Lost and Around

TV Tolkenism: Fringe

2012-03-04T21:56:00.000-06:00

In our class American Studies we've been talking about the idea of "TV Tolkenism". Our teacher has formulated the thesis that on the majority of network dramas minority characters are just used to create diversity, but are never really seen as the main characters. A show that I picked out to support this thesis was Fringe.

Click HERE to view a video clip of the show. Below is a screen shot from part of the video.

-Fringe is a FOX drama about a group of scientists and FBI agents that work together in order to solve crimes in a special unit of the government called the "Fringe Division." They solve crimes that involve theoretical areas of science. Basically that means crimes that are on the "fringe" of reality, they don't seem like they're possible.

-The show centers on a white male, Peter and his crazy scientist father, Walter. In this scene, Walter (center) is walking with Agent Broyles (left) and Astrid (right). Agent Broyles is the head of Fringe Division and he is a very serious, play by the rules character. Astrid is the quiet assistant to Walter that reigns in his insanity.

-The most exciting character by far in this scene to watch is Walter. He draws attention by the way he talks and carries himself. He is a character with a complicated relationship with his son and past. Agent Broyles and Astrid are not complicated characters. They are there to help Walter and you don't know
too much about their personal lives.

Singing To A Different Tune

2012-01-29T18:04:00.000-06:00

This weekend I finally got to watch the movie Moulin Rouge! with my friend, which I had been looking forward to doing for awhile. The movie is sort of a musical about love, however the majority of the music is remixes of 20th century songs. At first, I didn't like the mix of the old time period setting of the movie (it is set in Paris 1900) and new music, but I came to love it because the songs were all so different from their originals it worked.
I decided to analyze some of the differences between the song Roxanne by The Police and the song El Tango De Roxanne that was in the movie. I cut both of the songs to about a minute long so you can watch and see the differences. The second song takes a bit longer to get to the singing part, but I thought it was necessary to keep the beginning part because it adds to your understanding of the song.

Both songs are describing a story about a man who falls in love with a prostitute. However I think that El Tango De Roxanne, although it is the remix of the orignal song by The Police, it captures the emotions of the situation better than the original did. As explained in the beginning of the tango, "When love is for the highest bidder there can be no trust...jealousy will drive you mad." He explains how you can never trust that a prostitute loves you because their job is to make men think they love them. Also you will feel extreme jealousy because they will have to sleep with other men. He is singing to warn the listener against falling in love with a prostitute because it will only "drive you mad."
The tango song from Moulin Rouge demonstrates the anger and frustration that the man would feel perfectly. The background music is sharp and full of tension. The main male singer uses a raspy, guttural voice that sounds more like growling than singing. The dancing is quick and precise with movements that are both passionate and violent. Every part of the video demonstrates the internal battle between the love and anger the man feels. In comparison, the other song Roxanne has a relatively slow tempo with the chords in the chorus almost seeming upbeat and happy. The video is just one of the band performing that doesn't really add anything to the song.

What do you think of the two different versions of the song? Do you notice any other differences between the two videos? Would you agree that one portrays the story better than the other? Why or why not?

