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[cleanmirror25-blog]

The Life of Cartoon

Cartoons are full of lovable creates that make us laugh. It did not matter if you watch Bugs Bunny, Fred Flintsonte, Scooby Doo, or Peter Griffin all cartoons make you smile. It has now gotten so that cartoons barely have an run time. Growing up, it was 30 minutes to watch an episode, now it is 15. Why is that?

As a person who loves, I used to love watching all my favorite shows for 30 minutes. Ed, Edd, and Eddy, Kids Next Door, Spongebob etc... used the whole 30 minutes as comedy hour. I believe that the shows were 30 minutes because they wanted children’s attention. They needed a long enough time to get you stuck in the house. I know any time I would go back inside, I’d watch a show. I would be glued there. Now, you could blink and miss the whole episode.

Longer episodes had more content to them. There was a story line to force you into wanting to see every episodes. For example, The Kids Next Door, always explored the idea of childhood and how fun/easy life would be as a kid. They even went as far as to make finale episode back to that theme. You could not stop at only one episode. What if you miss the previous content? Now you are lost forever. With cartoons nowadays, there is no basis to wrap children’s brains around. That won’t know what it means to have a climax and a resolute. They actually don’t get a chance to remember the episode’s purpose. There is literally one show now that mocks society by doing nothing. It shows you what a child’s life actually is.

I was in the mood for cartoons. I am sorry I made you read this splash of ideas. Always, watch your cartoons. They keep you young!

[cleanmirror25-blog]

Project 2

For my project, I have decided to discuss urban life and gentrification. To be honest, this is all one topic for me. It is also pretty personal. It’s the idea that nothing ever stays the same and they don’t. You can never really treasure anything for too long nowadays before it disappears. That is so sad. Without anything physical then we are left with our memories. Funny thing about memories is that they can get twisted. For this project, I really wanted to focus on the diversifying of neighborhoods. This is where you say, “oh no what do you mean diversity is a good?” I answer back by telling you it is the kind of diversity that wants to change the current living situations of minorities. This process is call gentrification. Gentrification is simply low income neighborhoods are being adorned to accommodate a certain group of people; in other words, it’s when white people move into low income neighborhoods forcing the minorities out because their standard of living has increased. This normally happens in major cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and even Buffalo. I believe that it is a really evil and sneaky way of pushing minorities further into terrible neighborhoods. Where do all the minorities migrate to as they find their existence changing? They cannot fight back because they world need money. Even money does not guarantee their spot saved for long. In my project, I was going to talk about how this affects multiple cities and what similarities they all have in common. With this I would come to a conclusion on how beneficial gentrification is. Urbanization once brought minorities and workers to cities but gentrification will quickly run them out.

[cleanmirror25-blog]

Pieces

Everyone has something that allows them to be great. When we were a younger, we were asked by our teachers “what do we want to be when we grow up?”. Honestly, I would never know how to answer the question. How could I answer a question if I knew little about myself? It was ridiculous. You could not ask me that question when I was younger. I just had no clue. As I got older, I started to understand that it is okay if I do not know what I am suppose to do. I have always followed this one philosophy: things will always work themselves out. It’s a very carefree idea. Most would stress and cry over being clouded about their next moves (not me). This was during a time when I had everything together. I had a beautiful girl, school work was better, found a extracurricular I love, and had amazing friends. Now, not so much. I still have amazing friends but that was the only thing that has remained constant. At this point, I have become a little more grown (not too grown though). I have lost apart of myself that I was very happy with. I literally watched myself fall into despair. I had no one to help me. I was just drowning. It was scary because I saw only the negatives. “Things will work themselves out”. “Things will work themselves out”. THINGS WILL WORK THEMSELVES OUT.... I adopted this ideology during a time when shit was not fixing itself. Then things slowly got better, but I could never go back to being the me that loved myself. I could only stay with the me that is contempt with myself. It made that question of what do you want to be when you grow up even harder! I could no longer say I wanted the same things that I thought I was destine to receive. I only wanted to go backwards. Think of a jigsaw puzzle. You know how the image looks because of the box but with all the pieces scrambled it is hard to connect them. Presently, I get glimpse of myself being who I once was and even better. No where near as happy but I promise you that my reign of greatness is coming soon. I believe in ME. I am done holding myself back. I think the time to push forward is now. You know, I fuck up a lot and never know why but I think I am scared.... Overall point, lets stop being scared and go for it. You might make the world smile at you. 

[cleanmirror25-blog]

The Bat and the Birds

As you know all great superhero has a sidekick. There is one “super” hero who has four sidekicks- Batman. I know what you thinking not another Batman post. Well it is happening. This will actually be more about Batman’s Robins than Batman.

