Karamina's Blog

I forgot how dope the music in this was. I listened to the soundtrack and dubstep/EDM the entire time I was doodling this out. Still kinda salty that "You Gotta Show Me" and "Pressure" are not available on Spotify.

Anywho, enough yapping, here is Riku. He was my favorite character from Prince of Stride as a teenager and still is now. What can I say, it's all over when it comes to dorky, golden-retrieveresque cartoon characters, especially ones hiding sadness and insecurity behind a loud personality.

So, one of the questions I've seen posed here and there in the Rescue Bots fandom is the birth order of the Burns Kids. I mean obviously Kade and Cody are the oldest and youngest, respectively (duh). However, there is some gray area as to who fills in 2 and 3 out of the four.

I have always considered myself to be in the Kade, Dani, Graham, Cody camp. I'm not sure why I thought this to be honest, it was kind of instinctive. I guess it was Dani's hard-headed personality that often puts her at odds with Kade and Graham having a more passive, calm, and mediator type personality that just tries to stay out of arguments.

But my recent re-watching has created cause for questioning. This shift in perspective can be traced back to the following episodes: "You've Been Squilshed", "Hotshots", "Switcheroo", and "The Island of Misfit Tech".

In the late season 1 episode "You've Been Squilshed", we find out that Graham has been accepted into a prestigous PhD program, and one of the big questions is whether or not he'll accept, thus leaving the rescue team. If Graham graduated high school at 18, completed a 4 year Bachelor's in Engineering and a 2-year Master's program, that would put him approximately at the age of 24 years. This is of course assuming that he never skipped a grade or took any gap years.

It is likely that he is older than that also, if Kade's "Maybe you should go back to school" comment holds any clues. By this I mean, it is likely that Graham took a break from school post-Master's. After all, the average PhD student is in their late 20s to early 30s (academiainsider.com).

As for Dani, in the early season 1 episode "Hotshots", Dani complains that "Kade and Graham don't think [she] can do anything" and thinks that they are way overprotective of her. How much of this is just Dani being defensive about her brothers getting annoyed by her behavior in this episode is up for debate, but in high tension moments, long held resentment starts to emerge. Could it be that her brothers hold this disposition towards her due to her being their youngest sibling before Cody arrived? This would make sense as Cody acts kind of like a foil to Dani in this episode, as perhaps two youngest siblings?

We reach another bit of info about Dani in Season 3. In the episode, "Switchero", Blades and Dani switch bodies, and there is a scene where Blades, in Dani's body, is exploring Dani's bedroom.

In this scene, Blades picks up a book and exclaims "How do you learn all this?!". The fact that learning is mentioned implies that this book is a study book, not a novel or other fictional story. Which, unless this is a book leftover from High School or Flight School, implies that Dani is a student or is at least studying for something. This doesn't say much about her age, but could be indicative that she is earlier on in her flight career and is subsequently younger.

Finally, going back to season 2 for "The Island of Misfit Tech", although this is primarily a Cody episode, as Kade explains the Burns' soccer "legacy", the order he explains each older Burns' kids contribution to the legacy is in the order of Kade, Graham and then Dani. I cannot think of another example off the top of my head where the Burns' kid were introduced or otherwise listed in any type of order that might clue us into where Graham and Dani line up in birth order, but with the tidbits from the other episodes, I am starting to lean more on the side of the Burns kids age order more likely being Kade, Graham, Dani, and finally Cody.

H e ' s a p h a n t o m

Question of the Day: What color do y'all think the Burns' eyes are?

I wanted to share some words with you that were on my mind this week. So, my pastor mentioned something that got me thinking.

Isn't it odd that Black Friday, the holiday where people become rabid over sales and get into fistfights over TVs in Walmart, follows immediately after Thanksgiving, the holiday where we are to spend time with our family and practice gratitude for the things and people in our lives? That Thanksgiving is every year overshadowed by the Christmas season, which advertisers and stores distort into a money-grabbing scheme?

I just want everyone to remember as we leave Thanksgiving behind that true happiness comes from a heart of gratitude. Because when we are constantly thinking about the things that we don't have or constantly comparing ourselves to others, both in our personal lives and on the internet, we are undermining our own joy.

It's hard, and I struggle with it too sometimes, because gratitude is not what most people gravitate towards, and social media is certainly exacerbating the issue. There's nothing wrong with striving for better and to be better, but when our whole life becomes about more and more, we forget that we already have great things. I for one have been trying to implement a routine of starting each day by making a mental list of some of the things I am grateful for, and I have noticed that I don't want for as much as I used to.

As someone who posts a good portion of content for obscure media, I wanted to share a movie that I watched often as a child and remember fondly, and give a review for it from my perspective as an adult viewer.

Plot:

I will try to be as vague as possible to avoid spoilers, but this section provides context for the review.

Our story begins with us meeting our protagonist Kerrie, as her father presents about nature and the nearby Wolf Mountain National Park at a school assembly. After a confrontation between her and another boy, Karrie and the "bully" Casey, as well as another boy that got drug into the confrontation, John, are driven home from an after-school meeting with the principal. On the way home, two escaped convicts jack the car without realizing that the kids were in the backseat.

One of the convicts convinces the other to let the kids go inside Wolf Mountain rather than killing them on the spot, but the kids sabotage the road for when the convicts will have to come back around the loop to exit the park.

