Champions for Change!

Siblings Jennifer and Jonathan got up one day and got ready for school, not knowing that this day would have such a drastic impact on there lives. Both of the children went through their morning routines – taking all their medicines, eating their hamburgers for breakfast, and immediately calling their beloved mother to check on her. She had been in the hospital for two weeks after being diagnosed with stage four colon cancer. They listen intently to her voice and linger upon her words, because they know that any moment could be her last. Unfortunately Jonathan felt sick and decided to stay home all alone while his sister Jennifer walked to school all alone, because her father wasn’t there to take her. He passed away two years ago – when Jennifer was ten and Jonathan was eight – and not one day passes without them missing him. Not one day passes without these two caring siblings worrying about their parents, not to mention worrying about their own health. This is their day-to-day reality, which is unfortunately common throughout their community and beyond. Not all families may experience this quite as harshly as Jennifer and Jonathan, but they may come close. This is an all-too-familiar sounding story, and we need to prevent these stories from happening, from the roots up. Thankfully, there is a solution – Champions for Change. 

The effects of mal-nutrition and lack of exercise are staggering. Every 20 seconds, a person in the United States has a heart attack, and nearly 2,500 Americans die from heart disease each day. An estimated 145,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with cancer each year. It is predicted that, if we continue in the same unhealthy directions, then we will be the first generation ever to not live longer than our parents.

Obviously, this epidemic needs to change.

Champions for Change takes a stand by empowering and educating communities, rather than enforcing restrictive corporate plans. They promote eating more fruits and vegetables, and being more active in our kitchens, homes, schools, neighborhoods, etc. There are plenty of causes we could be supporting, but you must help yourself before you can help others. With Champions for Change, you can help not only yourself, but also many others. They undeniably supporting the elimination of what is probably the biggest epidemic in our country – cancer. It is said that cancer kills more people than alcohol, drugs, and tobacco combined. There are heaps of solid information that proves that the ultimate cancer-fighting foods are fruits and vegetables. Fruits and veggies not only prevent cancer, but also prevent many other diseases and everyday illnesses – by building up your immune system. It is simple. We are from this earth and our bodies are designed to live off of what grows naturally from this land; not what has been processed, altered, and denaturalized. The other part of the equation is exercise. It gives us more energy and endurance during the day, it builds our muscles for whatever we may need them for, and it helps our body systems function drastically better. By eating healthier and being more active, we are improving peoples’ lives from home and beyond.

People often may think that eating healthy and getting more active costs too much money and time. On the contrary, not doing these things costs more. The price for medications, surgeries, and other treatments definitely outweighs the cost of staying healthy. Also, if more people make these changes, then the cost of doing so will go down – supply and demand. We wouldn’t have to be paying for all of the extra fillers and chemicals, and we could be healthy for less.

Picture a world where children are missing less days of school (because of being sick), less people getting life-threatening diseases, less people are having to pay for expensive medical treatments, people know how to take better care of themselves, people have more energy to reach their goals at school and work, people are stronger and can therefore do more, and most importantly – people have a longer and happier lifetime with the people they love. Why wouldn’t you want all of these great effects? Making these changes are completely possible and completely worth it.

With the power of Champions for Change, we can give homes, kitchens, and entire communities exactly what they need – health. We can give Jennifer and Jonathan better lives, and prevent those things from happening to our loved ones and ourselves.

Sources:

http://www.cachampionsforchange.net/en/index.php

http://www.cancer.org/index?gclid=CJqcsvTf_agCFQQ-bAodTzK0TQ

http://www.jackmedina.com/

http://www.mamashealth.com/Heart_stat.asp

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080502063443AASjt7k

Music Power

Think of a song. Any song that you have ever heard. How does it make you feel? What does it express? Whether you like the song or not, it has a rippling effect on you and all of society. Every song has a message – whether it has words or not – that changes how we think, how we see the world, and how we treat others. Listening to music is one half of the experience, but being able to play music yourself gives you the ability to change the world on a personal and collective scale. 

 

Making music allows you to speak the universal language that connects people on a global level. Journalist Daniel Pearl noticed the potential of music to bridge differences among people and wanted to make a difference in the world. Unfortunately, he was killed in 2002 but his message lives on through his father Judea Pearl and the Daniel Pearl World Music Foundation. Their message is simply about bringing the world together with expression through music. Anyone and everyone can experience music in their own way, but there’s also a mutual understanding in the emotions of music. You can relate and understand the emotions of anyone from next door to across the globe just by listening to some chords or notes. Not only is it a universal language, but the act of making music it’s self also brings people together. It is a beautiful thing to see people who would normally be enemies make music for and/or with each other. People who would normally be total strangers, colleagues, or friends can suddenly have a stronger bond with you while experiencing making music together. If even more people would speak this harmony of mankind (and in a wise way), we could improve a significant part of the world’s problems.

