Tyler's Weblog

Celebrity & Athletes

Tyler — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:46:42 +0000

Celebrities and Athletes get paid way too much money for what they are worth. The service they provide is important. Entertainment breaks up the monotony of everyday life that most people go through. Athletes and celebrities do have value. However, to say they have the highest value of anyone else is a gross overstatement. This problem is more of a comment on the spectators then the actors and athletes themselves. Sports, music and movies are all businesses. They all are going to do whatever they can to make money. In sports its winning, the more you win the more publicity you get, the more fans you get, the more money you get. With music is about producing music that will sell, regardless of whether or not you write your own music. In movies, its all about the the story lines and actors/actresses that will sell tickets. In all three of these things it is all about the bottom line. How much money can we make? Nothing else matters and the owners will do everything they can to make the maximum amount of money they can. There is no such thing as a non-profit recording label, sports franchise or movie label. As spectators if we agree to pay tickets prices for movies, music and sporting events then we are encouraging this outrageous behavior. We may agree with it or we may not, the owners don’t care. As long as we buy the tickets, they’ll let us think and say whatever we want. The only way this practice will ever change is a mass boycott of this ridiculous practice, which, will most likely never happen, because easy entertainment is too valuable. Easy being things that are not necessarily cheap but accessible.

Personal response pages 546-563

Tyler — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:57:34 +0000

The first article is about feminism, about how the “f” word was initially about equal rights among the sexes and now it has been somewhat forgotten about, even though things are still not where they should be. The feminist cause of equality among the sexes is a noble cause and has just hit a plateau of sorts. This happens with most things. This is true for sports, art, relationships, education, everything. The more one progresses the harder it gets and at times the fight will plateau and feel like it isn’t going anywhere and something will come along that will kick it up a notch. That is just how it is. The only thing that I think has to be kept in mind is that men and woman are physiologically different. Men have broader shoulders, which allows for the development of upper body strength more efficiently than woman can gain upper body strength and secondly, women have a handful of things that change about their bodies as well, mainly for child bearing reasons. Not that these things make one sex more inferior or superior overall, but these things will mean that men are going to be better at certain things and woman better at others. However, that is not reason to justify the unequal treatment of the sexes, it is just something to make note of when talking about that equality.

The next 3 articles are about cliques and specifically girl cliques. The thing that stood out to me is the part about being popular coming at a price. Popularity is something that is so passionately fought for that the costs of that popularity are not ever really addressed, or at least not directly connected to the strive to be popular. How many people are lost to drugs, alcohol, sexually transmitted disease, teenage pregnancy, etc. while in the hunt to be popular?

The last two articles are about the obesity problem in the United States. This is a huge problem and like the articles said, hugely ironic that in the US we have a problem of eating too much while the majority of the world struggles to eat at all. The consciousness of the US is changing but I think the obesity problem is a manifestation of a deeper societal problem. Our culture hates the word “suffering”. We do everything we can to avoid suffering. People would rather die than suffer for any lengthy amount of time. With this attitude exercise will never be a priority. This is because requires suffering, you must break down the aspects of your body to rebuild them. This is usually not a fun process and requires hard work, determination and, heaven forbid, pain. This fear of suffering is one of the major obstacles in our fight against obesity.

Electoral College Is Effective

Tyler — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:08:55 +0000

The Electoral College is an Effective way of electing a president. Each state gets a certain number of electoral votes based on how many people that state has. States with bigger populations get more electoral votes. States with little populations get fewer electoral votes. The problem most people have with it is when states only have a handful of electoral votes while others get dozens. This does not seem fair but should not a state with more people get more votes? Why should a state of 400 people have the same weight as a state with 40,000? It might be best served to re-evaluate the electoral votes per state on a regular basis, but the electoral college is a good system for electing a president and has been around since the US started electing presidents. The foundational belief behind it is still valid, maybe some changes need to be made to modernize it, but overall, the electoral college is effective.

Arguments

Tyler — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 23:29:45 +0000

To determine whether or not something is an argument it is necessary to first define what an argument is. An argument is something that is intended to make something or someone change. I find it hard to belive that everything is an argument, there must be something out there that does not give the intention to change. On the other hand I find it difficult to find what that thing is. If it isn’t for change then what is the point of arguing? Then again the change that is sought can been positive in order to enhance, or negative in order to break down. So arguments can be used change someones stance positively or negatively. In order to determine what an argument is depends fully on the authors intent. If the author of the piece intended to change the readers opinion than you have an argument. If the author did not intend to change the readers opinion than the piece is not an argument.

p441 #3

Tyler — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:34:30 +0000

A building I consider to be one of my favorites is the main sanctuary building of Spirit of Christ. The outside of the building is made of a sandstone brick, which gives a feeling of strength. There is just something about stone and brick that gives a sense of permanence and foundation, hence the third little pig who built his house of brick in order to withstand the big bad wolf. On the inside it is quite simplistic. Wooden beams, stone floor, a few stained windows, and the same brick used for the outside of the structure. There really isn’t anything super impressive at first glance. I remember when I first saw the sanctuary I was not very impressed. I thought it was alright, but far from being anything truly spectacular, nothing like the Cathedral in down town Denver. However, there is a lot of glass that lets in a plethora of natural light. Which is something that I really appreciate and love about this building. The sunlight is allowed to enter freely and intermix with the structure to form shadows that would otherwise not be there. The stone floors and wooden pews give a very natural feeling to the sanctuary. It is almost as if you were sitting in nature when you sit in one of the pews. It has a very natural beauty to it that I have never found in any other church or building I’ve ever been to. It is because of it’s simplistic structure of stone, wood and glass that allows the sunlight to enter freely that this natural feeling is accomplished.