A Sort Of Meta-Post

2012-01-15T18:42:00.000-06:00

I've been putting off writing my meta-post for awhile simply because writing about my own writing didn't seem very appealing to me. As students at New Trier, we've had to do similar reflections on our writing every year. We've had to do our "writing portfolio" and basically write an essay about previous essays we've written in the year and how we'd improved and grown as writers. I've never particularly enjoyed writing about my own writing and that might come from the fact that I don't like being wrong, so I have a hard time admitting that I've made mistakes.
However, I think the real reason I have trouble reflecting on my own writing is because I'm not extremely interesting in improving or changing the way that I write. I'm not saying that I think I'm a perfect writer so there is nothing to improve, I don't believe that at all. I do think there is a lot I could learn to do in order to improve my writing. The problem is I'm not interested in writing. I don't enjoy writing because I feel like I'm better at getting my point across if I talk to someone rather than writing it down and having them read it. So for me, the only reason I want to improve the way that I write is to get a better grade. Which I know is awful, and I probably shouldn't admit that to my teachers, but I feel like I should be honest. Because I want to change that. I want to want to get better at writing because I used to love writing when I was a kid and I want to love it again.
So now I'll bring this all back to how it relates to blogging. I think that my blogs are better when I write about my opinions and feeling on a topic. I'm more expressive when I'm passionate about the topics. I always get frustrated because I'll have ideas about things I want to write about on my blog, but I can't write about them unless I find a text or some piece of evidence to relate my points to. I feel limited by this because sometimes I can't find a piece of evidence and then therefore can't write a blog post about what I wanted to. Although I do understand that having evidence really helps argue your point and make it stronger, like in the various posts where I have a video or a picture I'm analyzing the reader can really follow along with what I'm saying, I would still like more freedom with what I can write about. I think with more freedom I'd want to improve my writing because I would be passionate about my writing.
I think that myself, as well as others, would benefit if we didn't always having to write a blog post with the standard claim, evidence, explanation format. I know it's important to practice our skills writing in that style, but I also believe that there are other ways to get your opinion across and everyone has a different way that they do that best. Sometimes I would just like to post a poem I wrote and maybe explain why I wrote it or possibly write the beginning page of a book and see if people like it. For others, being able to post a rap they wrote or the painting they created and talk about it would be a great way to practice their writing and have it be about something they love. I think people would find it easier to log on and write a blog post every week if there was more freedom in the way they wrote their blog. I want to want to blog, but I'm having difficulty finding inspiration.
I'm sorry this is a lot to read, but I wanted to get my point across. As I said earlier, I'm better at writing when I'm passionate about the topic. If my teachers don't believe that I fulfilled the requirement for my meta-post I'd be happy to write another one. The assignment was to read previous blog posts and reflect on your writing and this was all inspired by my frustration with my blog posts.

IAIN BAXTER&

2012-01-13T22:20:00.000-06:00

This post is also inspired by my trip to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and focuses on a man named Iain Baxter, or really I should say IAIN BAXTER& since he legally changed his name to include the capital letters and the &. He added the & to his name because he believes that art and life are about connectivity.

Photo taken from his exhibit at MCA.

After learning about IAIN BAXTER& and his obsession with the symbol & I decided to research it a little bit. I found that the & symbol was actually called the ampersand. The & symbol used to be the 27th letter of the alphabet so children would end saying "and, per se, and" which means "&, meaning, and." The part got mixed together to create the word ampersand.

Although I found learning about the creation of the & symbol interesting, I was mostly fascinated with Iain's idea about it's importance. "And" is the word that we used everyday all the time in all languages. Not only does it connect words together in the literal sense, it also connects ideas and people. I can't imagine where we'd be without this important word that often seems insignificant and small. I probably wouldn't even want to count the number of times I've used the word in this blog post, let alone how many times I say it in a day. I think it's important to recognize the little things that keep our language together like the word "and". People tend to focus on how to make a piece of writing sound good with multiple adjectives when sometimes all you need is just a simple way for everything to connect to make a good piece of writing.

If you want more information about IAIN BAXTER& you can visit the MCA website to watch a video of him explaining his work. Click HERE

What do you think the importance of the word "and" is? How do you think you're life would be different without this word? What do you think about the & symbol connecting the world?

It's Not For Women

2012-01-13T20:32:00.000-06:00

So recently as I was watching commercials today I remembered a funny Dr. Pepper commercial I had seen awhile back. Basically the commercial is about how a new Dr. Pepper drink called TEN because it has only ten calories in it is for men only. The commercial is very openly sexist, but I think that is almost to it's benefit. Watch the commercial below and see what you think.

The commercial starts off in a forest where a battle is happening and guns firing everyone. The main man of the commercial, says to the camera, "Hey ladies, enjoying the film? Of course not." Even the first few lines are playing off the stereotypes that men like action-packed thriller movies, while women only prefer romantic comedies. The whole commercial plays off of stereotypes like this, but in a way it works. The commercial is something new, bold, and fresh. People watch endless amounts of commercials a day, so it is important for a company to make one that stands out.
I'm sure the commercial generated tons of publicity and talk for the drink after the commercial was released because it hits on issues of gender stereotypes. Also, it is found that men don't like to drink "diet" drinks because they don't find it manly. Only women go on diets, while men work out and don't need to. So the commercial takes the essentially "diet" drink with only ten calories and makes it seem manly and exclusive. The video alludes to the fact that only men can handle this new drink. It appeals to the male audience very well.
At first I was annoyed by this because I thought it was odd they were seeming to exclude women from their marketing techniques. It didn't make sense why a company would want to get rid of half their costumer population. However as I thought about it more, I thought that this commercial also in a way targets women. Women always are looking for ways that they can prove themselves to be just as strong as men in the world. So then women purchase this drink that supposedly only men can. Overall, I thought it was a entertaining, effective commercial.

