Road to the Show

As one can tell from my recent blog post, I very much enjoy video games, especially sports games. Recently, my buddies just got MLB16:The Show, the Show series is my favorite video game series of all time. I like it, because it is about the best sport ever, baseball, and I am pretty good at the game. However, I have beef with the game right now. The game has a game mode called Road to the Show, in this mode you create your own player and try to work him through the minor leagues to the big leagues. I started mine and created myself, this game mode is sweet, you can make your player look however you want, I gave my guy some saucy flow and sweet cleats. Anyways, I get drafted in the 1st round, 15th pick and then begin my season. I start off the season on a terror and at the all-star break I'm hitting .505. with 51 bombs and 135 RBI's. I know what you are thinking "well, whats the problem, Michael?" Well let me tell you what the dang problem is, I'm still in double A! I don't know what a guy has to do to get called up, but I sure as heck can't do much more than I am. Anyways, this game is really sweet and will accept any willing challengers.

Greys Anatomy

I have been watching Grey's Anatomy lately and all I can say is WOW. First of all, I guess it is a "girly" show, but whatever I don't care. I am at the beginning of Season 9, which means I just saw the plane crash. The plane crash rocked my world when my two favorite characters die, because of it. Lexi Grey, Meredith's sister gets smashed under parts of the plane and eventually dies, breaking my heart. I was in love with Lexi, she was my favorite girl character on the show. Following this it got even worse, Mark Sloan died of chest bleeding or something along those lines, I was too upset to even listen. Mark Sloan was my favorite character on the show, he was just a stud, all the ladies wanted him and he was a good guy. So as you can tell, Grey's Anatomy really slapped me in the face the past few episodes. I had to take a break from watching it, because I need time to get over Mark and Lexi's deaths.

Week 13

1. Turn My Swag On-Soulja Boy. This song represents me, because Soulja boy is the man and when listening to this song, I just feel sweet.

2. It Wasn't Me-Shaggy. I picked this one, because it is a very funny song, not because I cheat on my girlfriend. It shows that I like to goof around and have fun.

3. Batter Up-Mike Stud. I like this song, because it is by my favorite artist and it is about my favorite sport, baseball.

4. It Goes Down in the DM-Yo Gotti. I picked this one, because it shows that I am pretty addicted to my twitter and cell phone in general.

 5. Mind Reader-Dustin Lynch. I picked this one, because it shows I like a lot of different types of songs, rather than just all rap type songs.

6. Love Yourself- J Biebs. I picked this one, because this song is exactly how I feel about people that act this way. The should go and "love" themselves.

7. Watching You- Rodney Atkins. I picked this one, because ever since I was little, I have been looking up to my Dad and brother. Those two have really helped make me into who I am today.

8. Meet My Mom- New Boyz. I picked this one, because if I really want to date a girl, she will meet my mom. If my mom doesn't approve, then shes gone...My grandma has to approve too.

9. Boys of Fall-Kenny Chesney. I picked this one, because it is a very emotional song. High School football was some of the best times of my life, I will never forget all the memories. Actually, it is very hard for me to listen to this song without wanting to cry.

10. Any song with a dance to it. If you know me, you know I love dancing, maybe a little too much. My dance of choice is crank that by Soulja boy, but don't sleep on my whip and nae nae. I think this just shows I am not a very serious person at all, I love to joke around and have fun.

Week 12

1. I want to learn how to communicate with all different types of people. I want to learn this skill, because I believe it is a necessary skill to have in the future especially in the work force.  It is necessary to be able to communicate with people without offending them.

2. I want to learn how write professionally. In the future, a person must be able to write professionally in order to establish creditability for themselves.

3. I want to learn how to defend my beliefs. I want to learn this skill and along with this, I want to learn how to properly listen to other people's beliefs.

4. I want to learn how to properly manage time. I feel time management is a skill everyone needs to have, because it will make their life more organized and relax them and allow them to maximize their time.

5. I want to develop more as a complete person. I want to learn about things I normally would not learn about. I want to get out of my comfort zone and explore things that I normally would not. 

Hitchcock's Style

After reading through the group blog posts and comparing them, I have concluded that Hitchcock's style was kind of before his time. He put scenes and other things in his films that were considered risky or inappropriate. For example, He showed women getting very drunk and acting what would be considered inappropriate. Along with this, he used many different camera angles and filming techniques that had not been seen before. He also found ways around certain rules of filming. For example, a kiss could only be 3 seconds in films at that time, but Hitchcock broke it up by switching camera focuses. Overall, Hitchcock was the beginning of a new type of filmmaker and opened up many doors for future filmmakers.

