Blogging Around

Jason:
I completely agree with your article on iMedia, about David Sides and how his music is expanding the range of music to the youth. Personally, I felt the same way that you did. I originally hated the song " Buy you a drank" because it sounded cheezy and the singer's voice was altered but after hearing David Sides' cover of the song, I really appreciated the song a lot more since I could fully hear the notes and the melody playing without and disruption.

George:
I agree that the media plays an important part of our lives, and it even regulates it at times. I learned about the "Quiz Show Scandal" after Mr. Ferguson showed us a clip about it, and I feel like it really opens my mind, and now i begin to question certain aspects of media such as the validity and truth behind these types of shows.

Research: Creation of the World

Reading Sophie’s World I’ve come to realize that one of the major philosophical questions that seems to stem from every topic is, how the world got created. After doing some research, I noticed that there were several different theories of how the world got created, but the leading theory is that of the Big Bang. Most scientists are beginning to accept the notion that the Big Bang created everything. But that seems very peculiar. How can something come from nothing? According to the Big Bang model, the universe used to be a hot dense initial condition at some finite time in the past. After the Big Bang, the hot and dense initial condition continues to expand forming the universe. Now you might ask yourself, how is that possible, you are just speculating? Well, somewhat. Scientists have proven that are universe is expanding by noticing that star parallax, and studying cosmology. However, for now the Big Bang is just a theory, but the scientists at Cern, in Switzerland are trying to find the “God particle” that would permanently prove the theory of the Big Bang. All in all, I personally seem to believe in the Big Bang theory partly because it has some scientific reasoning, but also because it makes the most sense to me. However, I will not discredit other theories because I feel like they also have some pros and some cons dealing with the creation of the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_bang

Change of Mind: Sophie's World Philosophy

When I realized that our class was going to read Sophie’s World in was disgruntled to say the least. My impressions of philosophy were not quite enthusiastic to say the least. At first I thought that philosophy was just something older people do as a hobby in their free time. All in all, I thought that it was a boring subject filled with hard questions, and “outside of the box thinking.” However, after reading the first few chapters I was really moved by what I was reading. I realized that philosophy wasn’t just a worthless subject; I found it to be quite interesting even though the tough questions were still there. Now as we continue to read Sophie’s World I have found more appreciation to the matter of philosophy and its roots. It was really interesting to read about philosophies beginnings and how it ties into almost every aspect of our lives, from nature to how we got to living on this planet that we call Earth. I also realized that philosophy is much more than just reading, it’s different from all the other social studies courses. Like Socrates pointed out, discourse and conversations point at the heart of philosophy. All in all, I found Sophie’s World a pleasant gateway to a subject that I was never really interested in due to the fact that my perception of philosophy was quite negative, and when I think about it, I never really gave it a chance to interest me.

iMedia: MGMT's "Time to Pretend"

"Time to Pretend" by MGMT is a great expression of our current generation. MGMT incorporates all the trials and tribulations of our culture and has created a masterpiece reflection of the current youth. The first few lines in “Time to Pretend,” “I'm feeling rough, I'm feeling raw, I'm in the prime of my life. Let's make some music, make some money, find some models for wives” addresses the teen mind and really does a good job of stating what most teenagers think of themselves and their future. Moreover, MGMT tries to express the feeling of invincibility that teens tend to think that they have. After the first few lines, “Time to Pretend” addresses the drug culture that is also prevalent in our society. I’m not saying that this is the 70’s but I’m also not going to say that there are no drugs whatsoever in the teen world. Furthermore, the next few lines tend to reflect on the senior in high school. The song notes about ho teens start to think of their future, their majors, and their professions. Afterward, the song incorporates a more relaxed type of feel as opposed to the stressful days of a teenager. The song notes of the reminiscence process of the early adults and how they look back to their youth and remember their fond childhood memories. Afterwards, “Time to Pretend” goes along a more stoic path which incorporates the overcoming of these memories by continuing to live your life. It seems as if the band is trying to convey a sense of resilience towards the youth by stating that even though things get tough and stuff happens that you did not intend to happen, you must continue to fight and you must continue to overcome otherwise you will just be another lost soul. The ending to “Time to Pretend” is very gloomy because the band almost makes it seem like whatever happens in your life is just destiny and that you have to deal with it no matter what. All in all, “Time to Pretend” is a song that tries to convey the meaning of living. Its best if you live each day at a time, otherwise life will fly by and you will miss a lot of memorable events that occur during your youth years and I think this song is just trying to reinstall that notion.