In addition to working miracles with the rest of the world, music can also do marvelous things to us on a personal level. Many people may believe that learning to play an instrument can be a waste of time and all play with no work – but it is just the opposite. In today’s society we are told mostly to do things that involve our left brain (see picture), while many people are often lacking in right brain function. Both hemispheres of the brain are equally important, and the brain functions optimally when both sides are being exercised. According to the Journal of Brain and Cognition, “musicians are particularly good at efficiently accessing and integrating competing information from both hemispheres...” According to the study, musicians are better at divergent thinking, thinking creatively, expressing themselves verbally, and have higher IQ scores than their non-musician counterparts. It has also been found that “music therapy” (and other forms of art therapy) can drastically help people of all ages with mental disorders such as depression, epilepsy, alzheimer's, and many others ailments. Many studies even show that music can improve athletic performance in children, and alleviate physical pain.

Before we decide to eliminate music programs from our schools in order to better fund "core" subjects, we need to realize what we’re doing. Learning music drastically helps with other subjects in school. Loads of studies have shown that children who participate in music programs show improved spatial-temporal skills, enhanced academic performance, more out-of-the-box thinking and better social skills. Yes, taking on an instrument often requires vast amounts of money, but if you work hard, the results are worth more than the money put in. When someone develops skills on a not-so-expensive instrument, then they can play even better when they get to play a higher quality instrument. Also, with the ability to play music, you have a potential way to make money with it. In the long run, the money put into learning music is completely worth the results that come out of it.

One reason many people don’t learn to play an instrument is because they think they lack the talent for it or they “just can’t do it”. Many (if not all) experts would agree that talent is often only an extremely small part of the equation, if any part – the rest is determination, passion, and practice. Practically anyone can play music if they put their mind to it. Music is a very human language, therefore not perfect with its beauty often in it’s “perfect imperfections”. Creativity is all about breaking the rules and as a result, all music is unique. Anyone can make music.

In addition, playing music is FUN. It can be the perfect emotional escape from reality and it can express your reality within you. Enjoying your music is key to staying passionate and on track.

You can speak music no matter who you are. By learning to express yourself through an instrument, you can give harmony to yourself and the whole world. On a mental level you can feel happier and smarter, and societal level, you can change the world. Every note, harmony, tone, and melody has a rippling effect. It’s all in your hands.

Sources:

http://www.danielpearl.org/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_therapy

http://eric.ed.gov:80/PDFS/EJ682596.pdf

http://www.physorg.com/news142185056.html

http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/instructor/jan05_music.htm

http://www.ted.com/talks/benjamin_zander_on_music_and_passion.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/evelyn_glennie_shows_how_to_listen.html

The Art of Taking On a New Instrument

 Everyone would probably agree that music has huge power in our lives. It can change your mood, it can bring people together, and it can even give you a whole new level of awareness. Though to listening to others’ music can be incredible, being able to experience and express yourself through music on your own can be even more rewarding. By taking on the challenge of a new instrument, you can open yourself up to a whole new world!

I strongly believe that anyone can play music. If you have ever been told that you can’t, then keep on trying. Talent is only an extremely small part of the equation, while determination and hard work is the biggest. I have been playing piano for about eight years and violin for less than a year. I also like to diddle around some with guitar and singing. There are heaps of options when it comes to deciding on an instrument. Here are some of the infinite possibilities: accordion, agogo bells, bagpipes, banjo, baritone, bass drum, bassoon, bell, bongo, bugle, castanets, celeste, cello, chimes, clarinet, clavichord, conga drum, contrabassoon, cornet, cowbell, cymbals, double bass, dulcian, dynamo phone, euphonium, flugelhorn, flute, flutophone, french horn, glockenspiel, gongs, guitar, harmonica, harp, harpsichord, jaw harp, calliope, lute, mandolin, maracas, marimba, metallophone, musical box, oboe, ondes-martenot, orchestra bells, piano, piccolo, recorder, ride cymbal, saxophone, scraper, shawm, snare drum, sousaphone, steel drums, tambourine, tenor drum, trumpet, timbales, timpani, triangle, trombone, trumpet, tuba, ukulele, vibraphone, viola, violin, voice, xylophone, and zither. Things called “rules” are only subjective when it comes to playing music. Your possibilities are endless.

If you have already learned to play an instruments(s) than learning a new one will most likely come easier for you. You’ll have more experience with musicality, reading, theory, interpretation, etc. depending on what you’ve already learned. If it is your first time learning an instrument, then all the more adventure is welcome for you! 

