The Final Meta

Wow.  Contradicting what Fish said in her meta post, this year has flown by.  It actually has been the fastest year so far in all of my school career.  And though I can't wait for summer, I'm sad that this class is coming to an end.  The people, teachers and students alike, have made this class so memorable.  I have met so many wonderful people with different thoughts, ideas, etc.  The class itself has been challenging but interesting and I have really enjoyed it.

Now let's get back to blogging.  I have really liked blogging.  Not gonna lie, I was skeptical at first, but I've come to really enjoy it.  It is a way for me to share my thoughts and opinions to a wider and different audience.  It is a way to have discussions at any time you want.  It's really open ended and freeing.

This semester I moved a little away from my "music theme".  I didn't choose to do this, it just kind of happened.  Instead of coming up with musical connections, I found myself analyzing different types of media like an AT&T ad, a car commercial and a piece someone entered on Gives Me Hope.  I've explored different ideas in my posts.

Please read: "The luxury car for people who can park themselves"

Thanks for a great year B'Oc 2010-2011!

Uniquely American

The other day I was looking through the new advertisements made by AT&T.  It is hands painted and positioned to represent different countries while holding an AT&T phone.

Check them out here.

 Each one represents a different country to show how AT&T covers the nation, not just the US.  There are so many of them, as you can see here, but none of them were for the United States.  But then I started to think about what the one for the US would even look like.  Unlike France that has a known image like the Eiffel Tower, we don't really have one defining structure.

Some ideas I thought of to represent America...

-The Statue of Liberty

-A baseball scene, as baseball is "America's Pastime"

-A bald eagle

-The White House

-The Capital Building

These were all I could think of for uniquely American symbols.  That is probably why AT&T didn't include America in the campaign.  Also, the audience is directed towards Americans and showing them the international side, so maybe some "American hands" were not needed to effectively draw consumers.

Memorial Day slips people's memory

Today is Memorial Day.  A day to honor those who have lost their lives serving our country.  A very "American" day so to speak.

But for a lot of people, today was a day off of work, school, typical activities.  I feel like many people treat it as a day to relax or run errands, etc.  It is supposed to be a day to commemorate, to honor, to remember.  We celebrate the Fourth of July decked in red, white and blue with fireworks soaring, yet Memorial Day seems to go unrecognized by many.

What does this say about our nation?  People always say the support the troops, but then why don't people take the time to honor the troops that have given their lives serving the nation?

"Happiness hit her like a train on a track"--Florence and the Machine

Today in class we were talking about goals we had.  As we discussed, we realized that most of our goals served a greater purpose, that purpose being our pursuit of happiness.  Whether the goal was to earn a PhD, to start a family, to climb Mount Everest, they all led towards this idea of being happy.  Tonight, I was reading some of the posts on Gives Me Hope, a website that compiles people's stories that are hopeful and touching, and came across a happiness related excerpt.

"I was reading about a little kid whose mom told him the key to life was happiness.  When he was in school the teacher asked them to write down what they wanted to be when they grew up.  He said happy.  They said he didn't understand the assignment.  He said they didn't understand life.  My generation GMH."  --An Entry from "Gives Me Hope"

For this kid, happiness was his goal.  Though we don't realize it, this is all of our goals.  If someone said they wanted to be an astronaut, it would be because they thought that it was interesting and essentially would bring them happiness.  If someone wanted to be a successful businessman so they could be rich, they would want to do this because they would think it would bring them some sort of happiness.

Personally, I think that everything we do in life is to bring us to this sense of "happiness" whether we realize it or not.  For example, doing homework.  Though homework does not, scratch that, CANNOT bring anyone happiness directly, completing it could bring some joy.  Maybe it will increase your grades and you will be rewarded.  Maybe you believe it will lead you on the right track to the career you choose.  Maybe it will make your parents happy, in turn making you happy.  Everything we do is essentially attempting to bring us more and more joy in life, whether it is long term, or short term.

This boy had it right when he said "they didn't understand life".  They didn't understand that his goal was the summation of everyone in the worlds goals.

"The luxury car for people who can park themselves"

This commercial is for the Audi A4 (not that I can tell you anything about cars).  In the commercial, the company makes fun of the self-parking Lexus when it says that the Audi A4 is "The luxury car for people who can park themselves."

