We just landed in the ATL for a buddy’s wedding and we’re sooo excited!

We’ve got that plus different ridiculously fun things planned for this weekend on the east coast! We’ve been looking forward to it for some time!!!

And we deserve a bit of little bit of indulgence! Can we get some waffles??? We’ve been working additional exhausting within the gymnasium these days – in anticipation of Thanksgiving!

We feel so blessed with all the nice things coming our method recently! So thankful!

And none of it would be potential with out YOU, our Perezcious and dependable readers of so a few years!

We coronary heart you! Soooo much!

I’m the first to admit I text constantly and I’m on-line writing for “Triond” a lot I’m not addicted to texting or blogging, its is something I enjoy and being a late starter to the World Wide Web, I am still impressed by the wealth of information available on-line.  Web sites like “Facebook” and “Twitter” allow us to stay in contact with friends and family like never before.  I know some people even celebrities “Twitter” excessively and cannot use the rest room without announcing to the world where they are going and what they are doing!  Do I really need to know that “Stephen Fry” is going to the toilet?

Whether you use the internet a lot or a little, or perhaps only watch T.V. occasionally, you and me are subject to power selling of the image of the perfect “Man” or “Woman”.  I was checking the fellow writers comments on one of my articles when a pair of dazzling teeth appeared on the screen, it announced “Are your teeth really white enough” I needed sun glasses to look at the example of the perfectly white teeth!

What a smile!

I checked in the mirror and sure enough my teeth weren’t as white as the neon bright luminescent teeth shown in the advert.  Oh my god I thought I’ll have to get my teeth whitened, I grabbed a piece of paper and started noting down my deficiencies compared to the adverts. 

Next I checked more of my articles, halfway down another blog there appeared a tanned man with a six-pack muscled chest the quotation read “Does your chest look like this? If not we can advise you and sell you the means to have stomach muscles like these”  I limped to the mirror to check my stomach, it was more like a “Party Seven” than a six-pack! 

I grabbed my paper and added a six-pack to my want list.  Continuing on my internet surfing exercise, an advert for a new electric razor appeared, it was designed specifically for trimming beards and sideburns to a millimetre perfect designer stubble length.  I do have a “Goatee” beard and have had for many years, but hey was it designer stubble length?  No was my answer, I began sweating profusely at my lack of a perfectly trimmed beard!  I grabbed my pen and furiously scribbled down the make and model of the razor.

I had a brief respite when I went onto an  Historic Aviation website, no adverts for the body perfect there!  No sooner had I clicked back onto main stream sites an advert for the “Perfect waist line” jumped at me, I grabbed my waist and sure enough I could pinch more than an inch!  I needed their diet schedule and their exercise D.V.D. 

My want list was growing by the second!  Next an advert for the “Perfect leg muscles” appeared, I dropped my trousers (After shutting the curtains, just in case, you know the Paparazzi!) sure enough where was the definition, the shapely leg muscles?  I didn’t have thighs like the ones in the advert, yup you’ve guessed it the paper and pen came out and I scribbled down the make and the model of the thigh toning machine and D.V.D.

I want teeth so white that at night Boeing 747s are queuing up to land when I smile mistaking my smile for high intensity landing lights!  My stomach muscles should be so taut and rigid that you could park your car on my stomach and I wouldn’t even flinch!  As for my Goatee beard I want it short I want it 1.5mm just like the advert, not 2mm or 1mm but exactly 1.5mm to the micron!  Now were talking! how successful and famous will I be then, with my laser intensity teeth and a Goatee so sharp you could etch glass with the stubble!

I am of course being sarcastic in the extreme and trying to bring a smile to your lips.  I really think there is a serious side to this perfect image of bodily perfection we are constantly bombarded by.  I would love to be slimmer and have perfect teeth and Goatee but I’m realistic and try to live in the real world. 

The year before last I had to attend a funeral for a family member.  I needed a new black suit for the occasion.  My partner and me travelled to our local mall (Remember the film The Full Monty? Well its that same mall) I found plenty of black suits that were smart and understated perfect for the occasion.  The chest size went up to 44inches, now my chest measures 48-50inches.  My waist size is 46inches, the shops stock suit trousers up to 44inches! 

I was informed by the shop assistants that I needed a suit especially tailored for me as I was out-sized!  Now I see men way bigger than me walking around, where do they get their suits?  I cant really stop a man walking down the street and say  “Hey dude your out-sized like me where do you get your clothes from?”  If I said that I would need new teeth not just whitened teeth!

We are being told that the human race through evolution and better nutrition is growing.  So why aren’t the clothes growing at the same rate? People are generally getting bigger.  Some teenagers feel pressurised by the constant bombardment of the  “ Body Beautiful adverts” Teenagers are vulnerable to peer pressure and self doubt at their age already without these pressure selling adverts.

Self esteem is a personal state of mind, some people are lucky and genuinely have the confidence to say “This is me, this is how I look you can take me or leave me”  Obviously self esteem isn’t just about the way you look it goes deeper than that.  Its also about the way you conduct and live your life.

