Weekly Written Analysis 4

Weekly Written Analysis
Cell Phones and Driving
By
Amy Waid



I was browsing through my Womans Day magazine when I came across The Editors Corner article titled “Texting and Driving”. It caught my eye because just recently I had an experience with another driver causing an accident while doing this very same act. I decided to read this article and although it is just an opinion piece I felt it pertained to a lot of the situations that I see on the roads nowadays.
The article starts out by saying that she doesn’t want to lose anyone she loves including herself because of some idiot is either talking or texting while driving (Chesnutt, 2009). I have to agree with that statement especially since I now have a sixteen year old daughter that thinks she is invincible behind the wheel. With statistics on the rise showing that even the slightest distraction can cause an accident, I watch her with a mother’s worry every time she leaves.
I have tried to instill in all of my kids (I have two more within range of driving in the next few years) the dangers lurking while going down the road and to always be alert to what is around them. They were a witness to the accident caused by the texting driver and I am hoping that maybe it drove home some of the advice I had been trying to give them. I also had them read the article I am writing about now, showing them the parts that stated accidents are four times more likely when the driver is distracted and the example of the woman that was almost hit by a texting driver.
With that said, I still worry. Not so much about my sixteen year old driver, who I trust to use her head on most occasions but about the others on the road. The ones that don’t get the lectures that I give her and continue on texting or talking, not realizing how distracted they really are behind the wheel. I truly hope that someday I don’t get the phone call or knock on the door telling me that one of my loved ones got hurt or killed by a distracted driver.



References
Chesnutt, J (2009, July 23). The editor's corner: Texting and driving. Retrieved July 26,
2009, from Womans Day Web site: http://www.womansday.com/Articles/Family-Lifestyle/The-Editor-s-Corner-Texting-and-Driving.html

Weekly Analysis 3

Weekly Written Analysis 3:
Walter Cronkite
By
Amy Waid

I was watching the news on Saturday when it came across the wire about the death of Walter Cronkite. A very sad day indeed, as the majority of Americans grew up listing to his mellow voice as the news was reported. He reported the news during a very controversial time in American history including the Kennedy assassination, Vietnam, Civil rights and Watergate. Wherever the controversial news reporting needed to be done, he was there as the voice Americans trusted to bring them the truth.
His mellow voice and grandfatherly face instilled a sense of trust in his listeners and kept him at the top of his game for many years. After retirement, he stayed in the news business by keeping a seat on the board of directors at CBS and writing his autobiography titled “A Reporters Life” which was published in 1996. He was also the opening voice for the show “The Evening News with Katie Couric” since it began in 2006. He will be missed by all that listened to him faithfully and will be remembered as the voice of the news; “And that’s the way it is”.

References:
(2009, July 17). Walter Cronkite Dies; Television Pioneer, CBS Legend, Passes Away in
New York at 92. Retrieved July 20, 2009, from CBS Evening News online Web site: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/17/eveningnews/main5170556.shtml

Weekly Analysis 2: The movie Bruno

Weekly Analysis 2:
The Universal Pictures Film Bruno
By
Amy Waid
Popular Culture
The new Universal Pictures film "Bruno" was highlighted in the
Columbus Dispatch this week as being a box office hit. The article called
it a “box office hit” (Germain, 2009) as it made over 14.4 million dollars
on it’s opening night. The film has been compared to the movie Borat, also
made by Baron Cohen, which made considerable money during the films life
span. It has been said the film lacks the “shelf life” that made Cohen’s
other movie such a hit.
The entire movie is based around an Austrian cloths fashionista
coming to America to become famous. Like the film Borat, it is set in
documentary style showing the different exploits the main character uses to
launch himself into the limelight. In keeping with Cohen’s movie style,
Bruno delivers a pretty good laugh out loud movie. As quoted from the
Columbus Dispatch article, “Bruno is well on its way to turning a profit
for Universal studios, with the movie exceeding the company’s expectations
both domestically and overseas” where Universal paid a whopping 42.5
million dollars for the right to distribute the film.
Of course, being as I like the type of humor Bruno offers, I will go
to see it when all the hype dies down. I’m not sure whether the movie will
top Borat in my eyes, but with the personality Baron Cohen portrays, I’m
sure it will be at least a partial hit in my book. I actually think that
this film relates more to popular culture now because of the character type
portrayed in the film itself. The general populace is going through quite
a conflict on the subject of gay rights including marriage and benefits so
quite possibly this may shed a little bit of humor on what has proven to be
an explosive subject.
References:
Germain, D. (2009 July 12). 'Bruno' sashays to box-office fame with $30.4M
. Columbus
Dispatch, Latest News Online.

