Tuesday, April 19, 2011

My Life In Music?

Enya -  "Orinoco Flow" I have no idea of how old this song is or where I first heard it all I know is that it is one of my favorite. I like to listen to this song for various reasons, but one of the best is when I am studying or reading. This song keeps me focused on what I am doing and I still get to enjoy it. I also like to fall asleep to music like this just because it is so peaceful.
Panic! at the Disco - "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"  The first time I heard this song was in middle school and I instantly liked the band. I heard them from a friend of mine before this music ever played on the radio. This is one of the first bands that I had ever heard before it was big. That is another reason why I still like it so much, because I can say, "Hey I heard that song before you knew of the band ha!" I am also just fond of music by more "emo" bands.
Basshunter - "Dota" This song is great in every single way, and there are no bad things about it. First off Dota, is a mini game within World of Warcraft, which I happen to play and enjoy very much. So just knowing what the game is and playing makes me like that song that much more. But behind that just the bass line is enough to put someone in a pumped up mood or at least cheer them up a little bit. Every time I listen to this song I want to play Dota. I also am a HUGE techno and deep bass person, I like all different types of techno songs. Songs like this are also some great songs to wake up to or listen to while in the shower! Try that one out and see how much more fun it is to wash your hair.
OR THE NEW VIDEO FOR THE SONG UPDATED
Anamanaguchi - "Fast Turtle" This song is my favorite song to listen to while I am playing video games or cooking. I know those are two way different things but this song reminds me of both things and makes me want to eat and play video games. Might I also say eating while playing video games to this song would be the best of both worlds. This is the last song I am going to share with you guys at this time but ask me I have many more songs that describe my life and I love to listen to!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

My Scary Field Trip

Finding a book on my topic was difficult until I received help from our ever grateful teacher Otto. I did not know how to go about to find a book that was related to the Westboro Baptist Church, then Otto showed me how to go onto google books and find different books with Fred Phelps in them. So after that I found a book titled Courting Justice which I then did a MadCat search for and found out where the book was located. The book was not exactly on the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) or on Fred Phelps but it had a couple of pages about the WBC and talked about the founder of it Fred Phelps. So it helped me out greatly.

My book was in the Law Library and I have never been into their before, and was scared of how many people where in there and I did not want to look stupid. So I went into the building and got lost right away, so I looked around for a map of the building and figured out an entrance to the library. I got up into the area and found a piece of paper that directed me to where my book was since I had all the information written down. Around the book that I looked at was other books like this type, different encyclopedia books, and then many about woman's rights. I thought that it was a little funny that my book about the WBC was around books on women's rights. So after that I put the book back and then walked out like I knew what I was doing. That was my fun trip to the library!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

My Ad.

One of my favorite snacks a couple years ago was 3D Doritos. They were running a lot of ads trying to push the sale of them because they were brand new. I believe the first one was aired during one of the super bowls but I may be wrong. The commercials were always aired as people eating these Doritos but when they ate them they would always do little tricks with them. In a most of the ads it shows someone spinning the Doritos on their fingers and in the one I am writing on it shows many different tricks. The one I am doing is when an older guy walks into a store and buys Jalapeno 3D Doritos and there is a little kid in the corner eating a bag already, as the man is purchasing his he says, "Sup, man?" The little kid then follows him out onto the street and "shows" him up doing tricks with the chips and they walk off the screen together. These commercials did not last to long because for some reason the 3D Doritos were discontinued.

This ad is supposed to appeal to the younger and older consumer, to me possibly a little more toward males then females. It is convincing me to buy these chips because they taste good and are a lot of fun to eat. They are featuring that you can actually do more than just eat them you can play with them and possibly become per say good and eating them, by doing tricks. Since I have to pick one I would say that from Fowles list the need to dominate sticks out the most. This is because the little kids has to one up the older guy with each trick he does before he eats it, and you can tell by the commercial that they have done this competition before. This is another reason to why it may be directed more toward men. I would say the effectiveness really does hit for children, because this shows that they too can beat an adult at something. So then the child will want to eat these Doritos more often and buy them.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Research Topic?

What is the best video game console?

This is a topic that I do have some prior knowledge on, and one of my strengths is proving why my choice and reasons are better. One problem that I am facing is that with this topic I can be strayed from the point really fast and that many people have different views on what is better in their own way. I like how some people choose which system is better, just on price, looks, or even sounds but I feel that many people do not have all the specs or information that they need to know what system is actually better.What I would like to look at first is the uncommon things, like Roberts says to do, not the main points which everybody talks about but the other reasons behind it. Something like this could be how easily it can be hacked or how easily it can be remodeled.

My question may not cover what I exactly want to go over but right now it covers the point of what I am trying to say. I want people to look at odd reasons why one system may be better than a different one. I feel this will be a good topic that I will be able to find many different views and opinions on, and can also find a lot of good information to back my different points.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Gladwell Blog

  Gladwell asks if plagiarism is really stealing, and when it is considered plagiarism.  Gladwell talks about without plagiarism, using, tweaking, or changing other peoples work we would not have half the stuff we have now.  Music would not be the same, books, or even plays would be different if we took every little detail into aspect.  To me Gladwell seems to be saying we need plagiarism but we need to accredit the person or work we are using.  He goes through explaining different cases in which the person was not accredited or when they were, and all the different loop holes and feelings there are behind plagiarism.  By loop holes I mean there are really easy ways to use or copy other work without having to get permission or give credit to them.  But with that said it is really easy to make a mistake and plagiarize someone else and not realize it.  This can be an honest mistake, a careless mistake, or someone just trying to cheat the system and Gladwell goes through a lot of these different things.
 
