I've got some very bad news...

Kodak Winds of Change Video

I heard about this Kodak Winds of Change video through my mom. And yes... that is weird that my mom knows just as much about YouTube as I do (which is not much trust me).

Kodak Winds of Change

Anyways, I found this to be very interesting because the video started out as a commercial produced for internal use at Kodak only. Then, like we talked in class the other day, people that worked at Kodak started emailing it to their friends and family and they emailed it to their friends and family and it just kept spreading. And now is actually turning into a great advertising piece for Kodak.

Being in advertising this is interesting to me. I think that a lot of times the things that are said in this video want to be said in television commercials however companies are to scared to say things like this. It is also funny to be that Kodak spends million of dollars on outside advertisements and what turn out to have the most effect is an advertisement that was not designed to be an ad. Its a perfect example how traditional advertising is not always the most effective form.

I found a video on youtube.com the other day. It’s actually a guy, Luke Johnson, doing an experiment using youtube.com. He put his actual cell phone number on the internet and asked people to call him, all hours of the day or night. He asked whoever saw this to pass it on to their friends or put it on their websites. This is a great example of an average person becoming famous from simply putting a video on the internet. After he put this up on youtube.com his phone started ringing off the hook, from all over the world. It got around so quickly that it wasn’t long before everyone had heard of it. He’s been featured on local news channels and even CNN got a piece of the action.

I first saw this about two weeks ago, and yes, I tried calling. And I tried calling. And I tried calling. It was always busy. I figured it would be, but I had to try. I was too curious not to. I even tried again today, figuring the commotion may have died down a bit, but I still didn’t get to talk to “the Luke Johnson”. I was sad, but I will get over it somehow. :)

I think it’s pretty cool what he did, but would I ever do it? No, absolutely not. But, it definitely shows how easy it is for an “average Joe” now days to get their faces out there and to get people all over the world to call you if that’s what you’re interested in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkXH7hBbDI0

I STILL can't get the video to post so you guys can click on the link above to see it....if you want.

Beverly Hills 90210

For Christmas, my older brother bought me the first season of Beverly Hills 90210. I had been a huge fan of the show since its beginnings, although I don't remember much of the first two seasons because I was young and they were so long ago.

So, I've been watching the first season of 90210 whenever I have free time to do so. And I've noticed a great difference between the first season and the last few seasons.

The first season is less of a serial drama, which is a basically a show that is continued week to week following a story line. Instead, the first season jumps from show to show teaching viewers a new life lesson in each episode. For example, one character, Brenda, faces the difficulties of being a new student in Beverly Hills and is tempted to steal expensive clothing so she'll fit in. In other episodes, the students deal with sex, alcohol, and abuse. The later 90210 followed a few main stories week to week like a typical soap opera.

While the first season is a bit dramatic and humorous, I actually like the episode to episode format of a sitcom just as much as I enjoyed the serial format for Beverly Hills 90210. I think it's interesting how the show can jump from one format to the other and still remain successful for nine years.

I can't think of any other shows that have pulled that off except for Friends. Anyone think of any others??

Grey's Anatomy + Damien Rice

Well, I, like most everyone else who is addicted to Grey's Anatomy, was glued to my television tonight at 8 pm for the ending to the 3 part chaos. It was not what I was expecting. Why would they kill off the main character to teach her a lesson and them have her come back to life at the end of the show? You knew that they couldn't kill her off. The show is called Grey's Anatomy. Without Meredith it would just be 's Anatomy. I get the that now she feels some self worth and I am guessing she wont be a gosh darn emo kid anymore. In the end though, I was disappointed. I wanted mid season drama to take me on more an adventure. I was like eh, look they are still doctors who are in love with each other and they save lives. I am getting bored. Nothing is happening! Even a ferry boat accident can't get me excited anymore. Hmmm. . .The one thing that did catch my eye, or should I say ear, (ha!) tonight was the music. When they left Meredith to either live or die (vary dramatic and the climax of the show) they played a song by Damien Rice called Sleep Don't Weep. I was so excited to hear this song! I bought this song, along with the rest of the "9" album back in November. The thing that surprised me was not that I knew the song, or that damien Rice was being featured on prime time television. It was the fact that a couple of episodes ago, they played another song by Damien Rice, called Grey Room. Only that time there was no little infomercial about the album at the end of the show and there was this evening. I want to know how much iTunes paid to get these songs featured in these episodes or did the producers have to play for the rights to play the Damien Rice songs? Why would they use two songs from the same album? I have never seen/heard that before.

kari.

This is something we were talking about the other day: journalism compromised by a conflict of interest with public relations. Ha ha.

And in case you missed it, here's my list of good databases that you will find at the library's website. Happy research to you all.

• Business Full Text
• Communication and Mass Media Complete
  
• LexisNexis
• ProQuest New York Times
• ProQuest Newspapers
• Readers' Guide

And remember: keep your eyes out for those trade press sources, the ones like Variety and Broadcasting & Cable. Let me know if you have questions.

Ronco Showtime Rotisserie & BBQ Oven

It's not as good as Ron makes it out to be. Plus the graphic they use of the "flavor injector" doing its thing is pretty nasty.

FOX 6 ran a story last night about an incident in which a man, after having gone out drinking, decided to watch a "movie." During the time when the man was, in his own words, "taking care of business," he heard a loud knock on his door. Before he could answer, his downstairs neighbor had kicked the door down and entered weilding a 3 foot long sword. You can see the rest here:

Takin' Care of Business (not the BTO song)

I realize that unusual stories have definite news value, but with the plethora of serious events ocurring lately, I find it odd that the first story was about some guy listening to porn too loud.

Broadcast news has gotten so incredibly poor. I'm simply talking about the general news shows that air during the day on cable news networks, not the more substantial programs like the fantastic "Countdown with Keith Olbermann." It's either crap about Anna Nicole Smith and anything about HRC and Obama. Yesterday, for example, MSNBC's Alex Witt led a ten minute long discussion detailing the amount of merchandise the candidates sold at a recent convention.

"Are these sales totals indicative of a broader, national sentiment?"
"Does the fact that Hillary gave away her merchandise for free mean anything?"
"What about the fact that Barack Obama charged for his and still moved more merchandise than her?"

Did anyone see FOX News's attempt at "The Daily Show" with their own "Half Hour News Hour?" I'm not even going to link to it. To give you a taste, they joked that Barack Obama has a magazine similar to Oprah's O. But his is called BO!!! Simply genius.

I watched The Departed and The Insider. Both were great.

Last night my girlfriend was giving me crap because I had to wake up really early and she didn't have to. So I opened the following page and turned it up before I left our place.

Holy Smokes, Dinosaurs! It has profanity.

boys of baraka

Today I saw the movie called the Boys of Baraka at noon in the Union Theater for free, and it was definitely worth my time. It was about a group of 12 to 13-year-old at risk boys from inner city Baltimore, Maryland who got to go to a school in Baraka, Kenya. It showed the urban setting and how the kids were basically all still hoping to get out of it. It was saddening to see how that environment could break you down into a state of hopelessness. Of course everyone knows that there are neighborhoods like that, but it's quite another thing to see it in action and see what it does to people, and especially children. At the school, a lot of the boys struggled at first because the school was pretty strict and structured compared to the schools they were used to, but by the end of their first year their skills improved so much that they placed nationally. Unfortunately, after the fitst year the boys' parents found out that the school was closed just before they were set to go for their second year, which greatly upset everyone. The film showed some of the boys nine months later, and while some of them were doing quite well and getting good grades, a few of them had clearly given up hope, which was depressing to see. It was also depressing to see what some of them had to deal with on the home front, such as some of their parents being in jail or on drugs. At the end of the film there was a minister and former public officer who was starting a boarding school for inner city school kids. It felt good to see someone doing something about the problem instead of just talking about it, because I feel that what a lot of people do is say, "That's terrible," and then continue on with their day, and just forget about it. Here's a clip:

Drop a packet

Last week, actually last wednesday night the entire architecture lab's online and data connections went down. It made me remember out discussion in class that wednesday. Within minutes, I was bombarded with questions on whether the online server would be back up. I was doing homework at the time, and needed online access to complete it. That roughtly 40-50 minute period was very odd as business halted to a complete stop, computers were seldom in use, and I couldn't work...at work. The dependency on the internet for purposes such as architecture printing is amazing I found out wednesday night. I was never aware of how the entire building was wired (or wireless) in such a way. In reference to class and kind of as a self inside joke which made me seem more weird that night, I uttered in the silence that someone must have dropped a big packet of information which caused this all to happen. Bad, yes I know. But it was all I could think of as the computer's main function now with the internet gone leaned toward microsoft word and playing with the calculator function.

