Veterans Day- no school

A day of no school was exactly what I needed on this Wednesday. Today was a day of recovery and sleep. I really enjoyed being able to be extremely lazy. My daily horoscope that is dead center on my iGoogle said “You may be on edge today, yet you cannot pin your free-floating anxiety on any one thing. Instead of letting go of your concerns, you might attempt to exert additional control over your immediate environment, but this isn't a very wise strategy now. The tighter you hold the reins on reality, the more unpleasant surprises you will encounter. Yielding to external circumstances can temporarily alleviate the building pressures and smooth your ruffled feathers.” Sometimes I don’t know if my horoscope even relates or applies, but most of the time it is depending on my mood and the kind of day that I am having. I was really glad that my best friend Josh was able to come over and play music today. We dedicated many songs today for the classic artists that have changed the way music is played and the type of music that we cherish today. We played many covers today, including some great Led Zeppelin songs that sounded amazing. The only missing part to our band is a bass guitar player and the most important piece to the puzzle – the singer(s).

On top of the covers we played today, the songs that we create are by far the most original yet, complex and excellent pieces that we play. We read each other so well because our transitions with his musical memory that collides with my memory- we create the most beautiful sounds my ears have ever heard. I am blown away of both of our talents and capabilities after each and every song. This is my love and passion. I am in awe because of how easy it comes for us; it is incredible how easy we make it look. Although music does not pay and it is very expensive to run a band operation, it is something that many people in this world sacrifice to do something they love, which is playing music. And in the end, some find great success with their band and become legends in for their people in their generation. If I knew for a fact I would be financially stable for the rest of my life and I could play music, as well as run a variety of businesses, I would do it without thinking twice. I really hope a part of my life is dedicated to creating and performing great music for people. The musical realm is everything I love because the way that the sounds that combine perfectly with the rhythm of the drum beat- there is nothing greater. I have had many opportunities to go back stage as well as be on stage with the band from Huntington Beach, The Dirty Heads. I really value this experience that I had with this band because it really gave me a good idea of what it would be like if we were a band. I was able to put myself in the drummer’s shoes and pretend that I was playing in front of the crowd that was singing every word that Dirty J was spitting. I am so stoked I am homies with these funny ass dudes that get their shit done, my hats go of to them.

XBOX 360’s Project NATAL

Project NATAL on XBOX 360

$

The past week my mind has been racing about how much technology has improved and advanced in video game systems with each new year. This last summer a new proposal by Microsoft included the new launch to their addition to the latest video game console, the XBOX 360. I myself have a XBOX 360, yet I rarely use it because I have no time to while school is in session. Nevertheless, Natal is a new type of technology that is smaller than a ruler that connects to the top or bottom of your television, as well as an additional Natal hard drive. This new invention allows you to be your own controller because the sensors pick up every single movement that you make. IT IS INSANE! It can tell your emotions, who you are, and voice recognition. It is so futuristic it scares me.

Project Natal, a revolutionary new way to play: no controller required. See a ball? Kick it, hit it, trap it or catch it. If you know how to move your hands, shake your hips or speak you and your friends can jump into the fun -- the only experience needed is life experience. At the Executive's Club of Chicago According to, Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer revealed this new invention in a speech that a new XBOX 360 would be hitting store shelves in 2010. I am sure when this initially comes out it is going to be really expensive.

“The new device will be equipped with technology that is "really, really, close" to an actuality. The console, which was described as having a "natural interface," will have a built in camera with the ability to recognize movement and voice.” – Steve Ballmer

It’s a totally new way to play; it recognizes every move you make because you are the controller. For example, it allows you to switch gears and steer with your hands, while another player changes the tire while having to do every motion in order to allow the sensor to scan the motion that needs to be captured. My favorite feature is that the sensor can scan an item such as a skateboard and you can save that into your hard drive and skate with it in the game. A very cool attraction for women is that you can shop online while it scans your body, you can pick out an outfit and turn around to see what it looks like from all angles without actually having to try it on because that is impossible over the internet. There are so many great family interacting games such as a family trivia game that has voice recognition and online capabilities where you can play other families around the nation! It is really something else. The most complex feature of Natal is program that follows a young boy named Milo who looks at you and can feel your emotions and talk to you like a real person. I would definitely check this out online, especially if you already have an XBOX 360 because this game will be well worth the purchase when it eventually releases to the public. Here is two different YouTUBE links check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oACt9R9z37U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxU_T7C4Ils&NR=1

