Entry EC: A Love Story

Michael Moore’s film Capitalism: A Love Story 

I found Michael Moore’s film very interesting. The Purpose of the film I believe was to inform people of the things going on around them. Hard working American’s losing their jobs and their life style. It has an effect on everyone; he makes a very strong case on how it affects us and why it effects us. He also tells us who is responsible for it and shows support in a way without showing it to us at all. The people he tries to interview about certain situations refuse to talk to him; in a way it shows that they have something to hide which leans us as the viewer to side with him. He also makes the film very personal by bringing in his own father. He walks his dad down to his old job site that has destroyed; the walk down memory lane for his father is hard but needed to connect him with his audience. I think without showing his upbringing and bringing his father into the documentary people would not connect the same. He shows that he is just like the rest of us and had to face hard times as well.

           I’ve been hearing a lot about the top 1% recently and it made it very interesting to hear him bring it up. These people make money off of the rest of us regardless of how it affects us. He shows corruption at very high levels all in the name of money. If you haven’t seen it yet check it out, I’m sure you’ll be just as surprised as I was. I haven’t had a chance to finish the film yet but I will be very soon.

Entry #6 The Coffee Shop

What do you like about coffee shops? Is it the coffee, the free wifi, the conversation, the music, the art collection dangling on the wall, or is it the service? Whatever it may be that keeps you coming back for more; the fact is your hooked. How do you feel when you don't find what you're looking for? What if the service is crap, or worse the coffee? How does that make you feel?

     As luck has it, I'm writing to you from a coffee shop. Have you ever been to Grinders? well let me take you there. Nestled on the corner of N Central Ave. and E Dunlap in Arizona is Grinders coffee company. As I walk into to the door I notice the little chime that is usually followed by a "Hello" or "Good-morning", and sure enough I here a voice from behind the counter say " Hello, How are you?". "Good" I respond as I make my way to the counter. I notice all the usual things you'd find in a coffee store. I give my eyes a quick gaze of the room: the lighting is dimmer than that of a usual store (although the sun beats through the glass windows), pictures hanging on the wall from local artist, coffee all around the store, people scattered about; some are chatting with one another while others are on their laptops or phones. I also hear the nice mellow music playing in the background, and best of all the smell of the coffee beans. The mixed variety of cultures in the room is always nice along with the mix of generations, the older people sitting around a small 4 seat table, the young man playing on his phone, a woman sitting there with her laptop open staring off into space, the workers coming in for their coffee break, and the randoms sitting outside enjoying the brisk air with a side of coffee. Everyone seems so nice, a "thank you" here and "your welcome" their; it  makes you feel comfortable. I place my order and have seat on an empty table big enough to fit my laptop. I realize that I forgot to get the wifi info; as i get ready to stand a gentlemen at the counter asks for the information. I just sit back and ease drop for the password and log in. I wonder what people think of me as I sit here typing away. So many people walk into coffee shops on a daily bases from all walks of life. What an interesting place to come to; this is my type of coffee shop.

     I've had the pleasure of traveling to many different places; It has led me to many different coffee shops in the US and some in Canada as well. For the most part they are always pretty similar unless you go into the big chain shops like Starbucks or Tim Hortons. The one thing I definitely notice is coffee is a money maker; no matter where you go in the world you are bound to run into a coffee shop. Maybe you have a favorite one around the corner from your house or maybe you drive a little ways for a better brew. All I know is that it's good and it sells. The next time you drop into your coffee shop or a random one take a look around, see whats on the walls or listen to the chatter around you; you're sure to be entertained. Until next time, enjoy your coffee and have a great day!

Entry #5 Arizona State University

     Going to college may seem like the obvious choice for most students out of high school however, many young adults choose otherwise. Students have options of: joining the military, going to work or pursuing other endeavors. Which ever may be the case a good portion of those students will probably end up back in college sooner or later. This is very true for our military as well; everyone who joins the military will have some kind of education benefit that will be used by them or their family. That along with financial aid, grants, and scholarships give us more and more reason to pop open those school books. After figuring out how to pay for school the next step is to find a school that fits you and thats where the logo above fits in.

     Arizona State University (ASU) offers many degree programs. It seems that they have now figured a way to shorten your semester, save you money, and shorten the amount of time it takes to get your degree. They are now offering 7 1/2 week courses! Thats 1/2 the normal semester of 15 weeks; the length of time may be shorter but the actual in class time will remain the same. So how might this affect you? It doesn't, unless you decide to take the course. The great thing is they still offer the same classes in a normal 15 week semester; they just decided to offer more options for others. 

