5 Friends Vote

"I vote because I fell in love, and I wanted to matter."
- Neil Patrick Harris


We cannot deny the effect that the media has on us. Whether it's watching an advertisement on television, briefly pausing to glance at a poster while walking on the streets or hearing the DJ talk about something on the radio, in one way or another, we are bound to be affected by them.

Let's refer to the above video. The video was created as a series of public service announcements to encourage the youth of America to vote. The non-partisan PSAs, produced by DiCaprios Appian Way, were created to engage and inspire young people to vote and participate in the upcoming election.

The clear use of the media to send a message out to the masses can be seen from the video. Well, all of us (especially the younger generation) are somewhat influenced by the celebrities we idolize or admire. Imagine seeing your favourite actor/actress on television smiling and persuading you to buy a certain product. A good example would be those skin care and make up ads you frequently see on television; wouldn't you be at least a little swayed by the celebrity in the advertisement's good skin into wanting to purchase that particular brand of skincare endorsed?

In this video, the media is used to create awareness for the importance of voting for the youth of America. Instead of simply airing this PSA on television, the makers decided to put it up for free viewing on YouTube instead. Why? Well, it's pretty obvious how much time youths spend online nowadays. I daresay, they may even spend more time online than sleeping. To most of the youths of America, the Internet is probably their main source of media and are greatly influenced by things they see or read about online. Thus, it was a smart move to air the video on the Internet.

The tactic that the makers of the video went for was really smart. In addition to using celebrities as their spokespeople, they went for 'reverse psychology' instead of the traditional "Please do this - do that" preachy method which probably serves to bore most people.


"Don't Vote. It's Ridiculous! You don't care, I don't care."

"I'm voting because when I was growing up, my father told me that if you don't vote, then you have to shut up."
- Will Smith

In a way, the agenda-setting function of the media was applied in this video too. The important issues of why everyone should vote was addressed such as Darfur, the war in Iraq, education and the economy. Other major issues that were mentioned in the video constantly were the abortion and gay rights issue. Are these necessarily the most pressing or important issues in America and really the main reasons why American citizens should vote? Well, that brings us to how selective the media gatekeepers (people who control what issues to address) are.

Media influences can be good or bad, and in this case, it most definitely is for the greater good. Afterall, why waste your right to vote? Do leave a comment telling me any thoughts you may have about this week's entry (which will be the last by the way)!

Egyptian Culture & Traditions

What exactly is culture? Does culture define who we are and how we live our life? People living in different countries all have their own cultures to follow. I learnt that first hand when I visited Egypt, a country with very different cultures from us sometime back in May this year and it turned out to be one of the most amazing experiences in my life.

Before my trip, I had to head down to the travel agency for a briefing on what to expect on the trip, how to prevent myself from getting culture shock once getting there and more. One of the first things that the tour guide told us was of course, the extreme weather there, with temperatures ranging from 18 to 40 degrees. Later, she went on to tell us about how we should dress appropriately there by keeping our shoulders, upper arms and calves covered up at all times. It isn't exactly a sin to wear sleeveless attire or shorts in Egypt but the locals were extremely conservative due to their Muslim beliefs. Thus, it wouldn't be nice to dress in too revealing clothes unless we wouldn't mind getting gawked at while walking around there.

The Mosque of Muhammad Ali

However, it was a MUST to cover ourselves up when entering a mosque. If you happen to be wearing something that is slightly revealing such as a cap sleeve tee shirt, you have to borrow one of their cloaks to "protect your modesty" before entering. It is very important in Islam that the woman is less seductive to a stranger and shows modesty.

An Egyptian woman all covered up.

Another culture which I noticed that the Egyptians had was their love for singing and dancing at parties. During my first 4 days in Egypt, we actually had a leisurely cruise down the Nile and before dinner time, the waiters and workers in the cruise ship would put on a little performance for us using drums and other egyptian instruments. It was quite entertaining actually. Later on, they even made all of us join in as well! Even the waiters at the Hard Rock Cafe in Cairo performed their traditional dance for us before our meal.

