Word: Gluttons
"Even gluttons came out OKin the just-ended legislative session, which rejected efforts to require more nutritious school lunches and more time in PE classes."
- Harry Esteve, The Oregonian
Definition:
glut·ton (glŭt'n) Pronunciation Key n.
1. A person who eats or consumes immoderate amounts of food and drink.
My Sentence: My mother has always showed my sisters and I the importance of portion control to prevent us from becoming gluttons.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Media Audience
Word Count: 282
The story I chose is about a woman who died during an American Airline flight.
The first place that I heard the news was on ABC7. The story was about 1 minute long and included quote from the woman's relatives. The woman's name was Carine Desir and the interviewed relative was her cousin Antonio Oliver. Desir's cousin quoted his deceased cousin three times during the interview. After that, the interviewer quoted Oliver and Desir twice. In total, there were two sources being quoted, Desir and Oliver. On the T.V. one is able to see how both Oliver and Desir looks like. Unlike a newspaper story, the audience is able to see the actual interview with Carine Desir's cousin.
The second source was found on the web in Yahoo News. The story is about 600 words long and it quotes from five sources. The article is more like a newspaper print than broadcasting format. Unlike the broadcast, the web provided more information from the American Airline representatives. The web provided quotes and more details than the broadcast.
The third source was from the New York Times. It is about 400 words long. The article delved into more details about the actual event. There are no visuals accompanying the article. The only source of the story was Carine's cousin Oliver. Representatives from American Airlines had declined to comment. Compared to the other two mediums, this was more informative than the news story but not as detailed as the web summary. Unlike the broadcast, the article gave a timeline of the events in full detail, taking all quotes from Desir's cousin. I find this source to be the second most informative after the web source.
The story I chose is about a woman who died during an American Airline flight.
The first place that I heard the news was on ABC7. The story was about 1 minute long and included quote from the woman's relatives. The woman's name was Carine Desir and the interviewed relative was her cousin Antonio Oliver. Desir's cousin quoted his deceased cousin three times during the interview. After that, the interviewer quoted Oliver and Desir twice. In total, there were two sources being quoted, Desir and Oliver. On the T.V. one is able to see how both Oliver and Desir looks like. Unlike a newspaper story, the audience is able to see the actual interview with Carine Desir's cousin.
The second source was found on the web in Yahoo News. The story is about 600 words long and it quotes from five sources. The article is more like a newspaper print than broadcasting format. Unlike the broadcast, the web provided more information from the American Airline representatives. The web provided quotes and more details than the broadcast.
The third source was from the New York Times. It is about 400 words long. The article delved into more details about the actual event. There are no visuals accompanying the article. The only source of the story was Carine's cousin Oliver. Representatives from American Airlines had declined to comment. Compared to the other two mediums, this was more informative than the news story but not as detailed as the web summary. Unlike the broadcast, the article gave a timeline of the events in full detail, taking all quotes from Desir's cousin. I find this source to be the second most informative after the web source.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Word of the Week #4
Word: Shellac
Source: Media & Culture by Richard Campbell
"In the 1940s, because shellac was needed for World War II munitions production, the record industry turned to a polyvinyl plastic record."
Definition: 1. lac that has been purified and formed into thin sheets, used for making varnish.
My sentence: To this day, I still see shellac covered wooden tables being used in our college classrooms.
Source: Media & Culture by Richard Campbell
"In the 1940s, because shellac was needed for World War II munitions production, the record industry turned to a polyvinyl plastic record."
Definition: 1. lac that has been purified and formed into thin sheets, used for making varnish.
My sentence: To this day, I still see shellac covered wooden tables being used in our college classrooms.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Word of the Week #3
Source: The New York Times.
"With every delegate precious, Mrs. Clinton’s advisers also made it clear that they were prepared to take a number of potentially incendiary steps to build up Mrs. Clinton’s count."
