Walk on the Wild Side

Walk on the Wild Side

The issue of Global Warming has been a hot topic for several years for both the scientific community and for conspiracy theorist who believe that the science behind global warming has been invented and is being perpetuated by organizations and governments because of financial or ideological reasons. Proponents of such allegations refer to the scientific consensus as a "global warming hoax” or "global warming fraud".

Many individual scientists and scientific organizations such as NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), NASA Finds 2011, Ninth Warmest Year on Record the United States Global Change Research Program which consists of thirteen United States federal entities Participating Departments and Agencies, CFR  (Council on Foreign Relations) and many others have devoted countless amount of hours and money to research the global warming issue and its many theories.

Along with the growing number of studies and organizations being conducted and developed to study this global “hot issue”, the number of groups and individuals who believe in the global warming conspiracy theory also has exploded over the past several years. Like many other conspiracy theories, many of the global warming conspiracy theorists believe that the USA (United States of America) federal government, individual state governments, politician leaders and other world country governments are involved in making the so-called global warming problem as big of an issue as what it has become.

One of the most well-known and possibly most well educated believer of the global warming conspiracy theory is researcher, former weather forecaster for the United States Air Force, and current Professor of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University (CSU) and head of the Tropical Meteorology Project at CSU's Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Dr. William M. Gray.

Dr. Gray has been described by many in the scientific, meteorological and media worlds as being one of the world’s leading experts on tropical storms and has been labeled by MSNBC (Microsoft and the National Broadcasting Company) hosts as being a top meteorologist. Dr. Gray has made statements regarding his personal beliefs of the global warming “hoax” very clear in the past. According to the article Global-Warming Skeptics Continue to Punch Away which was published by the Seattle Times in 2006, Dr. Gray stated the following about according to him, not being approached on his beliefs about the global warming trend, "I've been in meteorology over 50 years. I've worked damn hard, and I've been around. My feeling is some of us older guys who've been around have not been asked about this. It's sort of a baby-boomer, yuppie thing."

According to the article published by the Seattle Times, Dr. Gray had lost much of the government funding for his research programs and he has had to put his own money, more than $100,000, into keeping his research going.  Dr. Gray believes that humans are not responsible for the warming of the earth and has stated that "We're brainwashing our children." He asked, "How can we trust climate forecasts 50 and 100 years into the future (that can’t be verified in our lifetime) when they are not able to make shorter seasonal or yearly forecasts that could be verified?"The Independent Institute lists Dr. Gray as one of their Research Fellows

Another believer that the global warming issue is a conspiracy theory or hoax is U.S. Senator Inhofe who was said to be a former believer of the global warming theory. The following video features an interview which Senator Inhofe had on Fox News in 2009 regarding global warming, which he believes to be a “hoax” set up by the UN (United Nations) and the democratic side of the U.S. government.

Even Presidential candidate Rick Santorum has expressed his thoughts about global warming. Rick Santorum told attendees at the Gulf Coast Energy Summit in Biloxi, Mississippi, to trust his judgment on the environment, highlighting his position on climate change—that is, that it's a liberal myth. "The dangers of carbon dioxide? Tell that to a plant, how dangerous carbon dioxide is," Santorum said, according to the Associated Press. Below is a video interview which Rick Santorum did with MSNBC regarding his beliefs that global warming is a conspiracy and how he feels that scientific researches doesn't back up the issue of global warming. 

Many scientific studies have been conducted over the past several years proving that the Earth’s atmosphere and climate has been increasingly changing since meteorological and scientific data has been studied since the year 1880. NASA provides the following chart on their website for the findings of change in global temperature from the year 1880 to the year 2011.

             From looking at the above chart, it is obvious that scientific studies have found that the Earth’s annual temperature has continued to increase most of the years since global climate data has been recorded, with the change in global temperature rising at an alarming rate between the years of 1980 and 2011.

                
             Forbes Magazine published an online article in July of 2011 regarding the global warming conspiracy theory and spoke about how British journalist James Delingpole believes in the global warming conspiracy theory and how he stated that he promised to show that the man-made global warming is a fraud, one that has already cost billions of dollars and is a clear and present danger to our liberty and democratic traditions — and, ironically, to the environment itself.


              With the exception of Dr. Gray and a few other scientists, most scientists who have studied the global climatic change agree that the planet’s climate and atmosphere are changing and changing for the worst. Most also believe that these changes are due in large part to the human abuse to our planet. Studies have been conducted by scientists in an attempt to predict the future increase of the global temperature.  The following graph was released in 2007 showing what some scientists predict to be the change in global temperature in degrees Celsius between the years of 2070 and 2100 if the current rate of temperature change continues.

  I have to agree with the findings and beliefs of many of these scientists on the ever increasing and troubling trend of global temperature and environmental changes. I feel that we humans as a species need to pay much more attention to the global warming issues which have become so well debated in recent history and if we don’t, the future generations of humans, animal and plant lives will have to adapt to a completely different environmental planet then what we all know today. Along with these changes will come far less beautiful places for our children’s children and their children to admire.

