Optical Illusions

What do you see in these two photos?

There are so many optical illusion photos out there, but these two were a few of my favorite ones I found. I think that the artists of these pictures and any optical illusions are pretty awesome. I have a hard enough time just drawing one picture or painting at a time. These artists are very talented because they make two paintings out of one.

I think these pictures are awesome because it's all about the perspective of the audience that is looking at them. There is many ways to look at one thing/picture.

Not only are these pictures about perspective but I also think that life is all about perspectives. Everyone has a different outlook or perspective on everything in life. This helps to create diversity in life. There are the people that see the glass as half full or half empty etc. Everything is about how you interpret them; others might interpret the same thing extremely different. Think about it.

Photoshop: Age Progression

In my opinion photoshop is one of the best inventions ever. I used to be involved in a lot of media classes in high school in which we used it often. There are so many tools on photoshop that can help you take a picture and change it in crazy ways.

The last few classes we have been talking about how photoshop is being used to manipulate the body of celebrities in the media. The thing we haven't talked about is all the other cool things that people do with photoshop. One of these things being age progression.

I've seen photos like the one above before and thought they were pretty creepy, yet really amazing. I never thought about researching on how to actual do this on the computer until now. I google searched age progression and found this really cool photoshop tutorial on how to morph a photo to look like the person has aged many years.

Here is the link to that web page if you are interesting in it: http://www.exguides.org/photoshop-tutorials/age-progression.html

Also to learn anything about photoshop you could go to youtube and search photoshop tutorials to find a video on how to use certain tools on photoshop.

Importance of Education

Greg Mortenson came to Fort Lewis campus to give a speech on is top selling book "Three Cups of Tea". Originally, I was just going to get extra credit for my classes, but I realized it would probably be a good talk. I've read the whole book and I thought it was a very inspiring that one person could do so much to help others in another country.

The main points I got out of it were about building relationships, how important hope and determination is, and mostly how important education is in the world. As said in his speech, we aren't going to fight the war on terrorism with bombs but with books.

Watching the video, seeing pictures, and hearing Mortenson speak really helped me realize how glad I am to be study the major of Elementary Education. I've known for a few years that's what I wanted to major in, but tonight it was just reassuring to me. Seeing the kids of all ages of different ethnicity all be able to get educated. Aww, I love it.

It was quite a long speech, but I think it only felt long because we were squeezed into the bleachers of the gym. Otherwise, I thought it was a pretty good experience to hear such an influential person talk about life and education.

What Would You Do?

The U.S military has laws prohibiting the media from posting pictures of dead or wounded soldiers that are recognizable. Some of these photos still get printed. How do we stop this from happening and how does it make you feel?

The picture above, is of U.S. soldier, Travis Babbitt, being transported to medical care. It's clear that Babbitt has mortal wounds, and died shortly after this photo was taken. When this photo was printed by the Associated Press, the viewers had many complaints. It created a lot of controversy. Imagine what it feels like for the friends and family of Babbitt when they saw this. Did they even know he was dead yet?

If I was the editor of a magazine or newspaper I would not print this without the permission of the soldier's family. I would try not to print soldier's faces at all. But I do think that it is important for Americans to realize the reality of war. What would you do if you had the choice to publish this photograph or not?

Blues and Brews Baby!!!

This is video is just a mini collection some people that went in 2007; of course they're dancing and having fun. Blues and Brews 2007 Dance Off is what it's called. It made me actually laugh out loud. ha ha. Make sure your speakers are on.

Blues and Brews here we come! My suite mate, Julie, and I are heading up to Telluride this weekend to listening to some blues(of course not drinking brews because we aren't 21). One thing we do intend to do is bring out our awesome dancing skills, just like the people in this video.

I love being exposed to new music,new people, and new cultures. What better place to do that than to head to beautiful Telluride for the weekend. Blues and brews is a three day festival that happens at the end of every summer. Although we just have the Saturday pass we are going to be staying there for the night. We don't have any concrete plans of where we are staying. We are planing on just "winging it" either in our car, tent, or find a random place to stay.

The band that I'm super stoked to see is G Love & Special Sauce, they have a pretty unique bluesy sound, that I absolutely love. A band that I haven't heard of is Gov't Mule, which is one of Julie's favorite band, so I'm excited to hear them play for sure. Those are just two of the bands playing on Saturday, I'm sure I'll enjoy all or them. By the time I get back this weekend, I'll most likely be walking around singing new songs.

If anyone else is heading up to this festival, I'll hopefully see you there!!!!!

Election Day

November 4, 2008 is coming up in a few months, have you thought about who you are voting for?

For me and a lot of other students this will be the first time to vote in a presidential election. This is a huge responsibilty and definitely a privalege for us. So my question is are we ready to vote? Do we know the important issues and the judgment to say which candidate will make a better president? These are questions I've been asking myself the last few weeks.

A few ways to be prepared and vote responsibly is by being up to date with the DNC speeches, RNC speeches, and also the upcoming presidential debates. I missed both the DNC and RNC speeches this last month, which I could watch on line. Honestly, I would rather see all three of the presidential debates and the single vice presidential debates. That way I can hear each candidates views, ideas and plans for specific issues. I think it will be an easier way to compare and contrast, if I hear one right after the other.

The hardest thing for me is believing and trusting the candidates. How do I really know if they will do what they say after they become president. I don't and this is where I get a bit nervous. I don't know if I'm the only one that feels this way or if there is more of you out there feeling the same way.

Another thing that I think is important to consider is our influences. I think it's important to vote for what you feel is right based upon your own knowledge of the candidates, not based on other peoples. Don't just go out and vote for McCain because that's who your parents might vote for, or vice-versa. Other people who might influence us are friends, classmates, and celebrities.

We all need to do our homework and know the reasons why we will vote the way we will. Otherwise voting is a waste of our time; and that waste of time has an effect on our society.

Oh yeah, if you still haven't registered there are still chances to do so. The deadline to register for Colorado is October 6th. You can do this downtown usually at the courthouse, at the CUB on campus, or online at Rock the Vote.