  I was really bored by this piece that we read by Gladwell, it was really slow and did not interest me.  I know that this is a fine feeling but I also learned some things from the piece, such as all the different ways you can plagiarize without feeling like you are.  The example he went through with the play, Frozen shows how someone can easily accredit someone for their work but then not think they are plagiarizing someone else.  This really made me realize how easily I could plagiarize and not think I am because I feel that it is not someones work but it may be public writing.  The piece was boring but it did make me think about how plagiarism is all around me and how it effects everyday things. 

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Racism, Ayn Rand

  In the piece Rand talks about racism, and how racism is a bad thing, and we should get rid of it.  She talks about where racism originates, through groups of people.  It is one "group" thinking that a the other "group" is different, because they have a different ancestry they must be different.  Rand wants us to realize that this is a stupid reason, and that we are being racist when we do this.  Rand also talks about a group think idea, if we think of ourselves in with a group of people, we are being racist, we should think of ourselves as individuals not belonging in a set of people.  The funniest thing that Rand brings up is the fact that the "Negro" leaders are trying to fight racism, by being racist.  They want special rights or being a different race, and this is just bringing them back to being racists against others.  Overall I feel that she is trying to say do not be racist because someone else has relatives, leaders, friends, or teachers that were a racist.  She is saying to solve it and do not hold that against them think of everyone as individuals not as groups and we will be good!

  Overall I found the piece an interesting way to look at racism, and why we have it.  I liked how in the beginning she explained sort of how it all started, then led off to more recent events.  One part I got a little confused with was the with the conservatives, and liberals, I think I understand what she was trying to get to but I was lost with how they are being racist.  I also do not know how these views led into the Negro leaders being racist.  But I found this part to be humorous because she did prove a point they are trying to get rid of racism by creating new racism.  But overall I liked most of the ideas she laid out for me, and I understood most of them, and noticed some of them that are still around today.  

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Humor?

I found Solution to Saturday's Puzzle boring, even though it was boring it was still funny.  I liked the ironic humor, that he uses to make fun of himself, and the lady sitting next to him.  I liked how he made fun of himself through the crossword puzzle, and also made fun of her too!  My favorite part is when he uses humor to kill off Becky, while she is hanging out of the plane and he says, "No take me!" and this is a very funny way to cope with the situation.  The part that I did not like was how slow the story took place, but I liked that he put a lot of humor into it. If you listen to it on tape then you can really tell when he is trying to be funny cause the audience laughs at the humor of the piece.

JOKE lol
Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps, "My friend is dead! What can I do?". The operator says "Calm down. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says "OK, now what?"

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Ronson

I feel that Ronson had a explicit point, that even though the klansmen would not say nigger they are still inconsiderate people.  For example if they knew that Ronson was a Jew then they would have treated him much differently but since they were oblivious to that fact they treated him like any other white person.  With respect, and not demeaning as long as he did not act or sound like a Jewish person.  A thing that he got across to me in this chapter is that some of the groups are trying to keep up with todays views, not that the groups are a good thing.  To me he just relates some of  the people to "normal" everyday citizens.  This is when he portrays Thom Robb as, "having a humorous demeanor." (180)  This implicit point is put in my head, that some of these people yet being in the KKK are still changing, and trying to be better or different.  Overall I feel that he is still trying to leave me with the impression that these groups are still stupid, and that the people in them are also stupid for being in them.

This story was different to me, I have never heard of a KKK group that tried not to use the word nigger.  I thought that this was a interesting point and it was a different tatic that I have never heard of.  By tatic I mean trying to get in the public eye as a so called good group.  I find it humorous that they want to get into the public eye like they were in 1915 with the movie Birth of a Nation.  This is because like Ronson shows, people just think about all the bad things corresponded to the title of a KKK member.  I mean at least they are somewhat moving forward by not using such offensive language, but that is hardly a start.  The only confusing part that I found was why he did not want Ronson to take pictures of the ashes of the burnt cross.  But overall I liked the story because it felt intruiging I wanted to hear what they were going to do next, I also found most of it humorous.  

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Bitch?!

The article we read by Beverly Gross explained the different uses of the word "Bitch".  She starts out with showing us the definition of it from the Oxford English Dictionary, and then goes through all the different dictionaries and the variety of definitions.  She explains how it has changed meaning over the centuries.  She then states that this word is the most offensive word to say to a woman.  She stays steady through the article with that almost every meaning is a very derogatory statement to females.  There is also the thing that most of the dictionaries do not have a derogatory word for men, but there are many different ways to be disrespectful to women.  There is the one example where the word "Bitch" is a good thing and that is in the African American culture.  Overall I feel that she is trying to show how we have such a derogatory word, Bitch, for women yet there is not one for men.

I found this article really intriguing because it showed many different ways we are mean to females, yet there is few ways that we degrade men.  I liked that she had multiple sources throughout the piece that showed some definitions to be close or the same, but then how expandable the word Bitch is.  So I feel this article got the point across very well, it explained all the different views, and many different points.  I do think this sort of relates to my writing only because of when I try to put my point across I try to use multiple views and points like Gross did.  Overall I feel this was a very good article and Beverly Gross wrote, and it was not confusing to me at all.   

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Does it float?

This is my first blog, and boy must I say this is fun..  NOT!