READING: Some Gerede (Chatter) on One Piece (10; 2)

 Posted by on Sun, 10/2 at 11:36pm  reading  No Responses »
Oct 022016
 

In preparation for my essay, I’ve been working on reading all sorts of writings about One Piece, Eiichiro Oda’s manga series about Monkey D. Luffy and his crew’s adventures towards becoming the Pirate King and finding the One Piece! (A Grand Treasure left behind by the former Pirate King, Gol D. Roger). I’m really surprised at the level of insight that I’m learning from the many commentators; I did not expect to much critical work in the One Piece audience (my unenlightened bias, of course), but some of it has been great, and many of the commentators seem very passionate about One Piece (which makes me all the more taken in and passionate about One Piece too!). I paste the link at the bottom of this post; take this: “Above all else, [Luffy] values freedom, and thus grants it to his friends. He feels no need to demand subservience and only occasionally calls for direct obedience.” (1) This quote refers to Luffy’s very easygoing, and at times even goofy, take on his role as the crew’s captain. I never once thought that the reason he grants others in crew the freedom do what they want is because he wants to do what he wants. This would, at face value, seem paradoxical and unwise, since choosing the wrong crew mates could me you might easily be couped, but then again this reveals more about Luffy’s mental powers too. He’s not just a goofball, as some commentators say, but he “in choosing incredibly skilled people to handle those positions, when they step up to take control of a situation, it reflects well on him, rather than making him look weak,” or dumb. As Luffy himself put it, “I know that I need others to help me if I want to keep on living,” again, showing his rather veiled wisdom. Here’s another one: “Luffy is not a good leader, but he is good at leading.” (2) This is a cool way to say, you don’t always be head honcho in charge, but if you can pull through amazingly alongside your crew when a challenge shows itself, then, given you aren’t a holy and titular “leader”,  you at least should get the title “good at leading”. All these points, all these ideas, are so new to me and I would’ve never thought about them (possibly) if I just sat and watched or read One Piece all on my own. So I guess this post really becomes an extension of my gratitude to all the redditors, bloggers, and vloggers who’ve spent their energy to write up about something many others may not care but to watch and give a little fellow at FAU a new look, a new take, a new breath of One Piece, one I’ve never had before, but because of this I think I will be a regular reader and writer of comments (maybe even a vlogger) myself. All in all, to close, I’d just like to say (if ever one of you readers fit the description), thanks you guys.

Ikuzo!

(1) http://onepiecepodcast.com/2015/02/11/carolines-column-monkey-d-luffys-treatise-on-leadership/

(2) https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/comments/315gc4/does_luffy_become_a_better_leader/

To Thick To Win

 Posted by on Sun, 10/2 at 11:31pm  reading  No Responses »
Oct 022016
 

          When you hear the words model or athlete what embodiment comes to mind? Do you see a beautiful, young and thin woman? Do you picture a strong, tall and built man? What if the model or athlete that you just portrayed in your mind was the polar opposite of what you just imagined. Would you still consider them a model or an athlete? My readings this week pertained to this issue. 

According to The DailyMail, two weeks ago Paola Torrente, a twenty-two year old model competed for the title of Miss Italy 2016. However Paola was different in the eyes of the beauty pageant world. She is known as the term “plus size” in the beauty industry. Despite of all the support she had Torrente didn’t win the title of Miss Italy. She did however win second place to which she responded “Despite being the runner up I still feel like a winner!” In spite of all of the positive support surrounding Torrente, for portraying a more realistic body frame there were others who thought differently. One of them being a forty year old Croation model Nina Moric, who is only known for her appearance in a three minute music video. Nina wrote several  negative comments on her Instagram page concerning with Paola’s second place win. In her comments she mentions that  the only reason Torrente was able to obtain second place was out of political correctness. She goes on to say, “You have created organisations to defend people with too much flesh,” and “You have arrived to the point where we chose a Miss Italy who is too fat – and all in the name of sensitivity and acceptance of others.” Nina is not the only person who had theses thoughts. The mother of the third place winner of the completion said that Paola had no business competing in the mainstream event. She said that Paola being a size fourteen should have opted for a plus size beauty competition. To be honest when I look at Torrente’s picture I dont see “plus size” at all. This however does not take away from the fact that many people out there still associate the word beauty with size and even more sadly beauty with color.

