Home sweet home..

If I had to pick five things that were cherished memories of my home, I'd have to say it'd be the scenic location, the lake in my back yard, the view, the closeness of all my friends, and my favorite restaurant that's extremely close to my house.

You see, I come from a small town just east of Nashville called Mount Juliet. I say "small town", but in reality its quickly growing. Regardless, it seems small. I live at least ten minutes out of the way from just about everyone, but that's never really bothered me. Most of my friends live in neighborhood communities, which are nice in their own way, but my most cherished memory of my home is the scenic location that attributes to its unforgettable beauty. I live on a dead end road at each side, with one street hitting it about dead center being the only way in and out. The street lays at the bottom of a large hill, which makes it impossible to get out when it snows.. but, there's always good sledding. Anyways, continuing on down the street a ways you'd come to my house on the left. Its large and made out of red bricks, recently rebuild only 6 or so years ago. If I could, I'd probably live here many, many more years. The entire front yard is sloped downward slightly, the backyard ending in a thick stone wall that my dad and I repaired years ago due to it being damaged from the weather. This wall is very important because it separates the green grass of my backyard from the Old Hickory Lake. When you sit on the back patio at sunrise or sunset at the end of a sunny summer day, anyone would realize why its nothing short of an unforgettable memory for me.

Observations:
-Red and blue outfits respectively
-Seems to target primarily the Republican party's nomination of the Alaskan mayor and the Democratic nomination of Hillary Clinton for being a female.
-Hillary portrayed as angry she lost the nomination and frequently mocks both Obama and McCain's running mate.
-Sarah portrayed as an airheaded, "typical" attractive girl.


In order to understand this video and find it funny, I believe you must understand very little. I frequently laughed at it during my view of it, and know very little about the whole ordeal. You certainly have to know some of the basics about the Republican and Democratic party, as well as their stances this year and their nominees. But outside of that, it truly doesn't take much more understanding - it is a very simple and straight forward video that's funny to the average, generally uninformed viewer.

Gender bender..

If I woke up as a girl..

It's difficult to say exactly what I'd do first if I woke up the opposite gender. I mean, there are so many ways you could go with it. Being a guy, I think the first thing I'd do would be sprint to the mirror or the shower... no, I'm only kidding. I'd likely freak out because, well, I like being a guy too much. I mean come on, who in the world wants to spend an hour a day getting ready to go to class? Or just to fix your hair? Seriously. But, hey, if I'm stuck like that for a day I guess I'd make the best of it. I could use my hot body (because, its pretty much guaranteed I'd be a pretty girl) to learn some cool secrets or something... I'd eat for free all day long, that's for sure. And that night I'd get into parties free. If I get bored, I could go finally see exactly what's behind those sacred women's restroom doors... and then I'd run for president, or something. I'm really sort of running out of ideas... I mean, besides hang out with fun people like me, what do girls do for fun? Really? Maybe I'd go speed down the interstate at a break-neck rate just to get a ticket and then talk my way out of it. Fun! Not really. It would suck to be a girl.

This particular photo gets it's message across very, very easily and clearly: UT's done polluting and ready to help the environment. Even if you didn't read the words, it'd likely be very easy for you to get this message due to the bright, Volunteer orange and the typical environmental green. This certainly helps convey an easy to remember reminder, as does the green leaf at the bottom, giving those who are more visually-oriented something to remember that in doing this we're in turn helping the world around us. It's sort of awkwardly positioned but it catches a viewer's attention because it's not necessarily your ordinary billboard, hanging sideways. This, combined with the fact they're literally everywhere on campus, illustrates their point that the University is serious about getting this accomplished. This is only enhanced by the beautiful clean, green, healthy surroundings in the picture, almost telling the viewer they're well on their way to accomplishing this goal.

Honestly, honesty? - What I did this weekend..

Dear Chelsea,

I have to write you a letter, so here goes...

So Friday, I went home (back to Mt. Juliet) for the first time since moving to Knoxville... alot earlier than I thought I would. Honestly, I didn't expect to come home until at least late October. But regardless, I got back at about 7:30pm your time and ate a surprise dinner with my family. Which honestly was a bit of a letdown because I really wanted to have Cinco.. I'm still craving it! Anyways, after that I hung out with my younger cousin and brother and played ukulele for them (one day I might play for you, if you're lucky). Shortly after this I decided to go meet Matt, Nick, Katie, and Karen downtown since we don't have any hookah bars Matt and I can visit up here, and that's when you called to see if Jordan and you could join us. After planning out a meeting spot, I drove you two down there with me and met the others for a fun (albeit a bit awkward) rest of the night. The next morning I woke up late and almost immediately headed back home to Knoxville, where I arrived around 7pm. The night was sort of dull here because we all just kind of hung out in Humes. Have to go though, I'll fill you in on the rest later.

