Blog #9 (Black Swan Green) Spooks prompt

Prompt:Jason successfully completes the test to be admitted into the ultra-popular, ultra-secret society of the Spooks; but his friend Dean Moran doesn't have such luck. Why does go back to help Dean? Was it the right choice? How does this decision develop Jason's character?


So this is pretty simple, one thing about these prompts though. It is holding me back, can't really say much you know? I can't be myself and it limits my IMAGINATION which is kind of offending... not really. Jason goes back when the spook members insult the poor sap and a sudden fact jolted through his mind. The text states, "A fact sunk a hook into me. If I'd fallen through Mr. Blakes greenhouse and not Moran, Moran wouldn't be abandoning me to that psycho.He just wouldn't" and then Jason proceeds to say, " 'Ploot?' Pluto Noak and the spooks turned around 'Isn't any one going to...' Saying this was miles more difficult than running across people's back gardens. '... Make sure Moran's'- Hangman jammed 'not hurt'- 'I mean, what if he's bust a leg or...cut to bits on glass?'". This all took some incredible guts from Jason to say this to the spook members as they didn't care for Moran and he felt the need to help Moran. From what i can gather with my INFINITE KNOWLEDGE  is that Jason feels that he should go check on Dean Moran even if it means being soft in front of the spooks since Dean would do the same for Jason, which kind of shows that they are pretty good friends. I say this because Jason stopped thinking about his popularity, but rather his friend Moran.(I would have ditched my bud, can always get more from popularity.... I'm horrible). I can't really decide if it is a good or bad choice, but in terms of how it's going to look for Jason... I would say a bad choice (He did good by going to Moran) if he wanted to be popular. Jason blew his chance of spooks and popularity since the spooks members have a "Just don't care" attitude of things, meaning that Jason isn't Spooks material in terms of mentality. This decision develops JAson as a Kind character. He could have left Moran there with Mr. Blake (A.k.a child beater of Black Swan Green), but he decides to go see if he's alright. JAson is kind hearted, so even if he wants to be a spooks he just can't since he is too soft and emotional. This is also supported when he is trying to complete is challenge, but stops to think of other things and one including Squelch when he was mentioned (Also trying to be quiet when moving because there was a pregnant lady near him) where he should have focused on his task. Like i said, Jason is not SPOOKS MATERIAL. Thoughts,Reactions+Sumarry comming soon.

Blog #8 (Black Swan Green) Rocks thoughts and Reactions + Summary(ish)

This chapter revolves around Jason's household and a bit about the Falkland War. It starts with the sinking of the sheffield and later on talking about how Jason reacts to it along with his family. Jason notes down a lot that has happened in the war, but every time it is mentioned, he says that Tom Yew is most likely ok.Why does he care? Aside from this, Jason's parents get into a argument when Jasons mother mentions building a rockery and she fights pretty hard which goes to show how much she really wanted it as she usually as said by Jason is ok with being told no, but she argued over it this time. If my memory served correctly, then the father says that he's the "Bread winner" as he earns all the money and all the mother does is drain money for pointless things and cook.After this argument blows over, then Jason and Julia rate the argument. A three star from Julia and Four stars from Jason(or the other way around). Later on it was said that Tom Yew has died and he has written something in a letter to say. Then, the mother got the rockery that she wanted, a lot of rocks has been delivered and was dropped on the driveway of the house(the mother complained about it, Dad didn't mention it) which was later moved in the creation of the rockery. When the rockery was completed, koi fishes were placed in the water. The mother talks about how the Koi fishes will probably outlive the family since they represent a long life. I fell that this rockery is in some way a desperate attempt to try to keep the family together while the koi fishes represent the family. At the end the Koi fish was taken away from a bird and is most likely dead due to water being the only area a fish can survive. In some way i feel that this represents the family as it is under immense tensity,(like the cold war) and like how the birds took off with the fish, the family can easily fall apart from any given moment.

