Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Why Pinterest/Tumblr Can at Times be Poison. Like Snakes' Venom and Stuff.


  • A misleading photo that has been consistently shared/pinned/etc on blog sites, FB, and other such places the past few weeks.
    Let me be another.




    This picture is flawed. Looking at the lists of both successful people and unsuccessful people, the right side claims watching TV everyday is something that unsuccessful people do and on the right it indicates successful people keep a to-do list. A lot of successful people watch the news. News on TV is still considered TV. One can have a to-do list and not accomplish anything on it, therefore, it wouldn't matter that you have the list. Also, this seems to be based on one person's definition of success and not apply to an individual's own definition of success. Success is subjective; this is misleading information and degrading to the varying degrees of success. 

    I could nitpick more, but I think my point is finely demonstrated with one example from each side.

    Also, some of these ideas seem to be characteristics of the conventional idea of nice, highly-liked people versus mean, disagreeable people. Although these characteristics may apply to business-owning etiquette, it seems elementary.  
    (Maybe some people need that type of reminder, I guess). 

    So, I Googled this woman. I found that it is, of course, based on one woman's idea of success. Success at owning a business, entrepreneurship and as a CEO. 

    "Her mission is to give every CEO, Entrepreneur and Business Person the facts and essential tools for running a PROFITABLE business."- maryellentribby.com

    In short, this picture only applies to the population of business owners, but nowhere on this picture does it indicate that. It displays how obnoxious sites in which images like this are shared and reposted over and over...and over.. and over again. 

    The unfortunately gullible people should beware of such posts as this, especially those searching for 'self-help' type advice.
  • I think this could be a decent type of picture to share if some changes were made.

Monday, May 27, 2013

What a Hippopotamus Sounds Like

Let me reiterate

We too live in a universe everywhere strangely similar to the original-- here things are duplicated by their own scenario. But this double does not mean, as in folklore, the imminence of death-- they are already purged of death, and are even better than in life; more smiling, more authentic, in light of their model, like the faces in funeral parlors.

Manipulation by an authority or form of higher power than ourselves encourages false, yet positive interpretations of negative stimuli?


The Animals in There.
By clicking the above link you affirm that overstimulation of the temporal lobe in your brain will not be an issue. 
That indicates that the video is loud at times. 

This video follows a child's journey through Como Zoo in St. Paul, Minnesota. I captured his reaction to different sights and also the ambient noise of the zoo. He describes where he is, where the animals live (in the zoo and their natural environment), and what types of animals he sees.  He also spends time playing with some toys that are representative of animals. He set them up as if they were living amongst one another in harmony. (This may be due to his love for The Lion King, during which the animals of the Sahara, etc come together without conflict to see the presentation of a king lion's cub).  He indicated to me that they do not fight, but some of them eat each other.  

I added animals' noises found on YouTube.


Left photo: face meets glass; Right photo: face and glass part ways
These photos were taken at the Minnesota Zoo


Zoos. For many reasons some people reject their establishments. "Why do we cage them, they are meant to be free." "It is unnatural." Well, they are correct in stating that it is unnatural to keep animals confined. Of course we must also consider that being fed by humans for their entire lives may render it difficult to actually survive in 'the wild.' Many animals are group/herd-type animals and are confined to live with just a couple others of their kind. 

Children. How do they perceive zoos? Do they believe that the environments that are constructed for the animals in zoos are reflective of what a natural habitat looks like? Many enjoy being able to see them up close and in a safe environment. Some may ask similar questions such as 'Why are they in cages?' Zoos at a glance are targeted towards attracting and holding the attention of children. Couples and friends can be spotted walking around, but typically it's families looking through the glass and over the fences. 
Many staff are available to serve as informational resources for visitors. It is as if the guides convey information found in research conducted by scientists and use the animals in the enclosures as evidence. 
In the shark and fish tanks, feedings are able to be viewed. Why do they not have live shows in which the lioness tackles and eats a zebra? Some children are led to believe they are wild animals that may be tamed, not as pets, but definitely enough to live under the care of a human.  Why is the lion's indoor closure made of concrete embellished with hanging toys and large toy balls? What does the natural habitat of a lion look like? It certainly does not resemble the rolling plains of the Midwest

The real versus the simulated. 



You may also enjoy this video:

This video makes me particularly happy.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Let me just get this off my chest.

I have been meaning to say this for a while.

Here are some photos.





Saturday,









Saturday.




Thursday, May 9, 2013

Pizzazz and Sparkle, Baby

Liberating Liberace. How clever.

What a swell man, embodying a prime example of secrets and denial. 





This is my favorite depiction of Liberace. Watch the whole clip on YouTube.



Here is an image that his fans may be more fond of.

Reading through his many, many biographies I found it difficult to find papers that critiqued his performances. Many may discuss the court case against London newspapers regarding the publication that discussed his sexual orientation. I concluded that Liberace fits well within the conformist attitude prevalent during the 1950’s quite well despite his uncommon flashy style, pizzazz, and efforts to give the world a ‘trademark’ image; he conforms to the attitude of changing the self in order to please the public.

In relation to my current reading of Simulations by Jean Baudrillard, Liberace profusely demonstrates putting a simulated, untrue you compared to the real self.
One may question, "How does one know the true self?" I think in Liberace's case its a bit shallow in the sense of this comparison to the self (his self) and projected self (his stage presence). He has one engagement to a woman that lasts two years, but it called off. Betty White in a 2011 interview claims she served as his 'beard.' Everyone has a different way of living their lives and different standards of doing so, but denial is also a prevalent action when someone's career and fame are at stake. 

He is a borderline drag queen and a role model to Elton John. Many specualated he denied accusations of being gay to avoid losing his largest fan base of middle-aged women.  

Liberace's, Scott Thorson (professional title to Liberace: personal friend and companion), sued Liberace after he was fired following the London trails. Scott was thought to be his shack-up buddy of 5 years. Liberace funded his clothing and plastic surgery. There is a new film, Behind the Candelbra, based on a novel about their relationship.

Tragically he died of AIDS, which at the time was incorrectly thought to be most prevalent in homosexual men.