Entertainers in Politics

Prompt 1
In today’s political environment, we have seen the emergence of popular entertainers – singers, musicians, movie stars, and so on – taking center stage to promote and raise money for the candidates of their choice. Some people feel that these entertainers should stick to their own business, while others believe that they have a right, and perhaps even an obligation, to speak their minds. In your view, what do you think the role of entertainers should be in politics? Do they exert undue influence because of their popularity and easy access to the media? Carefully explain the rationale for your position.

In America, we have the freedom to speak about issues we feel strongly about. A political candidate campaigning across the nation welcomes any support from American citizens. Popular entertainers - singers, musicians, and movie stars - are American citizens. They have the same right as anyone else to support a political candidate. Popular entertainers can promote and raise money for their candidate more effectively because people already know and trust them.

Because of their popularity and media exposure, popular entertainers can reach more people. A political candidate cannot be in multiple places at once. It is much more effective if a well known entertainer can go to the areas where the political candidate cannot be, rather than an unknown citizen. Larger amounts of people will turn up to the event hosted by the entertainer to listen to what they have to say. The more people you reach, the more funds you can raise and the more you can promote the candidate. The promotion of political candidates is also volunteer based so you know the entertainers who are doing the promotion really believe in the person they are promoting.

In the past we have also seen popular entertainers taking the political stage as a candidate. Ronald Reagan became president of the United States. Arnold Schwarzenegger became Governor of California. Popular entertainers should not be limited in the political realm. If politics is something they are passionate about, they should be allowed to pursue it.

Entertainers should be allowed to speak their minds and promote a political candidate they believe in. Entertainers should also be allowed to run for any political office and not be limited to the entertainment industry. The role of entertainers in politics is just like any other citizen's role. Any qualified citizen can become a political candidate and any citizen should have the right to promote a candidate they believe in.

“All art is an imitation of nature.”

3. Essay Prompt:

Consider carefully the following quotation. Then read the assignment below it and plan and write your essay as directed.

“All art is an imitation of nature.”

—Seneca, Roman philosopher, c. 4 B.C.–A.D. 65

Assignment: Do you agree with this statement? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your position on this issue. Support your point of view with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

Nature consists of the most beautiful creatures and scenery. We see many artists try to capture what they see in the form of sculptures, paintings, drawings, and film, as well as other various forms of media. To say that all art is an imitation of nature, though, is a mistake. Artists create as a means to express themselves. Nature sometimes inspires artistic creation, but artists do not imitate nature. There are similarities between nature and art because artists also tend to copy what they see is perfection. Also, besides nature, there are other influences of inspiration to artists, such as the events in their lives.

When you go to a museum, you can see many renderings of landscape sceneries, plants, animals, and people.

Also, when you are just learning a new task, or just starting a new job, you will require training. Who trains you? It is someone with the expertise and the knowledge. In life, there are always those people you meet that are successful in your eyes. They know more, have more experience than you. They are the greatest people to learn from. In art that applies as well. Artists imitate better artists to get to where they want to me. Mother Nature is the greatest artist of all. The world is filled with her sculptures and creations. For an artist trying to improve his work, She is the best teacher, the greatest artist to imitate. Each flower, each animal, is so unique and detailed.

Being surrounded in Mother Nature, away from the people and the city, can also have an effect on people. It can change people. In the city, it has been proven that people are less prone to obesity because they walk more and have busier lives than people who live in the country. The studies that have been done to prove this reveal the different lifestyles of different parts of the country. An artist who lives in the city, taking a vacation in the countryside, will change. That change will affect the artist's work as well.

Artists create as a means of self expression. The mediums and materials they use are all ways of expressing thought and emotion. All art is not an imitation of nature. Nature is just one form of inspiration. Artists are also inspired by their environment and events that affect their lives. Look at Salvador Dali's work. There are things in his paintings that cannot be seen in nature. It is from his imagination that those paintings were created.

“It is as difficult to start things as it is to finish things.”

Essay Prompt:

Consider carefully the following statement. Then read the assignment below it and plan and write your essay as directed.

“It is as difficult to start things as it is to finish things.”

Assignment: Do you agree with this statement? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your position on this issue. Support your point of view with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

People today are fulfilling various roles at the same time. Mothers are sisters are daughters are teachers. Managers are friends are spouses are parents. People are constantly juggling multiple jobs whether they realize it or not. Each job involved different projects with different timelines. It is as difficult to start new things as it is to finish new things because we all have multiple events going on in our lives.

To start something, you need to have the inspiration, the motivation, and the planning to be able to get the ball rolling. For example, when someone decides to lose weight, that idea came from somewhere. They saw a picture in a magazine, or they were inspired by stories of others who have achieved a goal. This initially inspires and motivates a person to decide to lose weight. Next is the difficult step. How to lose weight? To lose weight, one must plan to go to the gym or to go to a park to exercise. It is difficult for someone to start losing weight because they are so used to their current routine. Starting a new routine also takes people out of their comfort zone, out of an environment they are used to, and that makes people shy and scared.