When you start a new instrument, the first thing to do is explore the instrument and learn it’s physical mechanics. You may ask, “How do you explore an instrument?!?” Bang on it, blow into it, bow it, pluck it, scream it, or whisper it in any way imaginable. Some things in music cannot be taught by a textbook but merely by experimentation. Next, learn the parts of the instrument and how they function, learn how to do simple things that when practiced, can go into muscle memory. For example: with piano, learn scales and how to position your hands. For violin, learn how to bow. For voice, learn warm ups and scales, etc., etc. Basically learn the parts of the instrument and how they work, but in simple and realistic steps. Learning the mechanics of your instrument is key to being able to express yourself in sound.

One of the most useful attributes a musician can have is the ability to read. It allows you to not only play practically anything, but also to understand the subtleties that the composer intended. This is generally when you would need someone like a teacher to pass on this language to you. If you’ve already learned to read music for one instrument, then relating that knowledge to your new instrument will help you read faster. Often different instruments will have some new markings that are related to the instrument. The more you read, the more you can read. For example, one Summer my dad and I spent hours and hours rocking out and sight-reading tons of simple Beatles songs. After hours of practice, I could suddenly play more (not all) music right off of the page. It doesn’t matter exactly what you’re reading as long as you keep on trying.

On most occasions, practicing is the one and only way to enhance and expand your musicianship skills. The more you do something, the better you become at it – simple as that. According to conductor and music scholar Benjamin Zander (see video link below), the longer you have worked on a musical piece, the less you will have conscious impulses. The impulses become subconscious, rather than focusing on every single little detail. You gain the ability to make not only notes on a page or single movements of your fingers, but true expressive music.

Something to help you become a well-rounded musician is music theory, which gives you a better understanding of the behind-the-scenes science of music. Learning music theory can help you understand what is being expressed by a composer (which later helps you express yourself in many ways), it teaches you the mechanics of how music works and how it’s come to be, and it helps refine your listening skills.

Last and most importantly, you must enjoy your music. This will keep your passion alive and keep you determined. You can even make goals to be able to play your favorite songs. It is an incredible feeling to be able to play what you’ve always loved to hear.

Through much open mindedness, experimentation, practice, determination, passion, and enjoyment, you can learn to speak the universal language of music. You have the potential to possess everything that makes music so fantastic.

Check out this great video of Benjamin Zander:
http://www.ted.com/talks/benjamin_zander_on_music_and_passion.html

Sources:

http://musiced.about.com/od/musicinstruments/a/instruments.htm

http://www.manythings.org/vocabulary/lists/c/words.php?f=musical_instruments

http://thinkexist.com/quotations/music/

http://www.ted.com/talks/benjamin_zander_on_music_and_passion.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/evelyn_glennie_shows_how_to_listen.html

http://silversouledbeatle.tumblr.com/

The Art of Writers' Block

I wrote this some a couple years ago but it is forever relevant. I hope you enjoy. :) 

Writer's block is the uncreative and unproductive state in which you experience a lack of ideas to write -- weather it be for words, sounds, drawings, movements, or anything. We probably all had it before. Sometimes it comes naturally or unconsciously. However, you might have not experienced it to the fullest. I will be explaining the most effective way to do the most work (with a negative sign in front of it) using the technique of writers' block.

To begin, it is most important to have a project to base your writers' block on. There isn't any difference if it has been started or not.

First, try to think of something to write. This process requires that you think to hard and try not to take in any inspiration that arises. If you do get an idea that works, write it down, type it, draw it, or remember it. Then, continue pondering until you drift to the next step of writers' block.

Next, the unproductive stare -- it can be at a computer screen, paper, instrument, canvas, or whatever you're using; basically anything you lay your eyes on. Fidgeting around is also extremely beneficial to this unproductiveness. Try to keep this step monotonous.

Now, if you have successfully mastered the unproductive stare, think: "When's lunch?", "Have I bruched my teeth today?", "Time to feed the iguana!", "I'm reallyyyy tired.", "My house is burning down!!!" 


By now you should have successfully accomplished nothing for your future paper, story, song, art piece, dance, etc. Luckily, writers' block is easy to do and takes little practice. I hope (or maybe not) you can use the handy technique of writers' block.

Some Sights to See

Just like writing, photography can change the world and the way we see it. Here is some of my own (unprepared) photography just for you. :) Enjoy! 

Happiness is a warm puppy. 

Some fantastic quotes and flashy photos from some great photographers: 

No place is boring, if you've had a good night's sleep and have a pocket full of unexposed film.  ~Robert Adams

If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera.  ~Lewis Hine 

You don't take a photograph.  You ask, quietly, to borrow it.  ~Author Unknown

“Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.”  ~Dorthea Lange 

Sometimes seeing a picture can express even more than a thousand words -- more than a million. Seeing life through our own eyes expresses not only many words and thoughts, but also many things that cannot be expressed through words. 

