Southern California Student put to death by Sand Pit

          When going to the beach with friends and family, you never think that you could die from suffocating in a sand pit. Usually, you're more worried of shark attacks and staying clear of the water if the waves appear too big for you. On Wednesday August 22, a 19 year old Korean exchange student died while being suffocated in a sand pit.
         Him and his friends were at the beach having a good time and they decided to dig a 6 foot deep sand pit, they didn't stop to think that anyone could get hurt. As he laid down in the pit, the sand fell and it all collapsed on him. His friends tried to help him and the beach rescue team came and they spent 15 minutes digging out the sand. They performed CPR on him, but that didn't save him, they were too late.
       It's sad that something like that occurred at such a happy and relaxing place to be. It just shows that anything can happen and you should always be cautious and on your guard. If you and your friends are doing something that you aren't very sure about, don't do it. It's better to be safe than sorry, cause you might get yourself into a life or death situation.

Zombie Apocalypse actually real?

            A lot of Zombie stories have been popping up in the news recently. It all started when a man in Miami ate another man's face and he was still alive while this was happening. The man was immediately taken to the emergency room and is in critical period. Then there was a mother in Texas who ate her baby's brain and three of his toes. A college student in Maryland killed another college student and ate his heart and brain. In New Jersey, a man stabbed himself 50 times and threw his intestines at the police.
          These incidents are all due to the cause of a drug called bath salts and other synthetic drugs. Legislative is working on making these illegal so there won't be anymore zombie incidents. All of these occurences are really horrifying and just disgustingly gruesome.

           I've been one to not believe in the paranormal, but with all of these new zombie attacks, it just makes me stop and think. Maybe there actually will be a Zombie apocalypse with all these cannibalistic actions going on across the country. There was even one in Montreal so it has reached Canada as well. I might as well start watching Doomsday Preppers to start preparing myself for the future Zombie Apocalypse.

A Runner's high

        I recently read an article online that talked about how runners or aerobically fit people experience a "high". In the article it discussed how anthropologist David Raichlen believes humans were "wired to run".
       "Wired to run, meaning that our brains are probably, have been sort of rewired from an evolutionary sense to encourage these running and high aerobic-activity behaviors," Raichlen said. Several anthropologists believe the same as Raichlen and that humans learned to run long distances from chasing their prey down.

        Raichlen decided to test his theory and conducted an experiment using dogs and ferrets. The dogs experienced the high and the ferrets did not. This concluded that this level of exercise was encouraged by natural selection and is in our evolutionary roots. The high runner's or dogs get from this level of exercise is a body produced drug named cannabinoids which are the same chemicals in marijuana.

        I completely believe Raichlen's theory because I'm a rower and it is an intense aerobic sport and to condition we spend a lot of time running long distances. If i go three days without exercise, I find myself freaking out and feeling lazy and lethargic. I call these my exercise withdrawls and I just "have" to run or some form aerobics or I will not be a happy person. Finishing a long intense row or run, has the best feeling ever. Sure your legs are on fire with pain, but the accomplishment and every breath you've taken you know you succeeded. What can beat that feeling?

I'm pretty sure my body has produced that drug as well as in any other rowers on my team. We're addicted to rowing and the high we get from it.

Miley Cryus's new movie "LOL"

         Recently Lionsgate films have been basking in their glory with the production of the Hunger Games. They have another movie coming out on May 4th staring Miley Cryus and Demi Moore. There hasn't been much publicity on the movie because they weren't sure if it was going to be all that good. With the Hunger Games being a success they decided to only show it in a limited amount of theaters and just go straight to dvd.
          Miley Cyrus is most popular for her disney channel role as Hannah Montana. Transitioning to more serious roles like in The Last Song has not been the easiest for her. I personally think she did a great job in the Lost Song and is a great actress. The critics disagreed with me and think it wasn't that good of a movie. Now Miley has another chance to prove herself to everyone out there and I'm sure she can do a good job.

        Her new movie is about the teen culture and how texting and instant messaging has overtaken their lives. It just goes through a teen's life and the ups and downs they face. It may not win academy awards, but I'm sure it won't be a disappointment. She will also be staring in another movie So Undercover which is a comedy with actors Jeremy Piven and Joshua Bowman.

FSRA change of heart

          FSRA stands for the "Florida Scholastic Rowing Association" recently they have changed their rules for championships causing the teams to field only first varsity boats in order to race anything beneath them. This is unfair for teams that aren't able to field varsity boats. Boats that race at the varsity level have been in rowing for 5 or 6 years. Palmetto Crew has only been around for a little over a year and we aren't experienced enough to race at that level.
     Our coach decided that we won't be attending the West District Championships due to this new rule created by the FSRA. We will be attending the State Championships and racing way beyond our level at first varsity. We'll be training hard and putting long hours into performing our best at states.
      I feel like the FSRA didn't put in the new rowing programs into consideration when they made this new rule. It's unfair to our program because we don't get to race out our level and actually have a chance of winning. Instead we get to race at a level way beyond ours and don't have any chance at winning. We'll perform our best and hope for the best outcome in the end.

Spoiler Alert for the Hunger Games

          May the odds be ever in your favor. For months that's all our generation has been talking about and reading; the Hunger Games. The first book out of the trilogy is bound to be a major hit in theaters. It officially hits theaters today, March 23rd. There was a midnight showing that I and a few others attended.
        When I first heard that Lionsgate film production was producing and directing the movie, I was a little worried. They are most famous for the SAW movies, but that's about it. The other movies they produce aren't very good as the other production companies.
     I originally was planning on seeing it today, Friday the opening day, but then my best friend told me we were going at midnight and I was stoked. We arrived an hour early, bought drinks and popcorn, and headed to the theater to watch the film. As the lights dimmed and the theater grew silent, I knew this was the moment all of America has been waiting for, the 74th annual Hunger Games.
       The beginning of the movie was a little different then the book and not as I would have liked it to be, but every production company changes some stuff around. I would have liked to see Katniss receive her symbolic MockingJay pin from her friend the governors' daughter instead of the old lady. That was the only major scene they really cut out and as the movie progressed it got better.
        The costumes and make up done by the designers and artists was phenomenal. I could definitely see   the movie being nominated for an Academy Award or some award for their designs. The props and settings was outstanding as well. A lot of how I pictured it was like it was in the movie.  The casting was also really good. The choice of actors for the characters was right on for the movie.

     Overall, the movie was a lot better than I thought it was going to be and I was glad. I love the books and am a huge fan of the Hunger Games. I'm really excited to see how they next two movies are going to come out to be.

Run for your lives 5k

       Be on the look out for zombies coming to a town near you. A 5k race that is an obstacle course and where you run from zombies. If you're a huge zombie fan or just love to run this is the race for you.
         You can register at runforyourlives.com and can either register as a runner or a zombie. Registering as a Zombie is much cheaper than the actual runner by the way. If you're a runner you are given a belt just like in flag football and the zombies have to snatch all the flags off of your belt. If they snatch all of your flags then you become infected and when you finish the race you become a zombie. There are also obstacles you have to make your way through, although they aren't mandatory if you don't go through one then you aren't able to win in your age group.

        The race sounds like it would be a lot of fun and worthwhile. There is a 5k race in Orlando November 17, 2012. Make sure to register early before June 6, if you want to be a runner so you only pay $67 after that date the price increases by 10 dollars. So if you're a zombie fan or just looking for something fun to do over the weekend, try out this race.