One of Batman’s biggest accomplishments was giving a better life to unfortunate youths. It all started with the amazing flying Richard “Dick” Grayson. Tragedy struck the youth from above when he watched his parents flying circus act go terribly wrong. As luck would have it Bruce Wayne was in the audience and witness the accident. Ever since then Robin, the Boy Wonder, was created. Little did Dick Grayson know, he would start a mantle for other youths, inspiring others to want to do good in a city of pathology. There was just one thing about Dick Grayson that made him unique. He could not live under Batman’s shadow and pursue the same life style as Batman chose. Grayson did want to be like Batman but knew he had to be much more. He had to be better so he sought out to be NightWing. NightWing and Batman would work together at times but only as long as NightWing was not seen as Batman’s sidekick.

Just like Gotham will always need a Batman, Batman will always need a Robin. With NightWing making a name for himself elsewhere, Batman is once again goes solo. Until a young rascal (Jason Todd) is caught trying to take the wheels off of the Batmobile. This troubled youth needed a role model. Batman needed a Robin. The job was open. Todd proved to be an edgy Robin, different in character and skills than Grayson. One day, a hyperactive Jason Todd goes to fight the Joker alone and turns up dead. Later to be held in Batman’s arms unconscious. Jason was no longer a Robin but an angel. Batman swore to never again have a sidekick.

A grim Batman took to the city. He was darker than normal. He was more merciless. A brilliant child named Tim Drake sneaks his way into Batman’s batmobile and Batcave. He learned everything about Batman, forcing Drake to become the new Robin. Hands down probably the best one too. Tim Drake is actually the heir to Wayne Enterprises because he technological and business smart. Batman later adopts Drake as his son.

Finally, Batman raises his own son to become the new Robin. Tim Drake becomes a new hero- Red Robin. Batman’s son, Damien Wayne, is a natural born assassin as he is the offspring of Batman’s enemy daughter (Ta’lia Al Ghul). This new Robin is rough around the edges and does not know restraint. He is destine for greatness though. 

Gotham needs a Batman just as Batman needs a Robin. This fundamental fact must never be forget. They help Batman remember than he is a human with emotion and a family.

[cleanmirror25-blog]

Disney teaching you values

What is your favorite Disney/Pixar movie? Is it Wall-E, The Incredibles, Shrek, etc...? It does not matter because almost every Disney/Pixar movie has some sort of moral lesson. You would think that movies nowadays would not be so well developed but they are. I bet you have once cried, laugh, or imitated a scene from a movie. I am not ashamed by it but I know I definitely cried during the movie Up. If you do not know Up, it’s about a man who fulfills his and his late wife life goal after she past away. Another movie that was very touching was Wall-E. Wall-E made a point to talk about what life would be like if we do not take better care of our planet. To be honest, it shouldn’t take animated “children” movies to get us to think about our daily actions. I put parenthesis around the world children for a reason. Disney/Pixar get a bad reputation for being kids’ movies but they are so much more than that. I have always believed that those movies were for everyone. Everyone can learn something. The older you are the better. Unless you are watching Cars then just stop. I want to present a challenge to you all to go back and watch some of your favorite Disney/Pixar movies. Ask yourself if there is a message, does the message relate to society today, would you do anything different after understanding the message? 

[cleanmirror25-blog]

Blog Reflections on Blogs

Today, I got to see a couple of blogs. I got to see how differently others see the world. For instance, one person thinks that college standards are low and that there is not the enough college experience in her life. I thought that maybe she did not give herself a chance to explore more options and carefully plan what she do after high school more. Another person saw a change in a major sport over decade. I thought this was enlightening because we do not talk about that issue at all. Finally, one person got to see how the south and the north school system differs. The south did not win the war but they definitely won having better school systems. What I took away from all these is that you need to step back and see how there are two sides in an argument and it should be thought about when trying to prove your case. Without comparison we can not really say we evaluated our topics fully. Thank you to those three bloggers I read.