Child Labor

Imagine being woken up at five in the morning and getting ready for work. You hate to have to do this work when you could be doing something better, but you still trudge through it in order to fend for your family. This may sound like many people’s everyday lifestyles, but there are differences. You are being forced to work in dangerous conditions and you are only a child.

You’ve probably been told how hard work is “wholesome” or “character building” which could very well be true, but it is vital to distinguish what sort of work we are referring to. While doing work at school would most likely be beneficial to you, other children around the world are being forced to work in dangerous and inhumane conditions that are detrimental to their mental and physical health, and their entire society. We need to come together to heal this tragic epidemic of child labor and abolish it once and for all.

Child labor has always been a problem across the globe. In 2008, there were 215 million children working illegally. That’s about 14 percent of the earth’s population of children under 18. While 100 million of them are under the age of 15 –the international minimum age to be lawfully employed– and do supposed “light work”, the other 115 million children under the age of 18 do hazardous work everyday. Many of these children’s work includes: handling hazardous chemicals, working in mines and quarries, carrying heavy loads, handling dangerous machinery, enduring constant or not enough sunlight, and enduring long hours. Children are also often forced into illegal labor such as stealing, prostitution, military enrollment, and drug trafficking. Child labor mainly exists in third-world countries, but it also exists in countries that you wouldn’t expect including the United States (which I will later discuss).

When a child’s life vastly consists of only laborious work, they are prevented from developing in ways both physical and mental. Many of the children grow up with physical development problems because of all the labor and unsafe work conditions – in addition to living in poverty with mal-nutrition. According to a study, 60 percent of the child laborers in Bangladesh who are 14 to 16 years old work a minimum of 14 hours in one day. The majority of child laborers work in agriculture and are exposed to countless unhealthy hours of sun radiation. Numerous children who were working in the construction and welding industry developed skin diseases and eye problems. Also, many children who have to sit hunch-backed all day while working develop various spinal problems. Nearly 90 percent of child laborers experience physical pain during and/or after working hours. Even worse is that almost none of the children are recognized for professional treatment for their health problems. Even if they were, they wouldn’t have the money to do so. Not only does child labor affect the physical well being of these children, but it disturbs their psychological health too. According to the Bangladesh Development Research Working Paper Series (BDRWPS): “Children who are in risky job fields have no opportunity to build their natural psycho-social health. Long working hours breed their feeling of frustration and inadequacy. Their involvement in risky work resists eventually in building their emotional cognitive skills and they become withdrawn, introvert and uncommunicative.” The effects are catastrophic to the children’s lives in every way imaginable.

While these children’s’ lives are being ruined by labor, with an education they could be enlightening themselves and helping the world. Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names, and today there are approximately 121 million children worldwide who do not have a formal education. The children involved in labor definitely do learn some skills from their work, like how to use machinery, make bricks, or sew precious rugs, but with an education they could learn so much more. They could not only learn the skills for their trade, but they could get a taste for many trades and get to choose and work up to what they will someday do. They could learn about their own health and their family’s health. They could learn about how business and the economy works, in order to find a job that could support them and their family better and find higher-quality work. They could learn why there is child labor and be able to make a difference in the world and feel empowered. Their participation in particular fields would help the economy at all levels. An education would benefit themselves, their family, their society, and the rest of the world.

So why does child labor exist if it is so terrible? Unfortunately, so many countries are economically dependant on child labor because they desperately need money from any source available. According to statistics, 5.05 billion people – which is more than 80 percent of the world's population – live on less than $10 a day. Approximately 24,000 people die each day due to lack of food and nutrition. UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) also stated that 22,000 children die each day due to poverty. The numbers are devastating and families are forced to go to drastic measures for the littlest bit of food or money. It is an extremely rare happening for a worker to earn a substantial amount of money for food for their family. Child labor is probably considered a necessary evil but it cannot be tolerated any longer.

Various actions have been taken in attempts to abolish child labor, but it is a slow and continual process. In Kenya, it has become illegal for children under 16 to work in industries, but the agriculture industry is excluded from this law. Bangladesh also has made laws for a minimum age to work, but they also exclude agriculture and domestic work. Many campaigns have begun around the world by the United Nations, the Global Campaign for Education, the International Labor Organization, and many others. The child labor laws that you’ve most likely heard of are the ones that happened in the United States. Children as young as 7 years old used to work in textile mills for 12 hours a day. This changed in 1938 when a federal law was passed, limiting work hours for children and requiring safe working conditions. Fortunately, child labor has been decreasing slightly, but child labor laws are being more and more often violated. According to Jeffrey Newman of the National Child Labor Committee, “Child labor today is at a point where violations are greater than at any point during the 1930s...” It is comforting to know that there are efforts working against this epidemic of child labor, but it is devastating to hear that they are so easily neglected.