The Real Housewives of Orange County

Has anyone ever seen this show? I watched my first whole episode last week Tuesday. It is a realty television show with the same style of Laguna Beach but the stars of the reality show are older women. The women on these shows portray a life of luxury. They don’t work; they spend hundreds of dollars on clothes, make-up, plastic surgery, etc. It also focuses on them finding or keeping boyfriends and husbands who have money in order for them to keep living a life of luxury.

Honestly, when I was watching this show it was entertaining and I would watch it again just like I watch Laguna Beach or The Hill’s. But the more I think about it I wonder why shows like these are so successful. Do we as a society think it is entertaining, are we watching it to dream that we have that life, or is it that we think that these people’s lives are so ridiculous and that they don’t really have any idea of what “real life” is for people? I don’t know what the answer is but it’s interesting to think about.

Also, it is interesting to that all of these reality shows are successful even though they have the same basic storyline. It is like what we talked about in class once one type of show is successful everyone what’s to copy it because they know it will be successful.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Crash Course

Okay, so there has been a lot of talk about Aqua Teen Hunger Force in the media lately. I think it's important that people are familiarized with the show in order to better understand the tactics used for the show's promotion.

I've selected two episodes. Be warned, although it may appear to be a cartoon show, it's an adult comedy. If are you unsure as to whether or not you will be offended, well, just try a bit of the show. If you don't like what you see and hear, feel free to turn it off. That's the beauty of this show, though, it's skewed, offensive, and hilarious. There's a very amusing episode by the name of Handbanana, though I fear it may be far too extreme for individuals who have not yet become accustomed to the crude humor of ATHF.

Enjoy.

Revenge of the Mooninites:

Dumber Dolls:

iPods

Last year, I read an article in the UWM Post written by Diego Costa. Based off of a conversation he overheard in the union, he wrote a story criticizing a girl for only wanting the iPod headphones in order to be “fashionable.” Honestly, I think he made up this “overheard conversation” just to make some random point about conformity, but regardless, I remember that random, stupid article to this day.

I never really noticed people wearing headphones around campus, until I got my iPod last weekend. Yes, I finally joined the trend. Now it seems that wherever I walk at school I notice the white cords dangling from people’s earlobes. If I see black cords or blue cords I feel a sense of superiority because of the fact that mine are white…mine are the “real thing”!?

Maybe this stems from Apple’s emphasis on the almighty white cord against the black silhouette in all of it’s advertising, or the fact that so much of their company is based off of image creation in general….or maybe I just want to feel that I’m better than everyone else (hopefully, it’s not the latter)!?!?!

Totally off subject... I came across these videos of a crazy cooking show... I don't know if it is wildly inappropriate/offensive or not, but it's pretty funny.

valentine's day

Ah, Valentine's Day has come and gone. It's one of my favorite holidays, mostly because I am expected to spend less money...ha!!! Anyhow, you look around and it's kind of amazing how much it's promoted. I almost feel sorry for the guys, cause I read that they spend more on Valentine's Day than every other holiday combined. Like I said, it's just interesting seeing how everyone goes so crazy that day, and naturally there's generally some romantic movie that'll open close to that day, and there'll also be a bunch of romantic movies on TV that will feature a nauseous happy ending. I have to admit it's better when I'm not single on Valentine's Day and someone takes you out. So I guess the final tagline for Valentine's is: Couples rejoice, singles beware. On a less romantic note, I'm going to try to embed an episode of pure pwnage:

Argggh...Pirates!

Vanity Fair had a piece in their latest issue, “Pirates of the Multiplex.” It detailed the raids against Pirate Bay headquarters in Sweden and talked about “piracy” in general.

It quoted a statistic by the MPAA (don’t even get me started on them) about how much money the entertainment industry has lost. According to the MPAA, the movie industry lost $18.2 billion to movie piracy in 2005, and $7.1 billion of that in file sharing. Those statistics are troubling….not because they are staggering numbers…but because they are inaccurate.

Just because $18.2 billion dollars of media has been downloaded or copied does not mean that $18.2 billion dollars of media would have been bought in stores or on websites. I download and buy media (but mostly download). The television shows or albums I download….I would NOT buy in stores (especially from companies like Wal-Mart or Blockbuster…which I think hurt creativity and artists in favor of the “industry”). If a band is great, or there is a show I love, I’ll buy the CD or the DVD box set….but if I miss an episode of South Park…I’m probably just going to download it.

While these companies are playing the pity card, executives and “Stars” are still making way more money than they know what to do with. Warner Bros. lays off hundreds of workers, but Ben Affleck got $12.5 million for Gigli.

NPR: Not Just News Talk Anymore.

As most college students, I spend my evenings during the week doing homework, well most of the time. During this time I spend my time listening to the radio and studying and learning things that I need to know. Anyway, recently I became tired of listening to the commerical top 40 stations and even the independent radio station in Milwaukee. I was tired of hearing the same music and most of all the advertisements. I just found it all to be a big distraction, so I decided to see what was on the local NPR station and to my amazement I heard The Shins coming out of my radio. This had to be a mistake, a contempary band on public radio? Well then I continued to listen, and then they started playing non-mainstream Snow Patrol. This was just to much, I was hooked. Good (in my opinion) contempary music without the commercials, what could be better?
This intregment lead to me doing a little research. I decided to look up the schedule of programming for WUWM. As it turns out the radio station has this programming everynight! This program has played some of my favorite bands and also opened my eyes to some new music. For example, I first heard Willie Porter, who was recently in the Gasthouse, on the Cafe Tonight show.
If you are a student who is sick of listening to main-stream music and all the commercials that you hear, you should definately check out the Cafe Tonight and World Cafe programming on WUWM and NPR.

Firefox Split Broswer etc.

So to follow up on some things I mentioned in class:

-If you want to try an alternative to Internet Explorer (or if you use a Mac, Safari), download Firefox. It's free and easy. One of the best things about it is that it can be customized using add-ons like the split browser I was telling you about. Here is a screenshot I took of my own computer with the split browser a couple of weeks ago:



I can read an article on the left while sort of paying attention to a video on the right. Download it and see what you think.

-I mentioned the other day that I save bookmarked links using a web application called del.icio.us, so here is a link to my del.icio.us bookmarks. The videos we watched this week in class are here in case you missed them, wanted to watch them again, or whatever.

Net Neutrality

To continue the conversation from todays class...
On MySpace, 'Save the Internet's' profile posted a bulletin about net neutrality ... they provided a link to send the FCCs chairman Kevin Martin a Valentine ... if you are interested you can go to this link: http://www.freepress.net/valentine/.
This is what the 'valentine' says:

Dear Chairman Martin,

Will you be our Valentine?

We're sending you this Valentine's Day card with the hope that you will put the public's interests before those of Big Media and their lawyers and lobbyists.

In 2007 please stand with us to:

1) Stop media conglomerates from swallowing up even more local outlets.
2) Prevent phone companies from destroying Net Neutrality.
3) Help foster more diverse voices and points of view.

With best wishes for this Valentine's Day,

Signed by:
[Your name]
[Your address]

Star Wars.

I just finished watching Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith. Anakin Skywalker has just become Darth Vader. Awesome, I know. Ok, so I should mention that I am a new Star Wars watcher. I was one of the rare few who had not watched any of the first three put out in the late 70s and early 80s. When the prequels started coming out, I could have cared less. However, there was something about the movies that made me feel like I should see them. I have a list of things to do before I die, and watching all the Star Wars movies made the list. That has to say something. I mean, what is it about these movies that make people feel that it is necessary to see them? Then, last semester, I took a JMC class that spent a majority of the time talking about Star Wars and the impact the movies has on the movie industry and on globalization. I wonder if when George Lucas was making these movies he thought that one day it would be part of college curriculum. It’s pretty impressive. So, now I’m a fan. Ugh. Netflix should get here tomorrow with the last three. Or, the first there, it’s all very confusing.

Dirt

The new show that Courtney Cox produces and stars in identifies our cultures obsession with celebrities. I will admit my dirty secret of standing in line at the grocery store reading as much as possible about Britney's latest mistake and Lindsey Lohan entering rehab as before I reach the cashier, as well as watching E New Live and Entertainment Tonight. The craze is spinning out of control and with so much money coming in from our love of it, I see no end insight.

