Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture
Randy Pausch was informed that his pancreatic cancer was terminal and a month after gave a lecture at Carnegie Mellon University in front of 400 colleagues and students. The idea of the “Last Lecture” is based around giving top academics their last chance to think about what most matters to them and give one last speech about it. Interestingly enough, Randy decided to avoid for the most part topics involving his cancer, his family, and religion. He starts off explaining vaguely those topics while informing the audience that they are conversations he is not able to talk about without getting worked up. Instead, he decides to revolve his lecture around “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”, embracing the lesson of living life to its fullest. He frames his lecture with a list of the various dreams he had as a child, going through each one describing how he succeeded this dream in some sort of way while explaining the lessons he learned through his experiences.
By having different forms of media for this lecture, there are different ways for the reader or the audience to interpret it. For instance, by watching Randy perform his final lecture, the viewer is able to see his facial expressions and hand gestures while experiencing his every long pause whether intended for a laugh or for silence. When reading the dialogue for the lecture, the reader may be able to assume some of those details but they would have to picture those experiences for themselves in their own head. From being able to watch Randy doing pushups on stage when explaining how in shape he is despite his cancer to having the ability to see all the photographs that go through each part of his lecture, watching the video of the lecture absolutely adds to the effect of the lecture compared to reading it.
Orioles Fan Fest 2017
As you can see from my About Me page, I am a huge Baltimore Orioles fan! This past weekend was the annual Orioles Fan Fest which is an event located at the Baltimore Convention Center that gives players and coaches the chance to become more connected with the fans as they discuss the upcoming season. Fans are able to get pictures and signatures with select players and even ask them various types of questions about their life or their thoughts on the season approaching. This past Saturday’s attendance beat last year’s FanFest attendance by more than 3,500 making it the fifth FanFest in a row with more than 15,000 fans present. Executive Vice President, Dan Duquette, talked about how he was very impressed by the amount of people and their excitement for the season. Some of the other topics talked about include the free agency of 24 year old All Star and Golden Glove winner, Manny Machado, that is coming up in two years. Although there was no talk of an extension yet, Manny seemed to stress that he wants to stay an Oriole and that he is happy to see the team investing to keep their free agents. The Orioles manager, Buck Showalter stated, “Every morning I get up, I look forward to trying to figure out how to improve anything”. The players and coaches stressed that they have been putting together pieces to move the team in the right direction. For example, they signed Mark Trumbo to a three year deal who was a big success for the Orioles last season. The event included giveaways, memorabilia vendors and interactive displays. Fans were excited to see the enthusiasm of the upcoming season along with the talk of preparation to make it a successful one.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bs-sp-orioles-fanfest-2017-0129-20170128-story.html
Media Coverage Comparisons of Donald Trump’s Inauguration
Friday’s Inauguration of Donald Trump, as the 45th President of the United States, was covered by various media sources and the way information is portrayed varies greatly between sources such as CNN and Fox. It is a well know fact that Fox news usually portrays a more conservative view whereas CNN tends to be more liberal. The Fox news article focused a lot on the positive addresses during Trump’s speech at the inaugural ball. Such as his salute to armed forces during his inaugural address, stating “Keep fighting. We are going to win.” The article also points out Trump’s most applauded lines in his speech when announcing his confirmation of General Mattis as Secretary of Defense and General John Kelly as Secretary of Homeland Security. Fox News did not focus much at all on Donald Trump’s attention to former President, Barack Obama, or previous opponent, Hillary Clinton. CNN focused on more aspects of the Inauguration day. CNN noted things such as President Trump’s regards to outgoing President Obama, attitude towards reconciliation with Hillary Clinton, and Inauguration day traditions. Similar to Fox, CNN words their reports in a way that caters more toward their popular point of view. However, CNN describes the inauguration by avoiding more of what would be considered positive of the new transfer of power. CNN stated “Though he paid tribute to outgoing President Barack Obama, the President sketched a vision of America that came across as a repudiation of the last administration.” Trump went on to promise to restore jobs, borders, wealth, and dreams. He even made the statement “You will never be ignored again.” As we all know Trump certainly has his fans and his foes. Fox news chose to focus on Trump through a fan’s perspective by including all of Trump’s encouraging and promising statements for change. Fox news included his statements such as,“You are special people, you are great, great people,” Trump said. “I have your back.” CNN saw Trump’s speech through a completely different perspective, viewing Trump as coming off as abrasive and took no action to clean the wounds from the election in his inaugural address. CNN stated, “New presidents typically use the inaugural address — viewed by a huge crowd fanned out on the National Mall and millions of television viewers — to issue a call for national unity and ease the wounds of divisive elections. They typically remind Americans of the values and the history that binds them and of the nation’s historic mission.” Therefore, the inauguration day news reports can show many different sides just through the specific wording and focus on particular details of the event and speech.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/20/politics/donald-trump-inauguration-highlights/
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/01/21/president-trump-work-begins.html
Why Michelle Obama’s Fashion Was Iconic
Michelle Obama realized early on that everything she would do would now be in the limelight. Like other first ladies such as Jacqueline Kennedy and Nancy Reagan, Michelle Obama used fashion to create an identity for herself. Her bold colors and patterns defied the norm representing her cause for change and displayed a sense of femininity and powerfulness. During Michelle Obama’s final speech she stated ““Our glorious diversity — our diversities of faiths and colors and creeds — that is not a threat to who we are; it makes us who we are.” During her time as first lady, Michelle has worn countless different designers, which is rare for first ladies who tend to stick with a few designers they trust. She revolutionized the fashion industry during a time of economic struggle by having her different outfit designs displayed on social media. Michelle’s style had even been described as “democratic” as she displayed works from designers all around the world as she attended events such as the India State Dinner and dinner at the Buckingham Palace. Michelle Obama used fashion as her advantage during her husbands presidency to represent who they are and what they were about. Her fashion choices were diverse and strategic. Will future first ladies follow Michelle Obama’s lead or create a catechism of their own?