Paying for Pleasure (part 2)

The same concept goes for going to the cinema to watch a movie, a theater to view a play, or a record store to buy a CD. It is the environment that you immerse yourself in that you are paying for.

The question can be raised, Where is the line for paying for entertainment drawn? This is the million dollar question of the day. Prostitution, drugs, and alcohol are just a few of the forms of entertainment people often pay for; but, is this wrong? This is where one's morals come into play and the decisions can be further determined, but morals aside, how is paying for these things any different from paying for a thrilling ride at an amusement park or a new CD? This can be left up to interpretation and it is something that we do not feel fully comfortable answering quite yet as each individual's opinion will vary and we do not want to express our views on this topic without further researching and exploring this controversial topic more in depth. So we ask you to exercise your mind and ponder is paying for pleasure okay?

Paying for Pleasure

Today in class, following a heated vote and a bit of romanticism, the class got somewhat more involved as we began to discuss pleasure and whether or not it is okay to pay for it. We say yes!

Since the beginning of time, people have been striving to entertain others in some capacity. These people work hard to make a product or performance that is enjoyable for the masses and their hard work and long hours should be compensated. From artists to prostitutes, these pleasure providers need to be paid for their dilligence and talent.

Which brings us to another point, the audience members expect certain emotions and feelings to be evoked when entering their chosen entertainment venue. They go into these things wanting these experiences to be fulfilling to their expectations and if it means paying for it, so be it, they are paying for what they believe will be a worthwhile time that might possibly have them traveling on an emotional roller coaster...and they will like it.

Speaking of roller coasters; picture a long line ahead of you and behind you. There are children crying and music blaring around you. But all that you are focusing on is the adrenaline pumping through your body as you eagerly anticipate your turn on the thrill machine. Overhead, you hear rumbling and the ground beneath you is shaking as current riders scream past you doing a 360 degree flip hundreds of feet in the air. A smile creeps across your face as you are pleased already with your decision to come to an amusement park that would not be the same without the thrill of the rides and the smell and taste of the food, the trill of laughter, the wind in your hair as you soar at 100 miles per hour. This is what people pay for...for their senses to be stimulated at all times of their entertaining period.

Fandom at it's prime (part 2)

Or when the other of our writing duo was told she was moving to Florida and threw a fit, until she realized that her new town would be only 30 minutes away from Orlando, that's right, boy band central and the home to both BSB and *NSYNC and was immediately excited to get to Florida.

Yes, we admit, we were pathological to some, but we weren't the only ones. The only downside to our boy band fascination was that as we got older, so did they, and as we approached the time in our lives that we began to not admit any longer to our love, our favorite bands kept going, almost to the point that they shouldn't have and just stopped. We have no problem admitting that we enjoyed both *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys first two albums much more than *NSYNC's 3rd and BSB's 3rd and 4th (really guys, when 4 out of the 5 of you are over 30, the fad is over, it's time to stop).

There were the times when you really felt as though you belonged when gathering around a big screen with you were 10-20 other girls anxiously watching *NSYNC Live From Madison Square Garden or the Millenuim Tour of Backstreet Boys (yea, we weren't fast enough/wealthy enough to get the sold out tickets). With each shot of our favorite singer, squeels of joy resounded throughout the living room of the friend with the biggest television.

With every episode of TRL, re-run of MTV Music Awards, or recorded Making the Video, we couldn't help but fall a little bit more in love with each boy band sighting.

Another admission that we must make, is that we went through a period of role distancing. Yes, we lied. We lied about our obsession and claimed that we never listened to them. But we grew out of this and later on in life, we dusted off our CD cases and felt comfortable with once again rocking out with the boys.

There was no need to look up the lyrics of their songs when you listened to the songs as often as we had. Hence, even now our still remembering them as we sit back and reminisce on the days of our youth when everything was so carefree and the only worry you had was who your competition for the heart of your favorite boy band member.

Fandom at it's prime

Picture 1999. How old were you? What music did you listen to? If you're a girl, and you're now 19, in 1999 you were most likely an obsessed 11 year-old girl that blared nothing but Backstreet Boys and NSYNC on your Casio Boombox. Welcome to the lives of Cheryl Brooks and Kylee Bryan.

