Blog to the Future: Part One

It is time now to discuss my blogging skills. Over the past few weeks I have made an effort to blog and comment on other's blogs at least once a week. At first, I was very nervous and slow in the blogging process, but I have learned to crank out meaningful blogs every week with a new idea. My forte has definitely been coming up with creative titles that draw in the reader. My first blog was interesting, but a bit wordy and boring. I learned that having an interesting title that hints at something provocative or popular, readers will be more likely to sit through the whole blog. Also, interesting pictures are always helpful to grab a reader's attention.

My later posts integrated more links and pictures, and I was able to relate them to the main purpose of each blog appropriately. However, I am beginning to decrease the amount of content each week, so I will do my best to beef up these blogs with information that people want to read about.

My favorite blog post is Ohana Means Family. In this post, I have an interesting and creative title, along with a colorful and recognizable picture. These are elements that are needed to attract readers. I then go on to talk about a discussion we had in class, and I relate it to a news story that I heard about when I was in Hawaii last year. I think I did a good job of explaining the issue, and if it wasn't clear, I posted a link with more information. Finally, what I like most about this post, I relate the story even further to a household name movie "Lilo and Stitch."
Overall, blogging has been very educational and also very fun. I look forward to reading everyone's posts and I hope that I will continue to grow as a blogger.

J.R.R. Tolkien approves this blog

One topic that came up in class this week was endorsement. Frederick Douglass' narrative about his life was and still is very popular. But why would anyone 150 years ago want to read a book written by a former slave? Also, why was it included on some versions of the book that it was "written by himself"? Could it be that people didn't believe the fact that a black man could write so well? My theory is that the preface was included to add some validity to Douglass' book. While his book was indeed written by himself, there is a big possibility that people back then didn't believe that slaves were capable of writing. Also, the preface attracts a whole new genre of readers. People who enjoy the work of (insert name) will consider reading Douglass' book just because of the endorsement. We see this kind of star power every day.

When a new movie comes out, the commercials, posters, and newspaper ads are littered with stamps of approval from the Rolling Stone, Ebert and Roeper, and an assortment of other magazines and film critics. In almost every commercial, there is a celebrity or athlete representing a product. These endorsements are used to help promote an item or idea. When people see or recognize people on tv whom they idolize, it makes them want to but the product. I like some of these commercials because they are pretty funny. Here's one that I really like:Star Power Commercial

This is the Car for YOU!

One sunny day in early September, I thought it would be a great day to stay inside. Instead of playing football with my brother, I decided surfing the web would be more fun. Who wouldn't, eh? Hmm, I thought to myself, I could use a new pair of shoes, looking at my dirty, torn nikes. I finally found a sweet pair that would do the job. Then, I thought, what is a good pair of shoes if you don't have a sports car to drive with them? Nothing. I then proceeded to the Dodge home page. Dang, I thought, I can't afford the shoes and this Dodge Challenger!

I didn't want one without the other, so I closed both of the tabs. Then, in order to satisfy my Facebook needs, I logged on and checked for any messages or interesting posts. As I was watching a hilarious youtube video of the muppets band that someone had posted, I saw something amazing: THE SHOES I WANTED WERE IN THE SIDEBAR!! NO WAY! I thought, these were the exact shoes that I wanted! what a coincidence! But was I wrong. I went to YouTube to further investigate the muppets band when I spotted.....AN AD FOR THE DODGE CHALLENGER!! woah, man...this is getting weird! Turns out, the next video I watched had the same shoes AGAIN!! OK something is fishy, I thought. Maybe they know. In fact, they have always known, and they will always know. They are advertisers. Using your recent searches, advertisers make it easier than ever to attract the consumers to the products. As creepy as this may sound, I think its kind of awesome.

The Amazing Race

We have talked a lot, recently, about stereotypes and biases people have when they think of different races. The movie we watched showed how even though we may not look similar, we share almost all of our DNA genetic codes. Also, we went over the topic of racial tokenism; generalizations we make based on race. It was brought up in class that television is a part of the reason why we make these unfair associations. I didn't even realize that this was true when I was watching tv, but now I am noticing it more and more.
During class, I was thinking about tv shows that I watch and if this racial tokenism held true for any of them. The office has one black character, Stanley, who works in the office. The others work in the warehouse. In South Park, there is one kid at the school who is black, and his name is Token Black. In Weeds, the only African-Americans are the ones living in bad neighborhoods with drive-by shootings. Why are characters always depicted this way on television?

