How Ridiculous

"How Ridiculous" Members

Those unique stories you hear are always the best, and I couldn't help but think that when I saw this video on CNN the other day. Click HERE for the link. Four 23-year-old Australian men, Derek Heron, Brett Stanford, Scott Gaunson, Kyle Nebel, having been shooting some rather interesting shots over the past two years.

The four call themselves "How Ridiculous" and have been shooting incredible, and almost UNBELIEVABLE basketball shots in their backyards. They would do things like bounce the ball off the ground, then off the garage wall and into the basket. Or stand on a roof top and throw a basketball into the hoop - with a baseball style throw. Check out their first video by clicking HERE.

As their fan base increased, via there youtube channel called "whoisjimmy," they then progressed into taking on greater challenges, such as shooting blindfolded shots and standing many rows up in a football stadium and shooting balls into a basket placed on the field below.

It is truly unreal, how these four can make these seemingly impossible shots at such a high percentage, but what is truly unreal is how they urge people to donate to charity. To me, that only makes "How Ridiculous" even more worthwhile. They suggest giving to charities that benefit children in third world countries. Now that is one thing, that is NOT ridiculous!

This got me thinking about charity in general. What are its benefits? Pros and Cons? Is charity technically a sacrifice? Just a little fun story for the day. Happy Halloween!

A Blog Blog Blog Shouldn't be Blah Blah Blah

As the title says, A Blog Blog Blog Shouldn't be Blah Blah Blah! When first entering this frenzied online world, I have to admit, I thought of blogging as more of a personal journal. I thought I would blog whenever I wanted, when I was happy, sad, angry, appalled. Yet I have learned that blogging is much more than personal feelings. A successful blogger will gather accurate information, back up his/her arguments, hyperlink to helpful websites, and most importantly, tell a story. The overall goal is to provide a complete satisfying experience for the reader, as well as give them the opportunity to learn! Good blogging is easier said than done. Trust me, I know from experience.

As I look back over the nine blog posts I have made in the past ten weeks, I notice major improvement. In my first few posts, I seemed to "scratch the surface" rather than delve deep into controversial issues. For example, my first blog post called "Love The Way You Lie" is very creative and fun to read, yet it isn't a deep thinking topic nor does it go into specific detail. Comparing that to my most recent post called "The Mysterious 'Jim Crow'", I see that I included plentiful facts and detail. It is clearly written and displays interesting information. Over these nine weeks I have grown as a writer, now knowing the balance of information and creativity is key. My one struggle, I believe, is writing too creatively. Sometimes, I just get so entranced within my writing, that the post will end up lacking intellectual quality. For example, my post called "Break Me; A Song By HotPause" was quite a disappointment. I had loads of fun writing it but as I re-read it now I cringe. What was I thinking?!

Bolos and OC- I would like you to grade "On, In or Near?" It discusses the possible Mosque to be built by ground zero. We talked a lot about this topic in class, and I feel I wrote a fairly interesting post. Enjoy!

By the way, just wanted to say how much I LOVE BLOGGING. (If the caps wasn't enough I put it in bold and underlined it too!) It is so fun. I feel like I always learn something, whether its about my personal writing or current events or history...anything! Its a great idea, and it truly has benefitted me so much, as a writer and a person.

The Mysterious 'Jim Crow'

Today, we briefly talked about the Jim Crow Laws. I had heard the phrase before, and automatically knew that they had something to do with segregating blacks and whites in America. Yet I couldn't help but think...Who was Jim Crow?

After some research, I found that Jim Crow isn't really a person! The term "Jim Crow" refers to a black character in an old song. The song went like this: "Come listen all you galls and boys, I'm going to sing a little song, My name is Jim Crow. Weel about and turn about and do jis so, Eb'ry time I weel about I jump Jim Crow." It was written by a man named Thomas Dartmouth Rice. Rice would act out his song along with some singing and dancing. He played the part of Jim Crow, a black slave or stable boy. Rice was a white man, and was one of the first performers to use blackface makeup. His routine became very popular as he traveled through multiple states in the U.S. With such great success, he even traveled to London and Dublin and put on a few shows! A false connotation of black people to be foolish and carefree suddenly arose throughout America and Europe. "Jim Crow" had then become an offensive name and eventually a racial slur.

