THE blog

PROGRESS!?

2009-06-01T10:59:00.002-05:00

In terms of statistics progression is inevitable; America will always be growing more racially-diverse because over time everyone will be bi-racial. But with regard to things that cannot be measured, I believe that America is moving in some sort of historical cycle. I chose this image because it is a new band’s album, although it looks, and sounds just like albums/music from the seventies. It is supposedly music that’s new and revolutionary, but there comes a point when art or beliefs become so diverse that there’s nowhere else to go. We talked all year about the myth of progress, and that’s just what it is, a myth.

Broadcasting Cycling

2009-05-20T20:09:00.004-05:00

I personally am a huge cycling fan as well as competitive cyclist, and try to catch every big event thats on tv... if i can find them. I have noticed that most of the biggest races in the cycling world are barely broadcasted, and when they are, they are almost never publicized. Almost all of the big races for road and track cycling are missed, aside from the tour de france, and i am kind of upset. even during the last olympic games, the only cycling events widely shown were just abridged versions of the mens and women's road race, which were similiar to a stage in the tour. what was missed were possibly the most exciting races cycling has to offer: track. not only that, but the World Track Championships weren't even broadcasted, although nearly all the other countries represented did. all i ask for is a little coverage, not every race, but a few more would be nice.

american studies day

2009-05-13T14:22:00.003-05:00

Today was extremely interesting and i enjoyed it thoroughly. Mississippi Heat was unbelievable and the student lead panels were pretty cool. Though i must center the focus of this post upon the first two lectures i heard: Louis Masur, and Mr. Maury, an Associated Press photographer.
I really enjoy photography as an art form, as well as other mediums of art, and I must admit that i personally agreed with the view points expressed by Mr. Masur more so than the AP photographer. Mr. Maury seemed to kind of present himself not as an artist but as someone that is just presenting truth, and in doing so kind of dumped on photography as an art. It seemed that he really bought into the ideology that, "if it bleeds, it leads," and showed only one picture not containing despair, only to follow up saying "but there are always pictures of pain, and suffering," showing more pictures of violence and devastation. Also while showing photos he'd taken, he spoke in a sort of didactic flow of statements and rhetorical questions, implying that we had a great life and that we lived in some sort of bubble and were unaware of the dispair far from home.

pride?

2009-05-11T18:06:00.003-05:00

after thinking about this assignment for a while i decided to take this because it is the only flag i could i find in my house as it stands. it is perched precariously on the top of a seldom used cabinet and tucked under some rolled up rugs. though it only comes out of its place to see the light of day possibly twice a year, I'd still say my family and i are pretty patriotic. For example, both my parents, as well as my 22 year old sister, vote at nearly ever election that is held; national as well as local. Also, they are very in tune to America's political frequency, and read up before voting, opposed to just voting for no real reason. Just because you can't see stars and stripes on someone's mugs and napkins doesn't mean that are are any less patriotic than any one else.

Joyus End of the Tyrany

2009-05-05T00:36:00.002-05:00

Finally the 'biggest paper of my life' is through ruling my life. i can honestly say that i learned a lot about my topic (Why are there conservative themes in American action movies?) through the researching and from my main book. I also learned some things about the writing process, next research paper i am assigned i need to have a focused topic early on and need to draft the actually essay earlier as well. I suppose that i am glad that i endured the process now, rather than letting it hit me like a truck at a later point in time. but the mainly im just glad it is over

Conservative themes in narrative media

2009-04-22T20:16:00.003-05:00

my main question im using for my Junior theme is, "Why are there conservative themes in action(adventure) films today?" but as i researched this topic i started to look at all media that convey stories, and i have noticed that across the board in film, tv, comic books, novels and even many games, conservative ideology drives the plot. By looking at all these different media, i have finally come to a definitive, yet mildly vague, answer to my question: It's much easier to employ conservative themes. its as simple as that; film and books and tv and games all use themes of conservative ideology such as the idea of self empowerment in forms of vigilante justice as well as the thought that through such actions their characters can restore "balance" or preserve the culture in some way (to impede change). Even those that have plot that are all about change, its all about reverting back to an older state, before it was changed by some power to be what it is today.

