TOW #20 (Written)- Reading This on A Computer? Then you (probably) don't live in Africa

Reading This on A Computer? Then You (probably) Don't Live in Africa by Milena Veselinovic and Brandom Clements first pulled me in because of the title. It is true that I'm on a computer and not currently living in Africa, but that title seemed a like stereotypical to me. I mean, Africa is a whole continent, with many, many countries in it, which I know because I had to memorize them all last year in history class for extra credit I really did not need, and it seemed awfully like a blanket statement, even if the (probably) was added in there. So though the title put me off a little, I continued to read, and it turns out the article was talking about how more and more people in Africa are using mobile phones to access the internet as opposed to computers. The reasoning is that many poorer countries in Africa didn't have the resources for many computers in the 90's and 2000's when computering was taking off, so they skipped that part and fast forwarded to phones, which are basically mini computers now. My question is, what about tablets, which are crosses between computers and phones.

The next thing that interested me in this article was the app company start ups that are capitalizing on this mobile phone trend. The article cited examples such as M-Pesa, a money transferring apps, and mPedigree, to check if the medicine you are receiving are real or not. These new apps are showing how people in African are taking a trend from America and western countries and utilizing it for their own advantages, because really, how many Americans would need the app Farmerline, which gives you farming tips? So really, when I thought the article was perpetuating a harmful stereotype of all of Africa being technology barren, it was showing how more advanced the continent as a whole is becoming. I still think that they could stop classifying it as all of Africa though. I mean, how would the German feel if we looped them in with the Greek? (A stereotypically hardworking country vs a stereotypically not hard working country, if you couldn’t tell.)

TOW #19- Downward Dogged The Onion (visual)

http://www.theonion.com/articles/downward-dogged,37964/

My favorite part of this political cartoon is how downright offensive it is. I mean, the Bible and the American Flag are burning in the middle, down at the bottom there is a book that says, "weird books (probably korans)". There's also a grim reaper and satanic symbols, but those are just extra details. The funny thing about this is that I know people that would totally be the people on the left, who are willingly going into these weird new fitness things without knowing a thing about them. I mean, just look at Kim Kardashian, who sparked the whole "eating your own placenta to make your skin better" thing. That was insane, but people still did it. Also, crossfit. Now crossfit is actually good for you, but it seems like the spawn of satan to me. I mean, all that moving around and getting healthy, it's truly scary.

I started off the first paragraph with what my favorite part was, but I think I've found a true favorite. I'm a sucker for puns, especially the horrendously bad ones, like the little man in the bottom right corner saying, "Bad OM-en." That just gets me. I love it a lot. The cartoon is really going after band wagon mentality, and how people jump on new trends so quickly. Take all of L.A., for example. I mean, I'm guilty of this myself too, especially in my younger days, as evidenced by the 30 or so Silly Bands and one Tamagotchi I can see just sitting at my desk right now. My dad calls us 'iSheep', but the truth is that we have no money, he is the one buying the iPhones for us. Who's the iSheep now, dad? Back on track, people will do anything to fit in, including going to yoga sessions led by the grim reaper. The comic really gets at the things that people do to help, when they are actually hurting their body.

TOW #18 (IRB)- A Walk in the Woods

    A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson is funny and entertaining, even though the premise seems a bit dry. Bryson tells the story of how he and a buddy of his decide to hike the 2168 mile Appalacian Trail, up the East Coast. The problem is, that he is slightly overweight, and while he thought the buddy he invited along was a real rough-and-tougher, instead this friend is even more overweight, and even more used to the nice things in life, like running water. Bryson uses a lot of humor in the book, starting off by the shocked way his wife acts when he tells her his decision. The vernacular of the book is very informal, with occasional cursing (like when they were chased by bears).
     Hidden by the gags and funny parts, is the true reflective nature of Bryson. Though he could not complete the trail, he learns a lot, and in between hilarious anecdotes are profound statements, such as, "“But I got a great deal else from the experience. I learned to pitch a tent and sleep beneath the stars. For a brief, proud period I was slender and fit. I gained a profound respect for the wilderness and nature and the benign dark power of woods. I understand now, in a way I never did before, the colossal scale of the world. I found patience and fortitude that I didn't know I had. I discovered an America that millions of people scarcely know exists. I made a friend. I came home.” This statement spoke volumes to me, and almost makes me want to go out right now, and "rediscover America", the beauty of the natural wilderness. Even though Bryson described horrible things, rain, fog, bears, cold, and getting lost, you're still left with a sense of respect for nature. I come from a hiking family after all, so who knows if I'll do it or not? And the way Bryson described the Pennsylvanian part of the trail, "miserable, with rocks stabbing every part of your shoe", well that just made me feel right at home, because the trails in Pennsylvania really are like that. Thanks, glaciers, and thank you, nature.

IRB #3- A Walk in the Woods.

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson is his own recounting of how he was overweight and decided to hike the formidable Appalacian Trail. I picked this book because the librarians said I would enjoy it maybe.

TOW #17 (Written)- The Trouble With "It Girls" by Anne Helen Peterson

One of the most powerful parts of this article was not the words, but instead the pictures. One picture could mean as much as a thousand words they say. These pictures, or rather, collages that embellished the article were full of "It Girls" and just at a glance you could recognize that at one point every woman up there had been idealized into an it girl. Then there's the pictures of magazine covers-most notably Vouge and Vanity Fair-which have the it girls posing. Not only does this sometimes create the "maniac pixie dream girl", as 500 days of Summer aptly put it, but it expects woman to conform to the standard of that one woman. It also pits women against each other in competition to be the "it girl" when really, we are all the It girl. Now the It girl category is diversifying, take Lupita Nyongo and Benazir Bhutto, but this image limits the woman that it holds. Now, the media expects them to be the exact mix of sexy, demure, smart, but not too smart, different, but not too different, and they take away the power of the woman to define herself. One example of this is Clara Bow, from the 1920-30's. She was the starlet of Hollywood, until she went too much out of the box and proclaimed herself a feminist, gambling, drinking, and partying too much. But of course, the it girl mantle was passed on, as it always is. Take the quick switch from Jennifer Lawrence, to Lupita Nyongo, to Rosmund Pike. The article says, “It's another to see the term-and all its insidious, objectifying power- resurface, proliferate, and thrive nearly a centuary later. Only this time, it's saddled not on one woman, but any woman who seems primed to be more than an object-an It, passive and pliable-in the narrative of their own lives.”