Flip Flops and Jet Lag

Hello blogging world, American Studies, Sasha and Sasha as well as any family and friends who are reading.
On January 25th I began my amazing adventure to Eretz Yisrael, The Land of Israel. After two days of being here I already feel like I've been here for months. The people and the land just click, as well as the delicious food. The first day was very long and difficult because of jet lag. However, we got our buses and roomates. My bus incorporates one friend who I knew before, Alice Henry. Our counselors are really great, funny, and nice! One of them is my Rabbi's daughter who I've known all my life so it's really nice to have her.
Today we got our Jewish History teachers, and though I didn't get the famous Reuvan, I have Shira. Shira is really awesome and relatable (and hopefully doesn't pile on too much work). Our class is every day for 3 hours, which is long but hopefully enjoyable. Then we went to archeological digging. We got to crawl into tombs from the Roman and Jewish crusader times, as well as dig to find pottery pieces and I found a huge bone that I couldn't even finish digging out. I think it was probably a leg of a goat.
This whole trip has been surreal. I can't believe I am in Israel, and for four months! Every morning I wake up to the view of Jerusalem resting in the Judean Hills, and go to breakfast amongst the Kibbutz families (not to mention the food is incredible and addicting). I get to wear flip flops and walk around with the sun shining. I am looking forward to meeting all these people as well as the Kibbutz kids and Olpan (I already met two people from France). I can't believe I'm here and for so long! It's truly incredible and I'm so grateful for the experience. Tomorrow I'll start my general studies as well as Jewish History.
Until next time... Lhitraot!

-Bari

the picture isn't working right now but I'll upload some later

Oprah Winfrey- Self Made and Self Loving

So as my American Studies class has probably noticed by now, I am not the biggest fan of Oprah. I appreciate how much charity work she has done, but thats about it. Oprah has accomplished many things in her lifetime and what makes her special and respectable is how she is the perfect example of the self-made (wo)man. In this month's edition of the Chicago Magazine, she is featured on the front with an article titled "Oprah Unbound" and the article questioned if all the fame and fortune has changed her. The answer: it has. So my question is, has that change affected people's opinions of her?

It is only natural that such success would change a person, having millions of people determine what they read next based off of your opinion can be stressful but also complimentary. The article explains how in the beginning when she was the talk show host of A.M. Chicago (later named The Oprah Winfrey Show) she could be seen taking the public bus to work every morning, taking jogs on the lake side, and stopping into her then restaurant, The Eccentric, to say hi. Now a days, things are a bit different.

Originally on the show she would get her own water, but now she has people to do that for her. She has shut down the restaurant she used to frequently go to to visit her fans, and her neighbors claim that now the only way they know she's home is because her jet is in the driveway. She even withdrew buying a Chicago duplex because, "she realized that residents from nearby apartments could see into her windows." This seems a bit extreme, but it's true. She definitely has gained an ego throughout the years, and though she may need some of one, has it gotten to be too much?

Now, I understand Oprah has done amazing things with charity, and she has created an empire which she still owns herself, it really is incredible. But in the beginning she was humble and modest, in fact, those words were popping up everywhere when explaining her background, but now a days the same cannot be said. In my opinion, it doesnt take away from what she has physically done, but it does take away from her persona. I wouldnt necessarily want to meet Oprah (would I decline the offer? No... but I wouldnt make an effort to meet her), and I have no desire to sit and watch a show that I feel is her naming her favorite things and people drooling over it. 30 Rock did an excellent episode with her starring in it. Sitting on a plane, she tells Liz Lemon all the things on her list of her new favorite things... it was quite humorous (Liz was also loopy off of travel pills at the time, but thats besides the point). My point is that someone who is self-made like Oprah definitely has more respect than someone who is born into riches, but with the persona that Oprah has changed into, liking her becomes a different story.

Who Needs Nature?

