Gambling on Our Future Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Gambling on Our Future - Essay Example The increased revenue motivated other states to adopt gambling. The acceptance was possible through implementation of laws that allow gambling. The increased activities are observed in the impoverished areas as people struggle to overcome poverty. Moreover, gambling is shown to have spread to other areas. Such areas include groceries, convenience stores, and gas stations in the form of lotteries. Traditionally, gambling was concentrated in casinos. There has always been the rise of online gambling with the rise of the internet. The effect has been shown to be a change of nations view on gambling. The change has occurred through increased acceptance of state lotteries and internet. Hence, many states have adopted gambling as a way of increasing revenue. Moreover, the percentage of those that participate in gambling is shown to be on the rise. The habit has been shown to have an adverse effect on people. The effect is seen through the rise of habitual gamblers. For example, the habit makes an individual fail to manage time and money. The ultimate effect is shown as being bankrupt, loss of job, alcoholism, drug addiction, and welfare. The effects are shown to be costly to the states and people

Clubs, Clubs, and More Clubs Essay Example for Free

Clubs, Clubs, and More Clubs Essay According to the BoomerProject. com, there will be seventy-eight million ‘boomers’ turning fifty by 2006 that will spend two trillion dollars annually on ‘goods and services and just shopping around. ’ Advertisers, marketers and various club organizations are fighting to attract these trillions of dollars by offering exclusive experiences, luxury condominiums and timeshares, private residential communities, among a multitude of other diversions. According to this same 2005 study, in 2006 thirty-nine additional timeshare plans, including single site and multi-site vacation clubs, are forecasted to open having three thousand nine hundred ninety-eight dedicated timeshare units and, thirty-two projects with four thousand eight hundred and thirty-one condo hotel units are forecasted to open. This article summarizes the different kinds of clubs that are attracting boomers by the millions: The Country Club, the Golf Subdivision, Lot Sales/Sporting Club, the Condominium Club, the Fractional Club and Private Residence Club, the Destination Club, the Timeshare Plan Club, the Multi-Site Timeshare Plan Club (Vacation Club), and the Crossover that implements elements from all of the other options. Indeed, clubs, clubs, and more clubs abound as our baby boomer generation is exiting the workforce and entering the leisurely land of retirement. Boomers have trillions of dollars of expendable income and whichever club concept proves to be the most popular and exclusive will attract top dollar when it comes to luxury, convenience, status, and location.