This reminded me of something we have been discussing in class.  In class we are talking about class (hahah), as in social class.  One thing we talked about was how a lot of people say they are in the middle class when they are in fact upper class.  They do this as to not fulfill the snobby upper class stereotype.

In the commercial, the A4 is still described as "luxury" as to draw in consumers, but is trying to seem more average rather than over the top.  They describe the car differently to make it appeal to the people who are upper class, who say they are middle class.  Just as people try to seem modest, so does the Audi A4.

The Tea Cup Ride

Ok, I'm going for junior theme random analogy number two.  I feel like I'm on the tea cups ride at an amusement park.  It spins by itself, but then you get it spinning faster and faster.  Everything around you starts to blur.

This is what I feel like.  I feel like this whole process is flying by and I have no way to slow it down.  Yet at the same time, I feel like I am making it move even faster, but don't have the power to stop myself.  It's all a blur.  Though I must say, the blurriness is probably due to sleep deprivation.

All I can say is, this is the home stretch!  Overall I think I've enjoyed the process...well maybe I'll enjoy it more looking back, when I have a second to catch my breath!  Regardless, I've really enjoyed learning more about my topic and have found my research interesting.

Driving on the wrong side of the road. Blindfolded.

As Chloe blogged about, I am also having trouble deciding what to focus on in my junior theme paper and what to cut completely out.  Each time I read an article, conduct an interview, listen to a radio piece, I uncover a new path to take my paper.  There are so many ways to go and I have written my into over and over to fit all my different ideas.

Another difficulty is in some of my body paragraphs, the information is overflowing.  I have to make cuts left and right, which is difficult but isn't a bad problem to have.  In a few of them on the otherhand, I have found that I have some information, but not enough evidence to back it up.  In those cases, I have to go back and refocus some of my research to find fitting evidence.

At some moments I feel like I'm driving a car, on the wrong side of the road, blindfolded, as I write this paper.  I think I'm starting to get back on the road, but hopefully I can do so before I total the car.

High 5 on NBC

Here is the promised Making A Difference segment on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams!

Watch now!

Please Watch!!

Tomorrow, on the 5:30-6pm NBC nightly news, High Five Choir will be featured.  Brian William's "Making A Difference" segment will focus on what we do in the choir, and what message we try to spread to the world around us.  Please tune in!

Starbucks: Pulling a TV Tokenism

As of a couple of weeks ago, Starbucks changed their logo.  The company removed the writing from around the image of the mermaid.  To me, this seemed like an odd change for a company to make.  It seemed quite insignificant, so I decided to do a little research.  I came across an article by Elizabeth Fuller with some information on the switch.

Fuller wrote; "'Is it a strong enough icon?' asks Laura Oswald, director of Marketing Semiotics, a marketing research company in Chicago. 'Would you identify that mermaid as absolutely Starbucks the way you identify the golden arches as absolutely McDonald's?'"

This reminded me exactly of what we discussed about TV Tokenism.  We discussed how many TV shows will bring in a character of a different race, as a main role, once the show gets off its feet and is well-recieved.  Once the show has a solid fan base, it can afford to take risks.  Starbucks has done nearly the exact same thing.

Starbucks has been around since 1971, and since then, has made a name for themselves.  They are known worldwide.  Now that they have built an empire, they can afford to take a risk, like changing their logo.

Before                                                                                        After

 

Stand By Me

My mom sent me this video of the song Stand By Me, that is a montage of street performers performing the song.  It seemed fitting for my "musical" blog (though there hasn't been a lot of music lately!).  It really emphasizes how music can tie people, as it shows people of all different backgrounds, ethnicities, abilities, etc. performing the same song.

Stand By Me (Video)

The lyrics show support and help of others in a time of need, as they say; "I won't be afraid just as long as you stand, stand by me".  Japan is now in a time of need after a devastating earthquake and tsunami, so let's "Stand By" them.  To help, visit The Red Cross, and find out different ways to support and help Japan.

