Spectacular Historian

I know this is a bizarre post, but something has haunted me the past couple nights.

In my class that I am currently taking called, American/Japanese Memories of WW2, the class is going over the process of remembering and how social memory is constructed. Pearl Harbor is a good example. Right after Pearl Harbor, everyone was up in arms wonder how the heck something as destructive as this could have happened on our shores. Some felt that it was the Roosevelt administration's fault because they were trying to get a "backdoor" into WW2. Since the general public would have never joined such a war of this magnitude just for valor, it made sense that the government let Pearl Harbor take place in order to justify entering "The Great War."

Others, felt that we were just a nation that wasn't ready. We were a "sleeping" nation and need to step up our security. Hence why the Central Intelligence Agency and other things of this nature were born.

Overall, there were many different theories of why this happened. All of these are important because we still to this day do not know how this happened. We need to keep asking questions, not seek after an official apology from Japan like we did in later decades. I mean come on, we are looking for them to apologize for bombing one of our military zones, while we went on to drop the atomic bombs on two places in Japan that were entirely civilian. It doesn't seem fair.

HOWEVER! THIS IS NOT WHAT BOTHERS ME!

As time went on, Pearl Harbor began to get pushed in the back row of our brains. Life went on, other wars happened, so it goes. Yet, Pearl Harbor has not remained something to be studied, it has been made into a part of "Spectacular History."

On Memorial day of 2001, Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor opened up to enormous crowds all over the world, even in Japan where some of the dialog was altered to prevent controversy. Now, most people of this generation have seen Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor and it has shaped their memory of this event. Since the general public are not avid historians, mass media spectacles are all they have to look to for important events such as Pearl Harbor.

What really bothers me is that it appears that Michael Bay has become the common man's historian.

Is that scary to anyone else? Does anyone else feel differently? I know these are just my thoughts, but I wanted to know how you guys feel about this. Let me know!



Michael Bay AKA The Devil

Too Much Time on My Hands

Although this is not a life changing or sincerely thought provoking post, I just want to address the issue that some people are awesome. These people, usually have way too much time on their hands and create something that is truly Awe inspiring. However, they always get overlooked because....well... I don't know why they get overlooked. Yet, on this blog, we will take a look at these geniuses that make America what it is today, creepy and bizarre. Let's have a look see

First Example:
Melanie Coles, 22, loved the 'Where's Waldo?" books so much that she took the character out of the books, and into our hearts. By hearts, I really mean Google Earth. Coles painted a large Waldo on the roof of her apartment so that way people can look for Waldo's friendly face on Google Earth. To me, this is awesome. This is an idea that would only seem to come to you when your the opposite of sober. Yet, she thought about it, took time off of not working, and made her dreams come true. Check out the picture below



Congrats, Melanie.

I will post more examples of people that are awesome in the near future. If you have any examples in awesomeness, post it in the comments. These people need to be seen and heard about. Cause while it's simultaneously depressing and interesting, there is a dash of fun mixed in there and thats what counts. I am a total loser

Baby Baller's

Like most people whom are consious, there are a lot of things in America that perturb me. While things such as Tyler Perry's fame used to be in the forefront of my mind as very disturbing, it is starting to be taken over by the idea of the Brand Name. If you have a tv or have been outside your house in the last 100 years, you will notice that brand names are quite a big deal to the American public. They are important for two reasons. 1) Is that sometimes the more well known brands offer a more quality product. For Example, a pair of "Levi's" jeans may last longer and be made of a more comfortable material than from the "Kurt Duggan's Jean Machine" company. This, to me, is understandable.

The Second reason is that people like brands name because
it makes people feel better about themselves and unconciously gives them a feeling of superiority. To me, this is really depressing. A perfect example of this is Louis Vuitton. While I do not know a member of the Vuitton family and cannot say anything bad about the man himself, his products serve absolutely no purpose what so ever in this world. One of his pursues or handbags, however you spin it, costs about $1,180. I would pray that any normal person would look at this and laugh. However, there are a privileged few whom think it is completely economical to spend that much money on something that holds your wallet, keys, and possible Chihuaha that wears a blue cardigan. I just don't get it.

While this Brand Name thing has always bothered me, I have always pushed it into the back of my mind. Yet, while I was listening to NPR last night, I heard about the newest Brand Name product that was sweeping the nation. Upon hearing this news, I pulled over my car to wait out the oncoming conniption fit that was soon to take place . Bug-a-Boo has released a baby stroller that is $800 dollars. While I know some of you are saying, "Can you put a price on your sweet and precious baby?" I don't know and frankly I don't care if you can because your not doing it for the baby, you are doing it for you. The baby doesn't give a damn if you push it in a padded shopping cart, as long as your not dragging it on the ground. Your doing it so you can have the Brand Name, which carries with it the rewarding experience of momentary envy from people who otherwise would have nothing to do with you because it clear that you make horrible decisions.

Is there any reason for this? Can anyone help me? Please help me understand this!

