New UWM ad campaign: Not that awesome

This topic may not have as much to do with media consumption as the previous ones we've been reading and writing on the class blog, but then again maybe it does.

I recently found out that UW-Milwaukee has begun a new ad campaign, for which there will be billboards stating, "UW-Milwaukee: Awesome. Affordable." The new ad wording will replace the slogan we've been used to for the past year, "UW-Milwaukee: Something great in mind."

Here's my opinion on the change in slogan, and on the choice of the new slogan in particular. I really had to read the new wording twice before taking it seriously. Just two words: Awesome. Affordable. Are you kidding me?

From where I'm standing it seems that the university has taken two aspects of its reputation and played them up in the exact way that will illicit a negative connotation. Everyone knows that this public university of ours is far less expensive than the private colleges and universities in the area, and this has not necessarily been a positive thing. Talking to my brother who attends Marquette University, I have gotten the impression that UWM's reputation is that of a cheap public alternative for those who can't afford the "better" education a private school like Marquette can offer. Combine this with the single word "awesome" to describe what the school is like and no one should be surprised that someone might ask, "Is that all you could come up with?"

Now don't think I'm so naive as not to realize that the affordability thing is a big draw these days. I understand that this was no doubt on UWM officials' minds when they made the change. Of course we should play up the fact that we offer students a way to continue their education despite a perhaps crippling lack of cash flow. I simply don't believe this was the only way to advertise that idea.

I'd be very interested to hear what others think about the effectiveness or lack thereof of the two-word ad campaign. I'd also be very interested to know how my fellow UWM students feel their school is being portrayed through this advertising.

Wii!!!!!

Over the past two decades kids, teens, and adults young and old have been introduced to numerous electronic devices. The first "console" that took the US by storm was the Atari in the early 80's. Since then video games, and the video game industries have drastically changed introducing what have been called next generation consoles. Over the years the video game industry seemed to be aimed more so toward males rather than females and the so called hard core gamers. Microsoft and Playstation seemed to continue this approach as a veteran to the video game industry being Nintendo took a very different look at the spectrum. Thus the birth and craze of the Nintendo Wii was revealed in 2006 where it has since then been dominating the video game industry. It has now been about three years since Nintendo's release of its new "next gen" console and is still sold out across the country. How has Nintendo been able to accomplish such a feat you may ask. Well the name of the console itself is said to mean that the target audience is for everyone no matter how young or old, whether your a boy or girl the Nintendo Wii has lived up to its name. Heres a little video of people from around the world 'experiencing' the Wii....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic4Uv06WRNU&feature=related

The console itself is very userfriendly and offers numerous features called "Channels". These "Channels" allow people to check the Weather, News, surf the World Wide Web the list goes on. What really sets it apart from other consoles is the fact that instead of a controller and games consisting of button mashing this unique device has users do different motions allowing them to interact with the game. It has been said that Nintendos main goal with this device was to help bring family and friends together to enjoy a whole new experience of games and to just have fun. Well kudos to Nintendo because they've most definitely succeeded and have accomplished that very goal. I have heard many people say that it has helped bring there family closer by creating a 'family game night'. If you would like to find out more information regarding what this device is or does just go to Nintendo.com and check it out for your self.

Kate Winslet's Oscar Race

So in the past two weeks, I have seen two of Kate Winslet's latest films, Revolutionary Road and The Reader. In both, Winslet plays somewhat deep and pretty troubled characters but her performance in both is absolutely spectacular. In Revolutionary Road, she plays a suburban housewife in the 1950's leading a seemingly dream life. She has a handsome husband, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, a beautiful home and two great kids. But she wants to achieve her dreams and when plans get altered, things kind of go haywire. In the second film, The Reader, Winslet plays another troubled character with a dark history- she was a former S.S guard at Auschwitz during the Holocaust. When she falls in love with a boy half her age, she makes him read to her- hence the name of the film. The film spirals into an odd and slightly disturbing turn of events and leaves the viewer wanting more. Overall though, both films were excellent and Winslet who already won a Golden Globe for Revolutionary Road, deserves nothing but the best!

Life

One of my favorite shows has finally come back. The show Life airs on NBC on Wednesdays at 8pm. It involves a detective Charlie Crews that was found guilty of murder but has been released after serving 12 years. The conviction was overturned by DNA evidence. Charlie got a substantial monetary settlement from the state for the time he served as an innocent man. While serving in prison Charlie has embraced the art of Zen.

This is one of the smartest shows on television. Charlie is always cool under pressure and is able to solve the crime through his intelligence and willingness to solve the case no matter what. He has already found the real killer from the murders that he was found guilty of years ago. But by solving that he has uncovered a plot that lead to framing him by others in the LAPD.

This is one of the few funny moments in the show.



I have always liked the actor Damian Lewis. He is perfect for this role. If you like smart shows that have twists through out, sprinkled with bits of humor check out Life.

Mickey D's goes R&B

Mcnugget love caught many viewers by storm when McDonalds decided to debut this 30 second R&B music video to promote their crispy six piece chicken mcnugget. To appeal to a vaster audience McDonalds has always managed to step outside the box when advertising. Many previous commercials seemed to tap into the hip hop culture as this music genre began to evolve into something big, but Mcnugget Love appealed to more viewers. why? the video incorporated real life. It's mature, sexy and believable. They used images that were appealing to the eye. They used the phrase "sex sells" subliminally by using nice looking people to their advantage and making it work. It wasnt your avergae family enjoying a meal. It wasnt like other commercials where you had a kid dancing at his kitchen table while eating apple dippers. Mcdonalds made a smart move when incorporating a catchy yet enticing song to get people more interested in their "upgraded" version of the same mcnuggets form ten even twenty years ago.

Super Bowl Letdown

The 2009 Super bowl ads are the academy awards of advertising and for us none football fans, can be the only incentive for watching the big game. Every year the ads range in variety from amazingly entertaining to just plain horrible! This year's ads, however, were filled with more of the horrible. From Teleflora's weird ad of dead flowers smash talking the woman in the commercial to Sobe Life Water's horrible revisiting of last year's thriller ad, they all were less than disappointing.

It's Always Sunny

One of my new favorite television shows has to be It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The show a brother and sister, their dad Frank (played by Danny DeVito) and two of their friends. Always getting into hilarious and strange situations the show provides nonstop laughter and entertainment. The actors on the show are genius in their portrayal of their characters and I feel has some of the best writing on television. Always Sunny just wrapped up their fourth season on FX and if you haven't heard or seen this show before I strongly suggest that you go online and start watching. It isn't a show like Lost were you need to watch from the beginning so you can watch them in any order you like. If you are looking for a new show to start watching give It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia a shot and I don't think you will be disappointed.

The Baby Commercials

Lately when watching tv I have caught a lot of the talking baby commercials. I think it was such an innovative idea to make the commercials. It is so humorous to see these little adorable babies talking like they are adult men. I would have to say my favorite is the one where there are two babies, one is white and the other is African American. I honestly don't even know what the commercial is about, it really just caught my eye because of the humor in it all. These commercials have started this baby hysteria, I think this is such a good idea because there are so many different directions you can go with these. These babies have branded the product and draws you in as a viewer to watch the commercial, even if you are like me and don't even know what is being advertised. Here is another little clip just for pure entertainment just because I love the commercials so much!

