedom and leeway to put something out, almost as a test. Upon being released many enjoyed it for its diversity and unique feeling, and it has quickly grown to be one of the best fun family games to play.

Mario Kart eventually made numerous add-ons. They made many different yet similar games to keep the unique style they once had. Each game got more and more popular due to the differences in courses and different racers you got to play as (depending on the Nintendo characters themselves).

This isn’t where they stop either, Nintendo also hit the ground with Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. This allowed Nintendo and Sega to collaborate together and make an Olympic themed game. This also included famous characters from both gaming companies. Nintendo will always be a family style game industry thanks to their creativity and diversity. It’s very difficult to keep the player(s) interested while still matching the same themes for each game. Nintendo does this very well throughout their career and are still keeping that mentality today.

If you have any questions or have a video game or company you’d like me to review email me at [email protected]

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‘Manchester by the Sea’

By

Mary Mandley

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February 7, 2017

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By Andrew Russell / LifeAtStart.com Reporter

Manchester by the Sea is one of the movies from 2016 that I knew I had to see.

I’ve seen no trailers or promotional material for the film at all, and the only way I know about it is because of YouTubers I watch recommending it. However, in the very few instances of me talking to someone who’s seen it after I found out about it, or getting an opinion or two off of YouTube, the one thing that is maintained by everyone is that it’s depressing.

Manchester by the Sea is supposed to be the most soul crushing movie of last year. It’s supposed to make me hate myself and despise life. I was guaranteed by multiple individuals that I would cry during the film, and that it’s apparently something of a modern tragedy.

So, all that being said, Manchester by the Sea is one of the funniest movies I’ve seen from last year. It’s two main characters, Lee and Patrick, are hilariously human. The dialogue they share together is the best of the film, and their personalities clash in ways that’s believable and relatable.

Now, while generally speaking, calling what’s supposedly a hard hitting drama that displays the struggles of human life funny and enjoyable to watch is considered negative. In Manchester by the Sea, though, the drama is still starkly present. I wouldn’t call this a comedy at all, but for some reason the movie formulated into something beautifully human and genuine in its portrayal of its characters. I think that the comedy, all of which comes from the simplistic reactions of the characters to certain things that are dark, depressing, and for some of them involved is life changing, functions as a kind of catharsis to said tragedy.

I think that the chief tragedy that is shown in the film is the core of the main character Lee, and that the more recent tragedy that he currently finds himself in works as the plot. So, when you have a movie whose foundation is built on death and misery, any time there’s comedy it’ll seem like much more than perhaps is there. I think this also works vice versa with the comedy being the foundation of certain dialogues but the drama being the real takeaway.

After explaining that, I think it’s kind of a shame that Manchester by the Sea is only being described as literally the most depressing thing anyone’s ever seen ever. I haven’t heard much about Casey Affleck, Ben Affleck’s younger brother you didn’t know was a good actor, who plays Lee Chandler and who gives the best performance I’ve seen of 2016. Patrick Chandler, who’s played by Lucas Hedges, also gives a great a performance and is the majority of what I meant by funnily real and human portrayals.

Going off topic for a moment, Hedges plays the kid in Moonrise Kingdom who gets stabbed by lefty scissors, and the girl who stabbed him with the scissors is the same actress whom Hedges has sex with in Manchester by the Sea. That’s… Poetic justice? I don’t know, but it’s definitely something. I just thought it was weird.

Maybe the drama is truly the most impactful thing in the movie and I found comedy simply because of the circumstances I found myself in while watching it. There was a lady in front of me who would audibly “oo” and “aw” at every dramatic moment, breaking the swell of emotions I was feeling. I’m kind of disappointed I didn’t cry, and I completely blame her for it. I think I fell victim to expectation as well, which isn’t usually something that happens for a movie you’ve never even seen a trailer for.

I give Manchester by the Sea a “hey, that was a pretty good one” on a scale of “don’t watch this movie” to “man, I sure wish I could watch that movie for the first time again.”