SUMMER TIME!!

     Woo! The spring ’11 semester is coming to an end! It’s felt short yet long at the same time and I really can’t believe that next week I won’t have all these assignments to do, or a blog to write. This class wasn’t exactly a walk in the park but I definitely enjoyed it. I’m glad that I decided to take English 101 online and I’m even happier that I was lucky enough to have had such a good teacher. Jennifer always made herself available, was always really understanding, and really helped me learn a lot. I feel like my writing skills have improved and writing has become easier in general. I used to have to really get into it and think about what I was going to write before I began an essay, but now it’s like my mind and my hands just know what to do. I’ve enjoyed the blogging assignments the most because we got to read other students’ writing and really got to know each other even though we never met in person. Most online courses are pretty impersonal and down to business so I thought that was pretty unique. I think that we would have had less work to do if we would have met in person every week but I liked that I could work at my own pace and set my own schedule. This course being so awesome has really persuaded me to take other online classes in the future. What did you think about it?

     Have any cool plans for summer? I’ll mostly be working Monday through Friday so that’s not too fun but at least I’ll have money to blow (not that I don’t manage to blow the little money I make now). Last summer felt like an eternity; in a good way though, because everyone is so carefree in the summer. That’s probably the one advantage about being a teacher. No one else gets the whole summer off every year. I’m not sure if the positives outweigh the negatives though. Overall, did you enjoy the course? Are you doing well in your other classes? I took Biology 101 with Rainbow this semester and all I can say is, do NOT take his class. Really though, I usually like all of my teachers even if they’re not exactly “fun” or “easy” but that man is something else. So glad yesterday was my last day in there. I’m just praying that I pass because I really need to have good grades in order to get into the Radiological Technology program. I started a semester late so now I’ll have to either wait another year to apply or try to take some courses at College of the Canyons on top of the courses I will be taking at AVC next semester. Talk about stressful! What are you studying at AVC? Are you trying to transfer somewhere? Anyway, it was a pleasure taking this course with all of you and I hope you enjoy your summer!

Penultimate

Wow! Finally, the last two weeks of school. I’m so excited. I can’t wait until summer is here. I have a feeling these next two weeks are going to fly by! I took some rather tedious courses this semester, and I’m just happy that I can say “I survived spring ’11”. I’ve actually learned so much and I feel extremely fortunate for having access to an education unlike it is in other areas of the world. I can’t believe that anyone would take that for granted when we know that Americans have it so good compared to other places. You could be a member of an impoverished emaciated tribe in Africa, whom often has close to absolutely nothing.  When you feel like your life is hard and unfair, stop and think about how your problems compare to theirs.

Anyway, I’ve noticed in taking English 101 that at the beginning of the semester it took me a lot longer to write a blog or an essay and now it’s a breeze. But I guess it would become easy after writing so much week after week, right? I thought that I was pretty familiar with MLA format, but I was pretty rusty and there have been some changes to it so I guess it’s always helpful to keep up to date on that sort of thing. I also had never taken an online class before, and I realized that I really like it. Everything is according to your own schedule and although there is sometimes more work to do because you don’t meet in person, I still prefer it over having to drive all the way to school and back. Especially since gas is extremely overpriced right now, (thank God it’s going down).

Despite the heavy work load, I actually enjoyed taking this course because at least it was consistent and you knew what to expect every week. What did you think of English 101? Are you glad it’s almost over? Have any cool plans for summer? I have a couple of things planned this summer one of which is filming an audition tape for Survivor. I’m obsessed with Survivor and they’re casting for the next season so I’m taking it upon myself to audition and you have to submit a three minute video. I’ve come up with some pretty good ideas, and I think that if I really put my mind to it, I have a good chance of getting on. Keep your fingers crossed for me! I also really want to go camping in Oceanside at Camp Pendleton. Also, I’m taking my mom to a concert. I actually bought her the tickets for Mother’s Day but it doesn’t take place until the end of July. Summer is my favorite time of year and you have no idea just how bad I wish I could snap my fingers and skip forward to it! Thankfully, it’s just a couple more days until the long Memorial Day weekend!

A Damper on Creativity

What is your view on sampling? Do you think that sampling takes away from creativity and originality? If you are unaware of what sampling is, Wikipedia describes it as the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song. In my opinion, sampling may make your song a hit, but it definitely hinders creativity and originality. I mean, in most cases the reinvented song becomes inseparable from the original, and that should be exactly what a performer doesn’t want.

For example, every time I hear the intro to Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby”, I immediately also think of the song “Under Pressure” by Queen. Listen to P. Diddy and Faith Evan’s hit “I’ll Be Missing You” and tell me that you don’t confuse the lyrics with those of “Every Breath You Take” by The Police. Why? Because once you’ve heard a really good and original sound in a song, you’ll never forget it. In both instances, the reinvented songs got a lot of air play, but you can’t honestly say that the songs were unique. In music, it’s extremely important to bring something new to the table. Whether it be the voice, the style, the sound, or all three. What’s the point of signing artists that just regurgitate what’s already been sung? It doesn’t make sense, and it’s a shame that some performers aren’t even creative enough to at least use the samples in a more unique way.

