"A City as Unique As Its Name"

The slogan of Tullahoma, Tennessee is "A City as Unique As Its Name" because there is no other town with the name Tullahoma in the world. Tullahoma has many similar fast food chains as other towns, but it has many distinct qualities. Tullahoma is in no way a suburb, it does not have a limited set of house models, nor does it cater to a certain economic class. I grew up on a street on the outskirts of town. My house and the ones around it are fairly small, yet there is a giant house, big enough to be a mansion on the other side of the woods behind my house. The is no "average" Tullahoma family. I grew up with a single dad, and I know many families of varying structures. Around one eighth of the Tullahoma residents are engineers working at the Arnold Air Force base. Therefore, Tullahoma is known for its Aerospace work as well as its airport. There is not a clear day when you can't look up and find a plane flying around. Many parks and lakes exist around Tullahoma, making it feel very far from urban.

Home

1. Home is a comfortable place.
   
2. My house had many broken amenities and has a minor infestation of poisonous spiders, but my home is a place where I can relax and belong.
3. My home is under a giant old tree.
4. My home is sometimes infuriating but it's not about luxury, its about family.
   
5. Once part of the roof flew off before a giant storm. My dad and I stapled the roof back on before the rain hit.

Home is not just a place. If a family were to move and visit the old house, no one would call it home anymore. Home is a place where I can be with family and relax. My house may have several broken things and a small infestation of brown recluse, but it's still home. Its not home because I spent 4 years living there, it's home because I feel at ease there.

Saturday Night Live Opening

To understand all of the jokes, one first needs to know who Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton are. One also needs to know that Hillary Clinton ran a close race against Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination, and Sarah Palin is the republican candidate for vice president. In the video, Sarah Palin speaks with an exaggerated northern accent. One must know she is from Alaska. A joke is also made that Sarah can see Russia from her house. This is funny because Palin has little foreign policy experience. The issue of global warming is also raised. Clinton says that it's man's fault and Palin says its God hugging us. Palin is very religious.

Girl for a Day

If I were a girl for a day, I would wear a skirt and flip flops and try to make guys do nice things for me. Perhaps I would not have to do as much if I were pretty. Additionally, I would most likely walk in the wrong bathroom every time and realize that I could no longer use urinals. The whole situation would be pretty awkward.

Looming Spam

The image depicts the stately new Glocker business building standing in front of a building that resembles a beige can of Spam. Glocker is a beautiful new building that matches UT's building style while the office complex stands out like a sore thumb. The iconic buildings are Gothic and have red tiled roofs. What does this say about the University of Tennessee? The "Spam can" office complex may be a reflection of how important the university thinks its office spaces are. Perhaps the building was built when less money was available in the construction fund. It is also possible that the bizarre shape was in style at the time it was built. Whatever the reason may be, we know there is a reason.

Your Brain on Eggs.

Both videos are similar in that they both argue that drugs will indefinitely destroy the brain. The two videos both use eggs to represent the brain and frying pans to destroy the egg. Likewise, they imply that the brain will be decimated on the first use by instantly frying/ smashing the egg. In the both videos, pathos is the most prominent strategy. The first video shows us a raw egg one second and a fried one the next. The second video shows us the emotional performance of a teenager and things being smashed and broken. We recognize things being smashed as a negative action which the video associates with drugs. At the end of the videos the narrator asks rhetorically, "Any questions?" and the video immediately ends. The immediate ending tells us that there are absolutely no questions and if there are you can ask them to Captain Crunch in the next commercial.
The videos contrast in more ways that they are similar. In the earlier video a disembodied narrator sends a short message to general audience. The first video is also more general in that it uses "drugs" rather than "heroin". Since the more recent video is more specific in naming its drug, it is trying to reach a certain audience. Likewise the recent video uses a teenager (a rock star, in fact) that appears in the video rather than just a voice over. The teenager, Rachael Lee Cook, grabs the attention of other teens and also goes on to show what happens to your body, family, friends and so on. Cook also gets angry and smashes things causing the audience to be shocked and to pay attention during the commercial. Without a doubt the loud, emotion performance of Rachael Lee Cook provides a much more effective argument than the dull, disembodied 80's narrator that drugs should not be used.

Closing Ceremony Image Comments

Because of the 2008 Summer Olympics, the world is noticing China more than ever before. This image of a Chinese military official in front of the Bird's Nest says that China is not afraid to display its power. The figure exudes cool authority in front of a spectacular event. Since many have been concerned about protests and/ or terrorist strikes, China may also be trying to draw attention to the tight security of the summer games. China has used this image and others like it from the Olympics to show to the world that it is not just the name on their consumer products.

Pencil Observation

Observations

• mechanical pencil
• 0.7 mm lead
  
• rubber grip
• worn eraser
• average price
• durable
• Made in China
  

Inferences

• The owner dislikes sharpening pencils.
• .5 mm lead is to breakable and .9 mm is to big.
• He erases a lot.
• The owner loses pencils occasionally but not often.
• Since everything is made in China, this fact says nothing of the owner.