In the episode that I watched of Dirt an A list movie star who prides himself on his good family image is caught cheating on his wife with another man. The photographer broke into his house and after being caught by his body guards, swallowed the film to save the picture he took of the two men being intimate together. The film was then surgically removed and Lucy Spiller (Courtney Cox) was thrilled with the extent her coworker went though to save the pictures. This got me thinking about the paparozzi and our consumerism of celebrity based news. There are more magazines on the grocery store stand selling celebrity's news more than any other genre. CNN now has headlines that read "Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaugn Broken Up". Paparazzi are growing in extreme numbers and are more and more stalking out celebrities every move. If you are a celebrity and have put yourself out in public, you most expect some exposure but the extent our culture has taken it seems too extreme. Why do we care when Nicole Richie is seen eating a cheeseburger or Paris Hilton has gone out to the club again. We want to know every detail about their life so we can build them up and then tear them down.

Dirt shows the inside of the industry and the dirty work that goes on in exposing the celebrities. Our obssesion may seem innocent when we can't get enough of hearing detail of the latest hookup or break up, but what is is doing to the celebrities and our news culture? More and more today our young celebrities who grace our front pages are entering rehab and acting out. Though we all usually shrug it off as they are crazy or out of control, our need for private information may be destroying them and our news. Entertainment news has now become important news that needs to be reported on high profile news shows. Yet even after I contemplate it I'll still turn to E and the tabloids because they are entertaining perpetuating the very cycle that I feel is taking over our culture in a negative way.

Hannibal Rising

I went to see Hannibal Rising this weekend. This movie was definatly not "The best Hannibal movie since Silence of the Lambs!". In my opinion, this was the worst Hannibal movie. I went to the movie expecting to see a horror/drama movie about everyone's favorite cannibal and was left with a feeling of disappointment. Because of all the lastest standards (thanks Quenton) of horror movies being overly grotesk, I also expected this. There were some gorey parts but it was nothing compaired to Hostel or the Saw trilogy. Throughout the movie, I kept feeling that the action was about to start any minute. I guess what I am trying to say is that there was way too much story and not enough gorey. The concept on the story was gross but it just wouldn't stop and get on with the good stuff! Then I heard on the radio this morning that Hannibal Rising was #2 in sales for the weekend. I think that this was because of the fame of the first movies, they did a good job of promoting this movie, and maybe because of the Jeffrey Dahmer news story. I'm not trying to be insensitive about the Dahmer/Adam Walsh story but sometimes you have to think "Is this too convenient?" I mean what better plublicity for a cannibal movie? It could very well be a big coincidence, but as an advertising major I think that I realize just how far people will go to promote something (especially when the product SUCKS!!!)

For this week: copyright

I have added a Glossary of Terms: Copyright to the class website (also available as a PDF).

As I mentioned on the first day of class I would let everyone know the website that allows you to watch full episodes of shows (specifically for me, "The Office") ... www.dailymotion.com.
I find it fascinating that websites like this are able to let people watch TV and/or film episodes and clips without any charge. It is definitely awesome and a convenience for viewers to have the ability to do this. You just wonder how many people are taking advantage of TV on the Internet and the outcome of it for TV stations ... The Internet really has become a popular media medium and I believe a definite amount of viewers are now on the Internet watching shows and movies rather than on the TV itself. It will be interesting to see where television and the Internet stand in ten years... is it possible for TV to be absolutely absolute???

...Here's a clip from "The Office"

The Office - Fake Diseases
Uploaded by merugo

MP3 Players & Technology in general

So, last April I bought my boyfriend a MP3 player for his birthday. One month later it broke and after hours on the phone dealing with customer service…I had to send it back to them. They then serviced it and sent it back to me months later. Since then he has had problems with it at least one a month and we have both been on the phone with the customer service people off and on. Now, the MP3 play is completely broken again and won’t even play any music at all. To me this is so frustrating. I mean a $300 dollar MP3 player should actually work and not be broken every month…shouldn't it?

This leads me to think about technology in general. It seems like in today’s society technology is designed to last very short term and then it breaks. This just does not make any sense to me. If I spend hundreds of dollars on something I want to be able to use it more then a few months or at tops a few years. Has anyone else had problems like this or is it just me with the bad technology luck?

I saw an example of MTV encouraging people to visit their website when 
I watched one of their new shows called Underage and Engaged.  At the 
end of the show the new groom's mother asked if they wanted to come 
over for breakfast and they basically said, "If you want to know what he
said, go to our website."  I actually laughed.  Love em or hate em, you gotta admire MTV for knowing where the trends are. 
Also, I recently realized that I now get most of my news from the web.  
I know what's going on with news and entertainment because when I sign 
in b to google or  yahoo or whatever, I see the most recent news bulletin or 
ad or whatever.  So now when I think about it, the way I get and receive 
information has changed 
a lot.  I knew about Anna Nicole that way, and about that astronaut love triangle, 
as well as the new aqua teen hunger force movie...that should be very interesting, 
can't wait for that!!!

Prince + silhouette = Media Critics

I must say I saw it coming. As soon as the shadowy figure of prince appeared in a figure most people would at least smile at, I knew the media would jump on it. Yahoo's front page today questions the superbowl performance as the "shadow of scandal." I must admit though, that indeed when I saw this I was a little surprised. I found it funny to read farther that critics of the media commented that we are lucky to only have experienced such superbowl controversy of a shadow versus other incidents such as Janet Jackson three years ago. I suppose I do agree with them, and this will probably be the only time. But what can't be considered sexual? This is where I think the media should just leave this topic alone, because you take any item today and someone will probably find a way to make a sexual term or action from it. My question is, would anyone really notice or care in the future, if the media did not exploit these facts? That, is probably the hardest question for me to think about.

Aqua Teen

To be honest I have never seen Aqua Teen and really do not know much about it. However, after talking about it the past two classes, I found that the controversy caused by the electronic devices placed in Boston was very interesting. Then, I found an article about it on MSNCB.com which stated that Aqua Teens ratings barely increased after this guerrilla advertising stunt. This is kind of funny to me. I mean the guys that did this are facing possible jail time, Turner Broadcasting and their advertising agency are paying $2 million to compensate for the controversy and it did not even help the show or the Turner at all. It leaves me thinking are the risks of guerrilla advertising worth it? Does guerrilla advertising really work? OR... Is it that this form of guerrilla advertising was just too risky and because of that people got so upset that it actually turned them away from the show? I don't know what the right answer to this is and I am not sure that anyone could know but its interesting to me as an advertising major to think about. Does anyone else have any feelings on these questions? Who knows maybe the shows ratings will increase next week.

Holly

P.S. I'm not sure if the MSNCB.com link worked so here it is just in case....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17049321/

Anna Nicole

My friends and I love to talk about pop culture. It's our hobby! While others might be ranting about Sunday night football or arguing politics, we are on the subject of Kevin Federline. But in this case, Anna Nicole. I found out from my sister and best friend through text that Anna Nicole Smith was pronounced dead hours ago. The news stations are going crazy with live interviews from friends, buisness aquaintences and I have no doubt by the end of the evening Larry Birkhead. He is this blonde fame-hungry photographer who used to "date" Anna. He has persistently claimed that he is indeed the father of her 6 month old baby. He has been on News show after news show accusing her of drug and alchohol abuse while pregnant. There has been a US court order for her to submit her new daughter to a paternity test. She has rebuttled by moving to Bahamas with her new husband, lawyer (and self-proclaimed father to disputed baby) Howard Stern. He has no relation to Radio Talk show host. In Bahamas the law states that if a woman is married legally than her husband can be considered the father of any children that she has. Quite an effective retaliation. But there's even more to this saga! Her 20 year old son died three days after Anna gave birth to her daughter. Drugs including Methadone were found in his system. Anna was extremely close with him and often said, "He is all I have."

Birkhead didn't even wait for her son to be buried before he began bashing her to the media. Making violent claims and threatening to take away the one thing that could possibly help her get through this time.

Anna's speech is constantly slurred. Reports of friends witnessing her drug use continue to surface. I would be unbelievebly suprised to find that she is ever sober.Obviously, I do not condone a mother to have custody of a child while on drugs.
Her cause of death has been listed as cardiac arrest. Many can and have safely assumed that drugs will be found in her system.

Birkhead was on E News last night, again. He had taped a number of phone calls with Anna that made her look less than "motherly". They were all heard on E. He had found a very close girl friend of Anna's and convinced her to come forward with negative accusations.
I'm left wondering what correlation Birkhead's last attack on her in the media had with her choice (that's my guess so far) to put her body in such danger. Would she even had known his plans and intentions this far if it weren't being spewed from the 6:00 news (hey it's what I consider "news".
While I watch her body being roughly rolled in to the coroner under a large red blanket (thanks to the MSNBC's helicopter footage), I can only wonder one thing. Someday her daughter Dannilyn will get old enough to want to know more about her mother. Among all of the thousands of photographs, Guess jeans advertisements, and even Anna's reality show, will this be the last image of her mother that forever stays in her mind?

