True Meaning of Memorial Day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK0T4pVHP28&feature=related

Proud to be An American -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs_6YEs2AqU&feature=related

WW2 Veterans Tribute
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv6StZXsKp8

Veterans Supporting Iraq Mission
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFZMr11faN0

If I die Before you Wake
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkkzNa2nlZI&feature=related

21 gun salute
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvzHsoCXEkY&feature=related

Field trip!~

For this blog, you should report-out your experience at the New York Performing Arts Library. What was hot? What not? Your blog may take the form of a narrative or it may be topical.

A day at the Lincoln Library

It started off with me meeting Jessie,Omar, Daneil and Sabrina and the 33rd street station and we ran into Chris somewhere along the way. We had trouble finding it at first but once i caught glance of the building with the huge CNN sign above it i knew where to go. We met up and had a group picture which was pretty cool, i made a joke to Jason about not doing a pre-maintnance inspection but he wasnt familiar with it so that was awkward lol. After waiting around a while for Justine and Dawshawn to show up my group went in. We checked out the Computers upstairs first.. Im not gonna lie i get bored easily so after a brief skim over what i could find on the web I went over to the book section. Reading books is not something i like to do but after looking over at the titles i my curiousity was sparked and i ran around looking for interesting topics I could use for my final but I didnt find something I could quite tie in well so I ended up looking at what i found interesting in general. I found some books on politics in the media and random stuff that i found of interest. Unfortunately i didnt borrow any books cuz i owe a book to the Nyc public library system since i was like 10... lol.. i have no idea where its at anyway. Our group split up for a bit and i looked at the dvd section and read a book briefly at a area in the library specifically for it.

Research

For my Final project for Eng101 and Mass Media class I am going with the topic of race in the media. More specifically though I will be focusing on the portrayl of minorities in film and the stereotypical representations of them. I will mention the polarization and degree of tokenism in films. Sometimes though I will find that a show will add charecters of minority groups to create this tokenism. I find that sometimes shows or films are just best left alone and to make something politically correct is insulting to my intelligence. I dont really care of if there is a Hispanic or Black charecter what I care about is how they are portrayed if they are in the film. I will also try to incorperate movies like "Blood in Blood Out" and "American History X" in my final. This may bring a twist into what im trying to create so my final is still subject to minor changes but I will not veer off the topic of race.
What I found interesting about "Blood in Blood out" is this sense of brotherhood or "Raza" that the main charecter "Miklo" was yearning for and found while imprisoned. Miklo was a white Mexican ironically and experienced racism from his own countrymen because of his skin tone. Racism is a two way street and sometimes we are caught in the middle of it.
Then you Have "American History X" where the Main charecter Derek is converted into a Neo Nazi after the death of his father at the hands of a black man whom was within a burning house. Derek resents anyone who is not White Protestant and is manipulated and brainwashed by a Neo Nazi named Cameron Alexander who publishes racist progranda and uses Derek to achieve what he could not. Derek lands in jail after a very graphic incident with blacks trying to rob his home. In Prison he learns that racism is just this false fantasy that preachers of hate really dont believe their own sermons. He is ironically saved by a black and his mission is to destroy that which he created in the outside world and to save his brother from going down the same path.
Im also reading Pedagoy of the Opressed so i am still missing the glue to put my little puzzle together but I will present for Louie on the 8th of June so I will be working on it soon enough.

UnCanny!

The Uncanny- that might explain this eary feeling that everything is some how already been seen somewhere else in your life by you. The feeling of dejavu that I seem to constantly experience... sometimes I cannot tell the difference between the past and the future.. its wierd because I can swear I am in the same exact circumstance and doing the same exact movements to the point where I will do something completely out of my norm to feel as if Im not a part of a program. Cell phones these days are so easy to you.. Its sad because even my father can use a pda phone.. something about the designs on technology that make it almost common sense to use. The Uncanny? im not sure.
Then we have the Shadows this big giant bag of trouble stored. The shadow is like these evil monster than we nurture as we hold on to experiences that cause us pain that we rather not deal with, or sometimes cant seem to cope with at the time. The shadow goes from being small and almost harmless to being this animal that just wants to devour those in its path once it is released. People suffer from pyscological disorders because they dont deal with these emotions and let the shadow be the shadow.