Blog #7 (Black Swan Green) Bridle Path Thoughts and reactions+summary

So much has happened but i feel that only two or three is actually important.Jason wakes up and quickly discovers that he is home alone due to his mother and sister going to London and his father being at a conference for the weekends. This left Jason alone to do whatever he wants in the house. He messes around and reads the note his mother left him, he has a key so he an go outside. He looks at birds flying from the distance in a V format. He arches to follow them and wonders what was stopping him.He decides to go out and sees the Bridle Path sign which leads to him ponding a thought about Bridle Path and remembers that Tom Yew along with Pete Redmarley  went up Bridle Path  only to find it being blocked by a new estate in Malvern Wells. Jason thinks that if he looks for a new mysterious path since he will be recognized for finding something that no one else could've found and feels that if this happens, he will be famous (or more respected). He decides follow the path and his first encounter is a pack of dobermans that bark fiercely at him. Their owner scolds him and tells him to leave. Jason does leave, but a couple second in the old man releases to Dobermans and tells them to chase after him by opening the gate that repelled the beast from pouncing on Jason. Jason makes a run for it but he falls and catches a glimpse of the leaping dogs, he screams like a little girl ( I would too, Heck i'd be begging for mercy) and scrunches up into a ball. After a while of anticipating the dogs arrival, he looks to check if they were running towards him and to his surprise he finds that they were gone. Jason says that the man hates him for not being born in the area and he couldn't argue with that ( There are many reason why this argument is complete $#!%). Jason makes it with a couple bruises, but other than that Jason was fine. This makes me think one thing, and that is where did the old man and the dogs go? But at the same time it doesn't matter since Jason is fine now. Jason walks into a field and when he is halfway in, he spotted three kids on a old railway embankment. He walked their way since they noticed him and if he changed his course, he would be chicken. Jason says that he was lucky he didn't change course since the three were Grant Burch, Philip Phelps(Grant's little servant ) and Ant Little. There was also Squelch and Dean Moran(A.K.A Moron). Apparently Grant was supposed to fight Ross Wilcox. Before this Jason is asked if he wanted to smoke and Jason felt the need to do so since the guys were older and it would hurt his reputations and when he successfully smokes the cigarette, he glanced Grants way to see if he was impressed. Grant doesn't notice and Ross shows up. After a INTENSE battle, Grant and ross tumbled over a edge and Grant busted his wrist leaving him vulnerable and losing. Grant says it's a draw but Ross thinks otherwise(I could've kicked their asses with one hand tied behind my back...with the help of a weapon) Grant decides to leave with his servant and Jason along with Dean were standing there until Wayne Nashend (He came with Ross) pointed them out. Dean dismissed it and says he was on his way to stay with his Gran, as for Jason who got asked the same question couldn't really change it up as Hangman tied his tongue so he couldn't stay anything to get out of the problem. Jason was desperate, but Dean saved him as he said that they were both going to his Gran. Jason and Moron then go off into Bridle Path together and Jason mentions the old man, Dean tells him that the guy's name was Kit Harris (also known as Badger)  and he is a teacher despite being a psychopath.Afterwards Jason tells him that he was actually going to look for the lost tunnel and surprisingly enough, Dean was too. Dean tells him a bit about three tunnels and where they lead to.Dean says that he got the information from the guy his father buys horse feces from for his garden. Dean then reveals a bit about his domestic life and it is revealed that his father gets drunk and does regrettable things and when he is back to normal, he says he will never touch the liquor again which isn't exactly true either since he has done it numerous times ( safe to say that the father doesn't learn his lesson)  When his father gets drunk, people say that is when he shows his true colors, which Dean doesn't want to believe. Jason falls asleep and when he wakes up, Dean was no where to be found. This pissed Jason and he is calls him a traitor, he also decides that he wouldn't talk or Dean if he finds him to leave him  for dead. He then proceeds on and meets Dawn Madden (The tomboy girl from chapter one) He learns that Dawn madden lives in a medium sized field and when he asks her questions he was wondering why he hasn't stammered yet (Wonders if Dawn Madden took away his Stammering for a moment) but he thought that his questions were more in general (Like simple questions).  