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The importance of friends

After all that has happened this past week, hell this past year, I've really come to appreciate all the people in my life, particularly my friends. My friends here my friends back home, it doesn't matter. They have been there for me. When I was sad they would do everything in their power to help me. My friends back home would tell me everything is going to be okay and it will get better. My friends here would take me to do something around town to try and get my mind off things. It was really nice to know I had people there to help me through what is perhaps one of the toughest weeks of my entire life.  So it got me thinking, we've been learning about the power of friends and friendship ever since we first got into preschool.  But its times like these... times that really try our emotions and hearts... that show us really how important friends are.  So what is a friend?

Well first there is the basic preschool, Barney and Sesame Street version of a friend. A friend is someone who will you can have fun with and tell all of your secrets too. A friend will be there when your happy and when your sad. A friend will be there when your successful and a friend will be there when your mad. Let's see what other rhymes we can make about friendship. But no seriously if we follow the old definition of a friend then we would probably have like 0 friends. So let me tell you what a friend really is:

A friend smacks you in the face with the $120 he got from his last paycheck and makes it rain just because he can't.  A friend strips down and runs through your house naked just to piss you off. A friend buys a horse mask and wears it all over your high school the last day of your senior year. A friend walks back from physics with you have ever seen. A friend lets you copy his physics test because you got shitfaced in Cancun and can barely remember your own name.  A friend teaches you the ins and outs of mortal combat and totally freaks out your girlfriend.  A friend gets in a car accident because he refused to look before he switched lanes. A friend comes to the scene of the accident even though he has a massive amount of weed in his pocket. A friend helps you out when your laid up from a torn ACL. A friend drives you around to everyone's graduation party  when you can't drive yourself just because he wants you to be there.  A friend hugs you when you leaves for school and when you come back for break. A friend is there when you lose the love of your life and he tells you not to give up on love. A friend takes time out of his busy schedule to make sure that your alright.

A friend walks around with you in State college the first week of school when you don't know anyone or anything.  A friend pees in another persons room and sprints back to bed and pretend like nothing happened. A friend brings you home from getting absolutely shitfaced and makes sure your okay and then shits on you the next day. A friend takes pictures of you when your drunk and then makes sure everyone can   see you.  A friend goes to chronic town with you everyday for a whole semester and pays. A friend gets an underage and then forgets everything you did for him, which allows you to make up everything from the previous night.  A friend steals a mcdonalds cone and a liscese plate from a frat that won't let you in. A friend has a wine social in your dorm just to feel fancy. A friend takes care of you when you have a stomach virus and then lets you know just how demonic it sounds when you puke. A friend decorates your entire floor with you and plays Christmas carols because they know how much you care about the holidays. A friend teabags you when the Pats lose the Superbowl but celebrates with you when Penn State wins against Illinois. A friend sits around and plays video games with you but goes out to play football when the weather is nice. A friend puts up with the worst teacher in humanity with you, and then sits in a room with you for 10 hours doing a stupid project. A friend gets you through the pain of a break-up, all the crying and anger and depression. A friend eats every meal with you, sleeps in the same building with you and spends all the time they can with you.

So that's what friendship is to me. I've had some great times with my friends. They have been with me through the end of high school and the beginning of college. They were with me when I was drunk and sober, when i was happy and sad. Through pain and near death experiences and some of the happiest moments of my entire life. And most importantly they have been there throughout this newest hardship. Thank you to all of my friends.  I'll never forget any of you or what you have done.









 

Museums

        So I'm doing my paper on museums this week and it got me thinking... museums are awesome! Like seriously who doesn't like going to museums. Their is so much to do at a museum. They have all sorts of awesome little things to discover all over the place.  All those cool little features that museums have that make them awesome. I used to love going to museums when i was but a youngling. I was lucky enough to have grown up in a place where there was tons of mad cool stuff around me. Being in the capital of what is perhaps the most powerful state in the Union, there's lots of good history and shit at the State museum.  For example after 9/11 the wreckage of the twin towers came up to the state museum as a memorial. It was really interesting to see all the wreckage and at the same time hard to believe that all of that had happened less than 2 hours from my house. Albany was also at the heart of the Iroquois Indians Tribal land back when it was founded. So they have lots of exhibits that have to do with the Indians. There is even one that lets you go into an old fashion log cabin!
          I don't know why ore people go to museums. There is so much there for you to learn about yourself. You can find out about your history, where you personally came from. It was always a refreshing feling coming out of a museum learning a new thing. People should really learn to appreciate museums more.

