Lovemarks

When I was in my early 20's, I bought a candy apple red 1975 Jeep CJ5.  I bought it on a whim.  It was super cheap, too cheap, but it was PRETTY!!!  

Look at that beauty!!  I loved it!!  I was in college, going to to Rocky Point on Spring Breaks and every other chance I got, loading up the vehicle with my friends and girls and slowly listening to loud music while crawling down the beach.  Ahh, the early twenties.  I spent many weekend nights at the ASU campus just cruising with friends and let me tell you, this machine was a Babe magnet!!! 

There were other things i love about my Jeep.  After I purchased it, I soon found out that I now belonged to and elite club.  Every Jeep that i would pass going the opposite direction would give me the peace sign.  I would smile and send one right back!!  This was a common occurrence.  (I also had a motorcyele for a short stint and found out that the same is true of bikers). Not only was this my transportation, but it was also my source of excitement.  Weekends were spent 4-wheeling in my Jeep.  I loved it so much that I bought a Jeep CJ5 Haynes Manual

and rebuilt the engine by myself with the help of a friend that was a mechanic. 

After a few years of owning this magical piece of machinery, my life took a turn for the worse.  One night on my way home from the gym, I wasn't watching the road and the front left tire struck a huge rock that must've fallen out of a dump truck or something.  The tire blew out, and I fell out of the jeep just as the Jeep started cartwheeling over and over and it finally stopped on top of a parked car.  The jeep was totaled.  

Well, I had no money and I scraped up enough money to buy another cheap car and since that night, I have waited patiently for the time to be right to again, purchase a Jeep CJ.  Everytime I see a Jeep CJ, I remember my candy apple red jeep cj-5.  Of course, now I have a family.  It's not practical to have a Jeep.  When I do get another one (and I will), it will be a 2nd or 3rd car for recreation only.  I've had some major fun in that jeep.  I can't wait to own another one.  Why? I guess I feel that if I ever get the chance to own another one, it will help me recapture my youth.  It will bring me back to the days when life was carefree and fun.  Hell, driving around with no sides or roof on the vehicle is pretty carefree.   The "Lovemark" that represents this for me is simply

Gangsta Raps Affect on our Society - Unpopular Culture

Gangsta Rap!!

 

In the 1970's, hip hop was introduced to America in the Bronx, New York City.  It was new, it was different, and it was exciting...it was a lifestyle.  However, since the turn of the century, Hip Hop took a turn for the worse and instead of this being an upbeat and ethnic wonder, it has slowly chipped away at the brain cells of our collective brain...especially in the music industry.  There has never been another genre of music that has affected the young adults of America in such a negative way.

When NWA came out with "Straight Outta Compton" in 1988, their music was banned on most radio stations, mostly because of the lyrics and the content in the lyrics.  Take for example, the lyrics of the song "F$%# the police", the song above, in which the group NWA encourages the listener to distrust our law enforcement because they feel that the police only arrest people based on race. Here's an example of the type of lyrics one can hear on this track by NWA. WARNING.. EXPLICIT LYRICS.

 Right about now NWA court is in full effect.
Judge Dre presiding in the case of NWA versus the police department.
Prosecuting attourneys are MC Ren Ice Cube and Eazy muthafuckin E.
Order order order. Ice Cube take the muthafuckin stand.
Do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth
and nothin but the truth so help your black ass?

Why don't you tell everybody what the fuck you gotta say?

Fuck tha police
Comin straight from the underground
Young nigga got it bad cuz I'm brown
And not the other color so police think
They have the authority to kill a minority

Fuck that shit, cuz I ain't tha one
For a punk muthafucka with a badge and a gun
To be beatin on, and throwin in jail
We could go toe to toe in the middle of a cell

Fuckin with me cuz I'm a teenager
With a little bit of gold and a pager
Searchin my car, lookin for the product
Thinkin every nigga is sellin narcotics

You'd rather see me in the pen
Then me and Lorenzo rollin in the Benzo
Beat tha police outta shape
And when I'm finished, bring the yellow tape
To tape off the scene of the slaughter
Still can't swallow bread and water

I don't know if they fags or what
Search a nigga down and grabbin his nuts
And on the other hand, without a gun they can't get none
But don't let it be a black and a white one
Cuz they slam ya down to the street top
Black police showin out for the white cop

Ice Cube will swarm
On any muthafucka in a blue uniform
Just cuz I'm from the CPT, punk police are afraid of me
A young nigga on a warpath
And when I'm finished, it's gonna be a bloodbath
Of cops, dyin in LA
Yo Dre, I got somethin to say

With the ban on the radio, kids were dying to find out Why it had been banned.    The album reached double platinum sales status, becoming the first album to reach platinum status with no airplay support and without any major tours.

