[media] Basketball

Although I don't usually love watching basketball, I love watching it with my husband.  He knows everything about sports, especially football and basketball.  I played soccer and ran track/XC in high school, but never really watched or understood football or basketball.  This is a form of media that we can watch together for fun.  Today I've been thinking about the random and probably annoying comments that I make which rarely have to do directly with the game.  If it bothers my husband, he has never said anything! We watched the last half of the Celtics vs Heat game last night and these are some of the things I brought up:

-Size of the players

-The tattoos

-The beards

-How mean/unlikable the ref looked

-"I wonder if referees and judges have similar personalities?"

-The court and the advantage the Celtics have since their floorboards were arranged differently than usual

-The team colors... "Does the jersey color affect the likelihood of winning?"

-"How old is that coach?"

-"James Lebron"

He is constantly making up fake rules to see if I believe him (Second OT: A shootout. A "roofer" in baseball: The ball hits the ceiling that team wins and everybody goes home...).  He keeps life fun and interesting!

[media] Media Article

I read an article in another class about the media written by Dr. Padilla-Walker.  I found the way she described media as shaping different areas of identity very interesting.  She said that adolescents want to differentiate themselves from their parents (not always in a rebellious way), and these adolescents look for social "norms" in the media.  The popular media's social norms are so skewed from real life.  It is important to keep close to our children (or future children/associations) and help them understand what is good advice and what is not.  They will be exposed to media throughout their entire lives!  I hope as a mother to help my children understand their worth and what really matters.  There are many great sources of media to teach them about too!

[Adolescence, Developmental Needs of, and Media--Dr. Laura M. Padilla-Walker]

[media] Discouragement

I'm the kind of girl who doesn't check her facebook enough and gets a headache from watching too much TV.  Oftentimes I get discouraged by what I see in popular advertisements, TV shows and movies.  Even all of the social networking sites can get me down.  I try to stay positive about the world, but when I see negative portrayals of marriage, major objectification of women, profanity, and constant sexual advertising, it's easy for me to get discouraged about the state of this crazy world.  

However, THIS song always seems to make me feel better and that I'm not alone in wishing for a slower-paced world. 

[media] Platform 9 3/4...

I grew up right along with Harry, reading the Harry Potter series.  The series holds a secret spot in my heart.  I used to dream I would get my Hogwarts letter...I still dream for that!!

Some Links...

THE BOOKS

THE FILMS

JK Rowling's website

Pottermore (JK's new awesome website...check it out!)

[media] Audrey Hepburn Speech

For a public speaking (TDA 150) assignment,  I chose to watch a speech given by Audrey Hepburn at a Golden Globe Award ceremony in 1990.  She won the Cecil B. Demille Award.  I love Audrey Hepburn (I guess most people do!).  She did so much good in her life, and her career as a ballerina, actress, singer (a few songs) and philanthropist is so inspiring.  I had to watch this speech and evaluate it.  The filming and posting of this speech online is a great example of the media and transferring a message from the speaker to the receiver.  Her speech was full of passion and done very genuinely.  Her eye contact with the audience is perfect.  Audrey did not use one filler word in her speech.  If she memorized her speech, I could not tell because it flowed so smoothly and her voice inflections were very animated.  Audrey did not sway and she kept very composed.  She also added humor to the speech, which added to the likableness of her speech.  HERE is her speech!

[media] COOKIE HEAVEN.

One magical day, I was told about a blissful cookie recipe.  It has CHANGED my life. ;)

I think that finding delicious dessert recipes online is one of my favorite uses of online media. Online media can answer all of my baking questions and provide great ideas and tips.  Even the shopping part of baking can be made simpler by finding online coupons!

HERE is the cookie recipe of my dreams.  I love making these, and I usually end up making a recipe which is sort of a mixture of my grandmother's "secret" recipe and this one. 

[media] Beautiful

Movies are probably one of my favorite forms of media.  I own a bunch of chick flicks and my sweet husband watches them with me and is a good sport about it (speaking of sports, I do watch those with him...).  One of my favorite movies is Life is Beautiful starring Roberto Benigni.  It is a classic tragicomedy, with a decisive switch from one to the other in the middle of the film.  I love this movie because it shows extremes of emotions.  It is a WWII film, but different than any WWII film I have seen.  A father, out of love for his son, shows complete optimism in the most dire of circumstances--he teaches us to remember that Life is Beautiful.

[Media] Book Assignment Excerpt

I did not have a specific favorite book growing up because I had so many favorite books.  I loved the Amber Brown series by Paula Danziger because the series was about a young, spunky girl whose parents were going/went through a divorce.  The books were humorous (Amber Brown, Don’t Eat Your Chicken Pox!) but also serious at times.  Another series I enjoyed was The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S Lewis.  I specifically loved the first book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe because it was the first "big chapter book" I read as a girl.  This series is about a group of children entering a different land called Narnia, and becoming kings and queens there.  The series is full of deeper meaning and is imaginative and exciting.  As a girl, the books opened up a whole new world for me and taught me to think more abstractly.  Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling was one of my favorite series as a child, but I have grown up with Harry and truly love the series still!  This book is about a young orphan boy who realizes that he is a wizard and eventually saves the entire wizarding world.  Major themes in the story are friendship, good vs. evil, overcoming challenges, and living in circumstances presented by others.

[Media] Frank Sinatra-- Pandora

 Over the history of recorded time, music has been a large part of cultural formation.  I think the messages our media send say a lot about the culture we are a part of.  I love listening to music, but I especially love the classics.  I love them because they are usually full of simple themes of love and friendship.  I choose to listen to my Frank Sinatra station because it is rich with meaningful lyrics and the classic voices of the '40s to the '60s (and even the '80s in some cases!).  Music is a powerful source of media of which the listener has control of complete listening preference.

[Media] "Respect Yourself"???

 In my Adolescence class we were shown some advertisements on Monday which used women and their self-image issues to draw attention/purchasers to their product.  I tend to get discouraged when I see women objectified sexually/physically in advertisements (which happens in almost EVERY popular ad).  This advertisement really effected me because not only did it objectify women, but it strives to make women associate self-image with self-respect.  The reality is that eating a cinnamon roll does not mean you do not "respect yourself"! 

I find these advertisements to be very negative.  Personally, I feel that ads like this contribute to low self-esteem in young girls.  Young girls should grow with an understanding of the importance of health, but they should not measure their "health" by body type or size.  

 Show yourself true respect by taking care of your body and mind.  Value your body and the wonderful things it can do.  Exercise often and eat all foods in moderation--that is the key to health and feeling good about yourself.  

We see the advertisements are created in a fashion in which marketers hope women/girls 
will think, "I obviously do not respect myself and I am ashamed.  I should look like that, but I am fat because I ate a croissant... "

I wish I could reach every woman in the world and tell them that RESPECT for yourself comes from the inside.  It's okay to eat a doughnut every once in a while!