ICON

Donald John Trump is an American business magnate, socialite, television personality, and author. Trump is also the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts, which operates numerous casinos and hotels across the world. With his success in real estate and television, Trump has succeeded in marketing the Trump name on a large number of products. Oprah Gail Winfrey is an American television presenter, media mogul and philanthropist. Her internationally-syndicated talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, has earned her multiple Emmy Awards and is the highest-rated talk show in the history of television. George Walker Bush served as the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He was the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000 before being sworn in as President on January 20, 2001. President Bush promoted policies on the economy, health care, education and social security reform.
Oprah has come from being a poor, black, farm girl from Mississippi to a national celebrity. To her resume she can add reporter, actress, writer, producer, activist and TV talk show host, but it doesn't stop there. Oprah, it seems, is unstoppable.

Bush is a cultural icon who embodies the positive and negative aspects of American culture. President Bush undertook a number of educational priorities. For example, he increased funding for the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health in his first years of office, and created education programs to strengthen the grounding in science and mathematics for American high school students.
Trump is a self confident and extravagant businessman that has made himself instantly recognizable wherever he goes. Trump also owns part of the three largest beauty competitions in the world, consisting of Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. He is also a successful author with several best selling business books published that include The Art of the Deal, The Art of Survival and How to get Rich Among his many other pursuits.

References:

Donald(John) Trump biography". biography.com.

http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9511238. Retrieved on 2009-02-26.

Oprah Winfrey the richest black person in the world. African Echo Vol. 43, 2004-03-02. Retrieved 2009-02-26.

Presidential Avenue: George Bush". Presidential Avenue. http://www.presidentialavenue.com/gb.cfm. Retrieved on 2009-02-26.

American Idol

Weekly written Analysis 1
American Idol is an American reality TV show airing on Fox. It debuted on 2002, and has since become one of the most popular shows on American television. Every year, tens of thousands of hopefuls from across the nation audition for a shot at stardom. In my personal opinion this is one the most atractive reality TV shows today. The program seeks to discover the best singer in the country through a series of nationwide auditions. The American public decides the outcomes of the later stages through phone voting. The judges give critiques of the contestants' performances. The show usually airs on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in the United States.
American Idol is often noted for advertising its sponsors during the show's runtime.
Being the number-one-rated show in the United States, I can imagine it costs for each second commercial. According WikipediaThe free Encyclopedia, American Idol is broadcast to over 100 nations outside of the United States. In most nations these aren't live broadcasts and may be tape delayed by several days or weeks. Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of American Idol on FOX. It is one of the highest-rated TV shows in the history of television. The eighth season of American Idol began on January 13, 2009. Also this season will have a fourth judge on the panel: record producer and songwriter Kara DioGuardi. Last night's show was certainly door die for this first group of 12, so the song choices were absolutely crucial. Some struck just the right chord with the judges, while others fell a little flat. I will continue being a faithful fan of this TV show.

POPULAR CULTURE

Popular culture has been defined as everything from common culture, to folk culture, to mass culture. While it has been all of these things at various points in history, in Post-War America, popular culture is undeniably associated with commercial culture and all its trappings: movies, television, radio, cyberspace, toys, many forms of art, photography, games, and even group experiences like collective comet-watching. Culture refers to the pattern of human activity and the symbols, which give significance to this activity. Culture is represented through the art, literature, costumes, customs and traditions of a community. Different cultures exist in different parts of the world. The natural environment greatly affects the lifestyle of the people of that region, thus shaping their culture.

Why is popular culture important? It is definitely because it gives an individual a unique identity. The culture of a community gives its people a character of their own. Culture shapes the personality of a community. The language that a community speaks, the art forms it hosts, its staple food, its customs, traditions and festivities comprise the community’s culture.




I consider "Garage sales"to be an example of a pop culture artifact.A garage sale, also known as a yard sale, rummage sale, tag sale, is an informal, irregularly scheduled event for the sale of used goods by private individuals, in which block sales are allowed, so that sellers are not required to obtain business licenses or collect sales tax. Buyers who arrive before the hours of the sale to review the items are known as Early Birds; they often are professional restorers or resellers. In some areas garage sales have taken on a special meaning to a community and have become events of special local significance. In these situations large areas of a community hold a communal garage sale involving dozens or hundreds of families at the same time.

The cultural phenomenon of garage and yard sales in the United States has been examined by several artists. The Thunderground Film production Zen and the Art of Yardsailing is a documentary film produced in 2004 that covered the aspects of finding bargains as well as the cutthroat practices of professional resellers and the previously noted "early birds."