Photoshop Abuse

"The amazing, shrinking model!"

I’ll be the first to admit that photoshop can be a life-saver when used appropriately. It’s the perfect save for an under or over-exposed photo or add some life to the colors of a picture. What I hate to see is magazines, advertisements and photographers using photoshop to morph the bodies of models and actors.

Why do editors or photographers feel the need to alter photographs of people who are already famous and loved for their accomplishments or their appearance? Actresses or socialites with curvy, beautiful figures are slimmed down on their thighs and waists and accentuated in across the bust, all to preserve the skewed perception that skinny is beautiful.

Everyone knows that girls love to read magazines cover to cover and studying fashion tips, laughing over embarrassing stories, and reading eye-opening articles. What everyone also knows, but doesn’t like to admit is that most girls envy the women on the cover of their magazines, and some will go to the extreme to achieve that “perfect” figure. This obsession with a body type is a problem for many reasons, but one terrifying reality is that the woman on the front cover of a magazine is many times fake. Her hair may be the same color and you could buy the clothes she wears somewhere online, but her slim waist, tiny thighs, and perfect skin are unattainable.

When a photographer alters the appearance of their models, it can create an impossible standard that some women feel they should live up to.

Women’s clothing provider, Ann Taylor, stooped to photoshop abuse in one of their ads. Gawker’s Jezebel caught the original photograph that was leaked. Ann Taylor made a few statements on twitter after the original and photoshopped pictures were published saying things like, “We agree, we may have been overzealous on some retouching but go forward we’ll make sure to feature more real, beautiful images” and,  ”We want to support and celebrate the natural beauty of women, and we apologize if in the process of retouching that was lost.” It appalls me that someone who wants to support the natural beauty of women would publish such altered photos to begin with.

Recently, Kim Kardashian fell victim to photoshop as well. Her skin was smoothed and lightened, her thighs trimmed, and her waist slimmed. Yahoo’s Shine comments on other odd choices of alterations in its article such as removing some of the fringe on her clothing. Ms. Kardashian’s photoshop experience was much less astonishing than some that I’ve seen in the past, but I agree with the question that Shine’s article brings up, if its such a small, yet noticeable change, why even make it? Kim Kardashian is known for her beauty before photoshop, why change her?

Oops Doesn’t Quite Cover It

The father of a current Alabama football player, both have remained anonymous, tripped on a the rug that lay under the trophy that held the crystal football. The Waterford Crystal trophy-topper, valued at $30,000, was on display in the Mal Moore Athletic Facility “as part of the festivities for the Crimson Tide’s spring football game Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala,” according to an article posted to CBSNews.com.

The trophy apparently shattered to pieces when it fell. The football, weighing in at a whopping 8 pounds on its own and 45 pounds and 34 inches tall with its ebony stand, was supposed to be secured to its pegs with a special gel that is distributed to every school upon winning the trophy.

“We use a temporary adhesive called museum gel to keep the crystal from falling off its pegs,” said trophy manager, Charley Green, “We do provide that substance to winning schools, along with a page of assembly instructions. But we have no way of knowing whether the schools use the gel.”

But this isn’t the first time someone has massacred a widely coveted symbol of accomplishment. ESPN Playbook posted a blog featuring nine other instances where someone has dropped or a trophy has fallen to its destruction. These instances, “be they the fault of the athletes, or simply bad and hilarious luck” all serve as great forms of entertainment, but the one that sickens me the most is the Florida Gator’s basketball coach, Billy Donovan, dropping the National Championship Trophy during their 2006 midnight madness celebration:

All of this I’m sure is no consolation to the Alabama players and fans who no longer have a AFCA trophy, but my heart goes out to the poor soul who was responsible for this tragic accident. Although, I still can’t help wondering why the BCS spent that much money on the trophy in the first place. Waterford Crystal makes for a beautiful trophy, but if we’re gonna keep dropping them, maybe we should cut back on the expensive materials.

 

Facetagram? Instabook? Facebook bought Instagram.

On Monday, Facebook announced that they acquired Instagram, an app for iPhone and Android used for sharing photos. Bloomberg.com said that Instagram was valued at $500 million, but Facebook purchased Instagram for one billion dollars, according to an article on Manufacturing Business Technology Magazine online.

Instagram is loved by iPhone amateurs and loathed by many photographers for its “fast, beautiful photo sharing” and filters that can turn an average picture on your iPhone into a dazzling work of photography. The Washington Post states a bold opinion that “that’s exactly why “real” photographers hate it: It replicates an effect that, for them, requires vintage equipment, expense and hours of practice.” That’s technology for you. Taking away the value of talent.

