Week 5 Analysis " Sagging Pants"

Whether its fashion or a demonstration of the current culture, what’s up with the boys and men wearing their pants to their knees? I know almost all of us have seen this. It’s my opinion that this is one of the most unattractive ways to wear pants.



I’ll be honest I have thought to my self that it looks like they have pooped their pants. I know this is part of the Hip Hop culture. But did you know that it originated in prison. Yes, the men in prison were given over sized prison uniforms and were not given belts for the obvious reasons (Koppel, 2007).

My older son tried this for a while during his high school years I would see his pans sagging and his boxers showing and I would constantly remind him to pull his pants up. There were some times I would even at home pull them down the rest of the way (when he would not listen to me). It just got so frustrating and embarrassing in public.

It’s not just African American males doing this Caucasian males are doing it also. It makes me laugh sometimes because it looks like they are waddling like penguins. No one should have to be exposed to other people’s undergarments. An interesting bit of news is that Louisiana has made it illegal to wear you pants down far enough to see ones undergarments. They say that is poses a threat to the public and is put under the indecency ordinance. If a person is found exposing their undergarment while sagging they could faced with a fine of $500 or up to six-month sentence (Koppel, 2007). The mayor there Carol Broussard commented by saying, “We used to wear long hair, but I don’t think our trends were ever as bad as sagging” (2007).


This is one fashion trend that I hope is short lived. I really don’t understand why. I know that there have been many fashion movements and trends that others have were just wrong or unappealing. It reminds me of the time when girls and women thought it was sexy to show their thong from behind (ass floss). Thanks goodness this is not as popular as sagging pants and women and girls are realizing this is not sexy but trashy.

What are your thoughts? To sag or not to sag?

Thanks Bobbie Hill

Reference

Koppel, N. (2007). Fashion and Style. Are Your Jeans Sagging? Go Directly to Jail. New York Times. Retrieved on September 17, 2009. From website: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/30/fashion/30baggy.html

Week 4 Analysis " Not another talk show"

It’s all about who is going to have a talk show next. This is getting a little out of hand, it’s just my opinion. I think the broadcasting companies will give anyone a talk show if they think it will get ratings.


I remember back in the day and I mean way back. Talk shows had a little bit more intellectual content and less dense and uninspiring content. I know that there were some episodes back in the day that were questionable but come on it was bad enough we had Jerry Springer, now we have Jerry’s privately paid police officer Steve Wilkos who use to be on stand by for the fights on Jerry running his own show where he throws more chairs then the guests. Oh and what about this Wendy Williams character she is something. She refuses to read teleprompters so she is always reading from her queue cards which makes her look unprepared and a little out of her league.






What ever happen to the shows like Phil Donahue and we still have Oprah. I know he had moments on his show that were controversial but at least it was believable. Did you know that the Donahue show aired Nationwide from Dayton, Ohio in 1970 and the Oprah show aired nationally in 1986 (Hume, 2009). I really thought that Oprah had been around longer.

We have so many celebrities or celebrity wannabes trying to get their own talk show. I think there should be a committee that each person trying to get a talk show should have to have to go through to get approval before they start airing. It needs to be regulated. LOL, ok maybe that is taking it to the extreme but you have to admit that it is a little bit much. I just can’t understand why I watch them secretly.

Thanks Bobbie Hill

Reference
Hume, E. (2009). Talk Show Culture. History: U.S. Talk Shows from Radio to Television and the Internet. Retrieved on September 7, 2009. From Website: http://www.ellenhume.com/articles/talkshow6.htm

Journal Article Analysis "Starbucks"

Journal Analysis “For the Love of Joe: The Language of Starbucks.”


How many of you have stopped for a cup of coffee at Starbucks this week? For the Love of Joe: The Language of Starbucks is a great article that touches briefly on the history of coffee and explains the unique language used at Starbucks when we go in for our weekly or even daily coffee fix (Ruzich, 2008).

This article is for anyone that has a love of coffee and possibly Starbucks. I would say that it is for a general audience because so many of us have to have our coffee but really it is for the true lover of specialty coffee and that would be a specialized audience.

Coffee and the beans that make it so good have been around for a long time. The beginnings were in Islamic coffee houses. After these coffee houses shut down it the 16th century the European market took over. Vietnam played a role back then and today but they produce an inferior product in comparison. By 2000 Vietnam was the second biggest producer after Brazil. By the 18th century England was saturated in coffee houses, some called penny university which women were not allowed to enter. This was part of their culture, a culture that spread to the U.S. Coffee happens to be the second largest and most valuable trading commodity not just in Vietnam and Brazil but all over the world (Ruzich, 2008).