Tipping is also a way of life over there in Egypt. It is extremely common to see the locals offering to snap photos with the tourists then asking them unabashedly for tips. My friend and I got the scare of our lives when our horse carriage driver suddenly stopped in the middle of the road while taking us to the temple to ask us for extra tips.

Kalesh - a traditional Egyptian horse carriage

The Sun Temple of Abu Simbel

Apart from the modern Egyptian cultures mentioned above, there are also many interesting ancient Egyptian cultures. One very prominent culture of ancient Egypt is mummification - the preservation of the body after death. Preservation of the body was an essential part of the Ancient Egyptian funerary practice. Without the body, the "ka" could not return to find sustenance, and if the body was decayed or unrecognisable, then the ka would go hungry and the afterlife of the deceased would be jeopardised. Mummification was therefore dedicated to the prevention of decay.

My trip to Egypt was incredible and definitely an eye-opening experience for me. It helped me to see exactly how different the cultures are over there and here in Singapore. Typing this entry right now is already making me miss Egypt so much! Say, how many of you experienced culture shock when visiting a foreign country? Please feel free to comment!

Source: http://www.egyptologyonline.com/mummification.htm

Soulmates never die.

Do you believe in soul mates? That one person you were destined to spend the rest of your life with? The peanut butter to your jelly, the Bonnie to your Clyde or the Lennon to your McCartney? Some people believe that souls are literally made and/or fated to be the mates of each other, or to play certain other important roles in each other's lives.

Maybe it's just me being a total cynic, but I don't really fancy the idea of "soulmates" at all. I'd say... making your relationship with your other half work takes a lot more effort than just the idea of the both of you being "meant to be". That's when the Knapps Model of Relational Development comes in. It describes the progression and development of relationships in 10 stages.

Simply an instant connection with a stranger or "love at first sight" is almost never going to end up in a successful relationship. We need time and effort in building it. In the first five stages of the Knapps Model of Relational Development, it describes exactly how two people meet, get to know each other, become closer to each other and finally legitimizing the relationship through marriage and starting a family together.

What if a relationship meant to last forever fails? Exactly how does one go back to being all alone after losing your apparent soulmate? Differentiating, Circumscribing, Stagnation, Avoiding and Terminating. The five stages for coming apart in the Knapps Model of Relational Development clearly describes the downfall of any relationship.


Let's reference 2 fictional characters' relationship in regards to the model.


Monica and Chandler, from one of my all-time favourite television sitcoms, FRIENDS.

How did their relationship progress from being mere friends to lovers? Chandler began dropping hints that he was interested in Monica during the first season. He genuinely increased his efforts in season 3, but Monica thought he was joking and expressed little interest in a romantic relationship. At Ross and Emily's wedding in London, a somewhat intoxicated Monica and Chandler slept together. After hooking up in London, they both of them decided that they simply couldn't remain just friends anymore.

Stage 1 - Initiating: They first started testing the waters for the possibility of them dating in season 5.

Stage 2 - Experimenting: The both of them were apprehensive at first, but after seeing Monica being asked out on a date by an attractive doctor, Chandler, upon realizing his true feelings for Monica, got jealous and finally decided to go into a proper relationship with her.

Stage 3 - Intensifying: Throughout season 5, Chandler and Monica embarked on a secret relationship and their friends were completely in the dark about it.

Stage 4 - Integrating: Their friends finally find out about their relationship and the both of them officially comes out as a couple.



Stage 5 - Bonding: Monica proposes to chandler at the end of season 6. They get married at the end of season 7 and adopt kids in season 10.


So, what are your thoughts on "soulmates"? I'm sure the die-hard romantics out there would argue that their other halves are somewhere in the world just waiting to be found!

Mamma Mia!

I caught Mamma Mia! the movie sometime last week and I gotta say, it didn't quite live up to my expectations. The plot was a little weak and the story didn't flow quite as well as it should. However, it was quite faithful to the actual musical. Mamma Mia! is relentlessly cheerful and the ABBA tunes featured were infectious and made you wanna sing along too.

Set on a colorful Greek island, the plot serves as a background for a wealth of great ABBA songs which are used in remarkably appropriate ways. A young woman about to be married discovers that any one of three men could be her father. She invites all three to the wedding without telling her mother, Donna.