Dictionary:
15th century
1: of, relating to, or involving arson : arsonous2: tending to excite or inflame : inflammatory3 a: igniting combustible materials spontaneously b: of, relating to, or being a weapon (as a bomb) designed to start fires4: extremely hot
My sentence: There was once a man that loved committing incendiary crimes because he was fascinated with lighting things on fire and watching them burn.
"With every delegate precious, Mrs. Clinton’s advisers also made it clear that they were prepared to take a number of potentially incendiary steps to build up Mrs. Clinton’s count."
Dictionary:
15th century
1: of, relating to, or involving arson : arsonous2: tending to excite or inflame : inflammatory
My sentence: There was once a man that loved committing incendiary crimes because he was fascinated with lighting things on fire and watching them burn.
Telling Details
It's windy. People are impatiently pacing, waiting for the next train. People have their hood and head phones on; don't bother them. Finally those three magical lights are glowing brighter and brighter and bells sound off to announce its presence. Everybody on the train has a blank look. Nobody talks to each other, they just stare elsewhere. In the train, it's warm and bright. People check for clean looking seats to sit on. The train jerks forward and we are off again, ready to be taken home. About every 5 minutes, the automated voice of a woman announces the next stop. Her voice is clear and assured. She makes the VTA feel safe.
Thankfully, nobody smells today. My attention falls on a group of peculiar looking people. There are four of them, sitting together and chatting. They all have many layers of raggedy, loose fitting clothes on. They're speaking loudly and laughing; the rest of us pretend not to be staring at them. Suddenly one of them pull out a wine bottle, takes a swig and then quickly hides it back under his coat. Even the other three are surprised, but they laugh it off. The other passengers also can't help but let out a low chuckle. This man doesn't have a care in the world. Sometimes the VTA can be really refreshing.
Thankfully, nobody smells today. My attention falls on a group of peculiar looking people. There are four of them, sitting together and chatting. They all have many layers of raggedy, loose fitting clothes on. They're speaking loudly and laughing; the rest of us pretend not to be staring at them. Suddenly one of them pull out a wine bottle, takes a swig and then quickly hides it back under his coat. Even the other three are surprised, but they laugh it off. The other passengers also can't help but let out a low chuckle. This man doesn't have a care in the world. Sometimes the VTA can be really refreshing.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Word of the Week #2
Where: The New York Times, Article "Girls will be girls"
"Those volumes were inspired by “The Dangerous Book for Boys,” a gilt-embossed paean to old-school adventure that has nearly two million copies in print and caused a furor among the mothers of daughters who resented the implicit “Girls Keep Out” sign nailed to its cover."
Definition: pae·an /ˈpiən/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[pee-uhn] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. any song of praise, joy, or triumph.
My Sentence: In church, the choir sings a paean for the Lord.
"Those volumes were inspired by “The Dangerous Book for Boys,” a gilt-embossed paean to old-school adventure that has nearly two million copies in print and caused a furor among the mothers of daughters who resented the implicit “Girls Keep Out” sign nailed to its cover."
Definition: pae·an /ˈpiən/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[pee-uhn] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. any song of praise, joy, or triumph.
My Sentence: In church, the choir sings a paean for the Lord.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Late Breaking Assignment
One of the most controversial ads that aired during the Super Bowl was from Sales Genie. When I first finished the commercial, I was confused. Did that really just happen? Did the most watched program really just air a commercial that was blatantly using racial stereotypes? Upon some web browsing, I saw that Sales Genie also produced another commercial, that time stereotyping Indians. What bothers me about the ad is not only are they using racial stereotypes, it's the fact that they use it as their attention grabber. They know they're going to get bad press from it, but they do it anyways just to get their name out.
So people like me who are offended, feel torn between talking about them and not talking about them. What if they had picked another race to use? Perhaps African American? No way would the Super Bowl have allowed that to air. But with people of Asian and Middle Eastern descent, there doesn't seem to be any rules. All in all, it was just a crap commercial with bad writing, form, content, graphics, etc., made only to get the name of their company out. Game over for them.