Home

       
         For me one of the most powerful symbols that we have is home. Home is where the heart is; home is who we are not just where we're from.  It more than a house or a town or a school its what defines us as people.Their are so many places to describe home, so many places we call home. All I know is that home is where i want to be this weekend
         I love state college and in a sense it has come to be a sort of home for me. But the Hudson Valley will always hold my heart. My girlfriend and I always get in arguments because she hates our home. But the funny thing is that as much as she says she hates it she is the one that always begs to go home after a break. I could care less.    I can make a home wherever I end up. But it is tough not to be back in Troy during holidays. It's what I have always known. Get up early on Easter morning and finding our Easter baskets. Then going to church and then a big brunch with my family. That was always how it was for me. But things have been changing lately. Since I've been with my girlfriend my definition of home has really changed. When I go back to Troy for breaks I spend more time at her place than my own house. I love my family but its almost as if I've made a new home at her house. Which led me to think about what a home really is. In itself the Home has it's own rhetoric.
         A home is the place where we find ourselves the most comfortable. For me its my girlfriend's couch with her under my arms and music playing from the speakers of her computer. For others its their dorm room with their roommate watching TV or playing video games. Others home can be the hotel rooms they stay in as they travel the world or the diner they always go to to eat and hang out with friends. For some its the football field they spent 40 years of their life teaching and loving those who came through their life. Home is different for every person. It can't really be defined in words just a feeling in one's heart. Therefore I  guess the rhetoric of the home isn't what we say or the images we see. No that's just the generic stereotypical Hollywood excuse for home. No home is where we feel warm and loved. Anything else is just wrong.

Weed

 Ok so because I'm so swamped again this week I'm gonna put off the army post one more week and make this short again.  I guess I'll discuss the rhetoric of weed just because it was what I researched for my part of the project. In particular i'm gonna talk about this movie I saw when I was researching about weed. Actually I didn't find it one of my friends showed it to me. It was really funny. The title of the film was Super High Me, a spoof ( kinda) of the famous documentary Super Size Me.  The subject is a comedian whose act is all about him being high all the time. He doesn't smoke for 30 days then smokes all day every day for another 30 days. In the experiment he tests his medical condition, his test taking abilities, his memory abilities and even his psychic abilities (buuulll shit). Anyway its a good movie and it gives a lot of information on the legalization of marijuana in California. Its a pretty interesting film that I would encourage everyone to see not just because its absolutely hilarious, but because its actually pretty informative.

Anyway there's lots of Rhetoric surrounding weed both good and bad. Personally I'm one of those guys that doesn't see anything wrong with it even though I don't usually partake when my friends indulge. There are people on both sides of the spectrum: those who say smoking is bad and the majority of young people who really don't see it as a bad thing.  Regardless we all have that friend that gets high all the time and thanks to him we all know the terms: weed, Mary Jane, pot; then we have our strains with all their lovely names: super lemon haze, white widow, afghan kush and all that jazz. Then you got your paraphernalia: bowl, bongs, vaporizors, blunts joints and the like. Anytime you hear any of things you know right away what that person is talking about. Weed has it own language of grams headies and joints that is universal in it's underground world. But weed is a universal thing that we all know about. we all have friends who smoke it and most of us have ourselves. So the rhetoric of weed is something that we all have been influenced by. In many cases we don't even see people smoking and yet we know what is going on simply through context clues. So yeah... weed... woo...

Spring time in the Hudson Valley

 

So I'm gonna postpone my last focus on military rhetoric and instead write a short entry this week because
i'm swamped with work and not feeling to well. So I thought I would talk today a little bit about Spring and the rhetoric you see around this time of year. I love spring. It is by far my favorite holiday. Its warm but not hot. The flowers are coming out and its absolutely breathtaking the views. I come from the mountains and in springtime right after all of the flowers pop open and the rain has fallen the the views are stunning. You can see for miles just pinks and yellows and greens and reds. And the best part is you want to. I love my home. I bash it a lot because there isn't much to do but in the end it really is a wonderful place. Especially in the Springtime. About this time of year you'll begin to see posters and billboards for the Hudson River Valley or the Adirondack or Catskill mountains.  The "Live at 5" concert series down by the river begins to advertise on TV. And perhaps one of my favorite parts of Spring begins: Lacrosse season.