Straight cheese

I have a pretty easy class schedule this semester. I have a lot of free time especially in the afternoon. One of my activities during this time is watching Spike TV anywhere from 1 P.M. to 6 P.M. because CSI New York or Vegas is always on during this time.

There are many things I really love about the show, but there is one thing I can't seem to get over and that's why I am writing right now.

Every time, and I mean every time, there is about to be a cut in a scene (where they play their theme music and have a few quick shots of various crime scene equipment) they always have a cheesy one liner to drop on us.

One sticks out in my mind particularly from an episode I saw the other day. A woman was found dead in a ballroom that was occupied with hundreds of mannequins. As they were about to cut to a different scene, a male from the show implies that the killer murdered her in front of many witnesses. Then a female from the show responds, saying the only problem is "these witnesses can't talk".

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love CSI: NY and CSI (placed in vegas) but these cheesy one liners can irritate me.

There is another CSI, CSI: Miami, that I refuse to watch though. Not only are the lines from this show outrageously corny, the actor who says most of them is unbearable. Horatio, I believe, has to be one of the worst characters in television or film history. Everything about him irritates me.

I'm going to embed a video found off YouTube where you can watch, and you can either agree or disagree with what I have to say.

Real World Trans-ition

Of all reality television, I believe that the king of all shows would be The Real World. This show is what kicked off the "reality" craze back in 1992 and is the longest running reality show in history. And even though it's so popular, I started to lose interest after about the tenth season.

Just like many shows, the "plot lines" started to become repetitive and boring. After a while, all you see are the roommates going out and partying at clubs...and that's it. It used to be so controversial in the beginning, covering topics from racism to homosexuality to AIDS awareness. But recently within the past few years, nothing new has been introduced. In the Real World Sydney,there were no people of color or anyone of homosexuality as there had been in every single season previously. And in The Real World-Hollywood last season, the most interesting thing that happened was when castmate Joey had a minor stint in rehab for cocaine abuse, which was barely covered for two episodes until he left the show. I was beginning to think Real World was falling victim to "reality t.v. syndrome" and it wouldn't be long before it would be cancelled.

However, this season has so far proved to be different. The Real World-Brooklyn is about 8 (always a 7 roommate house) strangers who come to Brooklyn to live with one another and pursue their dreams in New York. Unlike other seasons, Brooklyn has gone back to its' roots in that the roommates are encouraged to find their own jobs instead of all being required to do the same one together. And the cast is better than ever. Some of the more interesting castmates include a soldier named Ryan who has just returned from Iraq; an aspiring television host named Chet who is a Mormon from Salt Lake City; a hip-hop dancer also from Salt Lake, although not Mormon, and many more. But, the one roommate that stands out the most is Katelynn, a transgender women from West Palm Beach, Florida.

Katelynn began life born male, but realized her unhappiness was because she felt she was the wrong gender. She had gender reassignment surgery in Thailand and now lives life like all other women. In my opinion, Katelynn gives the Real World exactly what it has been lacking for quite some time. This is the first time someone who is transgender has ever been on the show, and it is already making for some interesting conversations and situations in the house. I think The Real World made a great choice in selecting Katlynn not only because it makes for interesting television, but it allows The Real World to remain true to its' standards in setting itself apart from the rest of reality television.

Crystal Ball Predicts Snack Time

As Americans, we all know the amount of hype Super Bowl Sunday brings to our lives. It's the one day we eat the most food (tying in with Thanksgiving Day) and bet on the two best competing teams in the NFL by handing over a $5 dollar bill and signing up in those little squares for the game pool. This is also the day that we get to view those hysterical commercials that have been heavily anticipated all year long. I guess you could say it's another one of the unspoken traditions here in the United States. Sure they are for the most part funny, clever, and whitty but one commercial in particular made me bust out laughing..the crystal ball doritos commerical. If you didn't happen to catch it, watch it here!!




The only reason this commercial made me spit my drink out is because of it's authenticity. The actions portrayed in it are very different than anything I have seen lately. To me, the concept of it is something the public doesn't see in the typical commercial; it's not something we see everyday. You want free Doritos? Just smash the glass. Ta-da!!

Pepsi Superbowl Ad

In class we saw the above video, and since I never really watch the Superbowl, this was the first time I had seen the Pepsi advertisement. The last comment made in class was about whether a company addresses its audience as a person or as a consumer (I'm not sure of the exact wording, but I'll elaborate on what I mean).

In this ad we are encouraged to create a mental tie between being a forward-thinking young person and drinking Pepsi. Pepsi is making a direct attempt to wedge itself between the American social advancements made between the mid 20th century and today. In this way, they are speaking to the viewer less as a consumer and more as a regular member of the modern generation.

I have mixed views on this ad, because it seems a little bit irresponsible for the Pepsi company to link civil rights advancement, for example, with a product that has nothing to do with it. On the other hand, I definitely had a 'we've come so far' moment when I watched it. I can just imagine the Pepsi ad execs smiling to themselves as I wipe a tear from my eye. Okay maybe that's going too far, but you get the point.

Here's my consensus: if a company is willing applaud the fact that rap is just as legitimate as classic rock and women are physically capable of boxing and joining the armed forces, then I'll buy their product over others who don't do this.

Super Ads Have Increased Longevity

Thanks to the evolution of the internet, whether it's through the uses of Youtube, Hulu, Myspace, etc, Super Bowl ads have become a more worthwhile investment than they were five years ago. Super Bowl ads have always had an aura to them. Every year, the Monday after the Super Bowl, we talk, and talk, and talk about the ads that came on during the game. But beyond talking about the ads, that was it. Unless you recorded the game, these ads that companies spend $2-$3 million dollars for 30 seconds for, were only seen once by the masses. 

Though, $3 million for 30 seconds is still a lot amount of money, since we can watch these ads over and over again on the internet, the investment is much more worthwhile. In addition to being able to watch these ads repeatedly, the buzz surrounding them seems to last a bit longer, which is exactly what these companies want. The ability to watch the ads online also gives a chance to people who might have not watched the game, or maybe left to TV for a minute to see an ad they may have missed. As of typing this blog right now, I love seeing links that will take me to these ads. Though, I may feel differently by Wenesday.

My Newest Favorite Thing

So I was recently told about a website that takes Garfield comics and takes Garfield out of them (here), only leaving Jon. It didn't sound that great at first, until I came upon some similar to these:

The site says:

"It is a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb."

I have to say that this is the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. From the original Garfield comic, which I thought was amusing in itself, a totally new and different type of humor has emerged. And it's more than just these particular comics that bring me humor, because I don't think they have everything that they have without my knowledge of the previous Garfield comics. In fact, I would even say that they have nothing without their roots from the original comic. I also have to say that it must have been interesting how someone decided to take Garfield out, and then decide that this was funny. I read further and Jim Davis gives complete permission and encourages Garfield minus Garfield so that his readers can see another side of Garfield.

I am reminded of music being "sampled" by all of this, in that a new artist takes an existing song and changes it in some way to make something different, often with a completely different meaning from its original. In this case, the original is obviously being changed, and even though something is extracted from it instead of something being changed or added, I still feel that falls in the same category as sampling. Someone has used their own creativity to change the meaning of an existing media and has created something else to think about and enjoy. I then wonder what other writing could be sampled. Images, I've seen that, but I couldn't think of any other medias that compare to this type of sampling where copy is involved (if I do think of any I'll update this post, or if you have input, please comment). I'm a huge fan of this comic, and I hate to say it but it's about 4 times better than the original Garfield, in my opinion.

