Assignment 5.1

When I was in high school, our day started with a Snickers bar and Mountain Dew, today our children can open a single can of energy and start their day refreshed and ready to go.(So they Believe) In this modern world "energy drinks" reign supreme. YOu can get two hours of sleep, wake up, pop a RED BULL, and be on your way. The problem is, these drinks make you crash and crash hard, so you must drink them in a continuous loop to keep your energy and finish your day. Sounds nuts Huh?

Growing up my parents warned me of the dangers of coffee. Don't start drinking that stuff you'll stunt your growth, they'd say. "You be addicted for the rest of your life", was another. Today parents for-go the talking, we can't complete with the television and peers anymore, we just hop and pray for our children to return home safely. Are these drinks ruining our children, not really anymore than the JOLT cola and candy bars we used to consume; but our parents did have a little say in what we drank. Oh and by the way, I didn't drink coffee and still don't, and I grew to a towering 5'8". Food for thought.

Assignment for week 4

In todays' world, the invention of cellular telephones seem like a Godsend. The fact of the matter is many times they are a plight on our society. Many individuals, such as myself, are very busy with day-to-day activities and do rely on our "cell phones" to keep in touch and updated on any changes in our schedules. However, as a retail manager, I can tell you these phones can be a huge problem. Hear me out. Have you ever been standing in line at say, Subway, and been behind a cell user who happens tobe chatting with a friend about things occurring the night before? Not only are you getting information you may not want to know about your "line friend" but they are holding up the entire process? How about waiting at a red light and the driver in front of you is chatting or even worse text messaging someone and doesn't notice the light is green? I know I have. In these cases, in the days before technology, a simple clearing of the throat or toot of your horn brought people back to life and your day moved on. Now if you interupt the "cell" process, you get the look of ill fate or even a very crude jesture. So what do we do?

The use of cell phones in public and while driving have been in debate from the onset of the trend, and now that these devices are so prevelant in our culture and technology has since expanded, publications specializing in "modern manners" have chimed in and created new etiquate rules for these little wonders. State governments have passed laws banning cell use while driving, unless you have a hands free phone. Hands free phones, Who Knew???

The fact of the matter is our culture today is one of excess. We cannot do things half way, it is all or nothing. The simple little device that could have been useful has turned into a nightmare for some. I have seen children, young children, carrying around a cell phone and knowing how to use it well. That may be a good idea to keep the children in communication, but the children know more about these phones than most parents. I am sure the debate will ride on long after I give up, but the fact is we as a society must realize that our phone conversations may not be appropriate for all ears and use common sense, we do not like it when our privacy is invaded, so wouldn't make sense to keep our converstaions between the person we're talking to and ourselves? And remember, "Miss Manners" says always leave your cell phone on vibrate in public. Gotta Go have a Call!!!! :)

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Assignment 3.1

Television has evolved over the years. I can recall when I was a youngster having a very small quantity of channels to choose from. My family had a old fashioned antena tower with what they called a "rotor" attached to the very top. To better "tune in" a staion you turned the knob until the reception was clear, sounds odd now, but it worked then. As technology grew, the invitation of "satellite dish" television became all the rage. We had this huge, black, wire mesh dish in our front yard ,attached to a metal pole, cemented into the ground. Again ,in order to find stations, you had to move the dish by selecting a satellite orbiting the earth. The dish slowly moved upward, or side to side until the connection was made. This process could be slowed by the wind, rain, or snow. It took forever just to find one station and the selection of channels was still slim. Very slim.

Today we have smaller, less cumbersome dishes. These dishes are attached to the side of houses, or roof lines. You see them everywhere. Cable television was once the wave of the future, but now you can access hundreds of channels by simply placing a call or going online and order your personal dish. Several companies have created a price war and fight for your business. These companies battle with each other and cable services by adding packages and special pricing to earn your business. You can almost pick your price and channels you would ever want. From experience, the dependability of the DirectTV network has served me well over the years. This is a far cry from the old days when we spent hours searching for something to watch. Even though there's nothing like running out side in a storm to move your dish because the rotor device had gotten wet and quit working. That's sarcasm !!!!

Assignment 2.2

In this weekly analysis I want to discuss the "reality TV" craze that has come over the nation. When I was a child, I can remember watching weekly television shows such as, Dukes of Hazard, Knight Rider and Hee-Haw. I was always taught to beleive that television was an escape from the day-to-day messes in life and let the veiwer have a vacation from the ordinary. I mean who would have thought of a trucker and his pet monkey fighting injustice would have been a everyday occurrence.(B.J. and the Bear for those who may not remember) But I digress, Now our weekly viewings are of those unscripted dramas or comedies that flood the time slots.

These shows span the gauntlet from everything from survival of the fittest to the beauty in us all. You can watch ordinarily "pretty" girls transform in to vuluptous runway models and watch strangers move into one house and vote each other off in order to win thousands of dollars. You can spend your evenings watching people submit themselves to plastic surgery in order to better themselves, or watch individuals submit themselves to their own fears all for cash prizes. Pretty much anything can be found in reality form somewhere on you your television. I can see the draw in it all, it would be hard to find enough programming to fill the hundreds of available channels we can subscribe to these days. In my childhood, we had local television and very few cable channels available for our area. Rural America relied on those three story tall antena towers or theose obnoxious satellite dishes that took up the entire yard in order to gain more channels. My family used both.

In conclusion, reality television may open the eyes of our youth, and may even educate in some fashion. The truth of the matter is, the generate large amounts of advertising dollars for multi-billion dollar compnaies by playing on our human instintincts, we are nosey as people go. We like to see the daily drama, hoping that someone has a worse day then we do. The only problem of that is, those people are being paid better to have that bad day. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy some of these shows, but the best form of reality television for me is the nightly news.

Assignment 2.1

In today's modern world, we view things differently as "iconic". The new age of television has made many things household names, but only a few stick in my mind for very different reasons. I have chosen Tyra Banks and Americas Next Top Model(ANTM) for one, Spongebob Squarepants as another, and finally Paula Deen as the last for this blog. This diverse selection may seem all over the place but it makes sense to me. I promise.

The choice for ATNM is simply on this cycle of the show, a potential model has "Asberger's Syndrome". This disorder hits our family close to home as my niece has been dealing with the disorder for many years. This disorder is a mild form of autism and mainly deals with social issues in our society. Many indivduals feel uneasy around groups and tend to be very socially retarded.

Spongebob on the other hand, was chosen for my son. As growing up, he and I would spend hours watching the show. Not only is the show a world recognized cartoon, it has huge pop culture following. You can purchase dolls, dvd's, videos, and clothing featuring the charectors from this show at pretty much any mall or department store. The show gave us hours of enjoyment, and a lifetime of memories.

Lastly, Paula Deen is a mega-conglaumerate in her own right. She is a restuarant owner, a writer, television star and has moved into the movie scene. From her humble beginnings in southern Georgia to a individual known for her personality, battled depression and social anxiety to move forward to live her dreams. She shows the passion for your dreams can lead you to your destination, even if it takes you a little while.