Can you believe it? This is my last blog ever!!

In our final blog, we have been to analyze our writing over the past year. Well to think about it, that is exactly what we have done. Analyze would be the word of the semester. In all of our writings we have had to analyze something, whether that be the media, a popular icon, or something or someone else. I think that if I have gained anything this semester, it would be that, the ability to analyze. In the beginning it would be moderately difficult for me to come up with ideas and thoughts towards an argument. Towards the end, I took a different approach in writing papers. I cannot really describe it, the only words I can really say is that my perspective towards arguments and analyzing something has changed. I can pick up different and several details that I would not usually see.

To be perfectly honest however, I cannot really admit to gaining any real skill or knowledge when it comes to writing papers. My skill toward my paper writing has improved slightly at best. Also, the reading and assignments did absolutely nothing for my writing and me. I did like the natural progression I had made, which I can correlate to the discussions we had in class. The MLA format has also become second nature, especially when it came to citing things. That was probably the thing I was worst at, and now I can safely say that I have some kind of moderate skill at it. I guess the phrase of the moment is that practice makes perfect. And that is what I have taken and transformed from the beginning of this semester to today.

Final Blog!!

For our final blog, we were required to respond to a reading from our text claiming that “the media machine has become a propaganda organ of the state”. To be perfects honest, I do believe in what the author is trying to say and get across. Actually, I played a videogame for the PlayStation 2 one time and it pretty much said the same thing. But there are defiantly a lot of holes in the story.

The first obvious hole is the article itself. The first thing that came to my mind was that the article’s existence in itself is a contradiction of what it is trying to say. This is defiantly the kind of media that the government does not want to come out, yet, here we are in class, not only reading it but being required to comment and think about it. Not to mention other media outlets besides television and radio. The internet has allowed a much greater freedom of the press in more alternative forms of government. Besides the obvious outlets, the internet has allowed pretty much any and everything to be published for all to see.

The second hole in the article’s argument is that it lacks details. The author makes a lot of outrageous claims that personally I believe, but he lacks details. Not only does he lack specific examples of when the media filters out, (with the exception of the human clone story) he lacks proof. How am I supposed to believe a word of what this person says if I do not see any proof at all?

All in all I think he makes some very good points, but he lacks credibility in his argument to make the hardcore nay-sayer believe him. Thank you and have a nice day.

Blog numba eight

For our latest blog, the question that needed answering was where we got out news from. After a long, hard, look at myself and my news sources, I must say that I am a little ashamed. The places I get my news from are pretty pathetic. The two primary sources of my news are: the Yahoo! front page when I am signing into my email and my bodybuilding forum’s miscellaneous section. With the Yahoo! deal, I pass across it every time I want to check my email. Usually if I see an article I like, I will read it. I actually happen to read a lot of short, small articles that way and seem to get a lot of information that way. They usually publish all of the important articles right away and usually have one or two very interesting articles. With the forums, any thread deemed popular and that is on the front page I will check out.

The Yahoo! front page I believe is pretty credible because they only publish news stories out that are from credible sources. They just don’t put any article out there. With the forums however, I do not think that it is the most reliable of sources.

All in all, even though my personal news feed is defiantly not the most traditional and / or effective way to get my information. But it works for me and if you deem it unsatisfactory I don’t really care! Thank you and have a nice day.

This is my lame title to this blog

Well this blog is supposed to be us talking about our views and reactions towards everyone’s presentations. First of all, I would like to personally thank everyone who took the courage to go first and NOT on the last day like I am haha. You all have given me great examples as to how to do my project! Firstly, I am going to give everyone props for their movie choices, some I have seen, such as The Departed, 40 Year Old Virgin, Star Wars Episode 3. I haven’t seen any Spike Lee movies, nor have I seen that Shopgirl film OR have I seen Any Given Sunday, but after the presentations I really want to go see them all! Any Given Sunday seems like a great movie especially the way it was explained with the main character being too cocky about his own abilities (I am known to get quite the large head from time to time). Sami was hilarious and effected in his presentation about the 40 Year Old Virgin, it made me want to go home and watch it again! Even with the technician difficulties the presentation got its point across. Jillian’s presentation was excellent and very perceptive, I would of never caught those little nuances in the film and how they portray a deeper meaning and symbolism, not in a million years! And Megan has pretty much convinced me to go see some Spike Lee movies, if not at least do some research, for I have heard a lot about him but not really known anything about it. And the way she was talking about the movie and his movies it really wanted me to see what the big deal was. All in all, I really enjoyed everyone’s presentations and will have to say that this has been the most enjoyable part of the class so far, and am sad its we only get to spend 3 days on presentations.

