Category Archives: RCL

News

What happened in Boston on Monday was a tragedy, and a complete act of terrorism by the Tsarnaev brothers, and believe me I’m glad they got the one and I hope they find the other brother.  However there has always been something I’ve hated, that occurs around every large event like this, or even the fertilizer explosion in Texas.  I hate it when the news organizations try use pathos, and play off peoples emotions, and blow stories right out of the water.  The one article I read to day, was putting a significant amount of emphasis on the date on which one of the brothers became a US Citizen.  So what if he became a citizen last year on September 11th, in honesty, that would our fault, because we schedule the tests.

Or take the explosion in Texas for example, as soon as it occurred, every news corporation was reporting that the explosion was related in some way to the Boston bombing.  Come on people factories blowup, and unfortunately this one took the lives of many.  Today I read an article that stated that the fertilizer was storing the explosive ammonium nitrate.  Yes they would be storing this, because its a fertilizer, its not an explosive until it’s mixed with fuel oil.  The article made it seem as though the owners of the plant were hiding a bomb.  I don’t no why I bother to watch the news any more.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/19/17824210-bombing-suspect-on-the-run-became-us-citizen-last-year-on-sept-11?lite

http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/19/17818046-texas-fertilizer-plant-also-stored-explosive-chemical-used-in-oklahoma-city-bomb?lite

North Korea

As we all know, recent relations with North Korea have continued to decrease and it seems that our world is on the brink of another war. One wrong step by either side could start this conflict.  When I watch the propaganda films produced by North Korea I can’t help but think of the lack of logos to their whole argument.  They seem to be solely running off of the pathos of it’s leader, and his feelings on how he thinks his military is feelings.  But in the end no matter how much propaganda the produce,  don’t feel that it will change the way we ultimately look at North Korea.  This past week I was watching an episode of Sponge Bob with some friends in my dorm, and this episode summed up the current North Korean conflict, fairly well.  Hr2p0bf

Network

In the movie Network, by Sidney Lument, Howard Beale a fired TV news reporter has the opportunity to return to TV and host a show about how everyone feels about the current situation of the United States during the 1970’s.  One the first night of the show, he gives a speech, which in turn causes tons of people around the US to follow his direction and yell “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more”.  So what caused his speech to empower so many to follow him blindly?  It boils down to the main subject and his use of pathos, to relate to the feelings of the majority of Americans during this time period.  He appeals to people’s desperation for answers to the problems of the 1970’s, and these people see Howard as a person who is also suffering from the same issues as the common American.

Finch, Peter, perf. Network. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1976. Film.

 

2001 a Space Odyssey

The movie we watched this week in COMM 150, was 2001 a Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick.  Of all of the movies we have seen this semester, Space Odyssey was the only one to cause me to leave the State Theater in complete confusion.  Kubrick’s idea’s were very effective in causing his audience to really think about what he felt was the true meaning of the movie, since this was never truly stated.  One quote from the production crew summed this up, “If you understand 2001, then we have failed”.  Of the whole movie, the last scene really leaves the most to be questioned, as to what is the symbolism in which Kubrick is trying to portray?

Wealth Distribution

This week’s parting thoughts in my COMM 150 course was about how we American’s believe the total amount of wealth is distributed in the United States.  To me this video was eye opening, I knew that America had a distribution problem, but I never would have thought it to be this large.  The really reason that this video gets its point across is the fact that it puts visuals to good use.  The graphs and charts he uses clearly convey his message of the true problem America has.  Personally I feel that it is unacceptable for the top one percent of the US to have 40% of our wealth, compared to every one else’s 7%.  In the end this video I feel that this video is very effective towards getting you to think about the problem of wealth here in the United States.

Because We Can

This past weekend, I was lucky enough to be able to attend the Bon Jovi concert at the Bryce Jordan Centre, or Bon Jovi Centre as it was called that night.  Bon Jovi played a few singles from his brand new album, “What About Now”.  Of all the songs he sang there was one that really stood out to me, because it really summed up how I felt during the day.  The chorus to “Because We Can” really reflects the attitudes of many Penn State Students on State Patty’s Day.  Many  students were not another wave in the ocean,  we were all rocks.  Instead of going out and drinking all day long, we took a stand and help our community thorough the many service project offered by State Day of Service.  From students picking up trash, to cleaning brush at the arboretum,  the community of State College will always have a someone they can rely on.

PSU Harlem Shake

Today, at around the same time our class starts, the Harlem Shake should be hitting the Penn State campus on a large scale.  Today a large group of people will be meeting on the Old Main lawn to create the first Penn State Harlem Shake to occur with a large group.  What’s unique about the whole Harlem Shake phenomenon, is the fact that the original video in which the song debut, was uploaded to youtube over a year ago.  So why is it just the Harlem Shake just taking off now? This seems to happen all of the time, someone will upload a video, and for a year or so, it will sit there and barley get any view.  The video doesn’t go viral until someone spreads it, and thanks to social media this happens very quickly.

Here is a link to the original song.    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk1_DbbzSdY

And here is the video that made the song go viral.    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hpEnLtqUDg

Unions in America Montage

So this semester I’m taking a gen ed in art,  in this case it’s communications 150 which is the art of cinema.  Honestly the class is fairly interesting, however it’s not the movies we have watch or the techniques we have learned about in the making of the a movie, but the professor himself.  My professor is a very opinionated individual, and at the end of class every thursday, he shows us what he call his parting thought.  His parting thoughts are generally in the for of a montage of video clips from the movie we watched that week and current issues we are facing in our country.

This week we had watch a movie dealing with mob controlled unions.  His parting thought talked about how Americans today have no collective bargaining rights, and that what held people together in the work place, unions, are being destroyed by the republicans, who are portraying unions as evil.  My mom being a school teacher, I am fairly familiar with how unions work, and I would have to agree with my professor that unions are an important part of a developed countries work force.  Without a union workers would have almost no say in their safety, or other aspects of their employment. There would also be no force to fight back when issues are occurring.  I feel unions serve an important role, and they should be preserved.

Super Bowl

Of all of the Super Bowl commercials that aired this year, the one which I felt was the best out of all of them, was the Volkswagen commercial.  Overall the commercial was very believable and it was easy for those who watched it to relate it to their actually life.  Which is something you can’t say for some of the other commercials, such as the Axe Astronaut, or the Wheat Thins commercial with the yeti.

From the very start of the commercial where the office employees state “I hate Mondays”, to the food stuck in the vending machine, I’m sure at some point in time each of these scenes has happened to someone somewhere.  I really enjoy any commercial that is relatable to the aspects of my life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H0xPWAtaa8

Beauty or Beast

Nebraska Tornado

Nick Brichacek, AP

When I look at this image, there are multiple items that stand out to me.  First would be the contrast between the ground and the storm in the sky, clearly the sun is behind the photographer, but the contrast to me has a symbolic meaning.  The dark storm represents the ominous feeling of the destruction that is soon to happen. The light foreground is symbolic of the peaceful tranquility that commonly follow a tornado.  Finally, we have the tornado verse the rainbow.  For many, the tornado would represent the ugliness behind this event, the sheer destructive device that is capable of leveling whole cities and town, causing fear to be the first thought on people’s minds. For me however, the rainbow is what represents my thoughts about tornadoes. I see this tornado for its beauty, and mystery it presents to my choice of major, and my longing to fully understand them.