February 2015 archive
Television has been an important part of the American entertainment system for decades, and its popularity is only growing. Since so many people watch it, the shows that people watch affect things outside of the fictional world. As the journey to more racial equality continues, many people are saying that television shows are obligated to show more diversity. While I am a strong proponent for racial equality, I simply do not agree with this sentiment. I think the reason why my opinion differs from the norm is because of differing ideas about the purpose of television. Journalist Jemima Johnson states “The goal is for a person to turn on the television and not only see himself or herself or people who they already identify with, but to be able to identify with people they do not share a race or culture with” (12). However, is this really the goal? My thought is that television is made strictly to entertain. Therefore, I think that learning about other cultures is important, but I do not think television producers should be obligated to do anything. It is my and many others belief that “imposing standards for television programming would be unconstitutional and damage important values that define America: the right to a free and open media [and] the right to free speech” (Frederickson 13). If television shows are obligated to show diversity, who is to say that they won’t become obligated to fix other criticisms? It is up to the individual if they want to watch something or not, and if they don’t like what they see, my advice is to turn off the TV.
How would adding diversity to television change real life and/or society?
What are some incentives for television producers that could be offered for showing more diversity?
Frederickson, Caroline. “Why Government Should Not Police TV Violence and Indecency.” The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 6 Sept. 2007. Web. 17 Feb. 2015. <http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0906/p09s01-coop.html>.
Johnson, Jemima. “OPINION — Johnson: Strong Need for Diversity in Television Shows.” The Daily Toreador. N.p., 16 Feb. 2015. Web. 17 Feb. 2015. <http://www.dailytoreador.com/opinion/opinion-johnson-strong-need-for-diversity-in-television-shows/article_aa53bcec-b64d-11e4-8fff-2ba1e8dcb029.html>.
I still cringe whenever I remember those hot summer days when I wore bright green sunglasses with huge square frames and bright pink sides. I was so young, naive, and fashionably ignorant. Looking back, that was not the style that I should have gone for. I have somewhat of an angular face, so those square frames did nothing to soften the sharpness or balance the angels. Instead, it just made me look like a pointy-headed freak to be honest. Now, I know that I needed rounder frames with a smaller rim, in order to counteract my “strong” features. Well knowing this now does not fix the past unfortunately. What would have helped me and had me avoid the embarrassment I now feel for my younger self, is my new app idea called Which Sunglasses Should I Buy?
Yeah, I know, the name is about equivalent to the Flavored Ice from the last post. Well I’m still working on it, but if you have any suggestions please help a girl out.
Anywho, this app combines photo technology and the latest fashion trends to help YOU find your soulmate pair of sunglasses. How it works, is you would take a picture of your face. The app would then analyze the picture and would be able to tell you what face shape you have. You would then input your hair and skin color and then VOILA! You now have a personally picked pair of sunglasses that won’t leave you kicking yourself in the future. If this app conglomerated with some actual stores, then I would even make it so that there is an option to buy it right through the app. Stores would all want to be a part of it so they could get some advertising, and then my app would claim maybe .5% of the profits, or something like that.
Another feature I would have on it, is the ability to try on the glasses. So once the app shows you a pair of glasses that would look good on you, you would then be able to put the glasses on the picture of your face that you took before. If you don’t like how they look on you, try on another pair! The options would be limitless.
So before you go and get the first pair that you see, use my app first and find out what would be the best personal pick for you.
http://www.hotnewhiphop.com/kid-ink-about-mine-feat-trey-songz-prod-by-dj-mustard-new-song.1962290.html
Hot New Hip Hop is notorious for having hilarious and generally very uncivil comments. So when I clicked on the number one song on the site right now, About Mine by Kid Ink featuring Trey Songz, I was not surprised to see profanity being used as often as the song’s name. The reason that music sites have such ridiculous comments is because everyone’s taste in music is different and not one taste is necessarily “right.” Generally the people who go onto sites such as hot new hip hop consider themselves to be music connoisseurs; thus generally each person thinks he or she has a “better” taste than someone else. This of course leads to very vocalized opinions on the comment sections that never fail to make me laugh.
