Future Vision, Rob's Class and the "Don't Taze Me Bro!" Guy

Future Vision   

 I can’t even fathom wanting to live this way but if I must I would pick Qin. I would have a good job that requires me to be able to get several things done and the technology would allow me to do this. My new tech would give me advantages like preforming tasks that I can online while waiting. I am a bit scatterbrained at times so it would be nice to have my phone remind me of what I can do and provide me the most efficient use of my time. I would be able to synch with local technology like Ayla does alleviating the stress of having to get directions, hail a cab or deal with booking a room. I see its potential to free up time for other things but I would probably just add more tasks to my already busy schedule to fill the void of any extra time.

   The ad definitely has that snob appeal. I feel like I need to have it and I’m pretty sure most of it would be useless to me. It looks remarkable but when I think about how the ad is so short it really does not bode well for all the down time I’d foresee. Maybe for some people, all the choices that a lot of new technology brings is good but I just think there is too much of it. Most of it is egoistic clutter to cater to niche audiences that only want to see what they want to see.  I wouldn't know where to start so I just wouldn't start. I was also thinking of how much all these things would cost. As I watched them go on all these web sites and transfer information with such ease I wondered how much each of these programs would cost. This stuff looks great in a six minute commercial for rich business people but I don’t see it helping me much, at all.  

Rob's Class

   Although I have no interest in journalism as a profession I would say this has been one of my favorite classes over all. It does many things right, from the class discussions that I found extremely beneficial to the labs, as well as the reading of one of the greatest books ever in What Would Google Do. I found myself learning a lot from Rob and the text book but I also found the other students very informative as well. We had a lot of diversity and well rounded talkers and that was very useful. I wish I was younger so the newer stuff made more sense to me. My favorite discussion was on the First Amendment. It is days like this I feel I have something of value to contribute as well as having the opportunity to correct any misconceptions I may have had before hand, which I did. 

I can not think of anything that needs to be changed. The class is two hours and it often seemed to fly by. Great Class.

 "Don't Taze Me Bro!" 

At least he had the freedom to say that.

The paradox of free expression.

The paradox of free expression.  

I find myself conflicted over what Wikileaks is doing. On one hand I am all for sticking it to big government and informing the citizens of what their tax dollars are paying for but on the other hand I feel Wikileaks are reckless as well. I was profoundly disturbed by the actions of our troops in the video as they are laughing while they slaughtered all these men in the streets. It is reminiscent of the feeling I got as I was watching the film Restrepo, and one of the men takes out a man with a high caliber gun and describes his body blowing into pieces. War is war, however and if I enter a war zone for any reason I have to accept that I may get caught in the cross fire and possibly die. I do not like war, it is disgusting and evil but it is sometimes a necessary evil. Sometimes I feel like we call something a war when in reality it is just a slaughter. It seems like we need to find some reason to use our new war machines and we will come up with all kinds of reasons based in self preservation to use our powers of annihilation. We always talk about how gracious we are and yet we are the only country to have ever dropped an atomic bomb on an entire city of civilians. Oh wait, we did that twice with both Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Our country is stretching itself thin financially on military spending and if we learned nothing else from the grand empires that have preceded us we should have learned that this ideology will not be sustainable indefinitely. We are one of the populations that can be the most negatively affected by what Assange is doing, though and I feel his work stands to tare apart fabrics of our society as well as global relations. I realize that many Middle Eastern governments are corrupt and that we are in bed with several of them but we have also seen the chaos that erupts when these people are removed from power. We have watched it time and time again from the Shaw in Iran to Saddam Husain. Our military does not just protect us, they protect small countries that could be devoured by larger more aggressive ones. They protect crucial water ways and ports that are at risk from pirates. I will stay cautious though and save my judgment overall.

This is a little humor from our boys as they hold this useless piece of land and get shot at every day in the real life movie documentary, Restrepo. 

I believe in the freedom of the press but I also think the press needs to be responsible and realize the lives that may be at stake. The story should not be more important than the lives they may be putting in jeopardy. I think that with the invention of the internet journalism has become the butt of one big joke. Once upon a time, people were glued to the television and trusted the media but now you can know the truth with absolute certainty then report it and there will still be people calling you a hack. Technology has made it too easy to fool people and as many people realize this they just stop believing anything they see or hear. I mean, if so much can be faked how are people to know what is real or not without in depth research that they are not likely to do. 

On net neutrality, I am still a bit confused. On one hand I want all information to be accessible and on the other hand I like EASY. I am truly old in the game of technology. I pay top dollar for my internet provider because they make finding things easy and provide all the things I like. I pay for Apple products because they glob all my music, videos and picture in one easy to use place. I don’t want to alienate the younger generation here, though by making the wrong choice on who to support in this debate but the truth is it confuses the hell out of me. I’m not even sure I understand what net neutrality is, no matter how many people explain it to me.  

