Pop culture: Tattooing

The first thing that greatly impressed me when I came to this country was seeing tattoo popularity. Lots of people in this country have tattoos on their arms or other part of their body. The first person I saw having heavy tattoos on his arms was a police officer working at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. At that point, I thought this must be kind of cultural shock to me because back to where I came from, nobody who works for government is allowed to have tattoos and generally speaking, people would think it is against socially accepted moral standard for a person to have tattoos.

It is commonly believed that the origin of tattoo can be found in a pacific island called Tahiti where people would put on decorative marks on their skin. In their language, which is called Tahitian, the pronunciation is ’Tatu’ or ’Tatau’. Obviously, this is where today’s English pronunciation directly came from. Actually, the tradition of tattooing also can be found in other places in this world. For example, the earliest was found on an iceman’s body. Also, a body of an ancient Egyptian that was mummified thousands of years was found having tattoos on it. Around the world, tattooing has been a kind of popular fashion for a while. Of course, in some specific periods in history and some countries, tattooing was treated as a type of extreme culture. For example, in Chinese history, tattooing was used to identify convicted criminal status. In Europe, it used to be forbidden because of the growth of religious beliefs.

Today, tattooing has been a popular practice around the whole world. More people have started appreciating the artistic merit of tattooing. Even in countries like China, tattooing also becomes popular among people. Tattoos are being used to express a person’s beliefs and attitude towards this world. No doubt, Hollywood movies contributed a lot to the popularity of tattooing because US military forces adopted tattooing as a means of protection and remembrance and historical military topics are always preferred by Hollywood movie directors.

American Icons

For me and I guess, for many people as well, Obama means much more than just a person who won presidential election in last year. I believe he has become an American icon that embodies American dream that has been lost for lots of people. Frank Sinatra was one of the greatest actor and singer. Although he died long time ago, his songs still sound great for fans. People like him so much. One of the best ways to understand a world that is new to me, I think is watching cartoon. The Simpsons is such a great show that has brought me not only fun but knowledge. All of them above have been a part of American culture and popular among American people.

Obama is the first African-American president elected by American citizens. His success is really a breakthrough in American political history and even world history. His success also means the core value of American dream is still being honored by American people. For a newcomer like me, what I have learned from him is if I work hard and I will get a fair return. In this society, hard working people are always respected by everyone and deserve a good life.

The first time I heard Sinatra’s name was when I was watching a TV show that ended up with his song New York, New York years ago. I spent a lot of time to find who the singer was. I really like this song and enjoyed feeling it brought to me. I have to say he was really one of the greatest singers in the world.

I watched the first episode of The Simpsons more than 10years ago and was not impressed at that point. But I changed my mind since I moved to the US. The Simpsons is more than just a single family and Springfield is more than just a small town. For me, this cartoon show is a prism that reflects people’s real life in this country. This show brings me not only fun but knowledge about this country, American society and how outside world looks like in American people’s eyes.

How Writing Blogs Change People’s Life

(Below: the most visited blog in China, 249,441,156 clicks)

It has been common if you see someone has his or her own internet-based blog that is open to the public. A blog is simply just a webpage where a blogger can post his or her views against anything in this world. In addition, if allowed by blogger, anyone who has visited this blog can leave a comment to the blog owner. In this virtual world, geography does not exist and people are able to effective communicate as easy as talking in person no matter where they are. Also, it is fortunate that everyone could easily find a host that provides people with free blog services. It is fair to say that the popularity of blog writing has made it a part of current popular culture.

The emergence of internet-based blog in fact is a result of information age in which people need more effective approach to exchange information. Why blog writing is so popular is because it works in a way that traditional media can not do. For common people, it is not possible that a media giant like CNN would be very interested in their comments and feelings everyday. However, that does not mean they do not deserve a space to express themselves. Some bloggers who came with no big names also are very successful. The era of internet has completely destroyed the old way that heroes were made. In the era of internet, everybody could be a hero.

The first personal blog was created in 1994 ¹. Today, there are hundreds of millions blogs around world. In different countries, blogs are embedded into local culture, reflecting dynamics of local life in countries. In China, there are a stunning high number of bloggers. Approximately, more than 100 million blogs are registered in China. Blog writing in China is highly related with country’s political and economic affairs due to China’s strict news and information censorship². Actually, blogging in China has been an alternative for information circulation and has been a social phenomenon that people in developed countries do not see. As a result, having realized how blogging has changed information exchanging in the country, Chinese government has significantly changed how it governs news media. Popular culture works everywhere.

References:
1. New York Magazine (2006) http://nymag.com/news/media/15971/
2. Rebecca MacKinnon http://rconversation.blogs.com/rconversation/

Popular culture: Impressionism show is fun

Compared with elite culture that is emotionally distanced from common people and folk culture that is generally geographically isolated from the rest of the world, popular culture is much more dynamic. Popular culture is supposed to be a social and cultural phenomenon that common people have easy access at low cost and easy to understand. There are a lot of types of popular culture such as music, movie, dance, talk show, sports and etc. I am sure that popular culture to me is as essential as to any one else. Life definitely will be plain and tedious without popular culture. I can not imagine a world without movie, music, NBA, and NFL.

Accompanied with popular culture products, stars show up and become the most important part of popular culture. For people who like watching movies, it is not possible that they have never heard about names like Keira Knightly, Johnny Depp, or Kate Winslet who might be mostly watched movie stars. For people who like pop music, it is expected that they frequently watch Katy Perry or Justine Timberlake show on youtube. Modern technology helps popular culture to spread world wide. It has been a common strategy that latest movie is released in different countries at the same time by using advanced digital technology. What a wonderful world!

Since popular culture has been an important part in everyone’s life, it is also important when people communicate in any environment such. It is common knowledge that boss would more like to use an employee who can share same interest in some kind of popular culture such as football. In this country’s business culture, communication skill is essential for a person who wants to be successful in his or her career. Going further, strong communication skills plus some popular culture seasonings is definitely a trick for a successful career.

I am a TV watcher and I really like impressionists doing crazy or creative things on TV. In this country, impressionists are very popular on weekend shows, especially when there are some important social events like presidential campaign. In 2008, I think there were lots of people who were just like me and could not tell who Sarah Palin was and who Tina Fey was. It is fun to watch this kind of show and there is nothing serious to think. Life is supposed to be fun, isn’t it?

Greetings

This is the first blog in my life. Everyone is welcome to visit and leave your comments.

:)