http://img2-3.timeinc.net/people/i/2014/sandbox/news/140217/buddy-holly-600×450.jpg

This image (acquired as a .jpeg) is a photograph of the front page of a Daily Tribune from Feb, 4 1959. The headline “Three Singers Who Died in Crash of Chartered Plane” refers to a mythic day in Rock n Roll, The Day the Music Died. As we can see from the picture of the newspaper, the Daily Tribune was reporting on the death of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and JP “The Big Bopper” Richardson. The newspapers were originally circulated the day after the plane crashed on February 3, 1959. The intent of the newspaper, The Daily Tribune, was to investigate and inform the public on the incident. As the story goes, the three singers chartered the plane on their tour due to being angered and distressed at rough bus rides. The three singers took off and shortly after a combination of rough weather and pilot error lead to the fatal crash. Many other artists paid tribute to the death of Holly, Valens, and Richardson in the form of music. The song most closely related to The Day the Music Died is Don McLean’s “American Pie.”

Speaking of the image itself, the image is very clear and not pixelated. The image of the newspaper is 114KB and 600×450. The actual newspaper was circulated the day after the crash and distributed to the public. I chose an image of a newspaper due to the popularity of newspaper in the 1900’s. Most Americans would have got the news of the deaths from the print media. The Google search engine brings up many different newspaper articles related to the plane crash with headlines ranging from “Plane Crash Kills 3 Rock N Roll Idols” to “Day the Music Died.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scandals_with_%22-gate%22_suffix

The story of Nixon and Watergate has been well explored and explained. The scandal was the original use and beginning of the suffix “-gate.” The suffix has been used as an implication of some sort of scandal, discrimination, or corruption. There have been so many “-gates” that Wikipedia has a list of most known “-gate” mishaps. Some of the most recent “-gates” I can recall include #gamergate and #bendgate relating to sexual discrimination in gaming journalism and Apple iPhones respectively. The use of the suffix is a testament to the media’s need to name and label everything.

April 15, tax day. As much as the public hates to pay taxes, they are necessary for the benefit of the society. The public’s safety and wealth all depend on the in-flow of taxes into the government. Our nation’s birth came from a protest of British taxes on the American people. “No taxation without representation!” Taxes are the cornerstone of any successful country. Taxes make sure the government has the capacity to act in the interest of the people.

Enjoy tax day! Gorge on the two for one meals offered by many restaurants! Roll in piles of tax refund! Don’t hate taxes, embrace taxes!

In a past lecture or small talk, we touched on aspects of the Hippie culture. I recently visited a friends grandparents at their beach house in La Jolla. Upon parking in the driveway, I noticed a torn and faded flag with “Peace” and the peace symbol embroidered on it. It instantly reminded me of the classic hippie culture of spreading love and peace. The flag, to me, served as a reminder of times past and the lasting impact of historical movements. Just as Blum says, “History is all around us.”

The light bulb, such a simple object. How has it come to represent a great idea, a moment of brilliance? In lecture today we listened to Sean(?) give a history of symbols/shorthand to represent feelings. Even the people at Google seemed to be listening based on their use of the light bulb as an icon for an idea and an icon for science.

(picture of the Google homepage Feb 23,15)

As I was listening to a playlist my friend made me, I happened to look at the album cover for the song Fernando Pando by The Virgins. Located in the bottom right of the cover is the “Parental Advisory – Explicit Content” sign. Obviously this relates to our discussion on what explicit content is and if censorship should exist in a modern world. Should I not be able to listen to a great song because someone else has deemed the content explicit?

The 20th Century was the birth of modern America: Electrification, highways, agriculture, and War. Electricity changed the American workplace forever, employees could now work longer hours due to the soft yellow glow of light-bulbs. The times of quite evenings vanished and a flourishing night-life of leisure and relaxation took place. An influx of (more) affordable cars/trucks spurred the need for public highways and government infrastructure. Commercial agriculture exploded onto the scene, changing the way Americans fed themselves. World War I and World War II proved to the world the growing might of America.

The 20th century was a time of explosive change and growth. Twenty-first century America has slowed down considerably, life has become too complex and cumbersome. What if we brought back the attitude of the 20th century, that innovative drive and passion? (Leave out the sexist, racist, and other negative-ists)