Jason asked for her knife and by sheer luck the handle hit his rib instead of the blade. Jason complains and Dawn couldn't care any less. Jason sensed Dawn Madden's stepfather since Jason said that he "beamed hate rays" his way. She asked him if he was hungry and Jason says yes (Not directly but sort of ). when she gives him the food she wants him to eat it like a dog and when he eats the last part ( Just a cherry) Dawn gets pissed and Jason wonders if she means it or is just playing. She puts a arrow to his neck ( His adam's apple) and want him to pay for it. Jason said he could have swatted the arrow away, but he had a Boner...my only question is WHY?! The little guy from beneath his pants should learn how to read the mood. She tells him to leave by the count of twenty since he doesn't have anything to repay her or else she would tell her step-father that he groped her (Probably what he fantasies ). She then tell him if he isn't gone by the count of thirty she will tell her stepfather that he touched her up (Glad i don't know what that means). She even says that her step father keeps a shotgun above the kitchen dresser and he might mistaken Jason for a "wickle fwuffy wabbit". Jason then proceeds on and he says if Dawn fancies him since she wouldn't give her only Danish pastry to just any kid who happened along. He then says that he fancies her (so he does like her). Jason does know that there are major differences between them, including what type of classes they are in and where they live. He hasn't even kissed a girl before (FEELS!!!! #RELATABLE). Jason continues on and finds a big tree so climbs it and he carves something inside a heart onto the tree bark (D.T 4 DM which i'm guessing is Jason Taylor for Dawn Madden or something like that) Jason says that he will bring Dawn to the tree and says that if when he will first kiss her... and more. When he was about to go down, he overhears a man's voice and a woman's voice. He finds out that it is Tom Yew and Debbie Crombie, and he could have said hi and it would have been fine, however Jason likes being invisible so he hangs up a bit longer. He immediately noticed that they were going to do something, so he tried to come up with something to say without stammer-words in it, but before he could do that they already moved on to the next stage. Long story short, Jason saw something he cannot unsee and he will have to live with himself with that thing in mind...THAT burden which could've been avoided if he said hi and not played the invisible man. Jason had mixed feeling though as he did say he was nervy, sick, jealous, sluggy and many more thing, he even went on to say that he wasn't proud and not please which doesn't mean he doesn't ever want to do it himself. HE says that the noise they made weren't human. He then waits for them to leave ( they feel asleep. correct me if i'm wrong) so before he could do so, Tom Yew had a nightmare (maybe he has PTSD and had a sudden Panic Attack since he did serve in the army). Jason if then on his way (No explanation on how he left) and he comes across a dead body of a kid his age which turned out to be Jean.(For the sake of making this short I'll make it simpler. Any question you have will be answered in comments) Jean laughs for scarring Jason and Jason mentions him waking up to not find him. Jean and Jason talk about their experiences after Jean left (even including a part of the Tom Yew and Debbie Crombie ordeal) . They continue on  and at that point the path was narrowed to a single file and stumble across a pruney man they notice there was a wild bee hive above the man and they wonder if he's a bee keeper.  The man was described by Jason and they wonder if they can get past him. They hear a noise growing in volume so they make a run for it  and go into a missing slat under a fence and they find themselves near a empty mansion and they are parched. They see that there was a drink (Lemon and orange Squash) so they decided to go and get a drink off it and only were able to drink lemon due to the squash having ants drown in it. People began coming in and their escape route was closing up so when Jason whispered over to Dean, he quickly discovers him going across the missing slat from where they came from. When Jason has no way out he decides to take his situation to a different approach. When a nurse asked for Augustin Moans, Jason tells her if it was the old man and points to where they saw him. The nurse mistakes him for Augustin Moans and says the he left her with a child. She turned out to be another person who  borrowed a Nurse costume and when a real nurse came she tried to tell her that Jason isn't who she thought he was. After that the lady now revealed to be Rosemary opened her mouth wider than anything Jason would've imagined and began to wail louder than anything. Jason wonder's why she is she crying and if it was for Grant and his broken wrist, or Squelch for coming out too soon, or Deans father and his problem, or for Mr. Castle's wife and her huddled Nerves, or for that kid who was fed to Badgers dogs. One thing that i do think about why she is wailing is for her life. Maybe is probably saddened for everything that has happened to her when Augustin Moans left her and left her life in shambles. So from what i can gather from this chapter is that it tells the experiences of Jason when he is going along Bridle Path to find the missing tunnel or whatever it was.

