Ian Smith

Dr. Kyburz

English 1010

04-01-2012

“Toys for Saps”

The article "toys for saps" by Gary Cross, a professor from pen state, analyzes the toy industries impact on society and the key people involved. The CEO of Mattell, Robert Eckert, Has apologized to the american public for the recent release of hundreds of thousands of toys that have toxic or dangerous materials involved. Cross saw this move as "admirable" but more then the release and recall, cross believes that the marketing and manufacture of certain toy lies the larger issue. 

Cross Notes that the business model is not around the needs of the parents and the children, but around the selling of toys. When Cross went through the recalled toys he noted that the market of certain toys are not age appropriate. In 1978 the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission Michael Pertschuk, called the direct advertising to children "unfair". The Toy and candy companies fired back with arguments of commercial free speech. Eventually Congress complied with the toy and candy companies by prohibiting the commission from regulating ads.

Toy companies started selling toys built around TV shows or movies Cross points out, at the same time they had out sourced most of the manufacture of toys to china. These moves changed the toy market substantially from a seasonal market, to a year round TV and movie based industry that doubled in profitability in 1986.

Cross states that although the Consumer Product Safety Commission has standards that protects 

children from physical damage, Nothing has been done to protect the psychological safety of children. Cross believes that most of the enjoyment the children derive from the toys are from the initial purchase and addition to there collection. He goes on saying "Additive — if not addictive — desire is created and satisfied by these toy lines." Cross believes that this type of marketing is turning the youth of tomorrow, and the young adults today into good consumers. Serving positively to the children in no way, just buying and adding instead of playing and using imagination.

The marketing isn't only coming from companies like barbie and Bratz dolls but in fact from publicly funded companies like PBS. PBS has been giving licence rights to toy companies since 1971, Big Bird, Elmo, and Thomas becoming children staples.

Cross calls for the pubic to begin to rethink the decision to allow unrestricted advertising to children. When children are young they don't have not fully developed critical judgement, thus the instilling of ideals becomes simpler. Children receive toys at younger and younger age's and they get more of it, they get a new toy get bored and move to the next and newest. Is it time to call for the protection of children's psyches just like we protect them from the physical harms of toys? In Crosses opinion absolutely.

In this modern world we as a society have much more leisure time, giving way to play and waste time, does that call for the imitation and control of the toy companies? The issue for me is this by who's standards do we limit toy licencing to? will we mandate the must have a certain degree of intellectual stimulation? In a perfect world absolutely, children should be brought up to see the joys and satisfaction derived from education, and experiences. Maybe someday the private and public sector will come to terms with each other, but today is not that day. So unfortunately parents need to try to teach there children proper reason based decision making so we as a people can evolve and grow.

Ian Smith

Dr. Kyburz

English 1010

March 8, 2012

Christo’s Valley Curtain

The Documentary film Christo’s Valley Curtain (1974), by Albert and David Maysles, is a film about a man named Christo and his artistic pursuit. The film begins with Christo and a woman, hanging a wide unfinished portrait of a mountain valley with an orange, almost sail like curtain hanging between it. After looking at the portrait and what appears to be critiquing it, Christo begins to work on his unfinished piece. The film then pans to other pictures of Christos work and he explains his passion and love. He explains that his love is not necessarily of working in his studio, like one might assume, but for the actual construction and engineering of the art. The next scene then shows Christo at a construction site with people working.  There are materials on the ground and big machinery in the background lifting a man up with a cable at his feet.

                The camera switches from the loud construction site to a quiet golf course. The players can see the mountain valley where Christos creation is slowly being erected. The on lookers make a few comments, some with doubt and others with awe. Specifically an elderly female seemed amazed with the project, but speculated that Christo having a great deal of education could perhaps achieve such a feat.

                Looking down from the edge of the gargantuan wall you see workers moving and working trying to connect the rolled fabric mass on to the cable. The men keep running into issues being so high up with so much material. The film then goes to the base of the valley where Christo is speaking with a man. There is concern in Christos voice as he expresses is worry about the wind blowing while the construction workers are placing the Curtain.

                Back at the construction site they begin to remove the protective cover around the massive rolled up orange fabric. Christo is passionately yelling at the men, making sure they are not damaging the piece. The film then takes us back to Christos work shop, where he is meticulously ironing a small piece of fabric to a canvas. Working through every detail he begins to put the workshop piece together, showing the passion he has for every piece of his art.

Switching back between the construction site and the studio, you begin to see how the project has progressed and some of the trials they are having along the way. Back at the site arguments begin to flare between the artist and the crew, both have a common goal simply a different method of reaching it.

                The men begin to pull the covering down from the massive work of art. Heaving they strain to remove the cover, but there are some snags that they can’t fix from their location on the ground. So an older construction leader decides he needed to take a closer look in spite of the risk. He shimmies down the massive cable and down to the entangled cover. The men on the ground pull the snag loose and the cover finally comes off.

                There is tension in the air as they begin to release the wall of orange. The curtain begins to drop from the corner. Like a wave it sweeps down across the valley unrolling the part adjacent to it, until it stops mid wave by a snag in one of the lines. The men attach a line to try to get the remanding curtain free. Christo is clearly distraught by the set back and tries to encourage the men to pull. The curtain finally loosens and continues its tidal wave across the massive mountain valley.

This is a rough draft so go easy on me. If you want to watch this documentary CLICK ME

What makes a good blog.

In my opinion what makes a good blog is perspective. Depending on your interest a blog can be; interesting, boring or even relevant to you at all. However for me an interesting blog is the one I don't have to read. People find joy in writing blogs and that's fine, but there thoughts and memoirs 9 times out of ten have no effect or relevancy to me or my life. Simply put I don't care, not that I mean to belittle others its just that if I want to hear about someones life or thoughts then a face to face conversation is important for me.

I have some important people in my life that keep blogs. I have seen it to be like a digital journal for people almost therapeutic. So keeping blogs can be a good thing depending on the person that authors it.