One example of this is the quickly decrease amount of natural glaciers located at Glacier National Park in the U.S. State of Montana and the Canadian Provinces of Alberta and British Columbia along with other glacial areas found around the globe. According to the article Recent Global Glacier Retreat Overview , studies conducted by the U.S. National Park Service and U.S. Geological Service focusing on the decrease in amount of glacial cover in the park, Only 27% of the 99 km² area of Glacier National Park covered by glaciers in 1850 remained by 1993. An increase of approximately 1 degree Celsius (2 °F) in average summer temperatures is reflected in reduced glacier sizes. A computer model indicates that present rates of increasing warming will eliminate all glaciers in Glacier National Park by 2030. It is believed that the glaciers are quickly decreasing in both size and volume because of the global warming issue and that the behaviors of us humans and our contribuations in playing a role in helping cause the global climatic warming issue.

Then and Now

The assignment for this quest, we are supposed to interview a person who is at least 10 years older than what we are and have them identify five different examples of popular culture that were popular when they were growing up. Then we are asked to also choose five examples of popular culture which are popular in our lives or today’s society. For this Quest, I interviewed my father who was born in 1959.

(Then)

 The first example of popular culture which my father chose was when he was growing up how the standard radio receiver in the average American family’s personal vehicle only hosted AM (Amplitude Modulation) Broadcasting. He talked about how the quality of the AM radio stations were often full of interference and static much like they are today on a radio. He also said that when a person would drive their AM only equipped vehicle under a wide bridge or through a long tunnel, how the radio would frequently lose signal causing the stations to only be heard poorly if heard at all. My father explained to me how excited he remembers being when his parents purchased their first vehicle which was equipped with FM (Frequency Modulation) Broadcasting radio.  

(Now)

Today, not only are all new automobiles equipped with both FM/AM radio but a majority of the vehicles manufactured in the past couple of years come equipped either with Satellite radio being standard in the vehicle or the vehicle being pre-wired to accept Satellite radio through its receivers. At the current time, a customer has to subscribe to receive Satellite radio signal in their personal vehicle and pay either monthly, annually or a once lifetime fee to the Satellite radio provider. I believe that Satellite radio will eventually become the standard and possibly the only type of radio signal vehicles come equipped with because of the clarity of the Satellite radio frequencies and because of the option of the consumer being able to listen to his or her favorite Satellite radio station any place they travel to unlike AM or FM broadcasting. 

(Then)

The next subject which my father spoke of was the popularity of 8-Track players inside of vehicles from the mid-1960s until the early 1980s. The 8-Track quickly became a popular music playing device not only in people’s vehicles but also in people’s homes, replacing the vinyl record which was so widely used and popular prior to the invention of the 8-Track tape. But, like the AM Broadcasting radio which I wrote about above, after the invention of the music cassette tape, the 8-Track tape quickly died off. The 8-Track tape was very limited in its capabilities compared to the cassette tape which became popular in the 1980s. For instance, the 8-Track could only hold on average, four-10 minute songs compared to the cassette tape being able to typically hold between 30 to 45 minutes of music on each of its two sides of tape. Also, the 8-Track tape had problems with coming loose and being “eaten” by the 8-Track player.

(Now)

During my childhood years of growing up in the mid-1980s through the early 1990s, I can remember the popularity of the music cassette tape. By the time that I was old enough in the late 1980s to understand in great detail, the popularity and details of the cassette tape, the “in thing” was for the youth population to own a portable cassette player or a “Boombox” which a person could also carry around with them and listen to their cassette tapes. Then in the mid-1990s, I can remember as a teenager, the CD (Compact Disc) becoming the popular music listening device. The CD quickly took over the popularity of the cassette tape much like the cassette tape took over the popularity of the 8-Track some 10-15 years earlier.

 

(Then)

The third topic my father spoke of was how when he was a child growing up, how he can remember the lack of safety devices which came standard in automobiles. My father talked about how he could remember as a child, not having seatbelts inside of his parents’ vehicle and how most vehicles also did not come standard with outside mirrors or reverse lights. At the time when my father was growing up as a youth in society, Airbag safety devices in vehicles were also completely unheard of.

 

(Now)

Now days, Seatbelts (although they may not be used as much as what they should be), Airbag safety devices, rearview mirrors, reverse lights and other safety devices are the bare minimum safety equipment which is mandatory for automobile makers to make standard in every vehicle which is sold to the consumer. Automobile safety features have become such a popular and required feature to modern vehicles that automobile manufactures seem to be in competition with each other constantly to be the make their vehicles the first on the market to have a new safety device such as the back-up video monitor so the driver can visually see objects behind the vehicle when in the reverse gear more clearly than using only rear view mirrors or turning one’s head to attempt to look behind the vehicle. Manufactures also compete to release the greatest amount of vehicles each year which rate at the top of the IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) picks for vehicles released to the general public.

(Then)

The fourth example which my father used for popular culture items when he was growing up in the 1970s was the clothing fashion of Polyester and plaid clothes which were popular with the American youth population. My father showed me a photograph which he has of him and my mother as high school teenagers walking along a sidewalk in the downtown district of Prescott, Arizona before prior to them moving away from the area after graduating high school. In the photo, my father is seen wearing a shirt made out of polyester.

(Now)

I am not to up to date with the current fashion scenes of today’s youth but I have heard the hype and often criticism of teenage boys wearing slim-fit-pants, also known as “Skinny Jeans” which in my opinion resemble a pant style which is often seen worn by the younger female generations. Flare style cut jeans also appear to be in style with the female population. While I was growing up as a teenager, the “big thing” in clothing fashion for the male population in the areas which I grew up in was the baggy shirt and sagging jean fad which was also known as the “Gangster Style” of clothing.