LINK: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/m/mgmt/time_to_pretend.html
(This link provides the lyrics as well as the music video from Youtube)

Blogging Around: Jason Lee and J.T. Kim

Jason Lee:

I liked how you used the dialectic between immigrants preventing Americans from getting jobs or are immigrants the ones that keep our economy flowing. Furthermore, I liked how you asked follow up questions. I think that they were very helpful and thought provoking. All in all, I felt like your blog was very informative and I was able to see the immigrant issue thru another perspective.

J.T. Kim:

I really agree with what you had to say about the whole car point of view.I liked how you went so in depth with the whole idea that cars have evolved from primarily transportation utilities to more comfortable,more personal objects. I also liked how you compared life with no cars. I totally agree that life would be a lot more complicated and normal,everyday tasks like going to the supermarket would be a lot more time consuming.

360 Degree Thinking: Cellphones

It was sunday night around 10P.M. and i was in a bit of a pickle. I knew I had to complete some homework for some classes but I just could not remember from which classes and what the actual assignment was. Needless to say I was in "desperation mode." I realized that my only option was this small rectangular like object called a cellphone. I sent out some texts to various friends who are in some of my classes and within minutes I knew what the homework was. I finished my homework and just then, I realized what big of a blow I had dodged. I realized that without my cellphone I would have been left to contemplate what my homework was and needless to say that would have been helpless. I noticed that my cellphone really saved me in my perdicament, and i started to think more deeply on how life would be like without a cellphone. What would I have done if I had no cellphone? What would other people do? I came to the conclusion that a cellphone is more than an object used to keep in touch with friends and family. No. It can be way, way more than that. Cellphones can be used to aid others and to keep you company, while on the other hand cellphones in more drastic situations cellphones can be used as lifesavers. I realized that a lot of us take our cellphones for granted since we are really fortunate but that little dilemma that I was stuck with forced me to think about the "what if's" in my situation. Aside from that, cellphones can also be used for business. It amazing how many buisnessman and woman own Blackberry's now-a-days. Thye make business a lot more practical and a lot more efficient. In general, cellphones have completely revolutionzed the world that we live in and I think that in the future cellphones will be used for more tasks and functions and who knows what they will be able to do. Soon, I think we will be asking ourselves, what cant our cellphones do?

Metacognition: Writing Essays

When I begin to write an essay I usually start the process of by brainstorming a few directions that I would be able to take in order to make sense of the topic. Brainstorming allows me to get all my thoughts ready and it also enables me to be more organized in a sense that I won’t need to remember all my thoughts and feelings, rather than write them down. After the brainstorming "session" I usually tend to think of many ideas for my body paragraphs. When I think, I try to allow myself to be able to go in several directions at the same time. This helps me flow through the essay because I do not get stuck with just one thought; rather I am able to continuously have thoughts running thru my brain just in case there is a dead end in one particular direction. I feel that this method of thinking allows me to maximize my writing ability in that I don’t have a set direction as to where to go, instead I choose the direction when the time comes allowing me to focus more on the sentences that I write in the present state of mind. Aside from this, I also like to take some time to re-read what I wrote down in order to add onto my essay because at times, I feel like I skip some thoughts and by re-reading the essay I am able to add those thoughts into my essay. Although these methods have proven worthy for me, I do feel, however that some of these methods need changing. Well, not so much changing, instead revision. Since I don’t do an outline first, my thoughts take time to establish and put down on paper. I’m not going to lie, this section of the essay takes a GIGANTIC amount of time. Nonetheless, I'm usually able to complete this section fairly easily even though it does take a lot of time to think up of what directions to take in the essay. On the other hand, I really like the idea that I do not have to set my thoughts and directions in stone. I like the fact that my thoughts can be changed and if I do in fact change something it will not cause me to restart the whole paragraph or even worse the whole essay.

