Painting Vs. Sculpture.. Which is the more successful art form?

There are two major types of artwork in our world; painting on a canvas, and molding different materials into a sculpture. Having a natural inclination and interest towards the arts, I've always wondered, which of the two artists are more successful or praised for their pieces, painters, or sculptors?

Source: http://www.gunnzone.org/

As it turns out, I am not the only one pondering this question. The competition between painters and sculptures dates back to the times of the Renaissance. It was during this period of artistic and intellectual rebirth that artists and art critics began arguing which art form is better.

Paintings: Art critics of the 17th century argued that painting was better for depicting a more complex narrative; an ability that sculptures are obviously lacking. Looking at a painting is like looking through your kitchen window at an entire scene. Painters can express a story through their work and art critiques states this requires more mental ability than carving a sculpture.

Sculptures: On the other hand, Michealangelo, a great artist during the times of the Renaissance, argued that a painting is only good because of its attempts to imitate the three dimensional qualities of a sculpture. 

After seeing art critiques defend both styles of art, their arguments ultimately seem so pointless to me. It is hard to compare the art of sculpting to the art of painting because both styles are so different. It's like trying to compare poms and cheer. Though it's there, the rivalry of the pommers and cheerleaders is superficial because we are different teams who do different things. The cheerleaders are more involved and focused on their gymnastic skill while pommers are focused on dancing and performing. The rivalry between the poms and cheerleading team was started when we both attempted to overcome the stereotype that we aren't a "real" sport. The thing is, we both put so much work into what we do and, at the end of the day, our goal is the same. We want to support our red devils and entertain the crowd while having fun. So, it is just a waste of time for students to compare the two teams or claim one is better than the other, because they are too different. I feel like art is the same way.

Though the rivalry between the two types of art still exists today, art critics around the world can agree on one thing; the best works are those in which sculptures imitate paintings and paintings imitate the three dimensional qualities of a sculpture. Though painters and sculptors are praised for their own unique qualities, they are more or less the same. They are artists. The argument was originally implemented to help recast painters and sculptors as intellectuals rather than craftsmen on the level of carpenters. In my opinion, it is too difficult to distinguish which type of artwork is better than the other. Instead, we should praise artwork for how it stands on its own, not compared to different pieces.

Future research: what are the different types of sculptures and what makes them valuable?

Blog Post 3: Dunphy-ACL Injuries

 What Heals an ACL Injury

   For an ACL to be fully healed, it takes a long-term process including surgery, rehabilitation and medication.  However, there are few medications out there that have the ability to relieve of such a painful injury, therefore rehab is more reliable when relieving of ACL pain.

Based on information addressed by OrthoInfo in their article “Repairing of the ACL”(http://www.OrthoInfo/utm_campaign=cdhproton_fy15&utm_source=webmd&utm_medium=300x250&utm_content=banner&utm_term=target), approximately 50 percent of ACL injuries occur in combination with damage to the meniscus cartilage, or other ligaments. Additionally, patients may have bruises of the bone beneath the cartilage surface.  Simply put it, an ACL injury is one that affects multiple areas inside the knee.  

The simple route would be surgery.  The surgery usually begins with an examination of the patient's knee while the patient is relaxed due the effects of anesthesia. This final examination is used to verify that the ACL is torn and also to check for looseness of other knee ligaments that may need to be repaired during surgery or addressed postoperatively. If the physical exam strongly suggests the ACL is torn, the selected tendon is harvested (for an autograft) or thawed (for an allograft) and the graft is prepared to the correct size for the patient.  After the graft has been prepared, the surgeon places an arthroscope into the joint. Small (one-centimeter) incisions called portals are made in the front of the knee to insert the arthroscope and instruments and the surgeon examines the condition of the knee. Meniscus and cartilage injuries are trimmed or repaired and the torn ACL stump is then removed.

