Assignment 5-1

Blogging Culture

There is no better description for Popular culture in today’s world than ‘Blogging’. Everyone seems to be blogging these days. Everybody has their own little corner in the virtual world where they can vent out their ideas, their opinions, and frustrations, show off their skills etc.

A blog is described as “Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer”. Blog can be about any topic under the sun. People write Sports Blog, Automobile related Blogs, Cooking Blogs, Health Blogs, and Travel Blogs etc. People can post pictures or videos on their blogs

Blogs can be an important medium of information exchange and learning medium. Blogs have brought back the culture of writing. Blog space provide a medium of expression and is almost a form of art. A good blog is like a hobby, aids in self development. One can learn a lot by visiting good blogs. A person living in United States can see and understand life, art, culture, vegetation or food habits of a country in the Far East.

Blogs are alos becoming a source of income through virtual advertisement. Ad space on good blogs is worth much more than an ordinary blog.

The Phrase “Online Personal Journal” is almost an oxymoron. Because once a blog has been published it is out there in the web world for millions to see. It’s no longer personal.
Because the amount of publicity blogs are receiving, it is advisable to proceed with caution regarding what you write you post on your blog.

At the same time some blogs have become controversial due to their content. Blogs like ‘Campus Gossip’, ‘Office Blogs’ have gained media attention as well. People have lost jobs, reputations have been ruined because of blogs. Any information medium exchange always needs to be used wisely and with caution and blogging is no different.



Reference:
Harmanci, Reyhan (2005-02-20). Time to get a life — pioneer blogger Justin Hall bows out at 31. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on 2006-06-09.

Assignment 4-1

Winter Edition of Big Brother Turns Up the Heat

As a faithful Big Brother watcher this season has been hotter than ever. The show normally puts houseguest against each other trying to be the last on in the house. This year Big Brother is titled until death do you part. They have paired up 16 houseguests with what is supposed to be their soul mate. They are all single and are looking for love. CBS has done personality testing to try an match each person up with what is thought to be their soul mate.
This year Big Brother will be like no other the contestants will be paired with their soul mate and play as one. The couple will compete for head of household and power of veto as a couple. They will be evicted as a couple and will vote to evict each other as a couple. The couples will have to sleep in the same bed with their partner. The partners will have to compete as one in order to win the half million dollars.
The producers of the show have tried to get new contestants that are different than the other. They are trying to keep the show fresh by not duplicating other houseguest. In previous shows there were contestants with very distinct personalities. There was last year’s winner, which they called Evil Dick who was able to intimidate the other guests by threatening and yelling at them. This years cast promises to be different than any other year since the contestants will be playing as couples.
This years Big Brother will air on February 12th on CBS at 8:00 CST. The show will air 3 times a week with various competitions, which will include food competitions and head of household competitions.

Assignment 3-1

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

The name John Fitzgerald Kennedy, popularly known as ‘JFK’ still evokes strong emotions. He was born in 1917 and became the 35th president of United States. He represented a new generation America.

He stood as a beacon of hope and paved way for a new de-segregated America. Even though he served as a president for a very short term (1961 to 1963) he was a very popular and a powerful president. He is remembered for the things he could have done for America and the world had he been alive.

He is the youngest President and to date the only President to win the ‘Pulitzer prize’. The major events during his administration were “Bay of Pigs Invasion”, “Cuban Missile Crisis”, building of “Berlin Wall”, “Space Race”, “America Civil Rights Movement”, and early moments of the “Vietnam War”.

On the fateful November 22nd, The President and the First Lady, Jacqueline Lee Bouvier journeyed to Dallas on a campaign trip. The presidential motorcade drove through downtown Dallas, with the president and the Firstlady and accompanied by the Governor John Connally and his wife Nellie, in an open top car. As the motorcase moved through Dealy Plaza shots were fired upon the Presidential Car. Before anybody could realize what was happenening two more shots were fired which wounded the President fatally. He was rushed to the Parkland Memorial were he was pronounced dead soon after.