Now, there were the fans of the music, and then there were the fans of the music. You know what we mean, the fans listened and knew some of the words. They would dance to the beat if it happened to be on the radio. The fans (we're admitting we're guilty right now) of the music knew every word and could recall it 8 years later when they pulled out the old CD's from the childhood and still to this day, know the dance moves from the particular lines of the songs. Not only this, but can remember the music videos and they play in our, I mean their, heads every time the song is played to this day.

Most of these two bands songs focused on love and relationships, inspiring dreams to develop in the minds of every pre-teen to not only find the man of her dreams, but to want the artists themselves. This got to the point where a girl claimed her man (in the words of Kerri Pomarolli, our chapel speaker a couple of weeks ago, "Name it and claim it ladies!") and fought anyone trying to take him. It was survival of the fittest, only the certain girls were worthy enough to really claim the best members of the group.

And not only claim, but yes, scenarios were formed in the minds of these girls. We, I mean they, pictured ourselves as the girls in the music videos and knew that one day, we would be the ones that "God must have spent a little more time on" in the eyes of Joey, JC, Justin, Lance, and Chris. And we would be the ones that Nick, Kevin, Brian, Howie, and AJ would give "all they had to give to."

There were times when one of us would watch the "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" music video and see Brian Littrell do a back flip off the wall and tried every day to complete this feat. And even sometimes now, experiments with this action in the hallway of Fox 2 East, returning to the wishful desires to be a sweet dancer like Brian from BSB.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? (Part 2)

Let's not forget about quite possibly the most creepy part of the documentary, our female(?) friend that liked to dress as a particular female character on the show. We put the question mark after the aforementioned female because it was quite clear, this was a man. Now, we can understand having a liking to the show or even a certain role on the show, but again we say, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" It was hard to take this portion seriously as we were uncontrollably laughing, that we missed the explanation as to why he/she was singing randomly in the middle of it's(???) interview. Not only are the followers of Star Trek interested, but they go one step further and bring their entire families into their Trek land. And sadly, more often than not, the family members have no choice in this matter, as they are babies and small children. Oh, and we must mention the dog. Yes, that's right, even man's best friend has been converted to Trekkie-ism. Throughout the documentary, the camera crews interviewed couples and individuals about their fascination with the show and surrounding them was their children and pets, fully dressed in Star Trek apparell. And Trekkies come in all shapes, sizes, ages and genders, etc. One spotlighted Trekkie was a 14-year old boy named Gabriel. This boy who at the age of 14 should not be nearly as obsessed with anything as he is with Star Trek, has tailor-made costumes made for him to travel to conventions with his pot-smoking pappa (he admitted to it, we're not judging). He aspires to inherit his sweet van/truck/vehicle of some sort that is personalized and very Star Trekish. He really looks forward to it, but after all who wouldn't? Oh yea...that's right, not us! To Gabriel, we must say once more, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Wow, has got to be the only thing we could say at the conclusion of the documentary. Thank you so much Andrew Rudd, for exposing us to the world of Star Trek. And we must also thank our parents and say "Thank you Mommy and Daddy for not being Trekkies." =)

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?

Friday was definitely a different class (Different is about the understatement of the year by the way). Walking in, we knew that we would be watching a documentary on Star Trek fans, yet we had no idea what we were in for. From the opening credits, we were taken on a whirlwind journey of fantasy and a completely different world than what most of us had ever been exposed.
The title of "fan" is not the appropriate term for these faithful watchers of the cult classic that is Star Trek. They call themselves "Trekkies" but they are so much more than that. They have taken fandom to a whole other level and made it their lifestyle. From the man who changed his entire dental practice to the man who spent $1,500 on the "headpiece" of Worf to add to his collection. These trekkies are obsessed to the point of incomprehensibility (is this a word? oh well if it's not...it fits) to all non-trek watchers.
One trekkie became a juror for the Whitewater scandal and wore her "uniform" to the courtroom daily. She was adament about the fact that there was nothing different between her and any other person with a uniform. Her argument was that if any other person that was in the military would wear their uniform to a hearing, she could too. This was point that we could not say anything but "ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?!?" We're not being judgmental, but feel that a television show should not dictate the way one lives.

