The last Post

Well this year in class was interesting to say the least. Last monday the author of the book we have been reading in class was at school and i went to listen. It brought some closure on a stroy that was like no other ive read. Some of the questions people asked i thought werent the best but they had the guts to go up there. This class was alright it really just pointed out what i think alot of us already knew but its always good to make a clear point. The one thing it clearly showed me was how mucgh tv sucks now. The way media is used as a product to sell just kind of makes only 1% of it useful or at least in my eyes. I think this class is making me enjoy books more, less bullshit and there is no commercials. Or better yet, no cable and just go outside and enjoy the simple things of the outdoors. The best thing you can learn at a class that deals with the topics of class, race, and gender is to have a open mind with it and treat as you would want to be treated. If you dont your going to have some bad shit happen to you.

Bin laden

Soooo we finally got him, or thats the rumor. I was sitting around writing a paper when somebody texted me and informed of osmama binladen getting capped in the head. I tell you i honestly didnt know how to take it. People were chanting usa and all that stuff but i dont think it will change the struggels going on in the middle east. Bin laden is the tupac of the middle east. He is dehumanizedm and will be remebered forever. I cant believe he was in a compound, i figured he would be out in the wilderness forever but o well the simple fact is he is gone. I wish we could have captured him alive but i think that would have just influenced his cause and could have provoked more attacks on the u.s. I couldnt have helped thinking about the 9/11 attacks and all, and how he was buried at sea. I could give a fuck less about his dignity. The world has gotten pretty ruthless, but that asshole made our world alot worse and he should be given no such quarter. Soo even though he is gone i sure hope the rest of his group of other assholes meet the same fate he does. To many good people have died over his bullshit cause. I wonder was the last thing other than that bullet went through his mind.

Spike Lee is nuts

The movie Bambozzleds by spike is very ineteresting. If you want to watch a movie that makes you say What the hell was that go rent it. It is a showing of the early enetertainment of african americans in the present time, and really shows where some sterotypes we get today come from. I watched it with some friends of mine over the weekend and you could have taken before and after pictures of our faces i bet the would have been shocking to say the least. Spike Lee just laid the smackdown on everything. This must have been one crazy movie to shoot and produce, the actors must have thought what the hell are they getting into with this one. One other movie in the past couple years left me as lost as this one, Inglorious Basterds. And it wasnt the main plot that blew me away, it was all the little stuff. How people acted in the background blew me away. So i mean it was interesting to say the least, dont have the kids watch this one. I just dont like movies that are based around hardcore sterotypes it just makes it worse i think. If people just need to respect each other. The movie needs to be remebered as to try to avoid all judgement on other people from the past, i mean got to forgive and let all that stuff go. I dont think this film helped that at all.

Reports

The reports that we did in class with leaders of certain movements ether being tribes, social classes or the worker unions has i think giving the whole class an idea of how much the word has changed and what people had to do , the sacridfces they made to gain support for there cause. For most of us today we really dont think anything when we hear about a holiday or day of recognition for these people, and i think when you sit down and read or hear about there stories it really opens your eyes. The labor problems i came upon cesar chavez and the ufw it is amazing how much attention he got from agencies like the atf and fbi just becuase he was alabor leader automaticaaly made him a suspect for communist ideas. The idea that he knew his life was under threat from all over all the time is a testiment to the strength and determination these guys had on accomplishing the basic workers rights, which meant everything to them. Most of the these guys had little or no formal education but saw the unequal treatment they were getting and decidied to do something about it under great scrutinee. Alot of these guys arent even in todays history books, which is a great example of showing where the education system is going. The acccomplishments of people like chavez will only be reconized ether farther down the road or by an expanded hisotry and reconition of labor leaders of the past century.

