Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke CRITIQUE

Watching the music video to the song Blurred Lines, recently released by Robin Thicke who was colaberating with Pharell, two big worldwide names in music. The way that the women are presented in this sexual and naked manor disgusts me for one and im sure by looking on the internet at all of the comments of the video it is the same for many other women and even men across the world. The music video is meant to be something that complements the song and is used to relate to the song but not only does a couple naked women walking amd dancing around provokingly have nothing to do with the song, it is also very unnessasery. 

The degrading of women in this music video is extremely high. The men think that with a little bit of money they can essentially have women do whatever they want them to and although that might be true for a couple women, its not a good way to represent all of the women around the world. The women have no respect for themselves and accordingly the men dont have any respect for these or any other women. 

Although this is something i cannot and will choose not to go into detail about, the language that they use and the things that they say relating to the women are also degrading. Saying things about ALL women and having the 2 women in the music video try to act as women in general is anothing degrading act from Robin Thicke. They just assume that because they have 2 girls here that will do anything for a little bit of money, all girls will do the same and thats a typical way for famous male musical artists to think an act and it needs to be stopped. 

In verse one the lyrics are constantly talking about a girl not realising he wants to get with him and being so surprised that she doesnt want to get with him. He is refering to himself as some kind of god and talking about how all girls would get with him so happily. The next verse where the lyrics refer to a girl being liberated with no papers ect, is another perfect example of where women as a whole are being degraded to huge levels not only throughout the lyrics but also the naked models in the music video. No wonder the men all think they are the kings of the world. This all needs to change and we need to come together as a whole and stop this. 

Advertisement Ethos, Pathos, Logo. (BLOG POST #6)

Nike Mercurials

Nike's new and greatest boots the nike mercurials are for true champions and only for the best. Our boots are made out of the best quality carbon fibre and cotton, unlike all of the other big brands that use the leather from cows and different animals. Our boots are not only the lightest and most comfortable boots, but they also benifit you the best on the pitch. The 2014 best football boots prize, of course, goes to the best boots and that is why the nike mercurials won. This just shows how high our level of quality is compared to the other boots around the world at the moment, there is no close second. The nike mercurials are all hand made in workshops around europe and our other chosen destinations. Unlike the other brands you would be buying from, no, these brands have all of their boots made and shipped back to their home base from countries in south east asia such as Indonesia, Vietnam ect. The young children that work in these factories are on limited wages and are in the worst possible working conditions. These are all very good reasons why you should be wearing the nike mercurials instead of other pathetic competitors of ours, 

Biggie Interview blog post 5

Rationale

The text type that I chose for the written task is an interview with Christopher Wallace, better known as Biggie Smalls or Notorious BIG. The Interview will be centered on the language that he uses in his first album “Ready to Die” which was released in (1993). The 3 songs that I will use from this album are the three that describe his hard times the best and they are Suicidal thoughts, Ready to Die and Everyday Struggle. I am using “Life Magazine” because I want the interview to be more relating to how the language comes across and relates to his life instead of having Biggie just talking about the rap game and conflict with other rappers. The target audience for the interview would be both the people that read the magazine and not just Biggie’s fans but followers. The interview goes a step deeper than any other before so those that want to know all there is about Biggie would be partly the target audience. The interview will be, “Q” is the interviewer’s questions for Biggie, and “A” will be the text representing Biggie Small’s response.

Interview

Q - Hello Christopher thank you for being here with us today, I know you have a very tight schedule.

A – Ah nah man that’s fine, Please call me Biggie though.

Q- Ok, “Biggie” I want to start by telling you that “Ready to Die” (Your Debut album) seems to have been a huge marker in East Coast rap, and just the current rap game in general.

A – Yeah, you know it’s good to be out in the streets with my boys and have fans and b**ches calling and screaming for me, it’s been a very sudden change but I’m loving life man.

Q –Alright alright, what I really wanna know from you today biggie, ALL your songs just talking about drugs and dealing and everything, whats that all about?

A – Well look man, when I was growing up I would take any job I could possibly take, I would have taken a job at Mcdonalds and if I had of I can tell you now that all of my songs would be talking about big macs and greasy snacks.

Q – And you must have been heavily involved in the dealing game? I mean the language and words you use in the records are just so vivid.

