Blog #4 make-up (I was absent the day we did this)

Musicians and the concept of “selling out” - MIA’s Superbowl Halftime appearance:
This article is entirely opinion based. I chose this article because I remember seeing a movie called "Slumdog Millionaire" and the main theme song for that movie was called "Paper Planes" by MIA. I really liked this song so I knew that this article sparked my interest because I knew it dealt with MIA and I wanted to see another persons perspective of her because all I know of her is that she has an accent when she speaks English and her song Paper Planes was very popular. This article mentions during the Superbowl halftime show, MIA stuck up her middle finger to the camera. This making MIA seem like she is not someone that young people should look up to but she does represent a sense of authenticity. I can't really summarize the whole article into a short response, but what I can say is that the author seems to have a deep interest in MIA and her motives. It seems as though MIA's intentions and goals can somehow shift the views of people in terms of artistic vision. This article was very interesting to me as I read and got deeper insight on MIA.


Elie Wiesel challenges Mitt Romney’s Church:
I chose this article because Elie Wiesel is the author of a book called Night. I had read this book last year in literature class and it really stunned me to read about a first person perspective of someone who was suffering in the Holocaust. I think it would be very interesting to read about the life of an author of a Nobel Prize winning book. I would want to see if his motives are still the same. As a nobel prize winner for his book, Elie combated intolerance, in this case the posthumous proxy baptism of Jews. Wiesel seems to have taken a rather serious approach to this conflict. He says he objected fervently to this situation and hopes Mitt Romney will do something about it. I agree with Elie in the sense that the Mormon church is really doing something wrong. I personally believe that everyone should respect each other's religions regardless of what they believe in but what the Mormons are doing with their proxy baptism is an insult to every Jew, Christian, Muslim, etc. On a side note, aside from the proxy baptism I never really took into account the religious differences that Mormons have to other types of Christians (Catholics, Presbyterian, etc). I really hope Wiesel gets his voice heard because this is clearly a very serious case. 


One of the many current national “takes” on New York Knicks basketball star-in-the-making, Jeremy Lin:
Jeremy Lin is a true underdog story. Currently, he is the star of the New York Knicks but before that, he was just another wannabe basketball player. Lin graduated from Harvard University with a 3.1 GPA in Economics. It is true that if he failed his basketball career, he would have still probably succeeded in life but playing basketball was Lin's main goal. Lin played basketball for Harvard and even though he was a good player, he was never drafted after his college career. He was picked up by the Golden State Warriors and did not really stand out because his playing was not phenomenal. He was later traded to the New York Knicks where his true potential started to show. He lead the Knicks on an 8 game win streak and scored more points than Kobe in the game vs the Lakers. Lin is the epitome of a genuine underdog. Lin plays with much professionalism and is never hesitant when he is playing on the court. He makes big plays and does not hesitate in accomplishing them. Hopefully Lin can keep up his success because it is always refreshing to hear a story of a person that went from nothing to the next big thing. 

Blog #5

1. Sophia, the youngest daughter of the Garcia family who has caused an immense amount of problems in the family specifically towards her father. When Sophia was young, she was known as a girl who had non stop boyfriends. Her father Carlos was very ashamed and angry towards Sophia because it shamed the family name. Sophia eventually met a German man named Otto after she broke up with her previous boyfriend while vacationing. They would send each other love letters. These love letters very strongly sexual and Carlos got ahold of them. After reading the letters Carlos got extremely angry and yelled at Sophia. Sophia could not take living with her father anymore and ran away from home. She went to Germany somehow and met up with Otto. They got married and had 2 children. Currently in the story, Sophia is not a young girl anymore. She is a mother now who now makes her won decisions without the consent of her father. Even though Carlos and Sophia tried reconciling their relationship, Sophia made it worse by sexually biting her father's ear embarrassing at his own birthday party. This represented that Sophia was embraced in the American ways of sexual independence.

2. Laura is the perfect example of someone who brings much "positivity" to the story. She comes from a very wealthy family and is very proud of her family name. Even though her four daughters have gone through many problems making circumstances difficult to face, Laura defends her daughters individuality and constantly supports her daughters through their mental breakdowns. Although many problems are prevalent thus far that relate to the daughters problems, Laura shows that there is still good to a story full of negativity. I find it pretty astounding that someone can still make their children out to be great kids even through all the problems that were faced. These daughters are not some ordinary daughters that are faced with problems that many daughters face today. Each daughter as their own story that makes them an individual but the story of each of these daughters are not something to be proud about especially if you are the parent of these children. Laura is a good person at heart and represents a lot of what a good mother should be like.

