Lance Armstrong

Allison Davis, Garret Hoover, Erika Mabee

Being a Gamer

We talked about the world of gamers the other day in class and how they are learning things though video games that are essential to saving world problems. I connected this to this game I used to play online called WhyVille. You would create an avatar and it would evolve over time and you would have to work to earn money, build a house and buy food. I think that this ended up being a really productive game that teaches kids how to be responsible as they grow up and that they need to work hard in life to get money and buy the things they need. They eventually got this thing with it where it was trying to help kids learn to be healthy and it would track the food you put into your body and it would sync it with the food pyramid. If you were eating too much junk food or not enough water, you would start to get sick and need medicine and go to the doctor etc. I think that this was really important for such a popular online game and I think more games like this should be out in the public for kids to play with. They can prove to be very educational because I learned to make good choices from that.I think the video game/ online game industry has a lot of potential to make a difference in the world by teaching kids live long strategies and ways of thinking and understand that can prove to be helpful in the real world. I have found throughout life that I am really good at figuring out how things work even though I have no idea what it is. I think that through video games I learned that you are going to experience new scenes and experiences and nobody is there to tell you how to get through it, you just have to figure it out. I think that this has come in handy in my life very often, and looking back at it I think it does originate from playing video games, and for that I am thankful.

Ellen – Gay and Proud

I fell in love with Ellen DeGeneres when she played Dory on Finding Nemo, which I think most of America did as well. Until this character, I hadn’t really heard much about her though. This fun loving character that she played was a way that helped American to feel like she was a funny person that we would like to see again, and she got her new TV show and became a hit. I feel like many people are scared to come out to their friends and family because they don’t know how to understand it on their own sometimes and it’s hard to accept when your family or society tries to force you to be someone you’re not. Ellen was a strong person to come out as a TV icon because she risked the repercussions of how this could affect her career in the TV and Film industry. But because she was able to laugh at herself about it, she didn’t suffer from the way others may have viewed her. Laughing about situations is sometimes the only thing you can do. I have also found though that most funny people are actually really suffering underneath how they act. I have seen this to be true in my past relationships as well as with people you see on TV as well. Being gay is something that our society has cast a shadow on as something you don’t want to be. So growing up, knowing you are gay and keeping it a secret as long as she did was probably really hard and confusing for her. I think more people who have the power to impact others need to be expressing their self freely so they can show others that they can stand up for who they are as well. Ellen has helped reach many people and brought them strength and hope in opening up to others about their own problems with how society has affected the gay community. I think that our society is getting better about accepting the gay community but it is still far from where it has the potential to be.

My Boyfriend was a Hipster in Denial

I was dating this guy at the beginning of the year and he lived in Indy so whenever my friends here would ask about it him I would show them pictures and talk about him and whatnot and they would always say, “ohh he’s like a hipster” and I was always responding and agreeing with them.  When we had class and read about hipsters and then defined them in class I was convinced he was in fact a hipster. He had the big thick –framed black glasses, sported the ray bans, rode a bicycle, was a white-boy rapper because he didn’t care what people thought he was just trying to live above the mainstream and be him. He hated Facebook but loved Twitter. So just about everything we were seeing and reading about was matching up with him. So one day in class I tweeted something like, “learning about hipsters’ today too bad so-and-so isn’t here” and he text me and said… “Are you calling me a hipster?” and I said, “yes”.  And he was offended by it! He fought with me the whole day about how he WASN’T a hipster, and I was confused because I thought hipsters were cute but no, not to him. He had a bad image of what a hipster was/meant and never wanted me to call him that again. I was really confused because I never saw someone get offended about it. I thought it was a compliment. But we broke up now so I guess it doesn’t really matter. But nevertheless he is still a hipster in denial

Princess Culture

Today in class we talked about the princess culture and we watched several videos that I thought were interesting. The two videos about the Disney princesses without the narrative and instead music playing, showed how the princesses can be displayed and viewed differently. We noticed that the princesses were all skinny and had big and bright eyes. The men seemed memorized by them and also were displayed as strong "hunks". It was almost provocative and sexual in a way that made the princesses appear as ideal and someone that men want to be with. I found this interesting since this is a kids movie that it would appear to be aiming at adult cues and shows how media affects children at such a young age. I was actually just watching the Lion King last night, and there were even times in that movie that I was surprised to see in a kids movie. You don't realize it much when you are a kid because all you know is that its a cartoon and they add in lots of songs and you find many ways to connect to it, but as you get older you see underlying messages that are conveyed throughout the narrative in the story as well as the actions of the characters and they way they may dress. I also thought the connection between this display of media on young children affect how they act and behave in real life. We can see this through other shows like Toddlers and Tiaras, and also on clothing for children. If people think that media doesn't affect children, they need to think again. I think media actual affects children more than adults because they are more impressionable and look for ways to understand right and wrong and how to behave.

Food Inc Video

This documentary should be shown more often. The quiz today asked about who should be responsible for the education and awareness of food and I felt like it was more so asking us who to point the finger at. Obviously we are at fault for what we choose to eat and it is easier to point the finger at someone else, but I honestly think that the government should be doing something to bring more awareness to more people. There is a pretty good amount of information out there, but it is only reaching a certain demographic of people and we need to find a way to make it known nationwide to all different demographics. This is where the media can play a part in helping the government. I don't necessarily think that the media is responsible for informing us, but I do think that they are the best medium for the government to use to help reach everyone. This also got me thinking that the government should not only be helping to inform the public about food but also helping to implement affordable ways to obtain healthier foods. Once we are informed, great... then what.... we still have the issue of the cheap food cycle and nothing is resolved. I think the government should reward the farmers who stick to the organic ways, who try to make healthy food for the public. They can't help that it is more timely, costly etc to produce it and that it therefore is more expensive to sell. Instead, the government should help out by rewarding those farmers because it will make our country healthier which will then reward the government by cutting back on our health issues and the money we need from the government for health problems and assistance. I don't know how to make this happen but something needs to change and we elect these people to protect our country and help us grow. These are the people who have the power to make things happen and they need to figure out a way to help the people in our country.