Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
More info on the Henry Louis Gates Case
So in my previous entry I discussed the case of Henry Louis Gates, but didn't put up any information about the arrest. So here's a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrest_of_Henry_Louis_Gates
I know Wikipedia isn't a very reliable source, but I read it through and the article is very accurate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrest_of_Henry_Louis_Gates
I know Wikipedia isn't a very reliable source, but I read it through and the article is very accurate.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
On The Real: The Case of Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
A great video on the issue of the arrest of Henry Louis Gates. This video is analytical and shows both sides of the story. It also analyzes why each participant had the right to be upset.
And another thing to note, well I guess this would just be my two cents, but in many of the media, it says that Henry Louis Gates overreacted when he was initially asked to show his ID, I don't agree with this statement just because of the history between black people or any people of colour and the police. Through the history of prejudice and racial profiling throughout not just the US but all over the world, people of colour, in this case a black man, will be sensitive and upset to a situation where they are wrongfully accused of a crime. It's because people of colour still have bitter feelings of being treated differently and badly, and always stereotyped to be certain characters, of who they are not. So to be wrongfully accused of breaking into your own home, we should be very upset and act aggressively, just because of all the sensitivity towards the history of predjudice.
And another thing to note, well I guess this would just be my two cents, but in many of the media, it says that Henry Louis Gates overreacted when he was initially asked to show his ID, I don't agree with this statement just because of the history between black people or any people of colour and the police. Through the history of prejudice and racial profiling throughout not just the US but all over the world, people of colour, in this case a black man, will be sensitive and upset to a situation where they are wrongfully accused of a crime. It's because people of colour still have bitter feelings of being treated differently and badly, and always stereotyped to be certain characters, of who they are not. So to be wrongfully accused of breaking into your own home, we should be very upset and act aggressively, just because of all the sensitivity towards the history of predjudice.
On My Mind: Shaq Diesel is AWSOME!
So here are some funny and well, just awsome videos of Shaq Being Shaq.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
On The Real: Usage of the term "Gay"
So I was just talking to some of my friends the other day and realized that the term "gay" is thrown out a lot, and I was thinking to myself, being the sociology major that I am, why do we keep using this term when a male behaves in a feminine way? I even see this a lot in the media, but they don't directly come out and say the word "gay", they'll just say something like, do we need to take this to my bedroom (male talking to male), or something like that. Are gay males suppose to be feminine? or is it because that's all people see in society, gay males behaving femininely? And whose to say what behaving femininely is, or how female should act. Do women have to act a certain way for them to be a women? Do males have to act a certain way for them to be males? People have to start realizing that "gay" people are just like straight people, and yes, some may be more feminine than others, but straight people are split up like that as well. So the main point that I'm trying to get at is that you should start watching the terms that you use, and analyze them. Try to see why you use certain terms for different situations and how society uses these terms, because a lot of these terms creates inequality for many groups of people. And for all the "gay" folks in the world, don't be ashamed of you are, love yourself and be proud of who you are, because if you don't love yourself and be proud, it just shows the "haters" that there is something wrong with you being gay because even you don't accept yourself.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Lil' Story: At the carnival
So I took my nephew to the Stampede (An annual carnival held in Calgary) the other day, and while we walking around, we came across the duck game. I asked him if he wanted to play it and he replied "yah". So I paid the carny 5 bucks and my nephew was allowed to pick 3 ducks. Most kids were just standing in one spot, picking which ever duck that came into their sight. But my nephew is special. He found this one duck that he particularly liked and he really, really wanted it, so since he couldn't grab it with the first try, he decides to chase after the duck. This kid is 2 years old. So as he was chasing this one specific duck, he runs into 2 poles that were holding up the game stand. The poles didn't stop him from getting his duck though. So after I finished cracking up, I decided to grab the duck for him, and all he won was a small prize.
Paying for the game $5.00, watching my nephew bulldoze through everything to get a duck, Priceless!
Paying for the game $5.00, watching my nephew bulldoze through everything to get a duck, Priceless!
Monday, July 13, 2009
On The Real: Representations of "race" in the media
Don't Stereotype Asian American Men
So I was surfing YouTube the other day and came across this interesting and eye opening video. I have always known that Asians or minorities are represented in certain and limited ways. The video shows a very good example of Hiro (Masi Oka) from the show Heroes. Although Hiro is represented as a hero in the show, if you look deep enough into the video, you will see that he does not speak English and that he is a stereotypical nerd, and that the protagonist in the show are white (Peter and Claire). This is just one example, there are many other sources of stereotypes from the media. But I want to take this subject matter deeper than the video does. Asians, most of the time, are seen in the media as either nerds who are really smart and good at video games, who also can't get any girls, or they are shown as drug dealers/gangsters. But why is it that White actors/actresses are seen as pretty much every social category (nerd, gangster, cop, athlete etc.)? When people watch the media these representations start to become realities in everyday life, even though these realities are fictional. Some Asians will start to behave in the nature that they are represented by and some will be confused of who they really are because they don't fit into any of the stereotypes/categories that their "race" is represented by in the media. While the white children will benefit mostly from the media because they are represented as pretty much everything and can see themselves as different characters in a wide array of categories. I'm not trying to blame anything on the white people of the world, but everybody, not just white people, have to start to look at things deeper than what is shown on the surface. We have to be more critical of things in the media, and even literature, to not make the same mistakes as previous authors had made. This theory can be applied to all minority groups, whether you're black, Latino, or gay, stereotypes are always being shown in the media and in literature.