After you have started something and gotten in the rhythm of your new routine, you have the challenge of staying focused. Most times, when people start to see results, they feel like, ok, I can stop. They haven't reached their goal yet and they want to quit because they think they have done enough. It is also challenging to continue to stay motivated while reaching your goals. For example when someone is trying to lose weight, they might slack off in the process. You exercise three times a week, so once in a while you feel like you can take a day off. Or when someone is trying to lose weight and they start to see noticeable loss, they will stop because they are content with where they are right now. They don't realize that not continuing with the new routine will just bring them back to where they were before they started exercising.

That is why it is hard to finish. When you become used to a routine, you start to see less change and more repetition. You feel like what you are doing isn't helping anymore so you want to quit. It is easier to just stop what you are doing than to continue. When you are taking classes in school, many times you just want to drop the class because it is too difficult. It is much easier to stop studying and to withdraw from the class, but anyone can do that.

You have to mentally prepare yourself when you decide to start something new. You have to be motivated and set goals for yourself. Starting something new takes you into a new environment, which makes people uncomfortable and uneasy, so that is why starting something new is difficult. Once you have started, you need to continue to motivate yourself and continue on the path towards your goal. When you start something new, you tend to see change dramatically, but when your body becomes used to the routine, the change seems almost stagnant. Perseverance is a quality not many people have. Not many people have this quality because starting and finishing things is difficult. It is challenging.

Osocio.org

An amazing blog on social advertising and non-profit campaigns from around the globe:

http://www.osocio.org

Doo Wops & Hooligans

Bruno Mars' latest album "Doo Wops & Hooligans" is by far the best album I have heard all year. I had only heard his voice featured on a few rapper's singles such as B.O.B's Nothin on You and Travis McCoy's Billionaire. The first song to really catch my attention was "Count on Me" released as a single before the summer 2010. I couldn't stop listening to it! The lyrics were so simple, but meaningful, and Bruno Mars delivered the song so beautifully.

This is not the "Official Video", but it is a very well made music video for the song Count on Me:

Anyway, check out his album Doo Wops & Hooligans. I give it 4 stars out of 5!

Girl with a Pearl Earring

I saw this movie yesterday and although it didn't stir any emotions in me, (and therefore, in my opinion, not a good movie) I became interested in the painting. At the end of the movie, just before the credits, they show the real painting by Johannes Vermeer. It is quite a beautiful painting filled with mystery. Who is this girl? What is she thinking? Why is she looking at the painter like that?

After doing a search as to whether the story in the 2003 movie starring Scarlet Johanssen was true or false, I discovered a whole website dedicated to the painting and the analysis and history of it.

http://girl-with-a-pearl-earring.20m.com/


It is an amazing website with so much information! Turns out the girl is unknown to this day and the movie was based on a book by the same name. What an amazing painting!

I also never knew how a camera obscura worked, but it was used by Vermeer while painting this girl. It is amazing that a camera obscura could imprint whatever objects around it onto a canvas so that a painter could more accurately finish his masterpiece. I suppose it is a lot like a printing press for paiting. It was the beginning of photography.

Awesome Site: Complex.com

Even this website is geared towards young males, I really love it. The design is really user friendly and it gets right to the point, with no excess baggage.

http://www.complex.com/

What brought me to this site was my search for the funniest movies ever made, and this website had the best list:

http://best.complex.com/lists/Top-50-Funny-Movies/wet-hot-american-summer

50. Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

49. Shaolin Soccer (2001)

48. Wayne's World (1992)

47. Very Bad Things (1998)

46. Grandma's Boy (2006)

45. Undercover Brother (2002)

44. Super Troopers (2001)

43. A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

42. Dodgeball (2004)

41. The Wedding Singer (1998)

40. Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)

39. History Of The World Part I (1981)

38. A Christmas Story (1983)

37. PCU (1994)

36. Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)

35. Major League (1989)

34. Boomerang (1992)

33. Swingers (1996)

32. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

31. Death to Smoochy (2002)

30. Weird Science (1985)

29. Trading Places (1983)

28. Stripes (1981)

27. CB4 (1993)

26. Dazed and Confused (1993)

25. The Jerk (1979)

24. Heathers (1989)

23. Revenge of the Nerds (1984)

22. Kingpin (1996)

21. The Big Lebowski (1998)

20. Clerks (1994)

19. Harold and Kumar go to White Castle (2004)

18. Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)

17. Election (1999)

16. Ghostbusters (1984)

15. The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)

14. Animal House (1978)

13. Half Baked (1998)

12. Best in Show (2000)

11. I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988)

10. Zoolander (2001)

9. The Naked Gun (1988)

8. Groundhog Day (1993)

7. Happy Gilmore (1996)

6. Office Space (1999)

5. Raising Arizona (1987)

4. Friday (1995)

3. There's Something About Mary (1998)

2. Coming to America (1988)

1. Anchorman (2004)

M.I.A's Born Free music video

So this is a music video for M.I.A's Born Free song (Thank you dailymotion.com). This video has been banned on Youtube as well as other websites for its violence and content matter. It is a truly amazing video on the atrocities of genocide. I love how they used American soldiers as the perpetrators and the ginger haired as the inferior race. Although genocide is bad, it hasn't been around me when growing up so I didn't really pay much attention. This video has really helped me realize how serious genocide is and I want to help.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xd2w3j_mia-born-free-video-official-real-a_music




.: M.I.A – Born Free :.

