Where Star Wars music really comes from...

Spanish Nun banished for using Facebook?!?!

According to this article (which I found because of the amazing American Papist!), Sister Maria Jesus Galen of Toledo, Spain was banished from her convent.

Why? According to the article, her sisters said it was because her facebook activity had "made life impossible." Apparently Sister Maria was a whiz at computers, digitizing the convent's archives, online banking, etc, and was even awarded a prize by the local government for her prowess in cyberspace.

However, the trouble came when she had gathered too many facebook friends, and she was ousted from the community.

The article states that the nun had over 600 friends--granted, that isn't an extraordinary number by today's standards, but let me explain.

-First of all, nuns are cloistered, meaning that they have little to no contact with the outside world--in fact, they SOLEMNLY VOW to adhere to the standards of their order--which includes giving up worldly possessions, and frequent contact with family and friends.

-With that in mind, in my opinion, there is no reason a cloistered nun should be using facebook.

American Papist Thomas Peters points out that there is probably more to this story than is mentioned in the article--and I agree with him that this punishment seems a bit harsh, considering the facts that we know. However, I also believe that cloistered nuns shouldn't have a facebook page. It's like an alcoholic-turned-teetotaler owning a liquor store...not good.

Cheers!

A little more respect for Justin Bieber

While I don't like the craze and mania that Justin Bieber is causing, I was slightly encouraged when I read this article.

In the article (which quotes an interview), Justin Bieber gives his views on hot issues:

1) abortion kills a baby. Wow. I think this 16-year-old has more guts and sense on this issue than most politicians! The article points out that the upcoming generation is becoming more and more pro-life. Because of technological advances, ultrasound images, etc, it is becoming harder and harder for the youth of today to believe the lies the abortion industry tells them--that an unborn baby isn't a baby (when an ultrasound clearly shows that the "little one" is alive, beautiful and human).

Before this post turns into a debate, let me be clear about one thing: I am against abortion because it ends the life of a beautiful, innocence, precious human being--abortion not only ends the life of the baby, but does so in the most cruel and violent manner imaginable. Abortion is directly prejudiced against the unborn (simply because they exist), the disabled, the poor, minority groups, and all women (pregnant women, and unborn women in countries like China where gendercide is horribly affecting the gender proportion).

Back to Justin Bieber.

2) waiting for sex. While he doesn't seem to advocate waiting until marriage to have sex, it is encouraging that Justin Bieber believes that sex is special, and should not be wasted on every single person that crosses your path.

For a very long while, I was under the impression that purity, beauty and sense were lost in modern culture--perhaps these revelations by Justin Bieber prove that the youth of today are learning to think outside their own selfish desires and think about the real consequences of their actions.

Hopefully Justin Bieber's words will have an impact on the youth of today, and encourage them to make wise decisions.

Cheers!

Justin Bieber...and nail polish?

I have successfully avoided blogging about "the bieb" but this latest news I've read tells me I should attempt to help expose the incredibly idiotic craze that is surrounding this kid!

1) As I was passing through Barnes and Noble's game section, much to my surprise, I saw this:



Apparently it's a game--the sole object of which is to give kisses to Justin Bieber.... sick....

2) More recently, Bieber has come out with a line of (you won't believe this) nail polish--and has already sold over one million bottles.

Yes, you read that correctly. Nail polish. As an article in Time put it "The beauty expert teen girls trust? A 16-year-old boy."

The names of the different colors, of course, are references to Bieber songs--though at least one of them, in my opinion, borders on blasphemy. In some respects, you can hardly blame the kid--after all, he's being treated like a god, and acts like one too.



This video might bring some relief to those who do not look so kindly on Bieber. I thought it was funny.

But let's be serious for a moment. One of the interesting things we can learn about the Justin Bieber craze comes from the fact that it is being helped by the internet (as many other fandoms are these days). Think about it--video posting, mp3 music files, twitter, etc...

If Justin Bieber was not being helped by the internet, do you think he would be a success? I'm not so sure.

Cheers!

Clementines and Media

I was eating a clementine--great snack--and as I was attempting to peel it, I happened to notice the sticker that was on the peel. It said "Make a video starring you! Cutiescitrus.com" Being the avid media student that I am, I checked it out.

The site was very similar to the Cheetos website that we viewed in class, except that it seemed more oriented towards parents, rather than kids. Parents could create incredibly cheesy videos to send to their kids (sort of a morale-booster e-card).

Ok, I totally get the advertising side of this whole thing--however, I do have a problem with trying to get kids to be online for more things. It crossed my mind that the real reason that parents are giving their kids clementines are to keep them healthier, right? So why is a company that is supporting children's health and well-being giving kids more reasons to stay online longer when they should instead be outside playing?

Almost seems like a double-standard to me....

My first impression of the internet...