reality tv

Reality tv shows most of the time suck, however, this week is the start of the new season of Deadliest Catch. I dont know about you but this is by far one of the best shows to be put on tv. All weekend there were marathons and i watched about 80% of it. Its so hard to turn it off or get other stuff done when this show is on. The story of the the men who fish the Bearing Sea has been a great show of how man surrounds themselves around the roughest seas on the planet to catch a several billion dollar industry. Since the show has aired over forty people have died and several boats have sank, that is not why i watch it. Each boat and there crew have there own set of personalties and work ethic and you can relate to that. The Northwestern is my favorite boat and could see myself working with that crew, the work long hours, in bad weather, and are all badasses. My roomate on the other hand would work on the Time Bandit because he enjoys the family amosphere and they like to have as much fun as they can while they work. Everybody has their own reasons why they like different boats and it is really cool to see there fishing straegy and how each boat deals with the elements. It is way better than jersey shore or the stupid csi shows that have the same outcome and just steal plots from earlier shows or old movies. That what drives me nuts when people are like those reality cop shows are awesome, a little fyi COPS is the best cop show

This past weekend i have come to relize how strange the weather pattern are in this state. My friend and i left Morgantown on saturday afternoon when it was snowing and drove 3 hours south to go rafting on the New River. We drove through three different weather systems that went back and forth between rain, snow, and sunshine depending on what mountain we were driving over. We went on the river the next morning and to our suprise it was around sixty degrees and sunshine out; however the water was all snowmelt and with alot of coldweather gear on still made ya shiver. Praise Jesus we didnt go in the drink. Areas where the river births from had a foot of snow the day before. It really makes you understand that the climate here especially in tranisition parts of the seasons can bring you anything. Even with todays modern technology in prediction and simulating storms people still have problems with it. Especially last winter when we would contiously get dumped on with snow, and the prediction and handling of road crews were ineffective.

The longest yard

The longest yard is by far a movie that reflects male influences. Prison, football, and texas. Who could ask for more, right? There is not a moment in this movie where there is some form of competition between inmates, guards, and then players on the field. The opening scene with the car chase is very acceptable to a bunch of dudes. we think its funny. The other side to this story is that of the underdog in the inmates playing against a solid group of guards, however we see seperate groups between blacks and whites union into an effective team that have the oppurtunity to beat there foe. The revenge plot of the mistreatment of the inmates fuels there desire to play even more. Adam Sandlers main character, and quarterback who was accused of throwing a game was gives him a chance at redemption for his mistakes. The movie overall has many sub plots but they all reflect a masculan male influence, there are no love storys or reuniting with family. These guys are just out to kick ass in the most violent professional team sport on the planet and against a opponent ( the guards) who have been able to treat them all like dog shit. It is a story that offers great motivation for team unification, and has some very funny parts.

midterm

Im not sure what to think of the midterm exam, in a sense all the questions seemed more of an opinion and not a true yes or no option. With the topics that we cover in class i guess everything is seen on our on view or judgement on where people are in the class system in todays society since we have all come from a different background. When i left the class i was honestly wondering how the hell i did and had no idea so that was somewhat discomforting. So when i saw my grade i was just like o well could be worse, you see its the last semester for me and its really hard to care. That and the csi whatver show we watched, i have no idea how that was graded and i was confused on how to just wright or try to explain to do both. So is that what our final will be like? It just puts extra stress on us when we dont know how many assignments or bonus oppurtunities are aviable and give us a chance to up our grade up. That would be cool if you offered that so we could get the highest possible grade in the class. So other than that the class has been pretty cool and i dont mind going to it, even though its long and it takes forever.

Sports Media

The modern day sports fan has access to more information about their interests than any other in history. Not only does this completely engulf their life with endless sportscenters, but they end up not having a life. Over the past two years the sports reporting world has followed in the steps of their big brothers like CNN and have modeled a broadcasting schedule that keeps people glued to their tv, pc, phone, exc. Its pretty wild when you think about it but i do have friends who you could do an intervention on because the are involved with sports like a dangerous drug. I like reading the newspaper its all you need, i mean they are overloading themselves with information (unless they are betting) is entirely useless to their existence on this planet. It is just like anything else influenced by the information revolution and superhighways of teams in everysport and each year it expands. Not saying this is a bad thing but lord have mnercy go outside and throw a football or go read a book, it almost makes you forget about what is going on around you. We all have some type of atheltic ability, though it might not be professional but i would rather be playing a sport than watch other people talk about it, for hours, then days, a week, a month then complete mayhem.