What do you think of the commercial? Is the audience really only limited to men? How does the commercial use gender stereotypes to its' advantage? Or do you think it's a disadvantage?

Jesus Vs. Religion Video

2012-01-11T21:55:00.000-06:00

Today I noticed a video that kept popping up on my Facebook feed so I finally decided to watch it. Basically it is a man who wrote a poem to express his views on religion and jesus. The poem itself contains a very beautiful and strong message. Although there are a lot of aspects of religion I don't understand, I do think that this man has a point. I would suggest you watch the video linked below before reading on.

"See the problem with religion is that it never gets to the core. It's just behavior modification, like a long list of chores. Like let's dress up the outside, make it look nice and neat, but its funny, thats what they used to do to mummies while the corpse rots underneath."

His message is basically that Jesus is better to follow than religion itself. In his description under the video he writes that "Religion either ends in pride or despair." He means that either you accomplish the "behavior modifications" and standards of how you should live as dictated by the church, or you fail to follow them. Even when you succeed you are filled with pride, which is a sin. And if you fail you feel as if you are not worthy enough for God. Either way you are like the mummies, you look "nice" because you are trying but you are "rot underneath" because you are still unhappy.

However, Jesus makes people happy because "He represents you...and His sacrifice is perfect putting us in perfect standing with god!" I think what he means by this is that we don't have to worry about getting into God's good graces because Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for us and released us from that duty. As he says in the video "Because when Jesus said IT IS FINISHED, I believe he meant it." The "it" is the struggle for trying to live a sin-free life and win God's graces. He made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could live our lives however we chose. The struggles was finished, but today with religion we still act as if it is not.

What do you think of the idea that Jesus is greater than religion? Are people freed from their responsibilities because of Jesus's actions? Do you agree with the way he portrays religion as a "list of chores"? Feel free to comment on any part of the video that strikes you.

Is the Glass Half Empty or Half Full?

2012-01-08T19:05:00.000-06:00

Over winter break I visited the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago with my family. I was skeptical of the artwork at first. I don't tend to understand how a painting of a green square can be considered a high value piece of art. Even though I don't quite understand or like contemporary art all the time, there was one painting that caught my attention.

The painting is by an american artist Jo Baer. It was painted in 1967 and simply called Untitled. The painting is of two boxes outlined with two borders, one black one red, and a white center.

At first, I didn't understand the painting and was about to ignore it write it off as just another "green square" painting with no meaning. However, when I read the description the painting made much more sense. The painter is basically asking the question: Is the white part of this painting EMPTY or FULL? The center does have white paint covering it, but white is often connected with emptiness. When I first observed the painting I thought of it as having a blank, empty middle. Upon further reflection I realized that the border almost is signifying that the middle area is important or else there wouldn't be a frame, making me think that the center is full.

What do you think of this painting? Is the center full or empty? What do you think the artist thought of the center? Would you consider this a "good" piece of artwork?

Pizza Is A Vegetable?

2011-11-20T22:05:00.000-06:00

Recently around the internet I've been seeing a lot of jokes and comment about Congress making pizza count as a vegetable. At first I dismissed it because I didn't think it could possibly be true. However as the joke came up again on Saturday Night Live I decided to check it out. It turns out there is some legitimacy to the joke. You can read about it in the article attached HERE.

Basically, Congress wants to keep pizza and french fries on school lunch menus in order to help schools regulate costs. The Obama administration is trying to take "unhealthy" foods out of schools and by doing so they would need to place more restrictions on the types of foods allowed in schools. Some people argue that the government shouldn't be able to tell them what foods they can't serve and that since money in schools is so tight, demanding schools to pay more for "healthier" foods is unreasonable. The idea is that if pizza and french fries count as vegetables, schools can cut costs for foods.

According to the article Pizza As A Vegetable? Congress Proposes New School Lunch Bill (as attached above), "School meals that are subsidized by the federal government must include a certain amount of vegetables, and USDA's proposal could have pushed pizza-makers and potato growers out of the school lunch business." Food companies have lobbied congress to not allow these restrictions to pass.