The Jim Crow Laws were oppressive laws in the U.S. They stressed inferiority of black people, and segregated them from white people. This resulted in economic, educational and social disadvantages for the blacks. How do these laws relate to Fredrick Douglass?

Break Me; A Song By HotPause

I am sitting here pondering possible blog ideas when, suddenly, I hear a sound coming from my brothers speaker system upstairs. The whole house pulsates as the beautiful and distinct sound of an organ resinates from wall to wall. I know right away what I am listening too...it's "Fix You" by Coldplay.

This song is classic. Period. I would be shocked if you haven't heard it. (Click HERE to listen if needed...) Anyway, Coldplay is a English alternative rock band made up of four members. They have sold 50 million records world wide...basically they are amazing.

But this specific song, Fix You, always seems to touch me. The song opens with this verse:

When you try your best but you don't succeed

When you get what you want but not what you need

When you feel so tired that you can't sleep

Stuck in reverse

I feel like the key word in this verse is "reverse." Think about it, if you reverse each sentence, it would look more like this:

When you try your best and you succeed

When you get what you want and what you need

When you feel tired and you sleep

Moving forward

OR if you think about it from a different angle, the "reverse" could be more like this:

When you don't succeed but you try your best

When you don't get what you need but you get what you want

When you can't sleep but you feel so tired

Reversed due to stuckness

This last example leaves you with more of a positive feeling rather than the sad and negative vibe you get from the actual lyrics. In my mind, lyrics truly make or break a song. Can you imagine hearing "reversed due to stuckness" in that song!?!? Oy.

I had fun toying around with this song! What songs are you inspired by? 

Facebook: A World Phenomenon

This weekend I saw The Social Network, a film by David Fincher. It was thrilling, fast paced, definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat. Yet on the other hand, it also made me kind of sad. Mark Zuckerberg, the young Facebook inventor, was sued for $600 million. If that isn't bad enough just wait! He was sued by his best friend, his partner in crime, the CFO of Facebook, Eduardo Saverin. It's horrible to think that a silly little website could ruin a friendship.

Yet this website has become much more than silly. It's legit. It has become the center of peoples lives, days, hours. People need to check it before they go to bed, and just as they wake up in the morning. And why? To see what their friends have been doing. Why don't you just give them a call or shoot 'em a text? I am extremely against Facebook. I had one freshman year. I didn't really know what it was all about. Since then I deleted my account. I just feel it is so unnecessary! I can see why one might want one for college, to keep in touch with high school friends, family members, and new friends they meet. But for high school, I feel like Facebook is a waste of time. Not only is it tremendously distracting, but it has no true benefit to a person. Some people say, "Facebook is great for establishing connections, meeting people" blah blah blah. If you want to be friends with someone, why not get to know them in person? I dislike how the world has become so technological these days.

I deleted my Facebook account. It was truly liberating. It feels good to say that I spend my free time shooting hoops in the alley or riding bikes to Panera, rather than sitting in front of a computer screen -  stalking the people that I spend every day with. Let this blog inspire you to delete yours too!

Is There a Way to Measure Race?

The map above shows the races of the world classified by color and location.

White, black, red, yellow, brown. To me they are just colors, to others they mean much more. Mr. Bolos told us that they were the "color terminology to label a persons race." White defines Caucasian, black is African American, red is Native American, yellow is Asian, and brown is Indian or South American. To be honest, I had never heard of this color coding system before. When I thought deeper about it, it didn't seem right! There is too much variety in our world to have an individual fit under one of five categories. The Map pictured above was created in 1920. And Mr. Bolos said this color system is what he was taught in 1985. Maybe this isn't a modern day method then? 

What is the "correct" way to address race? We held an in-class discussion last week about how we, as a class, define race. The list was: facial features, language, family origins, skin color, current culture, religion, "area they're from" and physical attributes. When I compare this to the 1985 five category color system, I think, how on earth could one color represent all of these classifications!? The truth is it can't. Then what can? Is there one word to define a whole race? I don't think so...