The article I decided to analyze for assignment 1-3 is called, “American Dream of Mutants: The X-Men-“Pulp” Fiction, Science Fiction and Superheroes. It is by John M. Trushell and it was published in the Journal of Popular Culture volume 38 number 1 in 2004. The article focused on the proliferation of comic books and the relationship between American popular culture and content in comic books. It is hard to imagine comic books which are meant to make us fantasize would have so many hidden messages about our societal issues.
The rise of Jazz music, motion pictures, and the modern detective story contributed to American popular culture in the 20th century, but science fiction literature moved towards the center of American popular culture. Writings from people like H.G Wells in the 1920s fueled a need for science fiction. However, with the Atom Bomb detonation in Hiroshima at the end of WWII, men and women of intellect realized that scientific writings resembled a lot like the world they lived in. They understood science fiction literature directly reflected the present state of the world and provided glimpse of the problematic future that was to come. The forecast called for the need for heroes who arrived in the form of comic book characters (Trushell, J. 2004).
According to the article, the early 1930s witness the transition of science fiction literature from novels into comic book strips. This era in science fiction literature was called the Pulp era. This was the time popular characters like Doc Savage, Superman, Spiderman, and the Caped Crusader Batman arrived in the comic world and every child wanted to read about them. Superhero comics flooded the market and nearly every aspect of life, whether a detective story or even the submariner had a comic strip related story. Some in the general public regarded the reading of science fiction and comics as escapism and not dealing with reality. Other saw the sophistication of superheroes as an alibi for magic. Regardless of the mixed opinions, comic book thrived in the 1940s. The events of WWII and the threat from the Axis of Evil drove the popularity of heroes such as Captain America, Uncle Sam, and Superman (Trushell, J. 2004). Many of the stories in comic books in this era were mini stories of the battle fields turned into fantasy versions of real events. Finally, in the 50s comic books saw a decline because of the popular new medium which was television, urging some comic characters to transition or witness demise. Characters like Superman were successful while others perished and waited for resurrection.
The next generation of comic books in America were introduce in the golden age of comics with content from Stan Lee whom some consider to be the greatest comic writer of all time. In the 60s, comics like the Fantastic Four and X-Men became popular. The X-Men were much like a previous group called the X-Bodies because both groups were different from normal society and both were being persecuted and hunted. The Fantastic Four were about a group of astronauts hit by solar rays then given superpower. The story of the Fantastic Four was an allegory for teen rebellion of the 60 while the X-Men related to much heavier issues in society. For example, the X-Men were people born different because of genetics and were segregated, persecuted, and lead by one protector and teacher. The struggle of the X-Men could be an explanation of the civil rights movement (Trushell, J. 2004). Professor Xavier of the X-Men was like Martin Luther King who preached non violence and marched on Washington for freedom and equality. On the same token, the comic world reflected the militancy in society. Take the Nation of Islam with leader Malcolm X for example; he was much like a character named Magneto in X-Men who was motivated by mutant domination of America. Magneto and his brotherhood of mutants resembled the increase in radicalism in American society such as the popularity of the black power movement (Franklin, H.1966). The comic books had mass appeal due to content being related to life in American society. Furthermore, in later years comic books dealt with more global issues and incorporated multicultural aspects of life and not so native characters. Diversity in X-MEN arrived with the popularity of Wolverine who was from Canada and Storm being an African American woman. Most of the comic issues in the 80s and early 90s were related to multiculturalism and a great emphasis on technological advancement. In the real world, technology was at the center of popular culture in America and elsewhere, and people of all walks of life intertwined with each other. In recent years, comic books have been reoriented into becoming motion pictures for a new generation and the success of the superhero movies is evidence that comic books still have a relevant spot in American popular culture.

References
Trushell, J. M. (2004, August 10). American Dreams of Mutants: The X-Men- "Pulp" Fiction, Science Fiction, and Superheroes. The Journal of Popular Culture, 38, 149-167. Retrieved October 19, 2009, from OhioLink database.
Franklin, H. B. (1966). Future Perfect: American Science Fiction . New York, and London England, NY: OXford Press.

