28
Sep 12

Going back to real refs: Win for Unions!

The opinions article I will be analyzing is from the Washington Post and is an opinions article about the return of real refs to the NFL. Below is the link to the article.

Link to Article

The author makes the vaild point that the return of union refs to the NFL is a win for the people and a win for unions. His arguement is effective in that it utilizes pathos and logos. Quality refs do make the game worth watching, and without them you are taking the player out of the game. When bad calls are made it takes the fun out of the sport and frustrates the players. It also puts them in physical danger. He argues that the NFL exectives are too worried about a cheap “product” so to speak, but it angers fans and players alike. The tipping point was the Packers-Seahawks game where bad calls lead to fan outrage. I think the point he is trying to make, and does so effectively, is that although union workers may be expensive, they maintian the integrity of the game. He is also trying to point out the power of people as well. Public outrage lead to wealthy executives (largely anti-union) tipping their hand and giving in. Maybe we could extend this public action to things other than football.

 


28
Sep 12

Like or Dislike

So I have had a lot of people come up to me about this so I figured I would discuss it in this weeks blog. So the big question is…..

Who is your favorite character from the Walking Dead and you is your least favorite character?!

Personally my favorite character is Darrell, hands down. I just think he is a total badass. Not only is he the most sound-minded of all of the group, he also has the best weapon. I mean come on, it does not get much cooler than a crossbow people. Even though Darrell is portrayed as the dumb redneck, he is very clever. Countless times he has saved the day (i.e Sofia, and Carl). Despite his hard exterior he is a softie deep down, which makes him all the more loveable.

I hate Lori. There you go, its out there. I have a hunch that the writers of the Walking Dead really have it out for women. Almost every female in the show and comic, I hate. I must applaud the writers though, because they have created a character that is the essence of all bad female traits: Lori. She is irrational, selfish, and just flat out dumb. She is constantly putting the entire group in jeapardy. She is very hateable (I know thats not a word).


28
Sep 12

Toys R Us

I am not exactly sure what I want to do for my rhetorical analysis paper, there are so many options! I was thinking  of analyzing a commerical or an interior of a building but I think something that would be really interesting would be childrens toys. Think about all the marketing and diliberation that goes into pulling little ones into buying toys. Everything from the extreior packaging to the actual product is rhetorically designed to be appealing to not only the children, but their parents as well. Thats the part I find most appealing. How do you rhetorically appeal to audiences as diverse as children and their parents. In my essay I will most likely address ethos, pathos, and logos. Pathos is argueably the difining factor for this type of object, so that’s what I will focus my focus on. Let me know what you guys think of this idea. I am not set on it and I still might go with a building interior. This was just an idea that came to me and I figured I would get a second opinion on it.


21
Sep 12

Romney’s big “oops”

It’s been all over the news, Mitt Romney dismissing 47 percent of Americans as worthless, or so thats how it has been portrayed. Conservative news stations have argued the statements were taken out of context, while liberal stations argue that Romney does not care about 47 percent of the American people. This begs the question: what was he thinking?! For me the answer is clear as day, he was playing the game of American politics. In a perfect world politics would be honest and politicans wouldn’t just say things to appease donors. From a realist point of view I know this is not true. I am not saying that Romney’s statements were acceptable or that the American politcal system should be a scapegoat for his actions. However, I do believe Romeny was using logical rhetorical stratagies to connect with his audience. The people he was adressing had donated millions of dollars to his campaign efforts. Of course he would tell them things that wealthy donors want to hear. This is messed up, but it’s the reality of politics. I hate Romney politcs as much as the next guy, but you can’t be too hard on the man. Undoubtably democrats utilize these rhetorical stratagies as well. Both sides play the political game, its unfortunate that it blew up in Romney’s face.


21
Sep 12

Plan for the Apocalypse

Since the new season of the Walking Dead does not start until October 14th I thought it would be fun to brainstorm about what I might do in the event of a zombie apocalypse. Seriously though, we have all thought about “the end of days” at some point. So imagine the outbreaks start tomorrow (such a scary thought). What would you do? Where would you go? What would be your plan of action?

Throughout seasons one and two viewers meet characters who have decided to deal with the catastrophe in different ways. Some stick together and try to find safety, if it even exists. Others chose to end their lives before the zombies can. Often I finish an episode of the Walking Dead and begin to think about these tough decisions. If I had to choose between killing myself or becoming a zombie which would I choose? Would I sacrifice myself for my group? Would I harm others to save myself? These may seem like silly questions in the context of a zombie reality show, but if you strip away the gorey horror of it all whats left  is an even scarier picture: human nature. Ask yourselves these questions and you might be surprised to learn things about yourself you did not know, and please share your survival strategies 🙂

I am the daughter of a doomsday prepper. Honest to goodness, my father has been preparing for the end of days for a while now. He is more worried about power grid failure and solar flares than zombies but hey. you never know. If the apocalypse occurred tomorrow we would be equipped with food, weapons, and all the luxuries of electricity (yes, my father bought a generated THAT big). I hope you all have enjoyed my little speel about my doomsday dad, my friends back home alway got a kick out of it.