Are the media to blame?

It is commonly accepted in our society that politicians are liars, cheats, or master manipulators. During election times, candidates receive so much negative attention or too often become the butt of society’s jokes that many people feel as if they are picking between the lesser of two evils, or between two idiots. The way candidates are portrayed by the media turn the entire political process into a game. Which candidate is ahead? What sort of trickery did the candidate use to take the lead? If a candidate is behind, what are they doing wrong? How is their character flawed? These types of questions are ultimately irrelevant when choosing political leaders, but yet they receive the most attention during political campaigns. In Out of Order, Thomas Patterson stated, “If Vietnam and Watergate marked a time when the press turned against the politicians, then now represents when the press has turned on them,” (21). If the press has turned on politicians, and turned campaigns into a game, then how can citizens trust anything said by politicians, make informed decisions, or prevent themselves from being alienated from the political process?

People seem to dislike politicians most when they cite a general dissatisfaction with politics, but few people consider journalists to be a source of the political problem. When politicians make campaign promises, journalists assume they are empty attempts at getting votes and often report them to be as such. Later when politicians actually do keep, or attempt to keep, their campaign promises, it barely makes the news. Furthermore, if any promises are not kept, for logistical reasons or disagreements with congress, politicians are simply painted as liars. So any promises that are made on the campaign trail are given little weight by the public mostly because the press downplays held promises and exaggerates broken ones election after election.

The game schema only allows the public to hear four stories: who’s leading, who’s trailing, who’s gaining ground, and who’s losing ground. Voters never seem to get the information they need to make informed decisions. Too much emphasis is placed on drama and character, and far too little emphasis is placed on policy issues. An adversarial press has spawned an adversarial public that has little to no faith in the political process or government.

I know that I have often been lured by the game process and my voting decisions have been influenced by superfluousness...and I am learning how to STUDY the media...imagine how the average person must feel?

Can the inadequacies of present day media be the fault of increased commercialism?

Tyra Banks Speaks Out

While I can't honestly say that I support Tyra Banks on each and every one of her crusades, I can support her sentiments regarding the lastest 'controversy'-- and yes, I use the word controversy lightly. The media has recently taken a liking to Ms. Banks, resulting in a large amount of exposure.

While I'm tempted to give into a rant about the body image created by today's society, I figure I should let Tyra do the talking for me.

(Just a heads-up, Tyra does swear in this clip)

I sympathasize with her, and although she can become a tad irritating, I think she is pushing for a healthier and more relaxed body image in today's society. (Though, on a side note, I find it ironic that she produces/endorses/created a reality show featuring young women boasting BMI's lower than 18.5)

Tyra is using the attention granted to her by the masses (Pun!) in an efficient manner. She's both diverting and converting the negative attention she's receiving into a message about body image.

Good for you, Tyra.

super bowl commercials

So I was online checking my MySpace account ... and I saw a bulletin posting with a link to a website with all the super bowl commercials [ http://www.myspace.com/superspots ]. I thought the commercials were alright this year; it seemed a lot of them were animated. Overall I thought the Bud Light and the Doritos ads were the best. The Bud Light ads of 'Rock, Paper, Bud Light,' 'Bud Light Immigrants,' and 'Bud Light Slap' were all pretty creative and what [I think] are probably going to be the most liked ads [most popular] of the super bowl. I thought the Coke commercials appeared as if they were trying to hard to make an ad that was different. The animated commercials threw me off ... I am curious to know why so many animated ads were produced? Video games and Pixar films are definitely 'in' at the moment ... perhaps staying within the trend was enough of an answer to choose to have that type of an ad - "nothing succeeds like success."

PS. and K-Fed was in an investment commercial...? Oh, ok.

Anyone ever feel victimized like this?

I've always been a fan of 'Trigger Happy TV'-- and this segment struck a chord with me.

Anyone ever feel like this in the library?




I appreciate the wit of this show. The pranks are smart, well thought out, and fairly harmless. I much prefer this type of show over Jackass, though I suppose there are times when mindless, slapstick humor can be embraced.

The Office: Recut

There are a bunch of these made now, but this one was pretty funny.

It is all magic

I found magic berry about a year ago, and due to the super bowl hype I wanted to bring him back to the blog for a reason. This morning, I was browsing online news clips about tv spots and ads being produced just for online use in the superbowl and I thought it was amazing. I think I enjoyed magic berry so much because it pokes fun at what should be poked fun at, the numerous amount of people actually making careers out of the information age. I think it is good for both sides and it shows that the internet is all magic. There is an abundant amount of slight of hand information flying around, which we see about 10% of in the final product, and it is used for entertainment uses, but also to spark curiosity in the unknown. Some of this slight of hand information we do not see, has been deemed detrimental to us, but for the most part, the notion of a person making an entire career online is now starting to become a reality.

[adult swim] v. boston

Let's just start by I am a huge fan of the [adult swim]. I understand in every way what was meant by the guerrilla marketing campagin that will be discussed below. I apologize on behalf of the people who do not have the privilege of knowing what a moonite really is. I do not have the privilege of paying a cable bill, so I do not get to watch the late night television programming as much as I would like to. Anyway, I was watching Nightline on Thursday night and there was a picture of a character from Aqau Teen Hunger Force. Not really paying attention in the first place I became intreged. As it turns out, a creature called a mooninte has become the lastest
threat to American safety. Apparently, light displays, as shown on the right, triggered multiple calls to the Boston Police Department about bomb scares. These threats were taking very seriously. Highways, bridges, and the entire down town of a major American city were shut down by a middle-finger raising moon creature, pictureed on the right. It shows the times that we live in, media can even be the evil that is out to get the country. Our advertising tactics have become so agressive that we do not even know how to interpret them as media and nothing more. Even though this gurrellia marketing campagin has two men facing felony counts and possible jail time, they took a step further into getting the message about their show. In my opinion, this also an example of a of what once was a subculture now coming to the stand of popular culture. What is your opinion on this issue? How should we hand this independent advertising group doing this marketing campagin that got out of control? Should they be punished? They didn't call in a bomb threat or even tell people the light displays were bombs. I thought the media was protected under that thing that we call the First Amendment. Well, I will state my final opinion on this. People will go to great lenghts to get an idea to stick. We will remember the name of Turner Broadcasting System and the entity of [adult swim] that they hold. Would you go to this great of length to get your name out into the general public?

kari-

P.S. I apologize to anyone who may have been offened by the images or context of this blog.

media

I have gotten so out of touch, cause I don't watch any of these shows really!!! The only shows I really watch on a regular basis are Adult Swim on Cartoon Network and House. (Best show ever!!!) Although when I see the third season of Entourage on DVD, I'm definitely there!!!Also, I recently saw the movie Pan's Labyrinth and met one of the stars-Doug Jones-at the Oriental. Yeah, I believe that paying to see a movie to get into that theater is worth it!!! The movie was really cool and creative, although if you don't like subtitles, you'd better not see it. The Oriental has its own unique look (an asset that is steadily disappearing) shows movies that you don't usually see in the mainstream theaters, ones that are more experimental and different. Some of those films are pretentious crap, but there are some good ones. Also, I was introduced to the show pure pwnage by my boyfriend, and even though it's about gamers in Canada, it's surprisingly good!!! I'll try and post one of my favorite episodes, it's very easily seen on the web, you just go to google video and type in the name of the show.
I admit that one of the reasons I don't watch the shows like Laguna Beach and the other reality shows is that they're addictive!!! Generally I find myself being sucked in, even if I don't want to be. There just a fascination with watching some of these people going through struggles that are usually anything but realistic, or watching some people live a fantasy life that you'd love to have. Definitely an addictive concept.

Hella

Hella is one of my favorite bands. Their new album, There's No 666 In Outerspace, is coming out soon. It's not everyone's taste, but it's interesting to see how amazing Zach Hill is at drums.

The Game

I recently re-watched David Fincher's The Game the other night. It is still very surprising that some people have never heard of this movie, especially considering the popularity of Fincher's later films. Most notably: Fight Club. Well, and Panic Room but I'm honestly the only person I know that likes that movie.

Lately, I've been digging The Comedians of Comedy documentary. Especially Zach Galifianakis, whose act has grown absurdly more hilarious every year. I'm betraying my Mr. Show fandom, but I can do without Brian Posehn. His stand-up is very hit-or-miss, and I don't find Star Wars jokes that appealing. If they would have had David Cross in place of Posehn, I would have...laughed more.

Zach: I wish they made a morning-after pill for Denny's "Moons Over My Hammy"

Fun in Class

I got rid of the goofy stuff I did today in class and embedded OK Go's treadmill video for "Here it Goes Again," viewed more than 10 million times on YouTube and still just as incredible as the first time you saw it:



Seen any good videos online? Embed them here!