I do not believe the government should be fully transparent. There is a reason we elect our leaders and that is to lead. "Of the people, by the people, for the people" does not mean that the people are in charge of all things. The people should elect leaders and then they should let them do their job. They would be far more effective and decisive if it wasn't for all the nonsensical chatter brought on by none other than the media and their freedom to say just about anything in order to sway public opinion.  

My thoughts on copyright rules are that they are just silly. Intellectual property should be nontransferable meaning, when an artist dies or if they choose to release it freely then their ideas should be fair game.

Isosine is my favorite mash-up artist and here are a couple of my favorites. I hope I don't get in trouble for this. 

There is another really good one that keeps getting pulled from You Tube called "We are coming undone" It is a mash-up of Tylor Swifts song Never Getting Back Together and Korns song Coming Undone. If you can find it, it is really good. I just don't want Taylor Swift to have me running scared like I'm a bat at OzzFest.  

Anarcheology and the PMRC

and the PMRC

  I was a teenager in the 80’s and a music lover. I had the privilege of living through the great PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center) incident. I listened to Heavy Metal and Punk Rock music. I remember the music that they considered inappropriate at the time and wanted to place ratings on. Artist like Prince for sexual innuendos, Motley Crue for violence and Def Leppard for drugs and alcohol. This decision was seen as a slap at artists and music companies that up until then monitored themselves and it was thought by artists that it would stifle creativity. Eventually this effort toward censorship lead to testimonies before the United States Senate by artists like Dee Snyder from Twisted Sister, Frank Zappa and John Denver.

  This is one of those instances, however, where the actions of politicians produced the exact opposite effect of what they were intending. For all their banter and the artist fighting against it in congress, in the end the suits got their wish to put labels on records. However this gave record labels and artist more freedom, not less, as the labels began to release music knowing that kids would be searching for the warning label.    

After the PMRC this label actually became a sales gimmick. It made CDs more desirable. 

  Once these labels were applied to music, out came rap artists like Two Live Crew with Nasty as we wanna be and later on, Too Short with some of the most blatant sexual references I had ever heard on a mainstream artists CD. Stuff that is now the norm in hard core rap was never allowed in the early 80’s. Before the PMRC put their labels on music, violent and sexual music was forced into the metaphoric realm of lyric writing that was kept open to interpretation. Afterwards it was the verbal equivalent of hard core porn and snuff films. It was suddenly OK for these artists to be on the shelves because everyone was now warned of the content. As we know, though there is no such thing as bad publicity and music just got meaner and nastier over time. Now there are labels on the records and I won't touch some of my favorite artist if that label is not on the front of their CD.  

     

  Today the label seems like a formality for companies like Wal-Fart that censor the music they sell but with the new world of music down loads and the fact that stores are selling less and less CD's  the label  has become a bit obsolete. 

  My favorite bands tend to fluctuate as I discover artists both, that are new as well as old music I have never heard before. I have never been that guy who’s stuck in my youth when it comes to music. The short list of artists I listen to regularly would be Slipknot, Mudvayne, Static X, Volbeat and Ozzy Osbourne. I do have a broad range that I listen to though like Pink Floyd, Journey, The Sex Pistols and The Clash, and of course, no collection would be complete without the Eagles Greatest Hits. 

I love this song by the Ink Spots.

Transformers 4: Age of Extinction

Introduction

I chose the movie Transformers 4 the Age of Extinction. I realize it is not exactly current in that it was just recently released on DVD but I do not go to the movies often and there has been nothing that has come out recently that I would want to see. The Transformers series has a nostalgic feel for me as I was a child when the original cartoons were aired on Saturday mornings in the 80’s. I waited with baited breath for every new episode. I could not wait to find out what new characters they were going to add. When I saw the first movie I was a bit confused and I thought that the robots had too many moving parts but then I began to realize that if these things were real that logically these autonomous robots that transform into vehicles would have a lot of working mechanical parts.

Description

Transformers 4 is the latest film by executive producer Michael Bay the producer of films such as Armageddon and Pearl Harbor. This instalment takes place years after the events of Transformers ‘The Dark Side of the Moon.’ It stars Mark Walberg who has starred in movies like TED and Shooter, as the primary human protagonist and Kelsey Grammer who is best known as Frasier from the long running sit com Cheers as the primary human antagonist. Of course the robots are what everyone wants to see. It is still hard to believe that Mark Walberg was the Justin Bieber of my day when he was the lead singer of Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. I wouldn’t exactly call him a great actor but he is decent and he really was perfect for this role. A character that is lacking in the intensity of Shia Labeouf from the previous three films.

