South Park season 18 premier episode review "Go Fund Yourself" 

                                                  (Spoilers ahead)


South park is one of the longest running TV comedies of all time, and somehow manage to stay sharp, funny, and controversial with each passing year. The most remarkable thing about creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker is their ability to make episodes that stay so on top of the most current issues, down to making an episode about Obama being re-elected the day after he won. Still, after all these years, you would think they would lose the edge, or the passion to keep making fresh, hilarious episodes without ever seeming unoriginal.  Well, the season 18 premier, like every season before it, is here to put those fears to rest.


                                             "Washington Redskins; We do nothing"


The episode starts out with Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny trying to think of a name for their start-up company that does nothing so they can "Start up, Cash in, Sell out, and Bro down" using Kickstarter. They want to come up with a catchy name, since according to Stan that's all it takes to have a successful start-up company, then have people pledge money so they can cash in, and not go to school anymore. Cartman comes up with the name "The Washington Redskins" due to the recent loss of the trademark, and in classic South Park style, Kyle and Cartman butt heads over it. This immediately made me partial to this episode, as seeing some classic elements mixed with current events is my favorite thing they do on this show. It makes the episode feel very with the times, which is good since South Park is mostly social satire, but it never stops feeling like an episode of South Park, which is just how I like it.




So naturally, the boys start to see money coming in from people who think its cool that they do nothing. The Washington redskins themselves show up, and the interaction with Cartman is a great moment as the owner of the team begs Cartman to stop using their name "out of decency". That goes about as you would expect. There are several social standpoints and mockeries scattered throughout the episode, making fun of press conferences, the NFL giving meaningless statements in defense of players, and a few throwaway jabs at ISIS. None of it takes itself to seriously though, it's all very silly, unlike harsher social views discussed like the finale of the previous season which ended on a very dark note. All the skits are very funny, playing off the boys personalities well, such as Kyle deciding to make his own company, and Stan giving a speech that brings them back together in classic fashion. This episode is mostly just Stan Kyle Cartman and Kenny, with a bit of Butters and Randy for brief interactions. As much as I love these characters, it is still nice to just get an episode with just the 4 kids.

Eventually it all wraps up with a pretty humorous ending, as things come crashing down on the company after a clever joke about cowboys slaughtering Indians turns the people against the Washington Redskins. Overall, this episode made for a nice season opener, and while it was a non-stop laugh, it was definitely very entertaining. More clever than funny at most times, but that's something I always appreciate in a comedy. It's always nice to see, but never surprising, that Matt and Trey haven't lost their touch, and I can't wait to see what the rest of the season has to offer.

I'm really not much of a picture taker, so I wont be using any pictures I have personally taken. I have tried to think back to all the cool pictures I have seen floating around and find the ones I found the most interesting.

 This is Strengite, I don't think there is much point in discussing the properties of this mineral, and I'm not a super earthy guy generally. However I love this picture because it looks like it was chipped right off the back of a dragon, or some sort of valuable ancient treasure. It looks like something right out of mythology, and it is the coolest mineral I have ever seen. There is unfortunately not a tremendous amount to be said about this, but I picked this specific picture of Strengite because it usually appears in light purple. Whether because of strange lighting or unique conditions of formation, this picture shows Strengite in a beautiful warm red, and it looks awesome.

This is a cool picture of a parrot in a tropical forest. I've always found birds interesting, and I find colorful birds especially cool looking. It amazes me that these birds have adapted these really bright vibrant colors as an evolutionary defense to hide from predators. The truly special thing about parrots, however, is the ability to speak without vocal cords by conditioning their trachea just so. If that wasn't cool enough, this parrot is extra special, because its not a parrot at all! Look very closely and see if you can tell, but I bet you can't. I'll give you a hint though, start at the tail. Do think it looks a little odd? Then move up from there. If you can see what I see, then you shouldn't have to ask why I think this picture is cool. I really do love parrots though.

                                             "Dosed" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers

I got dosed by you and
Closer than most to you and
What am I supposed to do
Take it away I never had it anyway
Take it away and everything will be okay

In you a star is born and
You cut a perfect form and
Someone forever warm
Lay on lay on lay on lay on
Lay on lay on lay on lay on

Way upon the mountain where she died
All I ever wanted was your life
Deep inside the canyon I can hide
All I ever wanted was your life

Show love with no remorse and
Climb onto your seahorse and
This ride is right on course
This is the way I wanted it to be with you
This is the way I knew that it would be with you

Lay on lay on lay on lay on
Lay on lay on lay on lay on

Way upon the mountain where she died
All I ever wanted was your life
Deep inside the canyon I can hide
All I ever wanted was your life

I got dosed by you and
Closer than most to you and
What am I supposed to do
Take it away I never had it anyway
Take it away and everything will be okay

Way upon the mountain where she died
All I ever wanted was your life
Deep inside the canyon I can hide
All I ever wanted was your life

