I was sitting in my car eating a yummy bagel when this debate came on the radio over a dress. At first I was really confused becuase they where aruging over what color the dress is….. thats 21st centuey for us. But then I realized its all just different perspectives on what the person sees the dress as, and that is what history essentially is. A bunch of people arguing over whether Abraham Lincoln was shot on the left or the right, with a hat or without. And regarding people seeing that either gold and white or blue and black its just the different tones the eyes pick up. You aren’t crazy for seeibg either one. Well maybe a bit ;).

I just made up a word. Like Shakespeare. Except it was much faster spread and accepted. Doth hast to address me as such now. If you left after the first quiz in large lecture, you got blumed.

For my Hack I choose to show how history has changed in little ways that we may not always seem to think of. Before I would always watch movies on a VHS today a VHS is considered old and everything is now on DVDs and CDs. I got the Idea for this hack when Professor Blum gave the winner the Titanic movie on VHS and he made a remake saying “the oldest movie on the oldest way to show it”

After my grandma passed away, my family went through her old things to see what we wanted to keep. Among the things my family chose were these two old radios. As I was looking at them today, they reminded me of what Dr. Blum said about “conspicuous consumption” and how the American economy is driven by the words “more, more, more.” These radios come from the time when these two concepts reached their peak: the 1950’s. New, mass-produced home appliances were designed to be bright and flashy in order to represent the wealth and affluence of their owners. The radios also represent the concept of “more, more, more,” as there are two of them. Not to mention they weren’t the only ones my family found in the house. This is prefectly representative of the time in which they were made as people were encouraged to buy as much as they could. The solution to every problem is to buy more. My grandparents certainly bought into this concept, as we found at least 6 radios like this in their house, among a myriad of other things.

The past few lectures, we have discussed light in it’s entirety, from the original “electric lamp” (as conned by Thomas Edison) to light pollution.  Another way we use light today is putting various chemicals into a stick in order to make it glow/light, which can be used to paint the night with light, as I have photographed here.

Hack of a hack

Cool. I am learning wordpress. So tonight I went out for Ethiopian food and I was talking about our class. I was talking about teaching styles and how we integrate technology into the classroom to enhance our Hist 110 experience and so when the person I was with asked for an example I talked about how I tweeted at Prof. Blum today about something that was bothering me. At dinner I also talked about the whole Micro/Macro Tree/Forrest thing but I guess I will use this post to explain my discontent with whoever made that meme attacking Patricia Arquette.

Dating tip: If someone takes you out to dinner, definitely bring up your History 110 class. It will without doubt lead to a date #2 🙂 Our college tuition is so dang expensive, I like getting the best experience possible out of it.

Upon searching for something to make a hack about, I turned to my incredibly old Polaroid camera. Upon a little bit of research, I found out some very interesting facts. The company, Polaroid, was very involved in the war efforts for World War II. Polaroid produced eyewear and essentially the inception of film for the navy and army to use. Also something to consider, Polaroid held a monopoly over the entire instant film industry. 20% of overall camera and film sales went through Polaroid. Interestingly enough, Professor Blum spoke out about monopolies not so long ago..

During the Gilded Age, Andrew Carnegie believed that wealthy Americans should regenerate society by using their money in a way that could improve conditions in poverty. Carnegie used his wealth to help society by establishing schools, libraries, and universities in America.

Does it ever blow your mind how history repeats itself, and manages to stay current in time and relevant? In lecture Prof. Blum had mentioned cartoons being a gateway for promotional ads to sell a product; or to appeal an idea to the mass audience. We have all heard of a show called Modern Family, and have grown to love the homosexual couple (Cam, and Mitchell), while it isn’s a cartoon it is still on TV. You see sitcoms introducing a new way of life that is becoming accepted and legal. The fight to make a gay/homosexual family or couple a modern thing was no easy task (Seriously Obama began supporting Gays outright on May 9th 2012). It has been an on going battle probably since the beginning of time (not literally). My point is, if you want America to get used to something… like seeing gay couples, TV seems to be the best way. And to think this all started with a light bulb…..