Friday, March 20, 2020

Green Mile essays

Green Mile essays The Green Mile is based on a 5 part series of the same name from author Stephen King. This is the second collaboration between Darabont and King, the first being the highly popular The Shawshank Redemption (1994). The Green Mile was nominated for 4 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Michael Clarke Duncan), Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound, but like the Shawshank Redemption before it, it failed to pick up anything. The Green Mile is an epic, running over three hours, and a powerfully-told story that lays bare the triumphs and tragedies of the human condition. And though the film's intensity occasionally falls from its wandering narrative, The Green Mile remains riveting nonetheless, touching on themes of redemption and justice, while illustrating how, for evil to sustain itself, that it only requires good men to do nothing. It spends the majority of the first hour introducing us to the characters and to who and what they are. The film opens in a nursing home, with a man called Paul Edgecomb, telling his story of his days as head guard at Coal Mountain Louisiana State Penitentiary during the Depression. The young Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) is a righteous man who treats the inmates with the utmost respect and dignity, and instills his sense of right-and-wrong into the men that work under him, including his best friend Brutus 'Brutal' Howell (David Morse), rookie Dean Stanton (Barry Pepper), and veteran Harry Terwilleger (Jeffrey DeMunn). Together, they are in charge of E-block (which is also referred to as 'the Green Mile' for its lime-colored floors), which houses the prison's death row inmates. We discover 4 new characters brought into the story who are a representation of good and evil: new guard Percy Whitmore, a sniveling, sadistic man who because of his connections cannot be touched; the new prison er John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), an imposing giant of a man, who we discover has been sentenced to...

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Christmas Wrasse Facts and Information

Christmas Wrasse Facts and Information Christmas wrasses were named for their green and red coloration. They are also called ladder wrasses, awela (Hawaiian), and green-barred wrasses.   Description of Christmas Wrasses Christmas wrasses can be up to about 11 inches in length.   Wrasses are a big-lipped, spindle-shaped fish that flap their pectoral fins up and down while swimming. They often fold their dorsal and anal fins close to their body, which increases their streamlined shape. Males and females exhibit sexual dimorphism in color, and may change color, and even sex, during their lives.   Males in their terminal color phase are brightly-colored while females are green with black lines. The most brilliantly-colored male Christmas wrasses have reddish-pink background coloration on their body with ladder-like stripes that are bright blue and green in color.  In its initial phase, a male has a diagonal dark red line below its eye. The head of the male is brown, orange or shaded with blue, while the head of females is spotted. Younger animals of both sexes are a more drab green and brown color. The Christmas wrasses ability to change colors and sex has caused confusion over the years over species identification. It also looks similar to another species in a similar habitat - the surge wrasse (Thalassoma purpureum), which is similar in color, although there is a v-shaped mark on their snout which is absent in the Christmas wrasse.   Christmas Wrasse Classification Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ChordataSubphylum: VertebrataClass: ActinopterygiiOrder: PerciformesFamily: LabridaeGenus: Thalassoma  Species: trilobatum Habitat and Distribution Christmas wrasses are found in tropical waters in the Indian and western Pacific Oceans. In U.S. waters, they may be seen off Hawaii. Christmas wrasses tend to frequent shallow waters and surf zones near reefs  and rocks. They may be found singly or in groups.   Christmas wrasses are most active during the day, and spend nights resting in crevices or in the sand.   Christmas Wrasse   Feeding and Diet Christmas wrasses feed during the day, and prey upon crustaceans, brittle stars, mollusks, and sometimes small fish, using canine teeth in their upper and lower jaws. Wrasses crush their prey using pharyngeal bones that are located near their gills.   Christmas Wrasse Reproduction Reproduction occurs sexually, with spawning occurring during the day. Males become more intense in color during spawning time, and their fins may be blue or blackish-blue in color. The males display by swimming back and forth and waving their pectoral fins. Males may form a harem with several females. If the primary male in a group dies, a female may change sex to replace him.   Christmas Wrasse Conservation and Human Uses Christmas wrasses are listed as of least concern on the IUCN Red List. They are widespread throughout their range. They are fished in limited numbers, but more important to humans for their use in the aquarium trade. References and Further Information Bailly, N. 2014. Thalassoma trilobatum (Lacepà ¨de, 1801). In: Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. (2014) FishBase. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species, December 22, 2014.Bray, D. J. 2011. Ladder Wrasse, Thalassoma trilobatum. Fishes of Australia. Accessed December 23, 2014.Cabanban, A. Pollard, D. 2010. Thalassoma trilobatum. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. Accessed December 23, 2014.Hoover, J. P. 2003. Fish of the Month: Christmas Wrasse. hawaiisfishes.com, Accessed December 23, 2014.Randall, J.E., G.R. Allen and R.C. Steene, 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, Hawaii. 506 pp., via FishBase, December 22, 2014.Waikiki Aquarium. Christmas Wrasse. Accessed December 23, 2014.