The attempts to end child labor have taken strong efforts and still do. Every effort counts if we want this to end. Here are three simple things that you can do to help the world realize we want this to change:

1. As a consumer you have the power to change the issue from the bottom up. By buying products that are made by people being treated right and boycotting products that are made with child labor, we can make a tangible difference. This supports what we want and rejects what we don’t want. Doing so also shows companies and manufacturers what their consumers want, and pressures them to change. One great website that can help you do so is: http://www.fairtrade.net/

2. You can write to companies, organizations, and government officials. Expressing to them how you see the issue and what sort of change you want gives them a direct message.

3. You can join with others who share your intentions and bring a stop to child labor with your hearts joined. Some of the many organizations that you can choose to support are:

http://www.freethechildren.com/getinvolved/geteducated/childlabour.htm

http://www.worldvision.org/

http://www.ilo.org/global/programmes-and-projects/lang--en/index.htm

If enough people join together to support the abolition of child labor, we can significantly improve the lives of the children, their families, their societies, and the world as a whole. :)

Sources:

http://uk.oneworld.net/guides/childlabour

http://www.bangladeshstudies.org/files/WPS_no8.pdf

http://filipspagnoli.wordpress.com/stats-on-human-rights/statistics-on-labor-conditions/statistics-on-child-labor/

http://www.heartsandminds.org/poverty/hungerfacts.htm

http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/3-child-labor-in-the-us-is-worse-today-than-during-the-1930s/

http://www.stopchildlabor.org/internationalchildlabor/inttreaties.htm

Goldilocks and the Three Little... What?!?!?!

WARNING: This post is purely fictional and is created purely for an exploration of propaganda techniques, as an assignment for a great writing class, and for your very own entertainment. Be warned that this may cause uncontrollable laughter, reckless thoughts, and irritable fantasy syndrome. 

Surely you’ve heard about the problems with bullying nowadays. Does it upset you? Does it upset your children? What about animal abuse – have you seen those tear-wrenching commercials for those poor abused animals in shelters? Have you noticed how more and more children show terrible manners and talk inappropriately nowadays? Do you love your children? Most people are oblivious to the root of these terrible problems, but you shall soon understand that it is all because of that little story that you’ve innocently been reading to your children – Goldilocks and the Three Little Bears. I’m calling out to YOU, to protect your children’s innocence.

When you think of the three little bears, you normally wouldn’t associate it with animal abuse. We’ve always taken the treatment of these animals for granted. You can easily noticed that the bears are... well, living in a human house. Not only is this illogical but incredibly dangerous. Do you want your child to be begging you for a pet bear, to be abusing animals in insufficient environments, and even inviting dangerous creatures into your house? No, you don’t. Only a terrible parent would. You probably have also noticed that the bear family is living together under one roof. It is a fact of nature that all bears live solitarily except for mothers with their cubs. This detrimental element of the story not only teaches incorrect facts, but also leaves inappropriate possibilities of why the father is still living with them. Do you want your child to be getting a bad education and not truly understanding nature? Your child would not know how to react in a dangerous situation with a bear. Their life could depend on this.

To make it even worse, the main character influences children to be snobby and arrogant. This “Goldilocks” girl went for a walk in the forest all alone – an extremely unsafe thing for a little girl to do. Would her parents let her do such a thing or did she run away from home? What would you do if your child did that? Surely you don’t want your kid to hear these kinds of stories. Not only does she run away, but also when she finds an empty stranger’s house, she sneaks in without second thought. A terrible message to your young readers. In the house, she disrespectfully eats all of their porridge, tries out all of their chairs, and sleeps in their beds. She constantly whines when their porridge is too hot or too cold, when their chairs are too big or too small, and when their beds are too hard or too soft. She is aggravated when things are not perfect for her. No one ever invited her in, in the first place! What would you even do if you came home to your house and there was a strange uninvited child stealing your belongings and sleeping in your bed? Surely this child has been infected to the point of believing that this is okay because she read this story. Obviously she is a terrible example for your children.