Some more thought provoking videos:
Kal Penn
Yul Kwon
So I was surfing YouTube the other day and came across this interesting and eye opening video. I have always known that Asians or minorities are represented in certain and limited ways. The video shows a very good example of Hiro (Masi Oka) from the show Heroes. Although Hiro is represented as a hero in the show, if you look deep enough into the video, you will see that he does not speak English and that he is a stereotypical nerd, and that the protagonist in the show are white (Peter and Claire). This is just one example, there are many other sources of stereotypes from the media. But I want to take this subject matter deeper than the video does. Asians, most of the time, are seen in the media as either nerds who are really smart and good at video games, who also can't get any girls, or they are shown as drug dealers/gangsters. But why is it that White actors/actresses are seen as pretty much every social category (nerd, gangster, cop, athlete etc.)? When people watch the media these representations start to become realities in everyday life, even though these realities are fictional. Some Asians will start to behave in the nature that they are represented by and some will be confused of who they really are because they don't fit into any of the stereotypes/categories that their "race" is represented by in the media. While the white children will benefit mostly from the media because they are represented as pretty much everything and can see themselves as different characters in a wide array of categories. I'm not trying to blame anything on the white people of the world, but everybody, not just white people, have to start to look at things deeper than what is shown on the surface. We have to be more critical of things in the media, and even literature, to not make the same mistakes as previous authors had made. This theory can be applied to all minority groups, whether you're black, Latino, or gay, stereotypes are always being shown in the media and in literature.
Some more thought provoking videos:
Kal Penn
Yul Kwon
Summary of UFC 100. If you haven't seen it, don't read this, unless you want to.
UFC 100 was amazing! Great cards and best of all great fights. So here's a little summary of what happened. Kay so, Henderson KO's Bisping with a huge right hand in 3:20 of the second round, and gave Bisping a little extra to keep his mouth shut after he got knocked out. GSP defeats The pit bull Thiago Alves by unanimous decision in the fifth round. GSP constantly took the Pit bull down, pounding on him, while the Pit bull took GSP down once. Good job GSP! Bring the belt back home to Canada! And now for the upset, well I was upset anyways, Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar. Now I'm not saying Brock doesn't deserve to win and be champ, he is a phenomenal athlete, but I'm a fan of Frank Mir's and Frank Mir has taken the longer journey in the UFC and deserves to be the champion more so than Brock does. So here's what happened during the fight, well Brock takes Mir down and pounds his face. That was pretty much what happened during the whole fight. Frank Mir gets TKO'd at 1:48 in the second round. Pretty much no damage was done to Brock.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
The Calgary Stampede
Hey world, how's everybody doing? So I went to Calgary Stampede a couple days ago and thought I would share some pics with you guys. The Stampede seemed to be smaller this year and seemed, to me atleast, to have less games, but at the end of the day it was still pretty fun.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
On The Real: Prop 8
It may be kind of late to talk about this issue, but I just recently read about it. I am Canadian, so I don't follow American news that often. So, onto the issue of Prop 8. I always thought we lived in a free society, where we had our own free will. I am not gay, but I am an Asian person and considered a minority in this society by many, and if the government were to not allow me to let's say, eat Western foods such as hamburgers or doughnuts, I would be pretty upset. I would be upset because I wouldn't be treated as an equal, in this society of equal rights and opportunities for all. So why are we against same-sex marriages? Are gay people not human beings as we are? Do they not eat, sleep, and breathe in air like everyone else? How would you feel if it was the other way around; if gay people were the dominant group and didn't allow man-woman marriages? Before you judge someone based on anything, may it be their skin colour, or socioeconomic status, or their sexual preferences, you should try putting yourself in their shoes and look at the world through their eyes, and maybe that will help you change your view about the world and become more compassionate, and more importantly, a better, open minded person. So for all of us minorities out there in society, we must band together to break perceptions and inequalities set on us to have free will in this world.
K'naan, sick Canadian rapper
Hey everybody, I'm not sure if you know who K'naan is, but he is one of my favorite rappers. He is a Canadian rapper who released his second album just a few months ago. His lyrics have a lot of meaning to it where he raps about everyday issues in the world and not just about his cars or jewellery, which is the main reasons why he is one of favorite rappers. So check him out and get his album in stores now.
Here's a couple of his songs from his new album:
Take a minute - K'naan
ABC's - K'naan feat. Chubb Rock
Here's a couple of his songs from his new album:
Take a minute - K'naan
ABC's - K'naan feat. Chubb Rock
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
R.I.P. Michael Jackson
This blog is dedicated to the greatest pop artist ever. MJ had creative and revolutionary dance moves and evolutionized the pop music genre that touched millions from all different cultures. He is and will always be the King of Pop. Let MJ live through his music.
Here is my favorite MJ music video and song, what's yours?
Here is my favorite MJ music video and song, what's yours?
On My Mind
Damn, can't get these songs out of my head. So catchy and good.
The Veronicas - Take me on the floor
Keri Hilson feat. Kanye West and Ne-Yo
The Veronicas - Take me on the floor
Keri Hilson feat. Kanye West and Ne-Yo
What's up world!
This is just a random blog that I decided to create. This blog will just be random stories that I'll share with you guys, so check back often!
By the way, please check out my charity site, all the info you need will be on that site.
Equal Opportunities
http://eqopp.blogspot.com/
See you guys later!
By the way, please check out my charity site, all the info you need will be on that site.
Equal Opportunities
http://eqopp.blogspot.com/
See you guys later!
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