Group Blog

The laws then forced the scenes where there was a kiss to be broken up into very short segments because in the 1960's kisses could not be longer than 3 seconds in length. Along with this, Hitchcock films featured certain details that would be considered inappropriate for that time period. For example, Alicia would be considered very inappropriate during that time period, girls were expected to be very refined and proper, but she was not like girls of this period. She frequently got drunk and put herself out there in many ways with men.

Throughout the whole movie T.R. Devlin, from falling in love, is trying to crack down on the Nazis hiding uranium. The feud between Nazi Germany and the United States was a very big historical event and in this movie it is portrayed very well. During World War Two the United States was always trying to bring down Nazi Germany. In Notorious the U.S. Government is after the Nazis and they use Alicia Huberman as a spy.

T.R. Devlin was just the one part of the movie while in the end him saving the girl from getting poisoned and almost killed. The movie just shows how different of a director Hitchcock was from other directors back then. Hitchcock uses historical context many times in the film one of them is the when they kiss they only do it for three seconds, another is when T.R. Devlin was saving her at the end while whispering to the butler about trying to kill her.

Alfred Hitchcock uses his camera movement and frame position repeatedly to show the major themes in Notorious, such as mistrust and betrayal. By doing this, he is relating the audience to the characters in the film. By having the kiss in the film broken up into shorter kisses may not have been Hitchcock’s idea, in the 1960’s a kiss could not last longer than three seconds.  

http://www.austinchronicle.com/calendar/film/2000-08-22/140601/

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Notorious.aspx

http://whitecitycinema.com/2012/05/14/devlin-in-a-blu-dress/

Presidential Candidates

I was never a person big into politics, but recently my friend Dallas and I have been following the presidential candidate race very closely. I find myself becoming very interested in the race and each of the candidates stances on certain issues. In particular, I have been following the Republican race very closely, because I identify as a republican, however; I will not limit myself to just voting for republicans. I personally feel political parties a big problem and should be eliminated, so people vote for their favorite candidate, not just the party. I have not decided who I am voting for, personally I feel all the candidates have their flaws, I look forward to watching more and better informing myself.

High School Vs. College

Dear High School Senior,

One big difference between high school and college as stated in chapter one is, college work requires new kinds of motivation and self discipline. This means that as a new college student you must realize that college is not going to be a cakewalk like high school may have been. Personally, I never studied once in high school and breezed through, but I learned rather quickly that this was not going to work in college. In college, the more you study the better results you will see most times, sometimes you just have an off day and that's okay. Another big difference is that variation is most dramatic in the first year. In college, every teacher teaches in their own way, for example one teacher may do everything online, while other teachers may do everything on paper. Along with this, some teachers don't believe in homework so you may only get a midterm, a final, and maybe a few assignments that's it. Just be aware of how each teacher teaches and when your assignments are due. One big difference I have found between high school and college is that the distractions are much greater in college. In the dorms, there is always someone wanting to go somewhere or do something and for me it is hard to say no to people, so I have realize how much homework I have to do and do that instead. Another difference I found is the overall way you live. You are away from home for the first time and are forced to do things on your own that normally were done for you. The hardest adjustment for me was eating properly, with my parents feeding me it was hard to adjust to feeding myself.

I think we create illusions and myths about college, because we really have no idea what college will be like. This kind of lying is helpful, because it offers us a form of comfort in a situation that we will most likely be uncomfortable in. Along with this, these myths make us feel more in control and sometimes offer a confidence. These lies sometimes backfire, but they give a student time to adjust to the brand new situation they are in.

NBA Debate

LeBron James or Steph Curry? Which one of these two are the best in the NBA? My friend Dallas and I have this debate quite frequently. He is a big LeBron fan, so he argues that LeBron is the best, while I argue that Steph is the best. Steph Curry is the best player in the NBA, simply because he cannot be stopped with the ball in his hands. Steph is probably the greatest shooter to ever play the game of basketball. He does things night in and night out that are jaw dropping. However, I can see the argument that LeBron is the best player as well. LeBron is so big and versatile he is tough to stop going to the rim, however his shooting ability is nowhere near Steph's. LeBron is definitely a better defender than Steph and can fill a stat line. However,  I firmly believe that Steph Curry is the most impactful player in the NBA, which makes him the best player in the league.  