This is what our youth had started to idolize

NWA

Almost 25 years later, today, there are droves of hip hop artists coming out with the same type of music.  In addition to lots of foul language, Gangsta rap groups like "The Geto Boyz" promote guns, violence and crime. For example, the song "Trigga happy Ni**a", the band raps the following:

 We needed money, so I robbed a liquor store
Down on your knees she hesitated, I kicked the whore
Wanna go for bad, bitch I go for broke
Pulled out the 9, think it's a game, she said nope
Out comes the manager, mother' thought I was bluffin him
She knew I was serious, so did he when I busted him
Come on motherf**ker I ain't playin' so give it up
She said the cops are comin', does it look like I give a f**k!
You're lucky I ain't horny, I'd be rockin' ya
She let down her hair, pulled up her skirt and said what's stoppin' ya?
Bitch you must mistake me for a lollygag
Cuz' if I get in that a*s, they'll haul me off in a body bag
Gimme the money, I'm tired of the waiting shit
She said the box is empty
I said ain't that a bitch
Back to the safe you better open it fast
I'm gettin' tired, I'm about to melt a cap in your a*s
I got all that money that I'm live, how you figure?
I'll forever be a trigga happy nigga


. In Eminem's song "Guilty Conscious", the rapper encourages the listener to rape a girl that he meets at a rave because she is on the drug ecstacy.  Again, WARNING EXPLICIT LYRICS.

Meet Stan, twenty-one years old. ("Give me a kiss!")
After meeting a young girl at a rave party,
things start getting hot and heavy in an upstairs bedroom.
Once again, his conscience comes into play... ("Shit!")

[Eminem]
Now listen to me, while you're kissin her cheek
and smearin her lipstick, I slipped this in her drink
Now all you gotta do is nibble on this little bitch's earlobe..
(Yo! This girl's only fifteen years old
You shouldn't take advantage of her, that's not fair)
Yo, look at her bush.. does it got hair? (Uh huh!)
Fuck this bitch right here on the spot bare
Til she passes out and she forgot how she got there
(Man, ain't you ever seen that one movie _Kids_?)
No, but I seen the porno with SunDoobiest!
(Shit, you wanna get hauled off to jail?)
Man fuck that, hit that shit raw dawg and bail..

Afroman promotes drinking and driving in his song "I drive better when I'm drunk" by rapping

" I don't know what you've been told
I've been drinkin since 12 years old
Started in 1988
Hangin at the liquor store real real late
I drunk a swallow, I drunk a cup
Drunk the bottle, I threw up
Over the years, I learned to pace it
Get kinda tipsy, but not that wasted
I like beer, but I love malt liquor
Cuz malt liquor, get me drunk quicker
Stop on the freeway, take a whiz
Hop in my Cadillac and handle my biz
I drive better drunk than I do sober
Cuz when I'm sober right
I think I can make through the, red light
Go, go, go, I hope I'm not dead right
But when I'm drunk, I know I can't
So I ain't, I drive like a saint
Drinkin is a class I did not flunk
I'm a Colt 45 certified drunk"

What started out at Rhyming and BeatBoxing, soon turned out to get darker and deeper into the corruption of our society.  How would you like to run into these hip hop enthusiats?

 It is no secret that the Youth of America are extremely influenced by our athletes, our music stars, and our television stars.  They are trend setters and they make impressions on society.  My concern about gangsta rap is that it glorifies unhealthy behavior and the impressionable youth of America can be swayed by the Bling they see on their favorite rappers and want to be like them.  So listening to their stories of the rappers encourages the youth to want to act in the same way that the songs they listen to promote. 

I really need to put a disclaimer in this Blog.  I listen to hip hop, and not all of the people that listen to hip hop turn into gangsters or wannabe gangsters.  I've gotten to the point where I can enjoy music, or sports or movies and not have to emulate the people performing them.  If you like hip hop, great!!!  Just don't go out and start dressing like you are some sort of rapper-you look ridiculous. 

My Mets Tweeps

So, all of my "Tweeps" on my blog are somehow New York Mets related. 