   Where I come from Lacrosse is big. Everyone plays it and everyone loves it. the season usually goes from march to late may when the weather is beautiful. I can remember going to games and playing under the sun, smelling the turf or grass depending on where we were playing. Up until my accident it was my life. I would go to the local UAlbany games or go see my recently graduated team mates play at Siena college against teams like Johns Hopkins or Duke.  I remember the thrill of beating the state champion Niskayuna or the sorrow after the loss to Shenendahowa. I remember going to Saratoga to play. The best part was turning on the TV and seeing my school in the news. I never really appreciated how big apart of my life Lacrosse was until my accident. See it tore my ACL and both miniscii in February of last year in a preseason game last year. It destroyed me. But out of it came some good. I decided to join the drama club where I met my current girlfriend.  I learned to experience and love spring for more than just the lacrosse. Most importantly I came to love my home in the Hudson Valley. I know I really haven't talked much about rhetoric here but, in a way i have indirectly. Nature has a rhetoric all its own and spring time in the Hudson Valley is sweet music to all who can come and enjoy it.

Jamie Williams Grossman Cold Spring on a Hot Day

Marines

So I'm finally getting to a branch I know about: the Marines. I have had extensive encounters with the marines and they're recruiting tactics. More so in fact tan with any other branch besides the Army. As I mentioned before I went to a military high school. Even though we were an Army JROTC school we had a Marine recruiting station right next store. They often came to visit us, not only because we were a military school but because we were already partially trained in basic military dress and drill, as well as physically capable due to our daily PT regiment.  In addition to the reciters the two teachers that I was closest too were retired Marine corps vets. Both my history teachers as well as my coaches I established a strong bond with them. One a retired 22yr marine sniper who had served in desert storm, who i had both my sophomore and senior year as a European history and micro-economics teacher and was the coach of my mock trial team. The other a captain who had been injured in the course of duty during Vietnam and was my football coach as well as my freshman history teacher. Both of these men demanded respect, discipline, thoroughness, but also had a greater knowledge of the world they lived in, and a wisdom that few could hope to obtain. I was very very close to applying for NROTC here and going the Marine option because of these two men, and would have had I not destroyed my knee.  So with that in mind I will begin my discussion on the recruiting style of the US Marine Corps.
Now for all you military people out there, I understand that the Marines are still technically a sub-branch of the Navy. However, this is simply because they answer to the Sec of the Navy. They have their own officer corp that does not have any obligation to the highest ranking admiral in the Navy. So for all intensive purposes I will be treating them like a separate branch.
The Marines are different from other branches because they pride themselves on being the most verscetile and the fiercest warriors the US has to offer.  Indeed they're slogan alone says it all: "The Few; The Proud: The Marines."  These words are all they need to represent they're power. They are an elite fighting force that are proud to serve their nation.  They are one of the oldest "special ops" groups in the world if you will, being founded shortly after the Navy during the American Revolution.  They have an old and honored tradition of being the fiercest fighters, a reputation that comes primarily from the time in WWII where the Marine corps was the primary fighting force to defeat the entire military of the Japanese empire. This tradition is a source of honor for the Marines. They are tough, aggressive, smart and above all courageous. They undergo the hardest training, endure the worst conditions and are paid lousy for it. So then what appeal would the Marine corps serve?
This is what makes the achievements of Marine recruiters so spectacular. The Marines unlike other branches are the most selective in their recruiting. They are looking for a certain kind of person. They want someone who is strong, tough, has good common sense, but will take orders without question. They also need somebody who is willing to die. The Marines endure the most dangerous missions. This coupled with the brutal training and low pay tends to turn many away. However, this actually makes a reciters job easier. It weeds out those who do not have the dedication to do what is done. Recruiters want someone with motivation. Often times this means appealing to the recruits sense of honor. When people see a Marine they give that person respect because of the reputation that being a Marine has with it. Marines are associate with greatness and recruiters appeal to peoples pathos by fulfilling their need to be liked, respected and needed. Unlike other branches where they try to sell people an the education they can receive or the job skills they will have for the future the Marines focus on honor associated with their branch... primarily because they can't offer the rest. But the honor is really enough for most people. Having USA Marine Corps on your resume is enough to get many jobs.
As far as commercials go the Marines are very basic. They aren't like the other branches where they show flashy planes or special ops teams in combat. Mostly its just the marines in formation or doing drill in full dress. They know their reputation and therefore don't really need to show all the flashy stuff. This also shows the discipline that goes with the Marine Corps.  The straight lines the slow precise movements with the rifles. The Marines make they're job look easy in their commercials even though they can be the most difficult. As of lately the Marines are actually displaying their achievements. They are talking about the great things they have done in the recent wars and displaying on billboards small scenes of combat.
I have great respect for the Marines. Not just for what they do, but for the men that actually have gone through the hardships and come out. They have seen heard and done more than most men I know and have come out scarred. However they are also the strongest most dignified men I know. We should be proud to have men like them serving for our freedom. I know I am.

