TOW #26 – “Cycling to work can cut cancer and heart disease, says study” by James Gallagher

          It is honestly no real surprise that, with technology advancing as quickly as it is, there becomes a rapidly growing concern over health due to all the effortless and convenient options presented to us. Rather than having to walk, many people logically have cars to get themselves to work, however James Gallagher also reminds us of the option of biking. Aimed mainly toward working adults, he offers the solution to our generation’s decline in activity simply with the choice of riding a bike to work instead of driving or taking the bus, and he argues that the former method is far better than the latter through this idea of lessening the chances of common yet life-threatening conditions people can more easily be affected by without it.

            The article contains a visual, a video in which multiple people who have been biking to work for years, in which every single person presented seems to share the same idea: that, compared to taking public transportation such as the bus, biking is much easier, faster, cheaper, and healthier for them. While the rest of the article delves into the statistics confirming the health benefits, their agreement helps solidify the argument for the reader as something that may be an option for them, too. Gallagher also makes sure to address the main counterargument that may come up in response to his solution. The idea of not having enough willpower to follow through with a training regimen is common for many people who want to try being healthier for themselves, and so he soothes the worry with the simple logic that, if cycling is built strictly into your schedule rather than fit in as you dreaded hour of exercise, willpower is not needed.

            The statistics combined with the agreement from well-based opinions, leads to a solid argument for Gallagher, and though we do not have an excellent system set yet for biker on the road like in places such as Japan, where the amount of bikers is significantly higher, the idea of making this sort of transition seems much easier.

IRB Intro #4 – Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman

     For Chuck Klosterman, pop culture is more than something that is trending today and gone tomorrow. In his book, Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, Klosterman takes the reader through his perspective of pop culture, the impact of it, and really the meaning of it all beyond what is initially seen on the surface as mere entertainment. The outlined topics seem almost nonsensical given their largely humorous or lacking seriousness in the context for the current era, but it only makes me more curious to see what someone has to say about seemingly mundane aspect of our lives such as internet culture. The book is supposedly one that will leave the reader thinking, and so I am eager to see what Klosterman has to say about our world today.

TOW #25 – “Black and Blue” by The Salvation Army

                At a time where there was much controversy over the color of the dress, The Salvation Army takes advantage of its popularity in order to raise awareness among an older audience able to understand as well as comprehend the issue at hand here and hopefully combat abuse toward women.

While the joke usually lies in the dress’s color itself, The Salvation Army uses the colors in their own small parody of the entire thing that sends a surprisingly powerful message. Considering how light-hearted—although some people grew very adamant over what they saw—the argument was over the dress, no one would usually expect to see it used for a serious concept such as abuse. It makes the impact of the shock more intense as well when we factor in the fact that the dress was actually proven to be sold in black and blue despite many people claiming it to be white and gold, so while our attention may initially be drawn to the dress under the assumption of that’s what the text refers to, it is actually the bruises the viewer begins to notice afterward instead.

The smaller text beneath it implies an underlying problem as well: that many women who are victims of abuse choose to be in that sort of relationship. The dress’s color being perceived as white and gold was considered an illusion, and so The Salvation Army parallels this with their own agenda by referring to a myth in which women choose to stay in an abuse relationship as an illusion as well. The delivery is intentionally blunt and direct, and the result is an overall sense of surprise for the viewer followed by what may be considered a small wake up call. The text at the bottom serves as a call to action after the viewer has most likely taken in the other aspects of the picture. It attempts to help people realize they can make the first step in changing this sort of situation whether they personally know someone dealing with it, or they are in one themselves.

Overall, the play on words in order to deliver a deeper message so directly appears well done, especially with the way The Salvation Army used a widespread idea to its advantage.