I'm Black, I'm not a racest

2009-03-01T22:07:00.002-06:00

On our day off i woke around midday, and decided to watch some TV, but when i looked at what was on, i remembered it was a weekday still. but i was already at the couch, so i thought i best find something. most of it was crp, but i ended up settling on a show called "wife swap." it was funny at parts, but what i found most shocking was the blatent racism shown on the show. there was a woman(who was black) that said she married a white man because she believed that every black man was lazy and arrogant, though she spent her time at home in bed being waited on by her husband and sons. then she switched places and was pared with a black man, and was extraordinarily rude and obnoxious towards him, thought he was in actuality a harder worker and better parent than she was. i guess that the network aired this only to spark controversy, and in turn gain viewers, but i think that its a little crazy.

untitled

2009-02-16T11:12:00.002-06:00

Lately i have been spammed with emails and facebook group invitations with petitions for blink 182 to play some festival or another, and its really gotten annoying. ive heard a bunch of people talking about how Blink 182 is reuniting and how great it is, but i have to say im not very optimistic. first of all when the band broke up, it was full of drama, and it ended with all of the members actually hating eachother. Aside from that after leave each member formed new bands that all went in totally different directions.

and just for the record, i happen to like blink 182 a lot and have most of their old albums, it isnt like i am just sour about a band a never liked.

but everything aside, i feel even if they do tour no matter what there will be fans at tghe shows, but unless they are just going to be playing their old songs, i think critics might not be so friendly.

Banned Books

2009-02-01T11:11:00.002-06:00

On Friday we discussed the book we were about to start reading, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The idea that the book was only to be taught in AS classes, and was banned from all other classes came up. it got me thinking; i wondered why it had been banned, and what other books had been banned at New trier over the schools history, and i came across this article: Banned from the bookshelf it was written about the fact that not 1 book has been banned outright from the New Trier classroom. it further explained that one of the only 2 books that were, "seriously questioned" was in fact Huck Finn. i found that the reason for its questioning, is that there may be a problem where some students might feel uncomfortable because of the issues of race brought up during the story. the article explained a lot, but i just found it strange how the main point of evidence used in this article is that the parents in our community are supposedly more educated than that of other areas, and that because of it, there is no need to ban books. i understand what the writer is getting at, but even if a person is educated, he/she can still feel uncomfortable, or offended by what is being taught to their kids.

Yee-haw

2009-01-25T14:58:00.003-06:00

Lately in class we have been talking about the american myth of constant, uninterrupted progress, and the general consensus was that the truth is, it is only a myth. Lately though, ive noticed some companies that have tapped into it. The most obvious example i kept seeing was Toyota, who's american sales campaign states that with Toyota, you "keep moving forward." i found it kind of funny because it isn't even an american country, though in the commercials, i see men, dressed either like cowboys or just working class people, driving pickup trucks, in an abiguously southerwestern scene, followed by the words "moving forward." i think that they must really research their target market better than their competetors, because the commercials from toyota, a japanese car company, seems to portray them as a perfect model of american spirit.

EH?

2009-01-04T17:28:00.002-06:00

With the NBA allstar game coming up, i decided to pick up a ballot, and enter the sweepstakes for free tickets to the game; however, when i read the official rules, i was surprised at what i saw. " If an eligible Canadian entrant is selected as a potential winner, he/she will be required to correctly answer, without assistance of any kind, whether mechanical or otherwise, a time-limited mathematical skill-testing question administered by telephone at a pre-arranged, mutually convenient time before being declared a winner. If a potential Canadian winner cannot be reached by telephone within seventy two (72) hours of the first attempt to administer skill-testing question, the prize may be forfeited and, at Sponsor’s sole discretion, an alternate potential winner selected." No where does it state similar requirements for for American contestants. I just found it absurd that the NBA would put any person through something like this, let alone someone who is theoretically fueling their business. Should it matter if you are good at math, to go to a basketball game?

danger!?

2008-10-20T16:23:00.002-05:00

Today in class, the Homeland Security Advisory System came up, and it got me to thinking. How dumb can we be that we need an "official" government issue colour-coded chart to inform us on the state of our personal safety? the whole thing seems to be kind of a joke to me; because for one, our "risk" is always somewhere close to the red. Two, if we actually knew when there was a "severe risk of terrorists," 9/11 would just be a date in early to mid September with no significance. The whole idea of terrorist attacks is to catch their targets off their guard. I wondered if this chart was created so that would-be terrorists would look at it and think, "oh crap! they must know what i am planning, or else why would there is a high risk of terrorists!?!??" I kind of think if the chart ever told us we were in the blue or green, the terrorists would see it too, and we would be most susceptable at that time rather than a red or orange time. I honestly see no purpose to any of it, because if terrorists threats are always likely, the meter would stay the same all the level (it does) and for the public impact, it doesnt comfort people, because it basically says their lives are always in danger. In addition, if people were wondering if there were a large threats of terrorists, they could pick up a newspaper, or tune in to the five o clock news, because the chart it self says nothing.

I am a communist, and i hate america.