The 1-second Commercial

MillerCoors company broad casted a one-second commerical last night during the Sunday Super Bowl. It took a couple hours to decide who the best team was this season, but only a second to determine who makes the best beer. The cost of a 30 second spot during the Superbowl...$3 million dollars! Miller says, why waste money when common sense can be saw in a second.



I didn't see the commerical during last nights game, but watched it online. It is hilarious! I also noticed a commercial that was aired leading up to the big game. A 30 second commerical acted as an introduction to what was coming during the game, a few weeks before. They advertised that there would be a one-second commercial. This is an interesting way of getting their image out there. Advertising about an advertisement.

Here are the one's the didn't make the cut.... I wish a couple of them did.

I don't think they could of casted anyone better for this commercial. He's very entertaining.

My favorites: "Beers here!", "What's my line?.....Miller."
Every time I watch these out takes, I can not stop laughing!

Good Job Highlife!

Soft Drink War

Did anyone else notice the biggest change between the halves of the Super Bowl ads? It was pretty interesting that during the first half of the game there was no soft drink ads by anyone except Pepsi. Now I must admit I knew about this before the game took place. I read online that Pepsi had struck a deal with NBC that no soft drink company would be allowed to advertise during the first half.

What I found to be a great counter move, Coke struck a deal that they were the official soft drink of the SECOND half of the game. This was made very clear after almost every commercial break. I could not tell you how many ads each soft drink company aired during the Super Bowl, but I can tell you who I think had the better ads.

In my eyes Pepsi did the best job of marketing. Their ads were funny and were more memorable. This was apparent to me because the whole second half I was hoping for more commercials by Pepsi. This was huge risk for Pepsi to sign a deal that made them the only non-alcholic drink company allowed to market in the first half, but it worked. My favorite ad by pepsi can be found below.

Sample Topic Proposals

See the assignment and the sample proposals (pdf) for printing (and one additional example).

Everyday Italian

Giada makes a sandwich.

See Giada's books at Amazon, like this one.

Pepsi: Refresh Anthem

Aired during last night's Super Bowl.

I miss my Ipod.

  I miss my Ipod. It brought me joy, happiness, ecstacy, as well as the wonderful feeling having an awesome song playing while your walking down the street, as if you were in a movie and it was the background music.  That little black device with its 80GB and over 4,000 songs is somewhere in Chicago right now, instead of being here with me. I happened to leave it in a friends car when she drove up here to visit me. I didn't realize it was gone until long after she had arrived back in Chicago.

 I feel a little lost without my Ipod. I'm so used to having music to accompany me on my bus rides to school, walks to class, or while doing copious amounts of school work. Without it, I've had to make due. I try to have a song going in my head at all times while not interacting with people. The point I am making is that this little piece of media, that somehow I managed to live without for 20 years of my life has become a huge part in the way I live, and how my mind works. I have always been into music, but I never had to always have a song going on in my head until after I bought one. once I get it back, I will be a happy person again.  I just hope I don't have to wait too long....

FIND RELEASE FROM YOUR CARES, AND HAVE A GOOD TIME!

Reaching the end of spring semester 08', classes were soon to be over, nature was rearing its green thumb, and it was sure a great lead into a remarkable summer. After the semester came to a halt my buddy and I had about a week to prepare for Summercamp 2008. Summercamp is a music festival geared towards jam and electronica genres. It is 3 days of music and camping, and is located in Chillicothe, IL. It was our first music festival and was nothing but live shows, dancing, light shows, and partying all throughout the night. On the last day we were enjoying the Avett Brothers from lawn chairs at our campsite, when I asked a gentleman with a camera if he knew anything about the upcoming band. He said no, but asked if me and a friend would be interested in doing an interview for him and his crew. He was a Roving Festival Writer and he travels from festival to festival and writes about how he views the fest and his different experiences. We had a drink with him and he filmed our interview, which was later put on YouTube by his crew. I know this didn't relate to something recent, but related to writing and media.

*Our interview on the YouTube clip starts at about 6 mins in, but out faces show up at about 6mins30secs.*

Radio Milwaukee

I recently was introduced to the radio station 88.9 Radio Milwaukee, and I can't get enough of it. With no commercial interruptions and a constant flow of different genres of music it is what I have been waiting for. Especially when I am going on long drives in my car. Not having to fiddle around with my ipod when a song I don't care to listen to comes on is really nice. Not to mention the fact that in the last few weeks since I started listening to 88.9 I have been introduced to new artist and songs that I have never heard. Compared to 103.7 KISS FM which, don't get me wrong I also listen to as well, gets extremely repetitive and boring. And the endless sets of commercial breaks between lil wayne, Kanye West, The All American Rejects, and others has me constantly changing the station. But thanks to 88.9 Radio Milwaukee I can get my fix of hip-hop, pop, jazz, R&B, and more.

Publishing Gone Wild...2.0 Style

Printed in this week's TIME Magazine (February 2,2009). Here is an interesting article written by Lev Grossman on how there are now websites that allow writers, who haven't had much luck to sign an agent, to publish their works online and try to garner support and popularity that way instead of through traditional publishing houses.

We have all heard about how a lot of print media companies are cutting staff amid falling advertisement revenue. So it is interesting to learn that finally the publishing houses are now being affected to the new age of the internet and the whole idea of Web 2.o.

Writers need only to pay an upfront fee to the company that will publish your work on their website. Grossman mentions the internet publishing company, iUniverse, will market your book to larger companies such as Barnes & Noble and even certain larger traditional publishing companies. One drawback though is that iUniverse takes home a large cut of each book that you sell through their company.

Oh well I guess...you have to start somewhere Right? I'm looking forward to the day when all textbooks will be offered online. We all can save a little money by not having to pay so much for our books and we won't have to lug those books around everyday too!

The Real Deal

Reality is what we make it. It’s another way of saying you’re life is in your own hands, you get what you give, etc. Creators of reality television take this statement literally. As literally as they possibly can. They take it so literally, that they cut, and tuck, and switch, and emphasize, and erase so much of what is recorded, that they make what used to be reality into something that more resembles a fictional story. Personally, I have no problem with this. I don’t intend on applying to be on a reality television show of any sort, no matter how much I croon over America’s Next Top Model, and I get to innocently sit at home with a bowl of popcorn and laugh my ass off at those who follow through with it. What baffles me is the number of reality shows out there today and the number of contestants who flood to be on them. Have we seen the three seasons of Flavor of Love, the spin-offs like I Love Money and Charm School? And by naming those few, it doesn’t even coat the potato chip with all the juicy reality show dip that’s out there. With each show that I sit down to watch, however, my mounting disgust with humanity is becoming overwhelming. Not only do these contestants do ridiculous things that they know are going to be aired on television, but they know very well that the reality of it is going to be altered, and they’re going to be made out to be some sort of lunatic, cry baby, or stalker—and get mad about it afterwards. Use your brain, people. You may be auditioning for a reality show, but most of them are very far from real. And if you star in one and get angry about how you’re portrayed, I have no pity for you.