I understand that the government is trying to find a balance between schools budgets and healthy food choices for kids, but I don't think that that is necessarily their job. I think that this is a responsibility for each state to figure out a solution for within their own boundaries. Every state has a different economical and health situation, so I think it is impossible to find regulations on food in schools that will benefit every situation.

How much power do you think the government should have over food in schools? Should pizza and french fries be counted as vegetables? Should the of the students health be sacrificed because of lack of money?

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

2011-11-20T18:20:00.001-06:00

This blog post was inspired by the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind that I watched a few weekends ago. I would highly recommend the movie. It is beautifully filmed and stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet as Joel and Clementine, a couple in love. However the main idea of the movie and what I want to focus on in this post is the importance of memories. The movie has two quotes in it that address this topic and that I wanted to figure what they meant exactly.

The first was a quote by Friedrich Nietzsche:

"Blessed are the forgetful: for they get the better even of their blunders."

The second was a quote from Alexander Pope:

"How happy is the blameless vestal's lot

The world forgetting by the world forgot

Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind

Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd."

     The quotes both express the idea that "ignorance is bliss." In the first quote, forgetful people are lucky because they don't remember the bad things they've done. They only remember the good parts even of their "blunders", or mistakes.
     The second quote is longer and a bit more complicated to understand. In the first line, a "vestal" means a chaste or pure woman and "blameless" means innocent since the woman hasn't done anything. She is happy in her innocence and purity. The second line refers to the fact that the woman does not have wordly concerns. She doesn't worry about the world and it doesn't worry about her because they have forgotten about each other. The third line is probably my favorite because I think it is just beautifully worded and it is the title of the movie. It basicaly says that the mind that is clear of bad memories, "spotless", is the happiest since it is in "eternal sunshine." The last line is saying that the woman's prayers for forgetting her problems have been answered and now she has no more wishes. She is completely happy now since she has forgotten her sins.
     Although both quotes seem to express that forgetting the bad in your life makes you happy, the movie overall disagreed with this message. The characters seek to forget certain bad relationships in their past and are able to undergo a procedure that completely wipes away their memory of that relationship. In the end, they fall in love with the same people again and slowly uncover that this is the second time that they've been in a relationship. Some characters find that they didn't want to forget their past completely because then they would lose their good memories as well. Others learned that they didn't want to forget their past because they hated the fact that they made the same mistake twice.
     From this movie I have come to believe that though ignorance may be bliss, we are better in the end if we remember our mistakes and learn from them.
Do you think that ignorance is bliss? How do you interpret the above quotes? Would people be better if we could forget the bad in our lives?

Make Love, Not War

2011-10-23T21:45:00.000-05:00

This week during dance we were given an assignment to bring in a picture that inspired us. The goal was to look at all the pictures as a class and ultimately chose one to create a dance about. Below is one of the pictures that a girl brought in.

To be honest, at first, I didn't really like this picture. All I saw was a couple making out on the ground and a man nearly blocking the view of them. However, as we discussed the picture further and I learned about the context the picture was taken in, I slowly started to love the photo more and more.

This is a picture taken during the riots that broke out after the Vancouver Canucks hockey team was defeated by the Boston Bruins in a championship game. The women in the photo got trampled by the crowds and broke her ankle. Her boyfriend decided to kiss her and comfort her.

The first reason that I like this picture is because it is a candid shot. It was obviously not posed and the actions depicted in it were spur-of-the-moment and full of truthful passion. I also like all the contrast in the photo. There are contrasts in the colors-the police officers wearing black, and the couple in lighter colors. There are contrasts in levels-the police are all standing vertical, while the couple is lying down horizontally. All of these visuals contrast highlight and reinforce the overall idea of love versus war. The couple is unknowingly making a very strong statement about how we should always try to find some love and kindness amidst all of the violence and hatred in the world today. In a way they are demonstrating that love is more powerful than hate because it prevailed throughout the chaos of this event.

What do you think about this picture? What ideas does it inspire in you? What else do you notice in the picture?

The First Loser

2011-10-16T19:30:00.000-05:00

My dad jokingly said at dinner one night that I always had to remember that, "Second place is the first loser." At the time, I just thought it was really funny because technically it was true. Everyone that finishes after the winner has lost the race, whatever the race may be.

