10 favorite songs

1. Changes-2 Pac- This is one favorite song because 2pac talks about some important issues in this songs. 2pac touches on African American topics such as self image, confidence, cops, and polities. And crimes. One of the powerful lines in this song is “I got love for my brotha’s but we could never go nowhere unless we share with each other. We got to start making charges, learn to see me as your brotha instead of two different strangers; Pac is talking about changing social views of each espizally race.

2. A story to tell-Notorious Big- This song does just what the titles says, tell a good story, with a good beat in the background. Biggie talks a story about an encounter with a female in this song in which her boyfriend catches them cheating.

3. Children Story-Slick Rick- In this song Slick Rick tells a story about a teenager who get mixed up in the wrong crowd and gets into trouble with the law. The lyrics in this piece are very clever and original.

4. Got a story to tell Remix- Lloyd Banks- Just likes Biggie version a good story is told with a very nice flow. Banks talks about a crew which is made of grimy people. The crew are try to come up with drug money being the motnation. The crew member names are Rusko, Chris, Ricky, and Ronnie. At the end of the song Banks says Ran to the backroom bustin holes in the bathroom. They found the stash zip lock bags full of cash along side some potent ass hash. A week past now Rule (Rusko) acting funny ‘cause he ain’t never like the idea of another nigga with money. After the hit the jackpot they turned on each other. The Key to this song besides the story is the flow and metaphors present in the story.

5. Breakdown- Mariah Carey-This song is sweet because it has an overall nice sound to it. Bone Thugs N Harmony is featured on the track to provide a little mom hip-hop flavor. This is a good song to cruise to. Mariah Carey really shows her singing range in this song.

6. Sweet Thang- Boney James-This is a real laid buck song by one of the best jazz artists. It is a Jazz remake of the song sweet thang by Shaka Kahn( I think). This is one of the songs that help me relax.

7. P.Y.T-Michael Jackson-You got to have MJ on the list. P.Y.T. stands for pretty young thang, this is an all time classic in my opinion. This song has a nice tempo and was very well produced.

8. Looking For You-Kirk Franklin-This song is a real moral buster. This is one of my favorite gospel songs. Whenever I’m feeling depressed this song always pick me up.

9. BM, JR- Lil Wayne-This is one of the best songs that my favorite artist, of today, has made it off his classic album, “The Carter”. The lyrical flow on this song has a real gangsta appeal; This song just makes you feel tough.

10. Love-Musiq Soulchild-This is my favorite love song. This song is poetic and deep in meaning. It has special meaning for me because I feel it is the ultimate love song.

Entertainment and Society

Why is it that we as a society look up to celebrities on how we should run our lives? Isn’t amazing how we let the media impact the way we operate. It’s only natural to try to put an image on certain situations; I guess this is where entertainment come in.

Celebrities can serve many purposes but their main duty is to entertain. Unfortunately they seem to dictate what’s right and wrong in society. This can be good or bad; it depends on whether or not you consider 50 cent or Brittany Spears as a good role model. Sometimes as a society we need a little guidance but, are celebrities the navigators that we desperately seek? The lives of celebrities can provided examples of good, bad, and ugly situations. The actions from these different situations may help the viewer in some way shape or form. For example rapper 50 cent was shot because of actions related to drug dealing. This may cause a young teen to avoid drugs.

Entertainment can be considered a reflection of culture. It is the way we as of society express our views of the time. Often what we view as entertainment might be ahead of our time or used to raise the bar. One good example of this would be the television series Sex in the City. This show was influential because it viewed single women as powerful and independent which is not usually how society feels about a single ambitious women.

We are in an ever changing society in the age of cell phones and laptop computers. Due to new technological developments the internet has become a rather important aspect of entertainment. Being able to access just about anything at anytime reflects on the up-tempo style of society, especially for us overworked Americans.

Our different sources of entertainment and how we react to them reflect our innovating society. We relate to our entertainment because it brings up important issues and can provide incentive for advancement socially and spiritually.

Until Its Gone

Wow!! Isn’t it amazing how we take things for granted? The prize possessions in our lives could be taken away at any moment. Most importantly, it is amazing how we take someone else for granted. We miss them most when they are gone. We never realize how good we have it until we have to fill the void.

A person can only put up with so much before they decide enough is enough. More often than not these people are not realizing what they are doing and don’t know how to themselves from hurting someone they love. When they are gone it seems that the damage caused is not repairable.