Vocoder Smokader

What do 80's hitmaker the late great Terry "Zapp" Troutman have in common with todays biggest hip hop heavyweights like Kanye West, Lil' Wayne, and T-pain? Besides all being chart topping artists, if you said the use of an electronic voice box then you are correct. What began with Troutman, mainly known for his hit "Computer Love", has become a staple in the new sound of hip hop. The Vocoder (its formal name) also had a hot run in the 90's with famed producer and singer from group Blackstreet Teddy Riley's use of it. But it undoubtedly has made an even bigger comeback becoming a phenomona used by everyone from Jamie Foxx on his latest album to Snoop Dogg's "Sensual Seduction". But is the use of this added voice machine helpful or hurtful? Well album sales for Lil' Wayne and Kanye West speak for themselves. Obviously people are diggin this sound which proves no matter the generation, the vocoder lives on. And though I am one of those people who are currently doing the diggin', I am afraid however that with so many artists hopping on the voice box bandwagon, that it will become played out and dare I say, annoying at some point. But as for now, long live the vocoder and all those who use it!

American Idol...A singing competition?

I am truly addicted to American Idol, I never miss it. The past couple of weeks it has been the audition process and I can't believe some of the people that try out! After all of the seasons I still can't tell if they think they are really good or they are just doing it for a joke, for example here is one of my favorite "worst auditions" this season. Something that does bother me about the process is people who are not good but still make it because of some gimmick they have used to get noticed, a specific audition this season was the "Bikini Girl." I don't think that it is fair to the good or even the not so good people who audition, it makes it less of a singing competition and more of an issue of who gets the judges attention no matter what their voice sounds like. I know that this needs to be done for the ratings, obviously I seemed to be entertained by it and so are a lot of people, I just question how much of a fair singing competition it starts out as in the begining.

True Beauty: More to it than just good looks

I wouldn't say that I have become obsessed with the new show on ABC called "True Beauty," but it definitely raises my eyebrows. This show airs at 9 p.m. central time right after "The Bachelor." I do not know much about it but I do know that it is produced by Ashton Kutcher and Tyra Banks. I think the idea of the show is absolutely genius. I'm not one for reality shows, but this one got me really interested only because it puts people in their place when they feel a bit more "privileged" than the next person. It starts out with ten people who feel they are the most beautiful in the world and each week one is voted off based on their performance for that week. These performances are based on challenges and photo shoots but the judges are also watching for how these contestants interact with one another. The contestants think they are only being judged on their outer beauty but what the judges are really looking for is their inner beauty. The winner of the show will get $10,000 in cash and also be featured in People Magazine's Most Beautiful People issue, which I feel is a huge honor. When each contestant is voted off, they are told that "there is more to beauty than what meets the eye." Just watch the show once and see how conceited some people are and it will make you think twice about the definition of what "True Beauty" really is.

Meet the cast of True Beauty

World's Best Job?

My new obsession is a show on the Travel Channel on Wednesdays at 10 P.M. ET titled "Man v. Food".

It's hosted by a man named Adam Richman, and his job entails traveling the country and stopping along the way at desirable food locations, stopping at three locations a show.

One of the restaurants generally has some kind of insane food eating competition like consuming 12 pounds of food that includes a five pound burger and five pounds of french fries that need to be consumed in one hour at Eagles Deli in Boston, or eating six of the famous Atomic wings from Quaker Steak and Lube.

I can truly say I am deeply jealous of Adam Richman. I have seen all the episodes of this season's Man v. Food at least once, and if I ever see it's on again, I will sit down to watch it again. Everything made on the show looks like it were to be made for a king. Every time I watch the show I wish I was there to eat all of the shown food, and then some.

What is not to like about pigging out to massive amounts of the best food you can find in the country???

Heartless

Kanye West's unique ability to capture his audience attention was evident, when he debuted his cartoon-reality video for his mind catching song Heartless. The song itself tells a story of a cold hearted ex- girlfriend, but the cartoon makes the story come to life. His love and passion for the art of Hip hop has broadened his imagination to do something outside of the cliche images portrayed on music videos today. He has managed to incorporate fiction with reality and make it appealing. Throughout his career his music has reached mass audiences across the globe. His institution of media has managed to bring together various social identities such as culture, gender, class and age. Kanye's music isn't only targeted at a specific demographic group and this is why he's so popular. By generating a cartoon to express the lyrics in his song has captured the eyes of young and old, black and white, Christian and Muslim.

Sex and Commercials

I haven't really been exposed to much TV or other media as of late, so I took to E!'s webpage for the first time to find some good stuff. I came across this ad:
http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b81163_peta_ad_deemed_too_sexy_super_bowl.html

This is a funny commercial, there's no doubt about that. They're saying it's deemed "too sexy" for media. I'm not sure why, but it leaves me wondering if they're criticizing it because it's a PETA commercial, and not a beer commercial, or something of that sort. There are so many commercials involving alcohol that focus solely on sex. For instance, the new Captain Morgan commercials. The "4 guys" who are just ordinary dudes that drink captain pick up tons of gorgeous women at bars because they're drinking Captain.

Another example is the new Burger King commercials. They find people in lost parts of the world (clearly fake) and have them try MacDonalds and Burger King for the first time and have them compare. They call these people "Whopper Virgins." I feel like they use that word to relate to sex a little bit, or at least to grab the attention of the viewer because when the word virgin comes to mind, it usually has to do with sex. Sex and burgers don't mix. This is just simply wrong in my opinion!

I think that they're making a big deal about this just because it's PETA. Sure, it's weird that they're using sex to grab the viewers attention, but it's like you almost have to these days to get the viewers attention with all of the other commercials. PETA is trying to be a little funny, vegetarians have better sex, who cares, it's catchy! Plus, this is for a good cause, unlike a lot of other commercials that use sex.

Kanye West Video

I really like this video by Kanye West called "Flashing Lights"

Here's what I like about it...


I also like OK GO

The Office

In my opinion, one of the best shows on tv (Thursday nights at 8 on NBC) is The Office. For those of you who aren't familiar with the show, The Office is a sattire about a group of employees and their regional manager, Michael Scott, played by Steve Carell, who all work at Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. The show consists of dry, but very funny humor, centering around characters like Dwight Schrute, who takes his job way too seriously, or Jim and Pam, co-workers that recently got engaged.
One of the latest episodes was about a duel between Dwight and Andy, a corny "Cornell" graduate. The two are battling for the affections of Angela, an uptight prude, with the winner getting Angela's hand in marriage. The duel included antics such as Andy trying to run over Dwight with his car, but when Dwight and Andy found out that Angela had been toying with both of their emotions, both gave up on the duel, leaving Angela without a fiancee.
I look forward to this weeks episode and also recapping on last weeks because I missed it due to work. What's great about NBC.com is that you can view the full episodes online with barely any commercials. So if you're not yet a fan of The Office, check it out. It's the kind of humor that anyone can relate to.

Rock of Love Bus

Let me preface this post by saying that I am a huge reality TV fan - not really because I want to be one, more like I just can't stop watching.

MTV and VH1 have some of my favorite reality shows. Most of the shows "stars" get recycled as long as people seem to care to watch them. They even transition from contestants to show hosts in some cases. These reality shows all revolve around the same 3 things: sex, booze, and fighting. What does it say about me that I can't stop watching even if I totally disagree with these reality star's behavior? I guess I don't really want to think about... Anyway, up until a few weeks ago I had never met a reality show I didn't like. That was until I saw the first episode of Rock of Love Bus.