 

(Then)

The final thing which my father talked about was how when he was growing up attending elementary through high school how classrooms used 16mm (millimeter) movie reels to show educational videos to the student population.

(Now)

Although I recently returned back to college at the fairly late age of 29 years old, I have seen first-hand in the classroom setting both during my educational classes and at my 1^st grade daughter’s school, the popularity and ease of using laptop computers and Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) internet to view videos in the classroom which come directly from the internet or a downloaded video disk or program which is pre-installed on the laptop. For the most part, the use of wirelessly broadcasting videos to the classroom population provides a greater variety of available videos, higher quality and more modernly produced videos than what were available with the 16mm movie reels.

 

Microreflection

The class Tuesday night was a lot of fun. I enjoyed hearing everyone's personal thoughts on popular culture items which they believe will be "The Next Big Thing."

Be a Skeptic

             Our Be a Skeptic Quest in the 3d Game Lab states that we are to choose a group or person who is trying to promote the use of critical thinking through popular culture and evaluate his or her beliefs. For this Quest, I chose to focus on The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) which is the paranormal investigative group that the well known Syfy reality television show Ghost Hunters is based off of.

                For those of you who have never heard of TAPS or the television show, Ghost Hunters; the show follows around a group of “Paranormal Investigators” who are based out of the state of Rhode Island. Co-founders Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson founded the group in the year 1990. According to the official TAPS website, the group’s original purpose and mission is, helping those experiencing paranormal activity by investigating its claims in a professional and confidential matter using the latest in paranormal research equipment and techniques.  http://www.the-atlantic-paranormal-society.com/. Also according to their website, TAPS reportedly receives Thousands of case requests daily from the public for them to investigate a possibly “Haunted” location but the group is only able to annually investigate a handful of the requests which they receive.

            In 2003, TAPS founders were approached by Pilgram Films and asked to appear in a new and upcoming television program for the television station Sci Fi (now Syfy) channel. According to Tvguide.com http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/ghost-hunters-2004/episode-1-season-1/altoona-tantrum/191528 , the series premiere for the television show, aired for the first time on October 6, 2004. In it’s first publicly televised paranormal investigation, the team travel to and conducted an investigation in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Both Hawes and Grant work full time as plumbers and perform paranormal investigations while not on-duty as plumbers.

                At the time that this Blog was written, Ghost Hunters is on its eight season of television and has aired more than 150 episodes all across the globe. While on the location of an active investigation, the TAPS group, usually under the cover of darkness, uses several techniques and tools to conduct its investigations. Some of the tools used by the members of TAPS infrared and digital video cameras, thermal camera devices, EMF (Electromagnetic Field) detectors, digital thermometers and various other equipment.

                Most televised investigations, which the group appears in for the most part, seem to have the same basic investigative procedures. At the beginning of each investigation, the team members visit and survey the property of concern with either the property’s owner or a spokesperson for the property owner. It is during this time of the investigation that the property owner or spokesperson, sometimes along with other witnesses, describe alleged reports of possible paranormal activity, which either them or other people have reportedly experienced in the past while at the location of the investigation.

                After meeting with the property owner or spokesperson and receiving information pertaining to the location and its possible “hauntings”, the team usually sets up several different types of electronic surveillance equipment throughout the location of the investigation prior to the team beginning their official investigation of the property or properties. After the surveillance equipment is preset in chosen locations throughout the property, the team splits into smaller groups, usually consisting of 2 or 3 investigation members and camera operators start the main investigations of the property in question of possibly paranormal activity.

                After spending several hours investigating the locations, the team concludes its primary investigation, packing up all equipment used prior to departing the location. The team then spends a good amount of time, reviewing all audio, video and other possible findings that they may have found during their investigation. After reviewing and closely examining all found evidence of possible paranormal activity at the location, co-founders Hawes and Wilson then meet up again with the property owner or spokesperson who they met with prior to the main investigation, and provide that person with what the team feels is the most credible evidence found during their investigation of the property.

Many times after analyzing all of the data recovered by the team during their investigation, there is little to no evidence found leading the team co-founders and other members to make the decision that the location has paranormal activity. Several team members have been known to say during a few of the series’ episodes that the team first tries to debunk all reported possible paranormal activities reported by witnesses at the property by attempting to find reasonable or scientific explanations for the reported experiences.

 According to the article http://www.movieweb.com/news/grant-wilson-and-jason-hawes-talk-ghost-hunters published in March of 2008, during an interview with co-founders Hawes and Wilson, Jason Hawes stated; “We’ve been doing this for 17 years and, you know, we go in with a skeptical mindset. We’re going in trying to debunk the claims of paranormal activity.” In my opinion, it is this mindset of the team members which makes this paranormal investigation television show much more entertaining to watch than several others which have also appeared on cable television in the past several years. Some of these other groups, in my opinion, seem to go into a location of investigation trying to prove that the location has some sort of so-called paranormal activity. Also, the members of TAPS seem to me much more experienced and more professional during their investigations than some other investigative groups which have had television shows pertaining to their investigations.

               I believe that the fact that the success of the Ghost Hunters television show in popular culture over the past 8 years has in some ways effected some of the team members’ professionalism and truthfulness along with some of the investigations conducted and has also caused some property owners to fake false reports of possible paranormal activity in hope of having their so-called (15 minutes of fame) on television. During the same interview as listed above with co-founders Hawes and Wilson, Jason Hawes made a verbal remark regarding two such hoaxes which were set up at locations by the property owners. Hawes stated the following about those two incidents, “We did have one gentleman who built a speaker inside a wall. He would try to make sounds come from that wall. We were able to track the speaker wire up to the wall. We did a restaurant, which I don’t think we will air. But, you know, the whole place was rigged with fake paranormal activity and Grant and I were able to figure it all out and find that. 

