Andrew's Blog

TIME CAPSULE

2009-03-15T23:09:00.000-07:00

For this week's blog I have been asked to discuss what item i would put into a time capsule that would be representing the twenty first century. This is quite a task seeing as how so many revolutionary things have been invented this century which has given it the nickname of "tech boom era". Though there have been many important inventions, i see one that rises above the rest. This is invention, and the item that i would put into a time capsule to represent this century, is the ipod. I have chosen the ipod for several reasons but none bigger than the fact that it can be seen all across the world that music can bring cultures together and create peace. Therefor, if we look at how the ipod revolutionized the tool of music we must see that it belongs to represent this era. Also after the invention of the ipod the public and many companies standing idle witnessed the potential of technology to come. This meaning that its invention ensured the progression of our consumer technology. In fact using a specific example, we saw that after the first generation of ipods came out, the computer company DELL came out with the rival JUKE. Then apple in response to this new rival, came out with a second generation of ipod creating even more competition. Though this rival did not last long on the market due to the very high popularity of the ipod, it is a clear cut example of how the ipod encouraged progression in our consumer technology. We can see this through simple economics, in the sense that when two companies compete for the consumers choice, they create a better product to counteract that of their opponent. This was seen in the example of the ipod overtaking the, then rival, JUKE, in the sense that it completely benefitted the consumer that these two companies came out with better and better products so that they will earn the right for someone to purchase from them over their consumer. Regardless of my rant on economics, we see that the ipod belongs in this representative capsule of the twenty first century because of the way that it made such a thing as powerful as music, extremely portable. I dont think i have to explain just how important music is to not just our society but to every society in the world, or at least i hope i dont.... Therefore, for these reasons it is my claim that if there was one item from this century to represent this century in a time capsule, it should be the ipod.

Now comes this segment that we all enjoy, where i talk about how my last two weeks went. Though i firmly believe that no one really wants to know how my last two weeks went i will right this anyway in the hopes that i will get a good grade. Here we go. My last two weeks were quite fun. I had spring break, which is awesome and should completely be longer... Though this one was not as fun as my last break from school, due to the sole fact that i went to one of the oldest parts of the country. Bointon Beach, FL. This place is basically where all the new yorkers retire. So it doesnt only have old people everywhere, it has people with annoying thick New York accent. Its kinda like that movie Perfect Storm..... In other news that doesnt pertain directly to me but more the entire country. Wallstreet saw a odd and mysterious sign these past couple of days. This odd and foreign sign was the a picture of an arrow going up..... I hope things stay like this, and that odd and foreign sign makes itself at home. Well, there we have it. Thats my past two weeks. Please dont let your jaws drop too much our of suspense to my action packed life..... Though i am pretty sure that most of you have stopped reading this around the part that i started talkin bout economics, i want to thank the people who read to the end because i am pretty sure my own teacher would not have even read this entire blog.

Thanks

Andrew

Global warming

2009-03-06T19:45:00.000-08:00

Global warming is a real threat to us not only as americans but also as humans as a whole. WE donttrealixze just how mush we are polluting our planet that we love so much. So much carbon waiste goes into our atmosphere and can stay ther for up to 100 years. 100 years is a very long time and instaed of trying to fix that over this period of time, some countries have even produced more and more to sustain themselves. though it may be benenficial to them now they should probably start investing in making spacesuits for the public because if they cant stop producing these harmful chemicals then their population will have to start wearing such suits to get their neccessary oxxygen. this math has been done by some of the tops minds in the country and according to an excerpt from Al Gore's acceptance after winning ht nobel peace prize, " the polar ice cap is literally falling off of a cliff". Does that sound good to you. This isnt a hox theat tree huggers put out as a rumor. It is real and we must find ways to stop this!
These last two weeks have been soooo tiring. I have tried to find sleep anywhere i can and i still hvaent gotten much. I has a tennis tournament recently and i am completely wipe out from that! I lost in te finals but,you cant win them all. REgardless, someting important has happend in these last two weeks. The president signed the econonomic stimulus bill allowing for the american economy to finally get on with their everyday business because this should ensure that banks will finally be able to loan agai and american carmakers sould be able to stay afloat. I am happy that this has happened and cant wait for the next economic turn outs becuase i am sure that they willl be good.
Andrew