Rock of Love Bus doesn't contain the usual "train wreck" appeal of most reality TV shows. I was shocked by the intense promiscuity of every single contestant. The casting for this was a deliberate attempt to scrape the bottom of the barrel. Forget plastic surgery and makeup, these people are barely human. One young lady has so much makeup that she doesn't even look like her features are in the correct locations on her face. Instead of the usual revealing dresses on TV, these women are wearing maid outfits and lingerie. One woman drinks until she vomits, and then makes out with Bret Michaels moments later. What's more, he doesn't seem to care. In fact, he seems incredibly impressed by his prospective "girls friends."



Now, I want to make sure it doesn't sound like I'm coming down too hard on these ladies, because it makes me realize that they must lead incredibly unhappy lives to consider it fun to come on a show where they're driven to drink until they're ill and physically fight eachother over a man their fathers' age, whose career all but ended when they were in diapers. Instead of laughing at the show, I just feel bad for them. I feel bad for society that this show is a hit. This show makes me rethink my love of every other reality show. In makes me ashamed to be a reality TV fan. If not for implants, the attention of guys, and a ton of makeup, these women feel worthless. And what's more, they're egged on to believe that they're real celebrities and people find them acceptable. They're gawked at, instantly judged, and considered sluts. No one cares about the unfortunate circumstances that they certainly had to have encountered to be so angry and lack self-respect. The "reality" of the situation is that they're the butt of the joke. It's not funny or entertaining, it's just incredibly depressing.

90210- Just What The Dr. Ordered

So judge me if you must, but I'm a big fan of the new 90210. I was too young when the original was on air, so I am loving every minute of this sitcom. However, what I am not loving is the in-your-face advertising style the show promotes.

Now being a JMC major with emphasis on advertising, at first I thought it was just me. In the episode where Naomi gets some new friends, they give her a cell phone to program. The first shot is a close-up of a T-Mobile Sidekick- not too distracting. Later, after she programs the phone, we see her hand it back to the girl with another close-up of the phone. I started to get really annoyed, because the programming of the phone had no relation to the actual scene whatsoever. It drove me nuts!!!!

Now don't get me wrong- I understand how advertising works and why we have it. But it became so distracting that it was all I could focus on, and Dr.Pepper is the worst of the culprits in this show. In pretty much every scene where someone is eating or drinking, there the Dr. Pepper is. At the lunch table, there's Diet Dr. Pepper. At the Peach Pit where Dickson works, there's a huge Dr. Pepper sign. EVERYWHERE you turn, there it is. It got so repetitive that I started to only pay attention to where the Dr. Pepper would show up in the new scene. I couldn't get enough..I even got to enjoy at least one commercial of Dr. Pepper during EVERY SINGLE COMMERCIAL BREAK!!! WOO-HOO!!!

From an advertising standpoint, these companies did a great job of getting me to notice their product. However, they also did a great job of annoying me with it too.I love the show, but Dr. Pepper and T-Mobile need to cool it. Just because the advertising annoyed me so much, I am boycotting Dr. Pepper for a month. Seriously. And my challenge to anyone who reads this is to watch the show (even if you can't stand it) just to see how long it takes to recognize some T-Mobile or Dr. Pepper advertising. My guess is- 5 minutes max.

Tina Fey at the Golden Globes: A new take on saying thank you

I mentioned in class today that I am a huge fan of Hollywood awards ceremonies. Whether it's the Oscars or the Emmys, the Golden Globes or the Screen Actors Guild awards, I will gladly spend three hours on a Sunday night doing nothing but observing the interaction between hundreds of fancily clad actors, writers and performers as they either win or lose fame for their recent artitistic accomplishments.



It's fun to comment on the many beautiful (and many certainly-not-so-beatiful) ball gowns, etc. But what I find more fascinating is the way the individuals react to their accolades and those of their neighbors. One such individual who sticks out strongly in recent memory is Tina Fey, whose Golden Globes acceptance speech for Best Actress in a comedic TV series both drew loud laughter and caused me to think critically about the concept of acceptance speeches in general.



For those of you who have not seen her speech, Tina started off with the manditory cheesy jokes and more serious comments on her gratitude for the year she'd had. Then she turned a corner that perhaps few audience members were expecting. Rather than painstakingly thanking a lengthy list of producers, crew members, fellow cast members and relatives, Tina gave shout-outs to the Internet users who have loudly voiced their disapproval of her as an actress and a person. She listed three screennames in particular who had been less than complimentary and bluntly told them they could each, "Suck it."



While that may seem like impolite terminology for one's moment in the spotlight, it does say something rather refreshing about Fey's use of this opportunity. From my point of view, the point that she made was that celebrities, even when they are praised and admired, have a very healthy dose of dislike, enmity and even hatred to deal with from people in the crowd.



I don't normally think about the stage fright or self-consciousness a celebrity could very well be dealing with when I watch them perform or speak, but Fey's speech goes to show that they probably deal with such insecurities more often than we think. So in addition to being highly entertained by Fey's true-to-form, tongue-in-cheek comments, a lesson hit home for me as I watched. Check it out for yourself if you've got a minute. At the very least you'll probably chuckle a bit.



http://www.hulu.com/watch/52319/golden-globes-globes-2009-tina-wins

Ick!

So I'm watching the E! channel, about the ten most inappropriate celeb make-out moments, and found myself disgusted. The first nine included stars like Heidi and Spencer, Vanessa and Zac, Britney and Kevin, and then it's gets down to the number one inappropriate kiss. This is when my jaw dropped. Angelina Jolie and her brother! Okay okay, they didn't actually make-out, but were pretty close while cuddling up with one another at an awards show back in 2000. A few lip locks were also caught on camera. YUCK! The two were said to be grabbing each other all night around each others waists. She said while accepting an award on stage, I am so in love with my brother right now. A little too close for brother and sister.....

Today, Angelina Jolie is a wonderful role model for people all over the world. She's a stunning actress, mother of 6, and said to be a wonderful wife. I think she has broken out of her rebel shell, and now walks through life with dignity and class.

The Cost of Young Pop Fame... is it worth it?

What happens to the majority of young pop stars? After watching Where Are They Now: 80’s Young Pop Stars, it dawn on me that for the majority of the time, the young stars rarely turn out normal. The young pop stars go crazy… stay out late, drink, get into bars/clubs under the age of 21, use drugs, drive drunk, and have family problems to the sky. One must ask, is young fame worth the statistic consequences that follow? Let’s look at a new issue that has crossed the entertainment industry. Miley Cyrus and her recent pictures taken for Vanity Fair, she is naked but has a bed sheets wrapped around her. Even though she is getting older and is the new princess of pop teens, she is still a young girl who has younger fans that look up to her. This was not wise choice for her to do. However, she is not the first young teen Disney pop star to do something like this. Inside Disney’s World there is a stream of overexposed stars from their younger days, Christina Aguilera, Lindsay Lohan Britney Spears, and Vanessa Hudgens. Why did they suddenly turn from the perfect idol to an overexposed sultry star. They end up losing their young fan base and respect. Is Disney holding their princess to close to the castle and not allowing them to breach out with out having consequences? There needs to be a happy medium between the teens turning adults without them going crazy.