           

Pop Music Website Analysis

                                        http://tobykeith.com/

Another one of our Quest for the 3d Game Lab in my Humanities 101 class is titled, Pop Music Website Analysis. In this Quest, our assignment is to pick a music group or singer in which we like, look at the official website for that band or group and how the visual and participatory elements of the website work with or against the image that the band or singer's music creates.

For this Quest, I am picking the well-known Country Music Star Toby Keith. I grew up spending many of my teenage years in a suburb of Oklahoma City. Toby Keith is originally from a town in Oklahoma called Clinton, which is approximately 70 miles from the town which I lived in. He currently lives outside of the City of Norman, Oklahoma which is approximately 35 miles from the town in which I lived in while in Oklahoma. Toby Keith has stuck to his down home Oklahoma roots which are heard in much of his music and seen in many of his music videos.  I believe that Toby Keith has written and sang some of the best country songs of our time. Many of the songs which he has written and sang over the years are not only great country music songs but are also patriotic to the United States of America and supportive to our past and current military troops. Some of his more popular patriotic songs are “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue,” “American Soldier,” “American Ride,” and “Made in America.”

Toby Keith is very well known for supporting the United States Military and for making regular guest appearances overseas to visit with and perform for our troops who are deployed to foreign nations. With how his official fan website is currently designed, one of the very first things noticed when one accesses the website are the colors of Red, White and Blue, which we all know to be the colors of the United States of America Flag. At the top of the page is written “Toby Keith” in big bold white colored letters which appear to be faded possibly like an old pair of western jeans or an old Stetson cowboy hat.

On both sides of the words “Toby Keith” there is red colored 5-point stars which are the style of the stars which appear on the flag of the United States of America. In the background of this same area of the main website page is a photograph of Toby Keith performing for a crowd at what appears to be a venue containing a large amusement park. In my opinion, this photo also depicts the “party life” which Toby Keith also seems to be very well known for. Alongside of his patriotic music, many of Toby Keith’s other songs are related directly to the party scene and drinking of alcohol. A few of these songs are “I love this Bar,” “Beer for my Horses,” “Whiskey Girl” and his latest single, “Red Solo Cup.”

Most of the text on the website is written in bold and is either the color Red or the color Blue, also showing Toby Keith’s patriotism to the United States. I think that the website was designed very well to portray Toby Keith’s love for the United States and his respect to the members of our military branches. The website is just enough visually appealing with graphics, colors, links and videos to catch the viewers’ attention but not so overwhelming with colors and graphics making it too much to comprehend and focus on. The main theme of the website is obviously patriotism, promoting a “Downhome” yet “Upbeat” style of country music.

Movie Poster Comparison Quest

The two movie posters, which I chose to use for the “Movie Poster Comparison” Quest in the 3D Game Lab for my Humanities 101 course, were the poster for the 1974 release of the movie Texas Chainsaw Massacre and of the 2006 movie release of Texas Chainsaw Massacre The Beginning.

            The poster for the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre film, which was first released on October 1, 1974 in the United States, is a very colorful poster, which depicts a psychotic chainsaw and facemask made of human flesh wilding male serial killer who possibly focuses on beautiful young women as his victim of choice.

            The poster has what appears to be a young woman who is being hanged by a rope from some sort of wooden structure. The woman appears to be attempting to use both of her hands to try and free herself before the killer is able to dismember her with the chainsaw, which he is holding in his left hand. The facemask, which the killer is wearing in the poster, appears to have stitching around the edges of it and holes cut out of it so that he can see out of the mask. The stitching and color of the mask gives the impression that the mask was possibly made of human skin cut from the body of one of his prior victims.

            There is very large and colorful font used in this poster to capture the attention of the audience. The wording of the poster provides a very basic yet fairly detailed description of the films’ plot. The main text on the poster states, “Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them?” gives the impression that some of the killer’s victims will survive the ordeal but may be missing limbs or other parts of their bodies.

            The poster also indicates through some of its text that the events, which occur during the film, were based on real life events and that the movie is made with such detail that it will also feel as much of reality as the events, which occur during it. To me, the graphics and design of the poster show that the film was made on a low budget even for the time period, which it was released.

            The second poster is for the film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre-The Beginning that was released on October 6, 2006 some 32 years after the release of the original film and poster. The poster for the 2006 film release is a much visually darker poster than the poster for the original movie. I believe that the reasoning behind having his poster designed with darker colors and a darker theme than the original poster is because society today in the United States portrays fear and gruesome violence as being very dark themed.

            I believe a reason that society sees fear and violence this way is because of how the media has portrayed serial killers and other extremely fearful films and stories in the recent past. Some examples of this are the Hannibal Lecter horror movie series based on a cannibal serial killer portrayed mostly by actor Anthony Hopkins. Many of the horrifying scenes of these movies were set in dark locations such as in the movie The Silence of the Lambs where towards the end of the film a female Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) agent was searching inside of a very dark house for the serial killer who was without her knowledge stalking her through the house using a pair of night vision goggles. Other thriller movies in recent history such as the Scream series, Paranormal Activity series and Saw series are also mainly set in dark locations during the most horrifying scenes of each movie.