Not only is Goldilocks a horrid little girl, but how she looks also gives many rude and depressing undertones to the story. She has blond hair. After all, her name is “Goldilocks”. This tells us a lot about how the author stereotypes people. The story perfectly exemplifies how the little blond girl doesn’t use her mind and gets into risky situations. Do you want your child to feel discriminated against from an early age just because of her hair color? Lets now examine what she is wearing. Blue – an accepted color of sadness and depression in many societies. Even looking at the finely hand painted picture books (of “Goldilocks”) makes children feel depressed. She is also wearing an apron – an obvious stereotype for an isolated and exhausted housewife. Do you really want you and your child to feel so isolated, exhausted, hated, discriminated, and depressed by just looking at Goldilocks right before bed? Of course not, because you’re a good parent.

Now you may think that this bedtime story is extremely vulgar, but what you’ve just heard isn’t even half of it. You may have wondered why Goldilocks keeps on coming back for more porridge when the first two bowls she tries are already bad. Obviously the porridge has been spiked with some sort of illegal narcotic. That could explain why she proceeds in such unusual and drowsy behavior – trying out chairs for no reason and falling asleep in their bed. She also spends the majority of her time at the bears’ house around their beds. We can only imagine the inappropriate undertones here. She’s only a little girl. This is a terrible thing for children to read about – especially at such a young age. 

Thankfully now we understand the root of all the corruption going on with our youth. It would be terrible to have to watch our children grow up into a world based on these sorts of values, but you can change this. Remember, we don’t have the problem, the people who read this book do. This is an urgent matter but with your help we can raise above Goldie and those poor three bears. You know you can and I do too. 

Kid in a Candy Store

In our society nowadays, commercials seem to be treated as pesky annoyances and are fast-forwarded through. Whether they are bothersome or not, analyzing them helps us better understand the product and company, the media, our society, and ourselves. I will be analyzing the entertaining commercial for Carmax that aired at the recent Super Bowl. This commercial really centers around the customer(s) and tries to show how, with Carmax, they can feel like a kid in a candy store (and many other creative things).

The opening shot shows a big lot with cars in every spot. The cars are black, grey, white, silver, red and blue, and they look like they are alright quality (in comparison to most car commercials. This commercial does not draw your eye’s attention to the cars, but more to the customer. This commercial is stereotypically aimed at men. The customer at Carmax is a guy wearing a wrinkled plaid button up shirt and jeans, unkempt hair. The commercial seems to show him as “plain” sort of person, so we are not distracted by any sort of stereotype. He begins with a pretty dumbfounded look on his face – showing how he needs to be enlightened about this product. There also happens to be only grey and silver colored cars behind the customer when there is a shot of only him, possibly as a metaphor for how dull his understanding of cars is at the moment. The salesman confidently says, “Yep, great selection, no hidden fees, and a five day money back guarantee.”

In response, our customer guy dumbfoundedly says, “Wow, I feel like a kid in a candy store”. This idea instantly materializes before our eyes. There is a kid (about nine or so years old) in a vibrantly colored candy store, with bright sweets and treats lining every wall, and the name “Sandy’s Candies” in the window. The color blue is also very accented in this picture, just like the blue cars in the parking lot. The boys shirt is blue, the candy bowl directly in front of him is blue, and the blue jars of candy on the wall are darker that all the others. The kid’s mother is taking candy in the background, probably for her son. This could almost subliminally be giving the viewer a feeling of a stressful life style, and also the stereotype of a busy mom. Also, there is a toy airplane hanging from the ceiling, subtly implying that this product is aimed at men (or at least the stereotype). The commercial wants you to buy their car to feel like a kid in a candy store.

Creatively, the kid in the candy store says he feels like a “geek at a robot convention”. The next screen is precisely that. There is a stereotypically “nerdy” looking guy – glasses, hair gelled back, shirt tucked in, belt, pens and notebook in pocket, and his robot convention badge around his neck. This is also aimed at a male stereotype. This scene has various people dressed up as robots, a helicopter flying around, various robots and posters on display, and many interested spectators. The color red seems to be accented in this scene, just like the red cars. He says that he feels “like a mermaid at a swim meet,” which may mean as a metaphor that he feels like he has advantages that are beyond everyone around him.

The next scene is with the mermaid at the swim meet, who looks disoriented with her tail sitting on the block, about to dive in. She fits the feminine stereotype undoubtedly, and also tries to advertise Carmax to women too. Almost all the people in the audience are men with the exception of a some women and a couple of children. Blue and silver also happen to be prominent colors in this scene, much like the cars in the lot from the first scene. With a frustrated voice, she says that she feels like a “wrestler in a folding chair factory”.

The next scene undoubtedly involves a wrestler in a folding chair factory. The wrestler is wearing bright blue singlet (wrestling uniform) with yellow and red flames on it, a bulky chain around his neck, a headband, elbow guards and wrist guards, and a belt with a picture of a diamond on it. It looks almost cartoon-like and could be an extremely subtle metaphor for the cars. The guy is somewhat buff and stereotypically macho. The place is filled with blue, beige, and grey folding chairs on display and in stacks – showing variety. Suddenly another wrestler, who is dressed in a red singlet with a gold eagle on it, rowdily slams a folding chair into the other wrestler’s back. That could also be a metaphor for the competition in the car industry. He boisterously yells that he feels like “a hippie in a drum circle”.

