Soundtrack to My Life

So the soundtrack to my life isn't necessarily songs that are similar lyrically to my life, it's songs that I either like or remind me of something. Anyway....

1. The first song, oddly enough, is "Soundtrack to My Life" by Kid Cudi because it is the most played song in my itunes.

2. The second song is "Yesterday" by Atmosphere because it's probably the best song to just sit back and chill to.

3. Similar to the second song, the third is "Feel Good" by Chip Tha Ripper because it is another one of my favorite songs to relax to.

4. The fourth song on my list is on my soundtrack because of the situations I find myself in while listening to it. "Shots" by LMFAO ft. Lil Jon almost always seems to come on when I'm drunk-dancing in a strobe light with a lot of people around. Basically, it's the best club song of all time.

5. The fifth song, I hate to admit, is "Bye, Bye, Bye" by NSYNC. We all know this song. And guys, whether you like to admit it or not, this probably was your favorite song at one during your elementary school years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo-KmOd3i7s  (Bye, Bye, Bye music video)

6. The sixth song is "Friday" by Rebecca Black simply because it's always nice to have an artist to make fun of :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD2LRROpph0

Library Trip

I wanted to find a book on a famous murder/crime. My first thought was of a book I read a few years ago titled In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote, a book which chronicles the murder, investigation, and sentencing of the Clutter family from Holcomb, Kansas. I searched the title of the book and found that it was located in college library on the first floor, room 1191. I found the book by its call number and looked at the books around it. I found various titles that seemed to match the topic I was looking for: Murder City, Who Killed Karen Silkwood, and LAbyrinth. The third one caught my attention right away. LAbyrinth is a book like In Cold Blood, however, it follows the case(s) of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. I remember hearing about their deaths as a child, and remember how much controversy surrounded the issue. Needless to say, this was the book I checked out.

Call Number:       HV6534 L7 S848 2002b
Citation:       Sullivan, Randall. LAbyrinth. New York : Grove Press, c2002

Advertisement

So here is a link to the commercial/ad that I chose, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woOu_4l3lio

The commercial is advertising Michael Jordan's clothing line, and not surprisingly is narrated by Michael. The commercial goes through a series of important aspects of Michael's career: an old YMCA, a weight room, his uniforms, is accolades, diagrams, his high school gym, as so on. In the end of the commercial, there is a transition to a group of kids (likely at a basketball camp/clinic) who are being lectured by Michael. The dialogue throughout mostly deals with him saying, in a nutshell, that he is where he is because of hard work. The message he is trying to send (besides "buy my ridiculously overpriced clothes") is that you should work hard, no excuses.

I would say that this commercial falls under the category of "need to achieve". It is very motivational, and praises hard work, but proposes that Michael's apparel may help you get where you want to be. There is no doubt that this commercial would be ignored if any ordinary Joe were promoting the clothing line. Like Murray said, people have a desire "to accomplish something difficult. To overcome obstacles and attain a high standard." Seeing this commercial motivates people (most likely athletes) to work hard, but hopes that in the process they might pick up a 150$ pair of shoes, or a 40$ pair of Jordan shorts on the way. 

Research Questions

Should Stem cell research be stopped because of the moral issues it poses?

I chose this topic because I think there is a lot of potential for steroids. They could heal many people with conditions that are now incurable. I am somewhat familiar with this topic as well so I know where I stand. In my paper I will advocate stem cell research and try to discredit the arguments against it, specifically the ones which name stem cell research immoral.

Something Borrowed

                In this piece Gladwell asks whether plagiarism justifies ruining someone’s life. The protagonist determines that plagiarism is more than just copying others word for word. It is part of an evolution process where people take things and change them slightly. In short-term memory these cases of “stealing” seem very similar to each other, and may seem like a crime. In the long run however, we forget where the material truly comes from. Instead we see new material that barely resembles the many pieces which have been plagiarized to create it.

                Although it was hard to follow the events happening in the story at times, I agreed with the main idea. The central idea of plagiarism being a part of evolution is unique and interesting.  I haven’t thought about it like that, but I think I agree with it. I understand that someone might feel like a part of them was stolen, but everyone plagiarizes at some point in time, or at least slightly paraphrases the work of another. It is good for artists to look at better artists for inspiration; their inspiration allows the copier to tweak their piece and make it their own.

Ayn Rand, Racism

            In this chapter Racism, Ayn Rand names racism as a byproduct of collectivism. Rand begins by introducing the absurdity of racism as an ancestral and chemical bias. We are judged by the genes and actions of our ancestors. To her it seems wrong that if our relatives were intelligent or moronic, then we should be deemed intelligent or moronic, respectively. After establishing her opposition to slavery Rand suggests the solution to racism: individualism and capitalism. These would eliminate racism because they allow rights of a group to be limited to the rights of its individual members. However, she argues that our individualist notions, which can account for the rise of the West, were negated when collectivism began to surface. Rand says that over time our society has gravitated toward the belief that authority and power should belong to the group. And that our tendency was to join the “least demanding” collective: race. Because of this, our individualism was no more. When Rand looks at the people responsible, she does not single out a certain group, she deals blame to both the oppressor and the oppressed. Her claim that “there can be no such thing as the right of some men to violate the rights of others” has not been followed by our society. Instead Negro leaders are contradicting their cause by establishing racial quotas, conservatives (mostly southern) claim to be “defenders of freedom, yet advocate racism”, and liberals defend minorities but support the sacrifice of individual rights to majority rule. Together those three contradictions have culminated in the Civil Rights bill, something Rand despises. Ultimately to Rand it is a Laissez-Faire capitalistic-individualistic government that we need, not a bill which “breaches property rights.”

            Although initially Rand’s piece on racism seemed sort of crazy, I am starting to agree with some of her arguments. The main point she makes, which I agree with, is that with collectivism comes the tendency to join groups. By lowering the significance of the individual and raising the importance of a whole, we segregate ourselves into bigger groups (usually racial groups). Instead if our approach was entirely individualistic, we would have a different minority group for every person on the planet, no grouping would be necessary. Her whole idea of eliminating the sense of one’s own inferiority is something I agree with, and is something that contributes to the idea of individualism. I also agree with the three main contradictions she points out involving liberals, conservatives, and Negro leaders. It helps people understand problems with racism and segregation.

Solution to Saturday’s Puzzle, Sedaris

            I think Sedaris’ story as a whole was a mess. He ended up sitting by a married woman, so there is no chance of him having a flirty conversation. Then she ends up thinking he’s an asshole and the two of them spend the whole plane ride going back and forth. Finally the situation culminates with a cough drop stuck to the woman’s pants. What a shitty plane ride.

My Joke:

            Not really a joke, more of a really short story…After I read this piece I summarized it and wrote a paragraph on what I thought about it. Then I went to Otto’s sample blog and read the first line: “Don't summarize, it that would be kind of dumb.” Needless to say, I felt pretty dumb.