Violent Video Game Supreme Court Argument

This past Thursday our whole media class reenacted the violent video game Supreme Court argument. We were all assigned a part on Tuesday and then came to class prepared to act out our part. I was a lawyer. Let's just say I am so glad I am not ever going to be a lawyer. Haha. I texted my cousin Taylor who actually wants to be a lawyer (& is going to BYU Law School right now) and begged for help. He gave me some quick pointers through text that were helpful. :)

This is part my class all dressed up for the court. 

I defended the side for "Protection of Minors" [make a law that minors cannot purchase (M)ature rated video games] and asked a witness (mine was Arnold Schwarzenegger...who was played by Cami Whitaker) from that side questions. I also cross-examined the other side called "Freedom of Speech". It was nerve racking! I had to read and prepare questions for both witnesses. I had two minutes to ask questions to each. Craziness.

Unfortunately the judges decided to go with the "Freedom of Speech" side. This is also how the real supreme court ruled. You can hear some of the real discussion by clicking here. 

Family Photo Time!

A couple Sunday's ago my husband and I had the opportunity to take pictures of our neighbors. I actually work with Jeff (the dad) as well. We had so much fun and the pictures turned out really well. I love capturing these moments for people so that they can have them and look back at that time with fondness. I will have to say again that taking pictures is one of my favorite forms of media to create. 

The Flex Belt

For my group project we decided to look at commercials randomly selected from different TV channels and code for how parental figures are portrayed in the commercials we see. Last night I watched two hours of commercials (for the project). Thankfully it went by fast. Now, I just wanted to share one of the interesting commercials that I saw.

The Flex Belt....apparently is an ab workout that is EFFORTLESS. Haha. When I told this to my husband he said, "Exercise isn't supposed to be easy!" Maybe an ab workout can be though? Who knows. Personally I think the ab workouts are so painful! I almost die every time I do them. The advertisement that I saw was pretty convincing though! :) 

Lost Without a Phone

On Tuesday forgot to charge my iPhone, so by the end of the day it died sadly. After school I had to run to Smith's before going home though. I thought I totally knew where Smith's was, but apparently not. If my phone was on I probably would have googled where Smith's was and it would have given me directions straight to it. Instead, I had to think...haha. I was so proud of myself when I found Smith's a few minutes later. 

Another thing I noticed when my phone was off is that I had no idea what time it was when I was in the store...or anywhere else for that matter. (I'm not a watch girl.) I had a deadline that I needed to get home for, but I couldn't easily look at my phone to see what time it was.

It's crazy the things you realize when you are "separated" from something you use so frequently for a lot of things. :)

It's Cool to Have a Kid While in School!

For my media class my group had to make a 30-45 second advertisement that had to do with any family related issue. A couple weeks ago we talked about advertisements and the six facets they need to include if people are going to watch them.

The six facets are:
1) Perception (is the advertisement attention getting?)
2) Emotional/affective (does the advertisement stimulate wants. touches the emotions, or elicits feelings?)
3) Cognitive (does the advertisement explain what it will do for the consumer?)
4) Association (is the "product" transformed into something special?)
5) Persuasion (is the advertisement compelling and persuasive?)
6) Behavior (does the advertisement make the viewer want to take some action?)

-Creativity (not one of the facets, but important)

I would encourage you to remember these as you watch commercials. It is really interesting to see what people do with commercials and how much they try and get us to watch them!

Hike & Light the Y

One form of media is flyers! This form of media can be very informative. I work as a secretary and see many flyers come to our department. I love that it informs me of the activities going on and the sales that are happening around campus! One flyer that I was particularly excited to see was the one that said "Hike and Light the Y!" I had never done this before so Kirk and I made it a priority to go!

 

I am so happy we went! We even saw Cosmo there! We were able to screw in the light bulb located on the right side of the Y. (Where the red dot is on the Y below.)

 

 

Gooooooo Cougars!

MissRepresentation

In class on Thursday we watched part of a documentary about how women are misrepresented. It was heavily edited, but still did a very thorough job about proving a point. Women definitely have a lot to try and live up to if they are basing their image and self worth on what the media says it should be based on. The truth of the matter is the media portrays women that do NOT exist.

 

Last week in my Human Development class my teacher talked about how so many girls have eating disorders these days because of all the pressure of what they should look like. My teacher told us to NEVER be the reason someone starts an eating disorder. He said after he gave this lecture a few years ago one of his female students met with him and told him that she remembers very clearly the day she started her eating disorder. She was thirteen. Her dad sat down and had a talk with her and said something to the effect of, "If you want to make your future husband happy, don't ever get as fat as your mom."



 

You might think this picture above is photo-shopped. It actually isn't. This is a real girl that went through plastic surgery all over her body to make herself literally look like Barbie. Don't go searching for her on the web because a lot of immodest pictures will come up. It is just so sad though.

 

 

Our bodies are temples. They may be imperfect at the moment, but that is what we are...imperfect human beings learning and tyring to become perfect. We just have to do our best at taking care of our bodies (and spirits) and the Lord will help us with the rest.