In the next year the political unrest in the middle east will be at an all time high. With Egypt in its own transfer of powers or reveloutuion this is going to send shockwaves throught the Arab world. Alot of this has to do with the mass communication systems that are at the disposal of our society today. With views and ideas able to flash around the world at the click of a button we are sure to see many other countries follow the path that egypt has. I think that it would have been more bloody and unsuccesulf if the media that leaked out of the country of the policies of police and security forces never happened. During a broadcast on the news they were talking about how rallies and groups have been organized on facebook above all things, it seems like it is stronger than the sword or something like that. It is definatley becoming harder and harder for regimes/goverbnements to cover up the treatment of there citizens without having ansewr to the rest of the world. This is a great thing to see especially in the arab world that has been dealing with a long term stand of violence on both religios and ethnic groups, hopefully it will level the playing field for everyone in the system.

Please Go Away Justin Beaver

I would love to go one day without hearing about this kid, in all honesty im sure he is a swell fellow. However, like most starchilderen brought up from comapnies like disney i can only imagine where he will be in a couple years. Porbably starring on celebrity rehab with dr.drew. This trend is worse then what i thought was the worse with the Jonas brothers who in my opinion have yet to compose a single piece of music that deserves to be placed on radio. It really pissess me off when these "bands" or "musicians" are more of a product of something and not a person making music. Its just pretty rediculous how a magazine i thought was credible and worth reading Rollingstone has hoped on the the bandwagon of these preteens who rap and sing songs about doing the dishes and staying out till ten oclock. Stupid trend with a huge target market, I mean musicians go there whole lives making ends meet, working, touring, living life tied close to there music cause they have to, they live it, and thats why they have great music. Some of the best music i have ever heard has been from artists who have only sold a small percentage of what these other retards are feeding into a larger crowd of retards. And just because your making money and have multi million dollar corporations backing you up and making your way cause you fit a target market, i mean its bullshit. I cant believe he perfomed at the grammies and just like the superbowl halftime show IT SUCKD....thank you and good night

bad Facebook

For most people they consider themselves completely different from how people see them. In todays word it is easy for people to express there own self on social sites like myspace, facebook, exc. Though this can help find people of interest and expand there views and ideas, it can also fire back on them in the manner of others judjing and people having the power to overview the ideas and lifestyle that person is over. Ive notice over the past two years on facebook people have really "cleaned up" or "restructer" there profiles as if they are being viewed by there parents. In most cases it is cause they are along with co-workers, teachers, and government agencies. I think that it is going to become more of an increasing problem when everybody want to start suing each other of privacy policies. I can see it already where people are taggimng pictures like poperazies and trying to use there name as a mean of advertising. There was a girl who i didnt even know tagging me in pictures of shoes with about thirty other people. Though it seems like this sounds outragous at first facebook will eventually pass a billion users if it hasnt already, and with it only getting more detailed with individuals that can update whenever they want its going to actually make it there own worse enemny, then what it felt like when facebook started.

The Winds of change

Why are people seen and grouped into certain classes? Or why to we have a pre assumed judgement on people based on gender, appearence, or religion? Though most people would like to think we need to throw these ways out the door, we cannot help the fact that we are human. In recent decades the fact of more groups and classifications that are given to different groups just fuels the fire of judgement on others. With advances in social technology everyone can become, a anaylist, critic, judge, protester, or leader and it is because of this that it upsets me of how people can say write with one saying that we need to treat eveybody the same when with the other they have there own questionable judgements on others. I guess what im saying is that every celebrity has lovers and haters. Anything that has ever done has had negative feedback and what i hate is that people think that is wrong, or imoral. If it is imoral for us to express how we intrepret others and there ideas we are living in a corrupt society. Its pretty stupid when no one respects others culture, or trend when they are trying to act like theres is better. Its called free will and if theyre are negative reponses fine but we have no right to condemn people like it is done on cable with news politics and rules unless it violates my safety.