The whole world watched in shock as the news unfolded. Millions around the world wept at the loss.

It was concluded that the shots were fired from the nearby warehouse building called the ‘School Book Repository’. Soon after a warehouse worker named Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested. Oswald who was a former US Marine had allegedly defected to the Soviet Union was in Cuba recently and championed the Cuban Causes and returned to United States. Jack Ruby shot Harvey Oswald to death before he was put to trial.

The dramatic events led to the popular belief in Conspiracy. The Warren House commission that was set up to investigate the assassination confirmed that the shots that killed were indeed fired from the warehouse. The Rockefeller commission set up to investigate CIA’s involvement didn’t turn up with any conclusive evidence. In 1988 the Case was closed for lack of conclusive evidence.

JFK is still considered to be an Icon of American hopes and aspiration. He continues to rank high in the public Opinions of former US Presidents.

assignment 2-1

Harry Potter Series Millions of people around the globe see Harry Potter series as a revival of Book Reading. In today’s generation book reading has been places on the back burner, and books are struggling hard to keep up with ever increasing presence of web world. Harry potter changed all that. The last book in the series set a record when it sold approximately 8.3 million copies on the day of release[1]. There are approximately 400 million copies of the book in circulation worldwide. The Harry Potter magic has touched young and adults alike, and interestingly in today’s world of war and deceit the book has transcended every boundary known to man, be it language, culture, age or ethnic background. The book has so far been officially translated into approximately 65 languages. The book is rich in literature and marks its place as one of the best classics since Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Narnia etc. The book essentially has seven parts and tells the journey of an orphan boy who is left to suffer at the hands of his Aunt and Uncle until he realizes he is a wizard. Each part then chronicles his life as he goes to the wizard school for seven years and how in the end Harry wins over the evil with Love and Sacrifice. This series like other fairytales tells us about the war between good and evil and how evil comes to an end sooner or later. The essential theme of the story is centuries old. The author J.K Rowling needs to be credited for the panache with which she has opened the minds of readers to the imaginary world of witchcraft and wizardry. The books are being made into movies and theme parks are being built around the theme of Harry Potter and discussions to include the books as part of school curriculum are in progress. The series goes on to prove that a well-written book never goes out of style. Not everything is beautiful with Harry Potter. Some people have claimed that the book teaches witchcraft that is real. Some have claims that the book uses symbols from “Illuminati” – the secret society propagating the birth of Anti –Christ and hence the book should be banned[2]. All in all the books provides a wonderful reading experience for many. [1] http://money.cnn.com/2007/07/23/news/companies/scholastic_potter/index.htm [2] http://www.cuttingedge.org/news/hp001.cfm

Assignment 1-3

Fenway Park and the Golden Age of the Baseball Park, 1909-1915
This article was organized logically. It had the different phases laid out so they were easy to understand it did not jump from one era of baseball to another. The ideas and the technology evolution are presented clearly and is easy for someone who followed baseball to understand. The article explained things about the ballparks features that you notice and it explained why they were there. For example the ramps in the park; they are there so people can get in out faster. The key idea that I take away from the article is that these parks that were built in the early 1900’s were architectural masterpieces and helped lay the ground work for the stadiums we use today. Some of the parks that were designed are still in use today. I am a avid baseball fan and would like to visit Fenway Park for a game. I will understand more of the history behind the design of the park.

