TV On the Web

Who has time nowadays to watch their favorite television show on tv during its alotted time slot? Sitting in front of the TV on a school night while the homework keeps piling up just doesn't seem possible to me anymore. On primetime on Thursdays, Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, and Ugly betty are on, three of my favorite shows. The time I get back to school after rehersal to getting to bed at a healthy time is only 4 hours. If I watched all three of the TV shows, that would only leave an hour for work, so watching TV is just not practical. As everyone in the world gets busier and busier, television shows are trying to get their shows viewed as much as possible. And thanks to technology today they have many different venues to get more hits than they would on TV.

Though as a fan of the TV shows I greatly appreciate being able to catch up on my shows online, the cable companies are not as happy. They are afraid that now primetime shows are becoming available online for free, they won't find the need for cable anymore. I think that they shouldn't worry about this though because though many people do watch their shows online, there are still avid fans who make sure that they get their shows watched. And this would be bad for those who do not have internet and miss their shows. Getting rid of the online community of fans would be a mistake that would make views drop drastically. Lets just hope that the cable companies don't do anything too crazy anytime soon. There would be a lot of frustration coming from many people who don't get their weekly fix of primetime drama. Thats for sure.

Technology Addiction

This past weekend, my friends and I were asked to sing at a benefit concert, and naturally we were all excited for this opportunity. The gig was downtown, and our teacher told us that we had to provide our own transportation there. Basically the farther we drove away from home, with only our sheet of directions to guide us, we began to feel more and more insecure. Somewhere along the way, we had followed the directions wrong and ended up in some random part of town. We called our teacher freaking out and he very calmly told us to start heading south on the street we were on. That sounded easy enough. The only problem? We had no idea which direction south was. 

It was then that I realized how dependent we are on technology now. The only way we would made it on time to the concert without help from our teacher would be with a GPS system. We had no sense or direction at all. After I got home, my mom told me the key to directions in Chicago that she thought everyone knew.

That the lake is to the east.

Had we know that information, we would have gotten there 40 minutes earlier. Though technology has given us many opportunities, it has taken a lot from us as well. We have been so used to holding technology's hand that it is hard for us to off on our own, and this is something that should be changed.

Bipolar Weather

One day, its 60 degrees out and we are walking around with just a sweatshirt on. The next day, we walk outside. There's snow. What is going on with our weather?! If anyone doubted we were having global warming issues, they should now. This constantly changing weather is definetly not a sign of a stable global status. So what is it exactly that we can do?

Here are some tips to help with our enviornment:

Just remember the three R's

Reduce

We can reduce the energy we are using by turning off the lights when we are out of the house.

Cut down from a 20 minute shower to a 15 minute shower.

Unplug some major appliances in your house when going on long vacations.

Reuse

Use that extra unwanted paper as scratch paper instead of grabbing a fresh sheet of computer paper.

Reuse plastic bags from grocery stores.

Recycle

You can recycle: papers, plastics, old cell phones, old printer cartriges, water bottles.

Recycling all of these items can help reduce the amount of garbage that piles on our planet, and reduces the amount of resources that we use.

Hopefully more of the world will try harder to work together and get our planet healthy again!

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Just this summer, the Olympic Stadium in Beijing, China was packed with athletes and fans from all over the world. Just from my television, miles away, I could feel the drive the athletes had as they tried to win over the medal for their country. And I could feel the pride the fans had as they cheered on their athletes. It was a magical place this summer, a place that everyone had their eyes on. But now that the crowd is gone, and the cameras are put away, what is to become of the stadium? Well lets just say that the only medals that are given out in this stadium are the ones from the stadium's overpriced gift shop. In order to keep up with the $8.8 million dollar upkeep of the bird's nest, there are plans to turn the stadium into a shopping, entertainment, and tourist center. 

