Too Far?

When it comes to modern day media, whatever make sit to the public eye has to be reviewed three times and then again for good measure in order to prevent as much public controversy as possible. Things can't be too risqué, violent, gory or overtly sexual otherwise the oversensitive grannies and hyper religious come out in full war colours protesting the demoralization of society. This means that many of the most eye catching and probably most effective ad campaigns die before they ever make it out to the public, or they are neutered of any emotion and power the artist who created them.

But sometimes ads slip by these filters undetected and make it into the public eye.

In France, a recent ad designed by L'association Droits des Non-Fumeurs (Association for the rights of non-smokers) has polarized the public and has drawn mixed reactions. The ads, three in total, show teenagers with a cigarette in their mouths and what is supposed to be a tobacco executive positioned in such a way that it looks like the teens are suggestively giving oral sex to him. Under each ad is the slogan "Smoking: It's to be a slave to tobacco".

I'm not a smoker and never plan to be and I personally am against smoking, it causes way more harm than any positive that could derive from it, but I'm unsure of the ads. The message is there, it's loud, and it definitely will make you do a double take, but is it appropriate or has it gone too far?

To be fair, I've seen more sexual and suggestive ads in the middle of Times Square in New York, so I'm tempted to say that these ads should remain up, but that's just me.

So, what about you? Effective Ad campaign, or have they gone too far?

JP

I'm the Father...

...well, sort of. No, I haven't impregnated a girl or anything like that but I would have played a prospective father for an AP Psychology project my friend and I dreamed up.

The idea: To gauge the response of the public on teenage pregnancy with the pregnant mother engaging in dangerous and reckless behaviour.


The setup: My and my friend play a couple. She, my friend, will be wearing a fake baby-bump so she looks obviously pregnant and I will dress as trashy as possible. Together, we stand in a very public location like in a busy shopping center or outside a supermarket with her "drinking" and "smoking" while she is pregnant. We will have one other friend sitting near by taking notes on the general reactions of the public. If anyone comes up to us and talks to us (scolding, questioning etc.) we will play harsh and later on our friend would go and personally ask them about their response.

The goal: The goal is to see just how people respond to teenage pregnancy and more specifically dangerous behaviour during pregnancy. We wanted to see how many people exhibit a negative reaction and how many people personally will go out of their way to interact with us and what kind of reaction we get. The data collected would then be used to see a ratio on how many people exhibit no response, those with a negative response, and those who actually approach us.

Maybe one day we will actually conduct this little experiment. -her AP Psych class will prob be done by then-

So, how would you have reacted if you were a witness to this?

Would you have been apathetic? outraged? or something completely different?


JP

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

If you have someone special in your life, I hope you had a great time and enjoyed your time together on this day devoted to love.

If you're celebrating Singles Awareness Day instead, well, I hope that special someone will be coming into your life very soon, don't give up hope.

Unfortunately, I fall into that latter category but hey, you never know what the future holds, right?

Be my Valentine?

All the best,

JP

P.S. Happy Chinese New Year again. It's the Year of the Tiger!

Forgetful

It's strange how one event can make you forget so many others. With the recent snow storm gone and the cleanup well underway, I was reminded of so many things that I would have normally looked forward to normally, but had completely forgotten about.
First would be the 2010 Winter Olympics. I love the Olympics, the camaraderie, the competition, the sports and how it shows that people from across the world can still get together and share in something big. Granted, the Winter Olympics usually take the back seat to the summer Olympics which usually garners much more attention because many more countries participate, but nevertheless, it still only happens every four years. I just finished watching the opening ceremony and while I really tried not to make comparisons to the Beijing Summer Olympics, but it really is hard not to. It was still beautiful and I really enjoyed how the opening ceremony represented Canada and all it's different regions, but it really lacked the visual drama and shock and awe factor the 2008 Olympics had. The opening ceremony was heavy however with mourning over the death of Georgian luge athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili, who died in an accident during a practice run. My prayers are out to his family, friends and fellow team mates. While the Beijing Olympics were astonishing, the Vancouver Olympics will be remembered as more touching and personal. Also, I really feel bad at the torch lighting that one of the legs of the torch failed to deploy, as one of my friends put it, "the torch had erectile dysfunction"

The other major event that I almost forgot about until just recently is that Chinese New Year is this Sunday! Lunar New Year is celebrated primarily in East Asia and usually involves traditionally 15 days of fun, family, food and festivities. -I just realized that all began with the letter "f" lol- I actually completely forgot about it until two days ago when two of my aunts gave me some red envelopes. Giving out red envelopes is a tradition that is usually done between the older generations and children but is certainly not limited to this. The envelopes are filled with money and are just simple gifts. Some families go all out and decorate the house with lanterns and streamers but for most families, it involves extended family getting together to enjoy in a meal. In China, it's a national holiday and it's taken pretty seriously.