As I wrote my last post, I remembered what my first impressions of the internet--and so, as a (perhaps odd) member of "generation digital" I thought I would post those thoughts here.

When I was growing up, Google didn't exist. Fact. The library that I went to as a child didn't even have a sophisticated "online" book catalog. To order a book from the system, you had to type into an ancient-looking computer, and then write out by hand an order form for that book to give to the librarian.

For me, the internet always seemed like this ominous creature (one that could potentially swallow little children who played with it too long--apparently adults were immune!) There was internet access at the library, but you had to be a certain age to use it. Furthermore, it was only my father who seemed to know what the internet was and how to use it--during the course of my siblings and my studies, we would ask him questions that weren't in the encyclopedia, and so my father would (presumably) go to this foreign and dangerous place and bring back the desired answers.

Finally, when I was about 8 or 9 (or perhaps I was 10?), the internet came to our house.

I remember sending my first email, and my first exposure to this ominous wonderland of knowledge.

"Googling-it", wasn't a term people used back then.

To the common person (like me), words like "blog," "link," and "youtube" were foreign. Social networking sites, other than chatrooms, were unheard of in my house (to be quite frank, when I first started using the internet, Mark Zuckerburg hadn't even invented facebook yet...in fact, I'm not sure if he had even graduated from highschool yet...).

So, am I from the dark ages or what?

Nope! I was born in the early 1990s--on the proverbial "cusp" of the digital generation!

The people who are just a few years younger than me can't even recall a time when they didn't have the internet. I count myself among one of the lucky few who can :)

Cheers!

The Mass and Media

I totally agree with Andi's post about media distraction--people (myself included) have an extremely hard time "disconnecting" from the media world...even to attend church.

This morning, I was at Mass, and it seemed as if EVERYONE (ok, maybe I'm exaggerating!) was texting or forgot to put their phone on vibrate.

Quite seriously, this is a grave matter--this isn't just like going to the movies, or a business meeting--if you're going to Mass, you're going to worship God Himself! So, in other words, some people are disrespectful enough to put the Creator of the Universe "on hold" to answer a stupid text from their sort-of-best friend!

If people can't 'unplug' for a single hour once a week to talk to God, how can they be trusted to listen to their friends?

I know that sounds outrageous, but I am quite frustrated lately with the immense apathy and lack of respect that people have these days!

So I challenge you to spend a few minutes to actually talk to someone, pay a stranger a compliment, smile at a child or elderly person, and remember that although some things cannot be bought or sold, they are more priceless than all the gems and gold in Christendom!

Cheers!

Google is creepy...

Just an observation.

So I'm sitting here listening to opera on youtube.com (yes, I actually like opera...) and on almost every video that I've been switching between, there is an ad for CatholicMatch.com.

Not that there is anything wrong with CatholicMatch.com...it's just that this doesn't seem to be the first time the ads on youtube are catered to my particular demographic...

So, is the ad for CatholicMatch.com just popular today or does Google actually keep track of your searches/keywords and cater the ads on all their sites to you?

Creepy....

Cheers!

BTW... I'm listening to "Une Furtiva Lagrima" sung by Roberto Alagna...bliss...

Generation Digital!!

Today's generation--my generation--is obsessed with media. If it isn't iPhones, iPods, or texting constantly, people are online emailing and checking facebook as if it was as necessary as eating or breathing. Admittedly, I don't feel "connected" to the planet in the morning unless I've at least checked my email, and try to think up a good reason why I shouldn't check my facebook :P

However, as we discussed in class this morning, my generation is sort of an odd generation. Born in the late 80s to very early 90s, my generation still has a vague remembrance of what the world was like without cellphones, iPods, or the internet. I can still remember the first time I ever sent an email.

My generation is the first generation to actually grow up with media access--albeit limited access in some cases. Being the first generation to grow up with this new media, obviously there is much concern by parents about what will happen to this 'digital generation.'

Parental concerns are, in most cases, justly founded. Who wants their little girl to be sent obscene pictures? Who wants their little boy to receive requests for his address from perverted strangers? Who wants their teens to be exposed to the vileness of pornography?

However, there is a gentle balance to be observed (as with all matters of life--if you eat too much, you'll die, but if you don't eat enough, you'll die too!) Just because the internet is new, does not mean that it is necessarily evil--and just because your children have the ability to send emails does not mean that they will be targeted by perverts.

As we discussed in class this morning, there have been fears (some well-founded, others not) about every major addition to the media. However, the internet is the biggest, and most overwhelming addition that we have seen thus far (like the invention of the printing press, only bigger) and so parents have a right to be concerned about the morality of their children.

What they do with that concern--teach their children to use technology to their advantage, rather than letting it take advantage over them--is another matter entirely. And that topic is about parenting skills, not media.

Cheers!