Virtual MTV

After watching "Showstopper" yesterday I was talking about how MTV is trying to drive traffic from its television channel to its website. Here's a great example of what they're doing there: Virtual Laguna Beach, a 3-D animated virtual world where you create an avatar and interact with other virtual characters in an immersive environment.

Just like television and movies, the virtual world of MTV.com will be commercialized through product placement/advertising. As this article in Wired describes:

[L]ike YouTube and MySpace, MTV still needs to find a way to make the virtual world pay. User participation and brand building aren’t enough. Jeff Yapp, an MTV executive vice president...thinks that VLB has the potential to generate bigger bank per person than the TV show from which it sprang.

“If you look at our monetization on a viewer basis for Laguna Beach, we’re making pennies a person,” Yapp says. But, he says, visitors to Virtual Laguna Beach might buy a DVD of the show, a branded T-shirt, or a virtual T-shirt for their avatar (in-world currency can be purchased with a credit card at an exchange rate of 180 MTV bucks to the US dollar). And hardcore fans will be able to get virtual crash pads and flirt via VoIP when MTV launches a $6-per-month premium service.

MTV may never match revenue from TV commercials by becoming a virtual landlord. But the opportunity for advertisers is another story. In VLB, products can be integrated into the virtual experience. Instant-messaging windows can be skinned as Cingular cell phones, virtual Pepsi cans are a surprisingly popular accoutrement, and Secret deodorant recently ran a contest in which VLB members confess a secret—the best secrets got turned into video clips that were screened for virtual audiences at the Laguna Cinema and other locales in VLB.

Advertisers can’t help but love an online space in which the hard-to-reach demographic of teenage girls makes up around 55 percent of members (which explains why a guy who signs into VLB is usually mobbed with potential admirers). About 40 percent of all members are under 17. On average, users visit six times a month for 35 minutes a session. (The typical Web site devoted to a television show receives just five six-minute visits per user per month.) And sign-ups have continued to rise since the end of the Laguna Beach season in November. Yapp talks about the network’s ability to push a “fire hose” of viewers toward the service.

Basically, MTV wants to create a social networking site, something like Facebook or MySpace, but using a 3-D animated environment that is saturated with consumerism. I haven't played around with VLB (in part because you can't do it using a Mac, which is what I have at home). If any of you has given it a whirl I'd love to know about your experience.

American Idol

I know we talked about this a little bit on the first day of class but I wanted to express my opinion....

After the first several shows of this seasons American Idol, many people thought that the judges were being more cruel then ever. There was talk that the judges were not just criticizing the participants sing (which the show should focus on) but were also criticizing other factors such as appearance, intelligence level, etc. This caused many people to stand up and express there opinions about this. I saw this publicly addressed on the show, The View. Rosie O'Donald state that she felt that the show allowed people that might not be in a correct mental state to but themselves in a situation and that they do not realize how this could harm them in the future. And many other people had similar view points.

However, I feel that these concerns are very interesting. American Idol has been on for many seasons now and each season the same thing happens. Plus, the judges are just as mean as they were since season one. So, why are these people all so concerned now. I mean if anything, people that sign up to participate in the show know better now more then ever what they are getting themselves into (They most likely have seen all the past seasons or at least heard about the show). In addition to this, I think if you sign up to participate in any reality TV show you know that anything you do can be aired and you sign a contract that says this is okay. I mean every reality TV show airs things that make people in them look stupid or shows them doing something embarrassing.

Plus, American Idol is part of the media business and their main goal is to make money. If the show only aired the great singers and the people that seemed "normal" most likely not very many of us would want to watch. It just wouldn't be as fun or entertaining. And if we didn't watch the show would lose advertisers and this would result in the show going off the air. The show is all about being successful and no one can blame them for that.

Personal Media

I have recently found myself in the compromising position of having my purse stolen. No, it's not what you think. I wasn't mugged or attacked, but more or less had it taken from me when I wasn't paying attention. A lot of it was my own fault, and I guess I'm starting to come to terms with it. Alright, so the purse if gone; what is the next step? I have to try to figure out what was in it, what I lost, and what needs to happen for me to replace those items. In doing so, I realized how much it sucks to loose cash, because that's all just gone, how much of a pain it is to replace credit cards, and how time consuming replacing my driver's license can be. Despite all of problems, I am truly grateful that my cell phone was not in the purse at the time it was stolen. My cell phone is a huge part of my life and I know I would be lost without it. Occasionally, I'll leave it behind when I go to class for an hour or two, and I'm left feeling empty or naked without a form of communication with me, whether I need to use it or not. It has my daily schedules in it, set alarms for wake-ups and reminders, and every phone number I need to know. I've never bothered to learn my work number, my boyfriend's number, or even my parent's numbers for the mere reason that my cell phone has them all. I'm lucky I still have my phone, because I don't know how I would have dealt with the situation without it. Most people living away from home for college don't have a house phone, leaving my cell phone as the only way I could cancel my credit cards, call my parents, and report my stolen purse. Now, I wait for a new credit card to arrive in the mail, order a new check card from the bank, and try to make time to sit at the DMV to get a new driver's license. Had I lost my phone, replacing it would have come first. It's my personal media that I simply can't live without.

"Maui Fever" & "Laguna Beach"

After our class discussion and our viewing of Laguna Beach, I began to think about how reality television portrays people and if this portrayal accurately represents the "real" people in the area the show is based on? This led me to think about a new show I had recently watched on MTV called Maui Fever. The first episode of Maui Fever aired last week Wednesday and has caused a great deal of controversy. Maui Fever at least after viewing the first episode...which was so stupid to me that I found it hard to watch...seems to be all about a group of "locals" who live a party life with the main goal of hooking up with tourists.

The characters and lifestyle they live in this reality show has cause controversy with many people that are Maui natives. They feel that the show portrays Maui badly and that the people in the show are not even Maui natives, like the show claims they are. This controversy made me think, do people that watch Maui Fever and other reality shows like it believe that this is what the natives of Maui are like? Or back to Laguna Beach....do people think that the people of Laguna Beach represent how people act in this area of CA?

As I thought about these questions I realized that if people have never been to CA or Maui that they only have the option to believe things that they seen in the media....so they might think this is how life truly is in these areas. At this point I realized why the actual natives of Maui were up set with the show Maui Fever and how much it truly harms the perception people have of the areas and people that live in the areas. After all, I do not think that everyone that lives in Maui lives a life of partying and hooking up and that everyone in CA has tons of money and is only concerned with shopping, looks, and relationships.

These lead me to some questions that I don't think have any clear answer but are something I was left thinking about....1)How much do reality TV shows affect our perceptions or true reality?; 2) Do they hurt our society?

Laguna Beach vs. The Hills

Although the blonde bombshell Kristen was the star of the show "Laguna Beach," the equally gorgeous blonde, Lauren takes over the role of the OC's hottest star in her new show "The Hills," on MTV. Both Kristen and Lauren apperared in our television sets a few years ago, when MTV made a reality show about rich high school students in the OC. Any viewer of the show can clearly see that the cast of kids on the show lead very unordinary lives. In class today one topic that was brought up about "Laguna Beach," was that cast of the show had unlimited money, unlimited freedom, and unlimited drama. The show never shows the highschool students in school, they very rarely have jobs, and they never have any responsiblilities. They fill their time with shopping, partying, surfing, eating out for every meal, driving around in their brand new BMW's, "hooking up" with half the school, and getting hair extensions for every school dance. What a life! No wonder why people of all ages are tuning into the lives of these teenagers. Their lives are so far from the ordinary, these kids live in fantasy land.

I have personally seen every episode of Laguna Beach, although it is lame to admit, I am intrugued with their superficial lives. Tonight I watched the new episode of "The Hills," the newest edition to the Laguna Beach craze. Lauren, a former Laguna Beach star, moves to L.A. to attend fashion school. She also lands the internship of a lifetime at Teen Vogue Magazine. Along the way she makes new friends and parties at all the hottest L.A. night clubs. Although her life still is a walk in the park, compared to the rest fo the population, she actually goes to school and has a job. Granted she got the job because of her fame on Laguna Beach, never the less, she has a job. She also has responsibility and maturity, something she lacked while on Laguna Beach.

Both shows are popular due to their fantasy appeal, but "The Hills," is just a little more grown up than "Laguna Beach," but I really do mean "just a little."

For next Wednesday...

This is to give you an idea of what to do with your proposal. It should identify a specific media text, describe it briefly, and offer two or three questions you might ask about it in your paper. (Note: titles of films, television programs, video games, music albums, and publications such as books and magazines go in italics.)