In terms of rehabilitation, an ACL won’t be fully healed, but the patient will have the ability to stabilize it and be relieved of the pain.  The goals for rehabilitation of ACL reconstruction include reducing knee swelling, maintaining mobility of the kneecap to prevent anterior knee pain problems, regaining full range of motion of the knee, as well as strengthening the quadriceps and hamstring muscles.  The patient may return to sports when there is no longer pain or swelling, when full knee range of motion has been achieved, and when muscle strength, endurance and functional use of the leg have been fully restored.  The patient's sense of balance and control of the leg must also be restored through exercises designed to improve neuromuscular control.  This usually takes four to six months. The use of a functional brace when returning to sports is ideally not needed after a successful ACL reconstruction, but some patients may feel a greater sense of security by wearing one.

The goals for rehabilitation of ACL reconstruction include reducing knee swelling, maintaining mobility of the kneecap to prevent anterior knee pain problems, regaining full range of motion of the knee, as well as strengthening the quadriceps and hamstring muscles.

The patient may return to sports when there is no longer pain or swelling, when full knee range of motion has been achieved, and when muscle strength, endurance and functional use of the leg have been fully restored.

The patient's sense of balance and control of the leg must also be restored through exercises designed to improve neuromuscular control.  This usually takes four to six months. The use of a functional brace when returning to sports is ideally not needed after a successful ACL reconstruction, but some patients may feel a greater sense of security by wearing one. -So

Finally, though there are few medications out there that relieve the pain of an ACL, medications such as Tylenol, nonsteroidal antiflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) such as ibuprofen and naproxen.  

All in all, repairing an ACL injury requires a long process, and there are mutliple solutions as to do so, but it can never be fully recovered.  Further research needs to be done in order for doctors/physicians/therapists to know how to fully-repair and fully-heal a torn ACL.

Source Link:http://www.compelvisuals.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/ACL-2013-1.jpg

cus, articular c

More money more power

When record labels sign an artist they may spend a lot of money on that artist to get them to sign with them, but once the contract is signed the record companies have total control of everything that the artist can and can’t do musically.  Once that contract is signed the artist loses their freedom and they no longer have control of their music career.

http://www.soundonsound.com/

In the article called “Record Contracts Explained” by Richard Salmon he explains how the record contracts work and how lenient they are with all of their legal binds when offering a contract to a certain artists.  There are many legal binds that the artists have like that they aren’t aloud to record at any other label for any reason without permission from their label.  This can create a lot of problems for artists because they lose a lot of their freedom in their music because they only record and the label can do whatever else they want to it when they are editing it.

Another thing that the record companies can do is that they can tell you what to do with your music.  They tell you what kind of music to make and what type of songs they want, which really limits the artist.  They also tell them who to talk to in the media and what guest appearances on certain shows or radio station they should and will do.  This really limits the artist and what they can do.  They are very separated from anyone their record label wants them to be separated to.  I think this isn’t really fair because the record companies control their life while they are signed to them. This is part of the reason why the record companies actually spend so much money on the artist.  They do that because they know that there is nothing the artist can do without the company helping so they legally bind them with the contract.  

Many of the artists also don’t have control of the music they are making which is also really unfair.  While the artists is still making music whether they are with that record company or not the original label that made the song keeps full rights of the song and it is technically not even the artist’s.  This is really unfair in my opinion because the person who has the talent doesn't even get any rights to the song that they made regardless of what they do.  This again shows why the labels are willing to spend so much money on an artist in order to try and make some money from them.
Next I plan to research why the record companies give the artists no rights.

Athletes Regrets

SOURCE: bleacherreport.com

Throughout time, athletes all over the world in a variety of sports have suffered injuries from concussions to broken arms and legs.  In the NFL in the past couple of years the amount of injuries in each season has been rapidly increasing.  Why the number of injuries is rapidly increasing from year to year is beyond me.  With the technology and safety precautions that are now available, the number of injuries should be rapidly decreasing.  The fact of the matter is that these athletes who suffer severe injuries are going to be permanently physically damaged.  What I would like to know is do these NFL players who get hurt regret coming back after the injury and playing more?