[yourbeautifuldisaster42]

Picking out a topic for my project became such a tough one for me. I didn’t want to do the standard super hero theme or about how cafeteria food is just bad. I wanted to do something that can lead to such drastic ideas that make everyone think to other topics. I choose to do my topic on the differences in the schools from new York and Georgia. It sounds weird but you would find that it is an interesting topic when you look more into it. I have been in both high schools in Georgia and in new York and you would be shocked to know my own experience. When I was in Georgia, we had a lot of resources and teachers at hand whenever we need. There was so much to do. In the beginning of the year, we had lockers and we were all assigned books that we would keep there. We would go from class to class as the bell rung to signal when to leave. We would always have morning announcements through the tv that the students from the BVC club. We had homeroom so they would hand out important information or use that time to study for a little bit. On occasion, we would meet up in homeroom when we had a pep ralley. We would all walk into the gymnasium and gather into the correct section of bleachers. As for me, I would be in the marching band. I would play little songs to get the crowd excited for the game that will be played later on that night. There was many clubs and organization that ranged from so many interests and topics. They all were active and were well represented in the school.

But as I went to school in New York, I found that it was different. As I set foot into my first day of school, I noticed that my school shared the building with 5 other schools. I found it weird but didn’t mind it at all. I also noticed that I didn’t get any books for my subjects. Matter of fact, you didn’t get a locker or no supplies to help me through school. I noticed that if you had a notebook and a pen, you were pretty much set for your day. There were no football fields as well as not much clubs except for the music club and it wasn’t music for classical but for modern day. Our classes were only equipped with an old chalk board no central AC. Only one of the classrooms had a smart board and that was considered of our more “tech savvy” room that we had to share with the school next to us. It is sad to come from a school that has so much to teachers having to come out of pocet just for chalk. No real classes were taken because no one had the funding for it. They came up with creative classes title so they wouldn’t have to use the required materials it takes to learn the subject. And it is crazy to know that they title New York schools as the most well funded schools in America. So some may wonder, why did the money go?

[cleanmirror25-blog]

New York schools are funny. I do not understand if you mean NYC or NY (as in the state). I think you mean NYC. I went to a NYC public school for elementary. After that I went to a charter school. I noticed that public schools do not perform well thus they have to split up there schools so they can “focus” and perform better. It’s weird. NYC public schools are stricter, less trusting, and kind of scary. They can come with less opportunity as you saw. Often time the logic is that the kids are in a bad neighborhood, does not want to learn, and will not make it. Then you throw teachers (some) who give up too easily because they believe these kids are lost and the school system is oppressing. Fact wise the only thing that keeps NYC test schools up are charter schools. I can imagine that “Up State” New York does not have this problem because truthfully it lacks diversity so it does not get the prejudice more diverse New York schools would get.

[amandajohnson03]

So I hear that this is the end of our third week here at school.  Which means we have… thirteen weeks left.  I suppose the fact that I am already counting down the time to the end of school is not a great thing.  I think it is safe to say that quite a few students cannot wait until the end of the semester.  Most likely because they do not like school.  Of course not everyone feels this way about school.  I use to be one of these students.  College has changed that sadly.  Maybe I should have taken my parents offer to taking a semester off.  But that is beside the point.  The study about the magazines in waiting rooms got me thinking, I wonder if there has ever been a study of the “college experience” causing students to suffer academically.  If, as much as people say going away to college is a good thing, that it could actually be a bad thing for others.  A friend and I were talking about how it seems that colleges now a days accept anyone who has a pulse.  With so many people, even at small schools, there are way too many students to the amount of space and resources.  For those of us who are not use to being around so many people it can be quite overwhelming.  I have heard it be said that this is just one of those things that college students have to get over it.  But I wonder how many students never get use to it.  Some other  ”college experiences” include smoking, which is hunky dory for those who are into it, but it gives me a really bad headache which sucks cause the smell is literally everywhere which means I almost always have a headache.  My mom is actually allergic which is funny because who know that someone could be allergic to pot.  I suppose it makes sense because it is a plant and a lot of people are allergic to plants.  Which again is not the point.  The point is that there a lot of factors involved with going away to school that, if students are not what the college expects, the college has no idea what to do with them.  This is what bothers me.  That maybe not everyone is what they are expected to be and that the powers to be would rather sweep us under the rug then figuring out how to work with different types of people.

[cleanmirror25-blog]

I would like to kindly disagree with you on somethings. I think going away for college is a great experience over all. Studies have show that going away makes family bonds stronger and individuals more independent. Obviously there will be people that fail or who does not like going away (outliers cannot be avoided). Colleges also do not accept just anyone with a pulse. I went to a high school where 87% of the students were going to some sort of college. It was a new charter school so the opportunities were high. Now, each student applied to multiple schools at least 3 CUNY, 3 SUNY, and if they had the GPA then out of state schools too. There were a lot of rejections. I too have applied and been rejected from many schools. I think its more of a SUNY Buffalo State thing and smaller buffalo college thing to take as many students with whatever GPA. Point is I have been outside of my area (NYC) I have seen other colleges and know that not everywhere is so simple and easy as Buffalo.