My Biggest Regret

Personally, I like to think I don't have too many regrets, because I am the type of person who will take chances. However, my biggest regret up to this point in my life is waiting until my senior year to play football. I never really had the desire to play football, mainly because I played in 5th and 6th grade and hated it so I quit right after that. After some encouragement from a friend and a desire to not go to basketball conditioning in the fall anymore, I went out for football. I loved every minute of football, it really changed my life. I finally got to experience what it was like to play under the lights Friday nights instead of just being in the stands. I am positive that not very many things will compare to the feeling of scoring a touchdown, getting an interception, or playing for the football team in a "football town." I think this kind of follows the pattern of regrets seen in the video, because I didn't play due to nerves and fear. I am not sure if this really relates to the course theme of lies and deception, except maybe I was lying to myself when I said I hated football, because I realize that I really do love it now. That is my biggest regret.

Lying

- When she says that lying is a cooperative act, she means that a lie is just words. The lie does not actually become a lie until someone chooses to believe it. I agree with her on this point, because if there is no one there to believe your lie it really does not mean anything. She says that lying is a way of connecting what we wish we were to what we are, she means that we lie to make ourselves seem to be the perfect person or more of the person we want to be perceived as.

-I agree with truth #2, because if you told everyone the truth about everything, for example, you tell someone you actually don't like their shoes, that is hurtful for no reason. If you do not tell these little white lies that cause no harm, you are going to be viewed as a mean person in the eyes of others.

-One technique used to spot lying, is noticing the person will start using formal language. For example, a person uses did not instead of didn't. Another technique is body language, liars freeze their upper body and use too much eye contact. I think it is good to be aware of these techniques, however I think it may be bad to focus on these techniques too much. If you become to good at telling when people are lying, you will get hurt a lot more and have a hard time trusting someone.

-I think honesty is worth preserving, because honest relationships are the best kind of relationships. Honesty is integrity without honesty in our culture the world would be more of a mess than it already is. I think in order to preserve honesty in our culture it has to start from the top down, politicians are some of the most dishonest people, so if they begin being honest everyone will.

Favorite TV Series

I am going to talk a little bit about my favorite TV series on Netflix. My favorite Netflix series, although I have many is definitely Friday Night Lights. Friday Night Lights is a series about a high school football crazy town named Dillon, Texas. The Dillon Panthers are everything in the small town of Dillon, they are always contenders for the state title. This show is especially good, because it shows all the drama around the lives of the players, coaches and their families. This show is an emotional rollercoaster. I'm not really proud of this, but I have watched all 5 seasons 3 times. My personal favorite character on the show is Tim Riggins. Tim Riggins is a stud to say the least, all the girls want him and he is a talented football player. However, some of Tim's life choices aren't the greatest, but I don't judge. I don't want to spoil the show for those of you who may not of seen it, so that's all I will say, I highly recommend watching it.

Baseball

I am very excited around this time, because baseball officially starts tomorrow! I am really excited to get after it and get started with the guys. We were picked to finish 9th in the conference and our team is not too happy about it, but it's okay it will just give us more to prove. I hope the weather is very nice and not cold, because baseball is much more fun when its warm. It is very weird not playing football or basketball anymore, but I'm really enjoying focusing just on baseball. I will never get tired of baseball, I love playing and watching baseball.

Ad's

The first advertisement about iPhone is intended for the audience of all potential iPhone customers to persuade them that iPhone is the best cell phone. For example, at the end the ad says "If it's not an iPhone, then it's not an iPhone." This is toward people who do not use iPhone.

The second advertisement about the Samsung Smart TV is intended all audiences, maybe more so men. The use of an attractive female in an advertisement is a classic way to gain an audiences attention, especially men. The comedy in the commercial is what will draw in all audiences.

The third advertisement about Mercedes draws in on all audiences. The commercial really grabs your attention when you see a young child sneaking out of the house and wondering around the city. Anyone with a family would really be drawn to this commercial, because they will imagine their child doing that.

We should be critical of intended audience, because we should be aware of what information something is trying to get out and who that information is directed toward. Along with this, we have to be aware of all people and that nothing said in advertisements will offend anyone.

Google Drive

I am going write a little bit about one of the great inventions, I personally have experienced. Google Drive, this technology is breakthrough and is an absolute life saver when it comes to school. For example, I spilled water on my laptop awhile back and now it messes up and it shuts off occasionally. Thankfully, my beautiful Google Drive will save all my work no matter what. Another great feature of the Drive is the ability to share all your work. Hypothetically, if I wanted to cheat on homework, I would just have someone click share and boom, my homework is done. However, I do not personally condone cheating. In all seriousness, Google Drive is an excellent educational tool and I feel it should be implemented into all schools.

