Thanks, custodians!
Every day the Abbotsford campus is kept immaculate, but I don’t think there is enough gratitude for the custodial staff’s efforts to keep UFV clean. I was talking to a few members of the custodial staff, who said that no one seems to understand or appreciate all the hard work it takes to clean the floors, keep the bathrooms tidy, wax the floors, and so on. They don’t ask for much. A simple thank you brings a smile to their faces, and it will make you feel good inside when you say it.
Driving to school, rushing to classes, or hanging with friends in the SUB, we often take for granted what is being done behind the scenes. In that respect, a huge thank you is overdue. Hopefully this will let the custodial staff know they are appreciated for what they do here at UFV. It is definitely humbling to realize that we’ve overlooked the value of another person’s job. So, thank you!
Prayer to a little golden idol
I rarely buy into the mythology of Hollywood. Movies are wonderful, but the public struggles of actors and other industry professionals don’t interest me. The whole pantheon of celebrities is a drag to keep track of. Gossip is stupid. Awards shows are boring.
But when Leonardo DiCaprio finally got that Oscar, I felt genuinely emotional. That’s my son! I caught myself thinking. I’m a part of this somehow!
Obviously, his success has nothing to do with me. I know this rationally, but I just don’t feel it. I think the fact that I, so incredibly indifferent to celebrity culture, felt such feelings about something so devoid of meaning suggests that perhaps the excitement of celebrity culture can’t be escaped. I suppose we lack a shared pantheon of spirits that we can revere; we know better than to personify the unconscious forces of nature. Modern religions are also so diverse and divided that they barely function as a way of uniting everybody.
The only place where we gather today to share and experience stories is the theatre, and it’s impossible to ignore those giant, beautiful faces. Celebrities are essentially gods. O! Excuse me while I sacrifice a bear for Leo’s blessing.
Too flashy ads, too many clicks
Having taken countless media and communications studies classes and looked through many online platforms, I understand that online advertising is the norm for publishers to make a profit while offering content for free. While accepting that I am essentially being sold to organizations, I have found that advertising is typically not incorporated well on websites. There are simply too many on a page, or in the case of YouTube, the advertisements are too long to wait for in this world of instantaneous gratification.
When I heard about Adblock, I was excited to avoid continual ads on websites (with the exception of sponsored content on social media networks). Yet, when researching news articles for inspiration for an assignment, I had my first Adblock ‘block’ experience; the website would not allow me to read the article without turning off the extension.
With it being more work to turn Adblock off, I simply went to another website that contained the same information. If integration of advertisements was done well rather than being overly flashy and slowing down the website, or if YouTube ads were merely 10-30 seconds long, I would not feel the need to use the extension in the first place.
Conservatives still playing games
As if being voted out of power for playing games with the country’s politics was not enough for the Conservative Party of Canada, several members of Parliament have been called out for playing bingo during question period.
Kerry Diotte, the representative for Edmonton Griesbach, posted a photo to his Twitter account of a bingo card featuring a bunch of liberal buzzwords. He, along with several other Conservative MPs, had been playing bingo with the commonly repeated phrases from the Liberal Party of Canada.
This kind of clowning around is representative of adolescents in middle school, not the leaders of our government. It may have been funny to come up with as a joke, even to make the scorecards, but to actually play the game in an active session of Parliament is downright unprofessional and, as Diotte said in his follow-up apology tweet, “juvenile.”
