Beautiful vs. Sexy Part 2 — I choose beauty

Adriana Dueck - The Corsair

So with all this reading and musing on sexuality that I’ve been doing, I’ve decided that beautiful is a word I’d rather be called by, because sexy can come under the umbrella of beauty.  To me sexuality is very much a part of being beautiful.  If someone, be it a man or a woman, tells you that you are beautiful, they are obviously physically attracted to you, and that can lead to one being thought of as “sexy.”

“Beautiful” is also a more flattering compliment because the people that I have met don’t describe a person as beautiful unless they are really impressed by how that person acts/behaves/carries him or herself. Beauty is something that is an inside part of you and it shines so brightly that everyone within your friendship circle, and even people outside of it, will notice and pick up on, and be literally drawn to like bees to honey.

Beauty also factors in with maturity, because little, stuck-up teenage girls who go around running their mouths and saying rude things are probably not very often called beautiful.  I’m not saying that you can’t be a little bit tough and be beautiful, but it’s about respecting yourself.  I can go out with my guy friends, drink a beer and down a whole pizza, holler like an idiot at Tom Brady and his teammates and still be the very feminine presence while hanging out with the guys.  That’s the problem with most girls today.  They miss the difference between “hanging out with the guys” and “being one of the guys.”  Angelina Jolie kicked total ass in “Wanted,” but she was very much a woman, and was very separate and identifiable compared to her “fraternity brothers.” 

That’s what being a beautiful, sexy woman is all about.  That’s what I’m realizing, and it’s making me more and more content to be myself every day.  Yup, I can curse, drink and smoke any guy I meet under the table, but he’ll think “that was the baddest chick I’ve ever met” when he walks away.  That’s what beauty is: owning yourself and everything about you (even your faults), and using all of these aspects of your personality to add to your sexiness.

So… What’s up with the Health Care bill?

Adrianna Dueck - The Corsair

Obama’s new Health Care bill is probably the most disturbing and troubling problem that America is having currently.  Even more unfortunate is the fact that I, along with most college students, have no idea what is actually going on inside of the closed doors in Washington D.C.  Now I’m not saying that we should or will ever have the chance to read these bills from beginning to end, but the student body of America needs to become more involved in what is going on in the nation’s capitol. 

After having a brief discussion about it with my ultra-conservative parents, which will be followed by research of my own, I have gained a small grasp on what’s going on politically.  Several states are actually in an uproar trying to get the bill reserved in court, but the main controversy is that health care will be required for everyone and payment premiums will almost indefinitely go up. 

I have also heard lots of smoke surrounding the tea party mini-rebellions, but that doesn’t interest me so much as a journalist.  While controversial issues like the tea party may cause scandal, I don’t consider them to be news unless actions are actually taken.  The only thing that the members of said group seem do be doing in my knowledge is making politicians really ticked off and displaying rowdy behavior on courthouse steps.

Back to the health bill.  The thing that concerns me the most regarding it is the fact that everyone will be required to have health insurance and pay a minimum premium for it.  I am fortunate to be a member of one of the healthiest families on earth, so my parents have never had it and our doctor trips have always consisted of the once-a-year checkup.  What will I do, though, when I move out?  If the bill goes through will I be required to buy insurance even though I don’t need it (we pay our annual doctor visit out of pocket)?  Should I get it just in case of having to go to a hospital for causes such as an accident?  What if I buy it, pay a huge premium and never end up using it?  I will spend the next couple of days researching this and will be back to blog more once I have been truly “informed.”

Sexy or beautiful? Which are you? Part 1

Adrianna Dueck - The Corsair

With all the amazing reality shows that viewers have to choose from on TV every night, the question that arises is “what does beauty really mean in our society?”  Does having on the hottest, smallest, tightest Armani short shorts and an elegant Dolce blouse make one sexy, or is it the air and confidence that come with a person that makes a woman (the most stressed form of beauty and sexuality being female in our society) attractive?

 While flipping through late-night TV last night, I stumbled upon Jessica Simpson’s new reality show, “The Price of Beauty.”  While at first I scoffed at her for wanting to stay in the public eye with another reality show (her last one revolving around her and her then-husband Nick Lachey) and the nonsensical idea of her trying to adapt to every culture that there is worldwide.  But, after watching it for about ten minutes I was totally captivated by it and wouldn’t leave the couch until the thirty-minute show was over. 

She was in Morocco for the episode that I watched, and she was interacting with the women in a mostly-Muslim society that required females to cover almost everything except for their eyes.  While more modern, liberal women have the freedom to dress as they want, most of them stick to the traditional dress, and belly dancers and women of lesser repute wear the more revealing, “sexy” clothes.  A more traditional woman commented on Jessica’s shorts and said that she was showing too much leg, which left Jessica feeling frustrated and defensive.  The woman’s friend and Jessica’s tour guide, Miriam, later explained that a woman’s sexuality in their country was not measured by how alluring her body was, but by how she could communicate with her eyes and sometimes her speech. 