A – I’m telling you now my life before Puff picked me up was the crack game and nothing more or less. I had to supply and I had no time to think about anything else. How was I supposed to rap about anything else that had been my life for so long?

Q – So would you say the crack game and the rap game are similar or the same or what?

A – Well the way I see it man, in the crack game you get the high up suppliers that give you the stuff and you feed the money back to them, it’s the same with Puff and me, he gave me the money for the record and said “go do your thing” so I did just like when I was in the crack game, I guess you could say it is similar yeah.

Q – Okay, back to your lyrics, in your debut album there are a lot of very big claims and very fierce lines I guess you could say.

A – Yeah I guess looking back at my childhood and the jail-time leading up to the writing of my records, there was never gonna be an upbeat happy song you feel me? (Chuckles). You know what I’m saying though, I really wanted to get across my story and how I got to where I am with the lyrics and language in the first album, just wanted to show the real me.

Q – Now there are a couple songs in ready to die that I was interested in knowing a little more about and maybe even finding out something about some of the lyrics, does that sound alright to you?

A – Yeah go ahead

Q – Well the first question that everyone wants to know including myself, is what is the true meaning behind the album name and the first song on your album “Ready to die”?

A – Well I’ll tell you now I wasn’t ready to die, I was just trying to kill my old life. I wanted to be able to put my whole past behind me and I just wanted to die and be reborn into what is happening for me now, this is the life I have always wanted and I’m sure I could have gotten it through different routes that I did but the main thing is that I’m here now doing what I’m doing!!

Q – In Ready to Die, the beginning of the second verse reads “as I sit back and look to when I used to be a crook, doing whatever it took from snatching chains to pocket books, a big bad motherf***er on the wrong road, I got some drugs tried to get the avenue sold”. Can you just explain the meaning behind these lines?

A – Well basically man, I was at a time just before I did time for dealing where my baby girl had just been brought into the world and I was willing to do anything to put “5 karats in my baby girl’s ear” like I say in juicy. It’s the general theme throughout my album, just doing what it took to get by and to supply for my little girl. When I say on the wrong road, I always knew that it was wrong the way I was bringing the money in.

Q – Okay, last one. Throughout “Everyday Struggle” you seem to talk a lot about carrying a gun around with you and how everyone else should carry one should they cross paths with you, would you say that this is a good representation of how things actually were for you in these times.

A – Well, the way I see it is that once you get to the top, for some reason there’s always someone that wants to pull you down, in some cases it’s like Pac who just wants to dominate music and that’s strictly business. Other cases there are people who will just be jealous of your success and feel the need to ty bring you down and out of the game all together, would just like to thank you for having me today, I’ll see you later, representing bad boy and junior mafia. Peace.

Q – Thanks for being here today with us and answering so many questions so well, good luck to your upcoming plans for new hits and albums!

 http://rap.genius.com/The-notorious-big-everyday-struggle-lyrics

http://rap.genius.com/The-notorious-big-ready-to-die-lyrics

Letter to Article Author (blog post #4)

Culture Appropriation Blog/letter-Miley Cyrus Twerking.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/27/miley-cyrus-twerking-cultural-appropriation

Hadley Freeman,
                            I would like to begin by saying that i think your article about Miley Cyrus' dancing on stage and the way she chooses to perform, and making statements about cultural appropriation is an outrage. Miley chooses the way that she wants to sell tickets and the way that she wants to make her own money, and im sure she can dance whatever way she wants for her own fans.

To bring culture appropriation into the picture is also completely unnecessary, Miley Dances the way that represents the person that she wants to be and that's completely up to her. Miley needs to come across with the sort of sexual act that she does and that is because of her upbringing to fans. She was a child actor and would never have been taken seriously without making a serious point to everyone across the world. For a young girl like Miley to be voted one of the worlds sexiest women, may not be completely normal or mainstream but to say it is not an achievement then you are lying to yourself and all of your readers.

Miley doesn't offend any people with the way that she dances and acts so i dont see how you can label and call her out like this.

I dont believe Martin Luther King was referring to any sort of actions made in relation to what Miley is doing too so i thought that was completely unnecessary also, i believe you should really think about what you go posting in articles and maybe do an extra edit next time. I hope i don't have to send you another e-mail of this kind.