p439 #2

Tyler — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:25:14 +0000

It is imperative that people understand the basic elements of design in order to use object like self service objects. Take an ATM for example, if the designers decided not to put any features on the machine to help facilitate its use, people would stop using it and start just going inside the bank to withdraw money. If there wasn’t a picture on the machine of where to insert the card, or a picture of where the cash comes out or pictures and symbols on the screen to help the machine would not be an item of convenience but one of frustration. Which would completely defeat its purpose. If people did not have a basic idea of design then self service objects would never be able to be used, no one but the the people who made it would ever be able to figure out how to use it with any efficiency. However, the more complex design elements and the little intricacies that add to design are not as pivotal and only serve to help with efficiency. Such as when the enter button is a different color, red, while the rest of the key pad is gray. This just helps the user find the key faster, but if it was grey like the rest of the key board the user could still find it, but it might take them a few seconds longer. It is important to understand how design influences function, but the smaller the details the less importance they have.

p438 #3

Tyler — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:47:26 +0000

There is a TV add currently running that places a young boy in a marina raising country flags in the order of how well the that countries schools perform in relation to other countries. This is a very powerful commercial for a couple reasons. First it shows how many countries schools out perform the schools in the United States. I believe in the commercial the US is ranked in the late twenties, twenty seventh to be exact I believe. The second aspect that makes this a powerful commercial is the fact the the elections are a little over a month away. The commercial wants to make people aware of how the US schools are performing in relation to other countries and how our economy and future of the US is directly proportional to how the its schools perform. With the elections coming up this a commercial to incite people to make a change that will make US schools more competitive. If it there was not an election coming up this commercial would still be a powerful commercial but it would just make people aware of the situation and leave them feeling helpless to do anything, where as placing it right before the election allows people to not only be aware of the situation but also to encourage them to go out and make a change through voting.

p434 #1

Tyler — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:31:53 +0000

Everyday I pass the 1stbankbuilding on the corner of 64thand Ward. The building is very simple, its basically a big block. It is completely square with four rows of windows starting at the base, main floor, and working there way up to the top of the building. Each row of windows signifies a new floor. The windows are twice as long and wide as the windows on the upper floors. This is used as a security measure. If people, specifically the police, can see inside the bank then they will be able to see if any criminal activity was going on and provide or summon the necessary help. The building is one of the tallest if not the tallest building in Arvada, which signifies the importance and prominence of the building. Also, at the top of the building is a huge light up 1stbank sign in each direction, so regardless of where the building is being viewed from the viewer will know its the 1stbank building. Other than height there is nothing to set this building apart from its neighbors. It a light brown color and lacks any unique architecture. This blandness is used to convey a sense of professionalism, which is the underlying atmosphere banks try to achieve. In general the simplistic structure and form of the building is used to convey a message of professionalism and prominence.

p431 #2

Tyler — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 02:43:04 +0000

I looked at the new ipod nano-chromatic and how it was being advertised. The product itself is small and sleek. Giving the impression of being small enough to carry with you everyday, while the sleekness adds a sense of “coolness”. Because honestly, who cares that the edges are rounded now, instead of the being square like the 2nd generation. This new ipod nano is the same size as the 2nd generation, but now you can tilt it on its side and to enable the cover flow feature. In addition there is a numerous amount of accessories that go with this and every other ipod out there. The feature on this new nano are not there to make it anymore capable of playing music. They are purely just there to get the consumer excited about a new ipod. It’s all kind of a ploy and it works. I have a 2nd generation nano and I want the new nano, even though there isn’t much difference. Although the new nano can hold more songs, but really there isn’t any significant difference. The design language of the product says that the new ipod is even easier to use and provides even more functionality. It’s definitely directed towards those people who needs the latest and greatest. Plus, the wide variety of colors that it comes in is also very appealing.

Unit 2: Open theme

Tyler — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 23:17:18 +0000

Lately, I’ve been reading this book entitled “An Exorcist Tells His Story” by Gabriel Amoth. Amoth is the chief exorcist for the Vatican. Of all current exorcists he is the top dog. The book is based 100% based his different experiences with exorcisms and demonic beings. The book is a little over 100 pages and it has taken me over a month to read, mainly because it freaks me out. I have always had a great curiosity for angelic beings and through that I been led to a few books on demonic beings, since demons are fallen angels the connection is inevitable. The thing that freaks me out the most about the book is how powerful demons are and how hard it is to rid a possessed person of the demon that is afflicting them. There are a variety of different ways people are influenced by demons, the main one being temptation and the most extreme and rare one being full blown possession. The main goal of demons is to remain hidden. They do not want to be found out because once this happens then the possessed can take the necessary steps to rid itself of the the demon. If they are found out it can take years of regular exorcisms to actually be fully rid of the demon, but this all depends on the severity of the possession and what the cause of the possession was. There is a lot of information in the book and Amoth hits a lot of different aspects of possession and exorcisms. The book does a great job of giving a brief introduction into the various aspects but it does leave the reader wanting more. There are some things in the book that are hit briefly and leave the reader wanting more information, but I actually think that is part of the point of Amoth. Amoth does go more in depth on things like curses and witchcraft, among a few others, but his main point is to raises the awareness level about demonic possession, which he does well. Overall, the book is a really good read with a lot of good information. I highly suggest it to anyone who has an open mind and wants to learn more about the topic. I just give this caution to anyone wanting to undertake this book, be prepared to be at least a little freaked out.