The hippie in the drum circle is smiling and tapping on his drum. The location looks a lot like a college campus. The hippie is wearing various trinkets, necklaces, a headband, and an ethnic looking vest. There are about twenty or so people in the drum circle behind him, all fitting the “hippie” stereotype. There are people from many ethnicities with thrift store looking clothes and seemingly happy dispositions. This scene has many colors, possibly trying to display how Carmax can serve to many colors of people. The hippie blissfully says that he feels “like an acrobat in a mattress store”.

The acrobat is wearing a yellow leotard and doing back flips on a mattress while the salesman is standing behind the bed impatiently watching her and checking his watch. The metaphor in this could be that they will do back flips to take care of you, or that Carmax will make you feel so happy that you’ll want to do back flips. In the mattress store, the beds have blue pillows on them and are lined up much like the cars in the parking lot. Completing the cycle, she says that she feels “like a customer at Carmax”.

The shot automatically cuts back to the customer at the lot, with the Carmax sign showing behind him. The scene briefly shows him with a look of astonishment on his face while he sighs. This shot is zoomed in closer to the subject, and the color of his shirt and facial features seem to be slightly brighter, now that he has been enlightened (definitely not digitally enhanced though).

The last shot shows the words: “Carmax; The way car buying should be,” and tells you to find them online.

Completing the cycle, this commercial attempts to prove a point that anyone at all can feel great about Carmax, in their own special way. Not only does it do that, but it also allows us to lightheartedly laugh at the metaphors, paradoxes, and exaggerations that try to explain how this customer feels. When advertising, you want the viewers to not only learn what your product does, but enjoy learning it. This commercial seems to do this well.

I’ll bet you never thought this much about a 32 second add. I hadn’t either until this writing assignment (in my blogging class). Analyzing all the details in a commercial can not only help you understand the advertisers message, but also help realize how they are trying to deceive you, understand what sort of stereotypes they expect you to take for granted, and sharpen your commercial watching detective skills.

Want to see more interesting analysis of ads? Check out these great sites:

http://the-occasional-post.blogspot.com/ 

http://freshcanvas37.blogspot.com/

http://partialtopink.blogspot.com/

http://paperflowersmeg.blogspot.com/

http://fiddleenigma.blogspot.com/

http://pinkribboneyes.blogspot.com/

http://themodernprogressives.blogspot.com/

(no particular order) :)

S t a r g i r l

Has the wind ever swept you off your feet? Have you ever felt like a misfit? Have you ever wanted to help someone but didn’t know how? If you want to read something short and sweet, but still life changing then Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli is perfect for you.

Fitting in had never been in Stargirl’s vocabulary. She is new to Mica High School after being home schooled for her entire life. Everyone there is automatically flabbergasted by her – her ukulele playing and birthday singing at lunch, her out-of-the-century clothing, her extreme friendliness, her pet rat who is always with her, her curious way of cheerleading, and the fact that she doesn’t care what people think or how many friends she has. Mica High is the sort of school where everyone submissively follows every trend and meekly fears anyone who is “weird”, so Stargirl is a true revelation. She does not necessarily struggle with being disliked, but rather, it is the other kids who struggle with disliking her. Her classmates grow to love her, but that soon changes. They do not know what to make of her: "She was illusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl. We did not know what to make of her. In our minds we tried to pin her to a corkboard like a butterfly, but the pin merely went through and away she flew." The way people treat her is always fluctuating. She uniquely meets Leo Burlock – who narrates the story – and they fall in love. Along with the readers, Leo learns more and more about Stargirl (whom is occasionally named Susan) and is fascinated by her life. Out of their struggles of being misfits, Leo teaches her to be normal – the one thing that slowly demolishes her amazing and unique character. Throughout the course of the story, the characters of Leo and Stargirl change drastically but realistically. Will Leo (and the rest of Mica High) learn how pointless conformity is? Will Stargirl ever become herself again and will anyone ever understand how incredible she is? Read it to find out!