Primarily an app for a mobile device, I’m anxious to see if Instagram will change now that Facebook has decided to integrate this unique photo sharing experience to its social media site. Will people be able to upload their own pictures to Instagram that were not taken from a mobile device and use the filters on them to upload them to Facebook?

In his announcement on Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg said this about the new acquisition:

“We believe these are different experiences that complement each other. But in order to do this well, we need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram’s strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook. That’s why we’re committed to building and growing Instagram independently. Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people.”

I’d say this was a smart move on Zuckerberg’s part. Although I’m a little suprised that Facebook decided to make the move on Instagram instead of Twitter. From what I’ve observed, Instagram is used more on Twitter than on Facebook, but that’s all gonna change now!

I’m looking forward to seeing how they launch the integration of the two.

Museum of Art and Archeology

The Museum of Art and Archeology, located in Pickard Hall on the historic Francis Quadrangle at the University of Missouri, is home to art and artifacts from six continent and more than five millennia.
What was once an old chemistry building is now an academic building dedicated to Art History and Archeology. With only one classroom and a few offices, the majority of Pickard Hall is occupied by its three exhibits, Collecting for a New Century: Recent Acquisitions and Black Women in Art and the Stories They Tell-both temporary exhibitions- and The Paul and Gladys Weinberg Gallery of Ancient Art- a permanent collection.
The Weinberg Gallery of Ancient Art displays art from multiple countries and empires such as Mesopotamia, Iran,
Anatolia and Palestine and the Roman Empire. Cases filled with ancient tools, utensils, hair clips, jewelry, glass vases and bottles and other objects line the walls while marble sculptures, mosaics, and other larger pieces of art are shown in the middle of the room.
The museum is always free and open to the general public and is conveniently located on campus within walking distance for students. “The professors use it as a teaching tool,” says Barbara Farbacher, a tour coordinator for the Museum of Art and Archeology. “We do have problems with accessibility for the public in general.”

The Paul and Gladys Weingberg Gallery of Ancient Art is a collection of ancient objects located in the Museum of Art and Archeology in Pickard Hall (Katelyn Morris J2150F News).

A display of ancient glass in the Paul and Gladys Weinberg Gallery of Ancient Art in the Museum of Art and Archeology located in Pickard Hall on the historic Francis Quadrangle (Katelyn Morris J2150F News).

Kansas Didn’t Win

suck it.

As a proud Missouri Tiger, I could not have been happier about the outcome of last night’s game. Seeing Kentucky victorious over the embarrassing, unfortunate Jayhawks made life livable after the Tiger’s devastating loss against Norfolk in the first round. I think I speak for the majority of campus when I say losing was only acceptable if Kansas lost too. Ironically, the team that we so desperately supported to take down the Jayhawks will be our enemy in the next season. Kentucky, while not a very strong football team, will be giving the Tigers a run for their money on the basketball court next year. But none of that matters at the moment, of course, because Kansas lost.

Fans for both teams were in such states of elation or dispair that there were dozens of arrests in both Lawrence and Lexington. In Kentucky, couches were set on fire, someone drove a car into the patio area of a bar, and multiple citations were written for alcohol related offenses (no surprises there…)-over 30 arrests total.  An article from LJWorld.com states that the police reported 14 arrests near downtown Lawrence, Kansas. Multiple arrests involved battery on a law enforcement officer…yikes. The article also states that,”The scene after the loss to Kentucky was more somber than Saturday night’s euphoria after KU’s victory over Ohio State.” And I would have given anything to see it.

Unfortunately for us Tiger fans, we’ll be trading Kansas for Kentucky next season. And now, since Kansas lost, I think I’d rather play them! Kentucky was consistently ranked No.1 throughout most-if not all-of this season, and I wouldn’t doubt that they will bring the same level of competition to next season. At that point, I think we’ll all wish we had those atrocious Jawhawks back.

Until then, I choose to celebrate today as the day that Kansas is NOT the NCAA champion. M-I-Z!

It’s Spring Break!

Finally, it’s that time of year: Spring Break. A time when every college student heads to the beach to raise a little hell. Or do they? Here at the University of Missouri, student have many options on how they can spend their time off, including Alternative Spring Break.

Alternative Spring Break (ASB) has been taking teams of students to cities all across the nation since 1991 when it first became part of Mizzou through University YMCA. From big cities such as Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta and Charleston to smaller cities such as Joplin, Missouri, Kissimmee Florida and Slick Rock Colorado, ASB has been to over 40 locations since 2005. Students team up to fight homelessness, poverty, HIV/AIDS, women’s issues as well as to bring compassion and kindess to those in need and better the environment. To keep track of some of the places they’ve been and the miles they’ve traveled, ASB teams hold a competition to photograph Truman in the most interesting places. In 2010, Truman travled 12,000 miles!