So while scrolling down these comments I was not surprised to see very differing opinions. While user OxyRap quite simply puts it as “Complete trash,” while user TrillKingJames lets everyone know “I fux wit it…”
Now these comments aren’t all just how each listener feels about the song, there are actually a lot of other reasons for posting them. For example, some give out information that might now have been known before. User BigE310 angrily asks “REALLY??? you going to take a line from SUGA FREE and sound like a straight BITCH when doing it???/ WEAK!!!” A lot of people may not have known that Kid Ink took a line from another rapper, and after learning that he did, it may change their opinions on his song. There are also comments that say an opinion but also have an added comedic element. User GarbageMan says “I’m here to pick this up,” implying as OxyRap said before, that the song is trash.
Despite the reasons for the comments, it is unfortunate to say that they are overall highly un-deliberative. While user AntonioBrown voices his opinion and says “Album was so watered down and awful I can’t believe it. Unfortunately I don’t think we’ll ever see classic kid ink again, just this bullshit pop rap,” user TeamSESHBones resorts to uncalled for insults when he says “Fuck you and fuck kid ink with his generic ass name, will never take him seriously or listen based on his rap name alone.”
Although it seems as though there is almost no respectful deliberation in the entire forum, I almost shed a tear of happiness when I read one particular exchange of words. It all starts when user KidInktheBest says “this is one of his best projects imo…shit goes fucking hard can’t deny that.” The conversation even starts off strong since he says imo which is short for in my opinion. He acknowledges that his comment is his opinion and not fact. User TupacShakur replies “Oh you’re fucking tripping . This album is trash. Trashier than my own lane.” KidInktheBest replies “people keep complaining they want the old ink but artists change up to keep it fresh i honestly like this album yal dont have to agree.” Wow, even after being completely called out he still chooses to take the high road and be respectful and remind people that they don’t have to agree. TDEn-gga then interjects “but the old kid ink kept it fresh and had different sounds on his tape. this album it sounds like the same trash coming out of everyone else.” KidInktheBest replies “i agree that his old shit was his best shit but you just gotta accept hes not going back to that style and just appreciate the music he’s putting out now.” Now if that’s not an example of clear and respectful deliberation, then I don’t know what is!
Alright, let me tell you about a common but horrible experience that happens to me on occasion. So I don’t drink soda that much anymore since I’m trying to be healthy, so when I do I try to really enjoy it and make the most out of it. So I’ll be in a restaurant just sipping on my delicious coke, enjoying myself, before my food arrives. But I don’t want to drink it all before I get to my main course! So I lay off on drinking and wait until my food gets there. When my food arrives I usually get overexcited because, well, I’m obsessed with food. So after that first delectable bite, all I need is a swig of delightful coke to wash it all down. I take my glass, bring it to my mouth, and that’s when the tragedy begins…
Watered down coke….is that not the worst thing ever?!
I have soda so infrequently and now the entire coke drinking experience has been completely ruined by melted ice. Not only that, but how am I supposed to enjoy the rest of my meal after my whole drink experience has been ruined?! I may sound like I’m exaggerating, but this is probably one of the worst things to happen ever.
After having this happen to me many a time, I realized the time is now to end this melted ice tyranny. And that is where my newest invention comes in. So far I don’t have a creative name in place for it, so here’s its placeholder until I think of one: flavored ice. (Maybe Crazy Cubes? Cooling Flavor Blasters? I don’t know, it’s still in the workshop)
Think about it, a world where you don’t have to choose between watered down or lukewarm drinks. With flavored ice, when it melts you’ll be left with an explosion of flavor. For example, next time I drink soda I’ll put in some cherry ice cubes. Then, when they melt, it’ll be like I traded my coke for an even better cherry coke!
I know, it seems like a simple idea. Still, it solves a major inconvenience that everybody has unfortunately gone through, so I’m proud of it. It could come in all different flavors and would be sold in bags just like how ice is normally sold. Not only would it add a burst of flavor, but it would also fulfill its original job of keeping my drink at an optimal temperature. Amazing, I know.