Navy

         

          Last week I did the Air Force and this week I'll talk about one of the oldest branches in the US military: The Navy. The Navy is the one Branch I have had no experience with and yet I am connected with the closest after the Army. I never have dealt with Naval recruiters however my room mate is in NROTC here at PSU and a friend of mine who I am certain is reading this post is also a midshipman here.  So the information I will be receiving will not be about the recruiters themselves but the other strategies of recruitment the Navy has perfected.
           First thing I want to say is that the Navy is very good at using history to it's advantage. After the Army the Navy is the oldest branch in US history (the marines were founded around the same time however they are officially considered a sub-branch of the Navy).  The Navy has been influential in almost all of the US wars up until the 1960s where their role has substantially diminished since.  The Navy used to be the main tool in global warfare especially, beginning before the founding of our country where the main form of intercontinental transportation was by ship. Since the invention of commercial airlines in the 60s the Navy has had less of a role because their aren't as many ships transporting people anymore. That being said the Navy has been historically the most important branch.  Most of our wars consist of extensive Naval use from the Revolution up until WWII.  From the Bon Richard of John Paul Jones in the American Revolution to the Great White fleet of the Spanish American War the US Navy has been a dominant force in the sea. Many people have grandfathers who served in the Navy in WWII, a war where the Navy was the leading branch of the war especially in the Pacific theater. Therefore it is safe to say that the Navy doesn't have to have as extensive a recruitment program because half of their recruiting comes from history textbooks.
           When I asked my room mate about his decision to join the Navy, he told me exactly what I expected. He wasn't joining because he talked to a recruiter but because he had a family history.  Unlike other Branches the Navy seems to stress the generational affect. What I mean by that is in many of their commercials and advertising they talk about peoples parents or grandparents who may have served and they play on peoples drive to emulate the important men in their lives. So along with the history the Navy has to bring to the table they are also able to play up the emotion by discussing peoples loved ones who served there country. Not all other branches have done this. I have a history of the army in my family and not once have i ever heard that discussed by Army recruiters or advertising.
          The other main form of recruitment I want to discuss is the Naval commercials. Of all the Branches I would say the Navy has the best commercials.  Like I said before they use history a lot, showing images of WWII sailors on their battleships. However, since the Navy has had a decline recently in Use the main focus of recruiters seems to be on the other things the Navy does. The Navy is the most universal branch. It currently  flies more than the Air Force, works artillery more than the army, and the SEALs do more special ops operations than all the other branches put together. The Navy is a water-born branch which means that whereever there is water they can do combat and in many cases they are the only ones suited for the job. For example any fighting in the swamps of the tropics are fought by the Navy, usually by the SEALs. These images are the images they play. On of my favorite commercials is the one called "the Call to Serve" A narrator with a stong deep voice talks about what it means to be called to serve as they show images of the Navy both past and present. In the background they are playing Anchors Away the song that most people correlate with the US Navy.
           Lastly I want to breifly mention the Navy's phrase: "a global force for good."  This describes the Navy in a nutshell. It is the only military force that before WWI would fight outside of the US. It has bases all over the world however its primary bases are in International waters; namely on it's boats. the Rhetoric of this phrase is phenomenal. It is basically saying that by joining the Navy you have the ability to travel the world doing good and helping the world.  This is a pretty appealing sentiment to a lot of people.

