NBA LOCKOUT

YAY THE NBA IS BACK! I was worried that the NBA lockout was going to ruin my Christmas break. With college football season on the verge of being over, I didn't know what I was going to do with my time. I am happy that there will be a season but the lockout really irritated me. The league claimed it was losing $300 million a year and wanted to cut the players salaries by $500 million over the next five years. It makes me so mad that it took them months to figure this out. I understand that it is a lot of money and it is their money but it does not only affect the players and owners. It hurts the communities that support and depend on the season like the people who sell programs, work the concession stands, and work the parking lots. Those are the people who should be upset at the selfishness of the players and the league. We spend so much money supporting our teams and they don't think about the impact it has on the community.

Politics Schmolitics

The political world is full of news right now. There are plenty of hot topics that include the response to the President’s job bill and what the government should do to decrease the debt. The recent natural disasters have put a spotlight of FEMA and their funding for this year and the upcoming year. The presidential election in Nov. 2012 has a lot of buzz around it right now as well. Who the republican candidate will be is a huge topic in politics right now. There are different debates and polls every week. Another topic that falls into the election category is who will win what demographic votes in the 2012 presidential election. All of these topics contribute to the recent political news. These are just some the topics that were in recent news stories that I thought were interesting. At this point I feel like it is still up in the air who will end up getting the republican candidate spot. It seems to be changing every week with who the front-runner is. Also, I think it will be interesting to see which states end up supporting whom. Over all it is an exciting time in politics in America.

Occupy Everything

The Occupy Wall Street Movement has been all over the news for the past month or so.  The whole movement has been about the protesting of social and economic quality, corporate greed, corruption and influence over government. This greed and corruption is particularly from the lobbyists and financial services sector. The protesters' slogan, “We are the 99%", refers to the difference in wealth and income growth in the U.S. between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population. However, I think most people are confused about the whole movement and what is actually going on.  The CNN anchor Erin Burnett, covered the protests at Zuccotti Park, and responded with, "What are they protesting? Nobody seems to know." I think that says something when even the media are questioning what is going on. Most of my friends will talk about how they do not understand what is really going on with the movement. They understand the basics, but probably could not explain what is currently going on. I personally feel like I get lost in all of it when I am watching the news or reading reports about the movement.

Team Edward vs. Team Jacob

I finally was able to go see the newest Twilight movie Breaking Dawn a few days after it's release. I got there early and was still sitting in the front row. I was amazed at the turnout to see the movie days after it had been released. Twilight has been a huge phenomenon that has become an obsession for many of its fans. It has sold more the 13 million copies in just the United States according to The Strap Times. Also, Joe Naumaier reported it as being ranked No.1 on the New York Times Best Seller list in 2005.  Many people wonder what makes the series so popular. Is it the plot line of an unconditional love story?  It could be, but perhaps it has something to do with why Victorian novels like Weathering Heights written by Emily Bronte, Pride and Prejudice and Emma by Jane Austen, and Dracula by Bram Stokers were and have remained so popular over time. They are all similar in the types of gender roles their characters possess.  Or maybe the fascination comes with Edward’s admiration and protectiveness for Bella that creates a desire in readers. Although I wouldn't consider myself a "Twi-hard" I do enjoy getting wrapped up in this book series. 

Are You Typical?

I came across this video from National Geographic about the most typical person in the world. With some of the statistics from this video I forgot how lucky I am to not be so typical. It made me feel lucky to have some of the things that I have but it made me feel wasteful at the same time. Living in the United States I think we forget that we aren't the center of the universe. Our continent is so small compared to Asia or Africa but we act like we are the most important people on the planet. I was surprised to see that the most typical person was a 28 year old Asian man. This video is a great reminder of how large this world is and how small and insignificant we can be. 

Like Crazy

I happened to stumble across the movie trailer for an indie film called Like Crazy on a blog that I follow. I don't know how many times I watched the trailer-- probably close to 100 times, seriously. It was so touching and immediately I became obsessed. It won a Sundance award and received incredible reviews. After 2 months of anticipation the opening day arrived... and of course it wasn't playing in Alabama. So when I went to Orlando for Thanksgiving I made sure I went to see it. This movie was incredible! It was the most convincing relationship I have seen in a movie because the dialogue was improvised and they were having conversations that you could relate to your own relationships. You know that conversation that starts with " why are you mad at me?" and the other person answers " I'm not mad.. there is nothing wrong" but you obviously know that there is. There wasn't any glamour or glitzto the movie it just told a story about a young couple in love trying to overcome problems with their long distance relationship. The realness to the movie made it so appealing and relatable. It was so refreshing to see an unpredictable story unfold. I highly recommend seeing this movie.. and bring a tissue and put your phone away because you're going to want to contact your ex.

Joshua Bell Experiment

In the middle of Friday morning rush hour traffic to work a violinist performed six classical pieces of music in a DC subway station. He played for 43 minutes collected $32 during his performance. Only seven people stopped to listen out of the 1,097 that passed by. Little did the people in the subway know that the violinist was child prodigy Joshua Bell. Bell was playing on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars and the night before sold out a performance where average seats went for $100. Doesn't this seem weird? Why didn't people stop to listen? Were they too busy to stop and listen or do they not even hear the music when they are in the zone on the way to work? After I read this experiment by the Washington Post, I assumed people didn't stop to listen because in places like the subway there are always musicians playing. Personally I think the location has something to do with the way people perceive the quality and talent of the musician/ artist/ or performer. This just shows you that we need to take the time to see the beauty around us and pay more attention to the details.