In a recent essay for American Studies, I question whether cruise ships can be considered progress or not, but cruise ships are just one example of travel that has been seen as progress today. Before now, every summer my family would carpool across America to a National Park and camp in the wilderness. But things have changed in the Finkel household, last winter break, instead of going to a cottage, my family vacationed in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico... the North Shore hot spot. People may consider this to be an economically superior vacation, because not as many people can vacation in such a luxurious place. But I dont think it is.

Yes, Mexico was beautiful, but it was filled with noisy traffic, expensive restaurants, and typical tourist sites. If you don't make reservations months before you go, you can't go whale watching, zip lining, or get a hotel. So every day you have a set schedule with times you need to leave by. This can become stressful and brings me back to think of Thoreau's idea to "Simplify, simplify, simplify!"

Thoreau's idea of a good vacation would probably be what my family originally did. Everyday we would wake up and go hiking to new places and at night we would make campfires and smores. It was simple, and if you maybe didn't want to go hiking one day, you didn't have to... nothing was planned and you were surrounded by nature. Every Labor Day weekend my family continues a tradition of camping with some of my extended family. But now, my extended family has made progress in their camping experience by purchasing a "pop up tents"... my family comments on these as "woosy tents." While we make hot dogs over the camp fire, my aunts and uncles can use their microwave, or even take a quick shower in their tent. By isolating themselves in a pop-up tent they are actually using more energy and harming the environment than they are being surrounded by it!

So yes, resorts, cruises and campers/pop-up tents may be seen as higher class and progress in our traveling days, is it? Each of these travel aids or spots have actually isolated people from nature and the calm serenity of it that originally drew people away from the hustle and bustle of work to vacation. I dont think that it's progress, and a lot of the time, I think it's silly, expensive, and wasteful.

So you want something simple?

Today, my dad and I took a small trip over to ABT to pick up a broken receiver of ours. Of course, my dad couldn't just leave after that. He just had to look at some tvs for my grandma's new apartment. We had a customer service man guide us through the aisles of televisions while my dad explained the situation. The moment my father said that it was for his mom, the man helping us replied, "So you want something simple?"

Immediately, little Mrs. Logan and Mr. Lawler appeared on my shoulders filling my head with questions influenced by Emerson. Technology today has been said to be improved, which it certainly has, and one thing that it has been trying to maintain is simplicity. What if, in reply to the TV guy's question, my dad just replied, "No, I want something really complicated"? It seems silly to think that anyone would respond that way (my dad didn't, by the way), which I think represents human nature's need for simplicity.

In today's top notch technology world, we still want things that are easy to navigate. To many teenagers, having an iPod, cell phone and lap top makes life more simple. They are typically easy to use, portable, and connects us with anything at any time. So would Emerson be proud?

Throughout the centuries, morals change, and certainly, our view on the environment and nature has skewed from our ancestors. To Emerson and Thoreau, nature was equal to simplicity. Today, we feel a stronger need to be in urban affairs with well paying jobs to get by, and many people have summer homes in nature to escape to that simple life. However, while not on vacation, the technology we have represents our need for easy, simple things that wont get us all riled up. Ipods, cell phones and lap tops display our desire for materialism, but they also show that we need simplicity or else we would do without the technology.

I am sure that Emerson and Thoreau are not proud of our conformist society that relies on technology, but even when looking at technology, there is no denying that humans are always searching for simplicity Emerson and Thoreau discuss.

Artsy Fartsy

This weekend I had the privilege to go see Blue Man Group for the first time. The experience was incredible, Blue Man Group is hilarious among being quite a party. Being in such a unique concert and the Blue Man Group's video voice over helped me to understand and appreciate how technology has progressed not just in efficiency, but into an art form.

During the show there is a segment discussing how animation has reached a new level of sophistication. In our parent's age, yes, they had animation like Mickey Mouse in black and white, but nothing compared to today. Movies like Monster's Inc, Finding Nemo, and the Incredibles (among other Pixar movies) have exceeded expectations in technological art. The video, displayed on a screen with shaving cream that in itself was quite a technological confusion for the audience (I'm still trying to comprehend how they achieved the display), explained how animation has improved over the ages. In the beginning of time historians and anthropologists believe that the cave drawings of animals that are superimposed on another were animated through the flicker of the fire light. From that, came animation. Now a days, we don't just use individual pictures flipped like in a flip book; we use computers.

