The Soundtrack of my life

This music video is by Rodney Atkins and is titled watching you. This song reminds me of my father and me for many different reasons. As I watched the video many similarities of the child and his father were the same as me and my dad. The best example in the video was when the child comes out onto the porch dressed exactly like his father. Then sat down next to him and played the guitar just like his dad was playing it.

I did much of the same thing with my dad inside our shop, were he made and sold furniture. I would attempt to assist him every day when I was young. During this time my Dad taught me everything he knew about carpentry. He taught me how to router cabinets, put dovetails on drawers, apply stain without streaks. He also taught me how to hand crave headboards with different tools such as the gouge, chisel, and fishtail.

Throughout my young childhood I learned more about furniture making then most people learn in a lifetime. This only increased my desire to be like my dad. Later on in life he continued to teach me important lessons of life. He also taught me how to put up sheetrock and lay concrete and how to wire a house. Every day I strive to be like my father. When I get put into tough situations I try to remember everything he taught me and think what he would do in that certain situation.

This music video is by Three Days Grace and is titled Pain. This is one of my favorite music videos ever, but it is also very painful to watch. When the little girl is kneeling at the grave with her hands folded she was obviously praying trying to get rid of the pain. This brings back the painful memory of my Grandpa’s death and funeral. I was only seven years old when my grandpa died, but it was a very hard thing to deal with.

My grandpa and I were very close. We shared many common interests Nebraska football and a love for sports. Every time we would visit him me and him would sit on the front porch and discuss sports and husker football. I found myself writing him during football season and talking on the phone to him. So when I found of he had cancer in the June of 1997 I was heartbroken.

I only saw my grandpa one more time before he died in August of 1997. I will never forget the day I saw him. He was lying in the hospital bed and was receiving chemotherapy at the time. When I saw him, I realized this wasn’t the same grandpa I was used to. He was tired and looked like a completely different person. Every time we go to see my grandma I stop by my grandpa’s grave. I usually spend about twenty minutes there just praying and thinking about the fun times we had together.

This music video is by Marilyn Manson and is titled The Beautiful People. Just watching this video reminds me of my first concert I have ever attended. Just seeing Marilyn Manson in the music video reminds me of that concert. I was about ten when I went to Ozzfest with my two brothers and Dad. I don’t remember much about the concert, but I do remember Marilyn Mason. Everybody was moshing through out everyone else’s performance, but when Marilyn cam on stage everyone stopped.

The whole crowd stopped and just watching him on stage, it was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. All eyes were on him as he stood up there and opened with Sweet dreams. It was a performance like none other. He was ripping pages out of the bible and running around. Everyone seemed to be in awe of what he was doing. When he started playing The Beautiful People the crowd erupted in happiness. Even though they were so happy to hear this song they still didn’t mosh. They just watched him flip the bird and run around stage. I have never witnessed a crowd be some captivated by one single person. Everyone listened to all his God hating words. This is one experience I will never forget as long as I live.

This music video is by Dierks Bentley and is titled Every mile a memory. When I first watched this video is made me think of the two major moves I had throughout my childhood. In the video you see a guy driving his car on the interstate and reliving his memories. This made me think of my first two move of my life. The first one came when I was going into fifth grade. The first move was from Clear Lake, IA to Templeton, IA.

This move would not have been near as painful, but we were leaving our home of nearly twenty years. It was located on in acreage about three miles from the lake. I remember leaving the house for the last time and the whole trip to Templeton I relived all the good memories I had in that house. The second move came when I was going into eighth grade. We moved from Templeton, IA to O’Neill, NE. This was by far the most painful move of my life. I had two very close friends in Templeton and we spent every day together. We would play various sorts of games and just hang out and talk about the future. As we left the Templeton house to move I was torn apart. I didn’t want to leave my friends and as we drove to O’Neill all I could do was think about how much fun we had together and how much I was going to miss them. Every move made me a stronger person though. The title of this song truly describes how I feel about moving Every Mile a Memory.