Media Conglomerate Debate (Part 2)

Because of the fact that the conglomerates that are a part of the Big Ten control society, the smaller stores and businesses are unable to do anything without their approval; therefore, prohibiting their abilities to branch out and expand with new ideas for people to gather. This also effects the individuals in society with being exposed to different viewpoints and ideas because the only things that are being distributed through media are being filtered through the Big Ten's views and biases.

This, brings us to our side's final point. Because of these narrowed views, foreign countries have a skewed sense of what America is really like because of the ideals portrayed through the media due to the conglomerates deliveries via news, radio, TV, and magazines.

Granted, our opposing debaters made a few valid points, they did not convince us to sway our views on media conglomerates. Their main point was that media provides a way to see what is going on outside our typical Midwestern world and be more exposed to what's going on outside of what we see in our everyday lives. A media conglomerate is on balance according to the other side. They keep news production and their business goals separate (Yea right!) THey have billions of dollars at their disposal to entertain/inform us in any way possible...more like they have billions of dollars at their disposal to corrupt America and skew everyone's ideas to what they believe to be true! To all of their arguments, we say "For Shame!"

Overall, the debate really made us think more thoroughly about what is being presented to us on a daily basis by way of the multiple media conglomerates in America.

Media Conglomerate Debate

In Friday's class we participated in a debate on differing views of media conglomerates and whether they are harmful/helpful for society and individuals. We were on the side arguing for the fact that media conglomerates are more harmful than helpful to society.

We felt we had a well-established argument covering as many aspects as possible in consideration to the time constraints. One of our key points was the fact that media conglomerates cramp an individual's style to the point where having a personal style becomes commercialized; therefore eliminating any individualism that could have been had.

Another point we made was the fact that it stresses materialism and makes it so that finances establish who one is on the cool scale. For example, "cool" clothes stores such as Abercrombie or Hollister charge $70+ for jeans and $30+ for a basic t-shirt when you can find items at half these prices at a store like Kohls or Target. But, that's not "cool" according to the media conglomerates that get into adolescents heads and those adolescents could begin to outcast those that cannot afford these high fashion purchases.

We also tried arguing for the fact that these big businesses that are taking over America (aka The Big Ten) are shoving out the local stores and businesses. No matter how much loyalty customers have to these local shops, they will always be drawn to the lower prices that the larger companies provide.

Media's Role in Interpreting Perfection

A common topic amongst critics of the media today is it's role on the "ideal" appearance. I agree, media does play an integral part on the look society dubs as perfect, but it's up to the person to find their own perfect, aside from what the media portrays.

I don't know the exact statistic, but I've heard it been said and could agree from my personal experience, at least in the case of girls, at least 95% of females look critically at themselves because they do not fit the ideal body type or are slightly off from the rest of the pack. They see actors on the big and small screen or models in magazines and want to be just like them because "obviously they're the popular/successful ones."

I know for me, my early years of high school were rather difficult. I was never the girl with all of Daddy's money at my fingertips or the girl with the best looks, so I looked down on myself because I felt as though I might be a failure to....

Here lies the problem. I felt like a failure, but I didn't know who I was failing or letting down. Myself? My family? My friends? Society? It's a complex situation that many people struggle with daily. But as time went on, I began to not care anymore. I didn't/don't care what others think about how I look or how I sound or how I carry myself. It all seems so materialistic now, but it makes me worry for the people that have not come to this realization just yet. With plastic surgery on the rise and different body corrections available, to what extremes will people go in order to fit the "ideal perfection" that society has created? This is a question I find myself mulling over constantly.

I plan to become a high school teacher and know that I'm going to encounter students that are struggling with these questions of self worth and I'm worried that I won't have the right words or advice to give in order to help their situations. But maybe, I'm not supposed to have the right words or advice, maybe it's something they'll have to come to the realization of on their own, just as I did and continue to remind myself about.

Yes, the idea of perfection is always going to be changing as society changes. And yes, people are always going to compare themselves to those pictured in the media. Yes, the media does play a role in this continuous downward sprial of self image difficulties. But is it 100% media's fault that there are so many image problems in the world? I don't think so.