            There is very little writing on this poster release and because of this, it is much more difficult to figure out the main plot of the film just by looking at the movie poster. However, I do believe that the intended audience for this film which is mostly the younger generation is drawn more to the visual effects of a movie poster than what they are to the writing of a movie poster, leading the poster designers to make the newer poster much more visually interesting and appealing than the poster was for the original film release in 1974.

            The poster for the 2006 film release also gives the impression from reading what little texts are on it, that the film is based solely on the killers uprising to his horrific and brutal killings. Like the poster for the original film, the killer on this poster also appears to be wearing a facemask possibly made of either human flesh or possibly has a dismembered face. The Killer is also a male subject and like the original film’s poster, is holding a chainsaw. Unlike the original poster, there is not anything about this poster, which gives the impression that the events, which occur during the film, were based on true-life events from our history.

Follow Your Tweeps

    One of the persons I chose to follow on Twitter and add to my Tweeps list is Cody Lundin. Cody Lundin is very well known in the survival world as being one of the top survivalist and survival school instructors in the free world. Cody has been acknowledged and featured in many different national and international media sources to include The Today Show, The Discovery Channel, The History Channel, Dateline NBC, CBS News, USA Today, The New York Times and many others. Fit Magazine wrote the following about Cody Lundin, “Cody Lundin is one of the foremost authorities on primitive and modern survival skills.” http://www.codylundin.com/bio.html

    Cody Lundin also is one of two stars on the Discovery Channel hit show, Dual Survival, where he and fellow survivalist Dave Canterbury head out into some of the most extreme environments on Earth and demonstrate to viewers what skills are necessary to survive in the wilderness for an extended period of time with limited survival tools.

    

    On top of being a cast member of Dual Survival, Cody Lundin also runs and teaches at his own survival school here in Prescott, Arizona where he instructs course students on how to survive in desert environments using Aboriginal survival skills. When not staring on the Discovery Channel or teaching at his own school, Cody Lundin is an adjunct faculty member at Yavapai College and a faculty member at Ecosa Institute.

    I also chose to follow professional American free climber, alpinist, BASE Jumper, BASEliner, and highliner Dean Potter. Like survivalist Cody Lundin, Climber Dean Potter has been featured in several well-known outdoor and rock climbing magazines and also has appearances on several television networks to include Discovery Channel and National Geographic Channel.

    Outside Magazine did an article on the talents of Dean Potter in December of 2002 where they titled the column Climbing at the speed of soul. In the article, the following was written about Dean Potter, "With his supreme skills on rock, hypercompetitive intensity, and new-age bag of tricks, Dean Potter scrambles up big walls faster than any man alive." http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/climbing/rock-climbing/Climbing-at-the-Speed-of-Soul.html?page=all

    Dean Potter has made several notable ascents on very well-known mountains throughout the world, to include but not limited to being. The first person to ascend Cerro Fitz Roy in the Andes Mountains of Patagonia at the far Southern tip of South America. He is also well noted for making the very first ascent of Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park where he has lived for the past 18 years. Glacier Point is a Granite rock face which rises 3,200 vertical feet above the Yosemite Valley.

    National Geographic Channel recently aired a program on February 12, 2012 about Dean Potter which followed him in his pursuit to break his previously held world record for longest free-fall flight time during a BASE jump. In the summer of 2009, Dean ascended the 13,025 ft. Eiger of the Bernese Alps of Switzerland, where he conducted a BASE jump from its peak and flew for a total of 2 minutes and 50 seconds setting a world record where he freefell for 9,000 vertical feet and flew for nearly six kilometers before deploying his parachute to float safely to the ground below. 

     Below is a video link produced by National Geographic about Dean Potter's world record BASE jump in August of 2009.  

My loyalty to a well known "Love Mark" aka brand

                One of our assignments in the 3d Game lab for my Humanities 101 course is to evaluate the so called lovemarks in advertising and to choose a lovemark which is a part of our own personal lives and to decide what “emotional branding” that lovemark has played in our life.

                According to the 3d Game lab, a lovemark is defined as a brand that is sold as much by its emotional connection with consumers as it is for any practical reason. Uniquely enough, the lovemark which I have chosen to focus on and that probably has the largest impact in my life out of all brands which I am routinely exposed to, happened to be one of the companies which were mentioned in a PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) video documentary which we had to watch in order to complete this assignment.

                

              The lovemark which is probably dearest to me is the, Starbucks Coffee Company. I was first introduced to this internationally acclaimed coffee company and coffee house chain in the year 2002 at one of its locations in the downtown business district of the beautiful and fast paced city where it was founded in March of 1971, Seattle, Washington.

                

               Prior to experiencing my first delightful cup of what many people around the world consider to be one of the best coffee and tea products available to the general public, I had heard many people both praise and criticize what is today according to http://www.USAtoday.com to be the largest coffee company in the world.  So during the spring of 2002, when on leave from the military between two of my deployments, I decided to visit this world class city which is probably almost as well known around the world as the famous coffee company which was founded there some 31 years prior to my first visit at one of its locations.

                

              While walking the downtown streets of this metropolis, I spotted a Starbucks Coffee retail location on a busy street corner near the Pike Place Market. I don’t know if it was the strong and sweet odor of the coffee, the cool drizzle in the crisp morning air or just my curiosity of what all of the hype was about when it came to company; but I was somehow drawn to enter the store almost as if being magically dragged by an invisible force.