For the person that leaves the situation a whole new world is open to them. This is a world of freedom, independence, and responsibility. This can be a huge obstacle for someone with no support system backing them up nevertheless, it is a situation that can cause a person to grow and mature. This is a plus if the person wasn’t able to do so in his/her previous situation.

What is it that makes us take things for granted? What makes us not appreciate something until it’s gone? Why do we assume that nothing is wrong even if there are signs of trouble? Most importantly, why are some of us so stubborn to believe that it won’t happen to us. Also many believe that it is the other persons own insecurities that caused them to leave. Many believe that none of their own actions caused the situation.

In my opinion there is only one way to cure this problem and it is to be thankful for everything and treat people (and objects) with respect. When it comes to people, if they decide to go their own way continue to provide support, comfort, and understanding even if you don’t want to.

In today’s society there are countless ways to meet your future wife or husband. When it comes to finding your soul mate some people have great success, others end up with broken hearts, and some are content with being bachelors and bacheloretts. I was fortunate to find someone who I would like to spend the rest of my life with so I guess some would say that I’m lucky and others would say that I’m a fool. Well, who care about what society will think as long as I’m happy right?

In Sasha Cagen’s article People Like Us: The Quirkyalones Cagen says, “For the quirkyalone, there is no patience for dating just for the sake of not being alone” (Cagen 293). This is exactly how I felt before I met my current girlfriend of 3 ½ years. To me it makes no sense to just be dating just to have something to do or because everyone else has a girlfriend. At the time I was 15 and was a sophomore in high school, so if you haven’t noticed how beautiful girls look by now you were considered gay. The people I hung around were jumping from girl to girl and this was the norm for many others. I couldn’t do that, it may have been because of my high expectations or because of all the drama you see surrounding those relationships.

Now that I’m 18 not much has changed, but I guess it’s the way of the world. Teen pregnancy is increasing along with a 50 percent divorce rates are these signs of the society needing to step back and take things slower. If you’re single you usually don’t have to worry about these problems but society makes it hard for those who are single, well the single women. It’s weird how men can be single and have one night stands but if a women does it she’s a hoe. Well I guess it’s human nature, even in biblical days men had more that one wife. I don’t think its right but who am I to judge another person anyway.

This whole romance thing is a confusing and suspenseful subject. It is also a subject that isn’t discussed enough we just let it run its own course. I’m just glad that I’m in a stable situation, or am I?

Tarnation!!!!!!!!!

Well this movie was extremly shocking and overwhelming mainly because of the manner in which it was viewed. This was my initial reaction to the movie. Now that I have the chance to reflect I can understand the events of the movie a little better.

Troughout the movie two characters seemed very disturbed. Jonathan's mother Renee had some serious psychological problems. Renee had shock treatments starting when she was younger around the age of 12. The treatments must have caused some kind of emotional imbalance in Renee's brain seeing that she began treatments during the beginning of puberty. Also as Renee got older she experimented with some drugs such as marijuana laced with PCP. Renee has also encountered being raped and other situations that may result in some kind of emotional backlash. All of these situations can help account for Renee's behavior.

Another character that I feel was disturbed was Jonathan. First off Jonathan witnessed his mother being raped and was place in foster care at an early age. Being away from his mother and the torment of his foster parents can account for some of his emotional instability. When Jonathan was twelve he smoked marijuana laced with PCP and wasn't the same since. Jonathan had trouble concentrating and said that he felt as if his life was a dream. Jonathan was also homosexual and didn't seem to be hiding his feelings about it. Not much was shown on how sexual status effected those around him but I assume that he recieved criticism from his peers.

In my opinion it is amazing how Jonathan and Renee turned out as well as they did although, some would say that they didn't turn out well at all. Taking into account all that they have been through it is very fortunate that they did not become violent even though Jonathan showed signs of being suicidal. In many instances in which drugs are involved brain damage occurs and voilence is evident. Also many children put into foster care are disrespected and violated causing the victim to show similar behavior.

The movie was very creative. Jonathan was able to vent his emotions and experiences in a film that was not traditional in any sence. Filming must have been Jonathan's safeguaurd aganst the pressures of society and torments of his past. This film would be excellent to show to psycology majors because different emotions and experiences shown in this movie. It would help them look past the norm and think outside the box.

My views and comments on the movie Tarnation.

Real Talk

Yesterday was Father's Day and fathers across the nation were paid tribute to by their children, wives, friends, neighbors, and anyone who felt that it was important. I'm not a father but one day I would like to experience fatherhood. I could only imagine how wonderful it would be to raise something I helped create.