When I hear the words beauty image my mind tends to correlate it with the word women. That is why this week I tried to find articles on body image that featured men as the main subject. Both Prince Fielder (baseball player) and Ben Cohen (rugby player) are male athletes who have been body shamed by the media and society. Prince Fielder was featured on ESPN’S Body Image issue. Once the magazine cover was released Fielder encountered many online trolls and negative body image comments. On a more positive note the article goes on to say that “Athletes’ bodies, just like those of us mere mortals, come in all shapes and sizes, and they can all be magnificent in their own ways.” When Ben Cohen was body shamed he was already retired. Pictures were released by the media of a shirtless Ben on vacation in Miami. It wasn’t long before people on social media started attacking Cohen for having put on a few extra pounds. In the article body confidence blogger Leyah Shanks says “There can be a tendency to forget or overlook how much of a problem negative body image in men exists and how it impacts lives. This article is feeding the incorrect idea that one can only be happy with one’s body when it is in said ‘perfect’ condition.”

The beauty and body standards that men and women are subjected on daily basis is to say the least very frightening. I believe that the way someone looks on the outside does not correlate with their capabilities to do anything and everything. Paola Torrente, Prince Fielder and Ben Cohen are all successful people who didn’t let their “thickness” prevent them form becoming winners.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/07/23/mail-online-fat-shame-rugby-player-ben-cohen_n_7849460.html?1437641963&

https://thinkprogress.org/prince-fielder-and-the-beauty-of-espns-body-issue-5225d036b80b#.pxx8uossf

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3794133/Plus-size-model-comes-second-Miss-Italy-contest-despite-cruel-trolls-said-s-fat-beauty-queen.html

 

 

 

 

Is Place of Hope Compatible With Boca?

 Posted by on Sun, 10/2 at 10:55pm  reading  No Responses »
Oct 022016
 

I have been fortunate to gather a great deal of physical literature by Place of Hope. Anyone who reads the folder of information I have would have to be made of stone to not appreciate the dedication that this organization has pledged to these children who are in desperate need of help in our very backyard. Place of Hope has a boy’s cottage in Boca Raton just west of the turnpike and is in the process of building a girl’s cottage as well. I helped paint, cleanup, and do other miscellaneous service around the campus, but I really did not do much compared to the people who really run the cottage like Founding Executive Director, Charles Bender. In a newsletter Mr. Bender sent out to Mission Partners, some reasons why Boca Raton built a campus is revealed. There are over 2000 children who have been removed from their homes and placed in foster care in Palm Beach County alone. Place of Hope realizes that it is not the State’s obligation alone and that only by private contribution can a safer reality exist for these innocent kids. It is no secret that Boca Raton ranks among the leaders in the wealthiest cities in the world. In this newsletter, Bender announces the 2016 Hope Bash Boca to celebrate the ongoing momentum that so many selfless people have helped create. Also, the winners of the “Jay DiPietro Hero of Hope” award are shown in the letter. I think giving awards for donations and effort can have political disadvantages to it as well as positive incentives, so I will get back to my absolute opinion on that one. The letter is full of inspiring words of praise, thanks, and energy that is just what an organization like Place of Hope should most certainly consider when reaching out to their fellow partners. I really do believe that Place of Hope can grow significantly from having cottages in Boca Raton. I would also just like to take this opportunity to call out Boca Raton Magazine for writing the most lethargic and unoriginal article about Place of Hope. The article they wrote is not even a page long and offers no sign that a real human being capable of emotions wrote it whatsoever. Meanwhile, their headline article is about some impotent beer and sausage festival that is supported by pictures and twice as much writing coverage. Anyone who subscribes to Boca Raton Magazine should stop wasting their money. I encourage those looking for real literature about real people with real problems to at least go to the Place of Hope website.

Last Tuesday Elon Musk discussed his plans for SpaceX’s colonization of Mars.

 Posted by on Sun, 10/2 at 10:52pm  reading  No Responses »
Oct 022016
 

Earlier this week on Tuesday, September 27th, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gave an important talk at the 67th International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico. He revealed his plans for the long anticipated project to colonize the planet Mars. SpaceX, expanding on their commitment to efficiency, wants to bring the costs of travel to Mars down from $10 million per colonist to $200,000 per colonist. While difficult, an improvement in efficiency of that scale is not impossible nor unheard of. Musk intends of draw on the improvements in efficiency his company has already developed in the period between the company’s founding in 2002 and today. Technology from the falcon 9 rocket, which was discussed in an earlier post, will cut down on costs by making the booster rocket reusable (rather than expendable, which has been the norm throughout the history of space travel). But Musk’s plan involves much more than drawing on his companies recent technological improvements, but rather he foresees the need for much further improvements in efficiency, many of which are under development.