Check out Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch: Good Vibration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eSN8Cwit_s

In Transformers 4 the Autobots are now being hunted by the humans who are using technology that they modified from parts of dead transformers. Transformer’s that were killed in the previous movie. Unbeknownst to Optimus Prime and even the president, Kelsey Grammers character who is the head of an organization that is charged with hunting down Transformers is in league with a transforming bounty hunter called Lockdown. Lockdown is what is known in Transformer’s lore as a triple changer which sets him apart from transformers in the previous movies because he has three transforming modes. Lockdown transforms from a robot into either a Lamborghini or an ion cannon. Lockdown is on a mission to capture Optimus Prime, the Autobot leader and take him to what he calls the creators. We do not know who these creators are yet, but I have a pretty good idea since the director Michael Bay has kept fairly true to the original mechanisms and characters from the original series. (The Quintisons  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXzvE3I39t8)  In Transformers 4, Bay introduces one of the more popular sets of characters in the Dinobots. They are giant robots that turn into dinosaurs. they are very strong but dimwitted  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CxTD-H1q-o

Analysis

This movie is similar to the previous movies as it still shows the power struggle between the aliens and man. In dark side the Autobots are working with their human counter parts to eradicate the Decepticons but they find themselves at odds over who is running the show. In Transformers 4 the relationship has completely dissolved and Autobots are being hunted. It differs in that we have a whole new human cast as well as many new robots to contend with. Shia Labeouf is a thing of the past. In the genre of action movies I think giant robots that turn into vehicles speaks for itself as a difference maker. The similarity is action, action, action. Like most action movies any holes in the plot are quickly overshadowed as the battles ensue.

Interpretation

This movie is important because it brings a whole new way of looking at a world that has been around since 1984. It appeals to grown men like myself who grew up watching these cartoons and it possesses the toy factor which makes it popular amongst young boys. Most of the women I have talked to about the movie like it just because of Mark Walberg thus making him the perfect choice to get women in to the theater to see this film. The only stereo type I noticed was an Autobot named Drift who is also a triple changer who turns into a Bugatti or a helicopter. He is a samurai with the classic Ronin helmet and he speaks with an oriental accent. There was controversy over this character.

 http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/10240327/Transformers-4-samurai-robot-not-racist 

Evaluation

The strengths of this movie are its detailed special effects that make these robots both believable and personable as well as the action that takes place with cameratic angles that are truly mind blowing. Another aspect that really works is their product placement as we see robots turning into popular hot rod and the new transforming technology transforming into a small speaker system called the Pill. 

It’s weaknesses are inconsistencies in the strength of the Autobot leader as he is bested by Lockdown and a bunch of humans in several scenes and yet has no problem taking down the leader of these mighty titans called Dinobots. There is also problems with the time lines as it seems that they go from one part of the world to another in record time. However that was a common theme in the original cartoons as they would head out from their base in an American dessert (not specified in the show) and arive in the arctic or the Amazon jungle in the very next scene. Another weakness is length. This movie did seem to go on longer than it needed to.

This movie was a blockbuster and I would hardly call it mediocre. It is not the best of the four movies as the last two were the best by far, but the story matches up and when watched as a whole set the four movies complement each other. It is a memorable film for those who love this type of sci-fi action film.  

In a review by Prasad Naik on the web site IMDb he proclaims his utter dislike of the film for the very weaknesses that I provided. He said “Transformers: Age of Extinction is a disaster. I was thrilled to get the chance to see it before most of the world but ended up being thoroughly disappointed. The movie is 165 minutes of incoherent nonsense and if you thought that's what the previous movies were, well, you might start appreciating them after seeing this.” The movie gets terrible reviews across the board as Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic also give it a big thumbs down. Roth Cornet at IGN says “Michael Bay introduces his “redesigned” take on the morphing bots in a film that seeks to exceed its predecessors in scale, global scope, and runtime…certainly runtime. Depending on your perspective, that is either an attractive or entirely repellent proposition.” I definitely think the movie was about forty minutes to long car chase scenes that were less than impressive and totally unnecessary. 

Engaging

I love this series for the subject matter. Scrolling down through Michael Bays works I realize that I am not much of a fan of his prior movies other than the Transformers series and those I am a fan of because I am a fan of the Transformers themselves and he is the only one making movies about them. When the DVD first came out I watched it with a couple family members and after about an hour and a half people were growing restless and there was still more than an hour to go.