Kevin Burkhardt aka @KBurkhardtSNY 
He's a journalist that follows the New York Mets ball players.  He does in-depth interviews with the team, the management, the opposing teams and in the off-season, hosts several shows about transactions the Mets front office makes.  He graduated from William Patterson University with a degree in broadcasting.  He worked at several radio stations and for the most part, his roles involved sports.  Growing up he was a New York sports fan and so his involvement with the New York Mets organization was a dream come true.  As a loyal New York Met fan myself, I have had the privilege of meeting him several times over the last 8 years.  I truly enjoy and welcome him into my living room every night we turn on a New York Mets game.


Justin Turner aka @redturn2
Justin is a utility player for the New York Mets.  He basically plays infield.  He's played every position available in the infield except Catcher.   He played collegiality for Cal State fullerton and in 2006, was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds.  After a short stint with the Reds, he moved into the Baltimore Orioles organization.  Then, in 2010, Turner moved into the New York Mets organization and since then, he's done well as a substitute for the regular players that are either injured or need a day off.  I chose to add him because he tweets a lot and I truly enjoy reading his tweets.


Sandy Alderson aka @MetsGM
Sandy is new to twitter however, he is not new to baseball.   Ever seen the movie Moneyball?  The main character, Billy Beane, was taught by Sandy.  Sandy has been an executive of several baseball teams in the Major Leagues.  He graduated from Dartmouth College and served in the Vietnam war.  After his tour, he moved on to Harvard Law School.  His first employment was with the A's organization.   He was hired by a former law office partner who had moved onto the A's organization prior to Sandy being hired there.  Basically, his former law partner hired him and Sandy worked in the minor league system and built up the strength of their minor league organization.  After his stint with the A's, Sandy worked for Major League Baseball in the commissioners office.  Before joining the Mets organization, Sandy spent 4 years with the Padres.  He was hired by the Mets because the owners of the Mets (the Wilpons), lost a lot of money as a result of their ties with Bernie Madoff.  With little to no money to invest in new talent, the Mets organization hired Sandy to clean up a Mets Mess with limited funds.  


R.A Dickey aka @RADickey43

He's the only Knuckleballer left in Major League baseball.  He climbed Mr. Kiliminjaro in the off season to benefit human traffiking in India.  He played college ball in Tennessee for the Volunteers.  He studied English Literature and graduated with honors.  Really Smart, really funny, absolutely LOVES Star Wars and frequently tweets various things with a Star Wars motif.  

Reading Assignment 3

As most of the Thursday class knows, I didn't do the reading in time.  Extremely embarrassing when you leave in the middle of class because you can't participate in the discussion.  Anywho....  I did the readings and I'm just picking the 1st 4 chapters because it's just easier this way.  So without further adieu, here goes something.

Digital Natives/Digital Immigrants

This article discusses how technology has impacted the students of today compared with the students of yesterday.  Digital Natives are those that have been born into the world of the internet, email, computers, games, cell phones and most technology.  The Digital Immigrants are all the other folks; the ones that have grown up in an age where learning meant picking up a book and reading words on a page rather than on a screen or sitting through a lecture in class, rather than watching Youtube.  The evidence is all around us.  In class, we utilize computers, learn from Wikipedia, get on our smart phones, and use games to learn (like 3D Gamelab).  The evidence I clearly see is in my own family.  My 7 year old daughter has been known to show grandma how to play angry birds on her phone.  She has also asked me a question to which I didn’t know the answer to and when I replied “I don’t know.”, she then responded with “Daddy, why don’t you Google it?”.  The article is extremely convincing because the technological revolution is clearly upon us and if we were to utilize old school ways of teaching, today’s youth would not only have to learn by the means of the way the old school teacher is teaching but also apply those teaching to modern day paradigms. 

Do They  Really Think Differently?

Neuroplasticity – the notion that our brains can be rewired or change in the way we think about things is the main idea of this article.  As discussed in the previous chapter, the Digital Natives are learning things in a whole new way than their predecessors learned.  Do They Really Think differently discusses how not only are the students (the Digital Natives) just thinking differently, but also that their brain structure is also different than the Digital Immigrants.  Studies have been done in rats, ferrets and people that conclude that brains adapt to various ways of learning.  The most intriguing example that the book gives is where they rewired ferrets brains with the eyes and ears nerve endings being switched around and the ferrets’ brains where actually able to overcome and adapt and still function.  This proves to me that because the technology era is here to stay, that even human brains are going to be developing in a different manner than our recent ancestors. 