Special foods are also prepared during this time including special sweet rice cakes called nian gao and also rice-ball soup where the rice balls represent the full moon. Noodles, representing a long life, are almost mandatory. This year, the plan in my family was to get together and have a hot pot dinner, but because the sidewalks are still so messy, some of the older family members could possibly get hurt so we decided to celebrate at a later date.

Nevertheless, everyone should celebrate Lunar New Year in their own way; spend some quality time with family, have Chinese food for dinner, promise to start off the next week anew. Just forget all your worries for one day, enjoy the moment and have some fun. For me, this will represent a fresh start, and maybe it will for you too.

新年快樂 and 恭喜發財 everyone!

(Happy New Year and Health and Prosperity to You!)

.

Learn Chinese!

Happy New Year: "Shing Nee-Ann Kwai Le"
Health and Prosperity: "Gong Shing Fatz-Eye"

All the best,

JP

12 Reasons Why Gay Marriage Needs to be Illegal

While I really do wish I had the creativity and time needed to come up with all the following on my own, I unfortunately cannot. -find the original article here- I found this on a French gay-oriented magazine's website called Tetu and I really enjoyed reading it so I took upon the task of translating it for you guys. If my translation doesn't "flow" as smoothly as you would expect, I apologize for mes abilités francaise but I really dislike online translators.

Also, this is all done in humourous spirit with plenty of sarcasm sprinkled on top, take it with a light heart.

Why gay marriage needs to be illegal in 12 points.

1. Homosexuality isn't natural, just like glasses, polyester, and birth control.

2. Heterosexual marriages are valid because the parents can bear children. Like homosexual couples, infertile couples and the elderly cannot marry because they can't produce children
either.

3. Homosexual parents are sure to raise gay children, just like straight parents only raise straight children

4. Heterosexual marriages will lose their meaning if gay marriage were to be legalized. Things like Britney Spears' 55 hour long marriage "just for fun" would make perfect sense otherwise.

5. "Normal" marriage has existed forever and has never changed. Women have always been the property of their husbands, blacks can never marry whites, and it is impossible to get divorced.

6. Same-sex marriage needs to be the result of a popular vote, not of justice, because the majority has always protected the rights of minorities

7. Homosexual marriage is condemned by religion. In a theocracy like ours, religious doctrine is always right, because there is only one religion.

8. Gay marriage would make other people become gay, just like having tall people around make other people become taller.

9. Legalizing gay marriage would open the door to a whole new world of abnormalities. People can begin to request marriages with animals, and then dogs will be elevated to a position equal to people and can sign marriage contracts.

10. Children will not have crucial masculine and feminine figures in a gay household. That's why it's illegal for single parents to raise children.

11. Same sex marriage would change the very foundations of society. Normal marriage has existed forever and we can never adapt such radical new things, just like we have never been able to adapt ourselves to cars, life extending drugs etc.

12. Civil Unions, which grant the exact same benefits as gay marriage just under a different name are even better because the doctrine of "separate but equal" is always constitutional. Just like it worked for black school children in America, "weddings" should be "separate but equal" for gays and lesbians.

Snowpocalypse

I have never appreciated having electricity, running water and heat so much in my entire life. Within the last 48 hours, a freak snowstorm buried the Mid-Atlantic, -understatement of the year-, knocked out the power for over a quarter million people in sub-20 degree weather, shut down the nation's capital and made me a very uncomfortable guy. Final snow measurement according to my trusty meter stick is 26 inches on our deck. Predictably, school has been canceled tomorrow.

After two days of no power, running water, or heating in 20 degree weather, my parents, pet dog and I finally made the desperate drive home through unplowed streets from our Maryland house just in time for the Superbowl and the Saints destroying the Colts in probably one of the best games I've seen. In case you didn't watch it, I'd imagine that Youtube will be filled with highlights of the game very, very soon.

So, for those of you who did watch the game, how would you rank Superbowl XLIV?

Go Saints!!!

