Entry #10. The Power of Toilets

 One object that people in the world do not thank and appreciate enough are toilets. Yes, this may seem odd, but after some consideration, one may find this to be true. 

Toilets are used by people every single day. Its invention was perfect in every aspect. Humans needed a way to safely store and let out their waste somewhere. The toilet did just that.

The toilet does not require any advanced technology or hard method to use. All a person has to do is let out their waste and pull the lever. The waste is then safely moved to a waste tank or a septic system that the humans don't have to deal with. 

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This handy invention has been used so much that people tend to forget how awesome it is. Without toilets, human lives would be much worse and the environment would be much more polluted. Because of this, toilets should be much more appreciated and recognized for how much they improve human lives. 

Nearly every time I use a toilet, I think of life without one. This causes me to be thankful for those who helped in inventing the modern toilet and to plumbers who come to fix them. 

Overall, toilets help humanity more than they can imagine. Without toilets, human life would be much, much worse. Next time you have to use the toilet, think of what you would have to do if they didn't exist. Then, the appreciation would settle in. 

Entry #9: Energy Drink Diagram

 While researching the health affects of energy drinks, I found one image that shows each of the health affects over a period of time. This image also explained if energy drinks are good to consume and what they are good and bad for. 

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I thought this image was interesting because it points out both positive and negative affects of an energy drink. I also like how the image explains how the human body reacts to the consumption over time. Ingredients are also given with the image with the energy drink example being Red Bull. 

I think this image is very relevant to the topic of energy drink health because it shows both the benefits and hazards. It is important to see both sides of a problem in order to fully understand the purpose of the argument. 

In this graphic shows how the human body benefits from the consumption of the drink within an hour. These benefits are what the energy drink companies advertise, so it shows they are not false advertising. Then, the graphic shows that after an hour, the human body has trouble getting rid of the load of caffeine, and how multiple consumptions will cause major health problems. 

At the bottom, the image contains two pros and cons of the consumption of energy drinks. The pros being that the drinks are within regulations and can be compared to other drinks such as coffee, while the negatives are health problems that arise with the drinking.

The final statement explains that the energy drinks are fine to consume under moderation. These means the person consuming has to watch their dosage in order to not get the harmful side affects. I think this is a great statement and agree with it completely, as it is up to the person consuming to make decisions for their body. 

Overall, this energy drink image did an outstanding job demonstrating the positive and negative side affects of energy drinks over time. This image is really useful for research and understanding for human health. 

Entry #8: The Christmas Spirit

Over the span of my lifetime, I have consistently celebrated six holidays. These are: New Years, my Birthday, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Of those six holidays, Christmas has to be my favorite, and its not even close. None of the other holidays can beat the spirit of Christmas.

Every Christmas is memorable. The atmosphere of colorful lights, decorations, gift wrapping and presents, cookies and milk, and Santa with his elves. The Holiday is popular among the whole world with all age groups. The iconic red, white, and green colors are hard to miss every December. Stores filled with Christmas trees and stockings hung from the fireplace are a moment every year that people enjoy. 

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The Christmas environment is one that myself and millions of other people wait in excitement for.  Many people including myself put up Christmas Decorations a Month early, usually on Thanksgiving, just because we want to live in the Christmas atmosphere longer. 

Christmas comes with many traditions, such as gifting presents under a tree and in stockings, Secret Santa, and feasts. Most of these traditions involve giving gifts to other people, and are usually done in a secretive way which is then revealed on Christmas day. 

Christmas is late December,  meaning it is in the Winter season for most of the world in the upper hemisphere. This allows for snowfall in most areas giving off the most iconic part of the Christmas environment. The snowy outside along with Christmas music and outside activities is on of Christmas's biggest staples, and extremely memorable. 

Overall, the unforgettable Christmas spirit cannot be beaten. With the atmosphere and environment to the traditions and activities, every part of Christmas is exciting. I ask myself this and others all the time; What do you want for Christmas?

Entry #7: My Thoughts on "Fresh"

Fresh (2009), directed and produced by Ana Sofia Joanes, is a documentary style film that was made to raise awareness about the negatives in the industrial food system. The film focused on inspiring the viewers to take action and help make more ethical practices for food production. The film showed environmental consequences, alternatives for negative farming practice, and tried to encourage viewers to reconsider their food choices.

The audience is intended for regular day consumers and people, who have never heard about these negatives and want change. It aims to persuade the everyday people to change their perspectives on the food industry.

The tone of Fresh is hopeful, as it demonstrates the way humanity can improve the world. The film also has a sense of urgency as it shows the sooner a difference is made, more lives will be improved. 

This film made me think of what I eat and the process the food goes through to eventually come to my plate. The film is nearly as old as me, so I am uncertain if these changes the film voiced for had already happened.  

I think the film did a great job in showing negatives and flaws of the food industry, however I think the solutions offered are difficult for the every day person. It is good for the American people to know about the issues with the food they eat so they can make the decision themselves to be healthy or unhealthy. 

Overall, Fresh did a great job informing the audience of the flaws of the food industry at that time, and offered solutions for the audience. The film gave the audience something they should care about, and gave them the choice after the information. The film is a great demonstration of a community trying to make the world a better place through film. 

Entry #6: My Favorite Movie

 I have watched and enjoyed countless movies. I enjoy movies of nearly every genre. The genre that has appealed me the most is action and story telling. This brings me to my favorite movie and my favorite franchise. Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War has been my favorite movie ever since I saw it as a kid. It is a film that combines all of Marvel's superheros to fight together in one singular movie. There are spoilers in this blog if you have not watched it.