 \


"Dosed" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers is a Poetic Ballad written in stanzas of four and five lines alternating. I find the structure of this song very interesting because it has two sets stanzas that refrain, those being the chorus 3 times between stanzas, but also the very first stanza is repeated right before the final repetition of the chorus. The rhyming in this song is also very creative, having two differing rhyme schemes for the refrain and the rest of the song. The connecting stanzas have an AAABB rhyme scheme, while the refrain has an ABAB, where the line "All I ever wanted was your life" is repeated. This is coupled by repetition of the endings and beginnings of many lines, such as "This is the way I wanted it to be with you This is the way I knew that it would be with you" and "Take it away I never had it anyway Take it away and everything will be okay." Repetition, as you can see, is a very large factor in what I believe makes this song so emotional, and also what I think makes the lyrics so creative and stimulating. It drives home a lot of the complex emotional elements of the lyrics, and gives the listener a feeling of the loss of the speaker, along with the pain he feels. The best way to observe what I mean is to just look at the repeated portions of the lyrics alone, the best example being "Take it away, take it away" which is repeated four times.

 Another interesting thing to note about this song is the choice of diction, which is used very well to project feelings and images into the listeners mind. The most significant choices of words, in my opinion, is the very first line "I got dosed by you". Comparing a persons love to a drug is not uncommon, however I think the choice of words offers more significance here. When most people compare love to a drug they use words like "Addiction" or "Hooked", something that sounds like they can't get enough, something fun. When I hear Dosed, I think a lot more of the darker side of drug abuse, chiefly overdose. It also makes me think of being tainted, or poisoned, but I don't think the speaker felt this person was poisonous to him. What I believe is being referred to with the drug metaphor is being dosed, getting hooked on something, but then having it taken away, leaving you forever craving more. Another interesting choice of words offers us a comparison of feelings in the chorus. The first line refers to this girl dying "way upon the mountain" where as the speaker refers to himself as 'Deep inside the canyon". There is an interesting comparison here, which could have many interpretations. The mountain could refer to a far away place, or the end of a long journey. It could also simply refer to being high, alluding to a drug overdose. However I think that it refers to total isolation. On top of a mountain you are alone, nobody can reach you. This thought is backed up by the line "Closer then most to you" which would imply this girl was no easy to get close to. On the other hand, you have the next part of the chorus referring to the speaker being alone in a canyon. This is fairly self explanatory, the girl has died, either metaphorically or literally, and now he is alone. The reason it is a little more interesting is the comparison of the mountain and the canyon, one representing the highest point on earth, closer to the heavens, while the other could be thought of as the lowest point, perhaps a metaphor for her being in a better place, and him being in a state of depression.

I have tried to view this song in a more positive light for the sake of examining all the angles. My main reason for arguing the point that this song may not explicitly be negative, however, is not in the actual lyrics, but the way Anthony Kiedis preforms them. It doesn't really fall in line with this assignment, but anyone who has never heard this song before should absolutely do themselves the favor. reading the lyrics as poetry shows you the beautiful mind of the writer, but the real tone of this song comes from listening. It is mournful, it is regretful, but there is also something else. if I had to put it to words, I would call it peaceful relief. This song honestly sounds like the last words of a man who is about to take his own life, but is not sad to do it, just sad about what he had to live through first. Now, he can return to the girl who's life was all he ever wanted.


Side note
Sorry if this is structured slightly differently than the outline stated, but a lot of the points I wanted to make went together unconventionally in my head so paragraph 2 and 3 kinda spliced. By The Way click that for the song.

Hello, and welcome to my blog! My name is Alex Coady, I am a 19 year man starting my first year of university after taking a year off to work. Most of my friends were a year younger than me so I decided waiting a year just made sense for me. I don't usually like to discuss myself, but since that is the point of the first assignment I'll have to suck it up. I am a huge TV show junkie, and I love to binge watch anything I can get into. One of my favorite activities include discussing show theories, predictions, and opinions with friends. My favorite shows are Adventure Time, Breaking Bad, Avatar: The Legend of Korra/The Last Airbender and South Park. I also love all kinds of competitive games, anything versus other people. I never seem to finish single player games anymore (except Pokemon). I love meeting new people, which is often contradictory to the vibe I give off since I don't really talk a tremendous amount until I get to know somebody. I can be judgmental at times, but I do try to be friendly. If I am annoyed by something you would probably never know it. I'm also a huge Red Hot Chili Peppers fan, along with being a big fan of classic rock. I'm usually not a big fan of current music, but now and then a good song makes it on the radio. I don't really know what I'm hoping to get out of my MUN experience just yet, I just want to find some courses I can enjoy and go from there. I'm looking forward to hopefully getting to meet some new people, and maybe this will be an easy way to do it. I appreciate the time anybody spent reading this, so thank you.

P.S my sister is also in this class, Emma Coady. I'm not entirely sure if she would want everybody to know that, but there it is. Sorry!