Archive for the ‘Here and Now’ Category

Mia Taylor on Britney Spears- "For The Record"

Saturday, December 6th, 2008

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In a feeble attempt to reacquire the hearts of otherwise comotose Brit fans, Miss Britney Spears opted to film a confessional expose on the inexcapable crises we’ve all had the pleasure of witnessing over the last couple years.  Whether by choice or not, tabloids, local news channels and radio have made it nearly impossible to avoid the dramatic intricasies of Britney’s “personal life challenges.”

From artificial English accents to head-shaving, Provigil to fishnets, rehab to custody battles and paparazi courtships to divorce, we’ve just about witnessed what we can only hope to be the worst of Britney’s war against pop-ism.

The MTV sponsored “documentary” followed Britney Spears for three months in 2008, with interviews about her motives, feelings and why she’s acted so outrageously. She seemed to brush over details and focus on putting on a facade that might win the hearts (and album sales) of those that have lost faith in her character. Who is Britney anyways?

The documentary, promoted as a “tell-all documentary” following the life of Britney for three months, consisted of dance rehearsals, makeup sessions, shopping sprees and “heartfelt” interviews with the director.  She’s got it rough, eh?  As was advertized, we were all hoping for a documentary explaining the cause of Britney’s woeful existence within the last few years.

For The Record took a stab at baring and sharing all, yet answered very few of the questions we’ve all been asking.

Why is she making this documentary?
“I wanted to make this film because I started to feel like I wasn’t being seen in the light that I wanted to be seen in. I’m not sure what light that is exactly. This is an opportunity to set the record straight and talk about what I’ve been through and where I’m headed,” Britney said.

Why the relationships with Paparazi, Adnan? Why the constant alterations to her identity? Why the prolonged English accent that was claimed to be genuine? Why the spontaneous vegas wedding to a childhood friend? Why didn’t she care about her children? Why? Why? and more Whys.

What did we learn?

  • That Brit has two new fragrances coming out this December
  • Can still lipsync, gets all of her clothes for free and wants her dance routine to look like Janet’s.  Great.
  • Britney breast fed; a little sidenote to divert the interviewers questions
  • She thinks she’s smart (and that everyone shaves their heads)
  • Her breakup with Justin sparked the downward spiral ( 6 years ago)
  • She’s lost and can’t take responsibility for her actions (Blame it on the break-up, Brit)

Britney came accross as lost and trapped within the confines of fame but the documentary didn’t even succeed in making us feel bad for her trials and tribulations…why? Because it didn’t tell us anything about them, except that her predictably erratic behavior was just a “rebellious” phase.

All in all, MTV produced a great infomercial for Britney’s new album entitled Circus and to be quite frank, I will continue to believe her life really is one.

The End.                        Or is it…

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Election Day 2008

Monday, November 3rd, 2008

For the past eight years President Bush and his administration has been nothing short of disappointing to me in many ways and that is why I am writing this post. I’m not writing to sway your vote one way or the other, I’m writing because I believe people do not understand the importance of voting. Even more importantly is understanding why you are choosing to vote for Candidate-X, or if you’re even going to vote.

The Seatlle Times, in an article written late October, stated “more than 100 million Americans will vote for president on Tuesday, and not one of them expects his or her vote to decide the outcome.”

Whether you’re the type of person to cast your vote in utter secrecy, so as not to be branded, or the type to flaunt it on your facebook status, knowing that your vote does count in agregate is the first step.

Regardless of who you vote for, it is crucial to think of each candidate as candidates of neither the Republican nor Democratic party. Ultimately, although the President passes/vetoes Bills, our lives are determined more by the Supreme Court.

“Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal judiciary. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed with the “advice and consent” of the Senate.” (According to Wikipedia.com)

There is always a chance that with the election of a new president, and a change in Party, that a supreme court justice could retire his/her tenure. Only the President has the power to nominate a new Justice, and Supreme Court Justices (SCJ) hold office for life, so…If there’s a new SCJ and new President… maybe we can welcome new changes.

In order for this democracy to function at it’s highest potential, we need to participate in how it is run. Vote.

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"Yes, We Can"

Wednesday, July 9th, 2008
I’ve recently enrolled in a Political Science class that has opened my mind to the history of our nation. Now more than ever, I appreciate and am aware of the things like the history of our Constitution, the Revolutionary War, King George and the radicals that made the idea of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness a reality. This is not to say that I did not ultimately “know” about these things before, but that in my years of public education, never once was I truly moved by our history. Never once was I motivated to even read The Declaration of Independence.
Never once did I really, truly know what it felt like to be proud of my country. With that said, I am trying to become more politically aware and form my own opinions on issues our nation faces on a daily basis.
Not too long ago, I came across a video that gave me hope. On Tuesday January 8th in Nashua, New Hampshire, Barack Obama gave what I believe to be the most moving and inspirational speech I have heard from a presidential candidate. This video is a collaboration of artists singing the words of the same speech Obama gave in New Hampshire. It is about time that we regain hope for the future. In the last two presidential terms, I have found myself, as I am sure many others have, disappointed and longing for change.