Mandatory Blog Entry # 3

Vivvan C. Adair is the author of the text entitled “The Missing Story of Ourselves: Poor Women, Power and the Politics of Feminist Representation." This is both a photographic and a narrative exhibit that portrays what poverty, pregnancy, and struggles through education look like from the representation of strong single women who have overcame the lowest of lows as mothers.

The first story was very moving because it describes amazing images and sets the setting for the rest of the story of a woman with an eight-month-old daughter who woke up in misery at a shelter for tattered women; to a bus that led her to a welfare office and into classes at North Seattle Community College and eventually dedicated her self into University of Washington. Remarkably, she completed her PH.D while being a post-doctoral instructor at U of W and was hired as a professor at Hamilton College. Set up an “ACCESS Project” that was very important because it was an opportunity for her to get involved with “at risk” programs that she so desperately needed when she was struggling with a baby and missing teeth. This project at “Hamilton College is an educational, social service, and career program that assists profoundly low-income, single parents in central New York” is a program that helped her and others around her in a city that desperately needs a program to help them move from welfare and low-wage labor to rewarding and invulnerable career employment through achieving education. She goes onto argue against the stereotypes of women and how doctors, lawyers, educators, etc., and stigmas of welfare women having babies (a common theme amongst her audience and dispelling it). The second paragraph on page 8 was a very important paragraph because it provides negative feedback towards projects such as the “ACCES Project”. “Wade Horn, the Bush administration’s “Fatherhood CZAR” insists that we should not encourage education, since recipients have “failed in the past” (Ohlemacher 2007). I was really astonished that Wade Horn would insist that the Bush administration did not encourage education, especially after hearing a story like this one at the beginning of Adair’s essay. Logos appears many times through this piece because she incorporates very understandable logic and reasoning within the stories and examples in her essay. Adair also combined the use of ethos and pathos throughout her text as well.

In Ancient Rhetorics Chapter 5, Aristotle is once again is premised as an example as an experienced rhetorician who displays this notion through logical proof. A rhetorical example, or according to “Aristotle’s paradeigma (“model”) is any particular that can be fitted under the heading of a class and that represents the distinguishing features of that class (p.171). Other historical examples, both brief and extended, relates to Adair’s text because it describes the oppositions to the Bush Administration and other representations of Congress in America. Analogy was a main term that “describes a rhetor places one hypothetical example beside another for the purposes of comparison”(p.177). In other words, the simpler the analogy is, then the simpler the job is for the rhetor. A quick and easy example of this would be that the rhetor would compare two or more things/events. Similar and Contrary examples are exemplified by Quintilian distinguished these by comparing two like instances, “simile” and “contraries” (p.180). Something that might be related to Adair’s piece because she might have used this notion derived from historical rhetorics such as Aristotle or Quintilian by demonstrating “maxims”. “Maxims are wise saying or proverbs that are generally accepted by the rhetoricians’s community” (p. 182). In Adair’s piece, she uses many wise sayings and or proverbs that are generally accepted by the rhetorician’s community. An example of this in her piece could be the information that was drawn from history such as statistics on things such as “welfare leavers” on page 4. She states, “50 to 75 percent of welfare leavers remain poor two to three years after leaving welfare” (Adair 5). This essay continually gains more credibility throughout each additional paragraph by portraying the low-income; student parents that present what poverty and resistance would actually look like, with additional historical facts to back it all up. The Ancient Rhetorics text also describes the importance of signs and how physical facts or real events that inevitably or usually accompany some other state of affairs are important because this can be very effective in an argument for the same reason that examples are effective. According to Crowlee and Hawhee, “Arguments from sign appeal to the daily experiences that we share with members of our audience. By relating this to Adair’s essay, I was able to understand how she used sign appeal to display and relate these arguments with her audience. This is the very reason why she analyzed these “stories” about poor women and welfare produced in contemporary political/public rhetoric and imagery, to ultimately indentify a circuit of bodies that are represented and understood to mesh with dominant ideology. Because ultimately, her main purpose in her argument is to disrupt this force of power that she continually describes in her essay, because the end result in redirecting the policy would have a much greater impact on poor women and children throughout America today.