Summary

What I found is that even bad movies are good to someone. For what it’s worth I do not totally agree with the critiques of this film. I just love the action and the giant robots. It doesn’t even have to have a decent story line for me to watch it. It is much like the Star Wars series for me. Most of them are terrible films but the characters and the special effects make it all worth wile. I also have to admit that Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings series is the better of the three movie series that fit this genre and target audience. 

The World's Gone "Mad"

Banning is burning

The books on the list that I know of are ones like Twilight, The hunger Games and 50 Shades of Grey.

The books that I have actually read, although it has been a while are The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men and Harry Potter.

I do not think any of the books I listed are bad enough to be banned. I noticed some of the others did contain drug use and I have a hard time with anything that might glorify drug use to children. If you're going to ban the books though then you also gotta ban the music. Eminem glorifies drug use. 

I am a very open minded person. I am not religious and I have no children. I do what is best for me on a daily basis and I believe that, just like the saying “there is no such thing as bad publicity,” I also think there is no such thing as bad knowledge. Books provide alternate viewpoints and I think that children only gain by being exposed to other cultures, points of view and historical accuracy. I heard once that a group wanted to change the wording in Tom Sawyer so that the African American character is not called “Nigger Jim” anymore because of the use of that particular offensive slang. I think that is silly. People in those times were cruel to African Americans and by doing this it actually takes away from the intensity of the story. For me, it is very difficult to condone censorship of any kind because of the music I listen to and literature that I like. Banning books reeks of darker times in history.

However I also do not have children in school and therefor I feel I must abstain from controversial issues involving school curriculum.

My crazy bookshelf…

One of the first things people might notice is my fascination with all religions. This is a concept that so many of my friends and family cannot grasp. Whether they are religious or atheist they can't seem to understand how someone would not contain any religious bias at all. I have, side by side on my shelves, The Bible, The Qur'an(Koran), The Bhagavad-Gita and several books on Buddhism such as, one of my favorites, Samdhong Rinpoche’s Uncompromising Truth for a Compromised World. Buddhism was born in the shadow of prosperity and will always dwell there but it is hard for many who practice this faith to come to terms with living by its teachings while being yolked to modern society. Even practicing Buddhist must be able to survive and compete in the modern world. Moderation and compassion are the two most key tenets. 

Other random interest I have in book form are The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit as well as books written by some band members. I have the Heroin Diaries by Nikki Sixx from Motley Crue and Seven Deadly Sins by Corey Taylor of the band Slipknot. Moving down the row you will find books like the Lord of the Flies, the five people you meet in heaven and even a very thick book that is a compilation of comic strips from Mad Magazine because on occasion I just want to dumb myself down and laugh at the crazy world around me.   

“If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.” 

― Oscar Wilde

I think that my interest might imply that I am fairly insane but the truth is I'm just a bit erratic. There are books I like for a day and then there are others I love for a life time. I am not religious but I have no hang ups when it comes to religion. I like to refer to myself a Buddhist Heavy Matalist. I will get in the pit at a concert with kids half my age and yet I will not even harm a spider. I will entertain 'any and all' points of view of divinity and I am also a big fan of mythology, heroism and journey tales. I’m not really into the egos of rock stars that much so I have to say I am not likely to buy another autobiographical novel written by a pampered rock musician. I got to meat Corey Taylor at his book signing, though and that was extremely cool. He is very down to Earth considering the style of music he makes. When it comes to any famous people, though, I may like their art but I don't really care so much about their personal lives. 

Corey Taylor 

Corey unmasked

I found most of my books in local bookstores and I buy them because I like their tangibility. My main bookshelf is right next to my computer desk and sometimes I just like to turn off the glaring screens and pull a book off the shelf to read. I think I will always buy the books that peak my interest the most. Especially the ones that I might like to take my time with or even ones I may want to re-read.

I found Cody's blog on Ancient Aliens interesting.

Ancient Aliens and Super Heroes…

The blog post I found most interesting was Cody’s blog about the show Ancient Aliens and Super Heroes. In his post he is describing a show that I occasionally watch with my brother. This show is a mash up mockumentary, in which they make correlations between the known world and fantasy worlds of mythology and belief in aliens. They often show some expert that fills in the blanks for the audience with speculation and conjecture in order to fill gaps in the lack of continuity to their claims. On the other hand it is entertaining and even though I find their claims a bit silly my brother just eats it up. We love to engage in semi intellectual conversations, even applying rational and empirical philosophical logic to mythological subjects like zombies, aliens and super heroes. We have determined in our abstract thoughts that the zombie apocalypse would be most survivable in tropical environments due to the rate of decay to human flesh. We surmised that superman would not be able to get the proper amount of resistance on Earth to develop his muscular physique. The hardest thing for me is that I see this as fiction and entertainment and my brother I think sometimes really believes it. My brother would never watch this film that debunks most of their claims.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9w-i5oZqaQ

I read/buy the newspaper because...