Sitting there watching the show, that comment felt like I’d been hit on the head with a brick.  A woman can be as gorgeous as Miss Universe all day long, but if she cannot communicate and behave like a lady that will not make her sexual.  I, personally, struggle a lot with eye contact and that also made me wonder if I could lure a man into my tricky web of womanhood without showing him or allowing him to touch any part of my body.  It opened my eyes to the true difference between being “hot” and being “sexy.”  Watching just that one episode made me so aware of how to exude such a beautiful and pure form of sensuality—it will definitely change my behavior when I’m out at the local nightclubs or just out living my every day life.

Watching this show made me start to do some more research on women’s sexuality, especially outside of the United States, which eventually led me to reading several books on the art of the European courtesan.  I will follow up more on my research in a later blog, but I will share my basic knowledge of courtesans that I have discovered thus far.  Contrary to modern belief, courtesans were not (are still not) prostitutes or call girls.  They are elite mistresses of men who can afford them.  They were the most sexually free women of their time and some of the most respected by men as they had only one partner at a time, and were muses for great poets, painters, and other artists.  In exchange for strong relationships and friendship, later followed by a sexual relationship, courtesans would give their bodies to men who would spend time with them and provide for them.  The affair could only be ended by the man, and once it did the woman was free to go find another partner and provider.  These women have also inspired me and opened a new world to my thought process on sexuality.  While I do not personally plan on becoming a courtesan, the thought that women were not only paid for and provided for in return of sexual relations, they were respected and fervently sought after by some of history’s greatest men.  As I said earlier, I will follow up with this article as I will continue to watch Simpson’s show and research more books on female sexuality.

Kennedy Space Center showcases wildlife

It is the night before our morning launch and the Corsair team is preparing for an all-nighter of shuttle and astronaut observation. As this blog is being composed the shuttle’s external hydrogen tank is being filled in preparation for the vessel’s 13-day interstellar mission.  

During our time here we’ve been able to catch glimpses of the diverse habitat that is the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which is a part of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The 140,000-acre refuge was established in 1963 and is home for 1,500 species of plants and animals. According to the Kennedy Space Center website, the federally protected environment is made up of coastal dunes, saltwater estuaries and marshes, freshwater impoundments, scrub, pine flatwoods and hardwood hammocks. Canals along the sides of NASA Parkway were loaded with alligators, great white herons, turtles and other aquatic life.

The result of nearly half a century of wild growth intermingled with mankind’s space-bound contraptions creates an interesting contrast. If only other segments of our highly-developed society could co-exist with nature in such a seemingly harmonious manner.  

First day of NASA coverage concludes

We are here in the official NASA Kennedy Space Center news center and have completed the first press conferences of our stay.  We positioned the high definition camera in the conference room and made sure to set up early in order to reserve our spot. The technician running sound cables told us that there are a lot of Japanese media personnel here and that we should set up often and early. It’s interesting to see mission materials that have a Japanese influence, with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) providing stickers that feature space station components and the appropriate nomenclature written in Kanji characters.

From a multimedia standpoint, the facilities here are outstanding. There is a massive collection of all historic NASA footage and over 500 gigabytes of video from the last three missions. According to Margaret Persinger, multimedia specialist at the news center, the agency’s collection of video goes all the way back to the World War II era and NASA’s humble beginnings. Anytime you see a documentary about NASA or its missions on TV anywhere internationally, the official footage comes from this office and we have access to it. We plan to put in a request for video of when the Pensacola-based Blue Angels were here for an air show and some other Pensacola-related historical gems. We are currently downloading all current mission footage in high definition. Also available are thousands of photos of previous missions.

According to local administrators, there are not any tours available today, but we did glean some interesting information from the press conferences and a couple of briefings. The press conference at noon covered prelaunch proceedings and a weather report. The briefing at about 1 p.m. was about the space station’s science and technology with many details about the various Japanese experiments taking place at the space station. The second half of this briefing concentrated on commercial enterprises related to onboard mechanics and science experiments. The final briefing we attended at 3 p.m. covered the biological research in canister 16, which was related to growing plants in near-zero gravity environments.

Live footage from the noon conference was be available through NASA via http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html and we plan to upload some of the other briefings at ecorsair.com. Check back often for updates.

 

The Corsair is at NASA

This morning started off with a slope. Breakfast took an hour, and finding the right building for our press passes followed with another hour. But now, The Corsair staff is finally located at the NASA News Center.

We have our spot which is seat number 32 out of 42. Even though we line up on the back third row, other news organizations, which are present, are New York Times, ABC News, CNN, Newsday, and so forth.

The Corsair is looking forward to a possible live stream of the news conference that starts no earlier than 11:30 eastern time today.  We would like to remind our readers to follow us on twitter, @ecorsair, for updates and quick releases.

Multimedia department preps for NASA launch

HD camera? Check. Boom microphone? Check. Reporter’s notebook? Check. Journalistic objectivity? Check. Jubilant anticipation that will probably make me lose sleep? Check.

In a dynamic journalism career that has had its ups and downs, I’ve had an opportunity to get close and personal with some intriguing and historic subjects, but none can match the Discovery shuttle.

