You are short a few blogs, but what you have is insightful. Best to you in your educational future! I hope that your credits transfer!

Blog 10: Jesus is my homeboy

1. 1.There are two major differences in the articles. One looks at the clothing from a business point of view, while the other looks at the religious view. To me some Christian accessories or t-shirts are fine with people just trying to show their faith and make people aware of what they believe. The shirts with “Jesus Is My Homeboy” I think is completely different with people trying to be more fashionable then raise awareness of Christian beliefs. The lines in the first article which states how people are making and selling these shirts to not miss out on sales worries me. I believe that merchandise made in Christ image should firstly glorify Christ, which this doesn’t, and secondly the money made from this should go to glorifying Christ. As a Christian I am all for people making it aware what they believe and trying to raise opportunities to share the gospel but I don’t think this glorifies God. But if it is Christians who are wearing these shirts, and it is raising questions about Christ and making people more aware of what Jesus has done then these shirts are working for a good purpose. I just don’t think this is a great way of doing it, and it is not showing Jesus’ image with the glory that he deserves.

2. 2. Paul Mitchell states that “What I was doing…was what Christians have tried to do for centuries-make some kind of outward sign of their inner conversion, to show the world that yes, I’m different.” The fact that he states this and how he used to wear Christian shirts with Christian messages on, and then goes on to state that Christianity is not a brand seems a little hypocritical. I do agree that there is definitely a difference between what was being addressed on his shirts and the ones being made now. But we live in a different time and if it these shirts that brings awareness to Christ then it is doing the same thing. I personally don’t believe shirts are going to have a great impact on people, it think it is more down to how people live their lives, and that will always have a much greater outward impact then any slogan on a shirt.

3. 3. I think that loosing the image makes a huge difference to the rhetoric. I think it would actually become more “Christian” in people’s eyes and less cool. I think it is the images that gets the general public thinking these are cool and funny, but I don’t think they would feel the same way just walking around with “Jesus is my homeboy” in writing. It becomes more of a statement of belief without the image. It would be interesting to see how the shirts sold if the image was taken away!

4. 4. I interpret the shirts as a symbol of fashion not as faith. They are trying to be hip and funny, they are not trying to glorify God or bring awareness to what Jesus has done for us. I think the image shows this most; they are trying to be funny and cool not promote the characteristics of Christ. Also the first article sums it up for me, talking about these shirts with more of a business view rather than an evangelical approach. I don’t mind a person wearing shirts or anything that shows the character of God or Christ, for example shirts with Bible verses. But I also think more needs to be done to break down the barrier of Christians seeming to be boring and un-cool, so maybe this is the way. I would personally like to see more Christians live their lives to highlight their beliefs, I think that can be done without being boring, and it brings a lot more glory to God.

Blog 8: Album. Never Spoken

1. Song: For Richer For Poorer

Genre: Ballad

This song focuses on the sad growing rate of divorce. It uses the vows from marriage to emphasize what marriage is supposed to mean. It also raises the issues of children caught in the middle of marriage break ups.

Song: What Happened to Winners

Genre: Rock

This song looks at the growing use of steroids in sport and how it has destroyed people’s view of winning almost assuming in some cases that steroids have been used. Fair nature great performance is now questioned before being accepted and rewarded.

Song: Freedom the reason

Genre: Rap (story kind)

People view going to war as unjust and unnecessary and sending troops there to die not acceptable. This song focuses on the freedom and liberty war can bring and the heroes who die to bring that liberty to a dying world.

Song: An unquestioned killing

Genre: Pop

This song is about abortion and how it can occur without anyone knowing, but the woman having the abortion. This song focuses on what abortion is really doing, and how it should be prevented. The song takes a strong stance against abortion trying to open people’s minds and make people really think about what they believe.

Song: The Dark Side of the Road

Genre: Rock

This song looks at road rage and all the common misjudgments made by drivers. It talks about cell phone use whist driving to drunk drivers. It discusses the tragedies found on the road and the consequences of people’s unfortunate driving.

2. Song lyrics of For Richer For Poorer

For richer For Poorer, For better and for worse,

These were the vows you’ve forgotten to rehearse,

The years of fellow bliss, are now becoming this

Pain and destruction, lives broken, conflict becoming open.

A child becomes afraid to live with all the pain,

Of a world becoming blue and life being torn in two.

These vows now never spoken, because too often broken

Shattered at the seams, families no longer see

Happiness all together pushing forward to make life better.

3. Title: Never Spoken

4: Album cover: My album cover would be a golden ring with the vows made at weddings inscribed on it melting away on a black canvas. The font of the album would be posh calligraphy like found on wedding invitations. The title would be in the top left and bands name in the bottom right. The font would be white to stand out against the black background. The cover would be fairly simple because it is just a ring melting but at the same time it is powerful and presents a strong point.

Your blog responses look great, Matt! Just make sure not to miss any because these are worth a significant portion of your grade.