Love

2009-02-20T22:45:00.000-08:00

I have very firm beliefs on Romeo and juliet and the themes that run throughout the entire play. Though i can go on and on about the entire book, i will restain myself to oy talk about whether it is better to fall in love or to learn to love.I believe it is better to fall in love because love has essentially become a social freedom in my society and i dot thnnk it is right to take away a freedom. Love starts the first step of a young person life. Igf they start without being able to make their own decisoions, who's to say thea they will hve freewill at all during their lifetime? it is ridiculous to arbitrairly give someone the authority to make such a decision for u. For that matter lets arbitrarily give someone the right to decide the fate of the world, the current economincc cirisis. That is too high of a power to give anyone and therefore i believe it is better ot fall in love rather too learn to love someone.
My last two weeks have benn relatively clam! I have been doing well in school and just finding time to do things that i actuallyl ike instaead of being on a set schedule that allows other people to run my life. Also the current economic crisis is still spiraling out of control. I know i cant expect a an immediate pick up from electing a new admisintration. but sitll i wish this could jsust be behind us so we as americans can start to find something that is truly benficial to us. Not saying the economy isnt beneficial but i would like to get rid of the factor to allow us to take care of other important issues aswell. That is my last two weeks for you. I know really boring haha.
Andrew

favorite musician

2009-02-07T09:48:00.000-08:00

My favorite musician is Bob marley. Why? because he is possilby one of the most famous mmusicians that actually stood for what he snag about. His music was to stop racism and segregation as a whole. It was to allow every one the same oppurtuniteis as the person next to him or her. There was a stroy about bob marley that i particularly like. It was about the time he was shot and how the next day he got up and he stood in front of thoudands and sang because he beleieved that people who were causing such racisim and segregation werent taking a day off so what allows him to. In short i love bob marley because in a way he is a super hero for all of those who have been put down because of the color of their skin or what they believe in. Though he is dead his message lives on within everyone who beleievd as he did.
The last two weeks were crazy for me haha. I have been very busy with school work as usual but also i have been devoting a lot of my time to a club at my school called speech and debate. In fact i am currenty competing in a tournament as i am writing this. I just got back from the tournament at 11 at night. I know its ridiculous escpecially considering the fact that i have to wake up at 6 for this same tournament aagain. Regardless i think it is ridiculousl. also BARACK OBAMA. He was inaugurated. I know this was supposed to be in the last blog but i still cant believe America has come so far. I am truly proud to be an american. Well there is my last two weeks. Lookin forward to commenting on some blogs
Andrew

technology

2009-01-25T17:54:00.000-08:00

I use technology in my life everyday. This ranges from my electric toothbrush to my tv. I use a computer, a music player, and a cell phone. This changes my everyday life in many ways such as i wouldnt be able to call home if i hd forgotten homework if i didnt have a cell phone. Or i wouldnt be able to listen to music on the go if i didnt have my ipod. But if i had to choose which piece of technology that i could not live without and is extremely revolutionary to our society would have to be the cell phone. To imagine ten years ago cell phones were just becoming main stream and now they can fit into the palm of your hand. Though their rapid diffusion throughout society wasnt the only reason i put tit on top of my list. I also put it on top of my list because it allows people to be in reach no matter where they are and get out of a jam through a simple call whereas this would have be inconceivable almost twenty years ago. This is the summation of technology in my life.

These past two weeks have been very hectic to say the least. There has been a change in the American administration. Barack Obama was officially sworn in on tuesday and i doubt there was anyone in the country who wasnt watching. Though i believe all his plans can help America i dont think we will see the benefits while he is in office due to the fact that the presidential terms are incredibly short but nevertheless i am excited! MY other reflection on the last two weeks is the problems abroad. Such as the israel palestine war in which right after a cease fire was agreed upon with both countries hamas still launched rockets. That makes sense right..... Also the other problem is the fact that Russia kept most of eastern Europe freezing in one of the coldest winters they have experiences due to a small misunderstanding over money because russia has too big of an ego. Though they allowed gas to flow again i still believe they should be reprimanded for their actions. That is my take on the past two weeks. I am very interested in hearing yours.

our project

2008-11-26T13:12:00.000-08:00

I believe that this culture exchange project is very productive and is exactly what we as students should do when being taught world geography. I believe that having this project through blogs is even better because we get to see other people pictures or reflect on the views of someone's culture who is our age. What I dislike about this activity is that we as the students do not get to create the topics that we want to talk about with kids from another countries. I feel that we would relate more and learn more if we chose our topics of discussion.