3. Jeremy Lin is the epitome of one of the most influential stories of an underdog in today's society. Yes, he did graduate from Harvard and majored with a degree in Economics that he could have fell back on if he failed to succeed in the NBA but instead, he worked hard to become a top prospect for the New York Knicks. Jeremy Lin is the first American born Asian-American playing in the NBA. He wasn't even drafted and was originally on the Golden State warriors. He wasn't a necessarily a bad player but he definitely wasn't a good player when he played for the warriors. The warriors dropped him and he was eventually picked up by the Knicks. Lin is a success on the Knicks leading them to beat many defeats including the Lakers. No one really saw much potential in Lin because his first showing in the NBA was not very exciting and lackluster but he worked extremely hard at basketball to become a breakthrough success for the Knicks. I'm sure Lin will continue to work hard at his game and lead his team into the playoffs.

Blog #3

1. Currently woman and men in today's society are represented as equal people. America is a free country in which any person of different gender or ethnicity are treated equally with equal rights. This is all evident through history and the amendments of the constitution. Women play a prominent role in today's society but there are still many stereotypes that exist and will probably stay for a long time. First, woman are sometimes seen as weak women who need men to protect them. In some cases this is true as men tend to be more physically stronger but women definitely have the capabilities of protecting themselves. Women are also seen as the ones in the family who cook and clean for the family (house wife). Once again, in many cases this is true but women are very capable of working and a huge percentage of the work force today consist of women, some of which a women is the leader of that work force. There are also many jokes from shows that portray a women as a person who always talks about their problems and vent their feelings all the time which can seem at most times annoying and bothersome but in reality they just need someone that will listen to them. Men on the other hand are sometimes portrayed as inconsiderate slobs who don't care about a woman's problems but a man who truly loves a woman would take into consideration a woman's feelings and treat her with respect. Some advantages of being a woman are if she gets into a divorce with her husband a law prohibits that a percentage of that mans belongings and money go to that woman so she can provide for herself. This clearly turns into a disadvantage for a man but it is understandable if the man works and the woman doesn't. Overall I think the world has progressed very well and is in a very good place compared to the way woman and men were perceived and treated in the past.

2. If Carlos were posed the first question about who is more impressive Albert Einstein or the Magician with real magic I think Carlos would pick Albert Einstein. Carlos seems like a man of integrity and intelligence. He is a doctor who also is against the dictators leadership. This is a man who knows what is right and wrong. I believe he would think magic is entertaining but he probably knows Albert Einstein's accomplishments are more impressive. In my opinion any educated and sophisticated person would find Einstein's accomplishments more impressive than that of a magician who does real magic.

Blog Post #2

1. Would this person be more impressive than Albert Einstein?
I do not think this person is more impressive than Alber Einstein because unlike Einstein this magician is limited to 5 tricks whereas Albert Einstein came out with equations and theories that apply to everyday life. Magic tricks are cool and if real magic existed it would be entertaining to watch but in my opinion it does not really impress me. The intellectual limits of Albert Einstein are very impressive in the aspect that much of what we learn today in science and math revolve around what he came up with.

5. Would you swallow the pill?
I would swallow the pill because even though music is one of the most important things to me, I would never want anything harmful to come to anyone I cared about especially if I could prevent it. The cost is great because music helps me get through life and I listen to music everyday but when I really care about someone I become selfless and would rather see the ones I care about more happy than I.

7. You are the front page editor of The New York Times: What do you play as the biggest story?
I would put the story about the President undergoing a biopsy on my front page because even though the story about the Lochness Monster and Bigfoot are interesting, as an editor of The New York Times I would seem as if those two articles are not very important and I feel like I would be laughed at by other people that I worked with by posting those on the front page when I should be posting that the President of the United States could have thyroid cancer.

12. How much cash do you give the wizard?
I would not give the wizard any money because I don't really like changing my physical appearance to make myself more attractive. This is why many people get plastic surgery, to be more appealing and I kind of look down on that. I believe people are beautiful the way they are and as cliche and corny as that sounds that is my thought on how people should convey themselves.

16. The next day, you are flipping through television channels and randomly come across a pre-season CFL game between the Toronto Argonauts and the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Knowing your inevitable future, do you now watch it?
I would not watch it because that is definitely not the future I want for myself. Even though it is inevitable that I cannot change my fate I want to enjoy the rest of my life before I become obsessed with Canadian football. I won't to make the most of my life before I start doing something I never want to do.

19. Since you cannot tell your friend the truth, what excuse will you fabricate to explain this (seemingly inexplicable) attack?
I would act like a tripped on them and even though the kick would probably be hard if my friend was sleeping he would probably get mad for a couple seconds that fall back asleep because many times people's minds are very slow if they are awoken while sleeping so my guess would be that my friend be either really mad or too tired to respond to the situation but I wouldn't care as long as my friend is alive I am happy.

20. Which film would you be most interested in seeing?

I think I would be most interested in seeing the Hollywood depiction of my life. I know that the Hollywood depiction will come up with many fake stories and exagerrate many parts of my life but I would find it funny and entertaining to watch a movie about my life that is more appealing to an audience rather than exposing my personal truths and my personal life to everyone.