So people like me who are offended, feel torn between talking about them and not talking about them. What if they had picked another race to use? Perhaps African American? No way would the Super Bowl have allowed that to air. But with people of Asian and Middle Eastern descent, there doesn't seem to be any rules. All in all, it was just a crap commercial with bad writing, form, content, graphics, etc., made only to get the name of their company out. Game over for them.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Favorite Piece of Writing
Like most people, it is much too difficult for me to pick a "favorite" anything, much less a piece of writing. For this week's assignment, I'm going to choose lyrics from one of my "favorite" artists, Jason Mraz. Hold your moans and groans please.
"Climb up over the top
Survey the state of the soul
You've got to find out for yourself whether or not you're truly trying
Why not give it a shot?
Shake it. Take control and inevitably wind up
Find out for yourself all the
Strengths you have inside of you"
Song: Song for a Friend
Artist: Jason Mraz a.k.a Mr. A-Z ("he's all about the wordplay")
A little corny right? But when it's being sung by a full choir with sonorous trumpets in the background, it's pretty shiver inducing. I find this particular lyric in the song holding much relevance to my current state of life. After a shaky first year in college, I was finally getting used to the system. Classes weren't so intimidating and I no longer felt like the buildings were always looming over me. I began to get comfortable. Too comfortable. I already had an established set of friends, was in the second year of my mind-numbing library job and was continuing with my "you can do anything with it" major, Business. Here I was dreaming about greatness and there I did, settling for safe.
Fast forward one year, I'm in a job I love, and in a major I feel excited by. Through out that whole year, I was listening to this song on and off. I even made sure it was in all the new CDs I was burning. The lyrics are simple but the message is universal. Every time I felt a little doubt in things such as my Radio, Film and Television minor, this song was like a little hug to my soul (Ok this one you can groan at). This song reminds me of how good it feels when I actually truly, try. Not the "I'm going to do well at a job I hate" kind of trying, but the "I'm going to try to find my passion." It's so much more fulfilling. Obvious as that sounds, I just didn't get it then.
So I wrote a little bit too much, but it just shows why this song is so great. It has a huge "call to
action" ending and holds relevance to almost everybody. It is a message that is timeless and inspiring, but simple enough to not scare you off. All it's asking is for you to try.
"Climb up over the top
Survey the state of the soul
You've got to find out for yourself whether or not you're truly trying
Why not give it a shot?
Shake it. Take control and inevitably wind up
Find out for yourself all the
Strengths you have inside of you"
Song: Song for a Friend
Artist: Jason Mraz a.k.a Mr. A-Z ("he's all about the wordplay")
A little corny right? But when it's being sung by a full choir with sonorous trumpets in the background, it's pretty shiver inducing. I find this particular lyric in the song holding much relevance to my current state of life. After a shaky first year in college, I was finally getting used to the system. Classes weren't so intimidating and I no longer felt like the buildings were always looming over me. I began to get comfortable. Too comfortable. I already had an established set of friends, was in the second year of my mind-numbing library job and was continuing with my "you can do anything with it" major, Business. Here I was dreaming about greatness and there I did, settling for safe.
Fast forward one year, I'm in a job I love, and in a major I feel excited by. Through out that whole year, I was listening to this song on and off. I even made sure it was in all the new CDs I was burning. The lyrics are simple but the message is universal. Every time I felt a little doubt in things such as my Radio, Film and Television minor, this song was like a little hug to my soul (Ok this one you can groan at). This song reminds me of how good it feels when I actually truly, try. Not the "I'm going to do well at a job I hate" kind of trying, but the "I'm going to try to find my passion." It's so much more fulfilling. Obvious as that sounds, I just didn't get it then.
So I wrote a little bit too much, but it just shows why this song is so great. It has a huge "call to
action" ending and holds relevance to almost everybody. It is a message that is timeless and inspiring, but simple enough to not scare you off. All it's asking is for you to try.
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