In an article on the Washington Post, written by three of the their writes, Scott Clement, Rick Maese and Sally Jenkins titled “Do no harm: Retired NFL players endure a lifetime of hurt”, he interviews many former NFL athletes and talks about the impact those injuries had on the players daily lives to this day.  He found that many if not all players were very hurt and they regret coming back and playing after an injury.  I agree with the article in this sense because I don’t think that athletes should come back and play an injury just to hurt their bodies more, these injuries are permanent damage and can never be fixed.

There are many stories of how NFL athletes are doing later in life:

1. “I hurt like hell every morning when I wake up,” says former linebacker Darryl Talley, 52.
2. “I can’t run anymore,” says former offensive lineman Pete Kendall, 39. “I can’t play basketball with my kids, can’t walk for any extended distance.”
3. “I’m 40 years old going on 65,” says Roman Oben, another ex-lineman. “God knows what I’ll feel like when I’m actually 65 years old.”
4. Don Majkowski says he can no longer stay at a job, because he cannot stand for an extended period of time.
5. “The cumulative effect of what you did for a living is really not shown until age 40 to 45,” said Bruce Laird, 62, who played safety in the NFL from 1972 to ’83 and today is in need of a new shoulder.

These many examples shows how injuries can affect players down the road.  They all show that an injury today will hurt you for the rest of your life.  This is the reason I think that NFL athletes need to take serious precautions before coming back into the league if the come back at all.

Future Question:  How do injuries in the NHL affect the players value?

Yes, Stars Save!

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

For the past few blog posts, I’ve researched a lot about celebrities that go bankrupt and why exactly they have to file for bankruptcy. In this blog post, I’m going to turn my attention to the celebrities that do actually save their money and what they actually do to have savings and not go bankrupt, like so many others. In the article “Stars Who Save: What We Can Learn From These Modest Celebrities” that was published online at the Huffington Post Living Canada, there are in fact numerous celebrities that save money. The key to their success is simply the way that every other American saves money: they try to cut costs in their everyday lives and also put away money that can be used for their future use.

Let’s take a look at some specific celebrities. Many of them take the majority of the money they make and save it. For example, Zooey Deschanel, according to her divorce documents, saves about 76% of income a year. Jay Leno is also a very good example of this; he makes about 15 million a year and puts most of it in his savings. Warren Buffett, one of the richest people in the world, lives in a 4-bedroom house that he bought for $30,000. This ensures that when they retire from acting or hosting tv shows, they have enough money to be able to provide for themselves. Many other celebrities live this kind of modest life style.

Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, is known for re-wearing dresses (for a princess, this is quite the shock), which saves thousands of dollars. Numerous other stars such as Carrie Underwood and Sarah Jessica Parker save money by cutting coupons and making their children wear "hand me downs". These are just some examples of how they cut costs to ensure that they are not only spending less money, but also saving it.

When I read this article, I was shocked to read that these everyday things that all Americans do to try to save money is also done by celebrities. It never really occurred to me that celebrities take such measures and really try to make sure that they don’t blow all of their money. Because they are celebs, we assume that they becasuse they have so much money they just spend it on whatever they want and whenever they want to. In reality, most of them are just normal people like us; the only difference is the amount of income they make. I now see that a majority of celebs do in fact save their money. There are just a few that are so careless with their money that they go bankrupt, which gives a bad rap to all of the other celebrities.

This article has really made me open my eyes and made me realize that I shouldn’t judge all celebs based on the bankruptcies claims I see in the news. They make more money, but so what? They really aren’t different from the rest of us because they do try to save as much money as possible where they can.

Now that I have researched both celebrities that have gone bankrupt and ones that put a huge effort into saving money, I want to focus more on what taxes do to their income. How much does taxes affect their income and effort to save money? What is this like compared to the average American who is considered be in the middle/upper class today? Hopefully I will learn more about this in my next blog post.