The Merlin rocket, used in the falcon 9 and many other SpaceX rockets, boasts unprecedented thrust for its size. But last Tuesday night Musk discussed SpaceX’s on-going development of a rocket engine three times as powerful, yet at around the same size and weight as the Merlin. This rocket engine will be dubbed the Raptor, and is critical if Musk’s plan is to succeed. The entire rocket which Musk intends to build in order to reach Mars is projected to be much larger than the Saturn V, the current holder of the title of tallest, heaviest, and most powerful rocket. The Saturn V has gone unchallenged as the most powerful rocket since he 1960’s,when it was used throughout the Apollo Program. But in order to reach Mars, Musk needs not just to build a rocket larger than the Saturn V, but one much more powerful. Musk’s rocket needs to be disproportionately more powerful than Saturn V was if he is to succeed in getting his spacecraft into orbit. The distance from here to Mars is not the problem, the lack of atmosphere in space means there is no friction or air resistance that would otherwise slow down and eventually stop a vehicle. In space, spacecrafts and space probes glide huge distances without the need for propulsion. The issue for Musk is the sheer weight of the craft he intends to launch into orbit. Never before has anything near the size of Musk’s craft been launched into orbit. It would need to hold around 100 colonist, plus the resources necessary to sustain them on their 3-6 month journey to Mars (the length of the journey depends on the distances between Earth and Mars at the time a spacecraft is launched, the shortest trip being 80 days in the early 2030’s). The Raptor’s unprecedented power relative to its size is a crucial component to the plausibility of a Mars colony in the near future.

But Musk discussed much more than rocket engines. The details of his plan include other factors such as funding, which the company receives in part from their contract with NASA to deliver cargo to the ISS, but would necessarily need to rely on the charity of wealthy private donors (which, Musk says, are eager and willing to contribute) and probably on government aid. Eventually after colonists have established themselves, Musk dreams of terraforming Mars (a composite word which means to make a planet more like Earth in that it will have liquid water and plant life indigenous to Earth. Terra = Earth; + Forming). Scott Hubbard, a professor at Stanford University, endorses the plausibility of Musk’s plan to colonize the Red Planet.

READING: Benjamin Franklin, The Norse God of Thunder (9; 21)

 Posted by on Sun, 10/2 at 10:23pm  reading  No Responses »
Oct 022016
 

For my American Lit to 1865 class taught by by Professor Hagood this semester, we have read some of a “Founding Father’s” epistles (Note to Professor Mason: my input here is in no away similar to anything we have done in my American Lit class; we don’t have any assignments asking us to write about these texts in it). Benjamin Franklin, the Norse God of Thunder, aye, was his name.

For citation purposes, the book we’re reading is: The Norton Anthology of American Literature by Nina Baym (editor), Package 1/Vol A (Beginnings to 1865), 8th ed, New York: W. W. Norton, 2012, pages 455-595 (for Franklin) and 659-676 (for Jefferson).

Mr. Franklin is an exceptionally inspiring individual, first I’d like to say. “Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labor wears,” page 458, is bed-thrashing stuff! For the past, oh, year or so, I’ve been putting plenty of conscious effort into harnessing all of my energies to make the most of them, and waste none where feasible. In room-organizing, in grocery-shopping, in exercising, with girlfriends, etc., I’ve been trying to sharpen the dullness of my potential. Just this morning, I was able to get up just the rise of the sun as I’ve been planning for a long time to do (circa 6:30 AM). “He that riseth late must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake his business at night,” 458-59; now, I know this to be not true for all, but it has been a thought through my head on those afternoons I woke up around 12:30, 1, or something 2 PM-ish. It’s not a personally invigorating feelings. Franklin has taken a well-earned seat in part of my memory for his extraordinary history, little of which I have read thoroughly and largely enough of, but enough to hold some of my respect. He was a’-stepping quite a bit more than I travel to get to FAU (about 9 miles) after he ran away from his home and job, somewhere around 400 miles I think I read it took him to get to his destination. I don’t know why, but the idea of walking, and walking far, and a rugged and rough terrain like I imagine America in his times must’ve been, I find it very attractive in an adventurous sense. It is at this point you may be asking yourself, “Well, this is all great and dandy, but where’s the part about him being the ‘Norse God of Thunder’?”