Whooo!
Yeah I made powers
Stood like a tower higher and higher hello
And the higher you go you feel lower, oh
I was close to the end staying undercover
staying undercover
With a nose to the ground I found my sound

Got myself an interview tomorrow
I got myself a jacket for a dolla
………….
and the car doesn’t work so I’m stuck here
yeah i don’t wanna live for tomorrow
I push my life today
I throw this in your face when I see ya
I got something to say
I throw this shit in your face when I see ya
Cause I got something to say

I was born free (born free)
I was born free (born free)
(bo-bo-born free ….)

You could try to find ways to be happier
You might end up somewhere in Ethiopia
You can think big with your idea
You ain’t never gonna find utopia
Take a bite out of life make it snappier yeah
Ordinary gon super trippyer
So I check sh!t cause I’m lippyer
And split a cheque like slovakia

Yeah i don’t wanna live for tomorrow
I push my life today
I throw this in your face when I see you
I got something to say
I throw this sh!t in your face when I see you
Cause I got something to say

I was born free (born free)
I was born free (born free)
I was born free (born free)
(bo-bo-born free ….)
ooooh

I don’t wanna talk about money, ’cause I got it
And I don’t wanna talk about hoochies, ’cause I been it
And I don’t wanna be that fake?, but you can do it
And imitators, yeah, speak it

Oh Lord? whoever you are, yeah come out wherever you are
Oh Lord? whoever you are, yeah come out wherever you are
and tell em!

Born free (born free)
I was born free (born free)
I was born free (born free)
(bo-bo-born free ….)

Fuck Positivity

So like everyone else around the world, except maybe America, I have been watching the World Cup. It became an obsession that has robbed me of my sleep and eat. Yes, eat. I can use words however I please.

Anyway, I got the Listen Up! WOrld Cup official soundtrack and I am addicted to all the songs. They all sound glorious and epic. Just like how I want my life to be.

So here's K'naan's Wavin Flag video with Lyrics. I realize that K'naan has another song called Wavin' Flag about a totally different subject, so this is the one that he did specifically for the World Cup:



.: Official song South Africa FIFA 2010. K’naan & David Bisbal – Wavin’ Flag :.
Ooooooh Wooooooh
Give me freedom, give me fire, give me reason, take me higher
See the champions, take the field now, you define us, make us feel proud
In the streets our, heads are liftin , as we lose our inhibition,
Celebration, it surrounds us, every nation, all around us

Singin’ forever young, singin’ songs underneath the sun
Lets rejoice in the beautiful game.
And together at the end of the day.

WE ALL SAY

When I get older I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom
Just like a wavin’ flag

And then it goes back
And then it goes back
And then it goes back (x2)

Oooooooooooooh woooooooooohh hohoho

Give you freedom, give you fire, give you reason, take you higher
See the champions, take the field now, you define us, make us feel proud
In the streets our, heads are liftin, as we lose our inhibition,
Celebration, it surrounds us, every nation, all around us

Singin’ forever young, singin’ songs underneath the sun
Lets rejoice in the beautiful game.
And together at the end of the day.

WE ALL SAY

When I get older, I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom
Just like a wavin’ flag

And then it goes back
And then it goes back
And then it goes back (x4)

Wooooooooo Ohohohoooooooo ! OOOoooooh Wooooooooo
And everybody will be singing it.
And we all will be singing it.

Trying

Trying to look on the brighter side of things is harder than I thought it would be. Right now when I try, it is filled with sarcasm and no heart.

I had a great opportunity to see an old acquaintance. It's funny, I never considered this person a friend and can't remember the last time we actually hung out. But this person took such good care of me, basically a stranger. It made me believe in good people again. There are so many selfish people surrounding me; it is easy to follow their footsteps. Imitating their habits. I must remember this moment, being looked after and treated like I exist. Surrounding yourself with qualities you want to have should be the most important thing when looking for new friendships. But you should also treat everyone, no matter how impossible, how rude, how evil they are with the respect that you expect to get.

This is my new test. Holding back my tongue and thinking about others before myself.

Positivity

There's not enough positivity and optimism in this world. I intend to change that. I plan on using this new blog to focus on the positive side of things. Even when I am not feeling good, I will try to think about things in a different light.