Saturday Night Live - Eternal Spark of Love - Video - NBC.com

This is one funny skit :)

Saturday Night Live - Eternal Spark of Love - Video - NBC.com

We Need to Make a Better Future for All Children (Visual Essay and Analysis)

My visual essay is arguing/claiming that we should make all childrens' lives have better futures. They should be in happier environments with positive influences rather then in depressing ones with negative influences. My audience is ignorant people who do not know how some children live. I start off my clip little boy in the ski mask holding a gun to introduce the clip with a child in a negative environment. I didn't want to jump into the clip with a starving child because the audience would probably know what to expect. There have been many starving children clips out there and I wanted mine to be about something more than just that. In the background of the little boy the lyrics are going, "People kill and people dying" which goes with the picture. The killing has to start at some age but why with children? My argument is questioning that. I include two children with guns to show that children with guns did not just happen in one instance but in two. It is not right. "Children hurt, and hear them crying," is the lyrics that the second photo is playing on.

The kids are getting hurt not only physically but mentally. They are brought up to think that killing and hurting people is OK. With the mentality the violence will most likely continue throughout their lives. Each picture is going off on a certain beat which makes the overall clip run smoother and keeps the audience focused on the clip rather then the editing mistakes. "Can you practice what you preach," is shown with a blond haired, blue eyed girl which in today's society is viewed as pure and innocent. Including this girl over the selected lyrics and zooming into her eyes builds more pathos. People will sympathize with this little girl and be more inclined to do something to change the environment for children like her. It also is a good transition between the boy with the gun and the more depressed kids following her picture.

To also build pathos for the other races, I include one kid from every skin type. "Would you turn the other cheek," I included a boy sitting in a fetal position in depressing colors. I didn't want to include bright colors for this part because I felt that a dreary overlay would create a feeling of more desperation within my piece.

To connect more to the audience, after the sad boy in the corner I include pictures of kids all looking at the audience. This includes pathos as well. Eye contact in life is crucial for getting one's point across. This gets the point that these kids need someone's help. It is hard to "turn the other cheek" when the kids are staring right at the audience. "Father Father Father help us. We need some guidance from above," I show a group of kids on the ground looking at the audience. This shows the "we" instead of showing a solo kid as the "I". "People got me got me questioning. Where is the love?" This part includes a starving boy with others staring at him. Instead of showing his skin and bones on his body first, I show his face so that the shock factor comes later. I also wanted the lyrics to be on "love" to put more of an emphasis on the image.

The second to last picture shows the desperate eyes of a child. "Where is the love?" is the rhetorical question in the background. Where is it? That is what I am trying to get across to the audience. Where is the love for these kids? To wrap up my clip I include a crying boy with his arm extended towards the audience and then his picture fading from white into black. His picture makes a bigger impact because rather than just going along with the slide show, there is a pause for the audience to think about the previous images and then comes one of the boldest images that will stay in their brains longer. I wanted him to be in full color so his image would stand out from the duller colored pictures a little before this picture. "Where is the love?" by the Black Eyed Peas is the song that I used because I think that It matches my argument. The images are displayed in a way that makes the song have more impact as well. Altogether, The clip makes a bold argument that lets the audience know that these kids need help for their futures.

Sources:

http://www.fotopedia.com/items/flickr-3372060864

http://blog.youthsays.com/stand-up-against-poverty-photo-mosaic-contest/http://orphansmom.com/index.php?p=1_10_Photos

http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=6684

http://snappedshot.com/archives/3346-Signs-Id-Love-to-See-at-a-Peace-Rally.html

http://www.dpchallenge.com/image.php?IMAGE_ID=331211

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/world/600967-millions-will-starve-to-death-in-crisis

http://truthrocker.livejournal.com/tag/south%20asia

Weather Changes

Blink…Blimp…Blomp…Blint. I looked out the window one morning and discovered that it is raining outside. The rain was washing away the pure white snow that had been on the ground for days. The snow piles were gigantic. They were the size of me, which is five feet and one and a half inches. When I tried to go over one of the snow piles I was submerged in the frigid icy snow. It felt like I was a human popsicle. I squirmed around, pushing this way and that, and I finally was free from the snow pile monster. I was wet then. Not only was I wet from the melting snow, but also from the rain that was falling from the sky. I felt uncomfortable in my fuzzy blue sweater that was now drenched with liquid. So I decided to go inside my house to change clothes and settle by the nice warm fire.