Air Force

   
        Being the youngest branch of the military the Air Force has had less time to perfect its recruitment strategies than the other branches.  Still the Air Force is has had major success in its recruitment especially in recent years with the war going on.  The Air Force is a very different Branch of the military in that most of it's personnel are not actually in combat zones. That doesn't make they're job any less dangerous however. Contrary to popular belief the Air Force is possible more dangerous in the fact that they are surrounded all day by very large and very deadly machines. Despite this the opinion of most in society is that the Air Force is the least dangerous of the three branches. This is a rumor that the Air Forces uses to its advantage very well.
         Unlike the other branches who tend to go after possible recruits who are physically blessed, the perfect Air Force Cadet has to have great strength of mind. They need to have good critical thinking skills and sound reasoning. They require physical fitness like the other branches, but because they are involved more in intelligence gathering and guidance they have to be the best thinkers. The recruitment strategies therefore appeal more to those with a higher intellect and a lesser physical ability.  Recruiters tend to be less pushy and more logical in their rhetoric. They appeal to people's logos more than their pathos, something that is not really found in the other branches.  They are very open to who they recruit. They will talk to anyone unlike some branches (cough cough marines) and they tend to be less wordy. The meat heads that end up in the Army usually don't find the appeal to the Air force because the recuiters don't offer them the usual pathos appealers, such as honor and patriotism. Instead the recruiters cut the bull and give you the statistics.
          Often recruiters for the Air Force give better reasoning than the other three. This is because they want to appeal to people who can reason better.  They talk about how the Air Force is safer to your health because they are typically outside the combat zone. Often the discuss how their is better job security in the Air Force because soldiers in their respective fields are dying as often as other branches are.  Another big one is jobs after their military career. Often times the jobs that are used in the Air Force (mechanic, engineering, air-traffic control, flying) are jobs that are always in demand and pay extremely high. The oppurtunities of success are much higher coming out of the Air Force and they make sure you know that. Because all the flying is done by Officers, most people would rather join those ranks. This means a free education to most people.
          When the airforce shows a commercial on TV they don't typically show it on the same shows that the other branches do. They aren't often shown during a football game, but anyone who has seen the History or Discovery Channels can tell you that  they are in almost ever break.  They're latest strain of commercials show soldiers in combat in what looks like a video game. They are being led by a team of people in what looks like a space ship. However as the commercial progresses the landscape becomes more realistic and a voice says "IT ISN'T SCIENCE FICTION" in a deep commanding tone. This is very appealing to the types of people the Air Force wants. People with imagination and who tend to be readers. They want people who aren't necessarily the adventures but who can help guide soldiers like one would a character in a video game or story. They want people who can see something coming and are able to give the soldiers proper direction on how to react. Video gamer's and readers of science fiction are stereotypically the types of people i just described
            Another famous commercial, references the actual flying that the Air Force does.  this is the only time I actually can see ethos being used. They appeal to our inner child by saying that if you join the Air Force you can fly, or be an astronaut in space. While this is often untrue because the majority of the Air Force actually work on computers as guides and analysts, they present themselves as giving you the opportunity.  They reference flying by saying the words above, all over and over. They keep the viewer staring at they screen as they shoe pilots doing cool risky maneuvers.  All of these things create feelings of excitment and make people want to do cool stuff like that too. they join up and end up a mechanic instead... but no one really thinks about That now do they.
              The Air Force is clever. They really don't have that much to offer as far as honor and lory so they make up for it in other ways. They use logic to back up their claims and appeal to peoples egos as far as their intelligence.  They show grand stunts and tell you that could be you. They give opportunities for afterward and keep up the idea that they are the safest branch.  For being around for such a short time the Air force has become very skilled in their recruitment rhetoric and styling.

Intro to Military Rhetoric

       

So I've decided to write the next couple weeks about rhetoric the military uses in recruiting.  This is something I have experienced many many times. I went to military school for four years in high school so I became accustom to recruiters filing in and out trying to get us to sign up for one branch or another.    My school was affiliated with the Army so we were constantly being talked to by various Army recruiters. My school had a mandatory JROTC program (Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp) which is like ROTC only we don't have to serve. As part of the program our school was required to build a military science program into the curriculum, we had to wear the official Army uniform which was given to us by the US Army. Another stipulation was that my school had to allow any military recruiter onto the property that wanted to set up a station.  As we were a military school we were prime recruits for the various branches offer corps. We were taught not to trust recruiters by upperclassmen and little tricks we could do to avoid them. We could spot out lies and false promises made by recruiters very easily and more than once I was able to correct a civilian friend who had the wrong idea about military life.