However last week in one of my classes, American Studies, we started talking about America and its need to be the best at everything and the idea popped into my head again. Second place is the first loser. I started thinking about how often the idea of "winning" or being "the best" at something came up in our lives. At nearly everything people try to be better than their competitors. Whether its at work, at school, or even when your with friends, everyone wants to be the best. We constantly try to one-up each other or even go as far as to downplay someone else's achievements to make ourselves feel better. No one wants to be mediocre.

Although this constant competition in our lives can get ugly, as jealousy and bad-sportsmanship often come with it, I'm not sure if it is necessarily a bad thing. Where would our society be if everyone just strived to be mediocre? If people didn't have a competitive drive, we wouldn't have nearly as many advancements and creations that we do today. Of course one could say that without competition people could learn to self motivate-do the best they can because they want to. I don't think this would work very well because many people simply can't self motivate. Overall, I think the need to be number one is a good trait in people.

Is competition among peers a good or bad thing? Where would our society be without the constant fight to be the best?

Eye Contact: The Unwritten Eye Contract

2011-10-09T16:48:00.002-05:00

Today my mom wanted to go buy a coke from Walgreens, but she made me walk with her so we could also take the dog on a short walk. I'd wait outside the store with our dog, while she went shopping for her caffeine fix of the day. As I sat outside, an old man who was selling magazines outside the store starting talking to me about my dog. I answered all of his questions he had about my dog and also listened to his stories of the various dogs he had growing up.

Sitting there for awhile, I noticed that each time someone came out of the store he'd tell them something like "Have a nice day" or "Good afternoon", and each time he was ignored by everyone that passed by. No one even bothered to look him in the eye or nod, they just stared at the ground or straight ahead as they passed. This started to bother me immensely because obviously this nice old man did not deserve to be completely ignored by others. He was simply wishing them a good day and they couldn't even acknowledge him or say thanks. As I left the store with my mom, I continued to think about the way everyone treated this man and I realized it is actually very common in our society.
People always try to avoid eye contact with people they view as lesser than them. When you go to the grocery store, no one really looks at the woman who is behind the check out counter or the man putting your groceries in a bag. You keep your attention focused on the monitor with the prices on it or your food as it passes through the scanner. Some may argue that they don't wish to make eye contact because it would be uncomfortable since you don't know the person well enough. Though this is a valid point, I don't believe that to be the true reasons for avoiding eye contact.

When you make eye contact with someone for a long amount of time, you are saying with your eyes that you are equals with that person. Since they deserve your undivided eye attention for a few minutes, they deserve your respect. If you avoid making eye contact with someone, it can say two things. Either you are giving them the power in the relationship, signaling that you are too afraid of them to hold their gaze. Or you are saying that you are too important to make the time to look the person in the eye. Eye contact can tell us a lot about the relationships between people and who holds more of the power.

Do you agree that people avoid making eye contact with those they think are lesser than them? Why do we avoid eye contact with people? What does eye contact say about the relationships in your life?

Fat People Don't Deserve Love?

2011-10-02T22:19:00.001-05:00

This friday in dance class our teacher decided to skip dancing for the day and do an activity she had been wanting to do for while. She handed us each a sheet of paper and a pen and asked us to write about how it felt to have a body. She wanted us to describe about how we felt as women about our bodies and how we felt the world made us feel about our bodies. After writing down our thoughts she showed a book she had found this summer (I wish I remember the name of the book, but I can't so I'll find out later). The book had a picture of a woman on each page and then a short paragraph or two about how that woman felt about her body. Some of them describe how various illnesses had affected them, how they felt like their body was in constant inner turmoil.

One story stuck out to me the most. It was the story of a woman that was very large. She talked about how when she would walk down the street people would give her disapproving looks or make rude comments. They would look at her and think that she had no self control or willpower and that was the reason that she was so fat. It was simply her own fault for not being able to control herself. The most striking thing she said was that a lot of people think that "fat people don't deserve love."

To be honest I find a lot of truth in her words. Often times when I see people that are obese I tend to think that it is a lifestyle choice in a way. They chose to eat too much food, they chose to not excercise, and therefore it is entirely their fault that they look the way they do. However, now I see that there is a lot of fault in that line of thinking. Everyone has very different genetic types and some make it easier to maintain a small figure than others. People can do little to change things like their metabolism rate, which has a great affect on body weight. Twenty people can run a mile and it will have a completely different affect on each and every persons body. We need to learn to be more accepting of different body types and not prematurely judge people based on how they look.