There was a problem. The garage door was not working. This wouldn't be a problem if I had remembered my house key but that was tucked away in the left pocket of my backpack up in the living room. I had no choice. I had to knock on the door. The thing was, my mother was sleeping inside and if I woke her up I knew she would be upset. Knock, knock knock….No answer. Knockety knock knock. Still no answer, so i tried one more time. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! I saw a glimpse some fabric. It was the fabric to my mom's shirt. She slowly opened the door and I could see the tired look on her face. We didn't say a word to each other for a moment. "You forgot your key again…didn't you?" she said. "Yes" I respond in a quiet voice. She went back up to her room and I to mine. I was luck that time. She was too tired to respond angrily because I woke her up. That made me happy. I continued on with my day after I changed my clothes. What was a wet cold day turned into a dry warm luxury. I like when weather changes but I especially like when I can change the temperature myself.

Everyone is a Part of Something

I was not excited to see this guy named C. S. Lewis at my college today. It is only because I have heard so many lectures about life; what is is, what it isn't, or what is should be. I got settled in the snug, cushioned forum room chair and waited for Mr. Lewis to start his redundant speech. As it turned out, Mr. Lewis brought up points that I had not heard before. He said life is made up of Rings, and people "desire to be inside the local Ring and [have] terror [if] left outside [of it]...It is unavoidable."For myself, this means that I have the desire to be apart of something. I learned that it is better to not force myself to be in a certain group because I will naturally fall somewhere. I just need to focus on what I enjoy, and I will fall inside some sort of Ring. For me the Inner Ring means acceptance or inclusion.

Case in point; I attend this group called Easy Good Grub or (EGG). We make food for families that do not have enough to afford food everyday. Everyone in EGG has a similar mindset. We all want to help people and we all love to make food. Mr. Lewis brought up the point that we exclude people who only in the Ring to be in the know or apart of something special. We had this guy try to join our group once. His name was Turner. Turner had no idea how to cook and he hated people who had to be on welfare. He was immediately excluded because he couldn't contribute anything to the group. He just wanted to be in it to learn how to cook and learn why we liked serving poorer people. He wasn't meant for our Inner Ring. He should have just stayed with the rich kid Ring. That one suited him better.

I think that Mr. Lewis is a respectable man. He presented his speech with an advising tone. He even referenced how he was middle-aged and that we might not even care. It is a good thing he came up with an enticing way to present his speech. I listened. I realized that Rings make up our lives and it does not look like they will ever go away.

Margaret Sanger: The Children's Era

This video is a bit more concise than her actual speech and it is preformed by a cartoon but it gets the point across. She is basically saying that we need to pay more attention to babies before they are born. We should make requirements for parents so that we do not have messed up people like criminals and pedophiles. She uses the analogy of a gardener to give a comparison on nurturing children. She says if we don't take care of our seeds, weeds will overrun it. I think this is effective because I can visualize what she is trying to argue.

Although she her points for parenthood are extreme, if we had her standards for parenting we would have better quality people. This also means alot of problems for the people who do not fit her standards and our population would quickly diminish. I think this is similar to Jonathon Swift's essay "Modest Proposal" in that both want to eliminate poverty and get rid of insufficient babies. They both make good points but their proposals are are also unrealistic. People would not adjust to their standards on who can keep their babies.

PS: The last five seconds of this video were unexpected. Ignore it if you can. All the other points she made were relevant and added to her speech.

Complete

**Complete** [kuh-m-pleet]
Adjective; Verb

Bringing to a whole with all the necessary components. To make perfect. To come to an end or conclusion. The act of being thourough and uncompromised. Undivided and unmodified.