BLOG THURSDAY Applying Kairos 11-5-09

Applying Kairos in my writing will require me to focus my attention to my audience first and foremost. The state of mind that involves traits such as emotional and ideological are important to consider when considering the state of mind an audience carries. Secondly, Rhetor(ethos) is important to build because I need to gain credibility with my audience by including principal points that arise because of the issue I am working with. Learning more about the history of divorce is definitely something to look into although divorce has existed throughout almost most of it. Yet, it is interesting to not that many people were put to death if they divorced their spouse. In many cases, divorce was never seen as acceptable, but today it has increased to a level where divorce is very common. The urgency of divorce is not high because it is a result of people’s own personal problems and choices. The rhetorical situation I will present for my next assignment, which is my Rhetorical Project. The real-world argument that I am preparing for my audience is strictly on divorce and the harm it is doing to our society because of the affects that it has on the innocent ones involved in the situation. There is a great opportunity that would be created if people heard my voice on the issues being discussed on divorce that would inspire positive changes in the world. I am not quite sure what the end result for the argument I am constructing is going to be right now but I am going to find that specific objective after a little more research in order to fulfill my goals for my self and my target audience. Considering that this is a valued controversy in many communities through America, Power Dynamics will be something I need to construct into my Kairos along with Interest, all flowing together at the right time and place with the space that is given in my situation. I need to identify motivation for Rhetor to have interest in the issue at hand so that they can frame it by something that they are interested/ concerned about to spark more issues within the divorce controversy. I believe that believes and values of divorce sway back and forth between what is believed as an ”okay reason to get a divorce” and an “unacceptable reason to get a divorce. I will use Kairos as I create a successful document that I develop very well that demonstrates the issue of divorce carefully and precisely that is suitable for the audience, context, and purpose. Also, I have already began looking through a variety of sources that will be needed in my argument to support my ideas and concerns. However, it is still up in the air of what type of document I am going to create for my Rhetorical Project. I have a few ideas but I am sure it will come to me in the next few days.

Kairos Invention

Because Kairos is not only temporal but also spatial, its exploration can generate questions such as these?

1. Have recent events made the events made the issue urgent right now, or do I need to show its urgency to make it relevant to the present? Will a history of the issue help in this regard?

Recent events have not made this issue on divorce urgent right now, but I need to show some type of urgency to make it relevant to the present. History of the issue will most definitely help in this regard.

2. What arguments seem to be favored by what groups at this time? That is, which communities are making which arguments? How are their interest served by these arguments?

Arguments seem to be favored by children and young adults suffer from divorce at this time because of the issues a divorce brings to a family. Their interest are served by a type of arguments that makes the nation look pathetic and unstable, considering over 50% of marriages result in divorce.

3. What venues give voices to which sides of the issues? Does one group or another seem to be in a better position—a better place—from which to argue? In other words, what are the power dynamics at work now, in this place and in this community? Why?

Venues such as articles, documentaries, papers and organizations that discuss the issue and other types of professions that give power in their voice through their profession such as psychiatrists, counselors, etc.

The power dynamics that is at work now comes from the power dynamics that comes from my own personal experiences with divorce, as well as a great deal of rhetorical work and studies throughout this semester and previous years of my life. It fits into the community because marriage is almost forced by tradition among our culture, however, more than 50% result in divorce and not sticking with their promise, therefore, this brings a major problem within our society.

4. What lines of argument would be appropriate or inappropriate considering the prevailing needs and values of the audience?

Lines within the argument would need to involve appropriate arguments for the issue because many who have not been affected by divorce my not take divorce as a issue that needs to be resolved like other issues that are more serious and URGENT than others. The prevailing needs and values of the audience should be along the lines of appropriate argument that is being considered.