Best of Week: Imagination in Writing

"Facts can evoke emotion.... It's a wonderful, sometimes immensely useful tool that helps give me something to write about. But without the transforming force of the imagination, the result is only the information" (Andrea Barrett.) While we only touched upon this topic briefly in class, I think that this statement is very important to me and my writing style. I can remember writing my research paper in junior year after having tons and tons of research and information and when I was re-reading it I realized that something was missing. Here I am stating every fact possible but something did not seem right. After re-reading my paper again I realized that I had not even inserted my thoughts and feelings regarding the topic at hand. Without my opinion, I realized my paper had become dull and boring to read. There was no imagination, no thinking on my part. I realized I had to include my own opinion into the paper to make it interesting and fun to read, otherwise the research paper would just end up being a bunch of facts that by themselves serve no good. This is why the statement above by Andrea Barrett had such a profound effect on me. It made me realize that no matter how good your paper is, if it doesn’t have your own insight and your own imagination then that paper will end up really dull and it will not be a pleasure to read.

It Matters: Iraqi Oil Surplus and U.S. Deficit

At the very last minutes of class, Mr. Allen made a statement which had me startled for the upcoming hours after school. Mr. Allen noted that even though Iraq was in the middle of the war with the U.S. they are still making a lot of money. $79 billion to be exact. I was astonished to hear this because to me, it seemed like Iraq was far worser off than the U.S. When I arrived home, I decided to do a little reasearch on this matter to see if the numbers were correct because it was just to unbelievable to believe. I came upon the site, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23578542/ and realized, that to my astonshiment the numbers were absolutely correct. Iraq achieved a mind boggling $79 billion surplus. Most of this surplus came from oil porduction, but I was also angered to see that some of that money was coming from the taxpayers' pockets. I felt betrayed. How could our government give our money to Iraq when we (U.S.) are in a $500 billion deficit? Well, it's not actually my money since I'm not paying taxes but I do feel bad for the people who are having to pay taxes to support this "criminal activity". However all things are not bad and infuriating. I realized that with the money, Iraq is becoming a more stable country. Furthermore, the overall state of the country is improving. Schools are being built, people are building streets, food is prevalent in most cities and the people of Iraq are beginning to live a better lifestyle. I hope for the best for the people in Iraq because they have truly went through a lot of trials and tribulations. All in all, although I feel cheated that the governemnt is taking taxpayers' money I feel good that they are actually using it for a good cause.

The site that I used to research the topic at hand was:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23578542/

Change of Mind: Susan Sontag

At first glance the essay by Susan Sontag stood out to me. I only had to read the first few paragraphs to get her feelings across to me. After reading the article I realized that Sontag's writing had a very negative vibe throughout the whole essay. I sensed this negative vibe when she referred to the terrorists who plotted the whole 9/11 attacks as courageous. Sontag also points out that the U.S. was the real coward. Sontag goes on to remark that, "... it might be more aptly applied to those who kill from beyond the range of retaliation, high in the sky..." referring to the U.S. as cowards for dropping bombs from planes in the sky. Furthermore, Sontag, acting like a muckraker, goes on to bash the U.S. on how bad our president is and how American politicians are nothing more than hypocritical liars. After reading all this, I found the statements made by Sontag disrespectful and insulting to Americans and I especially felt bad for the people who have been directly affected by the horrific acts on 9/11.

Now after much re-reading and thinking I believe that Sontag is trying to provoke a response from her readers. I think that Susan Sontag wrote his article in a specific manner in order to really irritate and anger people so that her readers actually take a stand and do something about the dilemma. Sontag is trying to appeal to the reader on an emotional level in order to get her readers to change the current situation so that this horrific tragedy never occurs again. Lastly, Sontag uses a variety of events that transpired in the aftermath of 9/11 in order to get her message across emotionally.