Example: My heart would not be complete without you or I completed all my work.
Origins: Middle English complet, from Latin completus, from past participle of complēre

1. End
Noun; Verb; Adjective
An area that lies at on the boundary, the terminal, a shared under taking

Example: Here lies the end of the rode, I kept my end up, and we ended that conversation quickly.
Origins: Middle English ende, from Old English; akin to Old High German enti end, Latin ante before, Greek anti against

2. Achieve
Verb
To successfully carry out, to complete a skill, to aquire a desired goal

Example: I achieved my math test by studying for it everyday.
Origins: Middle English acheven, from Anglo-French achever to finish, from a- (from Latin ad-) + chef end, head

3. Succeed
Verb
Ranking up against another opponent, a positve outcome, to come after heir, to follow a sequence.

Example: I succeeded my father in cooking when I went to the Cordon Bleu or I can succeed in life if I just believe.
Origins: Middle English succeden, from Anglo-French succeeder, from Latin succedere to go up, follow after, succeed, from sub- near + cedere to go

4. Accomplish
Verb
A result that was brought by effort, completion, Perfect.

Example: I accomplished my presentation after working on it for five months.
Origins: Middle English accomplisshen, from Anglo-French accompliss-, stem of accomplir, from Vulgar Latin *accomplēre, from Latin ad- + complēre to fill up

5. Consummate
Adjective; Verb
Skilled, the highest degree, complete in every detail

Example: I play the guitar with consummate skill.
Origins: Middle English consummat fulfilled, from Latin consummatus, past participle of consummare to sum up, finish, from com- + summa sum

6. Finish
Verb; Noun
to come to an end, death, the final stage, the material used in painting.

Example: I finished my meal or the finish on that wood paneling is superb.
Origins: Middle English finisshen, from Anglo-French finiss-, stem of finir, from Latin finire, from finis

7. Attain
Verb
To gain possession of, to come to end, to come or arrive by emotion or growth

Example: I attained a candy bar from my brother Timmy.
Origins: Middle English atteynen, from Anglo-French ateign-, stem of ateindre to reach, accomplish, convict, from Vulgar Latin *attangere, alteration of Latin attingere, from ad- + tangere to touch

8. Reach
Verb; Noun
To touch or grab by extension of one's body, to hand over, to arrive at, the straight portion of a stream or river

Example: I reached my goal or I reached for the money on the top shelf.
Origins: Middle English rechen, from Old English rǣcan; akin to Old High German reichen to reach, Lithuanian raižytis to stretch oneself

9. Win
Verb, Noun
To possesion of by wealth or effort, a victory

Example: I won my first basketball game or winning means that you do not lose.
Origins: Middle English winnen, from Old English winnan to struggle; akin to Old High German winnan to struggle and probably to Latin venus sexual desire, charm, Sanskrit vanas desire, vanoti he strives for

10. Conclude
Verb
To logically reach and end using reasoning, to form a final judgement, to decide

Example: I will conclude this seminar with a positive attitude
Origins: Middle English, from Latin concludere to shut up, end, infer, from com- + claudere to shut

The three "F" words

              Thanksgiving is one of the most wonderful times of the year. The three F's are all incorporated withing this American holiday. Family, friends and food. These three "F" words are all things to be thankful for and all are essential for the thanksgiving season. I began my thanksgiving season with friends and ended it with family. In between there was lots of food and overall it was a sandwich of delightful experiences. Although you can have these three "F" words throughout the year, there is something about thanksgiving that makes them more special. I think it is because my dad makes his delicous, juicy turkey every year and the warm feeling I get when my whole extended family is gathered at the table to eat. We share stories from our past and tell each other what we are thankful for. We then exchange thanksgiving gifts and hug often. And all these things represent how much we care for each other.

              Other events that make our thanksgiving special is that we have a tradition of going to the Kalahari every year in the Wisconsin Dells. My brother and I usually go to the water park first, then the indoor amusement park, and then to the water park a couple more times. We then take turns going into the shower and hope that the other did not use all of the hot water for themselves. Afterwards, we rest by watching television with the family and finally eating dinner together. Thanksgiving is sometimes celebrated the day after the real date because we all drive into the Wisconsin Dells the day of thankgiving and we are all tired from the driving trip. These traditions that we have are expected and bring our family closer together every year. We might go somewhere other than the Kalahari in the future, but I know where ever we go we will be together on Thanksgiving.