My review of pirates 4 read it and weep and share it!

Here we are. My 100th post. I’ve decided that I’m going to write down 100 favourite memories starting from my early childhood and ending with my recent excursions. Enjoy. 

100.

When I was a kid my parents told my Aunt to stop buying me toys cause I had to many, so one day my Aunt came up with the ingenious idea that she could buy me a toy but instead of me taking it home she’d keep it at her house.

 99.

One of the first times I can remember staying up till mid-night on new years eve watching Godzilla 1985

98.

Visiting Lake Tahoe in Nevada and walking to California, because it was across the street from the hotel.

97.

Sneaking to watch Power Rangers because I wasn’t allowed to watch it for the longest time, cause it was evil!

96.

Buying my Super Nintindo with Mario Bros that had all the Super Mario games on it. 

95.

Waking up on Saturday morning to watch epic cartoons like: Spider-man, X-Men, Transformers, Pokemon, Digimon, Beast Wars, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Punky Brewster and loads others on Fox 59 Kids Club!

94.

Playing hide and go seek at night in my neighbourhood with some friends. 

93. 

Being 4 or 5 and meeting Raphael, the Ninja Turtle, at Wall-Mart

92.

Visiting Washington DC and filming most of the city with the family camcorder in Negative-Art 

91.

Playing in the back yard on my giant swing-set/commanders tower and lighting fireworks off to make it look like guns were fired. 

90. 

Decorating for Christmas, and putting action figures in the Nativity Scene. 

89.

My sister, Aunt, and I talking my parents into taking in a stray cat, who then got pregnant and had 5 kittens, and then talking my parents into letting my sister and I each keep one.

88.

Waiting to watch Toy Story in the cinema because the workers opened the cinema late. 

87.

Sneaking and watching bits of Jurassic Park at Sam Clubs while my parents shopped.

86.

The time I looked outside the window during a scary storm and realised I didn’t need to be afraid anymore. 

85.

Spending all day Thanksgiving day at my grandparents house with my relatives and driving the golf cart with my cousins. 

84.

Going down to Murphy’s Ford on the Golf Cart, seeing a Turtle and when my Aunt picked it up it tried to bite her so she threw it and it landed upside down in the water and floated away…hope it survived!

83. 

Going into Toys R’ Us and being overwhelmed with all the awesomeness going on in that place- then on the way home seeing a satellite fall to earth.

82.

Watching the meteor shower in my back yard

81. 

Pretending to spy on people with my best friend at Church, and then creating a spyclub!

80.

Riding my Bike with my friends all over town and to the park.

79.

Finding a secret hideout in my dad’s store where me and my friends would hang out.

78.

Going exploring in my great grandparents house and always finding amazing stuff that I got to take home.  

77.

Feeling special cause I had an ‘all access pass’ for working at Praise Gathering at the Indianapolis Convention Centre 

76.

Watching Mission Impossible the movie and being stunned when Jim Phelps was alive THE WHOLE TIME!

75.

Setting up the train that circled around the Christmas Tree and watching is go round and round for ages!

74.

Watching Christmas classics like: Rudolf, The Grinch who Stole Christmas, A Christmas Story, Frosty the Snow Man, and the Little Drummer Boy

73.

Wishing I was out trick or treating but instead suffering while there was a prayer meeting in the living room!

72.

Eating peanut brittle as a kid during xmas time and thinking, “this year, i’m sure it will taste good!”

71.

That first crush that breaks your heart, that years later you are glad for cause their life looks naff.

70.

Touching the original 1960’s bat-mobile 

69.

Touching the bed that Abraham Lincoln died in…’no touching’ signs meant nothing to me.

68.

Going to see the Newsboys and pleading to have them turn it down, which in hindsight is actually pretty funny.

67.

Hassling any and every sales person who rang the house.

66.

Riding my bike to the gerocery store on Saturday morning to get a Hostess fruit pie, and then hanging in the back room and talking to Gean that back door lady.

65.

Going to Florida and visiting NASA. 

64.

Being flabbergasted when I found out that in Apollo 13 that when Jim says, “Houston we have a problem” that Houston wasn’t a person, but a place!

63.

Sneaking and reading my sister’s diary and being disappointed when there was nothing good in it.

62.

Going and seeing Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World in theatres and being exciting that it was storming when we came out of the theatre.

61.

Being outside during a storm and seeing half a tree fall down and scrape the side of my house as well as blocked the drive way.

60.

Staying the night at a friends house and sneaking out at 12a.m. to go ride bikes around town, but then racing home when we saw a police car. 

59.

Making short films with my action figure and cats, which looking back was probably pretty torturous for the animals. 

58.

Hiding behind the couch while my sister had guitar lessons from Vic Cook, the crazy man who lived in the woods and powered his house with car batteries!

57.

Getting stitches for the first time and feeling pretty darn tough, except that I cut myself washing dishes.

56.

Watching the BBC Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and loving all 195 minuets of it! 