Thus ensues a cat and mouse chase as the criminals pursue the kids through the wilderness with intent to kill them, while the cops and park rangers desperately try to track down and rescue the kids and bring the convicts back into custody. Throughout all this, Kerrie develops a relationship with the Native American spirit protecting the national park, who provides aid to the kids through instructions and warnings that only she can hear.

Discussion:

So this is a movie that I love to hate.

The dialogue is kind of bad at certain portions of the movie, and I spent half of the movie shouting at the screen for the convicts to do as Duane (one of the escaped convicts) keeps saying: forget hunting down and killing the kids and just hike to the road and escape to Mexico FOR GOODNESS SAKE, and the other half shouting at the kids on screen to quit engaging (even indirectly) the antagonists and just find a way down the mountain to safety. (What's that saying ... "A problem the protagonist can walk away from is a problem the reader can walk away from as well"?)

The movie is also a product of it's time, as a fair warning. Casey gets picked on a lot, not only by other characters, but also his role in the plot for being overweight like every five minutes (and I wouldn't even say that he's overweight????).

In addition, I think it would've been really cool if the movie actually made reference to real native american mythos and legends (I couldn't find anything about a Simcoe anywhere online, and I don't know enough about native culture to speak much on this aspect of the movie and the movie doesn't specify what part of America it takes place in (though it might be somewhere in or near California due to a UCLA jersey?) so with my limited knowledge about the topic I couldn't tell what tribe they are referencing if any, even if I were to try to analyze Simcoe's dress. I'd be curious if someone more knowledgeable than me could speak on it.).

The plot is also kind of a kid's movie cliche in being a "kid(s) get kidnapped and stumble into active crime and through shenanagins manage to save the day". What sets this particular film apart is the stakes and how the characters manage them. Not only is there the 'Man vs Man' element with the criminals actively threatening and trying to kill the protagonists, but also a huge element of "Man vs Nature". Due to the kids being kidnapped straight from school and then dumped in the middle of the woods, they have no hiking/survival gear and no food and are forced to try to survive for a couple of days there, which is why they make the stupid decision partway through the movie to steal the criminals' bag which they know has food in it.

The protagonists also fit the plot. Kerrie, of course being the daughter of a park ranger, supplies the group with information about navigating and using the environment to their advantage, including picking out edible plants. John, the son of a police officer and a cub scout, thwarts the criminals by stealing the magazine from their gun and then later picking up the gun and turning the tides in the final scuffle, as well as aiding with setting up traps and providing medical care. Casey definitely could have been better handled, but he did get himself and the other kids out of the car after the main antagonist begins to talk of "punching their tickets".

Speaking of antagonists, while cliche, they do their job well. The main villian, Jocko Painter, is stereotypically hellbent on leaving no witnesses and not taking no for an answer. His partner, Duane Bixby, while on the bumbly side, juxtaposes him very well with a strong moral compass to have mercy on the unfortunate kids and to take the logical move of high-tailing it out of the country.

The humor is pretty hit or miss. A lot of the jokes are actually really funny ("What do you want me to do? Buy them some burgers and fries?!"), but some of the jokes are just repetitive, especially with the jokes about Casey being out of shape.

Finally, the spiritual stuff. Honestly, this movie could have done entirely without the pseudo-Native American subplot (which is unfortunately likely to be inaccurate to the culture of western tribes. Please, someone who is in the know, watch the movie and share your perspective, especially in what was bad representation, I would be ecstatic to hear it!), but I understand why it is there. The movie's theme is that nature is to be respected and that good will come to those who protect and live in harmony with it. However, they could have easily expressed this notion in a different way if they didn't want to take the time to do research on Native American myths and legends and then accurately portray them, but I digress.

Conclusion:

3/5

Despite it's glaring flaws, this is quite an enjoyable movie that despite being targeted for children can entertain adults as well through the dark subject matter. In fact, every few years or so I remember this movie's existence and I have to rewatch it. The full movie is available on YouTube if you are interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlVRK3kP6-Y.

They should totally make an updated version that pays tribute to established Native tribes and their legends, features better dialogue, and better characterizes the villians and Casey. They should emphasize the natural setting and how it can work both for and against the characters. In my opinion, a remake should also up the wilderness survival stakes, perhaps by adding in bad weather or utilizing John's broken wrist as a hinderance in maybe overcoming some physically demanding obstacle or task that requires dexterity.

Edit: Additional Notes regarding the movie that I learned of since I wrote this review

Simcoe is played by Don Shanks, who is of Cherokee and Illini descent

The sticker on the school car door reads "Piute School Disctrict", which is located in central Utah. The Paiute tribe (comprised of the Cedar, Indian Peaks, Kanosh, Koosharem, and Shivwits bands) has reservation land located in Southwestern Utah, although historically the tribe was nomadic. You can learn more about the tribe by visiting their website: https://pitu.gov/

The Paiute creation story tells of the God Esa who can take on the form of a wolf or a man, much like Simcoe in the movie; you can learn more about Esa here: https://www.native-languages.org/esa.htm

The location is further confirmed by Duane, when he states that they are using the national park to connect US I-89 to US I-15, which wouldn't you know it, cross paths in Central Utah.

Not sure if this one's been done before, but I am curious. Post additional options in the comments.