[gilbertszn-blog]

BLog #5

For my first project, I have decided to discuss and find information of why there is a recession of African- American baseball players in the major leagues. As the years pass less and less of black baseball players appear to play in a professional team. They are many issues on why this is happening, but I’m also curious and interested to find out what’s being done to get this issue fixed. Baseball needs diversity in players and that includes having African- Americans in the game. I would like to hear any feedback my audience has about this issue on why it’s happening, and ways that could help this problem diminish. I plan to do some research on the statistics on African- Americans playing for Major League Baseball since the 1970’s. This way I can see it’s peak, it’s increase, and also its decrease. There was many legendary black players in the past and at this pace we won’t see many more in the near future. Players like Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson, Bob Gibson, Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, and many more had all in some way, shape or form changed baseball forever and changed the dynamics of the game in a positive way. I wonder how this issue impacts communities and families of African- Americans and their view on baseball. I ask many people what they think about baseball and they mostly answer it’s boring, or I’m not interested, because they don’t have a role model that can lead by example and open doors for blacks in baseball again. Every kid always has its idols and person they look up to. For example in basketball the face of the sport now is LeBron James, almost everyone wants to be like LeBron or follow his footsteps. He leads by good example. That could be a reason why basketball is becoming a mostly black dominated sport. Back to baseball, there are sports figures like All Star Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, but this isn’t going to help the cause on the lack of black baseball players in the game. Me growing up in a spanish and black community playing baseball as a kid I mostly played against spanish kids and noticed there wasn’t many black kids to play against. Matter of fact I have played against more white kids when I used to travel than black kids. So could there be a lack of motivation in trying baseball at young age? Why not give the sport a try before deciding to not like it or participate in it? I will try to find the best information I can to answer questions me or others may have regarding this issue.      

[captainvic822]

I don’t know why we have less Africa Americans in the sport of baseball. I believe is because they find it boring. Cause every time I ask one of my friends they always tell me there is no excitement but I totally disagree with them. They don’t know the type of practice and skills it takes to really master the game of baseball. It will have you ultimately stressed out. Don’t believe is easy because the game of baseball requires a lot of stamina and a lot of energy and a lot of concentration. But I also agree with you I don’t believe people give it a try and nobody knows how really fun the game of baseball can be.

[cleanmirror25-blog]

I completely agree. Less diversity is always a bad thing because it is a step backwards. I think a reason why we might have less African- American baseball player is because of our time period. Yeah, baseball will always be the “past time of America”, but sports like basketball and football are also driving this country now. If you want to narrow it down even more think about the way African American children grow up. We have parks and what these parks consist of is numerous basketball courts. Essentially, we are bred to play ball. Next comes football. Football has always been a school pride thing. Also it is heavily showed through propaganda as a way to be popularly and live lush-fully. Baseball is just not a sport that African American kids can relate to anymore. I think baseball is to Latinos as basketballs is to African Americans. Good luck on your project my friend.

[cleanmirror25-blog]

Adulthood

Like every living species on Earth, we start off with our mothers (for argument sake). Mothers are awesome! They nurture, protect, and teach you what it takes to survive on this big blue planet. However, no one holds your hand better than our mommies, so when it is time to finally let go, the world suddenly gets a little bit bigger.

No more being told what to do or following explicit orders. A child must now become an adult. Well duh, this is just the process that all life (minus plants of course) has to go through. There is just something about that leap that is so terrifying. Take a step back now, mothers just happen to know what to do when to do it which is why we feel safe. Children need their moms because no one knows how to do something better than your mom. Yeah we can figure it out but chances are mother already knows. Fast forward, as young adults now, we are the ones starting our adult lives. We are the ones who will have children of our own. We are the ones that when shit goes down the little one will turn to us and we will need to find a solution for them. Scary, I know! Life almost goes by too fast when you think about it.

We live in interesting times where things are more accessible yet just as puzzling. The tools of the past might not be needed in the future. For instance, social communication, we can get away with not speaking to others by going on our tiny devices to avoid a conversation. Now, momma has always tried to get me to speak up and people just encouraged it...not so much anymore though. Why? We should want our future children to be brave in every situation. We should want them to have scruples by learning from past experience. We should want them to know what it takes just to live in this hard knock world instead of losing themselves in the digital world because they cannot get in trouble.

We should want more for our kids. We should want more from ourselves because we are the next runners up. We have to be better adults and set a path that leads to brighter, more successful, and more thoughtful adults than we are now. Lets be the adults that our mothers (and fathers) wanted us to be.

[randomliveblog]

Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day!