The Internet

The main idea of this article is about how the internet is benefitting humanity today.  The article compares television and the internet and the ways we use them.  It also discusses how in helps people engage more into what we’re seeking out and learning.  I liked the example of how when people want to get the news or sports scores, they don’t buy a record, they turn on tv.  And now, people are able to use the internet at home to get these things “on demand”.  I believe the argument is supported and that it is also true that people continue to learn by using the web or internet as opposed to the television.  For example, let’s say I want to know the news right now.  I can’t watch it at 6:00 because I’m going to be making dinner for my kids.  But at 4:47, I can google the news, watch and article about the latest on Obama-care, see if the Mets won, and cue up a station on Pandora to listen to while cooking for my kids.  Did I get what I could’ve if I waited? Yes! But more importantly, I had to navigate to the pages I was looking for to find the news, go to another page for the sports, and then, after downloading and figuring out how to use the interface on Pandora without written instructions, I got to listen to music via the internet.  This took learning!  Learning how to use google, learning how to use yahoo sports, and learning how to use Pandora.  Finally, the article makes a weak attempt to blow a hole in the internet in the social aspect by saying that social websites on the web can take away the face to face that humans crave, however, that argument is quickly dismissed with the rebuttal that for the past few decades, people have been turning on the television and reclining into isolation with zero interaction.  At least now, we are interacting with people again, albeit, digitally.   Times they are a changing. 

Learning to think in a Digital World

What the authors main concern is in this article is the effects of technology on reading and literature.  She makes a good case about how technology can be a hazard in that it is (using the Socrates example), taking away the motivation for our learners of today to examine and reflect on the “Why” of something as it gets replaced with the digital era of say “googling” something and getting immediate gratification.  I like the example that she gives about how immediate access to information via the digital age will cause our current and future students to probe beyond the information and acquire a deeper insight as the the why of it.  A basic example I can think of is the TI-83 graphing calculator.  When I took higher level algebra classes, the lesson plans of the instructors were primarily centered around how to navigate the calculator to come up with the correct answer.  What on earth did they do before the graphing calculator was invented?  I’m guessing that the students really learned how to solve the equations using the most basic math methods…paper and pencil.  Nowadays, we’re all just used to the fact that to figure out how to solve that difficult math problem, a calculator is required. So I can see why the author of this article is concerned.  I do agree with her concern however, when it comes to reading, we all still have to know how to read to navigate the pages on the web because most of the pages on the web have words on them.  Also, one word, Kindle!

ADVERTISING MAP

 

Click on the Photo to go to the Advertising Map.  This is where we found this advertisement which is appealing to students and encouraging them to get a career in IT.

Fads and Trends

TRENDING NOW

The dictionary defines the trend as "to extend in a general direction: follow a general course."  The word "trend" is sometimes missused.  On Twitter, the word trending is used to describe what is popular on twitter at that time, however, this is really a fad because a fad  is something that is only popular for a short period of time.

The World wide web or internet is one of the biggest trends of the last 2 decades.  As we all know, almost everything can be found on the WWW.  Communicating with family across the country or overseas was never so easy.  Everything from movies, to music, to news is easier for everyone to access.  The internet has changed the world.  I remember signing on to AOL 2.5 for the very 1st time in the 90's and I just couldn't beleive what was out there.  Since then, I have always had internet in my home, at my office and most recently, on my phone. 

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Sure, I was a kid once who just loved to bang my head to rock and roll and dance and all that.  Since I've gotten older though, I've come to appreciate Talk Radio.  I guess talk radio has been on the air since the radio 1st came out.  My mother used to tell me how she used to listen to baseball games on her transistor radio all the time while growing up.   I listen to music still, but at time, I do get tired of it and it's then that I turn the dial to my favorite radio show, "The Howard Stern Show".  Sometimes I listen to the news in my car or sports talk.  It's an easy way to get the information I need while driving to work or school.

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The Smart Phone....Internet, Instant Messaging, Weather, Apps, Games.  I remember going to the DMV and having to wait and wait and wait for my number to be called.  Now, when you go in and pull a number, most people also pull out their phone and start doing whatever they want to fill the time.  Plus, getting email on the go and making phone calls from the same device is just amazing.  Remember when car phones were fancy?  I do.. now everyone, (well, amost everyone), has one.

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Social Media.  Some people use facebook, some people use twitter, some people still use Myspace (I think).  Most people have it.  Chances are, if you are desperate, lonely and missing your first high school love, you can find them on one of these social media pages.  While facebook may fade away at sometime, and the same with twitter and myspace, it will most likely be replaced by some type of social media.  Same idea, different name, to connect socially over internet applications. 