Half Titles and Headaches

 Posted by on Sun, 10/2 at 10:18pm  reading  No Responses »
Oct 022016
 

The official upcoming KH game is set to release an HD remastered version of the franchise’s most recent game (2012) and a short continuation? spinoff? of its third most recent game (2010), along with a movie that further explains the lore. Did that make sense? After 4 years, fans are getting a game they already played, and a tiny teeny continuation of a game they played 6 years ago. But! Excitement is still there.

First, let me explain what this new release even is. To catch everyone up, and keep everyone on the same page, Square released half titled (bear with me) “remastered/remixed” versions of the handful of releases that are part of the same timeline. To make that sentence make any bit of sense, a visual: (sorta)

Kingdom Hearts I (2002;PlayStation 2) -> Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (2004;Gameboy Advance) -> Kingdom Hearts 352/8 Days (2008;Nintendo DS) = Kingdom Hearts 1.5 (2013;PS3) (half titled release!)

Kingdom Hearts II (2005;PS2) -> Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (2009;PSP) -> Kingdom Hearts: Re:Coded (2011;Nintendo DS) = Kingdom Hearts 2.5 (2014;PS3)

Since the games have been released out of order in the KH timeline, and exclusive to random systems, these half titled releases serve to help make sense of the timeline and to catch up anyone who couldn’t afford a whole different system to play a single game.

This upcoming release, Kingdom Hearts 2.8, recounts the events that happened between KHII and KHIII, and, since KHIII hasn’t been set for release yet, it can’t be called KH3.5. Square also wouldn’t have waited until after the third installment because KHIII is assumed to be the very last game of the franchise, at least that follows the same characters.

Apparently, this “ridiculous universe” presented in 2.8 is hardly recognizable to the casual fan that left the franchise in 2005 with KHII. Also, according the article, it feels rushed and “desperate”…. so to make way for KHIII. The claim is that Square needed to release 2.8 to catch up fans on the events in between, so they released it as quickly as possible so that they can get on with the end of the series.

Judging by the fact that 2.8 was delayed……….. sure, buddy.

 

Eva Longeria is Texican

 Posted by on Sun, 10/2 at 9:47pm  reading  No Responses »
Oct 022016
 

Although this doesn’t seem like a profound topic; this was a very interesting interview of Eva Longoria on one of Chelsea Hander’s shows. This brief interview opens around how the Longoria felt she fit in American and Mexican culture. The immediate comment was that the interviewer hadn’t initially realized that the actress was Mexican, and receives the answer that she is Texican and she was born in America. She briefly explains that in the US she is often labeled as Handler described, but when she visits Mexico she is considered an American.

The interview continues to circle the idea of her duality in both cultures, and interestingly enough she describes her view that where she was born her family is from. The community hasn’t always been a member of the US, and after events of Texas becoming state her family was considered American citizens. Obviously, there are many more nuances to her reasoning that are not touched on in the interview and would make an interesting topic to research regarding appropriation and assimilation. The country she was born in was instated around a community that was already founded.

Then the idea of language is tied to the end of the interview, both speak Spanish and English—to different degrees clearly. Although these languages are clearly different, there are stubble familiarities. These languages share similar and sometimes nearly identical words(2500 but you cannot speak English slowly or loudly enough to successfully have a legitimate communication)—there is also seemingly a complete difference between Spanish in Spain and in Mexico. Then, Longoria briefly touches on Margaritas and Cinco Daimyo being American creations. Although, loosely linked she explains how an interesting place to visit in Mexico are the pyramids, which could be considered Aztecs but were first created by the Techloctans(sp).

These disparate women show a warmth to one another and spoke openly while explaining things critically. It was a learning experience and opened doors to different ideas. I was impressed with the flow and the ease of conversation. This is important to note, both women touched on past experiences and opened doors to ideas that are often an uncomfortable topic.