Blog #6 (Black Swan Green)

Blog Prompt: How does Mitchell portray self-image and social acceptance through the interactions between Jason and Hugo 

Mitchell portrays self-image and social acceptance through the interactions between Jason and Hugo throughout the WHOLE chapter. I'll start with self-image. At the very beginning Jason says that he put away anything that made him look babyish in front of Hugo, this shows self-image due to Jason worrying about how he is presented to Hugo. He also tries to shut down the topic of him getting a award for making great poems, due to the fact that this will make him look like a loser. This isn't really an interaction but it makes a good point.  An interaction between Jason and Hugo that shows us (The readers) Self-image is when Hugo calls his brother Nigel a space cadet and then proposes a bet regarding a game of Darts. Jason thinks to himself wanting to decline and then thinks of Hugo regarding Jason as a "space cadet" to his friends and then says "okay". He is worried about how Hugo views him and wants to look cool, even if it's just a little.(Why can't this kid just be himself!)Another great part where Mitchell portrays self-image is when Hugo steals cigarettes and tells JAson if he wanted some. At first Hugo says it ok if he didn't want some, But when Jason says "Not today" Hugo tells him if he keeps this "Not today" attitude up, he'll end up like Uncle Brain or his father(Basically lame-o's) Jason thinks that if he smokes the cigarettes, then he will look cool again towards Hugo so he decided to do it.

Mitchell also portrays Social acceptance through the interactions between Jason and Hugo. It is kind of the same with my previous paragraph with the detail, explanation... not so much. Mitchell shows social acceptance when Jason is asked if he wanted to bet. HE could have said no until Hugo said if he was a coward,  this made Jason want to say yes due to wanting to be accepted by his relatives (He does say yes and he mainly wants Hugo to accept him). Another part is when Jason's mother mention Jason getting a award for his poems (Or something like that) and Jason tries to shake it off as a topic since it would hurt how people view him and he won't really be socially accepted by much (Most likely teased). The final part i can think of is when Hugo asked Jason to smoke and when Hugo mentions the "Not today" attitude and what it could do. JAson feels that his self-image shattered and he won't be socially accepted. This makes Jason inclined to smoking as it was the only way he could repair the two(He could have done something else though). Thus Mitchell portrays Self-image and social acceptance through the interactions between Jason and Hugo.