I do however wish the advertisers could back off a little with there quest for the perfect body and use people like me and you as role models rather than muscled laser teethed actors.

Lord Banks

1. Fun words: I like to call these words ‘fun words’ because they never sound bad by themselves…Strong, better, freedom, smoother, faster, shiny, wholesome, quality…are all words that can be used to describe anything to some extent. They sound desirable. But be careful because they can be used liberally in very general contexts. Trickier ones such as ‘cordless’ is agreeable to the consumer’s ears-but ‘requires two large triple AAA batteries’ is not so appealing.
2. Replacement words: Replacement words are enjoyable sounding that replace words with an otherwise negative connotation. ‘Cheaper’ becomes ‘affordable’, ‘ugly’ becomes ‘practical’, ‘fast food’ becomes ‘convenient’ and ‘rigid’ becomes ‘durable’. Take pro life and pro choice for example. Prolife sounds much more favorable than anti abortionist and prochoice sounds much improved over the pro abortionist label.
3. Lambert Company, the makers of Listerine, popularized the term ‘halitosis’ instead of bad breath, helping it increase its sales of Listerine.    http://www.archive.org/stream/thisfascinatinga00birdrich/thisfascinatinga00birdrich_djvu.txt

Arthur Kudner, copywrighter of Erwin, Wasey, & Jefferson, invented the term ‘athlete’s foot’ to use instead of fungal infection. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,796476,00.html

1. “Better” words are words that are used but cannot be proven as an absolute. ‘Fresher’, ‘improved’, ‘tasty’, ‘more free’, ‘thinner’, ‘bigger’ and ‘healthier’…these words do not mean that it necessarily is, but that that it is more than something else-but what that something else is no one knows.
2. Comparisons: contains 35% real fruit juice sounds better than contains 65% artificial flavoring. When the positive is emphasized as if it is exclusive it can sound much more appealing.
3. Limited: “Buy now before they are gone” or “Only one per customer” creates a sense of urgency to the customer to buy one (and to do it quick before they realize they don’t need it.) It also creates an illusion to the customer, called the third person effect, which makes the customer think “Everyone must want one- so of course it is needed.
4. “Let’s say a bank gave you two financial options for your company, one is safe, one is risky, and they presented these two options to you like this:

You have 600 dollars. Option A: $200.00 of your money will be saved. Option B: There is a one-third probability your money will be saved and two-thirds probability none of your money will be saved.  You are more likely to choose option A because Option B the probability of losing all of your money is much worse than the chance of keeping at least 200 dollars.  Now imagine they presented you the options like this with the same 600.00: Option A: $400.00 of your money will be spent. Option B: There is a one-third probability none of your money will be spent and two-thirds probability 600.00 will be spent. You will be more likely to choose option B because $400.00 is a lot to lose when you have a probability of keeping more of your money. Phrases are changed with good words instead of bad words mixed. Of the notorious killer of Rome, one quoted “..Crimes were not crimes at all but virtuous deeds…victims were villains who deserved it.”  No doubt, there is power in words.

Marriage is a binding contract between the two parties that joins together their possessions, income, and lives which you already know. This has nothing to do with love first off but when marriage comes to mind, love is the first thing we think of. This should be because we should have love in order to marry one another. One thing I realize in a relationship is before we get married is that most individuals are not 100% happy. Being only 50% happy is not 100% and with that you will begin arguments, fights, cheating, abuse etc. This is what causes a marriage to fail. Most people overlook flaws in a partner which make them unhappy and get married to that partner any way. Bad idea. This is what makes marriages collapse. You can’t change someone. That someone has to change them self’s if willing. You can attempt to change them but if no progress is made get out the relationship because it will end up sour.

My solution to a avoid going through a sour marriage and divorce is look for the flaws in a person before time. Thing you don’t like attitudes, arrogance, abusive, etc are all shown before hand in that person. Spend a couple of years together to get to see everything and if you are not satisfied move on to the next person. Some people tend to show there bad ways in weeks or months and some in years. If you are not happy move on and believe it or not you will find Mr. or Mrs. Right in your life time if your willing to look and not to be tied down unhappily. There is special someone for everyone and that’s true. You can find that person if you go out and look. You will be happy and you will have a happily ever after.

Scientists have proven that we are very much influenced by things and people around us. Our family, friends and acquaintances all shape who we are and become to a lesser or greater degree as individuals. Why even advertisers use this fact in promoting products to lure prospective consumers. They use things that induce us as we see and hear them. This is done by using color, drama, action, beauty, music, jingles and other things that influence us as we see and hear them to stimulate and titillate us. Human society can influence us for good and for bad, but we can limit how much it does affect us.

Whether what we see or watch, hear or listen to is positive or else negative it will have an affect on you accordingly and in one, if not all, of three basic ways. The first way would be mentally, the second emotionally, the third physically. We manifest this persuasion in four basic ways. We show it in our attitude, feelings, speech and behavior. For instance, if a person constantly watches violence he or she may develop a unconcerned attitude about the sufferings of others, an indifference toward the pain of another, speech that reveals harshness and a lack of tact, aggressive conduct or all four manifestations of negative influence may occur. Positive stimuli have, of course, a positive effect. So watch your surroundings and allow yourself to be molded into the best person you can be. Use the power of influence to your advantage.