Icons

I identified three contemporary icons they are Tiger Woods, baseball cards and The Cincinnati Reds. The first is Tiger Woods he is considered to be the best golfer in the world. When people see his face they know who he is. Another icon is a baseball cards they are collected and some people do not allow others to touch their card collections. The last icon is the Cincinnati Reds baseball team. This is a professional baseball team that people in Cincinnati and around the world have a personal attachment to. I chose Tiger Woods because of how he has changed golf. There are so many young children who play golf now because of what he has done for the game. They see his intense personality and kids want to grow up and be like Tiger. If you were to ask someone to name a golfer they would most certainly name Tiger Woods. You see his face on commercials not only for golfing equipment but other products from razors to automobiles. He has his own line of golfing apparel. The man is an icon for golf. Tiger is someone who brings enjoyment and amazement to the game he is the type of player that you can watch just to see what he will do next. He is that good. I think the main reason I chose him is because of how he makes golf look fun. For so many years golf was for the old guy at the country club. Tiger has showed the world that it is not that way anymore.

Baseball cards are a part of my childhood growing up. I was always a big baseball fan so I knew who the players were and to have my favorite players card was awesome. When I was a kid I can remember having my mom take me to our little store in the country to buy me a pack of baseball cards for .30 cents. I literally had thousands of baseball cards. I didn’t collect them because they would be worth a small fortune when I was older. I collected them because they were cool. I was lucky enough to still have most of my cards and most are still in good shape. My favorite is a Pete Rose Card.

The last icon but not the least important is the Cincinnati Reds. I have been a Reds fan since I was a little boy. I can The last icon but not the least important is the Cincinnati Reds. I have been a Reds fan since I was a little boy. I can remember listing to Marty Brenamen and Joe Nuxhall do the play by play of the games on the radio. I chose this because I have a personal attachment with the Reds. Still today I spend $140 dollars to get the Major League pass so I can watch the gamesremember listing to Marty Brenamen and Joe Nuxhall do the play by play of the games on the radio. I chose this because I have a personal attachment with the Reds. Still today I spend $140 dollars to get the Major League pass so I can watch the games

The last icon but not the least important is the Cincinnati Reds. I have been a Reds fan since I was a little boy. I can remember listing to Marty Brenamen and Joe Nuxhall do the play by play of the games on the radio. I chose this because I have a personal attachment with the Reds. Still today I spend $140 dollars to get the Major League pass so I can watch the games

.

What is popular culture, and what does it mean to you? Popular culture is something that is trendy within a group of people. Things that can be considered to be popular culture are music; television and sports are just a few examples of popular culture. There are a few things that I like that could be considered popular culture. I am from Ohio and like most people in Ohio I like Ohio State football. On any given fall Saturday there will be over 100,000 people in Ohio Stadium rooting on the Buckeyes. This is very popular in Ohio but it is not so popular in Texas, which is where I live now. Football is popular in Texas but Ohio State football is not. Why is an understanding of popular culture relevent to you ina business environment and in your present and future career? Understanding of popular culture is important to you in a business environment because you need to understand what society is looking for. I work for a company that builds machines that produce energy. In today’s popular culture it is important for a company to look after the environment. A popular culture is to go green which means to reduce green house gasses and to reduce energy use. I company that produces power needs to understand this and develop new products to for this popular culture. My company has invested a large amount of money in fuel cells. This will allow them to make energy with out the use of fossil fuels, which will allow them to reduce greenhouse gasses that are linked to global warming. What would you consider to be an example of a pop culture artifact? And why would you choose it? An example of popular culture would be baseball. Baseball is the great American pastime. It is a sport that millions of people watch every year. Young children play it from the time they are old enough to walk. They practice and grow to love the greatest game on earth. Most young boys at one time in there life has played the game and dreamed of playing in the big leagues. People have gone to baseball games for years. Some of my best memories as a child were on the baseball field. I can remember to this day the first baseball game my dad took me to. It was a Cincinnati Reds game and they were playing the San Diego Padres. I was only 5 years old. I don’t remember who won the game but I do remember the game and how bad I wanted to run out on that field one day. There have been songs written about the game there have been movies made about it. America has watched baseball since the early 1900’s. Baseball has been a popular culture for many years. There have been strikes and the fans returned there was an entire team that took money to throw the 1918 World Series. The one thing that still remains is the fans still come to watch the games.