Marvel vs. DC in global retail

http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/

The world of superheroes goes far beyond just movies and comic books. All over the globe you can find merchandise in the forms of shirts, bumper stickers, cups, you name it. And considering the popularity that these figures have and that it is only continually growing, one can only imagine the astronomical number of profits that these merchandise can bring in. In the article “Which Superhero Earns 1.3 Billion A Year?” it shows just the crazy amount that these heroes bring even if it is a select few.  I believe that these movies are so popular globally because of the amount of merchandise being sold which increases the knowledge & popularity of superheroes and movies about them.

Anywhere that you go now you can find superhero merchandise. It has grown into a global empire in just the past few decades and now it is incredibly popular all over the place. There are people walking around with Captain America shirts, Batman keychains, Thor phone cases, Superman tattoos, it is just crazy how popular these things are. In the article, it states that in 2013 Spiderman singlehandedly produced “1.3 Billion” in global sales. One character who was bit by a spider and can climb walls produced a profit of over a billion dollars. That is crazy, but when you think about it, how many kids are dressed up as spider man on Halloween? A lot, I dressed up as him myself, twice. It’s not even just during Halloween that Spiderman is so popular. Whenever there are kids in a toy store they are drawn to the action figure section which is filled with Spiderman toys. Also, Spiderman or any superhero can be placed on a ridiculous amount of items. Things such as cups, plates, water guns, shirts, bumper stickers, halloween costumes, soap dispensers, toy cars, and even more. It’s more than likely that at least once a day you’ll see the trademark red and blue of our favorite web-slinger.

However the crazy thing is how far world-wide superheroes have spread. In the article, it shows a graph of the profit of superheroes in the U.S. and Canada, and then it shows the profit in all the other countries. 

What is crazy is that Spiderman produced about $400 million in profits in the U.S. and Canada. Yet, in every other country he produced a profit of over $900 million. Even being far and away the most popular character this number is just mind boggling. Batman is the second most popular superhero with a global profit of about $500 million. This shows that me and my dad seem to have a good taste in superheroes as his favorite hero is #1 and mine is #2. With the already incredible popularity of superheroes and the fact that this popularity is only continuing to grow, one can only imagine the amount of profit that will be brought in during the coming years. Especially, with the large slate of movies that are set to come out over the next 5 years. So this is yet another enticing factor for both movie studios and movie goers to buy into these types of movies.

In my next blog post I plan to research why superheroes are so important and inspirational in our everyday lives.

Make Money and Do NOTHING

Source: www.onmoneymaking.com

As I countinued my research this week, my research led me to discover dividends. Dividends are the easy way for an investor to make a return on his/her stock. After I watched this Dividend Video Explanation on Investopedia, it really helped me get a better understanding of how to explain what is a dividend.

A dividend is defined as a company's net profits that can be allocated to investors so that it is still kept within the company. Companies can than purchase their shares back which is defined as a share buyback. Dividends are the easiest way to get money, you get payed cash to just hold someone's stock. So even if the company's stock isn't doing well, you could keep your stocks depending on how much of a dividend is payed out at the end of their fiscal quarter.

Dividends can affect the price of stocks because more people want to invest in that company; therefore raising the price of that stock and making more people want to buy that stock. Some economists argue that a dividend policy does not affect the price of a stock, this is called dividend irrelevance.

In my opinion as a mediocre investor, I don't research into stocks with dividends. I look at the stocks that continuously set the same patterns in how they rise and fall, or also known as trends in the market. When I see one of my stocks falling, I don't just sell right away, I look into why the price is dropping and from there I either buy more of that stock or sell what I have and try to make up the loses elsewhere. Because of my short-term investment style, dividends are not for me; If you're a long term investor dividends will work for you. Make sure you know what type of investor you are before making any decision with money in the stock market.