Analysis Of The Musical Grease Film Studies Essay

Analysis Of The Musical Grease Film Studies Essay In this musical written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, it is 1959 and Rydell high is crowded with defiant, fun-loving students. In the middle of this landscape, Sandy Dumbrowski arrives as the new girl in school. It turns out that over the summer she and Danny Zuko, leader of the Burger Palace Boys gang, have had a brief love affair. While Sandy tells her new classmates about the emotional involvement she had with Danny, he makes of tales about the sexual side of their relationship. As the show progresses the kids at Rydell High have to deal with issues surprising to people who have a romanticized view of the 1950s; love, gang violence, teen pregnancy, and friendship. In the end, Sandy and Danny work out their differences with each other and their friends and end up together and happy. I saw this production at the JSU/McClellan Theatre in Anniston, Alabama. The stage in this theatre is of the proscenium type. I think that overall, this is the perfect type of stage for this play but the arrangement of the theatre was a little lacking for this production mainly because of the seating challenges. There were three sections of seating. The middle section was fairly large and centered with the stage. There were two sections on either side that hugged the wall. The section on the far right was behind the orchestra. The orchestra pit was not really a pit and was actually on level with the seating. Therefore, those people in the rows behind the orchestra had a very difficult time seeing over the musicians and instruments; especially the harp that was used in this production. I know this because I was one of those unlucky enough to be sitting behind the aforementioned musicians. I spent the play with my head tilted at an odd angle trying to see around them. What I did have a good view of was the wing, stage left and unfortunately I could see the actors getting ready to make entrances and exits which ruined a little of the ambience. Had I been sitting in the center section and further back I believe it would have been much more enjoyable. This play had elements of the realistic and the non-realistic. It dealt with very real themes such as teen pregnancy, bullying, peer pressure, drinking, and gang violence. The non-realistic bits were obviously the musical numbers. In real life, we do not just burst into song because we broke up with a boyfriend or girlfriend or had a teenage romance. The sets of this play were not what I would call realistic. They attempted realism but it seemed as if the budget of the play and the way it had to be staged left them with no choice but leave it slightly abstract. The sets were very basic and the car set used for the Greased Lightning and Alone at a Drive-In Movie numbers was very cartoonish. The costumes in this play attempted realism but fell short. In the dance scenes, the dresses looked like leftovers from a 1980s prom sale that had been re-cut in an attempt to make them look like they were from the fifties. The clothing in the earlier scenes was a little bit better and closer to th e true fifties flavor. The use of props was done well. The actors used actual props for the most part, there was very little miming of actions. This play was a musical with elements of comedy. The comedy was mostly verbal with subtle inflections of tone. There were a few physical comedic elements mostly used by the characters of Eugene Florczyk and Cha-Cha DiGregorio, who did an excellent job making the audience laugh. The character of Jan played by Michelle Bain combined a few elements of physical with verbal comedy. Betty Rizzo, played by Judy Shealy was amazingly funny with her dry quips and very sarcastic delivery of Rizzos best lines. This play was structured episodically. This play was very entertaining. There were a few elements of it that could be taken as social messages such as the drinking and rebelliousness that resulted in a pregnancy scare for one of the characters. The playwright and director seemed to work in beautiful harmony for this production. You could see that there was a lot of effort put into the acting and the direction. The letter from the artistic director that was printed in the front of the program gave a small amount of background. For someone who was not familiar with the work it would have helped them to perhaps understand a little bit more of the motivation behind the play. There were several stand out performers in this play and also a few disappointments. Hands down Judy Shealys portrayal of Betty Rizzo was the show stealer. She gave the character real life. From the wisecracking to the sad and scared she made you care about what happened to her. Her performance of There Are Worse Things I Could Do was one of the standouts of the play. As I mentioned earlier the characters of Eugene and Cha-Cha played by Daniel King Jr. and Georgia Cook were wonderful. Both of these characters were very funny and entertaining. Jacob Cummings Teen Angel was excellent. The Teen Angel scene is one that I rank among my least favorites and it usually bores me, but I found myself loving this portrayal. Cummings sang excellently and lent a degree of humor to the role that was refreshing. Michelle Bain as Jan was another standout. She is a very good comic actress and her affected accent was very funny. I was not however thrilled with Heather Garlick or Joshua Cody Hunt who pl ayed the roles of Danny and Sandy. These are the two main characters and should carry the show. I found myself bored I am sad to say when they were on. Heathers performance as Sandy was wooden, one- dimensional and not at all believable. I found myself bored whenever she was on. Joshua Hunt as Danny was almost as bad although when he was interacting with the Burger Palace Boys he seemed to shine a little more. The scenery was low budget and it was obvious. It did detract a little from the overall performance. It was almost as if a high school had thrown the production together at the last minute as far as the scenery is concerned. The lighting was acceptable, but the band was excellent. They and the actors worked together well and there seemed to be no missed cues and everything flowed seamlessly. Overall, this was a very acceptable performance. The actors were as a whole very good, with the exceptions noted above. The band and actors worked flawlessly together and were very enjoyable. There was obviously a great deal of effort put into the choreography of the dance scene and it came off very well. It was a fun evening and certainly put a smile on my face. I came away nostalgic for a time I was not even alive to witness. Production Details Your name Cassie Patterson Name of production Grease Author Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey Producing organization or theatre where you attended Community Actors Studio Theatre Date of performance October 3, 2010 Style of performance (realistic, non-realistic, Combination combination) Structure of the play (climactic, episodic, ritualistic, Episodic Etc.) Form of the play (tragedy, drama, comedy, etc.) Musical Stage space (proscenium, arena, etc.) Proscenium Acting styles (realistic, melodramatic, exaggerated, Realistic, comedic etc.) Style of scenic designs (realistic, abstract, etc.) Abstract Style of costume designs (fantasy, abstract, etc.) Realistic Style of lighting designs (realistic, abstract, etc.) Realistic Production Personnel: Director Kimberly Dobbs Scenic Designer Eric Key Costume Designer Hayley Long, Lolly Payne, Sara Semmes Lighting Designer Terri Sherrill Stage Manager Pat Tiller, Chrissy Patterson, Cierra Parker, Tristan Waid, Janet Harbor, Tim Doyle, Alexandre de Lavalette