Sorry to cut it short,
Jake



Dear Grandmama,

It was great to see you Friday night! Glad to see you're up and walking a bit again, and hopefully you'll continue your exercise and rehab so we can go hang out like we used to, homie. How's Sonny treating you? Still keeping you in line? I'd hope so, because someone needs to! Anyways, I went to smoke hookah with some friends Friday night after you went to sleep and as you know I left early Saturday morning thinking I could get back in time to do some "college activities", yet it turned out to be sort of a boring night. But, Sunday was amazing. A few friends came up from Mt. Juliet for Boomsday (a huge firework show), and despite not being able to do any "college stuff" before the fireworks, the afterparty was great.. at least, what I remember of it. But, you'll be happy to know by Monday night the Vols loss had completely sobered me up and readied me for class the next day, so don't worry! Speaking of that, though.. there's still no way Vandy's going to beat us this year. The next streak continues! Anyways, I probably won't be home until early October at best, but expect me to be ready to rumble Bridge-style before I come back up. Practice up! I love you, and PLEASE keep going with your rehab.

Your grandson and #1 homedog,
Jake

Out of Class Blog Assignment 2

Observations - Video 1

-audience is the general public.. literally anyone, no specific age/ethnicity/gender/etc.
-the tone is serious, but not exactly pressing.
-there's nothing you culturally need to understand about the video besides the fact that eggs, when heated, scramble.
-this video is effective, as it certainly gets it's point across
-the purpose of this video is easily seen and understood
-very straightforward in general

Observations - Video 2

-audience seems to lean towards young adults/teens.
-the tone goes from serious to rather critical and almost threatening.
-personally, I didn't even realize who the teen in the video was until rereading the instructions... therefore I don't believe using a celebrity really effects the viewing audience, as I don't think (or at least hope) everyone doesn't recognize her right off the bat.
-the video is immensely effective, maybe even too effective.. as it honestly surprised me with all the violence. If I was ever considering heroine, this would definitely push me to reconsidering.
-the purpose of this video seems inherently different from the previous in that it attempts to almost frighten the viewer from drugs through violence rather than simple facts of the outcome if they do indulge.
-it's not necessarily the most straightforward at first.. as it starts with something very simple, like the first video, and suddenly becomes increasingly loud, surprising, and violent almost instantly, barreling to the point.


Inference


The first video is almost ridiculously straightforward, starting off with the frying pan filled with hot grease, before an egg's dropped into the mix eventually scrambling. This is to represent your brain when you use drugs. It has a serious tone and is directed to the general public, but it's not necessarily broad enough to effectively address such a large crowd. It lacks the detail to truly grasp the viewers attention or establish any kind of ethos - anyone could make some claim about drugs hurting your brain while frying an egg. We can't even see the speaker, which to me lays too much shadow on the whole picture to really take it seriously. Now the second video really hits home. The teenage girl seems to be just like the rest of us, immediately establishing ethos and setting a serious tone by the sound of her voice and dull, gloomy appearance of the set. The actress also establishes a target audience for this video: teenagers, easily the most vulnerable to drug indulgence. Her sudden violence and reality instilled in her voice lays into the viewers emotions, making the second video much more effective overall than the first, despite the fact the both sell the same point. The purpose of both videos may be the same, but the second really makes it's purpose important, while the other really wouldn't divert my attention from the regularly scheduled programming it was interrupting.

Observations/Inferences from the First Beijing Picture

Observations

-Darker colors
-White fireworks contrast a generally dull and gloomy landscape
-Figure positioned directly in the middle
-Figure large and imposing, clearly set to attract attention
-Figure in uniform, obviously a military figure of some sort
-General color scheme makes one almost sad from looking
-Crowd flocking to the stadium
-Soldier very clean

Inference

The artist to created this picture clearly had a certain idea or concept he was trying to get across about China: change. In recent history, China had been a seemingly harsh and unwelcoming country, but with the hosting of this year's Olympics, it seems to have all changed. People move towards the stadium casually, welcomed by the country instead of pushed away as they might of been in previous years. The surroundings of the stadium are dark and gloomy, with plenty of blacks and reds to set a seemingly hostile tone. Yet, the stadium itself is lit up by an array of sharply contrasting white fireworks lighting up the night, which to me calls for that element of change. Such a distinct change can only be the author's way of showing perhaps a new era has swept over the land. Now, the elephant in the room - the soldier - shows many things. It's large, centralized location on the picture shows importance and draws one's attention. It seems almost expected to see a military figure in the photo based on China's past, but when you see the clothing, it's easy to see there's no blood or marks of battle - perhaps another way for the author to signify peace has come.