Blog # 6

For this blog we had to write about what comic book movies we have seen and what can we say about the genre. I have not seen many, but the ones I have seen are the Spiderman series, the new Batman, and Superman returns.

There are defiantly common themes among these movies, with the most obvious, to me at least, being that the “good guy” or in this case the “superhero” always wins, no matter what. And they usually win against all odds, surpassing insurmountable obstacles.

The next theme I would say that is common in all these movies is that they are incredibly obvious as to what the overall theme of the movie is. They pretty much go out and tell you what it is about and any real character depth and/or substance is not there.

The superheroes are all always white. I have yet to see a movie with a superhero being played by a minority actor. Maybe it is because all the characters in the comic books are most of the time white, but I am just stating an observation.

There is always a girl in the story, usually white, and incredibly helpless. She really cannot do anything on her own, is madly in love with the superhero, and her whole life is based around him.

The last part is that the hero usually always has some kind of tragic flaw of some sort. It does not matter what it is, but they always have at least one weakness that the bad guy almost always exploits.

Those are the things I have noticed when watching comic book movies, hope this blog was informative and enjoyable

Analysis Blog # 3

Sex, lies, drugs, murder, midgets, malpractice, infidelity, interracial relationships; sounds like a crazy life someone might hope to fulfill during their life time. It more resembles a typical Tuesday night in the crazy world of Nip/Tuck. In a world where anything goes, Nip/Tuck rules. A show viewed as being “cutting edge” and ultra hip, Nip/Tuck has introduced a new style and era onto cable television. Nip/Tuck uses pure shock value with a ridiculous plot and an sexed up appearance driven theme to propel itself and make itself popular to the public.

Nip/Tuck uses incredible outrageous plot developments that totally push the envelope of good taste to shock their viewers into watching the show. Nip/Tuck contains so many crazy elements into its storyline that any viewer watching is simply shocked into watching as a deer in headlights. There are transsexual, incestual, and very taboo relationships throughout the series. An entire season is dedicated to the theme of a gay, castrated, psychopathic serial killer destroying all the works of Sean and Christian, the two surgeons in the show. The writers have taken the show time of the show rather liberally, spicing up all the dialogue with curse and very controversial words. The show pretty much asks for the FCC to fine it for indecency every week. Everything is super contemporary, and music plays a very large role through the show. The show’s presentation is all about style and presentation.

Nip/Tuck uses an over sexual appearance theme that defines the show. The entire show can be boiled down to two things, sex and appearance. The appearance part is obvious to anyone who has even heard of the show, because the two main characters are plastic surgeons. Their whole lives are based around making people happy through changing their physical appearance. But somehow they both realize what they do somewhat shallow, and often have struggles with their meaning and purpose in life regarding to their occupation and their friendship towards each other. The music, clothes, colors, dialogue, pretty much all visual and audible eye candy ooze a coolness that is just so smooth. The target audience must be a younger, more hip one. Everything they do it cutting (literally) edge, from just plain getting themselves some coffee in the morning to when they go out at night and not try, but automatically hook up with the opposite sex. Although there have been a few sexuality questioning episodes, just for purely shock value. The sex part is so engrained into what Nip/Tuck is that if you took it out your would probably lose about half the show. Some could argue that the show displays forms of soft-core pornography. In the first episode of the third season they had a threesome. In the first episode of the fourth season they had a foursome. The show constantly pushes the envelope of what previously has been accepted as acceptable, which have usually been set be previous episodes. Nip/Tuck constantly tries to one-up itself, and it tries to never stop.

One might never come across a person who is having a adulterous and incestuous relationship with their transsexual mother, but that is just another episode of Nip/Tuck. The average person’s craziest day is just another ho-hum episode in the lives of Christian and Sean. With such an extravagant and decadent show such as this, it is no wonder why it is so popular. Thank you and have a nice day.