Bye-bye, Montel

So, yesterday when I was working out I noticed on one of the TVs that Montel Williams, the talk show host, is finally retiring. He was actually one of the talk show hosts that I could actually stand. His material wasn't trashy, like the infamous Jerry Springer show, and he talked about issues alot of people can relate to. Not only that, but he got to know his guests as if they weren't just an episode, and he dedicated his life to making miracles happen. I know Oprah does this on her show, but she's a different story. So, I was watching Montel's last show before his grand finale, and it was actually really touching. Their "most memorable" guests who was on the show yesterday was Joey. When Joey was 13 he was diagnosed as HIV positive. Doctors told him he only have a few years to live. Still alive after doctor's told him he'd be dead, Joey appeared on the show again. Next, the doctors told him he only had 48 hours to live. Once again a survivor, Joey appeared on the show once again, sharing his touching story. Then, when Joey 17, doctors told him he had 5 years to live. And again, he survived through their promise. Joey appeared on the show and shared his inspirational story of being diagnosed HIV positive at the age of 13, hearing how he should've been dead four times over, and how he's staying strong today. It's not too often you get a talk show these days that share real life issues with people and try to get a message out there.

Ceweberty

The climax to JMC 262 we discussed the evolution of how people have become more interactive with the Internet.  How it has become a participatory culture where we are not just consuming media, but actively producing our own media for others. 

Because of this new trend in media, with the use of the web, regular people have become famous through their own omissions or through others.  Either way people are becoming be deals through sources like YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, or through their own websites.  People like Perez Hilton, we became famous by just reporting on the activities of famous people through the web, or LonelyGirl15's producers/writers and actress now have been offered to create a movie and have been give acting jobs through the brief, but popular stunt.  These are some of the more famous people who have become famous because of what they have done over the web and have gone on to fame and possibly fortune.  Other people to a little lesser extent like the Star Wars Kid or the My New Hair Cut Guy have also have become famous over through the web and outlets like YouTube and have become celebrates.

So, to extend the wordage that Bravo has come up with for their A-List Awards is Ceweberty.  They mention Perez Hilton, Oboma Girl, and Tron Guy, but just like celebrities ceweberties should be recognized.  Maybe, certain people that continues to produce popular little blogs or videos could be A-List Ceweberties and one that only have done one thing could be called One Hit Websters.  Whatever we call these people, just like Time Magazine recognizing us as their people of the year because we have become more apart of our media we, as a society, should recognize not just the fact that these people entertain us, but that they have some sort of statues within the public realm because of their production.

YouTube's Most Viewed

Have you ever been browsing around YouTube and you stumble across a video that has an insane amount of views?  Well I did recently so I decided to look at the page with the videos that have the most views all time.  What's nice about the "most viewed" page is that the site breaks it down into categories, so you can search for the most viewed videos in comedy, sports, politics, music, and education, among many others.  The conclusion I came to is people are definitely getting their music fix from this website.  Maybe it's the fact that the government is actually starting to crack down on illegal file sharing or maybe it's just because it's so easy to look up music and videos for free.  Out of the top 10 most viewed videos of all time on YouTube, 7 are music videos, with Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" coming in at number 1 for music videos with 83.5 million views.  That is a TON of views.  A new feature YouTube has added recently is being able to see how many other members are viewing the video at the same time as you.  I clicked on the Rihanna music video "Don't Stop The Music", which has 54 million views, and there was 11 other YouTube members watching the video at the same exact time I was.  This goes to show just how powerful this technology is.  It's truly amazing how many people are using this website to share videos.  YouTube is the catalyst for the term "internet celebrity", and I imagine there are only more to come.  By now, you are probably wondering what the most viewed video of all time on the site is, regardless of category.  I was quite surprised myself to find out that this one was at the top.  Ladies and gentlemen, I give you "The Evolution of Dance", with an amazing 85 MILLION VIEWS.

Being that this is the last blog post for the semester, I thought that it would be the best time to post something ridiculous. I get at least one youtube link a week from friends and I usually watch it for 3 seconds and if it disinterests me then I continue on with my day. BUT, this one here that I’m showing you is completely different. The video is of a little boy at his preschool graduation where apparently they do a choral production of sorts. The sister, who posted the video, puts this disclaimer following the link: “Ok everyone, he is NOT on crack, he does NOT have ADD or Autism (as far as we know) he is just a crazy little boy with a lot of energy. Yes he is my brother but my HALF brother mind you.”

If you watched the video without reading this…you might have mixed feelings on whether to laugh or not, but with my experience in babysitting, I know that normal, healthy boys act like this so I had no problem laughing. Or sharing it. I showed my mom this video and she died laughing for the first 20 seconds. I don’t think she knew whether or not it was right to laugh either until I told her the background of it. Then halfway through she shouts “it’s those videogames I tell ya!” This harmless comment of hers shines light on how parents view the media when it applies to children, whether she knew it or not. Of course my mom knows that 3-year-old boys are hyper and she could be satisfied with that being the answer of why this kid is going crazy. But it also was an example that sometimes when the adult culture doesn’t understand something in a younger culture, they blame it on the media.

Number 10

I think anyway.
I owe one more blog and I don't have anything prepared so I'll wing it to fill the requirements.
I've enjoyed this blog exercise for a number of reasons most of which I talked about in class. I've enjoyed reading the other blogs too. I get to know gen-X's (is that the right label?) habits through them and find that interesting. I am also able to gauge the writing skills of modern day college students. Granted it's a small sample but valuable and interesting none the less.
The class has forced to see this new media in a more open-minded frame of mind. I still suspect there is more time being wasted online than actual accomplishments but the potential is there. I guess it's like anything else, the disciplined users get more out of it, the slackers play. I've spent more time on a computer this semester than the rest of my life put together and that's talking about a chunk of time ( I have t-shirts older than some of my classmates). It's good though cause it will be a valuable tool in any endeavor I choose to undertake. Now if I can figure out how to make a living with it. I'll keep you posted!

Loss of Magic in Hollywood

In one of my other JMC classes we have to do a family identity narrative on what makes you well you. As I was working on my project, I had E on in the background. They were play the inside story of the Kardashians. For those of you who don’t know the Kardashians have their own thirty minutes show on E, called Keeping up with the Kardashians. It’s a new form of the Brady Bunch for our generation. Two parents get married both with four kids each. On the other hand, I had no idea both parents were married two times before and the third was a charm. If people in daily life or “normal” people did this we would be looked down upon. However, celebrities propose in a week get married in three months and end in divorce in a year. It seems to me that even though Hollywood is based on magic and romance, they lack it in their real life.

Summer Blockbusters

This past weekend kicked off the start of summer blockbusters.  Iron Man has reportedly open weekend racked in $104 million dollars.  This is one of the largest opening weekends ever.  This summer is exciting again with some greatly anticipated movies coming out.  Everything from a little robot from Pixar to Heath Ledgers dark portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight.  It will become interesting over the course of the next couple months on how consumers will react to the rising prices of gas and other commodities in relations to gas prices.  Will the movie business benefit from this because people are less likely to travel because of the rising of gas prices and the the price to just travel.  Or, will it hurt the movie business because people will become more stingy on how and where they spend their money?  Some analysts also bring up the fact that because there are so many movie coming out that are targeting young men, especially teens and preteens, like The Incredible Hulk, Dark Knight, Hell Boy II, The X Files, etc... plus the release of video games like the new Grand The Auto that there will not be enough money to go around and that will really hurt sales.  However, these seems to be the case every summer where there is a plethora of entertainment options that target all different demographics across the board, but yet we still see movies continue to set records and rack in millions of dollars.  So, I say that this summer because less people and especially families will be traveling during holidays and just in general over the course of the summer that we will see a great increase in ticket sales from possible great movies like The Dark Knight and the New Indiana Jones movie to lesser movies like Meet Dave or College. 