This music video is by Johnny Cash and is titled God’s gonna cut you down. This video is touching for many different reasons. In the video you see various pictures of crosses, candles, and people crying in front of them. This reminds me of my twelve years of a Catholic education. Throughout this period of time I’ve had positive influences and negative ones. One thing I learned though that sticks out above the rest was that God knows what you do; no matter where or how you do he knows the bad and good things you do. I have had many different religious people teach me during that time period.

My freshmen year I had a priest who I related to the best it was Father Paul Hoesing. He could relate to me and the rest of the class perfectly. He would teach us not only things about the bible, but also life lessons. He had an effect on me that no other priest has ever had. I listened to his every word and believed what he told me. He would tell us to watch what we do because if we aren’t careful they could come back to haunt us. Which is what Johnny Cash is saying throughout the whole video, if we don’t watch what we do God will “cut us down.” Father Hoesing changed me and made me into the person I am today.
This music video is by Rodney Atkins and it titled If you’re going through hell. In this music video there is a thirty second stretch that reminds me of my senior year. In the video first the guy’s car breaks down, and then he thinks he has someone to give him a ride and they take off with his guitar, then when he does get a ride he has to ride in the back of a wagon full of hay and a donkey. This relates to my senior year because before the year even started my mom had taken a job at Bruning-Davenport.

I had to decide if I wanted to stay in O’Neill for a year of move with parents. Then shortly after I had started my senior year in O’Neill I received the news that my mother has breast cancer, after all of that everyone was willing to give me a helping hand in O’Neill. Though it was nice to have people there willing to help you it was still troubling not having my parents with me. I learned a lot during that time period about myself and also the people around. The most important thing I learned though was to just keep pushing forward even when the times get tough. No matter how hard things get you have to rely on those who love you and hope they turn out for the best, which in my case they did.

This music video is by Angels and Airwaves and is titled The Adventure. In the music video you see the lead singer walking through the grass in this very wide open area and the feeling that the whole world is at his finger tips. This relates to how I felt on graduation day. It was very hard to say good bye to my classmates. Coming from a small school out graduation class was only a class of twenty-one people.

Over the years you grow very close to those people and become a family. So graduation was a very emotional day for our whole class, but at the same time you were ready to move on and begin the rest of your life. I remember sitting at the graduation ceremony having mixed feeling ones of sadness and ones of excitement. I didn’t want to say good-bye but at the same time I wanted to start the rest of my life and the adventure that was ahead of me. I felt like the guy in music video like I was alone and ready to start a new part of my life without them. I know all of my classmates are there for me, but it is nice to see everyone going in their separate ways but still keeping in contact.

This music video is by Kenny Chesney and is titled Don’t Blink. Throughout this video you see a man come home from work turn on the news and see another man turning 102 and the man who came home from work realized how fast his life has gone. He starts flashing back on all the memories he has and how fast his life has gone. I got a very similar feeling as I watched this music video. It seems like just yesterday I was helping my dad in the shop. Then next thing I knew I was at my grandpa funeral.

Before I knew it I was at my high school graduation, but now I’m in college and I wonder where the time went. I realize now that you can’t hold back and you got to say what you feel. The first eighteen years of my life have seem to gone by in a blink of an eye. Though they have been very enjoyable I also miss the days when I was younger without a worry. I hope the rest of my life is just as enjoyable as the first eighteen years were, but I hope I can find the time to cherish all the small things in life.

All My Friends Say

All my Friends say is a music video sang by Luke Bryan. Though this is not the first music video I had ever seen, I have a very hard time recalling other video’s I have watched. I do though remember watching this one a couple summer’s ago and I really enjoyed the video and the song. The song makes me think about going with my friends and just having a crazy good time. The song also rings so true to what it feels like waking up the morning after having a crazy night partying. I think that why I enjoy the song so much because there is nothing I enjoy more than going out on the town with a couple buddies an just having a wild time. Though drinking has got me into a little bit of trouble in my life including one MIP (Minor In Possession) and being that I lived in a small town many people knew when we were drinking causing me to receive to punishments from the school my senior year.

When Luke Bryan starts singing about how he started shooting doubles when his old girlfriend walked in. Reminds me a lot of my best friend from back home because he and his girlfriend broke up this summer and after they broke up it seemed like every night we went out he was getting out of control. Though sometimes in ended up in me taking care of him for the night and possibly driving home, it still produced some very good times. This music video brings out the party side of me.