Blog #5

This week’s blog was to ask what out favorite TV show was. I had a little bit of trouble deciding on picking just one TV show, because although I do not watch much television, I do enjoy a number of shows. But then it became so obvious to me. Sportscenter. The amount of time that I put into Sportscenter is just straight up ridiculous. I also just absolutely love the affiliate shows that go with it, especially NFL Live, PTI, and Around the Horn. But Sportscenter gives the most complete and well rounded sports package with style and grace. I think it goes without saying that I am a sports fanatic, and need a daily fix of Sportscenter. It is the first thing I watch in the morning, when I come home from school, and sometimes the last thing I see before I go to bed.

I hate NASCAR. But, due to the excessive viewing of Sportscenter I know that this last recent Daytona 500 was incredibly controversial but also the most compelling ending in NASCAR history. Did I mention that I hate NASCAR?

Sportscenter gives an incredibly tight package. When I watch it I usually do not have much time, and Sportscenter gives me up to the minute updates and highlights. I usually do not have the time to sit down and research what happened via newspaper or online article. I like to see the dunks, key plays, touchdowns, and stats.

Back during football season, Sportscenter was huge for me. I was in several fantasy leagues (not for money of course) and Sportscenter would give me updates on player’s stats and teams’ conditions when I needed them

So, in short, if you are into sports, do NOT watch Sportscenter, even though you probably already do. You will get addicted.

Thank you and have a nice day.

Song Analysis - Brenda's Got a Baby

Regarded as a thug. Cast off as a criminal. Thought of as just another gangster rapper. But like many legends, 2Pac succeeded in surpassing and outright demolishing any criticisms, stereotypes, and ignorant remarks about his music throughout his career. One of his most powerful songs, Brenda’s Got a Baby, was used as a weapon against critics and proved to be one of 2Pac’s most powerful songs, with deep felt meaning. The song Brenda’s Got a Baby delivers a powerful insight and depth into the lives of the people living in the harsh conditions of the inner city.
The song delivers a strong depth with the humanity it brings to the average ghetto statistic. When most people look at the statistics for teen pregnancy, prostitution, crack and/or heroin addiction, and murder in the inner city they mostly just look the other way. People disregard the lives of these people because they are looked as the lower tier of society. They also look at the statistics with an indifference, not able to put a face, a story, a life to the numbers. 2Pac accomplishes to skillfully tell a story of a girl from a very dysfunctional family who becomes pregnant by a very juvenile father. How she struggles just to survive, trying to take care of herself best she knows how, living life without any direction, help, or guidance at all from any avenue. The sad part appears when the listen realizes that the song is not the exception. When the statistics come out, and the media reports them, the meaning is lost. People fail to realize what kind of lives people live. They cannot fathom how horribly people live. They do not comprehend the cycle, and how tough the breakthrough to success is. Teen pregnancy, it carries such a negative connotation. But the way 2Pac weaves the story, the listener can understand where Brenda is coming from. Why Brenda does what she does in the song. One thing leads to another which leads to another. The song ends with again, the average person, reading a newspaper headline of a prostitute found slain. Does the reader of the newspaper know the story behind the prostitute? Do they know why Brenda decided to sell her body? Do they even know that the prostitute’s name is Brenda? 2Pac takes the insensitivity and selfish indifference out of the equation. The listen feels for Brenda. The listener can relate.
2Pac “raps” this song with true passion. His voice and words echo the pain in his heart. The listener can truly feel the angst and passion with what 2Pac voices his poem. He articulates the song with a clarity and deliverance that says he has been there. That he knows the situation and that he empathizes with more that just this story, for it is just one in many. Brenda’s Got a Baby, and the way he speaks clearly state that it breaks 2Pac’s heart.
This song is powerful on many levels. Once cannot listen to this song and speak down on 2Pac’s ability to write, speak from the heart, or claim that he is unintelligent. The song Brenda’s Got a Baby delivers a powerful insight and depth into the lives of the people living in the harsh conditions of the inner city. Thank you and have a nice day.