Shakespeares Hamlet - Laertes :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Hamlet’s Laertes      Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the less-discussed characters in the Shakespearean tragedy, Hamlet, is Laertes, the son of Polonius and brother to Ophelia. He witnesses the death of all of his immediate family, thus losing his â€Å"honorable† approach to living – until the very end of the drama.    Bernice W. Kliman in â€Å"A Television Interpretation of Hamlet† (1964 with Christopher Plummer) highlights the actions of Laertes at the climax of the drama:    Close-ups, of course, reveal that Gertrude offers Hamlet the poisoned wine once she has drunk, that Laertes crosses himself as he takes the fatal rapier, that he gives Hamlet a foul blow after impatient urgings from Claudius, that the soldiers restrain Claudius after Laertes’ revelation. Yet the setting allows enough space around the close-ups for Laertes to make his first admission to Osric alone and for the supernumeraries to disappear while Horatio holds the dying Hamlet, the frame widening out for Fortinbras’ stately entry. (157)    Kliman’s description contains some detail which is not within the official text since her description derives from a television version of Hamlet. Based on the stage version, Marvin Rosenberg describes Laertes in his essay, â€Å"Laertes: An Impulsive but Earnest Young Aristocrat†:    Laertes is a dashing, romantic figure who excites striking, spectacular moments in the play. Not much attention has been paid to him by scholar-critics and theatre observers; for all his activity in the later acts, he is not much cursed with inward struggle – while being surrounded by others fascinating for their infernos of inwardness. After Laertes’ brief, bright introduction in I,i and I,iii, he disappears from the play – and Denmark – until he returns at the head of a rebellion in IV,v [. . .]. (87)    With Rosenberg’s overview of Laertes’ situation in the play, let us begin a consideration of his interaction with other members of the cast. Laertes makes his appearance in the drama after Marcellus, Barnardo and Horatio have already seen the Ghost and have trifled with it in an effort to prompt it to communicate with them. Horatio and Marcellus exit the ramparts of Elsinore intending to enlist the aid of Hamlet, who is dejected by the â€Å"o’erhasty marriage† to Hamlet I’s wife less than two month’s after the funeral of Hamlet’s father (Gordon 128). After this scene, Laertes is one of many in attendance at a post-coronation social gathering of the court at Elsinore.

The Role of the Narrator in Blood Brothers Essay -- Blood Brothers Nar

The Role of the Narrator in Blood Brothers The play, Blood Brothers, written by Willy Russell, is a very interesting play. It is about a mother with seven children and twins nearly due. Her employer cannot have kids and the mother is worried about financial support for her self and children(((((did they have child support in 1986)))))))), she has trouble supporting seven as it is never mind eight, but nine is too much for her. She gives one of them away to her employer. Before the twins are born they makes a pack that the two boys will never know the truth and they will be kept apart. She gives one of her new babies to her employer. The boys do meet and become ‘Blood Brothers’ at the age of seven. They were friends until they were adults, until they found out the truth, that they were real brothers, they were twins, which leads to their tragic death. The play is mainly about the two boys, but it is also about how poverty, single painting, education, and discipline can effect an upbringing of a child and how it effect them when they are older in what type of lifestyle they live in. Willy Russell wanted this play to be different to all of the anther basic plays, the wanted his to have a reality to it, he wanted the audience to be thinking what actually was meant by a scent while still watching the play, he wanted the audience to always be thinking about the pla and what is going to happen next. Russell’s aim was achieved by the character that he put to take part in certain times of the play, this character wasn’t a normal character, and this character was the narrator. He is so different to any other character in the play because he is a non-character, he commentates on action rather thanpartici... ...ew pins, How one was kept how one was giving away They were born and they died on the self same day.† When the audience hears the beat to the speech they pay more attention to it and become more active with the play. Some times when the narrator speaks to the audience, he is commenting on a character. â€Å"Then bring her on, come let see The author of such cruelty And judge for ourselves this terrible sin Bring on the mother and let the story begin† The narrator again is speaking in a poetic form. When he has said this about a character he automatically sets the next scene and also again sets the audience in a peculiar mood. The mood the narrator wants the audience to be in is a judgmental one, when in the quote; he is inviting the audience to judge the character. When inviting the audience, he is making the audience active in the play.