I Heart Guns

I am not sure how I feel about the news of Charlton Heston's death. It is kind of shocking. I mean he is such a revered actor and Gun Toting badass that I don't really know how to feel. He brought life to the roles that he portrayed on film and probably took the life of many people by encouraging more people to own guns.

What do you guys think?

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can't Lose

Spring Break. We need a break. We all do. College students everywhere just need one week where they can just sit and do nothing. Maybe a bit of drinking. Maybe a main-line a little PCP. You know, guy stuff. Doesn't matter what we do or where we do it. This week is for me.

This is the ideology that surrounds spring break. MTV shows us from Cancun just what college spring break is all about.....Bad Decisions. Any channel, not just MTV, has their own idea of what a real spring break is and they all revolve around poor decision making. While TV and other facets of college life tell us that drinking, sex, and drug use are what making up the bulk of bad decisions made on spring break, that is not entirely true. I have abstained from all of the above, yet have made truly truly bad decisions during this spring break.

During this epoch, I first veered off course when I purchased the ever addicting Rock Band for the Xbox 360 Console. I don't even have an Xbox. Yet, I thought it would be a swell idea to buy this anyway. What makes this worse is that I had a moment of realization amid this temporary insanity. I had the Rock Band in both of my hands, because it is way too large to fit in just one hand, and I looked among my fellow Costco shoppers. Hundreds of people, some can barely meet the sustenance level in their finances, buying food for their families. I saw this, took this in, but still walked out with the game.

After this, I chose to spend some mornings just drinking coffee and watching Kathy Griffin specials. I could go on with how I spend other days but I fear I may be too dismayed to even reminisce about yesterday's sluggish endeavors.

The point is, that you don't have to be an alcoholic, a sex addict, or a coke head to unappreciated the life you have been given. You can do it by being selfish and not spending every waking second showing love to.....well....anyone.

The week is not over...do something that makes someone, anyone, feel loved. Please....also, don't buy Rock Band.

A Meditation on Yogurt

I, Reid Volk, am going tackle a topic that is very difficult. I do know full well that this may turn my friends, family, and possibly my local Yoplait dealer against me. Yet, I do feel like I need to address this issue....so here it goes...

I do not understand why people put Yogurt into their bodies. Notice that I did not say eat or drink. This is because you cannot eat or drink Yogurt, you ingest it.

If you say that you eat yogurt your fooling yourself. While some may make the chewing motion while this stuff is in their mouth, there is nothing to chew. It will say this again because it is something that needs to be repeated...There is nothing to Chew! You might as well try to drink it, but ah Ha! my next point!

You cannot drink this stuff either. It's just a tad too thick. One company tried to market a drinkable yogurt and I was so angry that I held my breath until I passed out. Drinkable yogurt is really just Vitamin D Water, or Dairy Water. Neither of these are comforting to me and that is why I don't buy this filth.

In Essence, you ingest it. In order to do that, one must grab a spoon or a spork (Thank God some people still find this a useful utensil). Then, one must dig into the plastic container to retrieve this "food." Which is a whole other reason not to touch this stuff, how demeaning is it that you have to take a least a half hour to dig into a container, just to enjoy this product. It's homework in a cup and nobody likes homework. Once, you get this stuff out, you then have to put it in your mouth and your mouth has to decide what to do with it.

While a person could just tilt their head back and experience this gelatinous mold slither down their throats, most people prefer to just push it around with their tounge until it is in a position to swallow.

On top of this, what is the point of putting it in your body?

There are very few calories, so you cannot claim your ingesting it just to get some good calories in you. Also, If you claim that your eating it because its a low calorie snack, then your an idiot because while it may be low in calories, its not filling. If its not filling then its not worth eating because then as soon as your done, its like you never ate anything at all. Tylenol is more filling and at least you won't have a headache afterwards from trying to figure out why the hell you ate it in the first place.

Overall, yogurt is filth. There is no reason why anyone should eat it. If you really feel like you must get your yogurt "fix". Then dig your fingers in the container and rub it on your tounge because other than that, yogurt is absolutely worthless.

Worthless

Unadulterated Time, That's All I Ask

I really hate growing old. Not so much for the mushy skin and insatiable urges to get coffee at Macdonald's at all times of day (Seriously, look at an old person at Macdonald's, chances are they have a piping hot cup of coffee)

No, the reason I hate growing old is that friends don't really like to hang out, they like to "meet." It's never, "Come on over, lets eat bugles and watch Outbreak backwards so it looks like the people are getting better" anymore. Growing older reduces it to, "Hey man, I have some time from 12 - 1 tomorrow. Want to grab lunch?"

Grab lunch? I can grab lunch any time of day. Grab lunch means touching food in an abrasive manner, not two people spending valuable time together. Also, I never feel like I want to meet someone if they want to "grab lunch". They are going to eat at that time anyway. I don't want to have to try to steal attention away from your club sandwich. If you really cared about getting together with me, you would say, "Let's hang out and maybe we can fit in a blooming onion at Chilis if time permits."

If you want to see me, see me. Don't include me into your daily schedule. It doesn't show that you care at all. It just says, "hey you mean a lot to me, I am just unwilling to fit you into my schedule."

That's all I have to say about that