A Blast to the Past

         When I listen to music many people consider my taste in music some what old, because I like to listen to 2000s pop and some of the music my parents enjoy hearing. The music that they play on the radio is okay, but I would prefer to listen to my music. Lately I have been listening to
Justin Timberlake, Backstreet Boys, N'SYNC, and Bruno Mars. Bruno Mars is the only up to date artist that I enjoy listening to. I like to listen to these old boy bands since they create songs that are pleasing and make me happy. When I listen to my music it can change my mood, since most of the songs I listen to have an upbeat theme. I know that the music I listen to sounds better than the stuff that they play on the radio now and days. My sister is totally opposite from me when listening to music because she enjoys listening to all the music that they play on the radio. The stuff that they play on the radio isn't always that pleasing to the ears. Now and days I feel that the things that are played on the radio can be inappropriate, and little kids shouldn't be influenced by these mature lyrics. The music that I listen to is clean and doesn't talk about inappropriate  things. I like to listen to my music through the app Pandora, since I'm able to listen to my old music and discover new songs that I am like. In the end, I enjoy listening to music a lot and it has played a big part in my life that can also make me a better version of myself.

24 Hours of Freedom

Last week I accidentally left my phone in my locker, and it made me realize how phones are very useful. During these 24 hours I experienced situations where it would be so much easier for me to use a phone. For example, I was trying to get a hold of my parents after practice but I didn't have my phone and my home phone wasn't working, so I had to use my computer to FaceTime my mom. At that point I realized that it would have been so much easier if I had my phone on me. Also I forgot my math textbook at school that day, so I had no way of asking my friends for the math homework. To solve my problem I had to wait till the next day to finish my homework at lunch. The next day at school I wasn't able to get my phone until sixth period, which is when I have PE. During zero period we were working on our ad analysis, but it was a little hard for me to do the work since my billboard for this project was on my phone and there as no other way for me to access this photo. There are many different situation where your phone can make things more simple and faster. After 24 hours without my phone I appreciate how technology has made thing so much easier for me to do things, and I don't understand how people managed to live without technology.  

Law and Order: Special Victims Unit

   One of my favorite TV shows to watch would be Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (SVU). My cousin was the person who got me hooked to this TV show, and I never knew why she was addicted to watching this dumb series. When I started to watch it I then realized that it was one of the greatest shows produced. This series has many great characters that can be very inspirational to others even though this show is all made up. The main character Olivia Benson is  a very inspiring women, since in the show she plays a strong detective that captures all the criminals that assault many different victims. When she is put in tough situations she always knows how to solve the problems. During difficult cases she makes sure that innocent people get their justice, so the criminals don't get off the hook. My favorite character on SVU is Rafael Barba, the ADA, since he gets to go to court and defend all the people who have experienced a horrific event. Also when he goes to court he is very clever since majority of the time he knows how to persuade the jury into thinking his opponent is guilty. I think this show is addicting because it always has a good storyline to each episode they create. When the show advertises for the next episodes they will only show the interesting parts of the next episode, and that makes me want to watch the next episode. The show can sometimes leave you on a cliff hanger especially when they are about to make a new season. I think when the episodes end on a cliff hanger it makes people want to watch the show even more, so they can find the answers to this horrible ending. So if you are in need of a new TV to binge watch I would suggest watching SVU,

Are Brands Creating Cults?

      The Frontline episode that we watched this week was called The Persuaders, and it made me realize how much advertisement has an affect on  my life. There was this one fact that really stood out to me that was brought up, which was that brands can turn their consumers into a cult. I didn't realize how true this was until they gave examples and I actually felt that I was a member of these products' cults. Nike is a brand that I am very loyal to, all the sneakers that I own are all Nike and I know that if I'm in need of a new pair of shoes my go to brand would be Nike. It is crazy how these brands can create products that make people obsessed with buying all their new up to date things. The brand Kleenex has create a cult that has a lot of members because I know some people that call tissues Kleenex even though it may not be that brand. They will ask "where is the kleenex?" even though they are just looking for a tissue. Brands sometimes go to the extreme since they will create catchy theme songs or ads that will add more members to their cult. Ads also like to create a character that will be able to relate to their costumers. Progressive is a prefect example since they like to use the character Flo in every ad because she is a person that can relate to common people while explaining what this insurance company has to offer. In the end I do believe that brands can create cults, but wouldn't exactly call them cults instead I would call these people very loyal customers.  

