Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Prescription Drugs

by Lindsey D.

We've all heard the old phrase sex, drugs and rock & roll; and in our minds imagine the long hair, tie dye shirts, weed smoking hippies, who once attended Wood stock. There is an undeniable correlation between the three parts of the phrase, and for every person a different image which comes to mind. When I think drugs, I think cocaine, LSD, heroin, meth, crack, and of course marijuana. I think of the drugs of the rock stars. The drugs of Iggy pop, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, and other rock legends.

Drugs have always played a role in celebrity lifestyles, and have almost always emulated or influenced drug trends among the public.Over the past few years, prescription drug abuse has gained media attention by the unintentional deaths of celebrities Stars such as Heath Ledger, Anna Nicole Smith, and Michael Jackson, have all been victims of prescription drug fatalities. Drugs no longer refer exclusively to the notoriously glamorized drugs of the past, such as cocaine, heroin, and LSD, but now pertain to the little pills in the orange bottles which sit in our medicine cabinets.

These drugs which often come at a hefty price tag, have ultimately become the drugs of the wealthy. The appeal for these drugs often above other "street" drugs lies in the protection of the orange prescription bottle.There is no drug awareness program which tells you not to take medicine, and because these pills reside within these familiar containers users often associate them as "safer". This safeness factor is dangerous. It is the seed of denial which allows a user to become hooked, and eventually addicted. Oxycotin,Vicodin, Xanax, Adderall, and other "pharmies," have made their mark in the past few years, as availability of these drugs sit within household medicine cabinets. The undeniable subtleness of prescription drug abuse lies within these cabinets. These drugs are not sold by drug dealers, they are prescribed by doctors; these drugs are not grown out in the wild, but are created within a lab. These are the drugs that are done behind closed doors, the drugs which are hard to monitor. There is no image which defines a prescription drug abuser, there is no image which is even remotely equivalent to the tie die wearing hippy of the sixties.

Country Music

by Becca A.

“I like any type of music, except country music.” This general statement is one said by many people. I have even said it. This statement comes from peoples unwillingness to step outside their boxes. Most people believe that country music falls with the category of hick, twang, farmer, southerner, or a person from a rural town. The name its self leads people to this assumption. In a way the name of the genera classifies itself. When people think of big cities, very few people think that everyone would be listening to country music. I believe that if people gave it more of a chance than less people would dislike it.

There was a time when i was not a fan of country music. I believed that Brittany Spears, Pink, and the Backstreet Boys had better sound and better music in general than country music. It took me until my 6th grade year to realize what i was missing. I had been under the assumption that country was filled with male singers with really twangy voices, I thought that it was all about cowboys and farms. But i found that there are many female singers and every song tells a story. Some about love, dreams, children, work, tractors, or life in general. Although I stand true to the infamous statement that people who love country music come from small towns, but come on, anyone from anywhere could fall in love with country music just like i did.

When you listen to pop radio stations and Taylor Swift or Carrie Underwood comes on, remember that they are country. Although their songs are being played on a pop station, by definition they are country singers. So you say you like everything but country, does that still apply for Swift or Underwood?

Next time you turn on your turn radio contemplate whether or not you want to go with your ruetine or maybe you will try something new and switch the station.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

by Alex F.

16 years ago, 86,000 people tuned in UFC 1 to watch a cage match between athletes of different combat backgrounds. In the center of a grungy sports arena, the start up organization UFC, had fashioned an eight-sided cage covered in chain link fencing. They called it the octagon, an inescapable proving ground for modern civilizations first “Ultimate Fighters.”

Today way call the sport mixed martial arts or MMA because it combines disciplines of all combat sports. In 1993 UFC 1 was not marketed as a sport however, the banner was covered in slogans like “there are no rules!” This was not actually true the fighters were limited by state of Colorado to no biting, eye gouging or fish hooking (a nasty move where the an opponent is given lip ripper with the aggressor’s fingers. UFC might have been destined for an eternity of seedy underground venues filled with belligerent fans if it wasn’t for the very first tournament champion Royce Gracie. Much to everyone’s surprise Royce was not a muscle bound behemoth utilizing head butts and groin strikes. The un-intimidating 175 pound Royce Gracie walked into the cage wearing a white karate suit called a gui. His facial expression set in stone and eyes never blinking he tore through his first eleven fighting specialists. Every one of his opponents were forced to pound on the mat until the wily Brazilian let go their neck, arm or any appendage that he had gotten a hold of. His patented style of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu baffled his opponents but inspired a new generation fighters.

Royce Gracie’s artful display of Jui-Jitsu failed to sway the mind of Senator John McCain. McCain, an ex-boxer, was disgusted by that fact that combatants were striking while on the ground. He famously dubbed the UFC, “Human cock-fighting.” Perhaps McCain was one of the first to see MMA as threat to the sport of boxing. After his public dismissal of UFC, everyone from protective mothers to cable executives jumped on the bandwagon and in 2000 the UFC was taken of television. Soon after 36 states passed laws against sanctioning MMA including New York (where it remains illegal). Current UFC president Dana White who is as volatile, passionate and vulgar any stressed chef is responsible for the rise of the new UFC out of the ashes. He began marketing the fighter’s skill instead of violence and enacted many rules making it the organized sport it is today. He put in place judges, made bouts last 3, 5-minute rounds, and established five weight classes of fighters. Unfortunately there is still a stigma attached that the company has been trying to shake since its questionable beginning. The mainstream press writes with a clear opinion that the UFC is still comparable to street fighting. The Washington Times’ title reads, “UFC’s Ultraviolent Bouts Gain Fans’ Acceptance” The criticism is not original however; the UFC is a staple topic for any mother looking for a good rant.