Live Like you were dying

Live Like you were dying is my least favorite music video. Not because the video is bad, or the song is bad, or the graphics or acting is bad, But because the message is a difficult one to understand and deal with. After watching this music video I began to think what I would do if I found of that I was going to die soon. One thing I know I probably wouldn’t be doing is this homework assignment. The video made wonder how I would react to that situation if I would just give up on life or if I would keep living life like nothing is wrong. I would like to think that I would keep going about life in a semi normal manner and cherish every day. I would like to think that but it would be very easy to just give up and go home and not do anything with the rest of your life.

It also made me think about how I would react if I lost a loved one. Losing a parent or sibling or even a very close friend would be very difficult to deal with. It is something that would change your life forever and most likely change your life styles. Though I have never lost any one close to me imagine it would be very difficult. Losing a loved one would make you realize how precious life truly is and how you can take it for granted. Life is something you can’t take for granted you got to life everyday like it’s your last because you never know when you’re going to get that news that you don’t have much time to live or when a drunk driver hits you. You never know when it’s going to happen so you have to live every day like you were dying.

Ethanol

Are you sick of paying three dollars a gallon for gas? Are you tired of spending a quarter of your paycheck every week on gas? Ethanol can change all of that. While looking at this cartoon you can see clearly, the way to freedom is through ethanol based fuel. Fuel oil has us paying high prices for gas that pollutes the air, while ethanol is cleaner and is more readily accessible in the US. Many of you may be asking yourself the same question I have been asking: how is ethanol made? Ethanol is made by fermenting and then distilling starch and sugar crops which in the US consists of corn, wheat, and barley. Ethanol is a very high octane fuel, replacing lead as an octane enhancer in gasoline. When ethanol is mixed with gasoline it makes the gasoline go up a full three points without using harmful additives that is used in normal gasoline.

In this cartoon an Arab looking man with foreign oil written on his robe, is pulling what looks like Uncle Sam, by a rope with a hook connected to his nose. There are many different way to look at this part of the cartoon but I think that it refers to gas prices and how foreign oil has a strong hold over our economy. Also, I believe it refers to the war in Iraq and how it has tied us down for many years. In the cartoon if you look off into the background there is a billboard that says, “Independent living with ethanol.” By clearly stating this on the billboard they are referring to the fact that if we used ethanol we could free ourselves from foreign oil.

The benefits of ethanol are endless and it creates many jobs around farming based area’s in the US and Canada. Some the benefits are; ethanol is a renewable fuel made from plants, it is not a fossil fuel so burning it will not increase the greenhouse effect, ethanol blends can be used in all engines, it reduces harmful exhaust, and ethanol can cut the output of cancer-causing benzene and butadiene by more than 50%. The ethanol production is not only good for the environment; it is also good for Midwest communities. Building an ethanol plant brings jobs to small town communities and keeps money in the communities thereby building a stronger economy.

As a result of this being an argumentative cartoon, they are making a strong argument for the use of ethanol. The persuasion used is very blunt, but also by looking at the fine details, you can see the many different way of how they are trying to persuade you to use ethanol. There are many different examples of rhetorical strategies and of logos, pathos, and ethos. You can see by looking closely are this cartoon the narrative, comparison-contrast, cause and effect, definition, and classification and division are used in this cartoon.

Rhetorical Strategies are used to move and convince the audience. Logos is used more through reason and to persuade the viewer through clear reasoning. This cartoon clearly uses Logos by visibly stating on the billboard that foreign oil is holding the USA down in saying Independent living with ethanol. This is a very blunt way to come out and state that ethanol is our way to freedom; they reason this out by Uncle Sam being pulled by the Arab man, it shows how foreign oil has control over our daily lives and this is why ethanol is our way to independent living.

Pathos is generally refers to an appeal of emotions, it’s an attempt to put the audience into a certain emotional state, so they are more receptive to the cartoon’s message. This cartoon displays pathos in many different ways. First, by putting Uncle Sam in the cartoon which sparks feeling of patriotism along with standing up for your country when it is being kicked around? It could spark feeling of anger in some by seeing Uncle Sam being pulled by a rope and seeing how America is tied down by foreign oil. These feelings of anger are going to convince more people to use ethanol when they see the damage foreign oil is doing to our country and how beneficial ethanol would be for America.