In the Marvel Universe, there were numerous superhero movies that each contain a different protagonist with some form of special abilities. These abilities can range from intellect to super strength or magical powers. After all these different movies of countless superheros and their own story, Avengers Infinity war brings them all together to fight for one cause. This cause is to save half of all life from the main villain Thanos. 

Thanos is a very talkative, strong, and skilled titan. He believes that by removing half of all life, the other half would thrive and create a better universe. I like him because he believes that what he is doing is right. In order to accomplish this, Thanos must find all six of the infinity stones created by the big bang and snap his fingers holding them. Every single stone is held by a certain hero.

Thanos defeated each and every single hero and was able to obtain all 6 of the stones. One of the superhero's "Thor" was able to defeat him with his new axe and stab him in the chest. Thanos then said one of my favorite lines ever. "You should have gone for the head." He then snaps his fingers and wins, removing half of all live in the universe. The movie ends shortly after Thanos rests in his retirement home, alone on a random planet. 

Even though I was very sad seeing my favorite characters turn to dust and die, I was also very surprised by the ending as this was the first movie I had watched where the villain actually won. I got to see all my favorite characters fight side by side, and they still were not enough for the genius of a villain Thanos was. 

Before the movie was released in 2018, it was the most hyped movie of the century. Millions of people anticipated trailers and its release date, and tried their best to hide spoilers. It was truly one of its kind.

On its release day, I went to watch it in theaters with my family. Nearly every 10 seconds, there was a big laughter or applaud amongst the crowd. Of course, there was a deep sorrow and morning at the ending. The experience for seeing it the first time was unreal, and I could watch it for the first time again. 

In conclusion, Infinity War has been my favorite movie for six years, and I will be surprised if anything could top it. Whenever I can get the chance, I will continue to watch the movie with newcomers as I get the same goosebumps every time.

Entry #5: AD Analysis

 Advertisement

This advertisement is a comedy skit for the insurance company Allstate. The advertisement starts out with a man riding a pink princess bike holding a teddy bear. His hair is half shaved and he is wearing a sign that says "honk at me." The man states that he is a man who had lost a bet. He then states that his favorite sports team lost which signals that the bet he lost was over a sports game. 

The purpose of this is too engage with viewers that love to watch sports and often do fun bets with their friends. These bets can include a loser dare. A loser dare is when the loser of the bed has to do something publicly embarrassing that the winner decides or that both players agreed on before the bet. The man in this advertisement had lost a bet, and as his loser dare, he has to ride around the road on a princess bicycle with ugly hair and embarrass himself. Another purpose of this starting bit is to engage a large audience that enjoys comedy. A big percentage of people love to laugh, and the start of the video is designed for that. 

The man continues to ride his princess bike on the road in the middle of traffic. This caused the drivers in the cars to get angry, distracted, or caused them to laugh and humiliate the man. Because of this, a distracted driver rear ends another car. The man then states that with any usual insurance company or no insurance at all, someone would have to pay for all the damages themselves. He then states that All State insurance will cover damages for maniacs like him. The purpose of this is to relieve viewers that there is insurance that will pay for their damages when they get into a crash because of someone annoying like the man in the video. The idea is that the revenge and want for safekeeping will cause the viewers to choose and buy All State's insurance. 

Overall, this advertisement does a good job at hooking a large audience and viewership to their companies name and what they can do. They do very well at hooking viewers through a funny and engaging comedy skit. They also do well on using viewers emotions about maniacs and annoyance on the roads that can cause them money they do not want to spend, and ensuring them that the company can help with safekeeping their money on these matters. 

Entry #4: My Favorite Card Game

 Over the many years I have lived, I have learned and memorized nearly every single popular card. Of all of these card games, I have a clear favorite. One that I would definitely choose to gamble when I am older. That is the card game Black Jack.

In black jack, everyone starts with two cards. The goal of this game is to have all your cards add the closest to 21 without going over. Players can draw as many more cards as they want (a hit) with the risk of accidentally going over 21. If the cards equal 21, then the player wins or unlikely ties with another person who achieved it. If a players cards go over 21, their final count is 0. This is known as a bust. 

In Black Jack, cards other than standard numbers have different values. For example, all of the royalty cards (Jack, Queen, and King) are equal to 10. The Ace however, is worth either 1 or 11 depending what the player chooses. 

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In this card game, the shapes and colors do not have any meaning, just the number values. I really like this because it makes the game is easy to understand and pickup. 

Black Jack is so popular that it is the most played card game at casinos. This is because Black Jack has the highest return to player rate (money made) then any other card game. It is also one of the few options at a casino that allows for some skill instead of luck. 

Instead of trying to beat everybody else, at a casino, the goal is to beat the dealer 1 on 1. This allows some players to develop strategies on when to hit or stand (not drawing any cards).

Example of a Popular Strategy Card

Of course, the dealer always has a slight edge over you due to house rules like the dealer always has to go last. Its a casino they want you to lose money. The odds of a person beating the dealer is 42% though, meaning the chances of wining are much higher than other games and slots.

Overall, Black Jack has been mine and many others favorite card game. I highly recommend it to those who have not tried it, as it is very entertaining to play with family and friends. I will continue to play this with friends and hope to win at the casino when Im older. I'll make good choices!