Aging in the Media

I was watching The Golden Girls this morning and it got me to thinking about the importance of having different age groups (particularly seniors) in the media. Someone once said on a messageboard I visited, "when I was young, I wasn't watching the characters my age, I was watching the older characters (est. age range here is probably mid 30s and up)." I think there is some truth to that for myself as well. As kids and teens, I think we identify with characters that are similar in age to ourselves, but we tend to look up to older characters. I know that as I age, I'd like some of the characters or people I see in the media to age with me too. That being said, I thought I'd name off a few things I've seen that portray older age groups.

TV Show: The Golden Girls (1985)
Golden Girls is a sitcom from the 80s that revolves around four older divorced/widowed women. The actors on the show have great chemistry. There's the sarcastic divorcee (Dorothy) and her hilarious mother (Sophia), the cheery and slightly idiotic Rose, and the promiscuous Blanche who has a new man in almost every episode. I think the show is successful because the characters aren't treated like "kindly grandmas," but as adults.

Video Game: Metal Gear Solid 4 (2008)
This is the upcoming installment to the Metal Gear Solid games, a series that favors stealth over direct combat. All of the Metal Gear games revolve around the character of Solid Snake. Video games tend to stick to younger characters, and they often don't age from game to game. It's great to see a game series that's not afraid to break the mold. In Metal Gear Solid 4, the main character, Snake, as well as other returning characters will look visibly older. I believe Snake's age also slightly impacts his stamina, making for some interesting gameplay.

Film: Cocoon (1985)
Cocoon is a sci-fi film about a group of older people who discover that they don't have to age or die after making contact with aliens. (I'm seeing a strange pattern with the 80s here). Like Golden Girls, the film's characters act like adults and aren't treated as simply grandparents, although that aspect does figure in for some of the characters.

pogo.com

so i'm an avid procrastinator and also very much interested in games, and that seems like a statement that can describe most college students. one of my favorite places to go to procrastinate (other than facebook of course) is www.pogo.com, which basically is a site of free games. you have to get a login which takes about five minutes, but then you can play all sorts of games for free for a long long time (i've been going at it for about 5 years or so)
my favorite thing to play is checkers, because although checkers grows extremely monotonous and boring if you are playing with the same person over and over again, playing against random people online maintains my interest level because everyone has different tendencies and strategies. There are a bunch of other old fashioned type card games which most of my friends are not dorky enough to play with me, like cribbage and euchre. pretty much the only thing missing is scrabble.

Frontpage Milwaukee

For my last blog I thought what the heck...I'll talk about UWM's own online newspaper, because I think it really deserves some credit. FrontpageMilwaukee.com is a really unique site that features OUR voices and everything from reviews, opinionated issues, hard news stories, sports, pop culture, investigative pieces, blogs, and even different forms of media such as blogtalkradio and Panthercasts. 

I don't think our students are giving this site the readership it deserves because there is so much great work involved and such a variety too. And I'm not saying this just because I write for it, there's proof! Frontpage has won 5 regional awards from the Society of Professional Journalists this year, which is not an easy thing to do. 

A lot of the credit has to go to Jessica McBride for creating and running Frontpage, but also to the students, who I think set a great example for our school through their work. 

If you haven't check it out, or maybe haven't visited it more than once or twice, you really should! You can learn a lot- in some ways, isn't student media a fun way to get away from mainstream media? Just because we're students does not mean we can't produce some great things.

On a side note, I write for the advice column He Said, She Said which I think is original because it features strong opinions from both a male and a female perspective. If you ever feel like submitting a question (because we could always use a new one) please do! And of course, you don't have to give your name. Here's the email: HeSaidSheSaidUWM@gmail.com

Have a great summer guys and good luck with finals! 

Sunday media consumption

Just heard some good radio I'd like to recommend. The show is This American Life. The episode is called, "What I Learned From Television." Four people present four takes on the ways our lives are affected/infected by TV. They are smart, humorous rants on the subject matter of our class. While it's worth the investment of the hour of time for the general public it's especially pertinant for us in an area of our chosen (?) field of expertise (journalism minors never mind, go back to you-tube). Also, it looks like an interesting episode of On the Media coming up. I'll give a listen and keep you posted. For now I have a CD of my favorite music I burned back in '04 with "my kazza" or something like that. Cheryl Crow starts the hits, Spirit in the Sky, Shaggy, The Allman Bros. and Jessica, some old blues guy with an original version of a song Led Zepplin made famous ... baaaaaaaby... I even got Iggy. Iggy Pop that is. Some old freak from back in the day and his version of "Wild One" and on and on. Seventeen songs on this one. Here comes Lou Reed, I went for a motorcycle ride with him back in the late '80's, he's singing "The Dirty Blvd." Hey, if anyone wants a copy of this CD they'll be available in the lobby after the show. The blog show. On this little TV screen made for movement and visuals. Words get static. Neil Postman, in his 1985 book "Amusing Ourselves to Death," says the technology dictates its bias and the TV screen is biased toward action and images, "the TV screen does not lend itself to typographic discourse." But I digress. Back to the CD. There's some INXS and Annie Lennox and her crew. It even have Blue Cheer doing "Summertime Blues." There's "Euro-trash Girl" by I don't know who. I have the local favorites the Bo Deans and their rendition of a Patsy Cline tune. I'm tellin' ya the hits just keep rollin'. Speaking of rolling I have to break out the lawn mower (the push kind like you see in antique stores, a handle, wheels and a blade). It's almost summer!
Oh, On the Media show was worth a listen. The content included somewhat objective coverage of stories on polygamy, Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal, internet innovation and utilization and a piece about Grand Theft Auto 4 and the mindset of players of videa games in general. Oh, and a story story about the anniversary of the first acid trip.
All that, plus Weekend Morning Edition, pretty much sums up my Sunday media consumption. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next week!

Funny Facebook parody

Since we're getting into the discussion of Facebook tomorrow, I thought it'd be appropriate to write my blog on the website that acts as the new nicotine. Yes, it seems as though it's become that addictive. So, I did my usual and "Googled" the topic. What I found was pretty funny actually; a parody of Facebook in the form of an eHarmony commercial. I could not stop laughing as I watched it. It's funny, because watching the parody you realize that what they're saying is so true. Facebook gives its members the choice of posting their relationship status on their profile; I won't lie I happen to be guilty of this. Choices include: in a relationship, complicated, married, single, engaged, or in an open relationship. The parody also pokes fun at, well, "poking". Yes, that's right, Facebook invented a way to give creepers the ability to poke their prey. Now, you can not only "poke" your friends, but by adding the one of million Facebook applications, you can also hug, tickle, kiss, wave, high five, and even karate chop them. Lastly, the parody makes fun of the "Looking for" section of a person's Facebook profile. Not only can you advertise your relationship, but you can also tell people whether you are looking for: random play, whatever you can get, friendship, dating, a relationship, or just joined to network. Anyways, take a look at the video. It'll give you a good laugh.

YouTube

I am still in shock at the latest dispute of YouTube. A group of girls invite a "friend" over to their house, only to videotape her getting her ass kicked. Something about an argument at school, or the girl "talking shit" to the group of girls is what led to this. I'm not exactly sure, but I think he might even have something to do with the girl causing problems involving one of the girl's boyfriends. Whatever it was, I was disgusted when I heard that these girls planned to post themselves, beating the girl unrecognizable, on YouTube. What kind of people are these girls? Who could actually do this to someone and not feel ashamed of themselves? The girls went to court, and I guess showed no remorse, as they laughed throughout the entire trial. It's people like this that make me really confused. I just don't understand how people can be okay with being that person. That person who could care less about anyone but themselves, beat a girl so badly that her own father can't even recognize her face, and want to post their material on a website for all the world to see. Well, I hope these girls get used to the prison wardrobe and non-luxirous food, because if they're not put in prison, well...that's where they belong.