Walkathon

https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=295208&lis=0&kntae295208=6CA3222CB73A424D80DD5FEF79219DA4

A vision of Students Today

Today the average student is given a mediocre education at best. To be a successful individual one must struggle for every ounce of education one can get. I can relate with alot of what was mentioned in the video because I would know of professors who dont know students names and whose way of teaching seems irrelevant. Actually alot of it is irrelevant as far as the class im thinking of.. when will be the next time I will be discussing a compositional motif while debating in a court of law or in the medical field. Coming into Laguardia I went through an assembly line as far as the whole choosing my classes part of it. I was one of the lucky one's who got 2 out of 3 classes with good teachers. That third wheel is killing me though... I feel like at the end of the day I walk away with nothing. Im not complaining because im doing badly in the class... actually I way better than I expected but to me its all useless.. ask me 10 minutes after the test what the test was about and I will stare at you with a blank look. Its like filling up a bowl of water that has a hole... take the picture already so it appears full!!! Im taking another class apart from the cluster however and this class I very much enjoy along with the other two belonging to the cluster. So maybye im over complaining.. or mabye im not.. my education is not free.. I nearly lost Life and Limb for it... Literally!!!

Simulation One

Simone was a creation of Hank, a genius who devoted the final days of his life to creating Simulation One. Hank spent so much time creating Simulation one that he actually developed a tumor in his eye that led to his death. Now before dieng however Hank visited Viktor Taransky's a famous directer who was down on his luck because no one seemed to want to work with him. He was abandoned by one of his favorite actresses even after his very desperate attempts to keep her.
Viktor takes Simulation one and transforms it into this phenomenon he renamed Simone. Now at first Simone starts off as a movie actress who can never been seen in public or to any other human for that matter other than via telecommunication. Her celebrity status explodes far greater than what Viktor could have imagined, to the point where she eclipses his name regardless of all the praises she gives him (or gives himself). Simone image is idolized so much that a public appearance is un-avoidable. The depiction of our society is that of gullable fools... they swallow the image of "Simone" to the point where it becomes more true than their own lives. Our society is one driven by the need for the next Idol. Soo sad... Maybe that explain that whole American Idol crap.

Abre Los ojos

"Open your eyes" was a nice variation of this whole theme on alternate realities. I like the idea of being able to continue life after death or at least postpone ones "life and death" until their exists enough medicine and technology to make us "immortal". The main character Cesar apparently had signed a contract that upon his death he would "continue" life in a virtual reality. Something that stands out in the "Matrix", "Human reaction", "Royale" and this film is that as humans none of those who are placed in bliss find peace that should be brought by a created enviroment. In the film "The Matrix", Mr Smith makes reference to a previous version of the matrix that was created and that it was perfect.. yet people could not seem to accept this state of perfectness. Mabye it says something on human beings.. how we are never satisfied even with perfect.. mabye we desire this pain that the world can bring... I think this is true.. Its pain that makes Life worth living and its the contrasts that makes life beautiful. In "Human reaction" John was not satisfied with the reality he was placed in .. his "instincts" let him know what this reality wasnt right.... In "Open your eyes" there is something about human nature that would not allow Cesar to live a perfect life.. after all he was the controller of his dreams but his mind chose to make it a nightmare. In the end like the the Matrix all the charecters exist this virtual reality upon their realization that they we not in what is "real" whatever that means. Who knows mabye they just escaped from one virtual reality to another... after all how would they know any different. Who is to say that we arent all part of some sick sadistic story.... We all have that "Heroes Journey " experience in our lives.