If you are going to use sounds from another song, at least make sure that it is hard to tell that sounds are samples. If you are using samples to ADD to your music that contains your OWN creative touches and sounds, then I think it’s fine. But don’t just put different lyrics on the same track! I mean really? How can you even call yourself an artist when you do that? Andy Warhol was so awesome because he was painting things that no one had even contemplated painting before. However, if I were to go paint a picture of a Campbell’s soup can, it wouldn’t be nearly as impressive or innovative because it’s already been done!

It’s funny because it seems like performers are trying to recreate the success of past artists, but they should be focusing on creating something completely unheard of rather than comparing themselves to others. There will never again be a band like The Beatles, or Led Zeppelin. There won’t be another Britney Spears, or another Madonna. Take Lady Gaga for example, She’s kind of like Madonna, she’s kind of like David Bowie, but she’s definitely 100% Lady Gaga and I think that’s exactly what makes her stand out from the crowd and has helped her achieve such enormous success. Notice that she recently caught a lot of heat for her song “Born This Way” being similar to Madonna’s “Express Yourself”? You can’t expect people to pay to watch the same movie twice, just like you can’t expect the people to respond favorably to music that they feel they’ve already heard.

     Well I think that calling it “The Dreaded Research Paper” was very appropriate. It’s getting closer and closer to the end of the semester and the stress is definitely starting to get to me. I feel like I have so much to do but so little time to do it. I have gone to the library and picked up a couple of books so I think that I have enough good sources to complete the page requirement. I haven’t written a whole lot quite yet but I’m hoping that once I get some tests and assignments done for other classes that I can really dive into the research paper and get going on it before it’s too late! I’ve written a couple of research papers before, but they were on much easier topics that didn’t require so much close attention. I really have to know what I’m talking about and I hope that I can do a good job on it because I am dying for a good grade in the class but it’s getting harder and harder to focus on school as summer rapidly approaches. I also work every day during the week so that just adds to load that I am taking on and sometimes it just gets to be too much for me.

     As of now, I’m just going to take it one day at a time and focus on the tasks at hand. I’ve learned that if I just breathe and go about completing things in a calm fashion that I can get more done and do a better job at it. As I often say, “I’ll figure it out”, I always do. At least I can say that I chose an interesting topic so it’s still dreadful but not horribly dreadful. I don’t think writing it will actually be that hard, I think it’s motivating myself to really focus and do it that’s the issue. I’m not too big on procrastinating because I like to enjoy my weekends and not having to worry about doing homework instead of relaxing but I might just have to suck it up and get to working on it this Sunday. I don’t think that I’m not the only one in the class that is feeling so overwhelmed right now and that makes me feel better. Actually, I feel the worst for Jennifer since she’s the one that has to grade them all! I could really never be a teacher, I have absolutely no patience. But anyway, good luck on your research papers and on finals! Summer will be here before you know it!

Technology

I think it is so crazy that we now live in a world that is so connected through the means of technology. We have the internet, cell phones, iPods, and devices like the iPhone which has all three of those things in one. I can’t help but wonder what is going to come next. Now it takes mere seconds to communicate with someone across the globe when years ago it would take months to send mail across the country! Or what about the fact that a decade ago the only way to buy music was to go the store and by a physical copy in the form of a CD, or better yet a cassette tape! Those times are far behind us and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for us.

I think it’s safe to say that the “net and desktop manufacturers are making the average American kid a true citizen of the world” (196). There’s Twitter, and Facebook, Blogger, and Tumblr where kids can make friends with people from anywhere in the world. Borders don’t exist over the internet. One minute someone can upload a video onto YouTube and the next day it’s gone viral with millions of people having watched overnight. Actually one of my favorite videos on YouTube is a 1994 clip from NBC’s ‘Today’ show where Katie Couric is completely confused by the concept of the internet and can’t seem to understand exactly what it is. Seems ridiculous that it’s now almost twenty year later and even small children know what the internet is. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey, 31 percent of children age three and under are already using computers. Sixteen percent use them several times a week, 21 percent can point and click with a mouse by themselves, and 11 percent can turn on the computer without assistance.

However, there are some downfalls to all this exposure to technology. According to Leah Klungness, Ph. D., incessant exposure to "all day TV," violent video games, instant messaging, and the always accessible cell phone interferes with the development of the psychological traits known to be essential to positive outcomes for children. It’s a scary world out there and even though the internet is used to connect to people, you might connect with people that can be a danger to you and/or your family. It’s important that we know what are children are accessing through technology but it’s becoming harder and harder to monitor exactly what they’re doing when there’s at least one computer in every home and cell phones with internet capabilities are ubiquitous.

There are pros and there are cons to this greatly technological world we live in. The internet allows us to learn about everything and anything we can dream of with just a couple clicks of the mouse but it also provides a place for predators and cons to hide behind their screens. Kids can now be citizens of the world, but can also be exposed to things that they shouldn’t be exposed to. I wish I could say that technology has done nothing but benefit society, but unfortunately that just isn’t the case. We’ll just have to stay tuned and hope for the best.