Sample Topic Proposals (JMC Spring 2007)

+Sample topic proposal: Pirates of the Caribbean

For my assignment I would like to write about the film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Dead Man’s Chest was an incredibly successful release in the summer of 2006. How does Hollywood create blockbuster films like this one to appeal to viewers of all ages, but especially to children? How was the film made to generate income through “tie-ins” such as toys and games, soundtrack recordings, and other forms of merchandising? By considering questions like these, I want to understand how Hollywood makes successful blockbuster films.

+Sample topic proposal: ESPN The Magazine

For my assignment I would like to write about the bi-weekly sports magazine ESPN. ESPN is a large-format glossy magazine about American sports that tries to project a cool, young attitude. How does ESPN try to appeal to men and especially young men? How does it try to extend the “brand” created by the cable television channel ESPN? Answering these questions will help me understand what makes this magazine appeal to readers.

+Sample topic proposal: Laguna Beach

For my assignment I would like to write about MTV’s “docu-soap” program Laguna Beach, which recently finished its third season. Laguna Beach is a reality program that follows the lives of a group of beautiful high school students in a very rich community on the ocean in California. I am interested in how Laguna uses contemporary popular music to help tell its stories and also in looking at how MTV uses programming rather than music videos to promote songs and bands. I am also interested in how MTV combines TV and the internet. By looking at these issues, I hope to understand more about how cable television shows try to make programming that young viewers will want to watch.

Ms. Lohan and Escapism

I was watching television the other night, and I believe it was VH1's hilarious 'Best Week Ever' program. One of the comedians brought up Lindsay Lohan's admittance to rehab. He then went on to point out US Weekly's angle on the story-- not the issue of rehab itself but rather- What was Lindsay wearing?! Yes, this apparently serves as breaking news in today's society.

Personally, I don't believe this issue is ever important enough to devote an article to, especially when it overshadows a more important topic, you know, as in entering rehab for drug/alcohol abuse [especially at such a young age]. As if discussing Lindsay's apparel of choice wasn't embarrassing enough for US Weekly, the article went on to criticize Lindsay's outfit.

I guess I can't speak from experience, but I suppose if I was making my way into rehab, concern for whether my Versace handbag matched my D&G sunglasses would be a source of minimal distress.

Once again, this prompts me to question society today and what its values are. Though I can't really blame US Weekly for its angle. The magazine is only devoting time to topics it believes the population will eat up, and yes, this is a proven formula. Superficial topics sell. I think this is a form of escapism for many individuals. Rather than face issues that are complicated or frightening, people give into topics that have little to no impact on their lives. They live through celebrities-- the excitement, the fame, the riches, and inevitably-- the drama.

Kicking it off

Well I am sitting here at work in the architecture building constantly emailing a number of people and it brought me back to a thought (sort of about the media of facebook) that we had a discussion on today. This seemed like the right time to kick things off with the blog. I was just thinking about the idea of being "too old" for facebook that came up in class. Whether Michael is too old, who is too old, and what information actually impacts what I can do with it (facebook and yahoo mail/other email) in the media. Will our generation, college students now, ever be too old for it? and what are the impacts of this on my sanity for instance since I am addicted; it is true. This, personally, scares the crap out of me and for the most part, I think it should. I feel that if I could have went back to the introductions in class... I should have said facebook and yahoo mail. This has its advantages though, for business communications in journalism but it is kind of exhausting at the same time. For instance, I got my first workstudy job simply by emailing the uwm buildings asking, no meetings required. Also, I communicate constantly with the UWM post over email. Maybe it is just me, and the lifestyle right now.. If we are hooked now... what the heck are we going to be like in 10-15 years and since we are the first introduced to facebook... can we mature to outgrow it? I can't wait to see a spam blocker and virus protection for facebook users in the future.

Homophobic slur on the set of Grey's Anatomy

After our discussion in class it is very clear that Grey's Anatomy is a very popular show and the ratings also show that as well. Recently the show has become a topic of discussion for a different reason and I am questing whether this will improve ratings or if it will begin a downfall in the hit shows ratings.

In late October it was rumored that there was a fight on set between the actors Isaiah Washington and Patrick Dempsey over the fact that Isaiah may have used a derogatory term calling T. R Knight a faggot. Over the past few weeks the controversy has increased when Isaiah claimed he never said it at the Golden Globes award during a press conference. Recently he has admitted to using the homophobic slur and has apologized for it as well. This continues to play out on Hollywood news shows including E News and Access Hollywood. With all the negative attention will the show be in danger of losing viewers or with all the controversy will more people tune in? They say there is no such thing as bad publicity but when a comment made on set makes the cast angry and enrages viewers it could be damaging.

The media brings so much attention to negative incidents that happen in Hollywood that they become so much larger then the original problem in the first place. I think that with all the drama and attention the show will only continue to be a success. It’s easy to see the more publicity even negative attention makes people want to see and hear more.

Endings and Beginnings

To the students of JMC262 Fall 2006: the semester is over now and so is our blog. But I'm going to keep it up here for posterity. If you ever feel nostalgic for the Fall of '06, you can always come back here to remember what it was all about. It's been fun reading your entries. Thanks for all your hard work. See ya round. Keep in touch.

To the students of JMC262 Spring 2007: this is our class blog, the place where we will post regular entries about our media consumption. As you can see from the last semester's entries, the blog is about lots of things. It's about movies, TV, music, games, magazines, websites, videos, the news, shopping, really anything that is related to media. And it's about our experiences of media and the ways that media are part of our everyday lives. I'm looking forward to meeting you, Spring 2007 people, and to getting to know you not just in class but also on the wonderful world wide web.

Procrastination is like masterbat...

I pretty much rule at life. This finals week is harsh. I have realized that i am addicted to marathons. It can be a marathon on any channel for the crappiest show or a show I've already seen, and i will watch it ALL DAY. Let's take for example, yesterday (aka "Study Day"). In order to reward myself for the hard work i put in Sunday-Weds at 3:15...I decided to relax and watch tv before I studied for my zoology final (NEVER take Bio 100 unless you desire depression). Anyways, I was flipping through the channels and came across the "America's Next Top Model Season 2" marathon on VH1. I was a woman posessed. I sat on the couch in my living room and watched that show from start to finish. I did not start studying at the library until 10pm for my final. I was there until 1am. I think i have a problem that i never knew about. The addiction hit me again today. It began after i awoke from my 4 hour nap after my Zoology final. I started watching the "Parental Control" marathon on MTV (aka the worst show ever). I couldn't stop. I had laundry to do, people to see...anything is better than watching that show.

I think that the networks needs to ban marathons during finals week. Or i could stay away from the television??

WikiWOW

I just wanted to post in agreement to Professor Newman about the work of community building through the internet. I find Wikipedia to really be a new age phenomenon. Most especially the belief of the eradication of class through the sharing of knowledge. I believe that information truly does want to be free, and this is a perfect outlet for such a philosophy. My only hope is that we can have more sites like this that are unbound by demographics of the global population. Although highly individualized, the world of blogging (this being a perfect example) has huge potential for discussion and building up the wealth of information in the realm of democracy. This also leaves room for response, and the open individual mind can benefit greatly from it. However, because of its individualized nature of almost pure editorial and opinion, there may be a sense of insulation from others comments.
In this day and age, education itself is rapidly moving to the internet and computer accessibility. The idea of "click and pick" institutions most definitely has it's ups and downs. Will there be more or less accessibility in the end? Will lectures as podcasts be more effective? For some reason, the cost of taking courses online is extremely expensive, I believe, due to the cost of setting up specifically tailored programs (like PAWS for example). With the breadth of the global internet there are so many positives that can come out in the sense of community and so much that can be exploited in the sense of the individual.

good ol' youtubin' friday

so i just recently became a fan of youtube thanks to the shoes video. i never really went on it before cause i was so used to ebaumsworld and i have a problem with doing things that everyone seemed to like and become obsessed with before me (Ex. "dave" (matthews band that is), the da vinci code, aqua teen hunger force, etc.) . but after watching that shoes video, and almost dying cause i didn't want to hardcore bust out laughing in the middle of class, i've sucked it up and accepted the fact that i like youtube.

after showing my friends that video about one thousand times and laughing at ourselves quoting it, we decided to explore more videos. this is how we wasted away our entire friday. we layed in my bed, on top of dry fried rice from our feast the night before, and watched video after video.

we pretty much just watched all the videos that we already knew were funny/cool, but it was still a good time. i'm going to try and post some of them on here but i'm kind of computer illiterate so don't be suprised if it doesn't work.

and it didn't work. actually, i could probably make it work but i'm too lazy to do so. the only one i really wanted to post was "fucking cats". just type that in and click the one with the description about a guy yelling at his cats. yes i know that doesn't sound that funny but if you share my humor you'll think otherwise.