My day 2day

damm im tired.. lol

Did a 4 mile run to help support lung cancer research Central park... wayyyyyy more ppl than I expected there were over 11,000 participants in the event... yours truley started with Number 3766 and Passed a couple hundred people but the beginning was slow.. it was like trying to get out of the city using the holland tunnel on a weekend. Over all it was pretty cool and after the run we got a bagel/apple and water oh and I got this pretty cool t-shirt thing too.. lol yep so now im off to posting my assignment(4 Louie) and then a nice long Nap....Oh and one more thing.. I really want to do the AIG New York City Marathon last year... I missed out on it last year because I found out about it too late...

103 Research Project

Well im still a little undecisive on what exactly it is I want to do for the project. As for the presentation though, I would like to speak to the class in a way other than reading a piece of paper like if I was filibustering in congress so im leaning towards writing a paper and doing powerpoint to go along with it. The topic is still too broad in my mind though I know I want to do something on the Topic of race but im not sure where im going with it. At the same time I dont want to kill the topic since im already doing race for the other class. So here is a sketch of my possible topics and ideas

Race in the News Media

• the ethnic background of news anchors
• the ratio of white to minority newscasters

Race in Movies

• the portrayl of Hispanics in movies
• the portrayl of Asians, Blacks, and other minority groups
• the stereotype for each of these
• language used to describe a minority or even a white person in these films and how it affects our outlook conciously or unconciously

Another way im thinking about it is.. mabye in a more modern way.. if you will...

Mabye asking the Question why is it that everything must be politically correct these days. Why must a show always have some kind of minority group represented, why cant it just be what it is... something a classmate brought up to my attention (i forgot exactly who I think it was Saquaya) but they said that in the show "Boy meets world" there was not a black person until they introduced a black girlfriend to one of the charecters. Now was this later adding of this charecter to be politcally correct.. personally i never really payed attention that the show was all white.. i watched it for what it was.. entertaining and funny. Even in my experiences from the Army.. during Ceronmonies and important events they kind of all ways wanted to be politcally correct and would make sure to include a minority group in the mix just about everytime... I know this because out of a company of 80+ ppl their were only like 5 spanish ppl yet the Guide-arm bearer was none other than yours truley, the person before me was a mix and looked spanish and the person i passed the torched to was Black. The other companies followed the same kind of formula because if you look at us during ceramonies of the batallion or brigade just by the Guide-arm bearers you would assume that their were alot more minorities than their actually were.. so mabye we are doing this politically correct thing a little too much.

I dont know Im even thinking about the portrayl of Food for certain groups.. lol

One thing im considering is why is it that Taco bell is marketed so heavily as "authentic mexican food" lol its not in anyway mexican....

Im a little excited about this event on April 19th in Central park its basically a 4 mile run to help support lung cancer research. To participate a 25$ entry fee is required and their are cash prizes for top runners in the race, broken down by age categories. Personally I'm doing it just for the fun of it and if anyone would like further information on it you can visit their website
http://runasone.com/ and just click on the runasone tab

Time and Place: April 19, 2009, Central Park, 72nd Street Transverse
4-Mile RUN [scored]: 9:00 a.m.
1.3-mile health WALK [non-scored]: 9:20 a.m.

hope to see some of you there

Similarties

The Royal

The similarities between the Matrix and The Royale that I observed is that both stories are about an alternate reality. The characters in the book the Royal play out their story but they aren't complete robots because when the crew of three first got there they were able to respond to their questions which had nothing to do with the story (the yellow guys remark about them not having DNA or being real). Another similarity I found more clearly in Royal is the topic of race. The Leaders were white men; the lower ranks were played by a black man and a weird looking dark alien looking guy.