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It's coming on strong... apple, mac, ipad, ipod.  Everything is I-something.  I am a PC user.  I am becoming the minority.  The Iphone is proving to be the better smart phone.  The Mac computer is far less virus susceptable, and the ipad and the ipod all sync up with both of these.  It's not going to be long before I replace my kick@$$ pc with a mac.  Why?  because I want an iphone and if I get an Iphone, it's only gonna be a short matter of time before I get the Mac, and Ipad.  Bill Gates was onto something when he founded microsoft.  But Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak made it better!

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FAD-ing away


A fad is basically something that is currently popular and that most likely will lose it's popularity after a brief period of time. Below are some fad's that I dislike and some that I like.  Some of them just really piss me off.  But that's the beauty of a fad..It ain't here to stay!!

WOW or World of Warcraft.  I debated on whether or not this was a fad.  It seems to be super popular, it has been for a long time...my brother in law met his wife on World of Warcraft.  It's very addictive.  In fact, there is a World of Warcraft website for helping those who have lost loved ones to the game or that are gamers themselves and want to quit playing but can't.  It's a game people!!!

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I know that Justin Bieber is a fad.  But that's not the fad that I'm talking about in this picture.  See the hat?  Notice the sticker on the bill of the hat?  UGH!!  It's a "59Fifty" sticker indicating the maker of the hat.  Rappers started leaving the sticker on after purchasing the hat.  It's so Wannabe gangster/wannabe thuglike and it's worn off on a lot of our youth.  Even the Biebs is sporting it.  HELLO PEOPLE!!  Take the sticker off!!!  You don't see Major League Ball Players with the sticker still on their hat.  Totally annoying fad to me.
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I used to play a lot of Words with Friends.  It's a fun scrabble game with random people or your friends that you play on your smart phone or even on your computer.  It can be extremely addictive if you're into puzzles.  Maybe there is some educational value or cognitive brain improvement from working the word puzzles.  I for one had a difficult time with it because at one point, I had 14 different games going with 14 different people and I got in my car one day, started the car, and stayed in my driveway for about 20-30 minutes trying to get all my moves in.  My opponents kept making their moves and I of course, had to make mine.  So after a while, I decided to put it down.  It's popular now, but it will wear off.
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Lady Gaga is a fad in my opinion.  I know she's a great role model for kids that were bullyed growing up or nerdy or different.  Gaga and all her "Little Monsters" are really making a stand and helping promote acceptance of all human beings.  I never was really a fan until she performed on the Howard Stern show.  Truly beautiful voice.  She won't be around forever though. 
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2012!!!!

I saved this one for last.  The dreaded 12/21/2012 fad.  The Mayan Calendar (pictured at right) ends in December 2012.  Also in December 2012, people beleive the planets in our solar system are supposed to line up.

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The truth is, the planets have been in a line many times before and nothing happened.  However, there is Nostradamus' predictions, the Mayan calendar, and the planets lining up all creating a fear that the world will end in 2012.  Well, I really hope that we get to find out that it is just a fad.  For those of you believers of the 2012 conspiracy, here is a website you can go to.


I hope you have enjoyed my little blog about the Fads and Trends of my life!!

Reading Quest 1

My question about the 1st half of the book "how we decide" is this: In the chapter, the predictions of dopamine, they talk about an experiment where students were given different types of praise for a job done well on a test. This got me thinking about my kids and what is the best way to praise my daughters for their achievements to promote the desire to learn. What is the best way to do this? I have learned that to reinforce good behavior in children, it is necessary to carefully choose the words I use. According to "How we decide", reinforcing a job well done with a simple "good job", or "you must be smart" doesn't necessarily ensure a child's desire to continue learning. This statement doesn't challenge the child. The dopamine neurons get instant gratification because of the reward "good job", however, after this, the child will most likely seek out the reward of doing the good job by doing another task that is just as simple or easier. Conversely, a child rewarded for a good job by saying something like "you must have tried really hard" still reaps a reward however it triggers a different type of result. The child was awarded for trying and therefore, in the future will look for rewards for trying new or more difficult things. Another thing I learned from a wikipedia article on reinforcement as weel as an article on the website kidsmakingchange.com is that it is necessary for the adult to be consistent. As a parent, to properly reinforce good behavior to promote desired learning, i need to follow through every time.