Two Sides to the North Dakota Pipeline

When looking up information on certain events that happen around the world, I am able to find many different resources that I can use to get my information from about an event. I have also realized that these resources can have different opinions on the same topic. Both The New York Times and VICE published articles on the Dakota Pipeline and these articles had similarities and dissimilarities. New York Times' article is titled "Federal Officials to Explore Different Route for Dakota Pipeline" and VICE's article is "The Dakota Pipeline Will Be Rerouted, but the Standing Rock Campers Aren't Moving Just Yet," with both of these articles we can tell that a one of them is more political based while the other article is just there to state the facts.

The similarity that the articles presented were on how the protesters became very happy once they heard that the government said that they would reconsider moving the pipeline some where else, but that was the main similarity that I could easily point out.  

After reading both of these articles I noticed that The New York Times article talked about how Donald Trump, our new president, wants to establish this pipeline even though there are many protests against this controversial topic. Also they specifically said that the government wouldn't grant permits that would allow construction of the pipeline under the Missouri River that VICE's article was different since their main focus was on the veterans that showed up for the protests against the pipeline. They also said that these protests won't stop the entire process of this pipeline being built. In the article they talked a lot about how many member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe believed that their water would be affected if the pipeline were to be built. Both of these sources of information may say similar things but they have different focuses. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/04/us/federal-officials-to-explore-different-route-for-dakota-pipeline.html?_r=0
http://www.vice.com/read/the-army-just-announced-it-will-reroute-the-dakota-access-pipeline  

15 Years of Media Influence

Now and days I feel that media has had an affect on everyone's life today, since it has evolved over the past years. When I younger media wasn't that advanced and it seemed that my life wasn't being influenced by media like it is today. I believe that media can either have good or bad effects on our lives. It also can make our society become lazier because we can access information through a touch of a button. Media has affected my life everyday since I'm always surrounded by it and it also creates a distraction for me. Social media in general acts like my addiction because whenever I try to work on something important I find myself checking my phone one too many times. When I am checking the media there can be many different opinions and points of view from others. These opinions and views can also be lies that can persuade a person into believing something that is false. Also, different point of views can have an affect on the way a person perceives a certain topic. 

 Social media today is a big topic that everyone knows about today. Many of my peers are involved with some form of social media. In my opinion, I know that social media can be bad for me since it can become a distraction, but at the same time i no longer have control on when i really need to power down. Sometimes I think about how my life would probably be so much better if I wasn't so involved with these dumb apps that play a role in my life everyday. My life without social media would be so much better because my grades would improve. I feel that my academics  would improve because I would have less distractions, which means that I would have more time to do my school work. 

The social media I have seen can influence many different people to try to live up to high beauty standards, but I personally do my best to block out the perfections that the society has created for women. The unrealistic expectation that some girls try to achieve can make many different girls feel uncomfortable in their own skin, which in my opinion is awful. I believe that girls shouldn't be judged for their appearance and that every girl should be proud of the way she looks. So we shouldn't let social media influence the way we perceive ourself and others because it can lead us to become more judgmental. 

Sometimes I believe that media can have good outcomes when use it. For example, say  you have a school project to research most people aren't going to go to the library to obtain information, so most likely they resort to the media for their information because it is easier. When we obtain information this easily that means we are becoming more lazier, because usually the information  we find on a topic has a couple paragraphs of information. These paragraphs are meant to be short because our society is lazy and doesn't enjoy reading. I can relate to this problem since I personally don't enjoy reading, so it is easier for me when I only have to read a couple paragraphs that would usually be a couple of pages in a book.

The media can be a scary place, since you never know when something is true or false. Also it is full of many people who are trying to express their opinions and views on many different topics. During this year's election I noticed that I was influenced by media to dislike Donald Trump. Whenever I was on media I would see some information on why Trump was such a bad candidate, especially if I was on social media. Even when I would look up articles for my current events their would always be articles that talked about bad things that Trump did during the election. When seeing all this negative information it made me see this man as a horrible person, and I could never understand why people would vote for him. So after the election that is when I realized that the media was influencing me to hate this man, even though I never saw information that made him look like a good candidate to become our next president. 

In the end, I have come to realize that media will always be affecting my life for as long as I live. As I get older I need to notice that even though media can bring us good results, it also comes with consequences that I may have to deal with. Also it would be a good idea if I decided to start spending my time more wisely and not wasting it on media. The opinions and point of views that come from others shouldn't play a big role on where i get my information from.