March | 2016 | flivster

Ham4Ham

Posted on March 24, 2016 by flivster

Have you ever heard of Hamilton The American Musical? It’s the hardest Broadway musical to get tickets to, the most revolutionary (I’ll explain that part later! 😛 ) musical of all time, and has the best songs ever!

Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote and stars in this musical about our youngest founding father. It is also about the American Revolution (see, revolutionary) from Alexander Hamilton’s point of view. Hamilton is not just any musical, it has a hip-hop, rap, pop, and Broadway styled soundtrack.

I was lucky enough to see the show on Broadway and am completely obsessed with Hamilton. Once you listen to the soundtrack, you will be too! The wonderful and incredibly talented cast makes videos called Ham4Ham that are hilarious. Some of the videos feature an actor(s) in the show who sing someone else’s songs or does their impression. They are really fun to watch. If you scroll down to the bottom of this review, I have included my favorite Ham4Ham video.

I love that the cast cares about the show so much, and that they find time to make these videos. It demonstrates their passion for the musical and that they are real people like you and me.

The Ham4Ham videos get a five star rating.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Posted on March 24, 2016 by flivster

Since My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 came out today, I decided to write a review about the original film. My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the highest grossing Rom-Com of all time, is about a woman trying to get married to a non-Greek man and how her huge Greek family intervenes.

Nina Vardalos is the writer and actress who plays Toula in this classic film. The movie is hilarious. It is full of annoying family members, Windex, and caricatures of Greek guys. What more could you ask for? XD

This movie is hysterical! It is packed with things that you didn’t see coming, stereotypical gigantic Greek families, and much more. I would recommend this book to anyone in fifth grade and up (with the exception of one scene where I closed my eyes).

My Big Fat Greek Wedding gets a five star rating.

Slide the Shakes

Posted on March 18, 2016 by flivster

Top: Chocolate Milkshake; Middle: Bowl of Ice Cream; Bottom: Chocolate Avocado Twist

WARNING: HIGHLY ADDICTIVE!!! Slide the Shakes is a game where you avoid different obstacles to slide the milkshake into the green zone. The game also gives you recipes so that you can make the interesting beverages that you play with. Some of the these include Cherry Toppers, Jam Donut Shakes, and Bowls of Ice Cream. You may think that Slide the Shakes is easy in the beginning, but other times you may want to throw your phone down in rage!

Not only are there delicious drinks fun to make and slide, but the way that they draw the backgrounds and shakes and pair the colors is beautiful. If you look at the Chocolate Avocado Shake, the background, I think, is stunning. Some of the backdrops are animated and others are not. I do find that whenever I switch over to another app, it loses my progress on the level, which I find very annoying. Slide the Shakes gets a rating of four stars.

Gravity Falls

Posted on March 13, 2016 by flivster

Gravity Falls was a Disney cartoon about the Pines twins who are sent to live with their Grunkle Stan for the summer in the mysterious town of Gravity Falls. They uncover the secrets of the town while making great friends and powerful enemies. The show also had lots of very funny jokes and references. The creator, Alex Hirsch, hid codes throughout the series for fans to find. There were Gravity Falls theories everywhere! The last amazing episode was in February, and some of the theories proved to be true.

I love this series for its humor, characters, and plot. There were very funny jokes and, yes, funny products in the show, such as Chipackers, The Chip Flavored Crackers. All the characters had their own personality from Soos to Wendy to Toby Determined. There were many plot twists and codes to help predict the plot twists throughout the series. Alex Hirsch and his crew thought it out very carefully, and if you look it up, they have many funny stories to tell. I give Gravity Falls a five star rating. I have nothing bad to say.

How to Survive Middle School

Posted on March 10, 2016 by flivster

How to Survive Middle School is a hilarious story about a short Jewish boy’s (whose idol is Jon Stewart) struggle through middle school and dealing with new friends, old friends, girls, hamsters, and becoming internet famous. This book will make you laugh out loud and cry into your pillow all at the same time. Donna Gephart’s other book, As if Being 12 3/4 Isn’t Enough, My Mother Is Running For President, was good, but this is great!

I’m just going to say a plethora of things I like about the book, because I haven’t a clue where to start. This is a very funny book, and there are many things we can all relate to in here. The book pulls you in. I finished the book in one night. It was sooooo worth it! And once I finished it, I wanted to start read it again. This book gets a five star rating.

Friends

Posted on March 6, 2016 by flivster

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That is Phoebe Buffay from the TV show Friends. She has to be one of the dumbest characters. Friends is a 90’s sit-com about six friends and their crazy lives. I would personally rate this TV show PG-13, although it is actually rated TV-14. I absolutely loved this 10 season show. A bit long but you miss it once you are done. I would recommend this to anyone over 13 years of age. I give this a five star rating!

You Wouldn’t Want To Be In A Medieval Dungeon!

Posted on March 5, 2016 by flivster

This book gives you the ~~pros and~~ cons of being in a medieval dungeon. Fiona Macdonald and David Antram team up to write the You Wouldn’t Want To Be… Series, and this time, they’re taking us to the end of the fifteenth century where your local castle is looking for a jailer. You, as the jailer, must deal with criminals, the innocent, and people with mental illnesses. For every two pages, there are Handy Hints for you to follow to get out of whatever situation you’re in. The book also tells you about the jailer’s wages, how they handle prisoners, diseases, torture devices, and more! Yes-I did just put an exclamation mark at the end of that sentence. Some other You Wouldn’t Want To Be Books are You Wouldn’t Want To Be An Egyptian Mummy, You Wouldn’t Want to be Married to Henry VIII, You Wouldn’t Want To Be On The Titanic, and You Wouldn’t Want To Be An American Colonist. There are about 50 titles in the series.

I am a total history geek, so I love this book. I think it is so awful how they can torture people like that, and it makes me sick to understand that some of what Fiona MacDonald described in the book is still going on today. I love this series because it gives you the real scoop, and with funny but subtle jokes, children will want to read them. I personally think that they are interesting. On the other hand, parents don’t. There is this one page titled Rats, Lice, and Fleas that makes my father feel ill. You Wouldn’t Want To Be in A Medieval Dungeon receives three and a half stars.

Chrome Dinosaur Game

Posted on March 3, 2016 by flivster

Yasss Chrome!!! You finally have a purpose!!!!!!! If you are offline and on Google Chrome, a dinosaur and a message saying that you are not connected will pop up. If you hit the space bar, the game will commence. You must hit the up and down arrow keys to duck flying pterodactyls and to jump over prickly cacti.

Chrome, I now love this game for two reasons. One is that it is so fun! Two is that this is actually pretty smart. If you are offline and there is no Wifi, then you gave the person something to do. Well played Google Chrome, well played. The game gets four and a half stars.

Girl Meets World

Posted on March 1, 2016 by flivster

Girl Meets World is the second generation of Boy Meets World, where Riley and her friends Maya, Farkle, and Lucas face the challenges of middle school while having Riley’s dad as their teacher. Riley’s screen mother and father started in the past Disney show, Boy Meets World.

Ever since Disney Channel started adding morals to each episode, I have stopped watching them. The morals make it too sappy, and they usually overreact. All Girl Meets World really is are morals. And are we really supposed to believe that the lessons Mr. Matthews is teaching always correspond to the life lesson they just happen to learn in that episode? It is annoying! Honestly, I do not like Girl Meets World at all. So I will give it one star. Fix your shows, Disney Channel. Fix your shows.