     I think its great that they are offering more options. Some people have dependents, jobs, or other obligations that may hold them back from committing to a 15 week course; their are also those students who like to keep busy. As long as it doesn't affect the normal schedule for those students who are use to the 15 week courses it shouldn't matter. I know I sure would like to finish my degree quicker. I give a big thumbs up to ASU!     

ASU to Offer More Short Classes (Links to an external site.)

Entry # 4 Dealing with Anger and Stress

Today I'd like to talk about anger, stress, and frustration. Specifically how it affects us and what we can do about it.

 The 3 things they have in common is they're all negative emotions and can cause us to do dramatic things. Take this guy punching a hole through his computer screen for example, what did he accomplish by doing this? The truth is he accomplished nothing; he will likely be more upset, angry frustrated or stressed out because now he has a useless computer that he is going to have to replace. Some people say or do things out of anger that may cause them to hurt someone physically and/or emotional. What have they accomplishes by doing this? Nothing!!! When you react out of anyone of these emotions the likely outcome will not be good. Think to yourself how do people feel around you when you act that way. Are they proud of you? Do they want to hang out with you? chances are they don't really want to be around unless they're a good friend trying to help you out. Remember the old saying "misery loves company." Well its true, if your miserable, angry, frustrated or stressed out; chances are your gonna take it out on those nearest and dearest to you which will make them feel the same way and so on and so on... Enough about that, take a look at the last time you looked like one of these people. Remember that moment and think about how long it lasted, 5...10...15...minutes, all day, all night or maybe something so bad happened that you let it ruin your whole week. Was the issue at hand worth being angry over or was it something that you blew out of proportion? The person who hurt you so badly, are they still in your life?

     All this leads to my main point "TIME!" It's probably the most important aspect of life; it is something that not even money can buy more of, so why waste it on nonsense! Now I'm not saying that you don't have valid reasons to be upset, angry, frustrated or stressed; even I get stressed and overwhelmed from time to time. What I am saying though is don't let it get carried away, don't let it destroy your relationship with others, and don't let it waste any of your precious time. When your upset all day about something and you get over it the next day because you realize it wasn't as bad as you thought then you've just wasted a whole day that you can never get back. Thats right you'll never get that time back, its gone. Think about the situation at hand and don't let others steal your time or make you do something you'll regret doing later. Worst case scenario: you go to prison for being angry and hurting someone or worse killing someone. Let's stop, take a deep breath and realize that life is short, and no one can ruin your day without your permission. Brush off that negativity that surrounds you and live for yourself the way you want to live. If someone irritates you stay away from them; if someone hurts you choose to forgive them or stay away from them as well. When you want to punch a hole in the wall think about how much its gonna cost you to fix it, and laugh!!! When you wanna punch someone in the face, think about the beautiful view you'll have in that comfy little cell in prison and laugh.       Make your choice because you're the one who has to live with it.

Entry #3 - Slanted Commercial

So as I'm reading about slanted news and bias; one thing kept popping into my head. Have you seen the new reebok commercials lately? If you haven't take a look at this clip from youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpR171G9-hE

Reeboks commercial featuring JJ Watt & Ronda Rousey training in reeboks new Z Pump Fusion; it makes you think that you can train like they do, and some might even feel inspired to try some of the things that they are doing in the commercial without seeking professional help. What we have to remember here is that they are trained professionals and they have a reason of wearing reeboks products. Ronda Rousey is the UFC women's bantamweight champion, and JJ Watt is a NFL player. They both stand at the peak of there sport and put their stamp of approval on these products. The question is do they really believe that this is the #1 product out there? Maybe or maybe not. The only way to tell is to drive by their house and see what type of shoe they come out wearing. I've worked with a lot of professional athletes, some of them wear their sponsors product and some don't. Some of them feel like their's better products out there and some just use what they're given. But, anytime they are put in front of a camera they are sure to be wearing their sponsored product. Its all about the money, people will use it if you pay for it, but it doesn't mean they would go out and buy it if they had a choice and had to pay full price for it. In my opinion this is slanted because some people are representing products that they themselves don't really use or like. The commercial makes you want to buy their product; it makes you think you that the product itself is gonna make you faster or stronger when it doesn't. If you knew someone didn't wear a certain product that their endorsing would you buy it? We shouldn't buy products because someone says they work, instead lets try them on for ourselves and see how they make us feel. Remember, next time you see a commercial don't immediately assume that it does what they imply that it can do.