Best Regards, Jamie Stephens

Biggie Smalls Interview (Blog Post #3)

Biggie Smalls interview with Mellish Magazine

Q- Hey Biggie, thanks for being here today with Mellish Magazine.

Biggie- That’s okay man, it’s a pleasure for me to be here you know

Q-So tell me, what has been your impact on rap with your last couple songs, or what message have you really wanted to put out there

Biggie-  You know I remember when I was back in the struggle, I really just feel for the guys out there with talent and no hope, I’m here to be there hope you know what I’m say. It’s never easy to be struggling for money and only thinking there is one way out, dealing. I went to jail for a while, I mean I got all my raps written and It was a wakeup call, but it wasn’t needed. I’ll be on the outside for the rest of my life now. I guess you could say that my music can save lives and that is the kind of approach I want my listeners to have, let me inspire you.

Q-How old were you when you started dealing? And do you have any regrets in that kind of work?

Biggie- I was 12 when I started, I would get the drugs and deal them to the older kids in my high school, if there was one thing in my whole life that I could take back it would be the age I started dealing, and never realizing that it was going to destroy me and lock me up. I dropped out of high school and thought I could make a living from dealing the stuff, i got locked up though. I was 17 when I went to jail the first time, I got all my stuff written, all my raps and all of my good stuff. I sat in my cell writing every day, I knew what I wanted to do as soon as I got out and it was writing and getting money from something safe.

Q- Now between the east and west coast conflict? What are you trying to do with it?

Biggie- You know what, west coast has always been on top, and east coast is my home town, it’s what I am representing. I have bought both sides of American rap equal, and if not that then I have bought the east coast on top.

Q- And about tupac?

Biggie- Me and Tupac were friends, we may not be now what we were before but I’m telling you there is no bad blood and there is no love lost between the two of us. He is West coast and I am east, he represents the opposite side that I do, that is all it is, strictly business you know?

Q- And Faith?

Biggie- You know she is the love of my life and she means everything to me, but that is not something im going to talk about and have my words stirred up and changed like they always are, that’s it from me I would like to thank you for having me today but im out. 

BLOG POST 2

In Language and Lit we read a short story/essay about a young girl who was send generation American and had always had trouble throughout her whole life with her mother and the way she spoke her "broken" English. This basically means that her mother was able to talk most of the language and she most likely understood all of what everyone said to her, but at the same time she found it hard to communicate in a formal way to the people around her. She had struggled though every single day of her life with not being taken serious and just constantly struggling to live the way everyone should be able to. As soon as i had read the whole story i immediately thought of the situation in Abu Dhabi with the labor workers and the other people who have come to Abu Dhabi to work, but have been using broken English as a way to communicate throughout their time here. They go through all of the same struggles that Amy's mother went through in the short story and you could imagine the way that the men and women over here must feel, so disrespected all of the time and never really given a chance. Although there are people in Abu Dhabi that will take these people seriously, you always know that in a country mixed with third world citizens and first, there will be people thinking they are above the rest, or at least above some others. 

Personally i believe that the term "broken English" is wrong and should not be used, this is because i think that if you are able to develop a language in a way that fully suits you, then do it. I do not understand why some people are so content on having everyone speak perfect English, when at the same time you know exactly what these "broken English" speakers are trying to say anyway. To conclude that point i would say that the english is not broken, however its just a different stream of the language that works better for other people. 

BLOG #1

My First Blog - Oakeley Mellish

-Language does not play a huge role in my life because of the fact that it has never been a requirement for me to learn another language. When i was brought up in Australia and England, two english speaking countries, i never encountered the chance to learn a new language. When i moved to UAE 5 years ago i started learning Arabic and French but i have still not even caught on to those languages yet. I have started learning Spanish this year, and i am predicting i will not take that any further than i need to for school either.
-Culture depends on your surroundings as you are growing up and how your parents or guardians chose to bring you up. Culture can be a fairly big part of who you are in some cases, but for other people it is simply a factor of who you are.
-I do not associate myself with any cultures and i dont really believe in much either, one thing i am proud to tell people is that i am Australian and i feel like i am a pretty good representation of someone who follows Australian culture just by the way i act and i live my life, by cooking barbecues and playing rugby.
-I havent ever experienced and culture boundaries in my life simply because i live in Abu Dhabi where it is perfectly normal to be from just about anywhere in the world, this is good because it makes you more of an open minded person.