"Brenda's Got A Baby"

Brenda's got a Baby
Brenda's got a Baby

I hear Brenda's got a baby
But, Brenda's barely got a brain
A damn shame
Tha girl can hardly spell her name
(That's not our problem, that's up ta Brenda's family)
Well let me show ya how it affects tha whole community
Now Brenda never really knew her moms and her dad was a
junky
Went in death to his arms, it's sad
Cause I bet Brenda doesn't even know
Just cause your in tha ghetto doesn't mean ya can't grow
But oh, that's a thought, my own revelation
Do whatever it takes ta resist tha temptation
Brenda got herself a boyfriend
Her boyfriend was her cousin, now lets watch tha joy end
She tried to hide her pregnancy, from her family
Who didn't really care to see, or give a damn if she
Went out and had a church of kids
As long as when tha check came they got first dibs
Now Brendas belly is gettin bigger
But no one seems ta notice any change in her figure
She's 12 years old and she's having a baby
In love with tha molester, whos sexin her crazy
And yet she thinks that he'll be with her forever
And dreams of a world with tha two of them are together,
whatever
He left her and she had tha baby solo, she had it on tha
bathroom floor
And didn't know so, she didn't know, what ta throw away and
what ta keep
She wrapped tha baby up and threw him in tha trash heep
I guess she thought she'd get away
Wouldn't hear tha cries
She didn't realize
How much tha tha little baby had her eyes
Now tha babys in tha trash heep balling
Momma can't help her, but it hurts ta hear her calling
Brenda wants ta run away
Momma say, you makin' me lose pay, tha social workers here
everyday
Now Brenda's gotta make her own way
Can't go to her family, they won't let her stay
No money no babysitter, she couldn't keep a job
She tried ta sell crack, but end up getting robbed
So now what's next, there ain't nothin left ta sell
So she sees sex as a way of leavin hell
It's payin tha rent, so she really can't complain
Prostitute, found slain, and Brenda's her name, she's got a baby

Baaaaaaaaby

(don't you know she's got a baby)
(don't you know she's got a baby)
(don't you know she's got a baby)
(don't you know she's got a baby)
(don't you know she's got a baby)
(don't you know she's got a baby)




2Pac. “Brenda’s Got a Baby”, 2Pacalypse Now. Prod. The Underground Railroad
CD. Interscope Records. 1991.

2Pac. “Brenda’s Got a Baby“. AZLyrics.com. 5. Feb. 2007
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/2pac/brendasgotababy.html

Blog #4

This weeks blog was asking us to listen to our favorite radio station for an hour and basically analyze what we heard in general. Well, my favorite radio station is the HOT 102.7, formerly 105.9 JAMZ. Well, for those who don’t know, HOT 102.7 is pretty much your typical Hip Hop/ R&B music station. The reason I chose that station in particular is because they usually have a better selections of late night play lists in my opinion. That said, we were specifically asked to comment on what kind of music we listen to, what is the target audience, and what we could say about the ads that played during the airtime. Well, first of all I cant say that the music I listen to is primarily rap/hip hop; but as said before do have an open heart and will listen to anything that is good in my mind. I try not to discriminate to any kind of genre, because if something is good, no matter how cheesy or lame it might be to someone I will still listen and admit to liking it. I did not like all of the songs playing during my listening period, but I did find that the DJ was doing an excellent job of mixing the tracks and keeping the sound fresh. I believe that the target audience of the broadcast was a urban one, particularly of the Metro Detroit area, because they were broadcasting live from a club in downtown Detroit. Obviously, Hip Hop is associated with the younger generation, and this time of listening was no difference. The ads also mirrored the atmosphere of the production. There were a lot of fast food commercials, as well as a lot of commercials that were promoting an event or club or something of the sort. Well that was my blog, sorry to any of the readers who had to suffer through that!

Extended Blog #1

With our first Extended blog, we were asked to write 500 words about a pop culture text or item, and for some reason I was having the hardest time thinking of which item I was going to write about. Finally, I just thought of what my favorite popular movies and albums were, and I realized that is was literally staring at me right in the face. “The world is your’s,” is what the Scarface poster reads hanging in my room. Scarface, the ultimate cult and popular classic. The following that that movie carries is legendary. The movie Scarface has literally touched almost every avenue of the entertainment business today.