Television's Role Changes (Part 2)

But the question remains, what ever happened to all of these shows and why isn't there quality television viewing like this anymore? I have two nephews and from time to time, I'll ask them what their favorite shows are and it's always changing for them and with each new show they mention, I have heard nothing about hardly any of them. Or, on the off chance it is a show I've heard of, it's nothing I'd ever picture younger children watching. But, over the weekend, I got super excited when the oldest of the 2 boys, Caleb, told me his favorite show was the Power Rangers! Now, this was something I could relate to...I always played the pink ranger growing up. So, I suggested us watching an episode, and I was thoroughly disappointed. The show was nothing as it used to be, or at least that I remembered of it. But Caleb loved every moment of the show and kept saying "Get ready Ky, this is the part where the bad guy comes!" or "They're going to morph now Ky! This is SO cool!"

And seeing the expressions on his face, changed my opinion of the show. I used to be the little kid on the edge of my seat saying to my big brother and sister "They're going to morph now! This is SO cool!" I realized that the shows didn't change, I had. My opinions on quality television viewing and "cool" changed as I grew up. Kids still have their cool shows that they'll one day look back on and reminisce about with their friends. Again with the Merchants of Cool video coming into play, it all makes so much more sense and opens your eyes to so much more once seeing it and really realize that products change along with the different attitudes and interests of the people in society.

Television's Role Changes

The other day I realized that one of the recurring conversations that I have with many of my friends is about the shows we used to watch when we were kids. With game shows like Double Dare and Legends of the Hidden Temple and sitcoms like Salute Your Shorts, Hey Dude, and Clarissa Explains it All what more could a kid ask for? And that was only on Nickelodeon! There were the major network shows that caught our attention and had us hooked as well. Who could go wrong with the TGIF line up with The Torkelsons, Full House, Sister Sister, and Boy Meets World? Yea, I remembered it.

It seemed like every grade there was always something new and exciting to watch on TV. With Woody Woodpecker being at the prime position of my earliest years followed closely by Barney and Sesame Street. Then there was the time of Power Rangers and Bobby's World before school. Then as I got older, shows like Full House and the cool shows on Nickelodeon began to dominate and take the place of the "little kid shows." Then, around my early teen years, MTV made it's way into my viewing and it was all down hill from there. But lately, I have found myself at times going back to the shows of my younger years by watching Boy Meets World and Step by Step almost daily while I get ready.

Someone stole my idea

Reading the title of this blog, you might have many instance where it seems as though someone "Stole your idea" too...but really, someone did with me!

I believe it was my sophomore year of high school, or possibly my junior year, either way...a group of my friends and I were discussing one of our favorite shows growing up...Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! (insert your super big smile because you know you loved it too here) Well, during the course of our conversation, we all agreed that there should definitely be a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie because they're just that amazing! Now flashforward to now and boom! TMNT! Hence, my idea being stolen!

But, when I saw this commercial, I got to thinking about the Merchants of Cool video and the "cool hunters" and how it's their job to go out and find out about what everyone wants and likes. Perhaps this is why people find themselves saying, "they stole my idea!" because maybe, just maybe, they did without you even realizing it!

Dear John Mayer, Let's get married. Love, Kylee (Part 2)

With the release of Continuum, Mayer surprised some of his fans with taking a more blues alternative to his more poppy sound, giving him an edge to attract an older audience and expose some of his younger listeners to a different genre of music. He has pulled in more wah's with the guitar and maintained his sultry voice, but now it seems that there's something more behind it: soul, and lots of it.
When artists say they're doing something for the love of just creating the music, it's hard to tell if they're really speaking the truth or if they're just saying this and meaning they can't wait to see what kind of money they are going to make from this product. But for John Mayer, his passion comes through in his music, especially now with the new direction that his music seems to be taking. With more world problems being addressed and important things, the audience/fans can tell that there are not any lies coming from his mouth when he says he just loves to play.
With "Gravity" and "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" beginning to hit the airwaves, teen listeners that are used to not much more than hip hop's versions of describing the world are awakened into a new light, a light lit by John Mayer...my future husband.

Dear John Mayer, Let's get married. Love, Kylee

When I think of music, one of the first artists that comes to mind is John Mayer. Let's face it, I'm going to off Jessica Simpson and claim him as my own and have him serenade me every night with his sweet soulful sound! haha! Just kidding, but seriously it's going to happen! But besides my slight obsession of wanting him to be mine for all time, John Mayer has a style that is continuously evolving, which just from a personal observation, I bet that's why his latest album is called Continuum. Hmm something to think about...