lasalleinstitute.org

          Now don't get me wrong I am not anti-military at all; Far from it. I would have joined had it not been for some external factors. However, The point I was trying to make is that from my experiences I have come to realize many things about the rhetoric of military recruitment having dealt with them so many times. One might even consider me an expert.  Everything dealing with recruitment involves very precise and very carefully crafted rhetoric. From the words out of the mouth of a recruiter to the music used in the TV commercials the military have not only become experts in war but in persuasion.
          Today I just want to mention a couple of key things that I will reference in my next four blogs. These things are common rhetorical methods used by all the branches. The first is that recruitment focuses mainly on enlistment. Very rarely are recruiters looking for officers. Officers are important but as anyone who is either currently in the military or has some sort of connection to it can tell you, the majority of the physical work as well as the most danger comes from the enlisted ranks, making it the hardest to recruit. Enlisted ranks for those of you who don't know have the most dangerous jobs, go through some of the most difficult training and are payed much less than officers. On the other hand the officers have a much more difficult job mentally and emotionally as leaders. There are more people willing to do they're job but few who are actually able to. That is why most of the time recruiters won't try to sell the officer position, unless they find an extraordinary person (like what I did there Mike).
           The second point is that a recruiter will never paint a true picture of military life. If they did then nobody would join up. Every form of recruitment will talk about honor and courage somewhere whether it is a pamphlet or TV commercial. They will tell you that people will respect you more, or that you will become part of an elite family. This is an idea that has been a large part of Western Civilization since Roman times.  The Romans believed that honor and glory could only be achieved through the military and the only way to be considered successful was through honor and glory. This has been a perpetual idea throughout the western world for millenniums. So it is something that appeals to many people today. Obviously the miliray will use it to their advantage. If they were to give you the accurate description ( you will be paid little to risk your life for someone you never met and most likely die for) absolutely nobody would join. However, by appealing to theses age old forms of pathos the military has succeeded in recruiting for years.
           The third and final point is that the military will tend to appeal more to a male audience than a female audience. While it is rather backward and still a bit sad frankly, the military would still rather have men fighting than women. Also war has always been something more likely to occur between males than females simply because men have the biological tendency to fight. That is why the voices of the narrators of military commercials are often deep male voices. They often show scenes of violence and hard training. The soldiers are often men in the commercials. Most recruiters are also men. All these are because the military hopes to attract young men who are more willing to take life advise from an older man. Whether that is wise or not is not the question but it works apparently.
          What we have to remember is that everything the military does in recruiting has come about through centurie of trial and error. They know what appeals to young people, men in particular because of the tactics used before them. I want to gain press upon the reader that I am in no way shape or form against the Military. As I Said before I am a strong supporter of our troops and would have joined myself if not for some outside variable.  I am merely discussing the rhetoric used by the various branches to attract recruits and not the morality or legality of it. With that I hope you look forward to my analysis within the next four weeks of the 4 main Branches: Army, Navy, Marines (I'm separating them from the Navy), and Air Force.

Rhetoric of the Heart

          Well with Valentine's Day coming right around the corner, I feel this is a good time to dissect one of the worlds most rhetorically based holidays. Valentine's Day is just one giant day to celebrate love through rhetoric. Everything we say or do on and around Valentine's day is just dripping with rhetoric. Simply saying "I love you" doesn't sound very pretty or heartfelt, compared to half of the cards and candies we have on Valentine's Day.  Yet isn't that all we're really trying to get across to the receiver of these gifts? The practices and customs that surround Valentine's Day are all just forms of really artistic rhetoric.

          The most obvious use of rhetoric is of course the symbol of Valentine's Day... the red heart. When we see this we automatically know what it means. It is the symbol for love, something that we recognize all the way back from our childhood. Now, of course this heart looks absolutely nothing like an actual heart. However, it is still a universal symbol that when we see it we know it means love and affection, and when seen around this time of year it means Valentine's Day. You can find the heart everywhere; in stores, on TV.  The heart is used by the media on many occasions to represent love.  When a cartoon character becomes love stricken their eyes turn into hearts. The background on the title of the show I Love Lucy  was a heart.  The heart is what we refer to when we are feeling love or feelings born from love. When someone breaks up with us we become "heart-broken." In actuality the heart has nothing to do with our emotions but it is a universal symbol for love. Valentine's Day has become a day where we celebrate love. So it is only fitting that the heart would be the prevalent symbol. The color red is used to as well. It has become the color that we associate with the heart. Most likely this is because of blood, but from this red has come to symbolize love and is as recognizable as the heart.  You don't give someone a valentine shaped like a yellow star. You give them a red heart. Chocolates come in red heart shaped boxes. This is done so that the receiver of the gift will make the correlation between the gift and what it represents which is love for that person.

