Blog: Farewell from the Culture Consultant

Well, readers, this is quite bittersweet. Of the two of you who actually care to read this blog and listen to me blabber on about pop culture, I assume you’ve noticed by now that Friday is always the day of the week I post. Unfortunately, this is my last Friday of my senior year, as I will be done with school next Wednesday. Hooray for graduation, but boo in regards to saying goodbye to The Culture Consultant, my voice and alter ego (though not as fabulous of an alter ego as Beyoncé’s “Sasha Fierce,” but still, it counts). Seeing as I will be gone in Columbia, Mo. next year living the college life at the University of Missouri and won’t be here to keep you up to date on cultural happenings, I thought a good way to tie up this blog would be to share some notable things set to happen later this year that I otherwise would have probably covered.

Google Glass: Google is set to release a very futuristic pair of cyber-glasses next year, but expect for the chatter surrounding it to become huge this year.

New music: Throughout the year, expect fresh albums from Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Azealia Banks, Lady Gaga and Selena Gomez.

“Boy Meets World” spinoff: Keep your eyes open for the premiere of “Girl Meets World,” the show based off the classic series “Boy Meets World.” The show is set to center on Riley Matthews (Rowan Blanchard), the daughter of Cory (Ben Savage) and Topanga (Danielle Fishel) from the original show. Fishel and Savage are both set to return to play the grown-up versions of their famous characters.

Updated Apple technology: The speculation never ceases when it comes to what Apple has up their sleeve next. Be on the lookout for a possible iPad 5, iPad Mini 2 and iPhone 6.

No more of the “Twilight” franchise: OK, sorry, this wasn’t really necessary to include, but I thought I’d take this opportunity to publicly rejoice. Let me just say that a couple of weeks ago I tried watching “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2″ and it was humiliatingly awful. Thank the Lord above that the “Twilight” franchise is over with (knock on wood).

The birth of baby Kimye: The famous duo Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are set to have their baby this summer, who is only a fetus and already more famous and successful than you will ever be. Perhaps if it’s a boy they’ll name it after me.

The long awaited film adaptation of the second “The Hunger Games” novel: “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” is set to be released this November. Just as the first movie’s tagline says, “The world will be watching.”

Stephen King novel offers unexpected vampire story

Inspired by Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Stephen King’s second novel ‘Salem’s Lot easily stands up with the best of his fiction. While it is slightly dated due to its publication in 1975, the king of horror definitely knew his craft even back in the early days of his career.

The novel is set in the fictional town of Jerusalem’s Lot, Maine (hence the book’s title) and probes at the horrors of one of the most common monsters of the genre: vampires. This originally made me question the novel’s originality, but King did an excellent job of displaying the creatures’ terror that was later dulled down by Twilight author Stephenie Meyer.

The Lot, as the town is called by its inhabitants, is a backwoods small town until the arrival of a centuries-old vampire, Barlow, and his human servant, Straker. Together they work to feed and transform the people of the Lot into blood-lusting creatures, adding more and more servants to Barlow’s army. The only people in the town to discover and believe the unlikely plague is a group consisting of a has-been author, an aged English teacher, a small boy and a young doctor. Over the course of the novel, they work against Barlow’s seemingly unstoppable cunning and growing regime in an attempt to save the depleting Lot.

One of the things King has excelled at throughout his career is bringing dialogue to life, adding realism that often only seems available in real-life conversations. Along with this, King brought forth not only incredible fight scenes against the vampires but also the emotions people would experience living through such a traumatic experience. ‘Salem’s Lot displayed his understanding of human psychology and showed how his observances of human behaviors are unparalleled by most other authors.

The only thing I didn’t like about the book was its prologue, which was slightly confusing until I reached the epilogue and remained unanswered by the rest of the novel. But besides that, it is easy to see why King’s career was able to launch forward to its success today when his early works included publications like ­‘Salem’s Lot.

Preparing for the Games

Die-hard fans of The Hunger Games will soon be relieved of the ants in their pants. The world premiere of this long awaited film soars into theaters Friday, March 23. Originating as a bestselling novel by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games is quickly rising to the level of success that Harry Potter and Twilight have attained. The Hunger Games is about a futuristic society in which tributes must fight for their survival in the televised Hunger Games, where only one tribute can win. After hearing about the novel’s premise, I was so intrigued that I had to read it. Seeing as I had been so satisfied with the book, I didn’t doubt that other fans were as ecstatic as I was when plans for a movie adaptation were announced. If you’re like me, you most likely cannot contain your excitement. Here’s how any of you die-hard fans can prepare for the release:

1. Buy your midnight premiere tickets as soon as possible. It’s a huge letdown if all local theaters are sold out, but an even bigger letdown if everyone around you is talking about it the next day and you have to wait to see it. If the midnight premieres are all sold out, try to beat the crowd Friday after school at an early showing.

2. Read up on your knowledge. If your memory of the story’s elements are foggy, check out the CliffsNotes for it. It’ll probably make the movie much more enjoyable.

3. Make your own shirts or fan gear with a group of friends. I’m not certain this is the “cool” thing to do, but heck, it could be fun. Who knows what kinds of compliments you may get from other fans at the theater? Please, though, do not try recreating Katniss’ “The Girl on Fire” costume. That just sounds disastrous.

4. Watch the trailers again and read up on the actors’ bios. Nothing says “die-hard fan” like stalking the film’s stars and memorizing the previews.

For further Games coverage, be sure to read the Friday, April 6 issue of the JagWire. As Effie Trinket would say, “Happy Hunger Games.”

Twilight’s Breaking Dawn-Part One induces seizures

Despite earning $489 million since its release, Twilight’s Breaking Dawn-Part One has created controversy over the graphic nature of its birth scene. The scene has caused several moviegoers to have seizures and prompted the Epilepsy Foundation of America to give a warning through its website.

Sophomore Amanda Curtright has seen the movie six times.

“[The scene was] graphic, but it is not gory,” Curtright said. “There were a lot of flashing lights.”

According to a statement posted by the EFA’s website, these “flashing lights” can trigger seizures known as photosensitive epilepsy.

“If you have photosensitive seizures, please take this information into consideration when deciding whether to see this movie,” a statement posted on the EFA’s website said. “Around three percent of the nearly three million Americans with epilepsy have photosensitive epilepsy.”

In an interview given to ABC News Dr. Dan Lowenstein, director of the University of California San Francisco Epilepsy Center said that it is the frequency of the lights that causes the seizures.

“When the brain is functioning normally, there are neurons firing all over the place,” Lowenstein said. “During a seizure, there’s an abnormal synchronization that we don’t usually have.”

The problem, which starts in the visual part of the brain, can spread to other parts of the brain and that is when a seizure occurs. Similar light-induced seizures occurred in 1997 during an eposide of Pokémon , when over 700 people were hospitalized.

Curtright noticed the lights.

“I did notice how it was flashing, but it was not fast or anything,” Curtright said. “I did not see it have an affect on anyone, mostly people were screaming.”