Found a short video of this on youtube to share

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cOFRcXngUE

The power of the gram

 Posted by on Sun, 10/2 at 9:39pm  reading  No Responses »
Oct 022016
 

Social Media in the Beauty Landscape

The article that I read this week discussed the power that Instagram has in the beauty market. Consumers refer to Instagram to see how products and applied and to read reviews of the products. This has caused brands to not only use the app, but also to promote themselves on it. Instagram has become so powerful that there are “insta-famous” brands; brands that were created on Instagram or, in other words, online brands. A small, new brand posts on Instagram, gets discovered, gains a following and turns into a million dollar brand in a matter of months. The article sites brands such as Sigma Beauty, ColourPop and Dose of Colors, all of which were thrown into the beauty world through the power of Instagram. It also states that Instagram plays an important role in the decision making of young cosmetic shoppers. It was found that the more time that is spent viewing the brand’s Instagram page, the more time is spent on the company’s selling website. This has direct correlation with sales because obviously the more time that is spent viewing the site equals more products view which leads to more items being purchased. This has lead to more online marketing campaigns rather than print ads, which has positive environmental impacts due to the decline of print.

Instagram has also allowed for the creation of trends throughout the beauty community. One of the more recent and popular is that of facial masks. Specifically, the explosion of the brand named GlamGlow. Their peal off tightening mask has taken Instagram by storm and caused for a slew of other peal off masks (which are pretty cool if you ever have the chance to try one). Skin care was once something that only wrinkly old ladies participated in, but thanks to Instagram, it’s everywhere. Brands are incorporating their skin care into Instagram demo videos as part of the makeup application process. For example, in stead of starting a tutorial at the application of makeup, they start at the bare-faced skin preping stage. The person giving the tutorial applies any serums and moisturizers before applying primers and then goes in with their color application. It’s all about the visual. If people see the products being used, they’re going to buy them. If everyone is using it, it has to be good, right?

The Homogeneous Country

 Posted by on Sun, 10/2 at 8:47pm  reading  No Responses »
Oct 022016
 

As I have mentioned in my last post, I needed to take a look at Korea before they became tech giant and how it is changing now. In looking through South Korea’s history major events such as the Japanese occupation in North Korea and the US in South Korea, the military regime, the fight for democracy and their rise to be an industrial power come up. But something else seems to pop up as well: the word homogeneous. South Koreans consider themselves to be a homogeneous country but depending on who you ask the meaning will be different. If you take the word at face value, you would probably assume that South Korea is only made up of people of Korean descent. While this is not true (and it would be hard to argue it being true since we all know what happens when two countries occupy the same territory) the phrase is used to mean that South Korea is an ethnically and racially homogeneous country. While it could be a point of pride in only having a single race in the country, it has led to many discussions on the rise of immigrants and how South Korea is becoming a multicultural country. Some believe that the country needs open-nationalism to embrace other people and some believe they should not allow other races in the mix. These conflicting views has lead to some immigrants experiencing discrimination in the work place and in public. It is not uncommon to see signs that ban non-Koreans from entering an establishment as there is no anti-discrimination law. On the other hand laws such as The Act to Support Multicultural Families have come into effect and helps those whose family dynamics include foreign spouses. As time goes on, the migrant population is going to keep growing and the Korean government is going to have to step in to find a way to include other cultures in their way of life.

Power

 Posted by on Sun, 10/2 at 7:55pm  reading  No Responses »
Oct 022016
 

Power can mean anything to a person in which it can be positive and negative.  I was watching a clip of the Tv show Scandal created by Shonda Rhimes and Peter Nowalk and many others wonderful producers in which of that episode the whole scene was about power. And really explained everything about how the society views power. In season 5 episode 21 which was the finale, it shows that Olivia Pope played by (Kerry Washington) saved Jake Ballard played by (Scott Foley) from her father because her father wanted jake to be the Vice President of the United states. After saving him from her father, it turns out that Olivia wanted for Jake to be the Vice President of the United States after all. This right here is some kind of power in which people are being used and forcibly to climb of the pinnacle of their status. now I may see as I a positive  thing whereas my best friend might say this is totally wrong because Jake did not want this. He wanted to be normal and not to be able to not make decisions for himself. now I said that I think what Oliva did was purely genius because we cheat all the times and everything we do always have a little bit of lie or corruption in it. why? because we are humans and we want what is far greater than ourselves which is power. It is the only thing that is making us do foolish thing such as taking money from our civilians, spy on them, hack and listen to what we say and do daily. Without power, we could not have the ability to do this stunt and deceive our people. in this world, there are two kinds of people. People with power and people who are being in control by power people.  Power usually   also mean money because it means that person can do things that can be awe or create things that can control us with microchips, or GPS of our cars and can know wherever we are and what are we up to. And there are bad people in this world who want to ake over the world or rule the world for that matter. Power means ability, influence, rule and there are many other ways that i can describe it and it will always be a word that is associated with money and to control which can be people, country, or even a nation.

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