I digress. The point I was trying to make was that only someone who has established themselves completely in the music industry would be able to pull off the success that John Mayer is conquering right now. With his first couple of albums, he was merely establishing a fan base. He was reeling in the women with songs of romance like "Your Body is a Wonderland" (aka the song I listen to and know he's singing it just for me!) and the men with "Bigger Than My Body." But it seems more common now that if you were to ask a group of young adults who some of their favorite current artists are, John Mayer would certainly be included in their lists. He wowed producers and other artists with his immense talent on the guitar and his amazing vocal abilities to the point that he was being marketed to sing with other artists and finally, when his famedom was large enough, he was released to do something younger artists that already had a mainstream establishment couldn't have pulled off.

Wanted: Studio looking for a couple of great action writers! (Part 2)

So there we stood, like the unloved puppies at the pet store no one will adopt, like the toys left on the shelf, like the yucky carrots left in the container in the cafeteria mixed in with some cottage cheese that no one wants to take a chance at....alone, with no one to listen to our amazing ideas! According to our descriptions, we were almost the best writers in Hollywood, but no one seemed to notice this trait of ours. So basically, we said to heck with everybody else, let's go indy!

And indy we became! We had no money, only a thirst for greatness, and a desire to make Hollywood history! We were set to show those big studios what they were missing out on! So, we hired a big Hollywood star (we kind of had to to get some money in the budget!), Brad Bucks was ours! And by signing him, we got a budget of $10 million, too bad $8 million of that went to Brad. So going in the hole was inevitable, but we were okay with it, because we knew it was going to be a hit! Yes, our production levels were taken down, now the entire filming process would be in San Francisco and our hero wouldn't be as muscular as we had hoped, but he would be good looking, bringing in the ladies to our action indy film.

All in all, the day was rather frustrating and felt like the Millenium Force at Cedar Point. But, we came out satisfied with what we had accomplished. It was a good learning experience, and reaffirmed the fact that we will not end up in Hollywood after our time at Malone. And true, the studios didn't really like our idea, but one day, they'll be sorry when they see Brad Bucks beating up some Chinese people in Chinatown in our Blockbuster hit, "ATTACK!"

Wanted: Studio looking for a couple of great action writers!

Walking into class, we had no idea what to expect, just basically the day of a lifetime in mass media and society. When asked for volunteers for the position of writer we were hesitant at first, (later we found for good reason, considering it wasn't the greatest of all spots) but raised our hands and were transformed into action writers.

At first our concept was simple....there are the Chinese people out to get the United States, specifically San Francisco. They inhabit Chinatown where they plot to take over the city, and are stopped only by the one and only, Crawl the Warrior King, we hoped to have played by Arnold Bodybuilder (aka Robbie Vrooman).

So when given the green light, our initial plan was to divide and conquer. Cheryl took the job of getting Arnold on our side by talking to his agent Kelsey and was successful, for the time being. At the same time, Kylee was pitching our idea to Big Time Studios. Unfortunately, they were looking for a "romantic comedy" film...PSH! Who cares about love?! We know that action's where it's at! It fills the seats for sure! While Kylee was continued to try with Big Time Studios, Cheryl took a chance with approaching Midville Studios. We thought we were in...

Deals were made, contracts were signed...with the actor....we thought we were in the clear and done with the hassle of setting things up. If only it were all that simple. Midville, apparently, wanted a romantic comedy as well. We were beginning to become more and more bitter with this whole love business, all we wanted were some Chinese terrorists and someone to kick some butt! We may look like sweet girls, but we crave the thrill of suspense and watching a movie on the edge of the seat because of terrorists, not who's going to fall in love with whom! Before we knew it, Midville Studios dropped us like a bad habit, took our actor and found different writers. They convinced Arnold they had a better film for him to pursue and we got the shaft.

The Guardian

Gathering in the Barn for a typical night of movie watching with my friends, I did not expect to notice so many connections to things we've discussed with camera angles and symbolic gestures, especially of the omnipotent variety, but these things were noticed in The Guardian.