YouTube...The New MySpace?

I was browsing YouTube eariler this week and discovered something I hadn't seen before...YouTube channels. I came across this by performing a search for "Britney Spears," and the first result that popped up was Britney's "Official" YouTube channel. Curious to see what I would find, I clicked on the link. Britney's page looked ironically similar to the layout of a MySpace page. On her channel you can watch videos, comment on her page, send a message, view her friends list, and more...just like MySpace. According to Wikipedia, only members of YouTube can join these artist channels, similar to MySpace's "members only" ideals. I searched for other artists including Radiohead, Christina Aguilera, and even Bret Michaels; they also have YouTube channels dedicated entirely to their music and supplementary videos.

When, if ever, will YouTube take over MySpace and Facebook? It seems to be becoming increasingly popular, and offers options that other online societies do not.I may be behind the trend on YouTube as I only visit the since maybe once a week, but these music channels are new to me. Does anyone know when these channels were introduced?

Here's an interesting tutorial about how to "Pimp Out" your YouTube channel:

David Blaine

Last night I read and watched David Blaine beat the world record for holding his breath under water. He is best known for being a magician but recently has been doing many stunts such as being buried alive for a week in a see-through coffin, spending more than a month suspended above the River Thames in London and was encased in a block of ice for 63 hours. He broke the record on the Oprah Winfrey show Wednesday by 32 seconds with representatives from the Guinness book of world records in the crowd. The previous record was 16 minutes and 32 seconds, set Feb. 10, 2008 by Switzerland's Peter Colat. Blaine did train extensively for the stunt, but no matter what holding your breath for 17 minutes and four seconds under water is really pushing the knowledge of the human body’s limits. His next stunt is going to attempt at staying awake longer then any recorded human at over 11 ½ days.

Deadliest Catch

By far, my favorite show on television right now is "Deadliest Catch" on the Discovery Channel. I really am not the type of person to sit down and follow a show over a season, but this is the only one that I do follow religiously. The show runs at 8pm on Tuesday on the Discovery Channel. The show is about crab fishing off the coast of Alaska. This season, the cameras are following about five ships around on their voyage on the frigid Bering Sea. Thinking about it, the show really seems boring but the editors and how the show is presented makes it very impressive to watch. The narrator of the show is Mike Rowe, the Discovery Channel voice basically. He has his own show on the network called "Dirty Jobs."

The show documents the crews as they prepare for the king crab season and ends with the oppie season. The weather and the conditions of the sea look terrible at times. Rain, snow, wind, big waves, and cold temperatures add a great sense of danger that the crew has to endure for the couple weeks at sea. The show is not just about catching crab and making money. I would say the main plot of the series is to show the relationships of the crew members. The crab fishing is kinda like background stuff that is constantly going on. The camera crew is usually stationed up by the captain and two cameras that wander around on the deck.

This may seem "boring" but I do suggest giving the show a watch. The editing process is really damn good and it tells a pretty good story out of something that might seem like nothing. Once again, 8pm on Tuesday, Discovery channel.

Free Trade Agreement on importing U.S beef

South Korea president has declared to accept its beef market to U.S beef imports. It is a huge issue for Korean because of mad cow disease. People say the president was forced to make this agreement, and I think it can be very dangerous to people in Korea. Beef that is produced in Korea is extremely expensive. Somepeople say the price is unreasonable. This is another reason why people are so concerned about importing U.S beef because there will be a high chance for people to approach to mad cow disease.
Not everyone has a chance to get the disease, but there is a dangerous possibility of eating mad cow diseased beef. U.S beef will be imported at a lower price, and there is a high chance of lower class people getting closer a step to getting the disease. The thing is that there is no vaccine for mad cow diseased beef; you just simply die from it. Of course it is a HUGE issue now, and I don't know if it is good for economy , but the president seems to not caring for the nation. They are so many people protesting against opening the market to U.S beef imports. I definitely see their ideas, but it is just so disappointing that the agreement has already made. They just don't know what to about it. Maybe not eating any beef might be the solution.

What If The Internet Disappeared...

The creators of South Park have always be real intuitive to what is happening in our political and pop cultures.  Matt Stone and Trey Parker have not played favorites and everything and everyone will be parodied and made fun of in someway or another.  They have taken on issues of how Bush have handled the war on terror, to mocking The Simpsons, to continuously making fun of Hollywood's "elite" or whatever pop princes is most convenient.  So, nothing is really a surprise anymore on when they attack some topic.  You know when they do so, it will be done in a humorous matter, which I personally look forward to every week.

About three weeks ago an episode aired that brought up the idea and reality of how our society has become so reliant on the Internet.  The episode shows how people of South Park and through out the United States freak out when they can't chat with one another, read blogs, get news, and look at porn.  Even the news stations did not report the news because they didn't know where they could or would get their facts or stories from because the Internet was down.  The in the Kyle resolves the problem by unplugging the plugging the large entity which represents the Internet.  However, watching the episode makes your think about the fact our society has become very reliant on the Internet to not just look up useless things, but to communicate with one another and find news about what is going on in the world.  We talk about how the Internet have changed the way we look at media and revive media, but at what cost? 

IF you would like to watch this episode go to www.allsp.com click on season 12 and the episode is called "over logged."

Not Again!

This morning when I woke up there was this talk show on I forgot the name though. I think it was Mark and somebody else Morning Show. Anyway they were talking about this thirteen year old boy who was being bullied at school. So the boy had put together a plan to kill these two guys that were bothering him. He had made the plan with two of his buddies at school. The plan was to first of all killed the two bullies, then shoot in the cafeteria, and then kill themselves. I honestly couldn't believe this, they said had they went through with the plan it would have been like another Columbine. The little boy did go to jail. When he went to court he said that he had went to an adult in the school and the adult said he would take care of it. Evidently he didn't handle his buisness like he said he would. In my mind I'm thinking if the boy would have killed someone as he planned to do whose fault would it have been. I think the bullies and the adult who the boy told about the situation would have been just as wrong as the kids who did the shooting. That's just my opinion. What do you think?

Steve & Barry's Low Prices

Looking for an affordable and stylish place to shop, check out Steve & Barry's. You may have shopped or seen the store Steve & Barry's but never gone in, now is the time. Steve & Barry's is known for selling licensed collegiate designs, most prices are lower than the campus bookstores. Recently, Steve & Barry's has begun to to sell stylish celebrity inspired pieces at prices that are lower than those at Old Navy, H&M or Forever 21 and even undercutting Wal-Mart. You may have walked into this place and thought it looked like a barn or a warehouse, but its not. There are 264 stores across the country, we even have one in Milwaukee at Southridge Mall.

The stores nationwide offer clothing from top stars/designers, Sex and the City's Sarah Jessica Parker, former Nickelodeon star Amanda Bynes, NY Knicks point guard StephonMarbury with their latest collection of Eleven from tennis star Venus Williams. You can find clothing that cost less than $10 for all occasions. You may be thinking this is too good to be true, but its not. You can't beat the price of affordable fashion that looks good and is sure to set you apart from the next person.