The story of this film is being told through song instead of just traditional dialogue. When Sophie decides that she wants her father to walk her down the aisle at her wedding, she mails out invitations to the 3 possible candidates and starts singing the song "I Have A Dream".

"I have a dream, a fantasy
To help me through reality
And my destination makes it worth the while
Pushing through the darkness still another mile"

The lyrics of the song conveys her longing for her to meet her real father. She has never met her real dad in her life and her dream is for him to be present at her wedding to "give her away".


Group communication is also extremely prominent throughout the entire movie. When the lead character Sophie communicates with her best friends, whether it's about the wedding or how her mother's 3 ex-boyfriends are all under the same roof at the moment all thanks to her, they are going through a process called 'group socialisation'.

When Donna communicates with her best friends, you can tell which roles the three of them each undertakes during their discussion. Rosie - the single, fun-loving writer is usually the "harmoniser", the one who attempts to cheer Donna up when she starts crying in the toilet over her three ex-boyfriends. Tanya - the rich three-time divorcée is usually the "encourager", the one who reminds Donna of her free-spirited past.

The group communication between the three possible fathers is also somewhat hilarious since the three of them had no idea what to expect when they first stepped foot on the island for Sophie's wedding. Despite being thrown together unexpectedly, they still manage to get along pretty well while living on Bill's boat.

All in all, Mamma Mia! was a ball of fun to watch. Fans and non-fans of ABBA alike will still enjoy this fluffy movie thoroughly. For those who have watched it, how did you guys like it?

Resources: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0795421/
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mamma_mia/

Go Green?

I remember watching the highly publicized Live Earth concert back in July last year. The event was developed to combat climate change and it was broadcast live for 24 hours. The concerts brought together more than 150 musical acts in eleven locations around the world and were broadcast to a mass global audience through televisions, radio, and streamed via the Internet. The next Live Earth will be held on December 7, 2008 in only one place, Mumbai, India.

I've always wondered exactly how effective the concert was in creating global awareness for our climate crisis. Even though the performers at the concert were constantly talking about how we should save our environment, and even in between commercial breaks, various celebrities preach about going green, does it really spur on the television viewer to actually change their lifestyles in favour of saving the earth?

Despite the concert organizers' best efforts in trying to convince the audience through music, I honestly doubt that the message has been sent across. Me? I only jumped at the chance to catch some of my favourite bands performing all in one night at one massive concert.

I read an article on the net recently about the venue for this year's Live Earth and I started wondering if they were planning on using the same old tactics to try to get people to be more environmentally conscious? Tactics such as bands shouting out for people to "Go Green!" in the middle of their song and having immensely popular celebrities film short clips of them doing their part for the environment (last year's Live Earth had clips ranging from Ken Watanabe cycling to Jessica Biel recycling her trash) to "set good examples" for us to follow.

How will we perceive all these attempts to enlighten us about the seriousness of the climate crisis? Perhaps, people will start showing more concern for the environment with the huge media influence from this event but I think that it will be short-lived. After watching the concert, which will be broadcast live for 24 hours by the way and I don't see how that helps the environment at all, people may be inspired to perhaps recycle their trash or take a shorter shower but is it a true lifestyle change or just a spur in the moment thing?

With that said, I'm still looking forward to seeing the list of performers for this year's event!


Sources:
http://www.liveearth.org/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/world/news/e3if071151a9941bb2d0cd923bdde5d1684?imw=Y

The Democratic National Convention 2008 - Barack Obama's speech

I watched the speech that Barack Obama made at the Democratic Convention 2008 about 2 weeks ago and I was deeply affected by it. Truth be told, I've never been all that interested in politics. But when I watched the speech that Obama made, I was strangely drawn in. I listened intently to what he said and I actually believed him when he declared that he was going to bring about change in America when he became president.