The movie follows an older Coast Guard rescue swimmer as he hits a wall in his career after his entire crew is killed on a mission, so he is sent to the academy to teach new recruits how to properly, according to him, be a rescue swimmer. He uses some different techniques in comparison to what the school typically does things, but the students become more and more prepared with each lesson. If you haven't seen the movie, I'm basically going to ruin it for you right now, so you might want to stop reading or just continue on and not cry as much as I did when I watched the movie. In the end, Kevin Costner, the instructor, takes a student(Ashton Kutcher) that is much like him, and molds him into what he used to be to continue his work after he's gone.

Throughout the film, there are several variations of the two shot including the open screen and the interview style over the shoulder shot, but even more, there is the "God Shot." The God shot is quite frequent, especially at the end of the film when Costner releases himself from a rescue rope in order to save his protigee's life and have him carry on his deeds of saving lives.

Also, symbolically, Costner's character is believed to still be alive and helping victims in their time of need, as they wait for help via the Coast Guard Rescue Team...can we say God-like?? Yes! From open armed gestures to his words ringing in Kutcher's mind, the audience has a Godly connection to this 40-some year old man.

At the conclusion of the film, a friend of mine said, "I always knew Kevin Costner was God! It all makes sense now!"

Society's Semiotic Standards

Lately, I've been trying to think over some things and why people act the ways they do and it all leads to this one simply stated, yet not simply answered, question: What makes a person? Is it the type of music they listen to? Or is it the way they dress? Or could it be their religious beliefs/outlook on life? Whatever it is that makes a person in one's eyes, the person has officially been stereotyped. The immediate reaction to someone in black is to assume they're gothic, or if someone is bumping with a loud bass track, they're ghetto. But what about those that don't want to be stereotyped? They simply end up lost in the cracks of society.
What if there's a boy dressed in black with black eyeliner and stringy long hair, that has a passion for Jessica Simpson music and the church? Yes, somewhat unlikely combination, but I bet he's out there somewhere! But society has a hard time understanding him because of the unlikely semiotic domain combinations.
Or another odd semiotic domain combination, a super girly girl (I mean wears something pink every day and constantly smiles kind of girly girl) listens to nothing but the Grateful Dead and watches only Indy films. It's quite striking to me that the slightest of things can change one's perception of another. The signs get misconstrued and assumptions are made and they are not always reliable. So perhaps the real question that I've been trying to figure out is why does society put people into such non-conforming stereotypes? Yes, this is definitely the problem.

Disney Destroys Dreams (Part 2)

Prince Charming is bored at the ball, when all of a sudden, he sees a ravishing beauty at the top of the stairs. He is enraptured by her presence and can hardly wait to have one dance with her. And it is after just the one dance, that our prince friend is madly in love with a practcal stranger. Sounds great right? Definitely not. She rushes off quickly and leaves only a slipper behind for him to find her by--so unrealistic! Then to top it all off, the prince sends out his steward to scour the kingdom for the girl that wears the glass slipper. Ok. Really, come on now, who wears glass slippers? And, how stupid can you be to not find out more about "the girl of your dreams?" If only he had a normal conversation with her first like any other human being would have, he would definitely not be in this pickle. A dance is all he needed? Once again, too bad for our rhymically challenged friends. So, lie number 3) all that it takes for a man to fall in love is a sweet dance with a beautiful maiden. FALSE!

Don't get us wrong, Disney doesn't always screw up. With Beauty and the Beast, we have some real life. The girl initially hates the guy. This really does happen from time to time. Her first impression of the beast is that "he was mean, coarse and unrefined." But soon we find that "now he's dear and so [she's] sure, that now there's something there that wasn't there before." Once Belle moved past the harsh exterior that was the beast's appearance, she found the core him and fell in love, not with his looks, but with him. This is how all Disney productions should be, true to life in all aspects, minus the whole being turned into a beast thing, that doesn't really happen. Truth number 1) all that it takes for a man to fall in love is not appearance, singing or dancing, but seeing someone for who they really are and loving them for it. TRUE!

Disney Destroys Dreams

True, this title may be harsh, but it is partially true. Don't get us wrong as we are avid Disney lovers. We own Disney Scene It, have Disney paraphernalia, and attended Disney on Ice: Princess Wishes just three short weeks ago. But, Disney gives us a false sense of true love. It gives the perception that everyone will meet their prince charming with the simple bat of an eye (let's think back to a little song called "A Whole New World" shall we?). To all members of the Disney Princesses generation, be prepared for a let down in your love life, as Disney has screwed us all up and given us false hope.