                

              Well, it turned out that ever since my first taste of one of the many flavors of drinks which one can purchase from this company, I have been hooked on both the company image and its products. I have never really put much thought into why I am so devoted to the Starbucks Coffee Company almost to the point where I will not even consider trying other coffee shops although I am without a doubt sure that many of them are also delicious and unique in their own ways.

               I do not know if it is the quality of the products, the friendliness of most of its employees, the aroma of the coffee beans as they are being roasted, the new age music which is played over the store audio speakers, the environment inside of the store or if it’s the fond memory which I have of being in such a wonderful and beautiful city for my first personal experience with this company that keeps me devoted to it so greatly. Maybe it is a combination of all of these principles that makes me crave my favorite “Vanilla Chai” or “Pumpkin Chai” drinks and makes me return to visit a Starbucks Coffee location several times a week.

               

               According to the Starbucks Coffee Company website, the company’s Mission Value is: To Inspire and nurture the human spirit-one person, one cup and on neighborhood at a time.http://www.starbucks.com/about-us/company-information/mission-statement  I routinely joke with my family and close friends that an "Iced Vanilla Chai" tea from Starbucks Coffee is like my rock cocaine, in the meaning that I would almost consider myself to be addicted to it. I don't believe that this "magical drink from my favorite coffee house truely cures a physical craving of my as much as it does an emotional need that I have grown to have over the past 10 years. 

               It is almost as if stepping into a Starbucks Coffee shop and consuming my favorite beverage from there, removes me from reality and the stresses of life, much like the feeling which I get when stepping into the wilderness to climb the shear rock face of a mountain or to hike the beautiful and peaceful trail through the forest.

         

Unpopular Culture Quest for HUM 101

There is a big hype and demand these days for the so-called “Reality Television”. I personally do not understand what the big demand is for what I consider to be non-entertainment television. I do agree that not all “Reality Television” shows are negative or misleading to the general audience, but so many of them portray sexually aggressive and violent behaviors to be the norm in society.

                It is these explicit and controversial reality television shows which I am going to focus on in this assignment for my Humanities 101 class assignment. First off, I feel that television is used too much in day to day life as is, then when you add in shows of large groups of immature strangers living together in one house, a dozen or two of women or men competing with each other to be with that so called “Perfect Person”, or shows about girls striving and going to extremes to be “The Next Top Model”; the negative effects of television on viewers today grows more as each of these shows is released to be viewed by us Americans.

                What is it that shows like these are teaching the viewers who tune in on a weekly and sometimes daily basis to watch their favorite “Instant Celebrities” fight through their own personal issues of life? I believe that these shows have more of an effect on the youth population than the adult population who watches them. Studies over the past couple of decades have shown the negative effects of television in general to its young viewers. Even if the television show isn’t directed towards the younger viewers, many of them appear to be directed towards the female population from their late teens to mid-30s, which also is when a majority of the American population of women become mothers and have young children roaming around their homes, possibly being exposed to these television shows more than what the mothers may know.

                According to the article http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/family/tv_affects_child.html produced by Kidshealth.com, The first 2 years of life are considered a critical time for brain development. TV and other electronic media can get in the way of exploring, playing, and interacting with parents and others, which encourages learning and healthy physical and social development. So if one of the parents or siblings is sitting around the house with a young child who is present, what is it that the young child is learning from these television shows even if they don’t completely understand the concept and meaning of the show?

                Studies and real life tragedy events have shown that many of these television shows have also played negative roles in the lives of older viewers. An example of this is: On October 15, 2009 near the town of Fort Collins, Colorado when a homemade weather balloon was released into the sky from a family’s personal residence, initial reports from the two adult family members of the household reported that their six year old son was believed to be playing inside of the homemade balloon prior to it lifting off of the ground and traveling more than 50 miles across three Colorado counties at elevations of 7,000 feet above ground level.

                The above incident drew worldwide attention by being broadcasted live by media networks around the globe. Once the balloon finally fell to the ground, it was quickly searched by emergency response personnel who had responded to the distress call about the possibility of the young boy being inside of the balloon. The search results turned up to be negative for finding the young boy inside of the balloon. At this time, horrifying speculations began to emerge about the possibility of the young child falling out of the balloon some time during its flight thousands of feet above the Colorado countryside. It was later discovered that the young boy had been hiding inside of the attic at his family’s house where the balloon had originally departed from. The child later stated to his father on a live television interview regarding why the boy was hiding in the attic of their house, "You guys said that, um, we did this for the show." http://articles.cnn.com/2009-10-18/us/colorado.balloon.investigation_1_richard-heene-mayumi-heene-hoax?_s=PM:US

                It was at this time that previous suspicious of a hoax, that the event became proven to be a publicity stunt engineered by the boy's parents. The boy’s father later admitted that he thought of the hoax in hopes of being offered a role on a “Reality Television” show to become popular. 

                According to the article http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/10/17/11/mean-girls-us-study-casts-light-reality-tvs-impact released in October of 2011, a nationwide survey by the research wing of the Girl Scouts of the United States found that girls who regularly watch reality television expect -- and accept -- more bullying and drama in their lives. These are just two of the countless examples I have found online of evidence on the negative effects of “Reality Television” its viewers.

Become a Wikipedian Course Assignment

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Peaks


.