JP

35 Things About Me

Having only two days of school this week because of snow is something I can really get used to. All the local news can talk about recently is the hyper storm coming to the Mid Atlantic which is expected ot dump anywhere form 12 to 24 inches of snow into the area. To get some perspective about the winter we've been having, we are already over a foot over this winter and with this coming storm, it seems we might be coming close to a record breaking winter.

Now, 35 things about me:

1. I own a 5 watches, each for a different type of setting and event
2. I can't stand raw tomatos
3. I care a little too much about my hair
4. I've eaten an entire cake before (and it was delicious)
5. Medium rare for my steaks, please
6. I wear size 10 1/2 shoes
7. Chunky Peanut Butter > Smooth
8. Ham and Ketchup sandwiches are delicious
9. I have read every Twilight novel and loved it
10. Speaking of Twilight, Robert Pattinson is gross
11. I believe in ghosts, and would love to see one
12. I'd gladly spend a night in a haunted location
13. I hate waking up in the morning
14. Radio is underrated
15. Boxer Briefs are the shit
16. I am overall mostly pleased with my body
17. I'm a Moderate Republican
18. I'm pretty sure one of my friends is bi
19. It's better to overdo and than underdo
20. The spicier, the better (within reason)
21. I get really shy around guys I find really attractive
22. I only play The Sims to build houses
23. I have lead feet when it comes to driving
24. But I have never gotten a ticket
25. I've known my best friend since Kindergarten
26. I'm not a big fan of overly muscular guys
27. I buy on quality, not on price
28. I find holding off for a day or two takes jacking off to a whole new level
29. My favorite colour combo is blue and silver
30. Yes, there is a "U" in colour, flavour etc.
31. I've never gotten drunk
32. I get rather irritable when I'm hungry
33. I snore and have been told that I occasionally talk in my sleep
34. I'm not a big sports fan (apart from rowing that is)
35. I used to sing Soprano I back in my All County Chorus days
35b. I no longer sing except when I'm alone or with good friends

I'm now off to make some tea.

Take care,

JP

I Got Into College!

I got my first acceptance letter today! It's for George Mason University which is my safety school but I'm really excited nonetheless! I never knew opening a letter could be so exhilarating! (as evidenced by my lavish use of exclamation points so far, lol)

Ahhhhhh, so happy! I hope this is a good sign.

All the best,

JP

It's not a choice

I promised I would go deeper on what happened at the party and whatnot but I have to place it on the back burner at least for the moment.

I got into a semi-argument with my mom just now. I say semi-argument because it was mostly a one-sided lay-on-the-guilt spree with my mom complaining that I never open up or talk about anything with her anymore. Well, I normally just stay quiet during these "arguments" and ride it out with a summer storm, but today things got a little different. After some time of saying how I never open up anymore, she stated that we "needed to have another one of those talks about that 'choice' you made..." O how I wish those words were never spoken.

Now, while I didn't exactly blog about it, about a week or so after I came out to my mom, we had a talk. It was strange moment for me, because it was then that my mom showed her true feelings about having a gay son. She cried and blamed herself and asked if I had gay friends who turned me gay and whatnot which is all obviously nonsense (the turning me gay part). She was obviously upset and it made me sad that things weren't going nearly as smoothly as I hoped. By the end of what was a long, emotional, question-heavy, and teary heart-to-heart, she said she was glad we discussed it and we shared a nice hug. Since then, the subject of my sexuality sorta disappeared off the radar, right up till just now.

So, right after she said those words, my immediate thought was "Fuck Dammit! It's not a choice, we talked about this for over two hours, I thought you finally understood me and accepted this!" which was immediately followed by the thought "Please don't make me go through one of those 'talks' again." I guess when she said this a switch clicked in my brain because what was just standing around in the kitchen suddenly became me blurting out "It's not a choice" with a rather angry tone and me angrily walking away. The quasi-argument sorta ended then but I ended up angrier but also really upset that things didn't progress. The one person in my family who I thought I could trust and had the courage to actually tell is turning out to be the exact kind of person I would have avoided telling altogether if I had foresight of what was to come. I ended up crying while sitting on the bathroom floor for a good 30 minutes afterwards and I'm still really upset right now.

I still have one more day off before second semster starts but what was seemingly an excellent weekend turned out not being quite as bright as I hoped.

JP

p.s. - I promise I'll eventually get back to the Jersey Shore themed Birthday party, just give me some time.