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

We started the junior theme process yesterday, and I feel like I have already changed my topic ten times.  Every time I think I have my "why" question pinned down, something stands in my way, whether it's trying to explain it and finding that it makes no sense or whether it's not relevant to an issue today.  I started taking a look at the book Gang Leader For A Day by Sudhir Venkatesh and hopefully will get some good ideas from it.  So far (I'm on page 10, it's interesting and thought-provoking).

But, as of now, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (U2).

Post Secret: Violations of the First Amendment

As I was reading Post Secret, as I do every sunday morning, one of them stuck out to me.

Isn't the US supposed to be a melting pot of religions, races, ethnicities and ideas?  Why is it so hard to switch religions then?  Religion is often a topic that causes conflict because people, for what ever reason, don't seem to want to coexist peacefully.  Also, I think that since 9/11, people have been paranoid about religions like Hinduism and Islam, that stem from the east.

We tend to think of America as a "free country" that lets you practice whatever religion you choose.  It is even outlined in the first amendment as it says we have "free exercise of religion".   Yet today there is still religious oppression, as seen in this post secret.

Can an audience relate to a CIA agent or a skin color?

Today in class we discussed TV tokenism.  One point that was brought up was that not many network dramas include black main characters.  As we all thought this over, very few shows came to mind, one of which, The Chicago Code, just premiered a few weeks ago.  


I decided to do some research and see if I could find any more shows, when I came across this fascinating NPR called The Root: Is There A Place For Black Actors On TV?.  It highlights reasons why we don't see many black leads in television, many of which we discussed in class, as well as thoughts on if they will be a lead in the future.


The article, by Marcus Vanderberg, focuses on a network drama called Undercovers, which premiered, and ended, in 2010.  Undercovers was supposed to be a hit running on NBC, with a great actors and an interesting plot line following two CIA agents, but instead, it flopped.  But Vanderberg said; "When you throw in the fact that the show was in a bad time slot, featured subpar writing and two lead actors who were (gasp!) black, it's not surprising that NBC pulled the plug after less than two months."  Yes, some of the issues he noted were "time slots" and "writing", but he puts a sarcastic "Gasp!" when noting that the two leads of the show were black.  Vanderberg later states that television stations think airing a show with a black lead is a "gamble".

What's interesting it the fact that networks seemed to have "abandoned most of their black programming in order to appeal to a more mainstream audience".  Clearly, television, like society, often pushes aside minorities for the "mainstream audience".  But if we really wanted to relate to the audience, wouldn't being a CIA agent be more far off from the normal person, than a skin color?  To really relate to the people, shouldn't shows focus on normal people?  Why do we only see shows about top government officials, CIA agents, neurosurgeons and defense attorneys?  Shouldn't there be shows about teachers, salesmen, waiters or plumbers?

Oh, the Months of the Year

February is Black History Month.
This is a pretty well known fact, as we have been reminded about it every February since kindergarten.  But what are the other months for?


I did a little research and apparently, other months have "history" too. 


I found it strange that some months, were not recognized as anything, like April, while other months, like May, had more than one "History" to be acknowledged.  What does that say about our values as a nation?  Are some issues less important that they can share a month with another issue?  


Black History Month was a definite necessity, but today, should it still be a primary focus, or should the nation focus on a topic like Gay and Lesbian Awareness Month?


An blog post from the Chicago Tribune News Blog, opened discussion on this very issue, and had many interesting responses.


Personally, I think that Black History Month is important, but all the other "months" deserve equal recognition.  If we are trying to create a perfect world in which everyone is equal, one type of history cannot take precedent over another, they must all be focused on equally and draw similar attention.

Perception of Danger

In class we discussed the poem "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke.

My Papa's Waltz

The whiskey on your breath
Could make a small boy dizzy;
But I hung on like death:
Such waltzing was not easy.

We romped until the pans
Slid from the kitchen shelf;
My mother's countenance
Could not unfrown itself.


The hand that held my wrist
Was battered on one knuckle;
At every step you missed
My right ear scraped a buckle.


You beat time on my head
With a palm caked hard by dirt,
Then waltzed me off to bed
Still clinging to your shirt.


We discussed how the poem used to be read as a poem about love in a father-son relationship, but today, the first thing people think of when they read this poem is an abusive father-son relationship.  As we discussed this, I started to think, why has this perception changed so much?  Has the US really become a more dangerous place, or is it just that we perceive the dangers differently? 