When Obama spoke, everyone listened. The lexis in which he delivered his speech was confident, assured without a trace of doubt in his voice. He stresses the need for change every once in a while during his speech and stops talking when required to drive his point home. Judging from the cheers from the audience when he talks about his plans to improve the health care system in America and stop the war in Iraq as soon as possible, his speech obviously relates to them well and they are responding to it with fervour. The audience also starts to boo loudly when Obama speaks of George W. Bush and his failed policies over the past 8 years.

Obama makes good use of logos - the appeal to reason by mentioning that once he becomes president, he will end America's dependency on oil from the Middle East over a span of ten years. He reasons that John McCain has refused to invest in any renewable energy and today America imports triple the amount of oil as the day that Senator McCain took office.

When Obama talks about issues such as students studying while working or the difficulties of women when it comes to starting their own businesses, he relates a personal story of his own. His use of pathos is effective as it appeals to his audience's emotions. Obama mentions during his speech that when he sees students studying while working, he is reminded of his own mother and how she raised him and his sister on her own while she worked and earned her degree. When the audience hear that, they feel for him as well and trusts in the fact that he will do his best to solve the issue.

Obama has all along been speaking out on the issues that will define America in the 21st century. He makes good use of ethos in his speech when he says: "I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington. But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's been about you." He appeals to the audience by being modest when he talks about his lack of experience and that he doesn't fit the typical pedigree for presidential candidates.

All in all, his speech was a roaring success. I believe that after hearing that speech of his, even republicans would probably change their mind and vote for him instead.

Source: http://www.barackobama.com/index.php

The iPhone.

A little over a week ago, I bought an iPhone. Technically I didn't have to pay for it because my mum used the $500 Singtel voucher that she got from work. To be quite honest, when I was going over my options for a new phone, I didn't consider the iPhone at all.

Firstly, I knew that I didn't need a phone that had 16gb worth of space for music because I much preferred my gadgets seperate from each other. An MP3 player for my music, a camera for taking photos and a phone for just calling or texting. And I also hated how overhyped the iPhone became, to the extent that people were even pre-ordering it beforehand and queuing up on the first day of launch just to get their hands on this phone as soon as possible.

Anyway, I ended up picking this one because the Samsung one that I wanted (F480) was out of stock and my mum's voucher was expiring soon. After using it for a little over a week, I'm glad that I decided to get this phone afterall.

The iPhone 3G is a perfect example of a transactional model of communication. Video calling, texting, emailing, voice calling enables simultaneous exchange between senders and receivers. With 3G technology, users are able to video call their friends instead of just traditional voice calling. Video calling is quite possibly the next best thing to face-to-face communication, not only can you hear the other party's voice, you can also see their various facial expressions. However, one bad thing about video calling is the tendency for the channel to be impeded by noise. The environment that the other party is in also plays a big part in communicating through video calling.

One of the pros for the iPhone is the amount of memory space available in it for people who don't mind listening to music on their handphones. It definitely beats the other phones which requires you to get a memory card in order for you to add more storage in it.

Another point worth mentioning would be the very handy and user-friendly touch screen interface. While using applications like Safari (Apple's version of internet explorer), a flick or tap of your finger would suffice in either scrolling down or zooming into the screen.

One other trait of the iPhone that I also liked immensely was the idea of sorting your texts into "conversations" where the parent message and all consecutive replies are grouped into one message alone. It makes viewing so much easier.

Of course there are cons to this phone as well. One jarring feature in the iPhone is the fact that you are expected to pay for custom ringtones. Apple expects you to purchase a song from the iTunes store, which I may add, is still not available to us at the moment, and then pay again if you wish to convert said song into a ringtone for use in your phone. It is utterly ridiculous in my opinion to have to pay to have your song converted into a ringtone.

Since I'm not one to nitpick, other than that very annoying trait mentioned above, there are no other major problems that I have with the iPhone. Some minor problems I had though were the softness of the maximum volume, slight lag of applications at times and the weight of the phone.

So is the iPhone worth getting? Yes if you listen to music on your phone, like internet on-the-go, and wouldn't mind carrying a slightly heavier phone than usual. But the price is pretty steep at the moment, so I say wait on it for a couple of months more before making that purchase. And who knows, maybe by then, there will be yet another phone launched threatening to out-rival the iPhone.