Blog # 5 (Black Swan Green) Relatives thoughts and ideas + summary

So This chapter was somewhat boring but others can see it another way. We(The readers) were introduced to five new characters. Jason's three cousins, Hugo, Nigel, and Alex who are all different in their own way. Hugo is characterized by Jason as a cool guy who's laid back and all chill and Jason aspires to be like him someday. Nigel is characterized as the kid who doesn't say much and sticks to his Rubik's cube that he play with. Alex was the smartest one as Uncle Brian(He's also new) brags about him getting A's and B's and even rewards him money for it,(I wish i were Alex. I'd be getting $100 or more :D) If my memory serves correctly, Alex received twenty of something currency of that place for every A he received and half of that for every B that he receives. He also mentions Uncle Brain and Aunt Alice. Throughout the whole chapter, Jason is like a servant to his relatives as his parent want them to be please or something. Julia didn't even help out when they came, she just shut her door close. When they were all eating Jason's mother mentions Jason getting a reward for his poems and Jason tries to avoid it since he wants to appear cool in front of hugo and not look like a loser. Julia saves Jason from his problem by changing the subject by insulting Alex (Something about him not being ale to understand high level poems). After the Dinner, Jason plays Darts with his two cousins Hugo and Nigel.When they finished with the DInner, Jason eavesdropped on a conversation between Aunt Alice and his mother. They mention the Mysterious phone calls and Jason's mother says that if it hadn't been for the incident with Jason father five and a half year ago or sometime around there (Literally what she says). Jason's mother also mentions that she can't just ask her husband about the problem since it was "like digging up a grave" . This rises suspicion for me, first off, What incident happened and how did that result in the "Phantom" phone calls occurring. Another thing is why does the mother not want to mention this to her husband, is she afraid of what he will respond with? After this Jason finds Hugo and Nigel playing darts and join them. Jason viewed this as an opportunity to study Hugo more intently without getting caught.(Studying in plain sight...Genius!) He proceeds to play darts and Hugo teases Nigel for not being able to throw the darts and says that people who can't throw straight are homosexuals. Nigel storms out with tears flooding his eyes after Hugo then insults him some more.They bet with a little game of darts and after Jason won and lost the second time, Aunt Alice comes in asking why Nigel was crying. Hugo plays it off acting like he didn't know since he just gave Nigel some "pointers". Hugo and JAson then go outside to buy some things, Hugo steals some cigarettes and pressured JAson to smoke, JAson ultimately fails and feels ashamed that he couldn't even smoke one cigarette when Hugo is trying to teach him. It seems that Jason just couldn't fit in with the crowd and it.

Blog #4 (Black Swan Green) Central idea

 Blog Prompt:How does David Mitchell develop a central idea throughout the chapter of "Hangman"? Think about Jason's feelings towards Hangman and why he feels that way.


The central idea that is being shown throughout Hangman is that Jason has a stammering problem that does not allow him to be himself. This is shown throughout the whole chapter and is referred to as "Hangman" since a game of Hangman is when Jason stammering problem began. Jason is somewhat fearful towards Hangman since he doesn't know when it will strike since it sometimes lies dormant and doesn't show itself. Jason has had this problem for basically five years and he still can't get the hang of his stammering problem, he does know certain things about his stammering problem and he calls it, "Hangman's Four Commandments". Jason himself even accepts that stammering prevents him from being normal as he says that Stammerers "can't win arguments" and another thing is that stammering prevents Jason from socializing without looking like a idiot. This is also shown since Jason has to read off a book that is sure to have many stammer-words and will have his stammering secret exposed. Since he has stammering problems, he will firstly be teased and made an outcast(Basically drop to peasant rank in social hierarchy) and secondly have his secret exposed(Being a stammerer).

Blog # 3 (Black Swan Green, Chapter 2)