This week, the big news was about the NFL having games scheduled over seas. So the big question was should the NFL go global? And will the international public be receptive to American Football? The National Football League is the main association for anything related to American Football and the game of football is a uniquely American sport, so when the NFL had a scheduled a game in London England this past Sunday, everyone was talking about the possibility of the NFL expanding to the global stage.
In many sports news shows sports analysts were asked the question, “how much appeal does the game of football have on the international stage?” The success of the games and the outcome of the previous games played outside North America happen to suggest that the NFL and the game of football have impacted at least England and some other European countries (Chase, C 2009). For example, the history of the NFL in England goes back to 1986 when the Chicago Bears played in Wembley Field in London. Since then the NFL hosted some games in London and even as recent as 2007 when the Dolphins and Giants played at the famous field, but the game played last weekend by the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was the most successful game ever played outside the US by any NFL team when attendance comes to count. For starters, the tickets for the game sold out in 90 minutes costing nearly $90 proving indicating that NFL was on to a great future in England (ESPN.com) . There were at least 85,000 Brits who were enthused about American Football similar to the energy they display when soccer fans go wild with pandemonium this according to the NFL in London website. Furthermore, the game had the same appeal to the English television audiences as well that is why the league is planning on televising the sold out games of the 2010 International series games. The success of last Sunday’s game proved that the international community can handle and even appreciate a game that has deep traditions with the American public and since the international audience has gotten a taste of American Football it would not be long before cities like London and Barcelona Spain will introduce themselves to the American public with the induction of their teams to the NFL. Which leads us to my next question, Will the NFL replace soccer?
The game of soccer is the most popular game in the world for many reasons and I don’t think that it would be replaced by football. The reason football would not replace soccer is because soccer is more widely accepted and it is easier to play. For example, the game of football has many rules and regulation which soccer doesn’t have. The 100 yard play by play rule does not exist in soccer and soccer is 90 minutes of running and kicking where football is a constant stop and go. Also, there is the limitation of gear. Soccer is easier to play because all one needs is a ball and in football there are a number of materials that are necessary to play the game. So in terms of entertainment yes American football would have an appeal with the masses, but it would not replace the global pastime known as soccer.








References
2009, October 25). International Series 2009 - New England Patriots v Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Retrieved October 29, 2009, from National Football League: http://www.nfllondon.net/
Chase, C. (2009, October 25). Is London really showing 'tremendous interest' in the NFL?. Retrieved October 30, 2009, from Yahoo Sports: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Is-London-really-showing-tremendous-interest-i?urn=nfl,198015
(2009, May 16). NFL regular-season game in London a hot ticket. Retrieved October 30, 2009, from ESPN and Associated Press: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2872326

Assignment 2-1 Weekly Written Analysis

Image from Google.com/images

The story that has taken over every conversation this week is about President Barak Obama winning a Nobel peace prize. Many news networks are running specials on the issue because the country seems to be divided about the issue like anything else Obama associates with. There are many questions floating around which include some of the following. Does Obama deserve a Nobel Peace Price? What has he done to earn the coveted Price? And finally could his Icon status have influenced the decision to award him such an honor? I have been reading many articles on the situation to get a better understanding so I will attempt to put some thoughts of mine on paper in order to shed some light on the matter and share my thoughts with my class mates.
American Presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt and Jimmy Carter have won the Nobel Peace Prize before, but the Obama winning has raised many talking points around the world. According to an article from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, leaders from around the world expressed some disagreement for the Nobel Committee’s pick (L, Waterman 2009). The opposition stated their case almost as soon as the decision and the winner were announced. The hardest thing to understand was the opposition including some unexpected people who oppose the decision such as the Republican National Committee and Some Democratic party Representatives as well as some understandable once such as Taliban leader and some other terrorist organizations. The decision created a national debate about if the president really earned the prize and what the outcome would be. CNN held the debate on almost every show they had that day and even when to the people on the street to get some reactions. One article on CNN.com read, (Is Obama's Nobel a blessing or curse?). I don’t think that people really think it is a cure for the man to win the award, but I think the president will have some big shoes to fill. As the old saying goes, “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility” I think it was Yoda from Star Wars that said that line, but I think the president has to commit to bringing peace to this world the best he can.
President Obama has been working tirelessly since his election to bridge the communication gap between world leaders and American leaders as well as bring about a solution to the nuclear arms race. As in the past Prize recognitions, I think the Nobel committees are paying attention to what the president’s intentions are versus what he currently accomplished. Past recipients of the award reflect my point. Take Theodore Roosevelt for example, he won the same award while the country was in a confused state of mind and his winning was a symbol of recognizing his intentions to bring the country together and bring peace to the world starting with America. Furthermore, Yasser Arafat won the coveted prize in 1994 with the Prime Minister of Israel Shimon Perez to symbolize the peace process that they both intended on achieving (Nobel Prize archives 2009). I personally think the move was a much necessary one because the peace efforts that allowed President Obama to win the most recognize award in the world has a promising future and people should focus more on how to bring the peace than worry about if he deserved it or not. The main question should be are the right intentions there?