So next time you drink your cold but watered down drink, just think of all the possibilities of flavored ice.
Last Tuesday, South Carolina House Speaker Jay Lucas announced that a task force would be formed in order to directly study education reform. Since the Supreme Court has directed the Legislature to come up with ideas for ways to improve poor rural schools, there will be a lot that needs to be discussed.
One of the most important decisions that have to be made is if the state superintendent of education should be appointed by the governor or not. If the outcome of this vote is that the governor should, then this recognizes that education is a strictly state responsibility and that the governor has executive authority over matters concerning it. If the superintendent were part of the governor’s Cabinet, this would establish education as a higher priority than it had been before. Public schools would then be put higher on any governor’s agenda.
In South Carolina specifically, education is an issue in desperate need for reform. There is a lot of evidence showing that the schooling system is struggling significantly. So far, citizens of South Carolina have acknowledged this problem and have shown that they do endorse rational proposals for government restructuring. For example they endorse having the party candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run on a ticket, and even more recently, making the state’s popularly elected adjutant general a gubernatorial appointee in 2019.
It seems as though the next step for the Legislature to restructure, should be putting up a referendum on the 2016 general election. The choice would be to make the superintendent of education appointive effective in 2019 or not. At the moment, about half of the entire state’s budget is used for education. However, the governor has no direct budgetary responsibility over how the money is going to be spent or whether there is enough. If the agency was under the power of the governor, then this would make policy making and the allocation of resources a more effective and efficient process. This is because the governor would have the authority and the responsibility of bettering the public education in South Carolina, and it would not just get pushed further down the agenda.
A question that arises however, is if the governor would have too much power. Perhaps, but the citizens of South Carolina do need change. In my opinion, it would be better to take a risk and give a trusted official a lot of power, rather than watch as the public education system further deteriorates.
Either way, putting public education under the governor’s authority would be a huge step. It would allow the voters to decide if education really is a main concern of theirs, and if they want someone who is truly committed to address this ongoing issue. It would also establish a precedent for future governors, in that they would need to continue making sure that the public education system is functioning at its best. Although one vote, it could really change how public education reform is treated for years to come.
For more information pertaining to this topic, read this article:
http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150121/PC1002/150129920
Continuing on the nature related apps path, I have come up with another app idea that could be life-changing for anyone with an iPhone. Let’s pretend you are the hiker from last week. You’re in your sleeping bag ready to finally slumber after a strenuous day of walking, climbing, and foraging for food (which is made easier using the app Can I Touch It?). You’re drifting away into dreamland until all of a sudden- ARW-WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
What was that?! A fox? A wolf? A dinosaur??? Unfortunately, there is no way to know. So you’re only options are to stay in your tent and possibly get eaten while you sleep or try to go outside and fight the beast. Both of those choices seem quite unappealing.
Luckily, my invention can eliminate (somewhat) this entire dilemma! It is called Shazanimals and it is very similar to the now popular app Shazam. When a song plays that you like but do not know the name of, you put on Shazam. It then is able to find the name of the song just by listening to it. Shazanimals would do the same exact thing, except that it would tell you the name of the animal from the noise that it makes!
So now, when you’re in your tent and you hear that terrifying noise, just put on Shazanimals! If it tells you it’s a harmless owl, you can go to bed peacefully and without fear. If it tells you it’s a rabid hungry wolf, well, at least now you know that you’re in horrible danger.
Again, this idea is not perfect. Like the app from last week, the main problem would be that one does not usually have internet access when hiking. However, I would combat this by having a database in each state of the most common maybe 500 animal noises. This way the internet would not even be needed.
I am an avid user of Shazam and I know that a lot of other people are as well. Therefore, I think Shazanimals could really blow up with avid hikers and people who occasionally get lost in forests. It could even be an expansion pack to the original Shazam. Either way, you have to agree that the name is fantastic.