I am a huge Soprano fan. I love the series because of its storyline, the characters, and the overall plot. However over time many people have become skeptical of the Sopranos, especially Italian Americans. I myself have received criticism from my grandparents for watching the show because it gives off a bad image of Italian Americans.

I can understand where my grandparents are coming from, their parents immigrated to this country in the early 1900’s and had to make their way in America with a then small Italian music company. The fact of the matter is my Grandparents felt that it portrayed Italian Americans incapable of hard labor and truly working hard for every dime. I disagree.

What I see is a difference in Italian American styles. I can easily say that my Uncle from Long Island acts and has almost the same exact mannerisms as Tony Soprano. However take any of my family born and raised in upstate N.Y and you will see a big difference. I believe that the series “The Sopranos” shows that of an urban Italian family. My immediate family in upstate N.Y is much more quiet and subtle than our Family from the city. We share the same taste in food and culture, however our image is different.

Popular culture has fallen in love with the N.Y city “Goomba Italiano”. This has been the Popular image of Italians for years. So therefore I believe that the Sopranos does show an accurate image of a different style of Italians, not Italians as a whole. Even at this very moment I have friends that call me “The Godfather” and “Goomba”. They get their images of Italians from the Sopranos and films like Goodfellas. I guess that in the end its a stereotype I’m gonna have to live with.

College advertisers give speeches and talks about the appeal that Boston has for college students. From the fine dining to shopping and certain attractions, Boston is a “College Town”. I disagree with Boston being called a “College Town”, I believe Boston is a “21 and over College Town”.

What Colleges seem to not realize is the fact that college freshmen and sophomores have almost no place to hangout aside from campus in the evening hours. An example would be when one evening myself and some friends decided that we wanted to play a harmless game of pool at the Beantown Pub. We were, however, not allowed in because we were only twenty. Hmmm. Twenty. That seems like an adult to me. So instead of being able to go out, students end up binge drinking on campus and getting in trouble with university police. Let’s wise up Boston.

Another problem I have with this town is the fact that the T closes at midnight on some evenings and 1:30 on others. Not just the T closes this early, most bars and resturants have their last call at 1:00 AM or sometimes 2:00. Interesting, isn’t Boston advertised as America’s Bar town? Then why does everything close so early?

I live less than an hour from NY City and most places including the subway are open 24 hours. Boston has always tried to be a cosmopolitan city, very artistic and intellectual. This may be true, however for nightlife, New York is miles ahead.

Facebook is a social utility network used mostly by college students, but also by high school students. Facebook gives you the ability to communicate with others thru pictures, wall posts, messages, and now recently instant messaging. Facebook allows you to post pictures of youself and friends.

I know some people who put up photos of famous people and other images of popular culture. Also Facebook supplies you with an info page which allows you to supply info about music you like, movies you like, even food you like. Applications are also available through Facebook. For example you can ad the movie trivia application which allows you to answer trivia questions about movies and compete against others.

It is my personal opinion that Facebook itself has become popular culture. It is advertised on the internet and now on t.v. Ads for movies and music are placed on Facebook, and now Facebook is even mentioned in current popular movies. Most of all, Facebook gives you an opportunity to meet people that share the same pop culture interests as you.

An example I want to use is my Facebook page. My page consists of many things, from movies and quotes to musical artists. On my info screen it gives a list of my favorite t.v shows and movies. There is also a section for quotes, which most of mine are from movies or songs. Also on my page there is a section where you can post pictures of your favorite musical artists and little samples of there music. You can also post the covers of your favorite books and albums. My Facebook is a shrine to my favorite pieces of popular culture.

When I was in the 4th and 5th grades, a popular toy that had come back into the light was the Yo-Yo.

Everyone had a Yo-Yo, but not just any Yo-Yo, a Yomega Yo-Yo. My mother at the time was not up on the current pop culture and one day bought meet a Yo-Yo (it wasn’t a Yomega). I brought the Yo-Yo to school to show my friends, and I was laughed out of the schoolyard, because it wasn’t a Yomega.

I look back now and see how popular culture truly affected how cool you were in school. If I had a Yomega maybe my status with the other kids wold stay the same, but because of a little toy my life in the 4th and 5th grades was changed forever