One of the quests in the 3d Game Lab which we are using in my Humanities 101 course is titled “Become a Wikipedian.” As you can probably guess by the title of the quest, the goal of this quest is to choose an article on the world wide famous http://www.wikipedia.org website which many of us have come to know well and have used extensively over the past few years. To complete this quest, we have to study and conduct research on a Wikipedia article which we choose and must edit the article and update it using credible outside sources.

                
      For my assignment, I chose to conduct research on the 12,633 foot San Francisco Peaks which are located approximately 7 miles to the North of Flagstaff, Arizona. The San Francisco Peaks are the remnants of an ancient Stratovolcano which some experts believe may have stood as high as 15,000 to 16,000 feet above sea-level prior to its eruption less than 1,000 years ago.

              
      The San Francisco Peaks are the youngest volcano and the only Stratovolcano located in the San Francisco Volcanic Field which has over 600 volcanic vents and covers an area of approximately 1,800 square miles. In their current state, the San Francisco Peaks consist of 8 named mountain peaks. Of these 8 peaks, 7 rise to more than 10,000 feet above sea-level. At 12,633 feet above sea-level, Humphrey’s Peak, the highest of the named peaks rises more than 5,700 feet above downtown Flagstaff.  

               
        The San Francisco Peaks rise through 4 named biotic communities and life zones (Transition-Open Woodlands, Canadian-Fir Forest, Hudsonian-Spruce Forest and Alpine-Tundra) as they rise from the Ponderosa Pine forests surrounding Flagstaff at their base to the Alpine-Tundra zone on the upper most reaches of Mount Agassiz and Mount Humphreys.  It is these life zones which I have chosen to emphasize on by updating and adding additional information to the Wikipedia article regarding the San Francisco Peaks.

                
         According to a study conducted by Thomas D. Sisk, Professor of Ecology at the Northern Arizona University and John D. Graham, Dean at Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs, at a Latitude of approximately 35 degrees North, the San Francisco Peaks are the southernmost climatic alpine area on the North American continent north of the high volcanoes of central Mexico. This meaning that there is no other Alpine-Tundra environment in the United States which lies further south than the Alpine-Tundra zone of the San Francisco Peaks.

              
           The La Sal and Tushar Mountains of Utah and the Southern San Juan Mountains of Colorado contain the nearest true Alpine-Tundra communities to the San Francisco Peaks of Northern Arizona. Because of this vast distance and isolation from other Alpine-Tundra communities, many of the 80 species found in the Alpine-Tundra of the San Francisco Peaks are rare and unique to the area due to being unable to migrate to and from the nearest Alpine-Tundra communities in Southeastern Utah and Southern Colorado.   

One of these species is the well-known and endemic San Francisco Peaks Groundsel (Senecio franciscanus), which is found nowhere else in the world other than near the top of the San Francisco Peaks. Senecio franciscanus is a dwarf perennial alpine plant that grows low to the rocky ground where it is found, to a height of only 3 to 10 cm (1.25-4 inches).

The first update which I made to the Wikipedia article about the San Francisco Peaks is found under the Geography section of the article, located directly under the section which lists the top 4 highest named peaks of the San Francisco Peaks. I added the details of the paragraph which tell how many acres of Alpine-Tundra area is found on the San Francisco Peaks and also the section which tells that this small area of Arizona is also the only location in the state which lies on United States Forest Service (USFS) land that supports a Bristlecone Pine forest.  As credible outside sources for my research I used two articles and studies which I located online. The first source came from the Arizona Game and Fish Department and the second came from faculty members at Northern Arizona University who conducted detailed research of the San Francisco Peaks Alpine-Tundra ecosystem. I also used a Coconino National Forest Plan Revision which was completed by the USFS as a source for the indicating that this Alpine-Tundra zone is the only area of Arizona which lies on USFS lands that supports a Bristlecone Pine forest.

I also edited and updated the History section of the San Francisco Peaks Wikipedia page, where the article discusses the Life Zones found on and near the San Francisco Peaks. In the year 1889, Dr. Clinton Hurt Merriam who was an American zoologist, ornithologist, entomologist and ethnographer studied these mountains greatly and developed the concept of Life Zones based on the Ecology of the San Francisco Peaks and their surrounding areas down to the depths of the Grand Canyon.

The Wikipedia article on the San Francisco Peaks already provide fairly good detail pertaining to the Life Zones which occur in the area. What I did to this section of the article was added more detailed information to it to include the elevation ranges, most common plant species which occur in each Life Zone and the average annual precipitation of each Life Zone.

For credible outside sources for this part of my research, I studied about and used articles which I found pertaining to studies conducted by Susan L. Woodward, Instructor for the Geology Department at Radford University. Instructor Woodward’s research was published in July, 1996 and provided detailed information regarding Dr. Merriam’s Life Zone concept which he based off of the San Francisco Peaks. I also used research conducted by Dr. Roger Y. Anderson who is a professor with the University of New Mexico’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. Dr. Anderson’s research and findings were published by the New Mexico Geological Society in their Nine Field Conference. The article pertaining to Dr. Anderson’s research pertained to the life zones of Northeastern Arizona. 

I believe that all of the outside sources which I have used in my research and to update the Wikipedia article on the San Francisco Peaks are credible because all sources come from either College Professors who specialize in Geology, Ecology or some other form of Environmental Studies, or from state government agencies which also focus on the environment and ecosystems of Arizona.