Icon Analysis

Icons Analysis Paper
Amy Waid
Assignment 2-2
Popular Culture

My three icons I chose are Family Guy, That 70's Show and Sponge Bob.

Family Guy is an animated sitcom involving a "typical" American family going about its daily activities. The family consists of a mother: Loise Griffin; a father: Peter Griffin; Two sons, Chris and Stewie; a daughter, Meg; a talking dog named Brian along with various other neighbors and friends. I chose this show because it is extreemly popular and quite funny. Each episode is different from the last and usually contains some sort of underlying theme that pertains to a current event. This show is a good form of mindless entertainment for me after a long week of homework (and regular work for that matter). It makes me laugh, sometimes until I cry, and I can feel the tension leaving me after just a few minutes of viewing.

That 70's show is also a sitcom but it is based on a family rasing kids in the 1970's. The family consists of a mother, Kitty; a father, Red; one son, Eric; a daughter, Laurie; a live-in best friend, Hyde and Eric's circle of friends Donna, Jackie, Kelso and Fez. I chose this show because I can honestly relate to what goes on. I didn't exactly go through the teenage years in the 70's but I do remember alot of the situations from having older brothers. I think this show is a good example of a contemporary icon simply because most teenagers can relate to the relationships between the characters and can bring that into their own lives.

The last icon I chose is Sponge Bob. This is an animated show that contains three main characters: a yellow sponge creature named Sponge Bob, a starfish named Patrick and a squid named Squidward. I chose this show because when the series hit the airwaves a few years ago, it was an instant hit with kids and adults. I suppose this was because of the stupid humor injected into each episode. It's also possible that because of the shows simplicity, most people can use it as a release from reality for a bit. Personally, I'm not sure why it is such a big hit, although I do find myself watching it from time to time with my children. I usually try to figure out what it is exactly they see in such a silly character and then end up giggling along anyway. Maybe that is what the draw is?

All images retrieved from Google Images

Weekly Analysis 1

The deaths of some of the most popular icons in America (some worldwide) made me start to think about how life comes and goes so randomly. I was watching the news when I heard about Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcet and even the pitch man Billy Mays, all within a few days of each other. It sadden me simply because I grew up watching two of the three on TV, then watching the other on late night infomercials for various products. I felt as if a piece of my childhood had left. Those icons are not the only deaths in recent years that made me feel that way, either.
I decided to dedicate this weekly analysis to those childhood icons lost along the way, people that I know some of you grew up with just like I did. I usually end up contemplating how unfair life really is at times, taking some of the greatest people away from us. Just to name a few: Chris Farley, Bernie Mac, Sam Kinison and many others. May they rest in peace and continue on wherever they may be.

Blog 1-2

What is popular culture, and what does it mean to you?
This wasn’t an easy question for me to answer. There is so much that can be covered because what is “popular” is an ever changing arena. One day to the next, the world can make or break what is considered the “in thing”. After saying that, I suppose popular culture means to me whatever is hip or hot at the moment. I can buy a magazine at the store or watch television and see a hundred different things or people that are rising in popularity. I can also ask my three daughters to name what they consider popular and get three different answers to the same question. So, I guess the real answer depends on the generation you ask.


Why is an understanding of popular culture relevant to you in a business environment and in your present and future career?
I believe that popular culture is extremely relevant in a business environment. In order to be able to market the products that will make you money, you have to understand what is popular at any given moment. This is relevant to my personal career choice because I chose to go into the field of designing websites. Since the world is saturated with internet sites advertising for a million different products, it is important to me to know what is popular at the moment and use that to make my websites stand out above the rest.


What would you consider to be an example of a pop culture artifact? And why would you choose it?
I chose Michael Jackson as my pop culture artifact. I realize that he may be a bad choice in some eyes, but let me explain why I chose him over others. I grew up in the 80’s when Michael Jackson was just coming into his popularity as an adult. I can remember him dancing around in his music videos on MTV with his sparkly glove and jacket with many zippers. I also remember watching the Thriller video and learning every dance step the zombies danced, thinking all the while how cool I would look at the school dances coming up.
This is how I remember him and it saddens me that after all of the court battles and bad publicity, this is not how my children or their generations will remember him. I’m not saying that I was the world’s biggest fan after hearing about some of his exploits in recent years, but I can understand how life finally broke him down and kept him down. With that being said, I chose Michael Jackson as my artifact because he is one legend, throughout good and bad, that will always be remembered as the “King of Pop”. URL to this blog is: http://communicationmanagementresourcesawaid.blogspot.com/