On one hand, the advances in technology has made people's lives more accessible.  It is easy for a person to get information about someone else, track locations, etc.  But on the other hand, technology also increases safety.  Now that people have cell phones, it is easier to call 911 from any location, and a lot faster to get ahold of people in times of need.  On this one I'm pretty split, but my gut instinct is that as dangers emerge, disappear and evolve as time goes on, so do our perceptions of danger.  The US has not become a more dangerous place, just dangerous in different aspects.  We just perceive out dangers differently.

A Depiction of Huck Finn

In class, we looked at different depictions of Huck and Jim.  Here is an interesting, to say the least, depiction.

Why do you think the author/artist created this comic and portrayed the characters in this way?

Meta-Post Numero Dos

This quarter, I included a LOT more music into my blog.  Some of the songs were just relating to an issue, as in Make That Change!, while others were complete lyric analysis such as in Is there life in America?.  Another way I incorporated music into my blog was referencing something about music and a subject that is very near and dear to my heart.  In my post High Five Chorus!, I mentioned briefly how music can have such a positive impact on people and then posted an article and a video explain what High Five is.  (If any of you have a few minutes, I urge you to watch the video and read the article.  It is quite inspirational.)

Also, when I was looking through my blogs from this last quarter, I realized that a few of my posts are MEGA post.  Some of them are so long, that I would even question reading them, and I wrote them!  For the next semester, I definitely want to work on the conciseness of my posts.  As I said in my first meta-post, I'm a ranter, and it definitely comes through in my blogging.

I tried linking to other sources as well this semester.  In one of my posts, Make That Change!, I linked to Olivia, another girl in my class' blog.  Another post, Post Secret: Childhood, I decided to post a "Post secret" that seemed to fit in with out discussions of childhood.

Also, I should probably work on spreading my posts throughout the quarter, as this one became a little cramped at the end.  This quarter though, I became almost obsessive with commenting.  I'm pretty sure I commented multiple times each week.  I would log into my account with full intent to put out my own blog post, and next thing I know, I'm commenting on my fourth post of the day.  I don't know what it was about commenting, but I sort of became addicted to it.

**Please read A Day in the Life

This post was one of my favorite ones to write.

Post Secret: Childhood

I was just about to write my meta-post, when I found this post secret.  

I found it very fitting, as we have been discussing what age a person becomes an adult at.

See more at http://www.postsecret.com/.

Make That Change!

I just read a classmates post, and found it really interesting and wanted to write my own blog about a similar topic.  Check out Olivia's blog!


Her post was all about what prayer does for a person.  Olivia wrote; "It won't make your life better in any way unless you do something.  Take action and make your situation change."  This first of all immediately reminded me of Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror".  The lyrics go; "If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, and then make a change".  Both the post and the lyrics say the same thing.  If you want to change something, do it yourself, make the change.  I agree with this, if you want something fixed, you have to do it yourself.  If it is something that you can fix, don't mope, get up and go.


For me, I don't go to temple for the service (and to be honest, I rarely go to temple).  But I see it as more of a community.  When I think of Judaism, I think of faces.  I see the faces of the people that I have met because of it, and the people that will always be a part of my life.  I don't think of the prayers or Torah passages and honestly most of the things I learned in Hebrew or Sunday school I can't remember.  I think  of how everyone came together when there was a terrifying situation for one of the families in the community.  I think of the support I got and kind words when I butchered a Torah portion I chanted on Yom Kippur one year.  No one cared that I messed it up, they just were happy I tried.


These are the things I remember from my temple community.  These were times that we came together to help out another member of the community.  I don't really pray because as Olivia wrote, I believe more in fixing something and getting it done rather than praying for it.

I do think that prayer can be a healthy outlet for people though.  I'm not really a religious person, but in hard times, people need to find whatever they can to help them get through it and for some people it is religion that they turn to.  If there is stress of a sick family member, it can really weigh on a person and each person must find what it is that can help them.  For my mom, she starts cleaning.  For me, I go run until I can no longer run anymore (not run away, go for a run).  Each person has his or her own way of dealing with things, but at some point, we all need to stop trying to deal, and start trying to fix.