Starbucks opened their doors during 1971 in Seattle and currently there are three to four Starbucks stores being open ever single day. So how many times do you frequent Starbucks? Well this article states that, “the average customer comes in five times a day. Heavy users come into the store as many as eight times in 30 days. 10% of customers come in twice a day.” (Ruzich, 2008). I don’t know about you but that sounds like it could get real expensive.


Starbucks contributes their success to the culture, atmosphere, employee attitude and the traditions they provided for their customers. Part of their mission statement reads, “We aren’t in the coffee business, serving people. We are in the people business serving coffee.” As a matter of fact Starbucks has spent less than $10 million on advertising campaigns for their fist 25 years (Ruzich, 2008).
When you walk into a Starbucks you will see the ambiance but the most interesting thing is the language used for ordering their coffee. They feel as though it is this unique and offbeat language that keeps their customers and brings in curious new ones daily (Ruzich, 2008).

Their language is about self-love, romantic relational love and philanthropic love and encourages us to relate to our favorite drink as an extension of their own personalities. When you order your drink you have choices such as, “powerful and erotic”, “elegant and intriguing”, “bold and earthy” or “rich and complex with depth and sweetness” (Ruzich, 2008). I would have to say these all sound like characteristics of a good mate and someone I would want to fall in love with. I believe this was the intention as mentioned before a connection to love and the customer’s personality.

Something to think about when you go into a Starbucks the next time is that they want you to have an experience that may enlighten your day since most of us usually only have coffee at home or works why not make it a unique experience.
I hope you all had a chance to read the article it has great transition from history to current times and makes good points about coffee and why Starbucks is doing so well.

Thank You,

Bobbie Hill

Reference: For the Love of Joe: The Language of Starbucks.Full Text Available By: RUZICH, CONSTANCE M.. Journal of Popular Culture, Jun2008, Vol. 41 Issue 3, p428-442, 15p; DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5931.2008.00529.x; (AN 31999976)Database: Academic Search Complete

Week 3 Analysis "SEXTING"

My analysis this week is on ‘sexting”. At first I thought this was going to be the same as phone sex but done through texting. I was wrong. Sexting is similar to phone sex but has more to it like sending nude pictures. Dr. Sari Locker defines sexting as the use of a cell phones texting ability to send and receive text messages that are of a sexual nature. She also says that it could be as simple as sending nude photos back and forth (2008).

The biggest impact that sexting has had is on our teenagers. This is a very popular thing to do. A story done by CBS’s Harry Smith reported that 20% of teens are sexting (2009). A lot of the news and talk about this new trend among teens is the fact that it is illegal to send the photos if the person in the picture is under age. As a matter of fact there are cases being brought against teens for sending nude or partially nude photos. The law that is being used is the child pornography law (Stone, 2009).


CBS Video
Right here in Ohio in Cuyahoga County, there are eight teens ages 14 to 17 in trouble for sending and trading nude photos of themselves. According to Koch, Juvenile Court Judge Thomas O'Malley is struggling with what to do with teens. It is possible that a girl who sent a nude photo to an ex-boyfriend could be convicted and then would be labeled a registered sex offender for 20 years. Lawmakers are debating penalties. Utah has taken note and lessens their penalties from a felony to a misdemeanor (2009). Let’s hope other states follow suit. Other than that teens will be charged and found guilty and serve mandatory sentences and upon release from prison they will be labeled sex offenders (Tillotson, 2009). This is scary
Another news article I read said that technology is to blame and that parents need to be just as technological savvy as their teen. They need to keep track of what their teens are doing with their phones just as they would with their computers and cars (Koch, 2009). When a survey was conducted with teens about sexting they were asked if they new it was illegal to send these types of photos and 31 out of 225 said yes (Koch, 2009). This is scary because the ramifications for doing are so great. We need to inform are teens as well as protect them.

References

Koch, W. (2009). Sexting. USA TODAY. Retrieved on September 5, 2009. From website: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/2009-03-11-sexting_N.htm

Locker, S., DR. (2008). Sexting Definition. Retrieved on September 5, 2009. From website: http://sarilocker.com/blog/2008/12/06/sexting-definition/

Smith, H. (2009). Dangers of Teen ‘Sex-ting. CBS News. Retrieved on September 5, 2009. From website: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4723169n&tag=related;photovideo Dangers Of Teen 'Sex-ting'

Stone, G. (2009).'Sexting' Teens Can Go Too Far. Sending Provocative Images Over Cell Phones Is All the Rage, but It Can Go All Wrong. Retrieved on September 5, 2009. From Website: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/WorldNews/story?id=6456834&page=1

Tillotson, K. (2009, April 24). Teens and 'Sexting' -- risky pictures: To prevent sexting, adults first need to accept the role that technology plays in adolescents' lives. Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN), Retrieved September 5, 2009, from Newspaper Source database.