Students feel a great sense of fulfillment from going on an Alternative Spring Break trip. ASBers will testify that the relationships are irreplaceable and the experiences are life-changing. One ASBer said:

“ASB is so much more than just the persistent hilarity interrupted only by seconds, bonding through our attempts to overcome whatever problems might arise, or intellectual discussions common amongst university students. ASB is an opportunity to expand our comfort zone and temporarily escape our usual cliques back home. It’s a chance to enjoy doing something different, take a break from the monotony that is a semester in college, and build lasting relationships with our peers.”

So while there is a large portion of the University of Missouri student population that will be hitting the Florida beaches this spring break, remember there are students out there contributing to society and making this world a better place. I promise, we’re not all hopeless drunks.

Interested in being a part of Alternative Spring Break? Visit their website for information on application deadlines, trip destinations, leadership opportunities and more.

The Snack That Smiles Back… Until You Bite Their Heads Off

“Everyone loves Goldfish crackers- tasty, fun, wholesome treats.” Pepperidge Farms has been feeding the mouths of children and satisfying the cravings of poor college students since 1962 when founder, Margaret Rudkin, returns from a trip to Switzerland with the recipe for the delicious cheddar crackers. Although the “original” flavor is plain, the first flavor that Goldfish were produced in was cheddar, my personal favorite.

With over 20 variations to the original snack cracker and 15 flavor-blasted flavors, who couldn’t find a Goldfish cracker they love? There’s reduced sodium cheddar, calcium enriched, and whole grain for the health conscience; pizza, ranch and colored crackers for the junk food fanatics; and original (or saltine) for the fun-suckers. Not to mention the Baby Goldfish for the slobbery, tooth-less snackers, and the Giant Goldfish (you guessed it, they’re oversized) for the elderly that have trouble seeing… right?

Pepperidge Farms has extended the Goldfish brand since their introduction in the ’60s by creating catchy jingles and reoccurring characters- Brooke: the intelligent, parmesan flavored cracker, Gilbert: the anxious pretzel, X-treme: the dare-devil, and Finn, the original character who appears on all packaging with his sunglasses above his eyes. The three go on many adventures throughout the commercials, mostly underneath the bed running from the vacuum.

The most popular slogan, “The snack that smiles back” didn’t appear until Pepperidge Farms introduced “smiley” and imprinted an eye and smile on each of the snack crackers. This led to the ingenius jingle that is eternally stuck in my head whenever I enjoy a mid-afternoon snack.

With only 140 calories for every 55-piece serving, Goldfish is a delicious, timeless snack that I believe will continue to fill the bellies of many generations to come.

Kony 2012

You may have heard of the organization, Invisible Children, that fights to end “Africa’s longest-running war–a conflict where children were both the weapons and the victims.” Children in Uganda are abducted from their families and forced to become child soldiers, all thanks to a man named Joseph Kony. Kony is the leader of a Ugandan rebel group known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and has been plaguing Central Africa for over 20 years and no one has been able to find or stop him. Now, Invisible Children is working to finish what they started in 2005 and make Kony famous in hopes that they can stop him.

KONY 2012 is a movement. It’s mission, “to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for International justice”. The founders of Invisible Children worked to bring awareness of the war in Africa to leaders in Washington so that maybe, our government would intervene. After being rejected at first, Invisible Children rallied citizens across the world to prove to the government that the people care, and that they want to see justice served in Central Africa. In October of 2011, The United States sent “a small number of U.S. forces to deploy to Central Africa to provide assistance to regional forces that are working towards the removal of Joseph Kony from the battlefield,” a huge step previously deemed impossible.

The problem is, Joseph Kony caught wind of the U.S. involvement in trying to stop him and he’s changed his tactics and, “international support could be removed at any time.” The only way to ensure that the United States continues to assist the Ugandan army, is to prove to the government that the people care. Before, the government did not want to send troops to help because it wasn’t a great enough issue in U.S. foreign policy. But the government chose to intervene because the people reminded them that what Kony was doing in Central Africa was wrong, and someone needed to do something about it.

This is the first time in U.S. history that the government took military action because the people demanded it, “not for self-defense, but because it was right.” and I personally believe that we shouldn’t leave this business unfinished.

In a world where everyone is interconnected thanks to Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and other forms of social media, Kony has more than just a chance to succeed. #StopKony is a trending topic worldwide on twitter, and the video posted above along with photos of Joseph Kony and the Kony 2012 campaign have littered other social media sites. The official Kony 2012 video expires on December 31, 2012, by which time the founders and supporters hope to prove to the government that the people want to see justice served and our military action is not in vain.