Kickball is Life

As a young child, I loved sports, any kind of sport like; baseball,basketball, wiffle ball, kickball, etc.
This particular childhood memory is going to focus on kickball and I would not say it is my proudest moment. As a child, my grandma would babysit myself, my brother Ryan, and my cousins Becca and Tyler. This particular day my mom did not have to work, so my grandma brought Becca and Tyler over to our house, so we could play our favorite game, kickball. Now, our kickball games were always pretty competitive, so much so, that my mom would always have to give me and Ryan a talk about how it was just a fun game and not to get too competitive. This particular day was a great day for kickball, not a lot of wind and around 70 degrees, so I was ready to go. I was having a great game, in my first three kicks I recorded 2 home runs and a double. They would try to throw the ball at me, but I was dodging it left and right, they could not get me out. Then the drama happened, it was the top of the 6th inning, Tyler and I were up 2 runs with no outs. Ryan kicked a looping line drive just over my head, I turned to run after it and laid out and made a Sports Center Top 10 catch on the ball and I was so pumped, I was fist pumping, and Tyler gave me a chest bump and then it happened. My grandma was all time pitcher and umpire, bless her heart, but she made some calls I did not agree with back then. Grams calls that the ball hit the ground and Ryan was safe at first, and then it started, I was fuming, I threw the ball on the ground and started pleading my case, but Grams was not having any of it. Early in that day, I was watching sports highlights and I saw a video of a baseball coach getting thrown out of the game for kicking dirt on the umpire's shoes, now I didn't have any dirt, so I decided to improvise. I reached down, grabbed a chunk of grass and hurled it at my grandma, now luckily none of it hit her, but my mom was furious, she sent me inside and let me hear it. Later that day, I found out the Tyler and I ended up losing the game, because of my getting tossed from the game. Thankfully, my grandma forgave me just like she always does, and I learned the lesson to never throw grass at your grandma during a kickball game, because you will get tossed.    

I was not sure what I want to free write about, so I'm just going to talk about something impressive about me. Something that is very important to me is PlayStation. I am pretty talented in PlayStation, especially Madden. I know this, because my friends and I play multiplayer seasons all the time and we have completed three seasons, of which I have won the Super Bowl in all three. Now I am not one to brag, but three Super Bowls is an impressive feat, it is almost unheard of for a team to win back to back Super Bowls, but my team won three, it's unbelievable. We are in the midst of our fourth season right now and I'd be lying if I said I didn't want this fourth Super Bowl. If I somehow pull out this fourth championship, it would really solidify me as an all time great. Along with this, it would be great publicity for Defiance College to have a 4-time Super Bowl champ attend school here. I am going to win this one not just for my own greatness, but I am going to win it for all of Yellow Jacket nation.  

My Night in Jail

I looked around after waking from a deep sleep and had no recollection of how I ended up in the smelly, old, worn down jail cell. The holding cell was big, it was filled with just me and a few other men, some of who looked like they had been here before. I scanned the cell looking for a familiar face and I saw a man who looked familiar, but I was not sure where I had seen him. My jeans were rattling, so I began to feel around in my pockets. First, I pulled out this crinkled up bracelet, which appeared to be from a bar, which triggered my memory that I was going out with my buddy Tyler that night to some bars. Following this, I took my cell phone out of my pocket and saw it was locked out for 3 hours and had some fresh cracks in it. I then pulled out a tube of slightly used cake batter chapstick, which made sense, because I never go anywhere without chapstick. Following this, I found a crinkled up napkin with a sloppily written phone number on it, this reminded me that I had meant a really cute girl that I hit it off with. Lastly, I found a wadded up tissue that was covered in fresh blood, after seeing this I began to feel around on my face and found this big bandage above my eye, that was covering a gash in my eyebrow. After seeing this it all came together, I remember I was in a bar flirting with that girl and she neglected to tell me she had a boyfriend, and he was there. The boyfriend came up to me and started swinging, which began the bar fight, all I remember is getting a few good punches in and then it all goes black. Finally, I call my buddy Tyler and ask him what happened, to which he responds with "duuuuuuuude that dude beat the crap out of you, like I don't think you hit him once bro" and thats how I ended up in jail, a bar fight.