Farscape: "The Human Reaction"

Human reaction is similar to the matrix in that they also include a fake reality. The matrix is controlled by a CPU which plays out a life for the people hooked up to it, the same is with John and his thoughts being read and controlled to create a reality for him. The Matrix and the "real world" are only a phone call away weirdly similar to "Human reaction" in where they were only a worm hole away. One thing that stood out to me in Far Escape is that the Alien which created this reality from a book didn't understand human beings and Agent smith talked about how the original matrix that was created for humans also failed to satisfy human being because it was too perfect, I'm not saying that royal was perfect at all but I think human beings are almost impossible to satisfy.


But overall what I walk away from these episodes with the impression that reality isn’t necessarily black and white. It goes back to the question of Morpheus from the Matrix.. “What is real, How do we define real?” the charecters in the “Royale” weren’t limited to the writing of the book itself as they responded to questions from the crew that the scenario they were in didn’t necessarily fit. How does the Crew know that even their lives and their existence is real? What if they are a part of another book without them knowing (I don’t know much about Star Trek) but what if their constant wandering around is written in some kind of sick book.. lol

Then you got Farescape where John believes he is going back to earth but at what point had things stopped being real and turn into this artificial world of his thoughts. Are not our thoughts what make things real? How does John even know that he even figured out the truth.. Maybe his finding out about the aliens and the whole ending isn’t true… maybe its level one if you will… So overall I made a little bit of a circle since the beginning of the semester… its like that saying goes the more you know less you know.

The matrix may be the hold that this so called free America (first world country) has on its population. It may or may not begin with the government, its not limited to the government. In the society of the matrix(movie) it is their ambition that brought them to create this artificial intelligence that led to their downfall, maybe we aren't far from it. In this capitalistic society we are driven by greed and quick gratification and this may be our fall into the Matrix if we are not already in it.

The matrix isn't necessarily about technology's hold on our modern society but technology may be a way of facilitating this matrix. I believe the matrix is more about a state of mind where a person is willingly ignorant or desires to be ignorant to their reality. I think of Cypher who betrays Morpheus and his group because he couldn't handle the harsh reality he faced and chose a promise for a life in ignorance that the matrix would provide for him. Mabye this whole blue and red pill concept isn't a one time deal, mabye this pill is something that we choose to take on a daily basis in our lives. Those who control the matrix are those who can provide the society with there daily hit of blue pill if you will. So who are our Morpheus's ? Are they our college professors ? mabye our religious figures either way you cannot find out who they are if you don't have the will to look and question your environment in search for these answers like Neo did.

ABout me

Hi my name is Mario Hernandez Im 22 years old, I came to the New York City at the age of one. I was discharged from the Army under honerable conditions after completing my active duty time. I served in Operation Iraqi Freedom with the 3rd infantry division/3rd brigade for fifteen months.Being in Iraq was a whole mess of feelings and experiences for myself. It was the hardest and most challenging time in my life to date but overall I value it as a great experience and I do not regret it. Given the choice I would do it over again because I met some of the greatest human beings this nation has to offer.Im majoring in liberal arts to get my gpa up to get into the Rn program. Its a great feeling to be back in a civilian classroom enviroment and have basic freedoms ii had taken for granted. I find myself having mixed feelings because I miss my buddies in the military and returning to New york city wasn't as grand because people I knew are either gone or are no longer the same person. Its a new beggining for me in a sense.

Interests

1) Politics: enjoy playing devils advocate and debating policies.
2) Religion: learning about peoples beliefs, traditions and perspectives on why we are here and where are we going.
3) Science: Evolution vs Creation, I will not blindly accept either sides theories.
4) Sports a good ole game of baseball is quite relaxing, I also enjoy running for no particular reason.
5) Computer gaming: Im not a huge fan at all of computer gaming or gaming in general but I love playing Counter Strike and a good ole blocky graphics game of Super Mario 3 !!
6) History: learning about the past helps us predict and avoid the future.

hey

well whats up =] what is there to say.... this is my first semester in college im 22 years old. I enjoy all kinds of music except pop but ocassionaly i find myself getting some of it stuck to my head. Im looking forward to a new beggining and a great college experience.