55. 

Thinking that the Y2K scare was a load of crap and that the computers weren’t going to turn on us nor was Jesus going to come back. 

54.

Learning to run the soundboard and set up stage equipment so that I didn’t have to be board at church.

53.

Buying my first piano and taking lessons from Vic Cook, the crazy guy who lived in the woods and powered his house with car batteries. 

52. 

Getting my first Stereo and spending hours and hours listening to music as loud as I could. 

51.

Going to Festival Con Dios and seeing Audio Adrenaline live!

50.

Going to see Skillet and The Benjamin Gate on the Alien Youth Tour in 2001!

49.

Watching the first ever episode of SMALLVILLE the night it first aired and loving it!

48.

Seeing the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and wishing it wasn’t over, then immediately going out and buying to the books to read before the next film came out.

47.

Being dead excited to get Audio Adrenaline’s LIFT album for my birthday.

46.

Assembling my first band, “Stereo Overdrive” and learning loads of songs, but not having a singer for any of them.

45.

Getting my drivers license and my first car, a 1995 lumina aka Dyno-mite. 

44.

Being able to single handedly keep control of my car when it blew a tire while I was talking on my cell phone

43.

Taking a mission trip to El Salvador and staying at a facility that was inside of a dormant volcano.

42.

Taking a mission trip to L.A. California and hanging out on Sunset Blvd, Santa Monica Pier, and going to Universal Studios. As well as recording my first ever song there. 

41.

Buying a my Fender Jazz Bass, which was named Layla, and loving it to death. 

40.

Going to Alive festival in 2004 and being able to go back stage and meet and hang out with Audio Adrenaline. 

39.

Working with some cool people, who became great friends, to put together a rock show at Pendleton First called Rocktober. 

38.

Spending most evenings from 2005-2007 with my good friends playing music in a small hot room/garage. 

37.

Going to see Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest at 11pm and falling asleep do to bored of the film and company. 

36.

Quitting my first job at Mcdonald’s by simply walking in, leaving my Uniform and someone asking me, “When did you quit?” and i replied, “Just now.” 

35.

Playing a battle of the bands w/ Kids in the Way.

34.

When my band, Forty Days Till Dawn Scraped the punk/emo sound to go hardcore/heavy metal! 

33. 

Spending lots of time in 2006-2007 hanging out at my friend Kimm’s house and in ‘the lot’

32.

Going on lots of piraty adventure with my good friend Carly. 

31.

When I took two road trips in one year to visit my friend Kimm in Nashville, NT and seeing the road that had an obnoxious amount of arrow signs indicating the only way you could go because the road only went in that direction. 

30.

Getting that girls number when my ‘playa’ friend didn’t think I would. 

29.

Getting my job at the Christian Book Store and making some really good friends there. 

28.

Going and seeing Switchfoot, Jars of Clay, and Third Day at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre with my friend Duane. 

27.

Sorting out my visa application to come to England with Rebecca Kineman. 

26.

Thinking that it was pretty cool that my University Campus looked like Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters! 

25.

Spending my first Summer in England working for a church in the midlands, traveling to Cardiff, London, and Reading as well as playing music, organising events, and discussing peoples life issues. Probably one of the best summers since moving to the UK. 

24.

Playing pranks at University to try and push people to the limits, and succeeding many many times!

23.

Going on a trip with my Uni to Glasglow. Getting to someone random persons house at night and waking up in the morning to realise I was in the middle of now where.

22.

Playing piano for the church in Manchester that I attended for a short time. 

21. 

Getting my lipped pierced, 1. because I felt like it. 2 to impress a girl. Both worked out in the end. 

20.

My first Christmas/New Years back in the States and hanging out at my friends house and having an X-Men Movie marathon. 

19.

Seeing Family Force 5 at their first ever UK concert and getting a free poster because I was an American studying Theology…about the only time this degree has paid off too! 

18.

Getting a midi-keyboard and recording song on my MacBook Pro 

17.

Being introduced to Doctor Who in April 2010 and watching it with my friends every saturday.

16.

Spending the summer of 2010 with my girlfriend and her family, going to Thormby Beach, Beeston Castle, and Soccer Aid.

15.

Finding an underground passage in my Uni and following it to sneak inside the main building at night.

14.

 Being in London for the Public Enemies film premiere and seeing Johnny Depp. 

13.

Visiting the Captain America film set in Manchester’s Northern Quarter and seeing them set a car on fire. As well as seeing where a portion of Sherlock Holmes was filmed. 

12.

Going and seeing Underoath twice, for free, in Manchester. 

11.

Going on a 10 mile ramble to Edale on an empty stomach and with no water, primarily walking up high rocky bits with snow/rain/ice blowing in my face.

10.

Taking a two day trip to London and seeing Churchill’s War Rooms, Westminster, Tower Bridge. Going to the Doctor Who Experience, the Imperial War Museum, hanging out in Covert Gardens and Leicester Square. As well as seeing Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abby, and Big Ben.