Do you think women face more difficulties with their bodies? Why do you think we judge people based on their body types?

Um So Like Ya...

2011-09-25T21:34:00.001-05:00

So I was sitting in class this week and I was like listening to people talk, you know, about uh their opinions on stuff that the teacher had asked about. And then this one girl raised her hand and was like saying all this stuff but I like could barely even pay attention to what she was saying because like all I heard was the word like. And then um this other guy raised his hand and it was like all I heard was him saying the word um. Isn't that annoying?
This week I decided to count the number of times people said "like" while we were having a class discussion. I counted a total of 179 unnecessary likes before I gave up and decided I couldn't count anymore. I started to think about all the times that I say "like" or "um" during the day, and I have to admit I say those words a lot. My parents always try to remind me not to say like as much and I never understood why until I listened to the way people talked in school. I found that when people used words such as like or um it was extremely distracting. Their thoughts were broken up by the words and it also made their opinion seem less valid. If they had to make constant pauses while talking, their opinion did not seem as strong or as well thought out as those who did not need pauses to collect their thoughts.

Interestingly enough, the same day that I counted likes my teacher talked briefly about the word "um" during class. He mentioned how some one had thought at first that the word "um" was used by people because everyone had such a vast vocabulary of words that they were pausing to try and chose the perfect one. After further research however he changed his idea of the word "um." He decided that the word, put simply, meant "shut up." It's a way for a person speaking to let the listener know that they are not done talking. Even if they pause to take a breath or think, they'll say um so that the listener knows they're not allowed to start talking yet because they still have more to say. I thought this was interesting and also very true. It started me thinking on what I thought the meaning of the word like was when people used it unnecessarily. There are two ways that I would describe the ways people use it. People use the word like when explaining what someone said, "She was like 'I don't want to eat that.'" It's substituted in for the word "said." Another way is when people are not sure of something, "Can you pick me up at like 5?" They don't know if they want to be picked up at five exactly or perhaps after, hence the "like" is added.
Overall, I understand that its hard not to use these words, but I think its a bad habit that everyone should try to break. Used in moderation these words can make sense, but otherwise they are can be frustrating to the listener.
What do you think are other possible meanings of the words like and um? Can you think of any other words we use too often?

The Meaning Of Life

2011-09-18T16:26:00.000-05:00

This morning as I was eating breakfast, I reached across my kitchen counter to grab the only part of the newspaper I ever read, the comics section. Skimming through to find the comics I like to read the best, I landed upon Broom-Hilda. A picture of the comic is attached below as well as what the characters say in case anyone has trouble reading the picture.

"Irwin I'm trying to develop a philosophy of life. A phrase thats sums up everything in a neat little handbasket of words.

Something applicable under any condition.

The key to life in a nutshell"
(Broom-Hilda).
"Yawn. I'm going to get something to eat" (Irwin).

"That's IT!" (Broom-Hilda).

At first I just enjoyed the joke implied by the comic, that the "key to life" is "going to get something to eat." I eat all the time because I swim a lot and need a constant flow of food to keep my body healthy during swim season. I absolutely love food, so the idea that the point of life was to simply eat was quite amusing and appealing at the same time. However as I thought more about the comic while finishing my breakfast, I realized there was some truth to it.
The majority of our lives is centered around one thing and one thing only, food. Its not just a way of sustaining life, its a thing we use for comfort, entertainment, religion, and creativity. There are new tv shows being created everyday centered entirely around food that people love. I know, I myself have spent countless hours watching shows on the Food Network Channel. Also, different religions and cultures are very specific about the foods that they eat and cook daily. If someone goes to church there are times you'll be ask to eat and drink bread and wine. However its not simply just bread and wine, it represents the blood and body of Christ. Furthermore, even most holidays are centered around food. Thanksgiving has turkey, Christmas has ham, and Halloween gets all the candy. On a simply a daily basis eating is important to every culture. Meals are a time in which everyone must stop what they are doing for awhile, relax, and usually converse with friends or family.
Food means many things to many different people and since its such a normal part of our daily existence its sometimes hard to notice the impact it has on us. Eating has become much more than just simple activity needed to sustain life. Our entire lives revolve around food.
So is eating food a good philosophy to life? Does it sum it up in a nice little handbasket? I think the key to life in a nutshell is that we need to go eat food.