[floreswritingblog-blog]

Aren’t we supposed to feel safe?

I would think that everyone has heard about or at least have gotten an email concerning what has been going on campus. Isn’t it scary? Well it’s terrifying to me especially. Being away from home is tough enough but now were on campus away from our families by our selves and we expect to feel safe in our “new home.” But are we really? How is it that we feel scared to walk back to our dorms and fear what could happen to us when were on campus. One of the incidents that occurred happen to be right in front of my building, that’s what scares me the most honestly. The place where I’m supposed to feel safe, my “home,” I don’t because people decided to be foolish.  Many people are arguing about who’s “fault” it basically is and what people fail to see is it’s the people who actually did it not the UPD or RA’s. How can it be their fault honestly? Yes they’re ways we can secure this school more and try and make it a safer campus but it’s not their fault that these incidents occurred.  Another problem that people are addressing is that they are blaming “city kids.” Now how can you blame this on a group up people implying that because they’re from the city it’s there fault because they are the ones doing these crimes. Why are people targeting one type of group of people? We are arguing and blaming the wrong people and many of us don’t realize that. I would hope that our campus would be a safer place but we also fail to realize that this is the real world now, we are adults, and crimes are going to occur. It’s sad that they have to happen right here on campus but this isn’t high school where were watched all day by adults. There is more freedom here and that’s why people are doing these things because no one is watching them all day, its something that is difficult to stop from happening. But what we can do is put more cameras and security up because if these incidents do occur at least we can catch them. If people are being caught then less people will stop committing this crimes or actions because they know they’re going to get caught, its common sense really.

[cleanmirror25-blog]

Well said!! Preach!!!!

[cleanmirror25-blog]

Make America Great Again (not)

Last week in class we talked about multiple topics. One topic above all struck me more than the others: Donald Trump. Donald Trump is a powerful man. He has money, fame, and a big mouth. His mouth is so big, I don’t even know if it will ever shut.

Donald Trump is a business man that inherited his wealth from his father. I guess in the eyes of many he would be seen as a hardworking American that knows what he is doing. In contrary, I am not so convince that he do. He goes on to rant about how Mexicans are thieves, robbers, and rapist but under what grounds. Yes, they are “thieves” in the sense of “stealing others jobs” but are they really stealing anything from us (Americans)? No I don’t think so. Mexicans are using the opportunity to take advantage of jobs that most Americans think they are too good to do. They work harder and more diligently for the lower pay. I can not imagine them being robbers either. Yes there will always be some bad eggs in every race (whites, blacks, Asians, Mexicans, etc…) so we can not only classify one group of people as such. I think Mexicans would much rather be in the system if it wasn’t so hard to become an American. The citizen test is a hard test to pass even if you were born here. Heck, if I wasn’t from the U.S. I would not want to take the test.

To conclude, I think Donald Trump has no right to even be a candidate. He has no political background, he is not that great of a businessman (as he filed for bankruptcy four times), and he spreads a hate environment that only puts America backwards. If you think he do not carfully observe who goes to his rallies and what the sort of questions are being proposed; to who they might concern they are not thoughtful questions that make America great again.

[cleanmirror25-blog]

Make America Great Again (not)

Last week in class we talked about multiple topics. One topic above all struck me more than the others: Donald Trump. Donald Trump is a powerful man. He has money, fame, and a big mouth. His mouth is so big, I don’t even know if it will ever shut.

Donald Trump is a business man that inherited his wealth from his father. I guess in the eyes of many he would be seen as a hardworking American that knows what he is doing. In contrary, I am not so convince that he do. He goes on to rant about how Mexicans are thieves, robbers, and rapist but under what grounds. Yes, they are “thieves” in the sense of “stealing others jobs” but are they really stealing anything from us (Americans)? No I don’t think so. Mexicans are using the opportunity to take advantage of jobs that most Americans think they are too good to do. They work harder and more diligently for the lower pay. I can not imagine them being robbers either. Yes there will always be some bad eggs in every race (whites, blacks, Asians, Mexicans, etc...) so we can not only classify one group of people as such. I think Mexicans would much rather be in the system if it wasn’t so hard to become an American. The citizen test is a hard test to pass even if you were born here. Heck, if I wasn’t from the U.S. I would not want to take the test.

To conclude, I think Donald Trump has no right to even be a candidate. He has no political background, he is not that great of a businessman (as he filed for bankruptcy four times), and he spreads a hate environment that only puts America backwards. If you think he do not carfully observe who goes to his rallies and what the sort of questions are being proposed; to who they might concern they are not thoughtful questions that make America great again.