2008-10-02T07:44:00.004-05:00

The idea of being patriotic and unpatriotic has been thrown around a lot lately in class, and i now have my own theory to throw out there. Both terms, in my opinion, are widely overused, and are beginning to lose true meaning. I feel that "unpatriotic," is being used they way people say teenagers use the word "love." For example, yesterday in advisory, when the pledge started, and i wasnt paying attention and missed the first line, The guy sitting next to me said, " You communist.. stop being so unpatriotic you america hater," to which i replied with laughter and stood up. In this country im not sure there even is a clear definition of the word, like just because you have a Flag in your yard, does it mean you love the country? When the same person would say that someone who wants the war in Iraq to end to be unpatriotic. The whole idea i believe is too big to be defined only one way.

USCF takeover

2008-09-28T12:12:00.002-05:00

Many of you may not know, but USCF is the United States Cycling Federation and they are not the only cycling faction in this country. I recently looked into trying to upgrade my cycling license with them, to enable me to race in higher caliber races, but they have instituted rules that force you to only race in races sanctioned by them rather than ABR (American Bicycle Racing) or any other group. So any races i participated in, or triumphed in, not sanctioned by USCF, are regarded as meaningless, and void. This is basically trying to get any event sanctioned by another group to be starved of paticipants, and utimatly close down, or be forced to beg USCF to let them pay inflated prices to get their seal of approval on flyer. This is pretty sad because instead of doing whats good for cyclists and fans, they and trying to monopolize the cycling world in america. It reminds me of a much more extreme example: what the CIA and the FBI did with regards to 9/11, hurting the people to continue to fuel old rivalries. Why doesnt someone try to stop them?

PALIN mccain 08

2008-09-13T23:14:00.002-05:00

I haven't been completely tuned in to everything that's been going on with this upcoming election, but from the skant bits of news ive seen, and from discussions we've had in class, it seems that a lot of people have really grown close to Sarah Palin. When she first hit the spotlight there were media attacks and whatnot, but now people seem to want to defend her despite knowing what the truth is about her(even i don't really know.) Even when i saw some video that was a parody bashing McCain, the caption was "leave Sarah Palin alone." People are saying that she will be the first woman in the white house and how great it will be, but people are, in my opinion, losing perspective. For example, i asked someone i know who they'd be voting for, they said
"not really sure, but im thinking i'll vote for Palin"
I kind of brushed it all off and tryed to forget about it, untill last night i was very pleasantly surprised by the opening of saturday night live. Tina fey was dressed up as Palin saying thing like she will be the first female president, and things of the sort.
On another note, besides the fact that many people are losing their grips, they also are just plain too nice to her.
In a way, people are being sexist. Be more critical of her, sure she seems nicer than hillary, but she deserves to be bashed and slandered and criticized as much as any other candidate, doesnt matter if you are white or black, old or young, male or female, you deserve to have the same struggles.
Make it so that it's "unfair," for everyone.

റിയല്‍ മ്ച്ചൈന്‍ ഓഫ് ജനി‌സ്

2008-09-11T07:20:00.001-05:00

Help is on the way?

2008-09-03T22:31:00.004-05:00

Last Thursday there was an awful crash at the Northbrook Velodrome where, at over 30 mph, Kristen Meshberg went down along with several other riders, who, unlike her were lucky and got up and limped away with nothing more than torn skinsuits, bruises and large amounts of road rash. Kristen went down hardest, her face smashed against the track, then dragged to the bottem of the banking and into grass. The track was cleared and the rest of the nights racing was canceled. After calling an ambulance and doing anything they could, everyone stood around her waiting for the paramedics with baited breath as the medical staff at the track took a look at her. The ambulance came relativly quick, but when the first paramedic came out onto the track , he strolled pleasantly towards her dragging a spine board. I was at a loss for words. The 2nd paramedic looked more promising as he jogged hurridly onto the track-- only to head the oposite way towards the garbage can, throw something out, then change directions and meander back towards Kristen. The other 2 paramedics followed a similiar routine as the first, and after examining her for a little while, they put her onto a stretcher and exited the same way they entered, walking back to the ambulance.

The paramedics were nothing like ones portrayed on TV shows or in Movies, but all the onlookers were. The faces of all the other riders, officials, and spectators were all stark white; silently waiting for reasurrance, could have been taken straight from some dramatic Hollywood movie. Possibly the paramedics got and call and thought, "pssh, some girl fell of her bike," and figured it was no big deal, but the eyes of the people who saw her go down showed different. I just wish i knew why the paramedics moved so slow, and if somhow that was the right thing to do afterall.

New Blog

2008-09-03T09:16:00.000-05:00

my name is Dimitri Karamazov and the world is my father

Edmund White's