Diversity

2008-11-26T13:06:00.000-08:00

America has some diversity to it. We have cultures from all over the world living in our country. In fact we were called the melting pot because of the immigrants that immigrated here through ellis island. Many people felt that America was a place where their life could start over or where their could start a life to begin with. It hasn't changed much since that time. Still people believe that we stand for freedom in this country and that it is a good place to live. I believe that America has diversity but, until recently, I don't believe that the government does a great job of enforcing that people should be accepting of others cultures. I believe that it is the governments job to do this.

Favorite place

2008-11-26T13:00:00.000-08:00

My favorite place in America is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I love philly because I grew up there. There is so much history there and the culture is great. It is nick named the city of brotherly love because everyone is so kind to one another. Also philly has excellent sports teams and I love sports. My favorite team in Philadelphia is the Philadelphia Eagles which are a professional football franchise. When I lived there I would love winter every year because it always snowed. Most days we get out of school early if the snow got too bad. These days were the best because we would have neighborhood snow fights. I guess mostly why I love philly so much is because it was the first place that I lived.

terrorist attacks

2008-11-26T12:55:00.000-08:00

I live in America, and as the world knows America has been subject to either attempts at terrorist attacks or executed terrorist attacks. When I talk about this I am directly talking about the event that we call 9/11. A terrible day in our nations history. The motives behind these attacks are various things. One being the hatred of other countries towards us because of our friendship with Israel. Another being the portrayed image that Americans can be jerks and snobby. Further more, my country attempts to prevent terrorist attacks by using intelligence from our various law agencies to help prevent any attacks. Most of the time this method of prevention works.

My school

2008-11-26T12:50:00.000-08:00

My school is very interesting. It is three stories tall and has an open roof in the middle to allow sun to come in. I may not be describing perfectly but no we don't have a hole in our roofs as we are taught. Our school then expands from the main building to many different areas. One area being the athletics are, where we play various sports such as tennis or football or soccer. The other expansion off of the main building is the theatre. We put on plays there i think twice a semester. The main idea of the school's layout is that we must climb stairs everywhere we go to get to class, which I don't exactly agree with but its not my decision. I hope you can get a mental picture of what my school looks like from this post.

illegal Immigrants

2008-11-26T12:41:00.000-08:00

In this blog post I would like to talk about my country's immigration. My country, or my state rather, has a big illegal immigration problem. This problems originates from weak border protection on behalf of the United States. These immigrants' ethnicities are majority Mexican. They cross the Texas Mexico border in hopes to find a better life in America. My country deals with them by building a border fence and amping our border control. This angers some Americans in the fact that we are sending a signal of isolation to other countries, but regardless this is how our government deals with the illegal immigration problem.

What did you do during the summer, any interesting events/activities?

2008-09-20T11:36:00.000-07:00

I did very many things this summer. I was very lucky to visit exciting places. The most exciting place that I visited this summer was Greece. It was possibly the best experience in my life. I went on the trip with my school for two weeks. We went on many tours of ancient Greek ruins. These ruins were so huge in stature. It was great to see how architects from so long ago. Especially the Parthenon. At the time I was there it was being reconstructed to preserve the natural beauty. When we stopped by our tour guide explained he exact precautions that the constructers have to take to make sure that they don't disturb too much into the natural architecture. It was an extremely informational trip and very much enjoyed it.

Introducing myself

2008-09-13T18:02:00.000-07:00

I am Andrew Scott Levitan. I enjoy athletics outside and watching movies. I have three pets: two dogs, one bird. I live with my mother and father and one sister. I am a freshman at Anderson high school which is just up the road from my house. I am very much looking forward to talking to anyone in this program from another country to learn what their culture is like.

Sincerely,

Andrew Levitan