Father's Day turned out to be more controversial since many fathers tend to leave their families for any number of reasons. While I was at work I listened to a radio segment called Real Talk featuring Hot 102.7 DJ Spudd. The topic of course was Father's Day. Well, you can't talk about fathers without mentioning all the deadbeat, no good fathers out there but this was not the purpose of the segment. Instead Spudd had a guest speaker, a minester, speaking on the important duties of a father and how men are losing site of what's really important. He said that men are the protectors and that we are to provide a positive example of how to be productive in society.

To be totally honest men are not handling there business as fathers or husbands. Ther is no excuse for not taking care of your children. Even if the baby momma is a total bitch.

Not all men are fuckups, there are some out there that take care of their kids I applaud you for this because your child needs you. Just remember that you are doing something that you are supposed to do anyway.

Men it's time to step up to the plate and handle our responsiblilities maturly and don't let society dictate your actions

Everyone has their own traditions that they share with their families, friends, or even themselves. Some sports players have their own special traditions they perform before games. Some families go out to eat every Friday. Well my friends and I have traditions that we share.

Every time I go over Junior’s house (my friend) we play a military video game. This is something that we do every time I go over his house. He is currently pursuing a military career and I would like to but have different career plans.

Another tradition I share with my friends is that on Friday or Saturday nights we meet up at Chyene Park. We just hang out there, you know talk, argue, and talk to girls. These are some of the traditions that I share with my friends.

These actions are considered to be traditions to us because they aren’t always planed but every time we get together we do these things. It would be considered to be a routine if there was no spontaneous about our actions.

This tradition just allows us to enjoy each others company while we still can. When we get older we may not be able to hang out like this because of jobs, families, etc.

Everyone has their own definition or description of what a tradition is, to my friends and I these event are a tradition that we share.

A social network is considered to be a combination of online and face to face communities (Andrew Leonard pg.170). Everyone has their own unique social networks catered to their own personal needs consisting of different communities. I consider my immediate social network to include my family, best friends, friends, coworkers, basketball buddies, Myspace associates, and acquaintances.

My different interests help me to identify the different communities that make up my social network. My family is almost mandatory because they are “blood” although everyone I consider to be family aren’t blood relatives. I connect with them because we give each other support and criticism, along with comfort and stability. My best friends (also known as my inner circle) are people that share the same role as my family but aren’t blood relatives or in laws. I tend to talk to them more about a given situation more than my family because they have traits and goals similar to mine, so it is easy to connect with them and give them feed back. Friends are usually people that I relate to but don’t come into contact with for various reasons (work, location, etc), but usually share the same traits as my inner circle. My basketball buddies are people that share the love of basketball that I have. Coworkers share my interest to make money and work hard to achieve what ever you want, although some of my coworkers I consider to be family. Myspace associates and acquaintances are people I talk to just to get different views on life and different topics.

All of the communities in my social network share one or more of some basic qualities. These qualities may include hard working, athletic, kind hearted, generous, ambitious, religious, optimistic, empathetic, sympathetic, and many other qualities ( we aren’t going to mention the bad ones). These are qualities that I feel I want to be surrounded with and will make a positive impact on my life.

Mapping your social connections to each community in your social network can help you understand or perceive what your social identity is. I feel that all of the connections I share with my social communities help identify what kind of person I am and what others may think of me because of the people I am associated with.

8 Mile

This movie is basically a chapter of the struggles Detroit rapper, Eminem, has encountered on his road to superstardom. The movie was basically set in the time period of the early 90's before Eminem became the rap icon he is today.

Most of the movie was shot in Detroit so you would think that it gave a pretty good look on how Detroit is. The movie was dark in scenery showing abandoned warehouses and vacant buildings. It did not show signs of a thriving city. There was no sunny days showed in the movie and the neighborhood's look like slums. All of Detroit does not look like this but these are the images that set the tone of the movie.

The actors and the extras in the backround depicted lower class workers and thugs. Although many of these extras worked in factories you didn't see businessmen. Detroit is an industrial city so this is true but not completely accurate. There are workers outside of the industrial sector of Detroit, but this wasn't shown for any number of reasons.

The overall view of the neighboorhoods were slums. Detroit was depicted as a ghetto city with ruthless violence occuring for no reason. Detroit isn't exactly like what was shown in the movie.

Hollywood's version of Detroit in 8 Mile can only bring about bad stereotypes. Detroit isn't the cleanest or safest city in the world but it isn't the worst in these categories either.