 


19
Sep 12

Quick Fixes: Civic Life Speech

Looking back on my Civic Life Speech there are multiple things I wish I had done differently. Foremost, I wish i hadn’t picked such a serious topic. I ended up delivering a very formal speech, which seriously conflicted with everyone else’s nonchelant subject matter. Maybe I missed the point? I’ve only ever done formal public speaking so hopefully this class with help me be more personal with my audience. Also in hindsight I wish I had used more multi-media. I really enjoyed the speeches that utilized websites and videos, they were much more interesting than mine (gahhhh). Last, I would have liked it if I hadn’t been so darn nervous! I have been performing for the past 10 years of my life and honest to god I was more nervous speaking in front of you all than I was when I performed at the Kennedy Center. I guess you all are pretty scary. But honestly, I was not expecting to get up there and be so nervous. Perhaps some more rehearsal would have remedied that. But what do you all think? It’s really hard to self-criticize sometimes. What needed fixed in my speech? Feel free to be blunt, I always am.


14
Sep 12

Super Pacs

It has been argued in many magazines. newspapers, and websites that the election of 2012 is the “super pac” election. Now more the ever it seems that candidates are accepting more and more of private companies’ money. It seems to me like this is a pretty corrupt process that says “I will give you lots of money and you will not step on my toes while in office”. Most governments realize that these “super pacs” are a bad thing and try to eliminate them. In Great Britain a candidate is not allowed to accept any private funding and the British government goes so far as to put a cap on the amount of money candidates can spend on their campaign. A great example of this is Governor Corbit (R) of Pennsylvania. Compared to other “fracking” states Pennsylvania has very loose regulations on natural gas drilling (and inversely a higher rate of spills/water contamination than most states) and gas companies pay ZERO severance tax. It might have something to do with the fact that Cheveron contributed over 3 million dollars to the Corbit campaign (according to followthemoney.com). This leads to the bigger question….

Is donating massive amounts of private money to political campaigns (like Super Pacs) civic engagement? 

Honestly I am not sure about this. Yes, the idea of a “super pac” is a corrupt things but it isn’t illegal. Whenever a celebrity or philanthropist makes a generous monetary donation to  an independent body it is usually considered a great act of civility and selflessness. But does this “independent body” extend to political campaigns? Should the United States stop the private funding of political campaigns like Great Britain has? Do “super pacs” distract from the real issues in a campaign? These are all tough questions I hope to address in my speech, keeping in mind however that there are no easy answers. I would love to get some other opinions on this matter! So comment this up!

Haha you have to watch this “Chik-fil-A” video

Chow Down at Chik-Fil-A, is this civic engagement?

A video of people setting their water on fire (thanks Governor Corbit!)

Can you do this with your water? I can!

 


13
Sep 12

Misconceptions About The Walking Dead

As you can probably tell from the title of this first post, my passion blog will be an analysis of the weekly episodes of The Walking Dead Season 3 which begins October 14th. I am sure a lot of you have never seen this show, so first and foremost I want to correct some common misconceptions about it. I chose this for the subject of my passion blog not only because I am a HUGE fan of the show, but also because it is a great resource for analyzing human behavior.

 

misconception number one: The Walking Dead is all about zombies.

 

False. This is a show about the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse, so granted there are a lot of zombies. However, it is  not comparable to “Shaun of the Dead” or any of those other cheesy end-of-the-world zombie movies. A lot of the plot is centered around how humans interact and relate to each other during a time of crisis.

Misconception number two:  The Walking Dead is very dry.

False Again. I have a very short attention span and The Walking Dead is the only tv series that has ever held my attention longer that 4 episodes. Almost every episode is extremely suspenseful.

Misconception number three: The Walking Dead is not realistic.

You guessed it again, False. The writers and producers have created a very believable model of what might happen in the event of a national epidemic. On that note, I must warn that the zombies in this show are very graphic and realistic (won multiple Emmy’s for costume and make-up) so if you have a weak stomach it may not be the show for you.

As I mentioned earlier, Season 3 airs on AMC on October 14th. If i have convinced some of you to start watching the show, all of seasons 1 and 2 are on Netflix as well as online. If you  have decided that The Walking Dead is not your cup of tea, thats okay too! Many of my blog posts will discuss universal topics that don’t require you to watch the show (but you definitely should!).

This is a link for the Season 3 Trailer 🙂

Season 3 Trailer

 


13
Sep 12

“Do the Right Thing”

There is no doubt that the movie “Do the Right Thing” packs an entertaining punch. The movie includes everything the typical American wants to see in the theater: love, hate, violence, bravery, sex, nudity, and profanity. Unfortunately that is the extent of its credibility as a film about racial injustices. Saying that the film was in anyway an accurate portrayal of rascal tensions or even a documentary is flat out absurd. I understand that Lee’s intent for the movie was to create complex characters and scenarios that would leave audiences wondering “what is the right thing”. However as I left the theater all I could think was “what was the point?”. What largely damaged the films ethos was it’s lack of a cohesive plot or resolution and it’s reliance on pure emotion. Perhaps I am missing the “artistic” intentions Lee had, but the random scenes reminded me more of a high school musical than a movie aimed at a delivering a provocative message. This filming style made it difficult to follow the progression of the movie and left me spending more time trying to figure out what was going on than analyzing the underlying message.The film also completely relied on flammable, fragile, dangerous emotion. Based on what I experienced myself at the discussion afterwards, there is no doubt the film pissed off a lot of people. Is this really a good thing? Anger and frustration are not the building blocks of rational discussion, they incite violence and lead to screaming arguments (like the afterward discussion). The bottom line is this: “Do Thing Right Thing” is a purely provocative, entertainment based movie. If you want to watch people of different colors scream racial slurs at each other, this movie is for you. If you are looking for an insightful, rational argument about racial tensions in the late 1980’s I suggest you look elsewhere.


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