5. What other issues are bound up with discourse about this issue right now, in this place and in this community? Why?

Other issues are tied and bound up with discourse with divorce in this place and in this community because marriage is a way of life for all adults that commit to each other, but it is a problem in this place and in this community because the divorce rate is higher than ever, soon it may become a statistic that over rules marriage if divorce gets out of hand. Marriage would then not be taken seriously or be valued within society. Therefore, that is why it is important to discuss this issue and the other issues that are bound up with divorce in American communities around the nation.

Ancient Rhetors CHAPTER 2 Reflection:

What I got out of the reading was very straightforward with ancient values that give this ancient Greek word enormous importance. The word meaning the right or opportune moment (the supreme moment) is clearly what Kairos means. The ancient Greeks had two words for time chronos and karios. While the former refers to chronological or sequential time, the latter signifies a time in between, a moment of undetermined period of time in which something special happens. What the special something is depends on who is using the word. While chronos is quantitative, kairos has a qualitative nature that is different than anything else that Crowley and Hawhee write about in Ancient Rhetorics: for Contemporary Students.

PART I / INVENTION

Here are some Main Points that I pulled directly from the text:

Kairos and the Rhetorical Situation: Seizing the Moment

44.

*Each rhetorical situation presents its own unique set of challenges. Each occurs in a time and place that can’t be wholly anticipated or replicated. *

“Kairos” suggests a special notion of space and/or time.

ANCIENT DEPICTIONS OF KAIROS

Kairos was so important for ancient thinkers that it became a mythical figure.

KAIROS, CHANGE, AND RHETORICAL SITUATIONS

p.47

Kairos draws attention to the mutuality of rhetoric, to the ever –changing arguments that can be found in connection with a particular issue.

The arguments that can be found in connection with a particular issue.

The available arguments on a given issue change over time because the people who are interested in the issue change—their:

· minds

· beliefs

· ages

· locations

· communities

· and countless other things.

Kairos as a Means of Invention

p.51

Invention- is the art of discovering all of the arguments made available by a given

rhetorical situation.

Other means of invention that we explore in this book are

-stasis theory

-common places

-topics

p.53

Arguments and Interests

What interest might motivate someone to object to?

who makes what arguments and why?

Etc.

P.60

Power Dynamics in a Rhetorical Situation

Kairos should also lead to ask:

Which arguments receive more attention?

Who is making these arguments?

What arguments receive less attention?

Who is making these arguments?

Arguments and Interests

The specific arguments that are currently circulating about a particular issue play an important role in creating Kairos and the rhetorical situation that is pertinent to the reason for the Kairos creation.

A Web of Related Issues

P.62

Kairos is complex so a Rhetor who is attuned must demonstrate awareness of the many values and the differential power dynamics that are involved in any struggle over an issue.

Chreia is a brief saying or action that makes a point.

PHROGYMNASMATA: CHERIA

In Chreia, ancient students moved from composing narratives to amplifying them, sometimes by fleshing out the bare narrative, but more often by adding commentary on famous deeds or expressions.

Proverbs are common sayings that nearly ever member of a culture knows:

“A stitch in time saves nine,” “Haste makes waste,” etc.