Blog 5 - Time to ban steroids for good

1. From the video, Truth about Steroids, it is clear that steroids can be used by grown men with great effect on their body and how they view themselves. I personally am against the use of steroids and what they promote. I see them as a way of cheating yourself and the people round you. Whether they can be taken responsibly is down to the person taking them, generally the men taking these drugs are obsessed with their physique and will do anything to be bigger faster and stronger. If they begin to abuse steroids and take them in obscene amount then they will start to have health problems. Like any drugs if you abuse them they will damage and hurt you eventually. But what is abusing steroids? Some argue just taking them is abusing steroids, clearly from this video that may not be true but is it worth taking the risk? Yes it may be fine for a lot of people but there will always be people it does affect and cause harm to. It also sends out a horrible message to children growing up, that when they grow up it is perfectly fine to take steroids. You can make cases for drugs like cannabis and marijuana to be good when they are used to aid pain or for medical reasons but most people see them as illegal and bad. This should be the same with steroids, in certain cases the case can be made that they are needed medically but if not they should be viewed like other drugs; illegal and not worth the risk

2. The Texas State Senate Bill 8 shows how bad the situation has got with high school children now using steroids in school sports. The video stated how steroids could be fine for the fully grown man but these are school children! How are they even getting their hands on these products? I believe that the children taking these drugs come from 2 areas; pressure from parents or coaches, or the negative view professional sport has given them. What these kids don't realise is how much they are cheating themselves as much as anyone else. It will eventually become a burden on what they achieve. Will there still be the same sense of achievement or will they view the drugs as the reason they succeed? We are currently in a time where drug scandals are prominent in professional sports. Rarely do you even see remorse from the athlete who has taken drugs and been caught. Sport should be based on integrity and trust, but abuse of drugs by sportsman in sports such as baseball and track and field has caused people to loose that trust. Professional sport should be; elite athletes who have trained hard competing against each other on a level playing field completely free from steroids. If you're not good enough, don't seek steroids for that extra improvement, find something that you are better at. It really saddens me that this is such a huge topic in sport and in society. The world would be a better place without steroids in sport and in life.

My opinion on the points raised in the article, "Georgetown Students Bristle At New Restrictions on Parties", is that something had to be done to sort out the uncontrolled parties which end up disturbing the community but done in the correct way. Students should be allowed to enjoy themselves but it should not be at the expense of people around them. Kinze states how parties are now ending up in neighbours back yards which is something the University and officers want to crack down on. The need for "15 to 20 officers" as Kinze states also shows the need for change and how the parties are probably starting to get out of hand. They must find a way to calm these parties down without taking away the students rights to have fun. Comments such as "We would prefer that the college kids control their own actions . . . but if they can't or they won't, we'll lock them up," from 2nd District Cmdr. Andy Solberg seem to be a bit forceful and patronising. To call 19- low 20 year old students "kids" will not get a possitive reaction frim the students. There needs to be more cooporation with the students then just threats of change and punishment. Of course if a party becomes to out of hand there is certainly a time and place when officers are needed to sort it out but it should not be the first form of action.

Blog 4 - Are you toying me!?

The difference in opinion between Harrison Pope's: Evolving Ideal of the male Body as Seen Through Action Toys and Kim Franke-Folstad's: Big Biceps are Not a Big Deal.

1.The first argument is discussing how action figures can have an effect on how a person sees their body later in life. It makes the claim that most men are not happy with their body and don't believe they are muscular enough and that this idea might come from the toys they played with as children. Starts off by talking about common body image disorders and the common perceptions of what causes them. He then goes on to his method of trying to find a correlation between toy figures and male perception of their bodies. The writer uses images of toys GI Joe and Star wars action figures to show how toys have evolved into figures with abnormal bodybuilder type physiques. He does state in his discussion that these claims need to be studied further to find out whether trends of toys really affect how men view themselves.

The second argument argues how the points raised in the first argument are "silly, foolish and ugly." Franke-Folstad makes the connection between the article about male action figures and the common perception of Barbie and their image. Franke-Folstad argues that they are just toys and that kids see them more as super hero action figures than actual human beings they want to be like.

2. The first argument is laid out as a research paper with; an introduction, the method, the result and a discussion. Pope draws in many of others ideas in the introduction which he later discusses later. "Another form of body image disturbance is body dysmophic disorder (Phillips, 1991, 1997; Hollander, Cohen & Simeon, 1993)." The use of quoting names and publications adds integrity to the article. This gives the article good ethos and lots of validity despite the points he wants to raise. There are 28 references for his article and shows that he has made thorough research to justify his points.

However, the second argument is laid out as an article you might find n a newspaper or magazine. Just looking at the article in its form with 3 columns and short paragraphs to make his points, you as the reader, give it less credibility just on what it looks like. You can immediately tell it's a report based only on one persons view without the research that can be found Pope's argument. The article is pathos motivated with an emotional tone. You get the idea of outrage of the author from reading Pope's article; "And it now turns out good old G.I Joe has been subject to the sae silly poking and probing." His use of words "foolish and silly," show that he is trying to talk more to peoples emotion than intellect.

3. I agree with Franke-Folstad that saying toys affect how men look at their appearance is a bit far fetched. However I completely agree with the idea that what people see in the media and are surrounded by each day is causing people to question there physical appearance. The media has created the image of beauty through celebrities and super models, which people now judge their self against. Toys being an influence of men's appearance may be bit more farfetched. It may be more relevant with females and barbie dolls, girls when younger are more likely to be thinking about what they look like and what they want to be like when they are older. I didn't really have any action figure toys so maybe I don't have the best view of the situation but I can say for sure that toys would not be a reason I question my muscular appearance.