This type of typical high school setting is used in masses of teen fiction books, but this book looks at it from a new perspective and gives you a whole new idea of individuality. You have probably experienced a situation of excessive conformity (like at Mica High) sometime in your life, and hopefully you have experienced being unique. Stargirl naturally stands out and doesn’t seem to notice how people react, unlike most people today. At first thought, her individualities may seem slightly random, but there is meaning and intention in all of her actions. She cheers for Mica’s team and also for the opposing team, saying, “I root for everybody.” Will she manage to show everyone how the game is about more than just their own team? She plays ukulele and sings for people’s birthdays at lunch. Will her fellow students ever get over their own awkwardness and enjoy Stargirl’s wishes? One of the qualities that makes her so interesting is that she always has an even bigger fascination with other people and the rest of the world. Most meaningful are her somewhat secretive but incredibly caring and selfless gifts for everyone, including total strangers. She does not care much about getting credit for giving the gifts, but she is determined to brighten their day. Lastly, she is able to let go and enjoy the universe. She once was talking about nature and said how “It never stops. It is, always. It’s just here.” In a sense, Stargirl understands what it means to be living more than most other people do. This book makes you realize how free you really can feel and how wonderfully unusual you can be.

Stargirl is perfect if you don’t feel like reading an encyclopedia-sized novel, but still want to get a whole lot out of an entertaining story. Hopefully everyone can identify with these characters in one way or another. I would recommend Stargirl for ages nine and up. Girls and boys of all ages have been enjoying this book, and so can you.

Sources:

http://childoftheuniverse.wordpress.com/stargirl-quotes/

http://www.oprah.com/book/Stargirl-by-Jerry-Spinelli

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=stargirl

How Would You Put it?

Have you ever thought of something that other people never seem to notice or understand? Naturally, as humans we seek to communicate and express ourselves; and we are able to do so through talking, art, music, design, and most commonly writing. Writing has significantly affected every person alive, whether they realize it or not. While constantly evolving and changing our universe, writing is one of the most important tools that can be owned.

Writing has always been a global phenomenon and is constantly becoming more and more accessible. Starting with the marvel of human language; then paintings on caves and carvings on tablets; then books, and then the ability to publish and talk to the masses; and then writing through technology (keeping our eyes glued to constantly streaming information, knowledge, arguments, and ideas every nanosecond). All of these changes drastically move our world and allow us to acquire any sort of written information anytime. You can practically become a master of any subject just by doing a few Google searches and maybe some library visits. This era has literally been dubbed as “the Information Age,” which is vitally because writing has brought us to this point. Thanks to all of the figures in the past who have sought to express themselves, the knowledge we seek is almost always within reach.

Because of the immense use of writing in our lives, it is the most prevalent way we express ourselves. It may very well be a natural tendency for us as humans to articulate what we are thinking and feeling, and writing largely helps us do that. Language is all around us. We talk, we text, we read, we write, we post, we tweet, we research, we share. Look around you -- words are everywhere. We’ve gotten so used to having words all around us that expressing ourselves in words can often become second nature. Many peoples’ biggest challenge is organizing all of these words into an actual piece of writing. Also, the “busy work” styles and harsh criticisms from many negative educational experiences have contributed to how challenging writing can be for us. Thankfully, it is completely possible with plenty of practice and good instruction – i. e. Holly Van Houten: http://www.knittedthoughts.com. She is wonderful! With the ability to express yourself through writing, you have a tool within you that is mightier than the sword!

Along with this mightiness of expression also comes deception. Everyone has experienced being deceived before, and we know that it comes in all shapes and sizes. Often the root and effect of persuasion can be beneficial, but with too much deception masking it, the result can be disastrous. Some major examples are: Socrates, William Shakespeare, J. K. Rowling, Edgar Allan Poe, Adolf Hitler, various politicians, newspaper columnists, bloggers, and maybe even you – in everyday conversation. Whether they have good or bad intentions, these writers definitely have power through their work. These are only a few examples and every writer, new or old, big or small, moves society in one direction or another. Deception and persuasion are not novel ideas. Even in Ancient Greece, the “Sophists” (“soph” meaning wisdom) were a group of teachers/public speakers who used the delicate tool of persuasion. They were discriminated against because they did not value truth so much, but they started an intellectual uproar that got people thinking. Deception may not be a positive thing, but understanding it helps us gain perspective of an argument and realize when we are being deceived.

Sometimes in writing we actually expect to be deceived and that is what we like to call fiction, which can often expose us to even more knowledge. There have been many times in history where fiction has been hated, discriminated, and banned because it was said to create false decieving realities. The government still bans many books in schools today. Thankfully, the rejection of fiction has grown considerably smaller. Now fiction not only offers pleasure and entertainment, but it allows us to look at situations in a hypothetical way. Fiction can express emotions and valuable ideas that are very real, relive and premeditate real situations, and enlighten us altogether.

With the ability to write, you can change the world. Writing can determine if someone will live or die, how to live, how to see the universe, why to do things, how to do things, where you are, how you feel, and precisely what is “sup”. Where this world would be without writing is a mystery.