Supporters of Kony 2012 can purchase an action kid complete with an action guide, posters, bracelets, buttons, etc. And at sundown on April 20th, 2012, participants in Kony 2012 will “blanket the city” nearest to them with posters, stickers and banners of all shapes and sizes so that when the city awakes Saturday morning, Kony’s name cannot be ignored.

Let’s make him famous. 

Birthday Boy

The baby-faced pop sensation, Justin Bieber, finally turned 18 today. Cougars around the world are rejoicing. The Huffington Post published an article discussing his public address to his older fans on twitter saying “dear cougars. i see the jokes. im legal. hahaha”

I guess it’s nice to know that he finds it humorous. What’s ironic is that he ‘s been dating 19-year-old, Selena Gomez for quite some time now. But enough about  his creepy cougar fans. On his special day, Bieber is asking that instead of giving him gifts that his fans donate to charity: water, a non-profit organization that  brings clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. With such a wide and loyal fan base, I think Bieber can make a huge impact just by asking that people donate 18 dollars on his 18th birthday.

Bieber made the same suggestion last year on his 17th birthday by prompting fans to donate $17 dollars to charity: water and 47,148 dollars which brought clean water to over 2,000 people, and The Huffington Post name Justin Bieber HuffPost Impact’s top charitable celeb of 2011.

This year, however, in addition to giving up his birthday, Bieber is encouraging others to give up their birthdays too. If you’re looking for a way to give back, you  too can raise money for charity: water.

Although Bieber is taking steps to give back by “giving up his birthday,” he didn’t sacrifice too much. He made an appearance on The Ellen Degeneres Show where he was presented with a $100,000 car from his manager, Scooter Braun, and mentor, Usher. In an article on abcnews.com, Braun is quoted telling Bieber, “You work really, really hard and I always yell at you, ‘Don’t get anything flashy. We’re not about that. Be humble.’ And I kind of broke my own rule.” he also said, “We decided to get you a car that would make you stand out a little on the road.” Well, mission accomplished, Braun.

After all, he is a celebrity teen who just turned 18. Outrageous gifts are an order. At the very least, I’m satisfied that he encourages his fans to give in his honor and to make their own effort to give back. But I’m still bitter about the car.

“Linsanity” takes a turn for the worse?

In case you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t heard, the NBA’s newest sensation, New York Knicks point guard, Jeremy Lin, has gotten quite a bit of attention lately. But not all of it is for his superb ball handling skills.

What started out as a fad based on a clever pun using the player’s last name, sadly started to focus on the race of this talented player. After the Knicks player had an incredible game against the Lakers, sports columnists and fans started buzzing about Lin’s race. And after Lin had an unfortunate game against New Orleans, ESPN.com posted a headline titled “Chink in the Armor” which resulted in the dismissal of one employee and the suspension of another. ESPN offered a weak statement claiming that the “mobile website posted an offensive headline” and that they “apologize for this mistake”– initially avoiding taking any blame for the headline.

Lin has taken this opportunity to raise awareness about the sometimes overlooked stereotypes and offensive comments directed towards Asian Americans. In an article on ESPN.com, writer Ohm Youngmisuk lists multiple ways that fans have, in an attempt to be humerous, made comments using the word “Amasian” on twitter and other social media — not realizing that  their comments might be taken as insensitive. Like I said before, what bothers me the most about all the comments on Lin’s race is the fact that they are mainly focused on his race, not his unmistakable skills that he displays on the court.

Since the buzz shifted from Lin’s talent to his race, shows like The Daily Show and Saturday Night Live have debuted sketches satirizing the absurdity of all the race hype. Both shows managed to take stabs at the stereotypes of the African American race as well in light of February being Black History month. In the video from The Daily Show Jon Stewart defends Jeremy Lin in a debate against Larry Wilmore who personifies African American stereotypes and argues against Stewart using Asian American ones. The Saturday Night Live sketch picks a little bit more on ESPN for posting an offensive headline, and the actors imitate a post-game discussion as they casually pigeonhole Asian and African Americans. SNL even plays a video of Lin during an interview and replaces the audio with someone speaking in a strong accent with some grammatical errors in an attempt to simulate a translation of the interview–even though Lin was speaking perfect english with little to no sign of an accent. All in the name of humor, of course.

But despite all the racial slurs, insensitive comments and Lin puns, fans are still consumed with his talent. The Knicks will be taking on the Miami Heat tonight in Miami, and ticket prices are through the roof. People are paying big bucks to see “Jeremy Lin and the New York Knicks take on the league’s hottest team in Miami.” Average ticket prices for a home game in Miami are $218.54, but the average price for a ticket to tonight’s game is $612.23.

As a huge basketball fan I’ve jumped on the ‘Linsanity’ bandwagon and am anxious for the racial slurs to subside so that we can all watch as Jeremy Lin makes the most of his chance in the NBA.