References
Henry, E. (2009, October 10). Henry: Is Obama's Nobel a blessing or curse? . Retrieved January 1,, from CNN Politics: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/10/obama.nobel.ed.henry/
(2004, November 6). Jewish Virtual Library: Yasser Arafat. Retrieved October 9, 2009, from American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/arafat.html
Waterman, L. W. (2009, October 10). Minneapolis, Star tribune: President Obama Wins the Nobel Peace Prize. Retrieved October 11, 2009, from Minneapolis Star Tribune: http://www.startribune.com/yourvoices/63941557.html?elr=KArks:DCiUo3PD:3D_V_qD3L:c7cQKUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
(n.d.). The Nobel Prizes Internet Archive: Nobel Prize Winners 1901-2009. Retrieved October 9, 2009, from Nobel Peace Prize and Commitee: http://nobelprizes.com/nobel/peace/peace.html

Assignment 2-2 Icon analysis

Image on page are from Google.com/images

In my writing about the characters I believe to be top contenders to be the most recognizable and popular American Icons, I chose Michael Jackson, Lady Liberty, and Bugs Bunny. I may be a little obvious by picking Michael Jackson, but I could not think of an Icon without thinking Michael. In my early childhood these three Icons were very influential in my life and I bet most people would identify with one of these characters being their Idols at least once in their life. In my writing I will explain how these characters and their popularity had an impact on my life.
Growing up as a child I idolized Michael Jackson like any other kid. Although I could not afford a sipper jacket, I tried my hardest to dress, walk, dance, and act like Michael Jackson. Everyone in my neighborhood was consumed by the popularity of this pop icon. My cousins and I always had dance offs in the middle of the street before we were called in as the sun went to sleep as we called it. Michael Jackson had an impact on my life because when I was a child I thought I had super human abilities whether it was climbing a tree or standing on my toes like Michael. I truly believed Michael had super abilities and he was sent to teach everyone to develop theirs. Thinking back on it I now understand why so many people idolized Michael Jackson. When he died lately, I was in East Africa back where I had my first experience of Michael through a small beat up television. The news of his death cut me like a knife that was going through a tender meat. To prove his status as an icon even more, every channel on the television played his songs for a month. Michael Jackson was an icon in every sense of the word and it is evident because the world has not moved on from grieving him.

Lady Liberty is the most popular American Icon in my eyes because it is the most recognizable symbol in the world. When anyone in any part of the world sees an image of Lady Liberty, the first though that comes to my mind is America then New York or vice versa the reason is because Lady Liberty symbolizes American freedom and in particular the popularity of New York city. Growing up I remember wanting to go to America and one day laying my eyes on the majestic statue. I remember seeing the image in movies especially those that portrayed the end of the world and Lady Liberty being harmed in some way. A great example is the Planet of the Apes where she is buried in dirt or Independence Day where she is destroyed by aliens. I also remember when I finally got a chance to come to America in 1996 being anxious to see the statue. In the plane I could not wait to arrive in New York to see her, but to my luck the plane flew over her and I got a glance at her. The thought going through my head was, “Oh the sky has blessed me to see her finally.” as the plane tilted to turn for the landing. Another reason why she is regarded as the most recognizable is because since her building, almost every immigrant who arrived in New York City has seen her first before any other American landmark.
Finally, Bugs Bunny my childhood idol is a very popular American Icon. I think at out of many cartoon characters Bugs my friend is the KING. He is the man for many reasons to name a few. Bugs is popular with everyone because he represents cleverness, cool, calm, and most of all fun. I remember the first time I seen a Looney Tunes cartoon laughing so hard that my face was red and it is impossible for me to turn red because I am African. Along with being funny I think Bugs speaks to the inside feeling that we all have that says we want to outsmart all our opponents and get what we want. The image of Bugs Bunny is very recognizable in any culture and it is directly related to American culture and although the cartoons are directed towards children, the cartoons identify with people of all ages because of the cool factor of this particular character.