I have heard my mother on countless occasions ask me “how could you like this?” I can hear the pain in her voice as if I had taken up a hobby of torturing animals. My dad who was just a second ago sitting on the couch cheering with me for BJ Penn to choke a guy out, now turns into a worried parent and agrees with my mom. My only response to this question is, “how couldn’t you?” Imagine that you are in central park, there is a soccer game going on in one field. Fifty feet away there is a softball game and a little further down some kids are shooting hoops. Let’s say that a fight breaks out between two people in the stands of the softball game. Which event are you going to watch? I bet it’s not the softball game. No matter how much we try lie to ourselves, humans are inherently violent, it is simply in our nature.

This recent explosion of the UFC is baffling parents, critics, and especially boxing promoters. The UFC is on the verge of overtaking boxing and with events every month it won’t be long. The event in Philadelphia that The Washington Times focused on drew a 3.5 million dollar gate. Dana white has taken the defunct organization to a Forbes ranked billion dollar company. To me it makes complete sense that within ten years MMA has become the fastest growing sport on earth. It appeals to something deeply rooted in every human, instincts that aren’t acted upon in today’s modern society. We no longer fight for food or to prove dominant status but anyone can tune in to the UFC and see two men compete in the truest form. There is something about the honesty of MMA, it is the purest sport on earth. We are part of a generation who doesn’t have the time to sit and watch a full nine innings of baseball. The youtube generation demands instant results and the UFC is ADD compatible. No fight will last longer than fifteen minutes and by the end there will be a winner and a loser.

Ever since the dawn of time, species, especially those with two x chromosomes, have fought. In fact MMA is the oldest sport on earth, Greeks in 648 BC practiced pankration which is essentially MMA with a few less rules. The champions were received as god among men. Royce Gracie is a god among men and women in the world of MMA. He became the first fighter inducted into the UFC hall of fame. The latest is Chuck Liddell, his iconic Mohawk is synonymous with the letters UFC. Reading blogs on the UFC.com article about his retirement showed the true admiration that his fans have for him. Josh85 writes, “Damn Chuck gave us all some great fights and I will sure miss that nasty right hand…Best wishes to Chuck Liddell.” UFC champions become iconic because they do what we are so terrified to try yet desperately want to. They are the bad ass, pro-athlete, charismatic celebrity, and karate kid all rolled into one. What does Chuck have to say about his fame? “I think the reason people like me is because I’ll fight anybody, anywhere, I don’t talk bad about people that don’t deserve it.” Thanks Chuck, that’s just what we wanted you to say.

Johnny Cupcakes

by Eddy C.

It’s the term, “rags to riches” that can sum up my response to living in America for a prospective businessman. You can either fail or you can wipe your butt with one hundred dollar bills every single day. However, how do young innovated businessman become rich? Do they stick with their 9 to 5 job? Do they spend hundreds on lotto tickets for billions? Or do they start out making t-shirt designs with little cupcake designs on them?

This is where I proudly introduce Johnny Cupcakes, a t-shirt store in Boston, Massachusetts founded in 2001 in the back of “Johnny’s Old 1989 Toyota Camry” (not a store but a beat up old car.) The business quickly grew and four years later. Ding! Johnny opened his first shop in Boston.

It took four years for Johnny Cupcakes, ten years for Microsoft, and five years for the iPod to become big. So, why do people like the Johnny Cupcake’s brand? Is it new and refreshing? Is it because of the funky art style? Is it a type of fad/ hype? How did this business grow so quickly to achieve a 914.3% growth and 3.0 million dollars in revenue in the year of 2008 from 300,000 dollars in revenue in the year of 2005? Let’s investigate.

Johnny Cupcakes was started as a joke or a hobby as I like to say. It was a company made of risk and standards like trying to not go mainstream and choosing quality over quantity. This in my eyes is very respectable. It’s respectable because he isn’t selling his soul for millions of dollars and being ripped off like the true inventor of Tetris. He’s managed to develop a small independent business where he can save his family form their dead end jobs and bring them into a new environment.

Plus, the man is a natural businessman. He has been selling things like candy and pranks every since high school like one of my friends, Alex. Alex has started his own business following the Johnny Cupcakes business model. Which clearly states, start in high school, hire friends and family and develop your craft after high school. It seems to be working for him too. Check out his page after you read this post. Good Luck, Alex!

Now, let's get back to baking. While Johnny was working at Newbury Comics, he began to wear his shirts there and it caused a stir. While at work people began to ask him about the shirts, where did he buy them and if they can get some off of him. So, by the rules of supply and demand, he began to sell his shirts. He sold his shirts during work and while he was on tour with his band, “On Broken Wings.” With each shirt brought, a new type of cult started, the cupcake-cult. Different types of people would buy and collect his shirts and soon after he became an icon.

Then something happened, Johnny realized he didn’t like seeing more of the same. He made this realization, when he saw a bunch of kids wearing the same sneakers he was wearing. He wasn’t really into seeing more of the same but something different. He wanted to make his t-shirts more then a t-shirts line but something limited and special. He opened his first shop in 2006 and the shop has been his passion ever since.

But why is this an inspirational story to me? Why should I care about businesses that try to be humble? It is because it deals with the way I was raised. My parents want me to be humble and avoid being prideful and bashful. (But I still think a person can have silent satisfaction in their work.)