Let's start off with the "romantically lovely" story of Aladdin and Jasmine. Aladdin was simply roaming the streets of Agraba when across the crowded marketplace, he spies Jasmine and his breath is taken away as he is instantly in love. Now, if this were real life, Aladdin would be labeled a creepy pervert and would soon be delivered a restraining order. But no, Disney doesn't do reality. Disney has the girl turn out to be a princess and fall in love with him too on a magic carpet ride. Don't lie, you wouldn't get on a carpet with someone you just met, it's like the rule your parents tell you when you're little, "Don't get in the car with a stranger!" They never said anything about a magical flying carpet though now did they? Tricky tricky Disney. So lie number 1) all that it takes for a man to fall in love is a simple bat of the eyelashes. FALSE!

Scenario number two goes a little something like this, Prince Eric is tossed onshore after a shipwreck and is entranced by a lovely lady's voice. Really? A song? That's all it takes? If only we had known this when we were younger, we would have taken singing lessons when we were little instead of bothering with a real education. As we all know now, singing isn't really what gets the guys, or is it and we've been falsely mistaken? Either way, this scenario screws over all of the tone-deaf and rhythmically challenged of the world. Basically Disney says a big "Sucks to be you" to all of these folks. Therefore, lie number 2) all that it takes for a man to fall in love is a beautiful voice. FALSE! (we hope)

More to come in the next blog....

Friends Creates Happiness in All Situations

"So no one told you life was gonna be this way *clap clap clap clap*" Yes...the lovely world of Friends has made all of the figures a part of my life that makes me happy. Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, Joey and Phoebe...all have characteristics that I find so often in my own character.
In Ross I see my eccentricities at times. Sometimes, I too spaz out over random simple things. In Rachel I see my my rambling at times because my emotions get carried away with me. Chandler, oh Chandler, he has the quick wit that I wish I had. I already have Chandler's sarcasm, at times a downfall, yet somewhat funny at the same time. Monica acts as a mother to all of the other friends and I see that in myself quite often as well. Not to mention the fact that like Monica, I too snort when I laugh. Joey, well Joey's basically stupid, and I definitely have my moments to say the least. And last but certainly not least, Phoebe. Oh Phoebe is slow at understanding things and always has elaborate stories that don't always apply to a situation, and I must admit, I am guilty of these things to the nth degree.
And yes, previously I said that Friends makes me happy. It's not just any kind of happiness, it is a happiness that can only be evoked by the combination of these six characters eccentricities and personalities. If I'm depressed, an episode of Friends can be my sunshine. If I'm happy, an episode of Friends just increases my joyful feeling.
So a suggestion to all, when feeling downtrodden or even when you are carefree, pop in one of the disks from any of the ten seasons (I have them all) of this spectacular show and get enraptured in the hilarity that is Friends.

Yea, I like to rock out in my truck

Picture yourself pulling up to a stop light on a typical day and you look at the car next to you and see a girl rocking out in her little gray pick-up truck singing along to the blaring music. She's having a good time and doesn't have a care in the world for you as you look at her with a strange gaze...that girl is me. Yes, that's right I am the girl that everyone makes fun of at the stop lights, and I love it! I love the fact that whether I'm by myself or with my friends, I can still sing along with some of my favorite music and drive away with my pride fully intact.
I never really realized just how much music can effect one's attitude until I started to look at my collection of burnt CD's (shh! Don't tell!!). I have a different CD for nearly every emotion I could go through. There is the "Inspirational" CD with my personal favorite for the day Bethany Dillon, "My Girly, Anti-Boy" CD with lots of TLC ("No Scrubs"...need I say more?), "Driving Down a Dirt Road" CD for the country girl inside of me, "Love Songs and Acoustics" CD with several songs from the amazing John Mayer and bands like Maroon 5 and Dave Matthews, as well as my "Ghetto Hits" CD that makes me think I'm a tough girl but deep down inside I know I'm not. And the CD that's currently in my player is one that recently made up that has everything from NSYNC to the Spice Girls that I entitled the "Back in the Day" CD with all of the classics of an elementary school student of the 90's.
Try something for me, ladies, play a Kelly Clarkson song and try telling me that you didn't think of a boy that you wanted to yell "Since You've Been Gone" to and guys, play a Metallica song in your car and tell me that you don't start to act like you're a part of the band and your steering wheel has become your drum set.
That's what I thought, you feel empowered and invincible with some music. Or when a Coldplay song comes on the radio, a sudden calm overpowers you and you feel like a collected, mellow person. Or on the other hand, when you hear a song like "Imagine" by Mercyme, you envision yourself in God's mighty presence and can't help but feel overcome with a sense of peace and at the same time a bit of excitement for an amazing future with the Lord.
Music effects us. Music effects us on our way to work or school. It effects us sitting in our rooms unsure of how to feel. And it effects us even when we're sitting at our desks, staring at a blank computer screen, unsure of what to blog about until a song comes on that makes you wonder why you feel the way you do.