Real Housewives

           Human beings are innately curious and inquisitive. That’s the reason toddlers always manage to get into the bathroom drawers and pour an entire bottle of lotion on themselves. Due to advances in technology, communicating, even with those on the other side of the world, is fast and easy. The human race is more interconnected and aware of each other than ever before. Humans like knowing what’s going on with other people and enjoy being able to see others’ lives unfolding right in front of their eyes. I believe that is why reality shows have been such a hit. People don’t want to a watch a scripted show with actors, when they can watch a show featuring “real” people. Think about it, celebrities aren’t just famous for their work anymore, they’re more known for their personal lives. Hence, our fascination with all those trashy gossip magazines and shows like E! News or Access Hollywood. Shoot, even the local news feels the need to report on the lives of reality show stars like those of MTV’s super hit, Teen Mom. We just love “being a fly on the wall”!

            To my chagrin, I cannot say that I too am not a fan of reality television. My favorite would be any of the shows from the Real Housewives franchise. There are currently seven different versions of the series which follow “the lives of relatively affluent, bourgeois housewives and professional women in the suburban or urban areas of several American cities, and the suffix portion of the title takes on the name of that city or suburban region” (“The Real Housewives of…”). There are currently Real Housewives shows in Orange County, New York City, Atlanta, New Jersey, Beverly Hills and Miami. The Real Housewives of D.C. aired in 2010 but was discontinued due to low ratings. Although many say that Beverly Hills is the best of the seven because of their obvious wealth and high social status, I definitely like Orange County the best; they’ve got spunk! I think the reason so many people tune in every week is because they like to see how lifestyles change according to location. You can immediately see how they differ from one another, yet are the same in many ways. The similarities they share with one another are also things that real housewives of the United States can relate to. Such as motherhood, their jobs, divorce, etc. And of course, Americans love the drama!

            The Real Housewives shows manage to bring in millions of watchers and have consistently opened or closed seasons with high ratings. There’s even an aftershow which airs after every new episode hosted by the creator of the series, Andy Cohen. It’s called Watch What Happens: Live and they have a new guest every week. The housewives themselves are sometimes the guests or celebrities that watch the series come on to discuss what they thought of the night’s episode. The series has been a huge hit so far, and Bravo is striking while the iron’s hot and is in the process of filming three international installments in Athens, Israel, and Toronto. One of the housewives from New York City, Bethenny Frankel, even got her own spin-off show, Bethenny Ever After. I don’t personally believe that Americans have had quite enough yet of the women and there’s no sign of Bravo slowing down with production.

“The Real Housewives Of…”. Wikipedia. 28 Apr.2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Housewives>. 

I’ve always said that if I could trade lives with a celebrity for the day, I would be Snoop Dogg. Snoop is legendary and in my opinion, a pioneer in gangsta rap. He’s best known for being in the West Coast rap scene of the 90’s, as Dr. Dre’s protégé. You can’t really get much more gangsta than that. It’s exactly how gangsta he is that appeals to me. Twenty years later, he is still making and taking hits. Recently, however, he has taken more of a “music for entertainment” approach to his music but will forever be an icon.
 Snoop Dogg was born Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. at Los Altos Hospital in Long Beach, California. “He is a member of the Rollin' 20 Crips gang in the Eastside of Long Beach, although he stated in 1993 that he never joined a gang. Shortly after graduating from high school, he was arrested for possession of cocaine. Snoop Dogg's conviction caused him to be frequently in and out of prison for the first three years after he graduated from high school. Snoop, along with his cousins Nate Dogg and Lil' ½ Dead and friend Warren G, recorded homemade tapes as a group called 213, named after the Long Beach area code at the time. When he began recording, Broadus took the stage name Snoop Doggy Dogg” (“Snoop Dogg”). He was heard by big time producer, Dr. Dre, who called to invite him to audition.
 “Dr. Dre began working with Snoop Dogg, first on the theme song of the 1992 film Deep Cover, and then on Dr. Dre's debut solo album The Chronic with the other members of his former starting group, Tha Dogg Pound. The huge success of Snoop Dogg's debut Doggystyle was partially because of this intense exposure.To fuel the ascendance of West Coast G-funk hip hop, the singles "Who Am I (What's My Name)?" and "Gin and Juice" reached the top ten most-played songs in the United States, and the album stayed on the Billboard charts for several months. Gangsta rap became the center of arguments for censorship and labeling, with Snoop Dogg often used as an example of violent and misogynistic musicians. Doggystyle, much like The Chronic, featured a host of rappers signed to or affiliated with the Death Row label including Daz Dillinger, Kurupt, Nate Dogg and others” (“Snoop Dogg”).
 Two decades later, he is still a successful recording artist and one of the most infamously gangsta rappers of them all. His most recent album, Doggumentary, was released in March, 2011. He now focuses on his family and coaches his son’s football team on his down time. Naturally, his life isn’t as gangsta as it once was, but there’s no way he and his songs will ever be forgotten. If you forget just how gangsta Snoop was, just put on “Gangsta Party” to remind yourself.

Snoop Dogg. Web. 20 Apr. 2011. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snoop_Dogg>