Television, Parents, and Children

In a study conducted by the Philippine Children’s Television Foundation (PCTF), Feny delos Angeles-Bautista, PCTF executive director, explained that 1 400 children from different cities and provinces were asked what their favorite television programs were and what television programs they watched regularly. Survey shows that the top 25 programs included adult programs, sitcoms and action series, and sports programs, basketball and wrestling.

In a similar study conducted by the National Statistics Office under the Office of the President of the Republic of the Philippines, the National Capital Region garnered the highest of television exposure, 91.3 percent, as compared to other forms of mass media.

Studies also show that next to parents and family, television is the most influential factor in shaping children’s views and values. Television is the most popular source of information and entertainment among Filipino children. Compared with American and European children, Filipino children are allowed to watch adult television programs unsupervised. As a result, they have a media diet heavy with violence and vulgarity.

This is consistent with one of the important conclusions of the UNESCO Global Study on Media. There is less to worry about in the case of children who live and grow in secure and stable homes, who can count on parents or guardians to regulate their mediated experiences, or who benefit from school and faculty support with some attention and emphasis on media literacy training. But, this is not the case of many Filipino children. One in six suffers from neglect while one in three drops out before grade six. Barely two-thirds of 12-21 years old live with both parents. 409 849 children of 5-7 years old live away from home.

“Parental guidance is very important. Children need to learn to explore the best possibilities that media can offer while protecting themselves from negative effects of watching television programs, simply by learning to be discriminating media consumers who can understand all forms of mass media,” Delos Angeles-Bautista said

Television, Practitioners, and Children

The death of Joy Guevarra is not only because of the negligence of her parents. Aside from the importance of parental guidance and the importance of media literacy training, mass media producers and practitioners are responsible in helping children became not only discriminating media consumers, but also ones who could maximize mass media products as they grow to their own advantage.

Adopted by the UN General Assembly except Somalia and the United States of America, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes four basic group rights: survival, protection, development, and participation. It is one of the springboards of the Republic Act No. 8370, also known as the Children’s Television Act of 1997. The said Act, in its Declaration of Policy, states that: The State recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation – building and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, and social well-being by enhancing their over-all development, taking into account sectoral needs and conditions in the development of educational, cultural, recreational policies, and programs addressed to them.

Likewise, the State recognizes the importance and impact of broadcast media, particularly television programs on the value formation and intellectual development of children and must take steps to support and protect children’s interests by providing television program that reflect their needs, concerns, and interests without exploiting them.

The State recognizes broadcasting as a form of mass communication guaranteed by the Constitution, the exercises of which is impressed with public interest, and which imposes upon the broadcast industry the social responsibility of ensuring that its activities serve the interest of the Filipino people.

Adults and children share the same mass media environment and they have diverse emotional needs and mental capabilities. Mass media producers and practitioners must consider that children are part of the public that they are committed to serve. Advocates of children’s television are committed to children as special audience and consumers of various mass media forms.

The power of visual comprehension in television overwhelms other sensory organs and higher levels of cognitive, psychomotor, and affective processes. Children are visual learners and they comprehend things differently with adults, not because they are less intelligent and not capable of critical thinking and understanding the real world, but because they have qualitatively different ways of thinking at specific stages of growth and development.

Today, the contents and the visuals of television programs that children watch and the amount of number of hours they spend in watching are important indicators in learning about our own people, our own culture, and our country. But, many television programs that children regularly watch include stereotype images and characterizations, especially of girls, of women, and of children.

Television, Advertisers, and Children

The book “The Ordeal of Mark Twain” written by the great literary critic and cultural historian Van Wych Brooks in 1920 used Twain, a renowned artist who became famous because of his imposing works but failed in the end, as an example of the effects of commercialism in mass media brought by gigantic advertisements. From the novel, we could ascertain that commercialism tells readers or viewers what they want to know rather than what they must know.

Television is what we could call a modern day Tower of Babel; its scope is unlimited, its ideologies are too unorthodox. Frankly speaking, it would be very difficult, if not downright impossible, to live nowadays without mass media. It would also be very difficult, if not downright impossible, to produce television programs without advertisers.

This is because mass media is a commercially driven industry. Fr. Ray John Marek, OMI, proved this when he said that “mass media are business with commercial interests where the majority of the programming that we watch has one purpose: to deliver an audience to an advertiser and that networks sell time to advertisers and thus increase the advertiser’s revenue.”

The death of Joy Guevarra “became one of the triggers that forced McCann Erickson Philippines to take a long, hard look at the content of noontime variety shows” because their “clients were concerned that their products might suffer after being identified with shows that offend the sensibilities of the viewers.”

McCann confirmed “that some of the language used on these shows was intended for a “mature” audience, containing “sexual references’, that hosts remarks tended to humiliate contestants in the game portion, some of which are hazardous, that programs were also rife with slapstick comedy, and that dance numbers were sexually graphic.”