Its funny how things change like that. One moment your on the top of the chain, and the next you fall all the way to the bottom. But I guess we see this pattern in life constantly. Like, your 15 minutes of fame, the fall of the Roman Empire, and the exile of Napoleon from France. Its too bad that life works that way, that no one can always have what they want. But maybe that is life's way of helping us out. I mean, as people, were never really fully satisfied unless we are rising up in some way. With out this rise and fall of life, I don't think anyone would ever really be happy. So, thanks life.

Motion of the Ocean

      Well we've all been through it before. One moment, your just lounging out on the deck, and staring out onto the horizon as the boat's bow glides through the crashing waves. The next, it hits you. Your head starts spinning. You need to lay down. Your stomach feels queasy and your overcome with the desire to have your feet firmly planted on solid ground. You gotta love motion sickness.

Over winter break, my family and I went snorkeling in Key West, Florida. And don't get me wrong, being able to swim above sea turtles and actually see the variety of fish under water was probably one of the most freeing experience ever. The trip would have been perfect had it not been for my 22 year old cousin who was curled up like a baby in the corner of the boat. About 10 minutes into the boat ride, he had felt the sea sickness settle in, but I didn't know how to help him. So I decided to look up a couple different ways to minimize motion sickness and here's what I got:

1. When the brain interprets movement, it matches with what our eyes see. If our eyes see movement as we are feeling it, you'll feel fine. So when your on a boat, look into the distance to see the motion that you're feeling.

2. Always sit facing forwards towards the direction that you are moving.

3. Don't read.

4. Don't eat food that generally don't agree with your stomach before your board the ship.

5. Don't talk to others who are have motion sickness, it may make you feel worse.

Well hopefully these tips will help you the next time you feel the motion sickness monster creeping up on you. Sail on!

Deck the Halls

We were walking out of a nursing home and had just finished singing our set of Christmas carols and other songs meant to spread some holiday cheer. A worker at the nursing home had told us that our performance had probably made their whole holiday season. And although I felt good about being able to brighten up someones day, I couldn't help but wonder why seeing our performance alone would make up their whole year. Why were we the ones making their holiday season instead of their family? Why were they sitting in that room by themselves, watching us perform, instead of being at home?

I know that many people are unable to care for their aging parents due to medical issues that are too difficult to monitor, and money issues. And I know that putting your parents into nursing homes isn't uncommon in America. But personally, I don't think its a proper way to care for the ones you love. Parents are they ones who raise you, ones who care for you when your sick, who feed you when your hungry, and always love you. So why do we find it okay to just throw them into a nursing home to become someone else's business when they grow old? Why can't we show them the same kind of support they showed us?

I understand that some people don't have any choice but to put their parents in a nursing home. But for those who don't have to, I think that they should find a way to take care for their parents themselves. Don't leave the responsibility of brightening up your parents' days to total strangers.

Pirates of....Somalia?

When people hear the word pirate, I'm pretty sure the same goes through everyone's mind. It reminds them of sword fighting, hooked hands, cannons going off, and buried treasure. They are the image of people who existed long ago. But now their back, wreaking havoc out on the open sea.  Piracy is growing because of the lack of protection  in the waters; they can easily seize a boat, obtain all the ships goods, and get off scot free. Just this year there have been 39 ships hijacked, mostly in the Gulf of Aden. But now different countries are trying to help. The Indian Navy recently sank a suspected Somalian mother ship in the Gulf of Aden, a ship that is used as a mobile base for these bands of pirates out at sea.

At first I was just surprised of the fact that there were still pirates out there. But now I just find it interesting not that they are still around, but how they have evolved. If all the movies that have represented piracy in the past are in the least bit accurate, then piracy has really changed. The firing of cannons, the glorious sword fights, and the image of pirates swinging on ropes to hop on board their opposing ship have been replaced. The sword fighting and the need for close up combat have been diminished due to the advancement in ammunition. Now people battling it out at sea will no longer see an iron cannon ball flying their way, but they will see grenades and other explosives being thrown their way. This advancement in weapons has also had the same effect on the evolution of land wars too. What used to be courageous and glorifying face to face combat of the past has now turned into the a cowardly fight where all one has to do is pull a trigger to ruin a life.