          The other common symbol used commonly for Valentine's Day that represents love is the flower, and in particular the red rose. The rose is a powerful symbol of love. However unlike the heart it has a gender bias. A rose is usually given to women from men as a token of their affection.  The rose is used more by adults, because it  has more of a sexual meaning to it than a heart. The rose looks beautiful and smells beautiful. That is why it is commonly used for  love because it reminds men of how precious and beautiful the women in their lives really are. In the movies the leading man will give the love interest roses to say he loves her. In commercials for the man usually gives roses along with his gifts. One of the most popular Superbowl commercials of all time was for an online flower company, advertising for Valentine's Day. I know the first time I met my current girlfriend I gave her a dozen roses. We've been together for a year now. The rose is a powerful symbol that tells a woman that she is loved. Hearts and roses allow us to express our affection without really having to say anything at all. 

Rematch

Well it's that time of year again. The Superbowl is only days away and this year not only do I have the pleasure to watch it at Penn State, but in fact the best team in football is playing: The New England Patriots! Yes, That's right I said the Pats.  Anyone who knows me can say that I love 3 things in this world: my girlfriend, my family, and of course the Pats! To see them in the Superbowl makes me happier than I can explain. However this years match up is even sweeter as it is against the NY Giants. For those of you who don't know football, or don't care this match-up is a repeat of the 2007 , in which the NY face the undefeated Patriots. Hopefully unlike last time, the Pats will come out the victors.  This match up is especially important to me.

          I'm from NY but I'm a huge Pats fan, so as you can imagine this game is especially important for me. When these two teams played the first time I had to endure the trash-talk and torment following the loss, but I trash talked just as good as I got.  This game was heated last time. The patriots were 18-0 and if they won they would be the 2nd team in history to go undefeated.  Needless to say this game started out as a time of interesting rhetoric.

http://www.fieldturf.com

          The time before the game consisted of a heated match on both sides. I happened to be in the middle of it, being a Pats fan in Giants country. Also going to an all boys school where football was king didn't help either.  The rhetoric was harsh. Giants fans would make comments in the hallways and us Pats fans would band together to shout them down and tell them to gt their diapers ready because they are gonna be s**ting the bed when the Pats steam-roll them. We were cocky to be sure. But this was an old rivalry. This went beyond 2 football teams; it was a battle between two cities that had been going on for almost a century in the sports world. 

          NYC and Boston have always been close rivals in the world of sports: Yankees and Redsocks, Pats and Jets, Knicks and Celtics (kinda :p). So this battle of the two cities was one that both were ready for. Being in between the two, the people around me tend to spit or mix and match between the two even within the family. Me and my cousins are large Pats fans, but our Grandfather was a Giants fan. You had propaganda all over the area trying to get people to support one team or the other. Since both cities are heavily represented the Capital Region of NY could get pretty tense when there was a Boston/NYC game.  Where it was most apparent though was in the advertising. It was funny how around us businesses would either support both teams or neither team. No one wanted to lose business so it was interesting, watching the wording used in these commercials. One of my favorites, was a skit the NFL put on before the game laying out the differences between the two cities. It showes 2 groups of guys trash-talking about how one city is better than another. Unfortunately I was unable to find the video, but it is a good demonstration of the hostility and rivalry between the 2 groups. It put into words what this game represented for both teams, and even more for both communities.

           Not being home, I can only imagine what it going on now. Probably the same sort of talk and trash-talk as before. I've nticed a lot more people talking about a "redemption" game for the Pats and I really hope they're right. In my opinion the talk has been less cocky and we have more athletic gems on the Pats than we have since the 2004 season when we still had the greats like Bruschi, Moss and Venateri. We have the fear factors of Gronkowski and Hernadez, as well as big Vince Wilfork and Warren on defense. If we win I can't even begin to explain the talk that will occur as us Pats fans will finally have our revenge for what was stolen in 2007. We'll see on Sunday, but no doubt this game is bound to be full of rhetorical gold.

This I Believe

Farewell

Courtesy: http://www.dawgsports.com/            

               This isn't going to be a long post. I just needed to get out my thoughts on this issue.  When we left class on Wednesday I went directly up to Curtain Road, to watch the procession. While I waited out there, I couldn't help but think of how we will remember this in years to come.  We stood out in the cold along a street to watch the passing of a man most of us never even met. And yet because of who he was and what he stood for, I feel like I know Coach Paterno as well as my own grandfather.
            This is where the rhetoric comes in I think. I found it amazing the things that came out about JoePa minutes after his passing.  The media and those who fought so hard to ruin his life, were suddenly commemorating him.  No one wanted to speak ill of him. They chose their words careful, almost as if they were trying to apologize.  All of the sudden the scandal was just a blip at the very end of a long lustrous career. They began by listing his accomplishments. Former players were interviewed talking about how great he was. You didn't see this when the scandal broke out. All of the sudden Joe was a hero again.
             Then I see what we as the students have done in memory. As I said before most of us never met the man. But we could all connect to him. Every time I heard a speech he would make, to us or the players or the community as a whole, I felt like he was talking to his children or grandchildren. The love and care he had in his voice for all of us.... well it made me feel accepted here at PSU. I think that's how we all felt. That's why their have been this out pouring of pictures and quotes and status's remembering him in all his greatness. The pictures of Joe just standing with his arms crossed smiling in front of the camera... the one of Beaver before and after Joe.  All of these created by students and others in the community to show how much he has done for us, and how much he meant for us.