Week 2 Analysis Virtual Pets

There is just so much going on with the internet these days that it does not surprise me that we can even have a virtual pet. The first time I came in contact with this was on MySpace. They have pets you can adopt and take care of. This has got me to thinking that this is somewhat of another way for people to disconnect them selves with real life.

We already do just about everything online that this is just another way to live via the internet. There is nothing like the love we have for our pets and how therapeutic it is to pet them and love them. As I was searching the internet to see if there are more happening in the virtual pet world. I found a bunch of sites that allow a person to sign up and get a virtual pet. You can pet them, feed them, change their living environments, shop for them and even make them dance and show affection to other pets. The list of what you can make them do goes on and on.

You can adopt animals such as horses, snacks and mice not to mention the unreal ones like form the Neopets website (Neopets, 2009). This reminds me of Lilo and Stitch cartoon. I even found a website that had virtual pet fish (Virtual Fish Tank, 2009). Ok I had real pet fish before and its not like they are real interactive so virtual fish can’t really be that entertaining. You should check out what the internet is offering in terms of virtual pets and post a comment on what you all think of them.
Do you think we need to slow down with what we do on the internet and have more real life interactions or is this something you think is ok and not harming our ability to socialize with real life and people?


Virtual Pet Fish

Three Contemporary Icons

Ok, I hope I am not way off base here with my selection of contemporary icons. It is my understanding that they do not have to be just a person, image or place. I made a list of seven possible choices and they narrowed it down to the three. First is the all mighty women’s purse. Second is The Pope and third is the Bible not religious specific.





I chose the women’s purse because in our reading this week especially our key points the definition of an icon fit this. There are many women all over the world that worship their pursues and hold them dear to their hearts. They spend a lot of money on them and they also collect them. Women do not want anyone going in them and usually never let it out of their site. I chose The Pope for all the obvious reasons as well as he is highly guarded by so many as superior and untouchable. Finally I chose the bible because it too fit with the definition of an icon as he has an extreme emotional hold on other or shall I say impact.

To me the purse means all of a women’s secrets in one place, basically her life in a handbag. We carry our feminine stuff our personal beauty stuff and what’s most important or relevant for that day/evening. We want no one to touch it especially our husbands/boyfriends and we freak out if we can not find it. It terms of the Pope if memory serves me correctly he is one of the youngest ones we have had and that is what makes him contemporary and pertinent to the time. Now the bible which is old but we have so many versions and religions translating and publishing their own versions that’s why I considered it to be contemporary as well.

Week One Analysis "Online Dating"

The new hype on online dating is fascinating. In the past online dating has had a negative stigma attached to it. I think a lot had to do with friends and family frowning upon using the internet for finding a mate. There were a lot of people who thought that people that used online dating services were weird, socially inept, or even people that could not get a so called real date with the traditional dating methods. I even remember Saturday Night Live doing a skit on online dating which portrayed it use for the bizarre and creepy.

In the 1990’s online dating was a relatively new concept and Morgan Hamilton believes that the movie starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan called ‘You’ve Got Mail’ had some impact on creating a positive vibe on the use of the internet for dating (2007). Now online dating is definitely more acceptable and it shows by the thousands of sites available and the millions of dollars spent on these personal services. Online Publishers Association and COM Score Networks have positioned online dating as the leading segment of paid content on the Internet (Hamilton, 2007).

Around 2006 online dating services were plentiful, with such sites as Match.com, eHarmony,

Yahoo Personals (Hamilton, 2007). Currently advertising plays a bigger role in marketing the sites and people tend to believe in this media. There are commercials on TV and a load of advertising online. Accessibility is also a big contributor to its growth. I’m sure by now most homes in the US have a computer and internet access, just as shopping online has taken off so has using dating services. It’s all about the ease of use and its connivance (Geek, 2007).

Just like anything you buy online, buyer beware. There has been some news about the safety of using these types of sites. There have been instances that I can recall such as rape and kidnapping. At the same time I think this would also be a concern using traditional methods of dating. I would have to say try not to tell anyone any personal information like your address or place of employment. With all that said online dating is still very popular and gaining more favor for even the “normal” people.

References

Geek, Blonde (2007). Why is Online Dating so Popular? Retrieved August 23, 2009, from Associated Content Web site: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/464957/why_is_online_dating_so_popular.html?singlepage=true&cat=41

Hamilton, M. (2007, January 5). Why Online Dating is Becoming so Popular. Retrieved August 23, 2009, from http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-Online-Dating-is-Becoming-so-Popular&id=405879