The Speech:
“It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.
Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality.

Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.

Yes we can heal this nation.

Yes we can repair this world.

Yes we can.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics…they will only grow louder and more dissonant ……….. We’ve been asked to pause for a reality check. We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining see”

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Status Updates Gone Too Far?

Thursday, July 3rd, 2008

It is amazing how dependent we have become on knowing where people are and what they’re doing at all times.

I’m going to step aside from the majority here and explain why I believe this to be true.

To my knowledge Facebook seems to have kicked-off this obsession and Myspace soon followed right behind. Now, communities like Twitter and Hi5, fall under the same spell and more than ever people are becoming obsessed with broadcasting their personal lives.

What has happened to a society that valued their personal lives?

Someone recently sent me a link to a video on YouTube that I believe couldn’t better portray the idea that often times “Status Updates” are taken a little too far.

Mia is “waking up.” Mia is “brushing her teeth.” Mia is “talking on the phone with her boyfriend.” Mia is “Putting her laundry out for everyone to see.” Now, I understand the benefit of broadcasting to co-workers on Twitter or Facebook that you’re going to be late for a meeting, or even updating your status that you might be going out of town, but some of the updates seem unnecessarily forward. People now broadcast who they think you should vote for, that they are mad/sad/suicidal and even that they are intoxicated.

Don’t get me wrong, I have deffinitely had my days of status-update obessions, but those days are gone and now I can look critically at what it does for your life. What do you get from broadcasting your every move?

About four or five months ago I was waiting for an appointment and picked up a newspaper from the seat next to me. As I opened the newspaper I noticed a service called Loopt that “transforms your mobile phone into a social compass.” I was apalled. Now, you can track where your friends are located via a mobile map on your cellphone. With the Loopt service, you must be a registerred member of Loopt in order to broadcast your geographical location, however, even when you’re not logged on to the site, your position is still being broadcasted.

We have placed such emphasis on connecting with people that in reality, people seem to be less connected. When I was a Facebook status-update addict, I found that people were less inclined to call and see what I was up to during the weekend because they already knew. I found that people would see all my “geo-tagged” and “friend-tagged” photos and instead of making direct contact to talk about their weekend, they would leave comments on my profile instead. Call me old fashioned, but I believe that commenting on walls, photo comments and status updates aren’t as personal as directly connecting via phone or even text messaging.

From here, as technology improves, it is my belief that people will only become less connected with others on a personal level, no matter how personal our status updates are.

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The Media, Global Warming and What I see.

Monday, June 16th, 2008

According to Wikipedia, Global Warming is the increase in average temperature of the Earth’s near-surface air and oceans. And while I have noticed that summers do seem hotter and glaciers continue to thaw rapidly, I am not informed enough about the situation to lay claim to “weather” (lol) or not this is really happening. As Bob Ostertag noted in his article in The Huffington Post, many people believe this to be just another “money-making scheme.” I took it upon myself to make sure that any opinion I made on the topic was an informed one.

I recently finished watching Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth and was disappointed that more of the film revolved around Gore’s accomplishments in life and less about how humans have gone about destroying the atmosphere. Or better yet, how we can repair the damage that has been done.

Here’s a little bit of what I learned about Global Warming. Carbon Dioxide, and other such natural gases are naturally released into the atmosphere which in turn trap the sun’s heat within the Earth’s atmosphere. This process helps make the Earth habitable, however, it is said that when we burn gas, coal and oil, the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere keeps heat from leaving the atmosphere and thus making temperatures rise. Wikipedia notes that “Global temperatures on both land and sea have increased by 1.35 °F relative to the period 1860–1900.”

The media, the internet and political campaigns cloud our filtration system when it comes to filtering out misinformation. The internet makes it so easy to find the wrong information, while the right information sits quietly, unnoticed, deep beneath the surface. As a student, educated American, or simply a curious mind, it often frustrates me that conspiracy theories and personal opinions are given more attention.

If you’re interested in some ways to cut the amount of Carbon Dioxide that is released, here is a list of Fifty things you can change. Whether or not these are viable is for you to decide. I know that I am more aware of how much I drive, the lights I leave on when I leave a room (although my boyfriend reminds me about the bathroom light!), and do my best to recycle whenever possible. These will not only save you money, but it might directly affect the globe.

My opinion? Thanks for asking! I’ve decided that what I believe is what I see. The price of fuel is outrageous; down the street from my home Chevron charges $4.89 for 89 Octane fuel. I also believe that with the growth of population, natural resources will become scarce far quicker than we are prepared for. I believe that these things need to be addressed and that the government should be making it easier to “be green.” I believe it is our responsibility to become informed and formulate educated opinions based on what the facts show us. Although finding the facts can usually be the hardest part.

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