Ethos is about the goodwill of the speaker and what kind of credibility he has by showing how it affects us. More likely the cartoon artist is an American which automatically gives him credibility because he knows the current state of America and how foreign oil is affecting the US. Also he has most of the same thoughts and feelings we do and he wants what’s best for America and this could be why he or she presents ethanol is in such a blunt manner.

Narration is often used to tell a story about the cartoon or ad they are posting. This is used in the cartoon by telling the story of the war in Iraq and how foreign oil may have been one of the reasons why we went to war with them. It tells the story of how important foreign oil is to us and the kind of problems it’s creating in the United States today. It tells the story in Iraq by the Arab man pulling Uncle Sam around because many oil fields have been destroyed in Iraq due to the war, which shows how they have pulled us around with a sense of control due to the foreign oil situation.

Cause and effect is used to help demonstrate the benefits of using a certain product. This is one of the most prevalent rhetorical tactics used in this cartoon. It shows how beneficial in many different ways using ethanol could be. The most obvious one is if we would use ethanol we won’t be tied down to foreign countries for oil. This is the obvious point they are trying to get across to the viewer in this cartoon, and not only would it help the US and its economy it would also be great for the environment cutting down on pollutants that damage our air.

Classification and division is to help the reader conceptualize how the product fits into the larger scheme of things. This is seen in the cartoon because of the Arab man which shows you the use of oil in America affects everyone in the world. It makes you think about the affect of foreign oil and ethanol not only has on us but also the effect it has on everybody else around the world.

While livestock continues to be the largest consumer of Nebraska corn, the fastest growing segment of corn usage is the ethanol industry. It is projected that corn used for ethanol, sweeteners and starches will take up about 29% of the state’s corn production this year. This figure has doubled in just the last five years, primarily due to ethanol expansion. Nebraska’s ethanol industry consumes an estimated 200 million bushels of corn in 2004. With several new plants expected to beginning operations in the next two years, and expansion at some existing plants, analysts predict the amount of corn going into ethanol production in Nebraska could exceed 240 million bushels in the near future.

The cartoon not only makes many valid points about ethanol and while it is mildly amusing, it is also a very serious situation we face on a day to day base. With gas prices growing higher by the day we may wonder how to stop this madness? The answer is simple. Use ethanol. Not only is it better for the environment, it also keeps the money in our country, it creates jobs for many hard working Americans and keeps small communities alive. Only time will tell if we can get this burden of foreign oil off our back and switch to ethanol. If we cannot then we will continue to be trapped by this burden and the lack of freedom from foreign oil will continue to haunt us.

Work Citied
“Ethanol Fuel: Journey to forever.” Ethanol Fuel. Keith Addison. 31 Oct. 2007 http://journeytoforever.org/ethanol.html#ethwhatis
The Ethanol Fact Book. Ethanol Across America. 2007. Nebraska Ethanol. 31 Oct. 2007 http://www.ne-ethanol.org/pdf/2007%20Ethanol%20Fact%20Book%20Final%20Email%20Version.pdf

Music Video

This music video is by Rodney Adkins titled If your going through hell. This is one of my favorite music video’s because of the point it gets across to you. If your going through hell just keep on going, this is so true in life because when you get into a bad situation or going through hell there is nothing else to do but keep going. I think this is a video everyone can relate to because everyone has been through those rough and tough time and just want to give up but there is nothing else to do but to keep on truckin’ along. If you simply just lay down and give up its not going to help you at all its only going to make things worse so you have to just keep on going and never give up on life.
I can relate to this situation because of some of the things I have went through in my life. I have moved two times in my life once when I was in 4th grade and the other when I was in 8th grade. Both were life changing events and made me grow as a person. Also another time was when my mother got breast cancer. That was point when it was like going through hell but I just kept on going because I knew only the future would be able to help the current situation. This song came out at about the same time I found out about my mom, so it rings very true to the situation I was in and I think that’s why I enjoy it so much.