Grammys

Of the three main award shows (Oscars, Emmys and Grammys), the Grammys have to be the worst. If they are not, then someone has to explain to me how artists like Regina Spektor get the shaft while The Pussycat Dolls get recognized. And, why does Justin Timberlake get nominated for best album every time he puts one out? There is certainly a lot worse out there, but I highly doubt that every single album he puts out is one of the top five masterpieces of music that this entire country was able to muster over the course of the year.

Back when Gwen Stefani was making decent music with No Doubt, that band hardly ever got recognized. Last year, Stefani got a bundle of nominations for her ridiculously boring, conventional and shallow solo pop album. I guess spelling the word "bannanas" over and over goes over well with the people who vote for these things.

If I was an artist in the music industry today and I got nominated for a Grammy, I would take that as an indication I was doing something very, very wrong.

Football on TV

I'm not a big football fan—I don't follow trades, know every teams records, or care whether or not someone is getting paid more than another. I just like watching some football games, but let me tell you, I absolutely hate it when TV networks screw up a game for me.

First, since most of the programming we get is from massive super companies, naturally they control the shows and what not. That's why a lot of the Packers games are at noon instead of 3pm - the networks wanted it that way. What the hell is with that? Football is fun and all, but when we have to take commercial breaks and pause game play, have a sponsor for everything, and crappy douchebags talking during another sponsored halftime, it kind of sucks.

Second, and most important, is the amount of crap TV networks put on the screen. My favorite network to watch football on now is ESPN, which has a small cool-looking box at the bottom of the screen. It shows the time left, the current down and the scores most of the time. When something like a flag or timeouts, part of the nifty box flies out and shows it. Then it goes away. Don't show me crap I don't need, people don't like it.

So what if he did drugs, he's talented!

Oh the days of watching Blues Clues in class. How great college is for allowing us to receive an education that is exciting and not too boring. Anyways, I know that when we talked about "Steve", the semi-host of Blues Clues, there was a lot of speculation over why he left and what he is up to now. Although I couldn't inform you of the prior I can say that he did make a record and, all in all, even though he was a kid's show host, his music is pretty bitchn'! Although it really doesn't have a specific genre, maybe indie or emo or something, it's relaxing and fun to listen to. His odd choice of lyrics and great music talent is really a big change from "Mail time" but I think it's worth downloading at least one song from iTunes. "Songs for Dust Mites" is the name of the CD, so go discover what "Steve" has done with his life. Sure, maybe the rumors are true that he left the show b/c he was on dope, but if that's helping him with his crazy skills, then keep truckin' Steve!

Radio djs so lame

As ive mentioned before I have only an am/fm stereo in my car so i listen to a good deal of it and i just want to say that while alot of the music is bad, the djs are worse. The most egregious thing i have heard this year and maybe in my life came from a dj on 103.7. Prior to playing some song by a band called Hinder, he said, "The band that brought the guitar solo back to music." Are you kidding me? Then i heard the song and started dry heaving and almost wrecked my car. Another example came at my usual fm station of choice 102.1. The dj was interruting 30 minutes of commercial free music to talk and give her two cents about the feud between Green Day and the singer from the Killers. She basically said the Killers are weak and can't talk about Green Day and then proceded to play the latest single from the Killers new album. My problem with this is i dont care what she thinks about either band especially while im in my car and am supposed to be enjoying uninterrupted music. "Commercial-free hours" basically mean commercials replaced by station promos and mindless chatter from djs.

long holiday shopping lines not your thing?

Since it’s more fun to bake holiday cookies than to go holiday shopping, I prepared a brief list of websites that will help have your shopping done before the cookies cool...

For your mom: www.crate&barrel.com
If you give her fun-colored pots and pans, you’ll get a home-cooked meal. If you throw in some matching Tupperware, you’ll get to take home leftovers …and avoid Mayfair’s parking lot altogether.

And your dad: www.patagonia.com
Share the warm and fuzzy feelings of the holidays with a comfy (and environmental-friendly) fleece for your father. A cult-favorite: the men’s Synchilla Snap-T (recycled!) fleece for $80.00. Ideal for backcountry riding or just kicking back …available in 6 colors… totally timeless.

If you have a brother(s): www.bestbuy.com
Not only a good option for the obvious reasons, but the added bonus: this week only, Best Buy is featuring the new Doors’ box Perception for just $99.99. Compared to the listing price (retailing at $149.98), this is definitely a bargain (6CD/6DVD) and totally worth the hundred bucks after you borrow and burn it onto your ipod …it’s a gift that keeps on giving.

Or sister(s): www.urbanoutfitters.com
Your sis will appreciate any gift attempt from Urban since she loves brands like Diesel, Free People, and Lux, and couldn't imagine living without their vintage-soft Basic Tees (just 2 for $25 or $16 each). If she’s not clothing crazy, check out the Entertain section under Apartment. All of the amusing books, games, and electronics (offered year-round) are Urban’s best-kept secret. For the arts and crafts lover, consider the books “D.I.Y.- Do It Yourself,” “Handmade,” or “Sublime Stitching” (on sale for $15). Or maybe she’s into extracurricular activities, in which I’d recommend either “Retox” or “The Marijuana Chef Cookbook” followed by “Lose Weight! Get Laid! Find God!” For the board game lover, “Party ‘Til You Puke” and “Chug It” are bargains at $14 each.

Man’s best friend: www.sitstay.com
This site has everything your dog will love and ultimately chew up …leashes, collars (check out the flashing-lighted collar for those who prefer to walk and pee at night), and a toy department for dogs that love to fetch Frisbees, chew ALL, play tug, or bury bones …all reasonably priced.

Girlfriend/fiancée/wife/neighbor’s wife: www.victoriassecret.com
No matter the extent of the relationship, Victoria’s Secret goes beyond bras and undies, offering fragrances, lotions, flannel pj’s (plus a free pair of matching slippers …possibly to be re-gifted and given to your other girlfriend?), and even make-up. Overwhelmed by all the options? Victoria even offers prearranged beauty gifts at 25% off.

Boyfriend/fiancée/husband/neighbor’s son: www.sharperimage.com
Like the Victoria’s Secret for men, The Shaper Image is everything a man wants but doesn’t need …perfect for the holiday! Under Gift Ideas, click Gifts for Him and go crazy. Some of the items are pretty excessive, but think simple and practical… like the Jumbo Universal Remote for $19.95 (you eliminate clutter, he doesn’t have to move).

Secret Santa (with a max spending limit of $25): www.fredflair.com
This corky site has an entire section dedicated to $25 (and cheaper!) his and her holiday gifts. Some of my favorites: a ping-pong paddle set for $20, a fully outfitted office fish tank for $24 (guaranteed to beat office boredom, fish not included), a 2007 desk calendar that features new artists each day for just $11.95, and the Fantastic Instant Fireplace DVD (complete with crackling noises) for $12 …everything here is amusingly immature and will become your go-to site for holidays, birthdays, and other special occasions until you graduate and grow up.

This Blog is Super for Bitching

Why is that when given the chance to share our thoughts via a blog, our inclination is to bitch about our media related grievences? I don't have an answer, and I am usually no different, but this post is actually me praising someone elses media related bitching. While looking at videos of Nintendo Wii related accidents, I came across some videos by The Angry Nintendo Nerd.

If you haven't seen any of these, it's basically a beer drinking nerd that complains about the crappy games from the original Nintendo system. Most of us come from the generation of original Nintendo players, so these videos should ring true for those of us who remember pointless game plots, impossibly hard enemies, confusing player controls, etc. There's a good video where he outlines Ninentdo's first attempt at remote player control, that stupid Power Glove. I'm including one where he snaps about the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game. Anyway, you can YouTube the rest of his videos if you're inclined. He does usually go off on some rant where he spews obscenities. Just giving you fair warning. Enjoy!

Wii

After class today I ran across some Wii-related fun stuff for you.

-Wii tennis, but not the one Sean was talking about.

-The Wii Remote Damage Tour, ouch.

-The Japanese super-safe Wii safety manual, and it missing pages.

-Wii Have a Problem, dedicated to "the retards who broke the things in the video."

-PS3 vs. Wii, a little racy, possibly offensive, and a clever parody of the Mac ads in which the PC is a guy in a suit and the Mac is some kind of hipster dude.