These websites helped when following these Web site links

http://www.quotationspage.com/

http://www.bartleby.com/

http://www.brainyquote.com/

http://www.en.thinkexist.com/

MANDATORY BLOG ENTRY # 2

When I was Garbage by Allison Crews is a very moving piece starting from the first sentence. She begins by writing to her audience of a time when she skipped a week of school because she was scared of what other people might think of her because she was so humiliated and sick about the whole situation in the 10^th grade. Crews’ points out what the consequences were in result of missing school, which was a two-week, in-school suspension. Even worse she described how bad the six by twenty foot room was when she was confined to nothing but a boxed-in desk, instead of being at home where she needed to be when she was five weeks pregnant. I couldn’t believe that she was only allowed to go to the bathroom twice daily while being pregnant-that is torture for her and her baby. The symbolism with the “JUST SAY NO” poster that was hanging crookedly on the wall is a perfect representation of what a room that a facility member of a school would put a student who was in trouble for ditching class. It reminded me of my own “sex-education” or “health” class that had multiple posters on the wall with similar sayings and pictures. I also remember facts about sex-education, specifically teen pregnancy and diseases because that was the most serious issue in society in this generation. They probably accepted the commonplace that people who ditch class are more probable to try and abuse drugs and alcohol. This story is an eye-opening experience that Crews went through, being in school and failing with a fetus inside of her belly with sicknesses that bring her to a miserable condition that is unbearable. Crews is really good at describing her situations with precision of exactly what needs to be heard. Her audience feels sympathy as she struggles through school and dealing with her boy friend. With fights and all the other issues that arose in her life, she was having a baby regardless and there was nothing that was going to stop it when she passed the point where she assumed that the baby was going to be aborted, then adopted, then the decision “ I am keeping the baby”. Then before she new it all of the struggles that had haunted her vanished as her water broke and she began to have contractions. After that point, there was no turning back and nothing else mattered for Allison. The ending was very intense as she explained her experience at the hospital when going through the processes of giving birth to her newborn baby. After the labor was over she was blessed with a 24 pound, 8-month-old son that she was able to spend her days at home raising him. It was really meaningful because after all of the negative stereotypes of a pregnant teen mother, after she witnessed her son come into this world she gained a whole new perspective on the situation and matured greatly. Allison Crews was not garbage, she was a mother.

PORTHOLE TO THE PLANET< HALO>

ON the other side of the porthole...

Spawning to life as a blue team member wiith four other teammates, I began my conquest in order to kill as many red enemies as I can. This world is shaped in the form of a ring—a halo to be more precise. Sweeping across the expanse of time and over the breadth of a thousand star systems, the tale of Halo is ultimately one of the human condition. It is a story about the frailty of mankind and their fight for survival against an implacable and unstoppable enemy known as the Covenant. And at the center of it all is the legendary Master Chief, the only thing that stands between humanity and extinction. A green and watery planet just like planet earth that the humans live on, but this planet is filled with the most brutal aliens in the universe. Starting out with a battle rifle and a clip that contains thirty-six bullets, we start social slayer team battle rifles on the Pit level. Picking up extra rounds and more ammunition is always a bonus, especially when you go on long winning and killing streaks—the more bullets, the better.

Swords Rocket Launchers and sniper rifles are the most deadly weapons laying around for use in a variety of different maps. Long before humanity shed its own terrestrial bonds, an ancient race known as the Forerunners had already mastered the heavens. Using their advanced technology they took it upon themselves to protect all life in the galaxy. But when a threat emerged from the blackness beyond our stars, the Forerunners were caught off guard.

The Flood, a parasitic species that propagates by infecting sentient beings, had already infested a variety of worlds within the Milky Way. By the time the Forerunners took action, it was too late; the Flood had already surpassed any efforts at containment.

ne hundred thousand years later, humankind finally turned to the stars. But even after developing the technology of Slipspace travel, which allowed them to colonize distant worlds, they failed to learn from their own primitive nature.

Not long after humans built other worlds to dwell on, they began to war with each other. A powerful governing body known as the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) attempted to quell insurrectionist factions, but there seemed to be nothing that could halt the mounting tide of violence.

It was then that an agency known as the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) commissioned the SPARTAN-II project. This extreme measure sanctioned the abduction of young children who would be genetically engineered into the most advanced super soldiers humanity had ever seen. And for a time, this solution worked flawlessly, the Spartans meted out swift judgment against any who resisted the UNSC.

But in 2525 CE, all of that changed.

It was a victory to worth telling…. A legend that proclaimed victory in an unknown territory… a blue team member that carried his team to triumph, he is the hero, not the enemies… for they lost the war.