09.

Going to Windermere in the Lack District for a two day camping trip. Hiking up a small hill, taking a nice boat ride around the lack and exploring the village. 

08.

Spending an entire day watching all three Jurassic Park films with Emily and chilling 

07.

Traveling back to Indiana for in 2010 with Emily to see friends and family and go to Chicago for a day. 

06.

Collaborating with my friend to make a comic book about Emily’s family and their granddad’s obsession/passion with food and eggs!

05.

Blowing off Uni work to spend the day with Emily exploring different parts of Manchester like secret park and squirrel park in Didsbury. 

04.

Using my Sonic screwdriver to write hidden messages in my dorm room with Ashleigh.

03.

Meeting John Romita Jr. and having him sign one of my comics that he drew.

02.

Putting someone’s room key in jello then having a lecturer present it to them in front of the entire class on a glass plate. 

01.

Getting a free large mountain dew at Penra Bread in Indiana simply because my girlfriend is English and has a cool accent and also because I can’t get mountain dew regularly in the UK!

Hope you enjoyed my 100th post! These are just a few of my good memories. These are literally the first 100 memories that came to mind as I wrote things down, I just thought I’d be fun to do something different for my 100th post and this was a lot of fun.  :) 

The fourth instalment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is hands down the dullest of the films. The main plot for the last two films dealt with the fading out of Piracy, and this film shows that Pirates of the Caribbean is over. 

One of the biggest flaws with this film is the lack of familiarity. Apart from Jack, Gibbs, and Barbossa there is no returning cast members, not even the famous Black Pearl, which was such a prized treasure of the first three films. 

Jack is running around england, Barbossa is working for the Royal Crown, and Angelica (Cruz) is recruiting under Jack’s name. In a story that feels very forced, Jack is tricked to aid Angelica, Blackbeard’s Daughter, into looking for the fountain of youth on board the famous Queen Anne’s Revenge, Blackbeard’s ship. Jack is nothing more than a witty crew member with no real goal in the entire film. It’s almost like a reality T.V. show followed Jack around and this is what we see…a whole lot of nothing. 

With three groups, Blackbeard’s crew, Barbossa’s crew, and the hardly mentioned Spanish crew all searching for the Fountain, the reasons become rather cliched. Blackbeard is running from a prophesy that the ‘one legged man will kill him’ (ironic that Barbossa happens to have that wooden leg, so no mystery there), Barbossa wants revenge on Blackbeard for kidnapping the Black Pearl and trapping it in a glass bottle (because Blackbeard is not a pirate but a magician), and the Spanish are nothing but holy rollers who see the Fountain as an evil river of life.

The new characters were incredibly underdeveloped; Angelica, Blackbeard, the Minister, and the mermaid all felt forced upon the audience as if we were suppose to enjoy them, but realistically they were just annoying. Angelica is mad at Jack for taking her virginity (wasn’t pirates suppose to be geared for Children?) Blackbeard hides in his cabin for most of the film (wasn’t he the scariest pirates of all time?) the Minister falls in love with the mermaid just because he sees her naked (again, Disney, Pirates, Children?) and the Mermaid needs to shed one tear (there were enough tears of pain from the audience to solve that problem). 

By the end when Barbossa has his revenge and Blackbeard is dying, naturally Angelica is facing death too while Jack is frantically trying to complete the fountain of youth ritual. Next the typical one glass is poison, one glass is the antidote comes into play. Blackbeard selfishly drinks what he thinks is the Fountain of Youth, while Angelica drink the bad water, but of course we all know that the cups are switched and Blackbeard dies while Jack is not tempted once by the fountain of youth. 

As much time as Jack wasted in the first 3 films wanting to be the most memorable pirate and wanting to live forever he isn’t even fussed about the fountain being right in front of him. The ending was an anti-climax with no big reveal. The biggest cringing moment was at the end when Jack and Gibbs reunite, after Gibbs had stolen all the ships in a bottle from Blackbeard’s ship, now Barbossa’s. Then to end with a bang Jack turns to Gibbs and says, “A pirates life for me,” screen fades to black and I want to fall over dead. 

If I had the choice of watching pirates 4 again and gaining eternal life or simply dying, I think I’d choose death. Rob Marshal (director) clearly tired to cash in on the already established franchise by adding pointless underdeveloped characters and plot lines. It was a truly exhausting film that made you miss the silliness of Will and Elizabeth. Every word Jack uttered felt forced, as if someone was trying to be Jack but not doing it very well. 

On Stranger Tides is nothing but a cheap rip-off of a book fused with Disney characters and Blackbeard. By the end you feel like you’ve sat through twice the length of the previous films and are left flabbergasted at how awful it was. Hopefully this puts a long needed rest to the Pirates franchise as it clearly needs it. Mediocre scripts and acting is not enough to carry something that was so special in its debut in 2003.