pirating goods :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pirating goods A man walks into a movie theater buys a ticket and takes his seat. He sits in the back row as not to disturb anyone with his large hat. The movie finishes and one hour later I’m watching the movie   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"God bless the INTERNET†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to Hoovers online Business network more then 800 billion dollars was spent last year on Software, Music, Movies and games. Now that’s a lot of money. I’m going to show you how to download all those things that people spent 800 Billion dollars on last year for free.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I know about piracy because movies and other such copyrighted items seem to materialize in my possession.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Well you already know how the process begins if you want to find out how it gets to the internet and even how to get it for yourself and save money then listen on.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When that person got home he connected his video camera to a computer. Then he transferred the movie to his computer and the deed was done. All anyone would have to do now to get the movie was use a file sharing service similar to Napster and now they to have the movie. And if two people get the movie from each person who has it and the cycle continues everyone who wants that movie and knows about the process will have it. Sounds easy doesn’t it? Well it is.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  File sharing has recently taken a new route with the addition of features, which allow us to not only share music, which we can still happily due, but also things like complete movies, pictures, and even programs. So anyone want the new windows operating system WINDOWS XP its their. I know because I have it. And the best part is if you know how to use Napster you know how to use these programs. Now the best WEB SITE for finding such programs is WWW.ZEROPAID.COM. There you will find about 26 different Napster like services, which can be used to download music, pictures and yes movies. Whether classics like Clockwork Orange or brand new releases like The Score (which I happen to have and a side not for those of you planning to watch it DON’T) no matter what it is your guaranteed to find it somewhere on the internet.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Once you have installed your program of choice I recommend WIN-MX I have found it the easiest to use and I find that it has one of the largest selections