In 2006 I covered the historic sinking of the world’s largest man-made reef, the U.S.S. Oriskany. Later that year I rode along with a stunt plane pilot practicing for the annual Blue Angels exhibition at Pensacola Beach. The next year I interviewed a Blue Angel pilot and rode along with another stunt pilot squadron performing in that year’s show.

Needless to say, I have a taste for adrenaline and an interest in anything aeronautical. As a young Navy brat who grew up visiting the National Naval Aviation and the Smithsonian Air and Space museums, it seems only natural that I would one day get a chance to cover a space shuttle mission. This latest assignment will also peak my curiosity for anything otherworldly, be it interstellar craft or old reruns of the original Star Trek.

In order to capture the flight of the Discovery and all the cutting-edge technology that goes along with it, I am bringing some very specialized equipment. Video equipment includes a Canon XHA1 high definition camera that shoots 1080i at 23 frames per second and a Canon VIXIA HV 30 handheld camcorder. For still photography we are bringing a Nikon D-200 with 200 and 300mm lenses. We plan to live stream the actual launch and related press conferences and we will also produce more complex video stories related to the Kennedy Space center’s tours and facilities. When there is time, team members will also update blogs about what we are seeing and doing. It looks to be a great time and I’m eternally grateful for the chance to go.

They tell me that the planetarium at PJC is looking for things to play on its massive dome. Does anyone else feel a Science Fiction and NASA Launch film festival coming on?

The Corsair is covering NASA: Alan Poindexter

Commander Alan Poindexter is a 1983 PJC graduate who will lead the STS-131 mission to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Discovery.

Poindexter earned his wings at NAS Pensacola in 1988. He is married to former Lisa A. Pfeiffer of Gulf Breeze and has two children.

Selected by NASA in June 1998, He reported for training in August 1998. Initially Poindexter served in the Astronaut Office Shuttle Operations Branch performing duties as the lead support astronaut at Kennedy Space Center.

It wasn’t until the STS-122 Atlantis (February 7-20, 2008) for Poindexters first flight, where he logged over 306 hours in space.

He carried on flight a PJC medallion, which was returned to PJC after the mission. Poindexter also recieved a second medallion from PJC for his accomplishment.

Poindexter served as the Pilot for STS-122. Although the STS-131 is his second flight to space, he is now serving as Commander.

“I’ll manually fly the rendezvous with the space station and do the docking and also land the vehicle at the end of the mission,” he said.

AWARDS: NASA Aviation Safety Award, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat V, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, various other service awards.

SPECIAL HONORS Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division Test Pilot of the Year 1996; Top Ten Carrier Aviator, Carrier Airwing Nine.

Hope to Harvest: Consuming Compassion

Ansley Zecckine - The Corsair

With all the recent natural disasters occurring all around us, some people begin to question what God has been doing, and others quickly proclaim these disasters as being nothing other than God’s judgment on sinful nations that deserved what they had coming.

The time has come, however, that we should quit pointing the finger and stop putting words in God’s mouth. Perhaps we should consider an earthquake to be an earthquake, and a hurricane to be a hurricane, and a tsunami to be a tsunami; consider them natural disasters, not necessarily acts of God. Instead of pointing fingers in condemnation, we should lend hands in compassion out of love for our fellow man.

This involves Christians living as Christians, not acting as divine judges or prosecutors. It’s nowhere near our place to say a nation has been judged by God or that they should have their lives destroyed because of their sinful lifestyle. The only one qualified to make such a judgment would be someone who was perfect and had done no wrongdoing. Incidentally, the only person ever to meet that qualification saw it fit to lay down His life for the rest of us, and He said we should do the same.

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“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?”—1 John 3:16-17.

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There’s a story in the Book of Luke about a group of people that refused to receive Jesus into their village as He was passing by. Upon this rejection, two of the disciples wanted to destroy that village, so they asked Jesus, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” Jesus, on the other hand, actually rebuked His disciples and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”

We’re no better than the people of Haiti, Chile, New Orleans, or any of the hundreds of thousands killed by tsunamis and other disasters. Death is only a heartbeat away for each of us, and I would rather die spreading compassion in a place like Haiti than live as one who’d prefer to sit back and hurl judgments from the United States.

The Corsair is covering NASA

The Corsair’s mission is to offer the panhandle the ability to follow NASA’s fourth-to-last shuttle launch, with details about PJC’s alumni, now astronaut commander, Alan G. Poindexter. This will be the second time the Corsair has covered Poindexter in his shuttle flights to space.

The shuttle missions are soon to pull to a close at NASA, with only three left after the STS-131 on April 5, due to government funding coming to a halt for the program.

The Corsair will be covering news conferences, from the prep of the mission to the final launch of the STS-131 at the Kennedy Space Center. We will be using photography, multimedia tools such as: video, Twitter, Facebook, blogging, and the guidance of reporting for full exposure and insight on NASA.

Follow us in our mission to bring you NASA’s famous countdown from 10 to zero and more right to your computer screen at www.ecorsair.com from April 3 to 5+.

 

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