The Need To Be Green

2011-09-11T20:42:00.000-05:00

For some reason I have been having been having extreme difficulties trying to think of a way to start this post. I have gone through about a million different ways to phrase it, and it never seems to turn out right. So finally I've decided to just write and see where it takes me.
This morning my mom sent me a text telling me to "Come outside and get some sun." So I picked up my homework, brought it outside, and sat on a bench in my backyard to finish it. I felt proud, like I had bettered myself today by simply making a choice to step outside. This feeling got me thinking and I wondered, why nature made me feel better about myself. Why did more "natural" things in general make Americans feel better about themselves? I decided to focus on the food industries change to be more natural.

Everywhere you looks nowadays, people are changing to try and be more "natural" with their food. In grocery stores there are large organic food sections. Even the normal food sections in the store feature newer, "healthier" options. Frito Lay chips for example now display their "All Natural Ingredients"stamp on the front of all their bags. Also Sara Lee now has "Whole Grain White" bread, containing "No High Fructose Corn Syrup." The bread still looks the same, but contains none of the ingredients though to be unhealthy anymore. Although the ingredients are changing to become more natural, all the labels insist that everything still contains the "Same Great Taste!"Its not just the ingredients that are changing, its also the labeling. More shades of green, brown, and blue are appearing as the dominant colors in packaging.

Its unclear exactly when everything started changing and why. I think that with all the technology surrounding us today people have started feel uncomfortable with it. We live surrounded by artificial things (air, food, chemicals, etc.) everything is processed over and over again before it finally get to us, the consumers. People have started doubt the quality of the products we receive through this long process. With new organic products, people find they trust nature more to make their food great, not machinery and chemicals. Many people prefer to get their fruits and vegetables from farmers markets because then they know their food was produced naturally. Consumers feel better about themselves when they purchase more natural foods because it is now seen to be the smarter choice.
What do you think about this change to more natural food sources? Where else can you see examples of this need to be more green?

Set The Fire To The Third Bar

2011-09-05T21:44:00.003-05:00

This weekend I was hanging out with my friend in her room. We were talking and listening to her very vast music collection. The song Set The Fire To The Third Bar came on and I realized I had heard it before, like it, but had never known the title of it to be able to look it up. I asked my friend what the title of the song was and I have been listening to it since. I checked out the music video and felt it does an amazing job at enhancing the emotions of sadness and longing expressed in the song.

The video starts out with two different rooms, one black and one white. There is a woman in the black room and a man in the white room, however both are wearing the color black. Already you can tell strong choices have been made based on the simple but definite colors; the artists want you to know that these are two very separate rooms. There is a one-way glass mirror in between the two rooms. The woman is able to see the man throughout the song, but he is not able to see her. Also, she is occasionally in his room as well as her own, but she seems slightly opaque when she is in her room, as if she is not truly there.
The song is describing the pain of losing someone you love. More specifically, the pain of knowing that you will never be able to be with them again. In this case, the woman is in the black room (to symbolize her being dead) and the man is in the white room (to show he is still alive). Both the man and the woman are wearing black, demonstrating that their both mourning the loss of the one that they love. The entire video expresses the struggle that neither of them can be with the other. The one-way glass is the most obvious display of that. A very powerful moment in the video is when they are both looking into it; the man is longing to see her again and the woman is yearning to be seen by him. Their hands and faces are so close, but can never truly touch because of the glass. Furthermore, there is a time when the man is trying to touch her fingers on the table, but they are just beyond reach. And later, the woman is standing next to the man but he never turns and looks her in her direction. All these instances demonstrate their need and also inability to be together. The irony of the lyrics is interesting as well. They say "I'm miles from where you are", yet technically their rooms are adjacent to one another. They are separated only by the extreme difference of life and death. Finally at the end of the video, the woman walks out of her room. This is showing how she is letting go of him, so that he can move on with his life.
Overall, it is a beautifully sad song that anyone who has lost a loved one can relate to.
Here is a link for a full view of the lyrics: http://www.metrolyrics.com/set-the-fire-to-the-third-bar-lyrics-snow-patrol.html
Do you agree with the message this video is trying to send? Do you agree with my interpretation of the video?