The movie Scarface has been emulated, revered, and replicated in every media outlet there is. Rap songs constantly refer to the movie, and that is just the start. The soundtrack has been heavily sampled, with as recent of an example the rapper Rick Ross and his song and video, “Push it to the Limit,” which has very heavy influences from the movie. There have also been a number of movies that have been influenced by the Scarface style, the smooth, rich gangster who lives in luxury in his extravagant house to go along with his extravagant lifestyle. 20 years later, and the movie is still being copied, even the videogame industry has hopped along the Scarface bandwagon. They have just released a Scarface game in 2006 and another one is scheduled for 2007. And, it almost goes without saying the popular phrases that you hear almost every day which come directly from that movie. People might hang on to catchphrases from a movie for a few years, and that is a success by today’s standards. People to this day still quote great phrases such as, “Say ‘ello to my littlle friend,” and, “Say goodnight to the badguy.” These lines echo in eternity. Also, one of the reasons Scarface has lasted so long and stayed relevant is the story arch. Anyone who watches the movie can identify and have love for Tony Montana’s struggle, his drive, his passion. And what is better is to watch him succeed. All in all, he is the “bad guy” but you still end up falling for his charisma and rooting for him. And in the end, you see his downfall, for we all know that a meteoric rise to the top no doubt leads to just as fast a fall. We also see the adverse effect that drugs had on him, and can identify the toll that it has on people, maybe not from personal experience but from outside knowledge.

As you can see, this is clearly one of my favorite movies. Which sounds cliché, because so many other people feel the same way, but no matter how lame it may seem, this movie has touched many lives, with varying degrees. And the fact that it is still so popular today speaks volumes.

I hope this blog was not too bad on any readers out there and I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you and have a nice day.

Blog 3

The question for this weeks blog was to describe your past experiences with writing. Well let me tell you, they have not been good. English in grade school had predominantly been about grammar, so as far as grammar goes I am pretty good about it when I have to. All was fine and dandy until my eight grade English class, where I very much disliked my teacher. I naturally am not very good at writing and this class required much writing. We had a final project on where I scored an impressive F on my paper, significantly lowering my grade in the class to a C. That still bothers me, because no one paper should determine ones grade so much. High school freshman through junior year was a breeze, I easily did well in those classes, despite almost never starting or finishing any reading assignment, or doing much homework. Then I took my ACT exam, which surprisingly, I scored the lowest in the punctuation department, but scored a 30 in the reading comprehension part. Weird. Senior year English was by far the worst experience ever. I had quite possibly the hardest teacher of all time. We read over 15 big, long, books. They were good, I will admit, but the tests were brutal. We were tested on quotes in the book. We had to identify them, elaborate, and explain the significance of the quote. At any given point we had over 200 vocabulary words we were responsible for. And our papers… I didn’t get higher than a C for any paper, his grading was ridiculous. He would waste an entire pen on one paper. We had a huge research paper that was due at the end of the year, which was responsible for the majority of our grade. I didn’t do it. I passed with a C. How? I have no idea. Now I am here. Hello.

Intro

Hello, my name is Paul, I am Chaldean and this is my first year at Wayne State. I just graduated Brother Rice High school in May of 2006. Also, in case someone was wondering, I am not too worried about giving personal information on the internet, for a highly doubt that some weird insane person is going to try and hunt me down. That said, I hope a crazy person does not hunt me down! The things most important to me in my life are my family, Church, and school. I try to get to Church every week, and I hopefully get into medical school in the future. My career aspirations are to be some kind of surgeon, possibly an orthopedic one. I would like to do this in part because a while back I blew out my knee and have never been the same athletically, which is important to me. The main disappointment for me what that I was no longer able to play football because of my knees, which was a huge deal for me because I absolutely love football. Every Sunday I force myself to endure through another Lions game, and when I can attend their loss. Because they never win when I go. Another big part of my life is my music, which is mostly rap but I definitely have an open mind when it comes to music and will listen to about anything if I think it is good. Most of my library is from the early 90s, which, in my opinion, is the best time period for music ever. Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, 2Pac, Warren G, all the West Coast old school stuff is what I really love. I also spend way too much time on the computer, whether it be with video games, watching movies, facebook, or just plain old surfing the web, I am pretty much addicted. All in all, I am a pretty laid back and easy to get along with guy, pretty outgoing, and can get along with pretty much about anyone. Spend some time with me and I guarantee we will be friends in no time. I hope reading this wasn’t too bad for you, and thanks for the comments in advance.