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Books

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Ponderings about Social Media

I have been drawn to re-reading some of the classics lately and one that I decided on was the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. And this time, I decided to go with the audiobook version of it read by Richard Armitage. For those of you unfamiliar with the novella, the story follows a lawyer by the name of Gabriel Utterson who comes to hear of a violent man Mr. Hyde committing a series of heinous crimes and is somehow under the protection of the highly respectable Dr. Jekyll. As the story unfolds, we…

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Reflections

Choosing the Perfect Plane Novel

I travel a lot. Generally speaking, I’m on a plane every month or so. Whether it be long haul or short haul flights, I spend a decent amount of time per year in the air. So for me, it is extremely important that this time is actually meaningful. Now, I will openly tell you, I am not the most fond of flying. In fact, that is a pretty big understatement. I hate it. The claustrophobic feeling of being stuck in a box for a number of hours without any fresh air, knowing that at any moment you could plummet to…

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Music

The Story of The Ballad of Cleopatra

As far as modes of storytelling go, music videos do not immediately come to mind. I know very few people who do not enjoy music, or find it an essential part of one’s life. Whether it is as a companion to a commute, or background to work or studying, or even as the conduit for relaxation, music has become the subtle soundtrack to our everyday lives. However, music videos are less considered. Music videos are an interesting form of art, specifically in the explicit storytelling theme they take on. Visual companions for songs, they have taken the track of short…

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Movies

Feminism in Mad Max

Hey guys! This week, I decided to post a shortened version of an essay on Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) I wrote for a film class. The course was focused on action films, and I chose to write about the surprisingly feminist tones that Mad Max: Fury Road employed, particularly embodied in the character Imperator Furiosa. These are some of the factors that made it such an incredible film in my opinion! Give it a read and let me know what you think!  Spoiler warning: there are some spoilers for the movie so if you haven’t seen it, read at your discretion! The film…

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Books

The Importance of Autobiographies

As a fiction lover, I rarely deviate from my preferences to consider non-fiction or creative non-fiction options, like autobiographies or biographies, even though they have had prominent places in literature. Some like, The Diary of Young Girl by Anne Frank and Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings have even been credited as the best autobiographies of all time. Similarly, the autobiographies of famous personalities, including political figures such as Malcom X, Nelson Mandela, Ghandi and more recently Barack Obama are seen as important insights into the political issues of our time. Other autobiographies, such as that of…

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Reflections

“Black Mirror”: U.K. vs U.S.

If any of you have watched the show Black Mirror, created by Charlie Brooker, you know it’s not a show to watch when you want something light-hearted. That’s not to say it’s not incredible: in fact, I find it to be one of the most pertinent and poignant television series of our time. The concept and structure is not entirely revolutionary; in fact, it is often described as a modern day twist on The Twilight Zone, utilizing both its anthology structure and suspenseful nature. Black Mirror maintains its consistency by having one key concept at its core: it looks at…

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