Richard Engel Is Great

I am one of those people who still loves to watch the 5:30 nightly news broadcasts. Even in the modern information age where internet enables us to have instant information, I like the classic news broadcasts. My favorite is definitely NBC Nightly with Brian Williams. It's really the only option. I mean Katie Curic? Or ABC? NBC does it right. Even though I don't trust American News (I like BBC), I find myself believing Brian Williams more than any other broadcaster besides Richard Engel who is a correspondent for NBC Nightly. That guy kicks ass. One day I'm sure he will take over the head anchor spot but he's the best in the field. For the last year or so he has been living in Iraq and stationed all over the middle east in the most hostile environments. Tonight they had a segment where he went into a terrorist training camp in Lebanon and interviewed one of the militia leaders. This guys has balls. The area doesn't even let foreigners in much less the American media. Any wrong turns or false moves could easily prove fatal. He talks most of the languages fluently and gains trust with these people who despise Israel and America. He openly discussed their intents, which ranged from suicide bombings in Israel and training to fight against American forces in Iraq. This is REAL news. Not Operation Iraqi Freedom, not discussing how bad people think it is, this is actually showing the other side and how they are not all crazy terrorists. These people have nothing, their government won't recognize them, they have no money, no jobs, and are constantly in danger from inside and outside forces. Engel did not portray these people as good or bad, just as people. Giving the outside world a look at how they live. Richard Engel kicks ass.

Sonic the Hedgehog is a Punk Rocker

Back in the early 90s I was very proud of the fact that all of my favorite bands never got played on the radio. I felt individualized by the idea that my tastes were beyond the realm of mainstream culture. Indeed I embraced the "freak status" that came with playing and listening to loud and abrasive music. That is why I felt betrayed when I heard one of my favorite bands on TV in the early 90s. I was watching TV and an ad for a new sega game came on and the background music for the game demo was the Butthole Surfers. The surfers twisted brand of rock was being co-opted and used to sell videogames. I felt like I was being robbed. Here I had sought out and discovered some really far out music (which wasn't easy in the suburbs and without the internet) and now it was being broadcast to undeserving kids via sega game commercials. I viewed it as the bastardization of the counterculture that I had embraced - something sacred that made me feel like an individual was no longer sacred. It had become categorized, packaged marketing fodder. This was my first experience of seeing my own cultural symbols being co-opted into commercial items, but certainly not the last. The punk rock esthetic that was once characteristic only of punk albums and band flyers has been co-opted into a new youth marketing scheme. Everywhere you look something new is being advertised with the old rough-hewn cut-and-paste style graphics. If you look at a bunch of DIY punk albums from the eighties you will see the same style of graphics that are being used today to market things like energy drinks, videogames, pro sports, etc. This rough-hewn cut-and-paste esthetic used to be used just to decorate the packaging of aggressive music. Well, not anymore. Nothing is sacred. What were once antiestablishment, anticonsumer cultural symbols are now themselves being sold.

OMG SHOES

First and foremost...watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYnn51C3X_w

now continue.

This video is insane. At first, i wasn't sure if it was funny, then i watched it a couple more times and found it hilarious. (kinda like what happens with Anchorman or 40 year old virgin). The video doesn't make sense at all. It is terribly acting, it is some guy dressed up as different characters, and then he is a girl wanting shoes. He also made the video "muffins" but that isn't really funny. I'm not sure what this guy's deal is but he has very random videos he makes on youtube and they are blowing up! He has a website with all of his videos and stories about the characters he created (www.liamshow.com ). He is a comedian on the rise, apparently. There are facebook groups about the "Shoes" video and a lot of people are quoting it saying "OMG Shoes...these shoes SUCK!" My roommates and i quote it all the time. It may be a girl thing? I think it is interesting how people can become so popular through websites like youtube.

I Love a Good Explosion

Anyone seen the new Dodge Nitro commercials? They're pretty sweet, if you like seeing things get blown the hell up.

The one commercial I remember best is two guys in a parking lot, the one with an old sedan with a dead battery and the other with his Dodge Nitro. The guy in the sedan says "Try giving it some gas!" and as soon as the Nitro-driver hits the pedal, the man's sedan skyrockets into the air. It might not be as funny as Sprint's Crime Deterrent commercial, but it got a good "heh" out of me.

It also made me wonder how much explosive damage is allowed on commercials, as well as reminding me of the Toyota Tundra (or Tacoma, not sure which) commercial where the truck is nearly invulnerable. Let's blow some more stuff up and see if anyone is smart—and by smart, I mean smart in that (s)he is then dumb enough to actually do it— enough to rig their Nitro to blow up someone's car.

The Power of Editing

I recently came across a pretty interesting streamfile that co-opts a state of the union address from President Bush. It appears so real in fact that after showing the file to many of my friends, a number of them questioned if it was indeed real. After watching it for a while, the speech is so absurd that it there is no question it is not real. Nonetheless, everything from the voice to the gesture of Pres. Bush is so perfectly overdubbed, that you have to question its authenticity. I think that for many fairly objective people to question whether the file is real or not says something about the president and those who serve beside him in office today. The videoclip does play an influential role in questioning just what exactly this administration has done to the name of our country, whether you may feel it is good or bad. Check it out and post a reply to what you think of it if you have the time...
http://www.fuckitall.com/bsh/

The Power of Editing

I recently came across a pretty interesting streamfile that co-opts a state of the union address from President Bush. It appears so real in fact that after showing the file to many of my friends, a number of them questioned if it was indeed real. After watching it for a while, the speech is so absurd that it there is no question it is not real. Nonetheless, everything from the voice to the gesture of Pres. Bush is so perfectly overdubbed, that you have to question its authenticity. I think that for many fairly objective people to question whether the file is real or not says something about the president and those who serve beside him in office today. The videoclip does play an influential role in questioning just what exactly this administration has done to the name of our country, whether you may feel it is good or bad. Check it out and post a reply to what you think of it if you have the time...
http://www.fuckitall.com/bsh/

good week for a media experience

well for starters, i would like to appologize for slacking on the whole class attendance thing, but i have way too many damn papers to write. i know, no excuse...

anyway, so on saturday +44 was at the rave. for all of you who have no clue who that is (as i did not), they're the guys from blink 182 minus the tall/whiney/kind of hot one. though i had to work at 5 that night at my stupid restaurant, i was still scheduled to "banner the rave". little did i know, at first, that bannering the rave equaled getting to meet the band.

so first we went in to watch their soundcheck. they were pretty decent. i'm sure if i knew songs it would've been better cause it was hard to understand what they were singing and it kind of sounded off key to me, but then again it was just a measely soundcheck...

what WAS cool about it was that travis barker the drummer broke one of his arms or something so he had to pull a def lepard and play with only one. that guy was nuts.

so whatever, after that we went to one of the back rooms where they were going to sign autographs and whatnot. on the way to the rave i was even thinking of things i could say to them and planning it all out in my head, but of course i just ended up sounding mentally retarded when i was talking to them. i said that it smelled real sharpieish around here...cause they use sharpies to sign...yeah....i got a nervous laugh out of them for that one.

so anyway, that was cool and mark hoppus is way hotter than he used to be.

Triumph talks to Star Wars fans

I thought this would be a great video to post consitering our topic of fanatics. For those who do not know, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog is a puppet created and performed on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Triumph's trademark persona is that of an obnoxious and ribald insult comic, who travels to various places, interviews people, and makes fun of them. In this video, Triumph goes to a theatre where the trailer of Star Wars Episode 1 is being premiered. Here is the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc_8LdJ9Ghs

Turn Down Your Freaking Headphones

I'm twenty-five years old, so by no means old. I still like to listen to my music at a fairly high decibal level depending on the circumstances. I would listen to music loud in my car before the radio was stolen, and currently in my house as long as it is early enough so I can avoid my landlords bitching, and concerts of course. On campus recently I've been seeing people with thier I-pods and yes, discmans with the volume so loud that it was clearly audible to everyone within 30 feet of them.

I couldn't stand to have that loud of music blaring directly in my ear. It is incredibly painful. And aside from that, it is really irritating to people around them trying to read, or study, or not listen to Rascal Flats. This guy yesterday was blaring country music through his Discman right next to me and it was loud enough to disrupt a conversation I was having for several minutes. Perhaps I sound like an old man now complaining about punk kids and their loud music, but that is not the case. Even in my youngest days I wouldn't have wanted to stick my head in a speaker and turn the volume all the way up.

This is way different than a house system, car stereo or concert. This is a disruption in a place that is generally preferred to be peaceful. I may be older and with it I've gained some common sense and respect for my environment. I'll blast music in my car (if I had a stereo) because I'm outside and their are airplanes and obnoxious motorcyles and whatever else making a lot of noise. But in a lecture hall when their are people studying and reading, it's way out of line.