Technology has made way for new art forms that are expressed in the Blue Man Group's performance. At one part of the show, the Blue Man Group each hold up signs with words going across them (message boards? I can't quite remember the word for them). Each have different phrases and sayings and then they become the drum sticks. It was so incredible! Though in my last blog post, I question if our society has become too reliant on technology and how it is not always good, the Blue Man Group opened my eyes to yet another point of view: art.

However, Blue Man Group is not all happy with technology also. During the animation segment, there is a sign that says, "Internet Cafe" and it goes on to show a stick figure man with coffee in front of his laptop. The voice over is sarcastic and explains how wonderful the Internet cafe is where you can sit quietly in a room full of people talking to people who aren't there, though there are people existing all around you. It was very funny and I couldn't help but think of American Studies.

There's No Techno-Logic

I remember my dad's phone in the car growing up. Its buttons would glow in the dark, it resembled a normal house phone, and it was stationed near the arm rest in between the driver and front seat. And I was never allowed to use unless it was an absolute emergency. Clearly, this "cell phone" was not much of a communication helper, it wasn't even portable. Even since the 90's, our technology has advanced beyond our wildest dreams. But although technology is advancing, are we?
From my dad's car phone that was untouchable, he now owns a Blackberry, or what my family prefers to call it: a Crackberry. At home, in the office, on vacation, even during dinner under the table, my father can be found typing away on his little keyboard. But he's not the only guilty one. Cell phones today have dominated the way we communicate and has changed our behaviors. I got my first cell phone in eighth grade for emergencies or contacting my parents for rides. The only reason I got it was because it came with a deal for my older sister. In a matter of a few years, we can see as young as third graders carrying cell phones. I find this despicable and disturbing. Children can use house phones to contact parents, and parents do not need to be in constant contact with their children. In fact, I believe this is bad.
Cell phones have created a completely dependent society. One cannot just be alone, I often find myself needing to text a friend instead of having alone time. Having kids and parents in constant communication with cell phones makes it more difficult to separate and for the children to become independent.
While cell phones have created a dependency for everyone, it also isolates people. It is not that we are more dependent on being physically near someone, in fact, its the opposite. I find that while with my friends, at least one person is texting someone. This is now normal, but it is terrible etiquette. It is like walking away from a conversation without warning. We cannot be with someone without talking to someone else.
Of course, this opinion is an extreme. People are not completely cut off of physical interaction by using cell phones, however, the behavioral patterns have certainly shifted with the advancement of technology. Though cell phones are a fantastic reach in technological advancement, is it possible that they are setting back our communication skills as well?


In my blog I expressed how I feel about children owning cell phones, this article explores the pros and cons of it.
Here are other people's views on cell phones and the pros and cons, this is from yahoo answers

It's Always Sunny in 1776

One of my favorite TV shows currently on television is It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. It's crude humor, vulgar language, and often offensive material led me to believe that I would never relate it to school. However, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and American Studies have proved me wrong. In this past week's episode (spoiler alert), the characters went back in time to 1776 for a wild time during the American Revolution not seen by history books. Mostly, the lack of historical evidence of the events is because it was made up, but it still is relateable to our American Studies class. In the episode, two characters, Dennis and Mac, discuss how the meetings for the revolution are taking place in their bar, and they don't like it. The two are frustrated and confused because they claim that the alliance with Britain "rocks", and that it'd be ridiculous to separate from them. So, to retaliate the revolution, Mac and Dennis decide to write "The Declaration of Dependence." This humorous episode represented people during the American Revolution who did not want to split with Britain. However, because of how the characters are depicted in the show as complete idiots, it makes it seem that keeping an alliance would have been not well thought of. The episode did lead me to question how many people did not want to split with Britain? I think it has been, overall, a good idea to break away from them because that way, in 2008 we would be able to elect and have an African American president for the first time.