My University A ED 295 B Class

In my University A ED 295 B class we have the privilege of being lectured by honored U of A presidents, coaches, and other important people at the UA. Just the other week we had U of A basketball coach, Max Miller lectured to our class and answered any questions that we had. This last Wednesday we had Coach Bill Baker and his film producer from the football program came in to present their lectures. It was a great lecture because they showed two films on U of A football that really got me excited about football. Every time I see a film with music and football I get that intense adrenaline rush that I miss so very much. I used to get so amped back in the day about football, considering it was my life for 7 straight years. Now that I am no longer involved with football, anything that sparks my senses with football really brings me back to the good old days. Coach Baker really got our class to engage in discussion considering they had many great prizes at the end of the class. Every student had to put his or her name on a note card in order for everyone to get an equal chance to win cool UA football prizes. It was really exciting, one of the best days in this class for sure. Another great attribute to the lecture was that they offered and discussed about opening positions for students interested in media production for the team—as well as paid position within the football program. I thought this was really great because I felt like there was nothing to get me involved with football again, it makes me very depressed and bummed that I am not involved with this great sport like I used to be in high school.

The great motivational football film, Let The Games Begin Film was shown to the students, which was a great attention getter because more than half of the class falls asleep ten minuets into the class. After the lecture and films, prizes were distributed to all the students that were drawn out of the pile of flash cards pulled by Coach Miller. Around ten to fifteen prizes were dispersed total, including a grand prize! The grand prize ended up being two tickets to the Arizona versus Washington State game in Tucson. I really wanted these tickets because they said that they were excellent seats, but then again, everyone in the class was crossing their fingers that they would be the lucky winner. Unfortunately, it was not I who was pulled from the hat, nor anyone else in the class that truly deserved it. Ehhh what do you know… of course it is the quiet kid that doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the tickets. I was so disappointed because if I won I would have shot up out of my seat and ran down the aisle of the classroom to claim my prize. Instead, this kid barley raised his hand, almost as if he was scared to profess his name to the coach. I feel sorry for someone who won two great seats to a U of A football game and isn’t excited, honestly, what could be wrong with that kid? Nevertheless, I am sure he will have fun if he decides to go. I really enjoy this class because I learn a lot about the history of the University of Arizona and am entertained everyday bay very interesting people. I definitely recommend this class to anyone who is looking for a easy, interesting, and fun class.

H1N1 Virus Living In My House

I could not believe the news I heard this morning when I drove one of my roommates to school. Ryan said, “Hey so did you hear what they diagnosed Michael with when he went to Campus Health a few days ago?” I responded worriedly, “No, I didn’t is it bad?” Ryan replied, “Ya man, he has the H1N1 virus, he didn’t tell you”. I couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of his mouth as I started to panic. Thoughts quickly rushed to my head, I cant believe after all this time of wondering how common getting the Swine flu is, now my roommate has it, holy shit NOT COOL! I cannot contract this virus because I have to head down to Phoenix tomorrow to go see the dentist and I do not want to get sick right before. Hence, that is why I am sitting at the library with no viruses within twenty-five feet at least. I am wedged in between two bookshelves with the desk pushed up against a window on the fifth floor of the Main Library. This is the best place to go to on campus in my option, free from distractions, has a great view, and I am not around anyone. This is the only way I feel comfortable, especially with all the viruses and diseases that spread like chicken pox for a child that has never gotten them before. Seriously, it scares me just breathing the air in my house because I know the H1N1 virus is in my house, coming out of my roommate mike’s lungs. I talked to him earlier this morning but I was sketchy to him because I didn’t want to talk to him, let alone get near him and breathe in this unwanted flu that deteriorates the mind and body. I quickly prayed a simple prayer, but in a very serious way because I cannot afford to get sick, I need to be healthy. Above all, I need to be healthy for the remaining of this semester fall semester. I don’t mind being sick during breaks when school isn’t a priority; yet, I can’t stand to see my grades slip-especially over a stupid sickness. I have a two midterms and an extremely important essay due on Tuesday. I really need my health, please sickness go away you are not wanted. Not now. The only recommendation that we non-sick lings get from our doctors is to wash your hands, stay away from people that can get you sick, take your vitamins, sleep, and drink plenty of fluids. Well today I am on my “A” game with the antioxidants and vitamins because I don’t ever want to have the Swine flue ever in my lifetime. I have already been checked, which was last semester at Campus Health. I don’t need to go there again, my mentality must be positive in order to let the fear of getting sick go to my head because I can tend to do that from time to time.