This chapter says a lot of good o'l Jason and the problem that he faces internally. The chapter addresses Jason's personal life and some personal problems and how it all started. He by all means is a decent kid who hasn't really done much bad things( aside from breaking his fathers "golden rule") , he does however face a stammering problem for about five years. He hasn't fixed this problem and needed help. It all starts with Jason being driven to a clinic to check up on his stammering problem(it isn't specified that he has a stammering problem YET) and his mother brings up a topic if he has received any valentine cards. Jason says no, but he got one saying "Suck My D#*k" which he didn't feel needed mentioning. He proceeds to mention other students receiving four or seven valentine cards, and Nick Yew getting twenty(shocker...). Jason then proceeds to walk towards the clinic after his mother drops him off near it. Jason is recognized, so the receptionist tells Jason that he could have a seat and buzzes for Mrs. de Roo. Jason is thinking to himself and explains the difference between stammering and stuttering which he says are, "as different as diarrhea and constipation". Jason then proceeds to tell a story from his past about playing Hangman where his stammering came to play. He apparently raised his hand to say Nightale but couldn't manage to pronounce the word and ended up saying that he wasn't sure. He hated himself for not being able to say a simple word in his own language. After that his teacher phones him mother that he had a problem and later he was taken to see Mrs. de Roo, a speech therapist at Malvern Link Clinic(This was FIVE years ago). Jason cannot pronounce words that begin with N since it is a letter that he cannot say without stammering and hangman likes starting with the letter N. He also recalls other words that hangman usually begins with. Jason says that his biggest fear apart from Russia starting a nuclear war is Hangman starting to use the letter J more frequently since he won't even be able to say his own name without stammering. Jason says that tomorrow is when he will have to read from a book called "Plain Prayers for a Complicated World" and it is sure to have many stammer-words and he can't change them up since they are printed on the book. He is worried that he will stammer and after the first break his life won't be worth living due to his secret being exposed. Jason then goes on to tell a story about a kid who had massive pressure on him from his parents and at the  end, he snapped and ended up injuring his eyes(lets not get into that...). Jason says he'd rather kill Hangman than let it take him out tomorrow morning which implies that he doesn't want to go through what happened to him five years ago again and he will do whatever he can to avoid it. He then goes into Mrs. de Roo's office, but before that he looks at a girl the same age as Julia(his sister) and notices that she is on a wheelchair and one of her legs were missing  and thinks that she would love to have Jason's stammering if she could get her leg back. Jason is very self conscious about his stammering problem because he feels that after tomorrow morning people will look at life and say,"well, my life may be a swamp of $#!% but at least I'm not in Jason taylor's shoes. At least I can talk.I feel bad for this kid. he then talks about his speech therapist's office and a bit about her past and where she came from. I don't care much about that. He does open up to his speech therapist and tell her about his assembly that will take place tomorrow. They go over things and his speech therapist says that her goal is to make him look like he doesn't stammer but he still has his stammering problem if that makes sense. Jason got it... you should too(she wants to cover him secret up in a way).She wants him to find a way to make sure his stammering doesn't flare up. Jason is then eating dinner with his family and his father brings up something and Julia questions him. JAson says to himself that he can't even be part of arguments because the moment he stammers, he lost. He then goes to his room after he does the dishes to do some homework. He over hears his sister say to her dad that she would call a friend for homework(their phone was in a hallway which makes things awkward), where in reality she is calling her boyfriend( is later specified) and almost gets caught. Jason eavesdropped on the conversations and gets caught, his sister didn't get caught talking to her boyfriend by pretending to speak with her friend last second. Jason thinks of future events where stammering will ruin his career choices. He gets told by his sister who caught him that a little privacy wouldn't hurt and goes into his room and when he goes to hide something she says "so you agree" and i also learned when Jason is about to stammer he says that Hangman prevented him from saying this or that. He then wakes up the following morning very anxious and talks about how nervous he was and how slow time is going for him. Jason was waiting for the bus in the rain and he can't use umbrellas since they are "gay".When he gets on the bus he notices that the driver is Norman bates who is as tough as nails since he even forcefully kicked out Pluto Noak (some cool kid) and he didn't even care. when he gets to class he is excused from his teacher to do the reading since his speech therapist calling in that he would stammer and it wouldn't be any good for Jason. His stupid classmate asks if Jason would go up and read and all eyes went Jason's way. He manages to get away though and in math class when he is picked to answer eleven times nine, he couldn't say ninety-nine since it was a double-N word which was sure to make him stammer and he says i don't know. He says one hundred and one but his teacher ends the chapter by asking him questions.(Hang in there Jason my boy!) Like i said at the beginning, we learn a lot about Jason's character and his personal problem.

Blog # 2 (Black Swan Green)

My Blog Prompt:How do the events of the first chapter help to set up the novel for readers and create the mood? What themes begin to emerge in this first chapter? How does the author create foreshadowing?