Subliminal Advertising Leads to America's Doom...Obesity!

Vending rooms surround various locations all over the country, including here at Malone College. During my Context of Journalism class, we were instructed to sit back and observe a location, any location, and take note of the sights and sounds of the area. Honestly, I didn't feel like travelling very far, so I just sat in front of the vending machine room on the third floor of Mitchell Hall. It did not occur to me just how much advertising there could be so subliminally, especially in the "Malone Bubble."
The hum of the dispensers of calories can be heard from a fair distance away, almost as thought they are beckoning to the hungry and easily hungered passing by it's strategically appointed location. Neighbored by the restrooms, elevators and stairways, this high foot traffic area has a lot of second glances at the glowing room. This glow from the machines reminds the people that they are on and express their readiness to infect the consumers with more garbage.
Even the signs advertising the "Vending" location call out to all who see, even those that do not care for or have even had a thought of using this particular facility. With "Vending -->" placed above "Restrooms -->" on a sign, the room catches the attention of the easily persuaded merely on their way to use the restroom.
Not to forget that advertising is key to sales, it's not just an accident that an entire wall of the vending room is lined with Coca-Cola machines. Note that it's the wall most easily seen by the people exiting the restroom, who have over the past three minutes gained a strong thirst, especially for an ice cold, delicious Coke. After all, the teenagers to 20-something on the machines sure do seem to be enjoying their beverages, and the one with the big smile is even offering on to the customer with an outstretched arm.
Is this what advertisers have succumb to? Strategically placing vending machine rooms that haunt people as they approach the place of relief? In the ten minutes that I sat outside of the room, I saw several second glances at the calorie dispensers from passers-by, resulting in two victims, both purchasing Diet Cokes, but wonderingly looking at the candy machine, more than likely thinking "Should I?" or "Don't do this to yourself, it'll go straight to your hips!" One of the victims that shall remain nameless, pressed the button of doom, also known as the Diet Coke button, on the machine and looked at me and said "Because God knows I'm gonna need this is the only reason why I'm getting this!" Can we say "excuses?" Or better yet, can we say "Those sneaky advertisers!"

...TO BE CONTINUED SOON...

media basically equals my life

So pretty much my entire life has had something to do with media, especially print. Since before I can remember my dad has been a high school basketball coach or softball coach and a highly publicized teacher (dealing with troubled kids is his specialty). Also, my mother passed away when I was very young and she was a very notable person in our community so her funeral and circumstances surrounding our family at the time were made known (my dad's basketball team was going into the finals for the state at the time of her death). It was at this time that my name first appeared in print when several newspapers quoted me following one of my father's wins at the age of four when I entered the locker room telling all of his players, "I'm so proud of you and I know my Mommy is too," causing not one dry eye in the entire locker room and surrounding area.
When I entered middle school I was approached with the opportunity of taking part in the school newspaper and jumped on it! I was bit with the journalism bug and couldn't seem to shake it. It became my goal to get onto the staff of the prestigious Ashland High School student run newspaper Panorama. I thought it was the coolest thing ever! So I made my way up the ladder on the staff and finally I got to become editor-in-chief of the number one high school newspaper in the country for both weekly and overall. I could not believe it! I never knew I could be so proud as I was of my time on that newspaper.
Now that I'm in college I've written a few articles for The Aviso and am majoring in integrated language arts, so I'm going to be a high school English teacher, so I will get to pass on the journalism bug to some other willing and eager student in the future and I honestly, cannot wait for that opportunity.