Assignment 1-4 Weekly analysis

This image from WWW.Walmart.com/HDTV

Lately, High Definition TVs have been very popular because they are a new technology that has come about the last ten years and change the way we view content on television. HDTVs have been so popular that almost every network has a HD channel that broadcasts the same content in HD. To get a good example of this phenomenon pay close attention to the local news and there will be an indication that is also being broadcasted in HD. In my weekly analysis I chose to write about a new technology that has revolutionized the way we watch television. That technology being High Definition of course, High Definition or HD for short is the newest technology for television view and the best thing that happened to television since the transition to color television was first introduced. In the earlier days, or more like before the 2000s regular television was always broadcasted in analog receptions, but since the digital transmitting age started newer more HD capable TVs were produced, thus resulting in the popularity of the HD capable televisions today. Along with HD television videos have also changed to HD formatting for example, HDDVD are super DVDs that have HD capabilities as well as hold even more content then regular DVDs. Another example of these super DVDs is the Blu-ray disk which holds even more than HDDVD and offers the best resolution of any resolution.
High Definition televisions became known in the late 1930s according to Wikipedia.org but the true digital revolution started in the early 2000 in my opinion because prior to 1999 I had no idea that there was a special technology dedicated to the improvement of television viewing and since have been excited about the changes that took place over the years. Now a days, people have more vocal about up grading their televisions to HD capable because HD allows people to view content the way it was meant to be which is crystal clear. High Definition televisions offer picture clarity that cannot be compared to anything else in the market today along with a surround sound that will blow minds away. I can remember the first time I bought my television. I was very excited to have an HD television then I found out I did not have the right cables to go along with it. Come to think about it there are special cable that make a television HD capable as well as an HD cable box supplied by the cable or satellite provider then I was introduced to truly HD content. Oh just thinking about watching football in HD was worth all the trouble of purchasing a new TV, cables, and a special HD box. Today almost everyone I know has an HD TV and the popularity of HDTVs is just growing enormous that’s why I just can’t wait to experience what will come out next.

Assignment 1-2 Popular culture blog post

In my opinion popular culture is something that brings a variety of people from various backgrounds together because of a single common interest. Take Hip Hop music for example, most people view Hip Hop as just music, but to me it is the perfect example of popular culture. I remember as a young child walking through the streets of Nairobi Kenya and seeing a bus decorated with images of Hip Hop artists like Naughty by Nature and Tupac. At the time I had no clue what the images on the outside of the bus represented, but I thought it was really cool to have pictures on buses. As I think back on it now, I notice the power of popular culture and recognize that those artists whose pictures I seen when I was a child have now become my favorite artists. Also it was my first taste of popular culture to see American Hip Hop artists celebrated in East Africa.
Understanding and relating to popular culture is relevant to me in a business environment and in my career because of my chose career path. For example, I work in the cable industry now as a sales representative for the world largest cable television provider which is Comcast cable and my work includes have knowledge of what’s new, hot, and hip on television. Every day I am tested on my knowledge of popular culture issues. For example, a couple of weeks ago there was an issue on MTV Music Video Awards where Kanye Wes snatch a microphone from a young lady and the following day customers who did not a to see the incident were calling me as if I had the inside scoop because I work for the cable company. Knowing what popular with people will eventually increase my interpersonal communication skills and increase my chances of having a relevant position with my peers. After receiving a degree in Business Administration I hope to work in the entertainment industry which will require me to be up to date on popular culture.
I consider the ever changing fashion of Hip Hop music to be my chose of popular culture artifact. In the last two decades Hip Hop has seen many different styles of fashion whether it is the crazy hair dos or wearing pants backwards or sometimes down to the ankles.

The evidence is the global spread of styles like these to remote areas in the world. Many people dismiss Hip Hop as something very simple, but to me it is a movement that not only changes with the times, but has a significant influence on young people.

Introduction. Welcome to my world

My name is Abdirizak Abdi I am from Somalia East Africa. I lived in Ohio for 5 years and recently moved to Minnesota I have been attending Franklin now for about a year and a half. I love Franklin University specially the online classes I have been taking classes while on vacation to Ethiopia over the summer I am pursuing a bachelors degree in business administration, I recently got married while in Africa. I love history and would love to get my doctorate in international business someday. I enjoy movies, music, and traveling to new destinations. I look forward to meeting new people in this class and having lots of fun with a new experience gained at the end of our quick six weeks together.