Courtesy: Andrew Johnson

              For me, this truly is like losing my grandfather. My mother's father passed away before I was born. I never knew the man. But somehow he is more important to my life than any other living relative.  I've always heard how much I am like him. I have his nose, his build; I have his wit and clumsiness. I made up an image for the man I didn't know.  Ironically Coach Paterno fit it perfectly. I never met Coach but somehow I knew he was was like my grandfather. Maybe its because their stories were so similar. Born to poor families; both fought in the war; both played football at Ivy League schools (My grandfather was the starting guard of the Yale Bulldogs... Oddly enough He told my mother that he remember's playing Joe when He was at Brown in the Early 50s), and both were kind loving men that were known for putting others before themselves. I guess it just made sense that Coach Paterno could be the physical embodiment of my Pops. With his passing... well needless to say I felt it.
              So I guess to conclude what was supposed to be this short post I want to say this: Thank You so much Coach Paterno. Not only for what you gave to the football program or the school, but for the love and kindness you showed to all of your 40,000 children. We will always remember you in our hearts.

Probably Not The Best Way To Get A Vote

Before I begin writing I just want to add a disclaimer. The views expressed in this ad are very far from my own so I would ask that if you watched the link above and you disagree you do not aim your attacks at me.  I posted this because there is a personal story tied to this advertisement. Some might find it comical others offensive so for those of you out there who are afraid of conflict this isn't the blog for you.

Alright so now that that is out of the way I shall begin.  For those of you who haven't yet done so I would ask that you click on the link above and watch the video above. Alright now assuming that you have done so let me introduce to those of you who don't already know him, Texas Governor Rick Perry.  Gov. Perry is in the race to gain the GOP nomination for the 2012 presidential race.  He is an outspoken opponent of the Obama administration, a staunch conservative, and as we can see, a very poor rhetor.

Before I go further into that previous statement I want to tell you the story of how I discovered this.... how should I put this... unusual piece of political propaganda.  My roommate and I were sitting in our dorm one day, some weeks ago watching TV.  Both of us consider ourselves republicans but neither are very conservative, swaying more towards the moderate view of things.  We don't discuss politics often, although the subject has been broached on occasion so we both know each others view. So needless to say that when this commercial popped up on the screen, the two of us both turned to stare wide-eyed at the other. This was followed by a sudden burst of laughter, and then a deep discussion of the usual, "what is this country going too?" "its people like that, that's going to drive us back to the dark ages" "are you going to eat that"... you know the important questions one asks after witnessing such an event as this... piece of work.  Needless to say neither of us were very much impressed with Gov. Perry. My roommate being a navy man himself, found this especially amusing as it seems the dear Governor was trying to appeal to those in the military.

Needless to say as a rhetor Gov. Perry is no expert. He not only succeed in pushing away the audience he was trying to target, he proceeded to insult and segregate the 17% of non-christian Americans as well as the 4% that identify themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual (abc.com news pole). Though these numbers seem insignificant by secluding these groups Perry gives Obama a 21% lead, providing he is the GOP candidate.  Besides this he has refused to take into account people like my roommate and I who clear see this commercial as a very intolerant and rather frightening foreshadowing of what is to come, if he becomes president.  He is not only driving off a large portion of the voting intentionally, he unintentionally drives off the very people he should be trying to sway to his position. Conservatives will already vote for him so wouldn't the politically smart thing be to try to sway the vote of the moderates who make up a large percentage of his own party?  This commercial is a perfect example of why it is wise to choose your wording carefully.  Perry has focused on a very small and very secluded group of christian conservatives, simply by using the incorrect wording.

Today Governor Perry is no real contender in the race. After making ignorant and rather offensive comments on the Turkish involvement in global Terrorism, he is being called to drop out of the race by many, including those from his own state of Texas. Yet another slip up for the Gov and all because he doesn't understand the importance of proper rhetoric.