 

The first chapter helps set up the novel and creates the mood by introducing the reader the characters, and showing two possible future problems. The mood was created with the very beginning where Jason's fathers rule was introduced which is that no one is allowed in the fathers office. Since there is always a reason behind something, this suspicious rule creates curiosity and suspense. Even more suspense is created when the phone rings off in Jason's father office. Who could it be? Why are they calling? None of this is answered when Jason decides to break the rule (tough guy :o) and is meet with silence and music from sesame street. This call ends when a baby begins to wail in the background. This itself could foreshadow that the Father could be cheating on his wife since a baby did wail at the background and at that moment the person hung up. Aside from that, this scene does create some sort of suspense mixed with curiosity since we don't know who that was. I fell that one theme that emerged from this chapter is that you can't always trust anyone. In page 17, the top part, Jason got fooled by squelch when we wanted to go and pet the cat. It turned out to be a dead cat when Squelch threw the poor thing Jason's way and the cats body was "cold" and "stiff as a pack of meat from the fridge". Not to mention that Jason is near the bottom of this weird social class created by the boys which involves nicknames. This is the only theme that i can think of when reading the first chapter...Maybe i'm just dumb. This chapter also shows foreshadowing. One is when Jason answers the call at the very beginning and finds himself talking to basically no one and is being heard from a unknown caller. so, like i wrote earlier the call ends when a baby begins to wail in the background. This could be something that the father is trying to hide. This is backed up when Jason has supper and his sister named Julia mentions answering a call with no answers and Jason wanted to ask her is she got the same response as he did. Then the fathers shuts them up with by saying, " Okay, you two, enough with the private-eye biz" which seems highly suspicious on his side. Why does he shut them up? what is he hiding.... So this could be foreshadowing a future problem between the father cheating on his wife since a baby was in the call, or maybe there is stalker that the father doesn't want to talk about. I also feel that there could be a possible problem in the future where Jason's so called friends find out he is Eliot Bolivar and could possibly get disowned or teased or worse, beat up. 

Black Swan Green first chapters and two smaller stories :0 ( Blog # 1)

Black Swan Green

So i read The first chapter called January Man and it revolves around a kid named Jason Taylor and it takes place in england(kinda forgot) starts with some rule made from the Main characters father. The rule is that no one can go to the fathers office. This isn't a big deal, But Jason breaks this rule to stop a noise coming from the office and it turns out to be just a weird noise, a baby crying and something about sesame street(Maybe the father is cheating on his wife 0_0). He dismisses this and continue on to talk about his fathers office and what will await those if they go there. This part is very boring cause not many people want to know about some lame office. Jason hangs with his friend Dean Moran( nicknamed "Moran") and proceeds to hang out at a frozen lake. He finds other kids there and they all play british bull dog. They then stop and doing some random things( I forgot .-.) Jason returns home but before that he explores the woods and couldn't hold in his pee. He wrecks havoc on a frozen wall of a house(rumored to have a old lady live there) and even "signs his autograph" on it until a old lady confronts him. He stops and then goes home after some dialogue.His dad asked about who went into his office and Jason comes clean. he talks with his father and then decides to pay the frozen lake a visit. He finds Squelch( a friend i guess) who tricks with Jason since he managed to fool Jason that he had a weak cat where in reality it was dead. It was dead because Jason wanted to pet him and Squelch throws the cat his way and Jason confirms that the body was stiff and the cat was dead.This is pretty messed up to do to someone and it was kind of funny and a bit morbid. He finds a random guy at the lake and asks some questions(some were answered). Jason hurts his leg and the old lady from before finds him. Jason asks for help and the lady put him to sleep. He wakes up finding the lady dying and is wondering if he should help or not. This was all nice(except the boring intro) and two parts were funny.

 The End of a Beautiful Friendship

This is about the Brattle Theater on Harvard Square removing its Humphrey Bogart series with the 1942 classic Casablanca and the people didn't approve since they began to "chant the lines"(not sure what lines they chanted) and this became a cult object for one or two generations of cinephiles,particularly young men,for the next few decades. This itself is not as expected since Casablanca didn't really rank among the best of the best. This goes to show how much people enjoy Casablanca and how much they would do to try and get it back.

So Long, Holden

This is about a teacher who is surprised about the reactions of his students when he introduces them to The Cacher in the Rye since most students enjoy it and his new students found the book boring and unappealing. He doesn't understand why the students don't enjoy it and wonders why and thinks that it isn't "cool" enough for them and only "cool teachers like him are into the book nowadays since the popularity of the book has been declining. He is relieved near the end since a similar book was made named Black Swan Green.