Child Abuse Essay

â€Å"What is child abuse? The term â€Å"child abuse† can be defined as any behavior directed toward a child by a parent, guardian, caregiver, other family member, or other adult, that endangers or impairs a child’s physical or emotional health and development† (National 1). Factors which often contribute to child abuse are alcohol and substance abuse, lack of parenting skills, economic difficulties or poverty, domestic violence and previous victimization (National 1). The consequences of abuse may be mild or severe; disappear after a short period or last a lifetime; and affect the child physically, psychologically, behaviorally, or in some combination of all three ways (Gateway 1). Though all traumatic not all child abuse is the same, there are four different categories that child abuse is classified into, neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse. Though all are different they all share the dangerous possibilities of having the abused child or children become an abuser themselves in the future. Neglect is the most common form of child abuse, with 59% of the substantiated reports of maltreatment classified as neglect in 2007 (USDHHS 2009). Neglect is very common because it is the simplest form of child abuse, being defined as a pattern of failing to provide for a child’s basic needs, whether it be adequate food, clothing, hygiene, or supervision (Smith and Segal 1). There are many ways to spot neglect in a child like being poorly clothed, looking malnourished, lack of attendance in school, and having medical needs not met or up to date. With neglect being the most common form of abuse among children it is trailed fairly close with physical abuse which is also a highly common form of child abuse. Physical abuse is defined as follows: â€Å"Physical abuse involves physical harm or injury to the child. It may be the result of a deliberate attempt to hurt the child, but not always. It can also result from severe discipline, such as using a belt on a child, or physical punishment that is inappropriate to the child’s age or physical condition. Many physically abusive parents and caregivers insist that their actions are simply forms of discipline—ways to make children learn to behave. But there is a big difference between using physical punishment to discipline and physical abuse. The point of disciplining children is to teach them right from wrong, not to make them live in fear† (Smith and Segal 1). Then comes sexual abuse as yet another form of child abuse. â€Å"Every 2 minutes, someone in the U. S. is sexually assaulted† (RAINN 1). This statistic shows the prevalence in sexual abuse in the United States, though not as common in children as in adults, sexual abuse still affects 44 percent of people under the age of 18 (RAINN 1). This is still almost half of rapes accounted for by a group largely still considered children themselves. Sexual child abuse is defined as: â€Å"Incest, sexual molestation, rape, sodomy, child pornography, exhibitionism and exploitation are terms most often used when describing child sexual abuse. Sexual abuse can be physical — including genital or oral stimulation, fondling and intercourse; non-physical — including indecent exposure, obscene phone calls or â€Å"peeping toms†; and/ or violent — as in rape or other forms of sexually violent behavior† (National 1). Also another scary effect of being sexually abused is that a large percentage of those who sexually abuse children were themselves victims of sexual abuse as children (National 1). Meaning that being sexually abused as a child can possibly lead to future sexual abuse towards another child or children. The final form of child abuse is emotional abuse. This is the least common form of child abuse just because of the fact that it is so hard to prove even though it might be just as likely as the other three forms of abuse. Emotional abuse occurs when a child is verbally assaulted and the withheld of positive emotional support (National 1). Much thought has gone into the idea that â€Å"the abused become abusers† its only logical to think that abuse would be a continuing cycle. â€Å"Abusive parents often have experienced abuse during their own childhoods. It is estimated approximately one-third of abused and neglected children will eventually victimize their own children† (Gateway 1). A victim of abuse is likely to become an abuser due to biological factors, power struggles, and a need to heal. The biggest reason this takes place is because of biological means. This means that when abuse happens it changes something chemically in your body. This was shown when an experiment was done on monkeys who abuse their offspring: â€Å"In earlier research on abuse of infant monkeys, Maestripieri and his colleagues studied females that were switched at birth between abusive and non-abusive mothers. That research showed that the offspring of non-abusive mothers were likely to become abusive themselves if they were raised by abusive mothers† (Nauert 1). After this experiment was done a physical sample was taken from the monkey’s brain and the following results were yielded: â€Å"The team found that infants who became abusive as adults had about 10 to 20 percent less serotonin than did infants who did not become abusive as parents or infants who were not exposed to maternal abuse. The reduced level of serotonin remained constant into adulthood† (Nauert 1). The research also showed that abused females who became abusive mothers in adulthood had lower serotonin in their brains than abused females who did not become abusive parents (Neuert 1). With monkeys and humans having almost the exact same genetic makeup and brain structure it can be inferred that the results would be highly favorable to stay the same had the same test been done on a human being. Someone that was abused as a child might also seek power as It is a search for power and control by becoming an abuser, someone who has been abused can play the role of the more powerful person in the relationship, in an attempt to overcome the powerlessness they felt when they were being abused (Hartney 1). This power they seek gives them the false reality that once they attain it, they will compensate for the power they lost as a child when being abused. But when they find that it doesn’t fill the hole for them they will continue to be abusers themselves to try and compensate creating a never ending search for compensation thus continued abuse toward others. People who have been abused carry a lot of anger about what happened to them, and abusing others can be a way to express that anger (Hartney 1). This further shows an abused person’s need for an outlet for the anger cause by their abuse, usually ending with them continuing the cycle of abuse. It is an attempt to heal by becoming an abuser, a victim of childhood abuse can try to undo the abuse by taking the opposite, seemingly more powerful position. By engaging in a relationship with another abuser, they can try to re-live the relationship with their original abuser in the hope that they can get it right this time (Hartney 1). The abused person from the past can also take the approach of trying to relive the abuse they suffered as a child to try and heal themselves by re enacting the act possibly putting themselves in the position of control. â€Å"Immaturity, the absence of parenting preparation skills, and a lack of understanding of child development often result in the creation of unrealistic expectations for a child’s behavior. When the child fails to meet these expectations, frustration on the part of the parent may erupt in anger toward the child† (Hartney 1). hey can also try to heal themselves by seeking out abuse again because its the only way the know how to feel intimate. With the facts out there it can be reasonably assumed that it is highly likely for a previously abused person to have a high chance to become an abuser themselves, and this can be proven by biological means, taking back power, and trying to relive their abuse in an attempt to heal themselves.