Ohana Means Family

We recently discussed in class about the length of school days. I recollected from my trip to Germany about how days would start around seven and end around noon. Many students in our American Studies class said that they would much rather have shorter days. Others said that a long day would be more effective. I also remember hearing someone say that most people would want a shorter week or year, but I think that this is not the case. In Hawaii last year, in order to cut down on cost, students were granted a three day weekend. While the children loved having more free time, parents were furious. How did this happen? Why would the government allow these children to miss valuable days of school? The law was in effect for less than a year because of all of the anger it generated from the public. Is the government to blame for causing these children to have a shorter week, and was there anything they could have done to change it? This law was recently overturned and now Fridays are included into the regular week. For more on the story, visit the link below. Quoted from one of my favorite movies, Lilo and Stitch: "Ohana means family, and family means nobody left behind"

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/global/story.asp?s=12238965

What To Post

Honestly, I had a very long debate with myself on what I should post. I mean, there was so much we went over in class but I could not think of anything that I wanted to talk about or that I would have an easy time talking about. Hanging preposition. Guess what? I don't care. What I do care about is making a useful post that people will want to read. I noticed a lot of people in our class posted something about Indians (or Native Americans) or something dealing with how we get our news. Then it hit me! I could make this post about word choice and word selection!
Already in my blog I have left some pieces out of the entire story. This little story was told how I wanted it to sound, and I left out any parts that would make me look lazy. The point is, news articles often leave out information that could change the entire perspective of that article. We discussed in class that history books decide which events get space in their book and how much space they get. Even the word choice can determine the author's point of view. As mentioned in class, the author chose words like: Massacre, small band gathering food, and others that would either make the Indians seem innocent or whites seem ferocious. We talk about the news always trying to keep a story unbiased but is it even possible to do so?

The American Dream

We recently discussed in class about the path of the American Dream; one that starts okay, goes down, then reaches higher and higher into infinity. We also discussed lives of famous Americans such as Oprah and Obama who started off in poverty or without much family, and wound up to be two of the most powerful people in the world. This reminded me of a recent movie: The Blind Side. The story of a child living in a poor neighborhood who was raised by a rich family and ended up playing Football in the NFL. These stories are very inspiring, and I would like to share another story that most of you readers haven't heard much about.

As we near the post-season of baseball, one player's inspiring story has come to my memory. Josh Hamilton's career in baseball first started in 2001 when he was drafted to the cubs, but injuries and a drug addiction drove his career to a halt. After 6 years of rehab, hard work, and determination, Hamilton returned to the majors and joined the Texas Rangers. He went on to the 2008 Home Run Derby and set a new record of 28 home runs in a single round. He now has a book out encouraging kids to stay off drugs and to follow their dreams. To see more about Josh, watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=942OxgJT0ec&feature=fvw

Free Stuff is Good!!

A lot of time was spent in class a few days ago about the recent legalization of "jailbreaking" iPhones and iTouches. To further understand this topic, visit http://www.appleiphonereview.com/iphone-tutorials/iphone-jailbreak/. When I first got my iTouch, I did not want to jailbreak it because I was afraid of the possible consequences: draining the battery, slowing it down, making glitches irreversible, and ultimately destroying it. Why risk losing $300 dollars worth of merchandise for a few new features? I soon realized all of the benefits, however: customizable backgrounds and themes, multi-tasking apps, and even getting paid apps for free. This had me thinking: would I rather leave my choices up to somebody else (who may choose the "better" options), or do I want to have an input?

Compare industries that are government controlled versus ones that are not: Industries that are not restricted by the government are often better off. For example, the sports industry racks in millions and billions of dollars in revenue each year. In fact, the average value of an NFL team for one single season is an estimated $1 Billion. More stats like this can be found here: http://www.plunkettresearch.com/Industries/Sports/SportsStatistics/tabid/273/Default.aspx
The reason that these industries do well is because the government does not regulate things like how many players are on a team, who can play, what team a player is on, and who can go to the games. Without these regulations, systems work better. The sports industry is worth billions of dollars! Who else can say that they earn $100K a day for playing a sport they genuinely love?
On the other hand, the goal of government regulation is to protect the public against bad choices of private parties. The problem is, often times these goals are changed or not reached. In the case of the BP oil spill, "Agencies tasked with protecting the public interest come to identify with the regulated industry and protect its interests against that of the public." more from this article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704575304575296873167457684.html
There are plenty of government regulated industries that thrive, it's just that ones without regulation are more often than not more successful.


Apple limits personalization of iPhones, as well as the programs that they run on. While apple may have figured out what is easiest or what "works best" for most users, there should be an option to customize/personalize your phone.

Cool Story, Hansel

First Time Blogger

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