The reason that I made the changes which I made to the article was because I felt that the article did not provide enough detailed information pertaining to the Alpine-Tundra and other life zone regions which are found on and around the San Francisco Peaks. Other than the original postings, I was unable to locate any edits which were made to the sections of the article which I made changes to.

When it comes to using my thoughts on a Wikipedia being used as an academic research source for students and professional clients, I think that it depends solely on the credibility of the sources which were used in the chosen Wikipedia article for information pertaining to the topic. I would feel comfortable using Wikipedia as an academic research source as long as all sources were credible and reliable and as long as I could show in my research assignment the credibility of all sources

Fads and Trends

Well, one of our assignments in my Pop Culture course is to locate 5 Fads and Trends which are a part of our personal lives and which deal with popular culture. I don't really spend much time in front of the TV, sitting at the computer or hanging out with groups of people to know what popular fads and trends are these days but I am going to give it my best shot at trying to find some which pertain to my life.

Trend Number One: I would say that so called Reality Television is a major Trend with Americans these days. I believe that Reality TV is a Trend because it has seemed to stay around for well over a decade now and has seemed to stay a top watched and voted television category. Sure the types of reality shows have changed over time as people's interested have changed and grown but the concept itself has made and continues to make a mark on many Americans' lives.

 Fad Number One: Like I said at the start of this post, I don't watch much TV but out of the couple shows that I do tend to catch myself watching and being attached to, several of them fit into the so called Reality Show category. A couple of my most favorite shows would have to be Dual Survival which airs on the Discovery Channel and Special Ops Mission which aired on the Military Channel.  I consider these Fads because like all other Reality Shows, these two will also wash by the way side eventually to make room on the TV screens and in the hearts of Americans.

Trend Number Two: For my second trend, I am going to pick and discuss social networking websites. Like Reality TV shows, Social Networking websites too have been around for a good decade or longer and appear to continue to grow by both the number or personal users and website URLs by the day. It is probably safe to say that Social Networking sites will continue to be a big hit in the foreseeable future. The following link from www.searchenginewatch.com provides great information on social networking stats from all around the world and information on what types of social networking programs and sites are most popular in different parts of the world.
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2064680/Social-Media-Around-the-World-Current-Trends-and-Future-Growth

 

Fad Number Two: FACEBOOK!!!!! While Facebook seems to be a long lasting trend, looking back at a majority of other Social Networking websites it too will probably eventually loose its popularity to some extent. Whether Facebook meets the fate of some other Social Networking websites in the past and completely dies off or just becomes slightly less popular likes some others, only time will tell. 

Trend Number Three: Country Music. Country Music has been a major category in music for a couple of decades now and continues to grow by fans, awards and music artists. Country music has been on several charts in recent years as being in the top 3 genres of music to be listened to on commercial radio. Fox Business did a Radio/TV story in November of 2011 about the growing popularity of Country music in the U.S.  A video of the broadcast is attached to the following web link.
http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/1269749298001/country-music-taking-america-by-storm/

Fad Number Three: Popular Music Artists. Like many other things and people who are popular at any given time, music artists also tend to fade out in popularity over time. If you look back 15 years ago at the year 1997, according to the Billboard Music Awards,Country Music singer LeAnn Rimes was "Artist of the year." In 2011, Hip Hop artist Eminem was voted as "Artist of the year" for the Billboard Music Awards.

Trend Number Four: Popular Personal Fashion. Personal fashion has been a popular and competitive trend for many decades. Dating back to the mobster days of John Dillinger and the famed Zoot Suit and Top Hat to the appropriately name "Shock and Awe" wild and crazy clothing style of the 21st century which celebs such as Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj have made popular to the youth population, fashion has remained a large part of society and popular culture over time.

Fad Number Four: Types of Popular Clothing Styles: During 1930s and into the early 1940s prior to the U.S. involvement in World War II, the American music Jazz Age in Harlem, New York made the Zoot Suit a very popular clothing item which quickly spread across the country to the personal interests of American men. In the 1990s and early 2000s baggy "gangster" pants were the top hit to teenage males across the country and in the late 2000s Slim-fit pants aka "Skinny Jeans" took over in the fashion scene with the current teenage population. I am attaching a link produced by smithsonian.org which includes a great article on the popularity of the Zoot Suit and important events which occurred in history in which the Zoot Suit had a large part in.
http://invention.smithsonian.org/centerpieces/whole_cloth/u7sf/u7materials/cosgrove.html

 

Trend Number Five: Slang Language Terms. The use of Slang expressions in language has probably been used in one fashion or another since the creation of human languages thousands of years ago. From the ancient Egyptians use of of simple yet detailed drawings in their hieroglyphics to the large use of slang words in American language today such as the terms Laugh Out Loud (LOL) and Best Friends Forever (BFF), slang in language has played a big part in all of our lives at one time or another.

Fad Number Five: Types of Popular Slang in Language: Although individual slang has remained a popular form of spoken language over time, the types of Slang words and terms used have changed and evolved with current trends. From the 1930s and using terms such as "Bean Shooter" "Gat" and "Convincer" commonly used by mobsters and gangsters to describe a gun, to the now widely used "Izzle" phase made popular by Rap artist Snoop Dogg, types of Slang in American language has changed over time and will continue to evolve to what is current and popular in the future.

Only time will tell what Fads and Trends come along during the remainder of our lifetime and for generations ahead, but I am willingly to bet that there will be some are are very interesting and amusing to see and hear.