I read the newspaper because... 

I read and buy the newspaper mostly out of tradition. I also live with my mother who is now almost 70 and she refuses to give up her paper. I think a better question for me would be why I would give up the newspaper. I would offer that it has no real purpose in today’s society. I use to use it to look for things to buy cheap and local but now with competition from internet sites like Craigslist there is no need to go to the paper because no one is going to use them to sell their goods. Craigslist lets people post their items for free while the paper charges for that service and does not reach a broad enough audience. I also have a desire to lower my carbon footprint and we tend to waste an ungodly amount of paper. It gets recycled or burned and most of it never gets read. Also, contrary to popular belief among folks my age and older, today's mediums are multipurpose and not antisocial at all. We can, not only interact with our news sources but we can also communicate with friends as we are involved in reading and finding news or entertainment.   

If I was to tell a newspaper what to do to stay in business I would likely tell them they first need to be affordable and by affordable I mean free. Second, they should narrow down to quality articles that appeal to a wide range of taste and take out all unnecessary items in a way that maybe uses less paper. Third, I think the overall size of the paper is dated and cumbersome. Most people are not wanting to unfold and scan these huge pages with their tiny print. I know that I use my computer more now than I ever have in the past and the more I become acclimated to its uses the less I use the paper because the internet provides more information on a much more convenient media platform. 

     

SNL as a Cultural Mirror

Topic #2 – SNL as a cultural Mirror

When I was little way back in the 70’s I was not exposed to a lot of television. I grew up outside of Corvallis Oregon in the country. I knew of cable TV because my step brothers lived in town and when I would visit them I got to watch something besides Little House on the Prairie or Sesame Street. We had the antenna so we got 3 network stations and PBS until the cable lines were finally put up in our area around 1982. This was back when the networks signed off at midnight. I remember it fondly because I use to stay up late every Saturday night for one reason and one reason only. To hear those words that would set in motion the most glorious hour of television in my day. That baritone voice that yells out “Live from New York, its Saturday Night!” I don’t know quite when it started but I have never given up on Lauren Michael’s vision.

Now there are all kinds of choices, some of them are good, most of them are a complete waste of time. It’s not like the glory days of Adam Sandler and Mike Myers or the days of Gilda Radner, Eddie Murphy and Steve Martin but SNL are still doing live sketch comedy and I still love it.

I chose the October 10, 2014 episode of SNL with Bill Hader hosting. Saturday night live is of course a sketch comedy show with various skits depicting a myriad of topics over the years. I think it’s an excellent example of the how television mirrors culture. This is a program that absolutely must keep up with the cultural attitude of the modern society some way at all times in order to remain relevant. The actors cycle through and the times change but no matter what the formula stays the same. Many short skits performed live that make fun of current events and social topics. In this episode they did a skit that speculates on the disappearance of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. There is also a commercial that mirrors the Christian Children’s Fund making fun of the small amount that the guy is asking for on the commercials.

 http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/39-cents/2818605?onid=148621#vc148621=1/

Saturday night live feeds on stereotypes. A stereotype is the applied symbolism to people. Stereotypes have positive or negative connotations linked to them and satire wouldn’t be much fun if it didn’t exploit with the utmost sarcasm. One of my favorites is a recurring character played by Vanesa Bayer who is a little Jewish boy preparing for his bamitsfa. In this episode however the Christian fund skit has the white host coming off as being cheap and having an unrealistic grasp on the situation and the real cost.   They also poke fun by linking common stereotypes of African Americans to starving people in Africa by having Africans, first asking for more donations and then getting angry and demanding more money even threatening bodily harm at the end.  

Judging from the commercials the target demographics are a wide range of adults. With commercials for Subway Sandwiches and Denny’s restaurant up to high end cars like Lexus and Mercedes it seems to appeal to all types. I counted about 40 commercials advertising over 30 different products and services in one and a half hours. Other products advertised were a Google app, Oil Can Henry’s, Toyota and Aveeno skin care. The only political advertisement was the Yes on 91 ad.

I think the strengths of this show is that they can apply humor to social issues without coming across as bias in any way. SNL has been making lite of the political realm for many years and they have never made it seem as if they have an opinion. Unlike other comedy shows like The Daily Show, SNL makes fun of everybody, not taking sides, instead emphasizing a character trait of a politician or the absurdity of a proposed law. Or in the case of the weekend update they give an actual recent headline followed by a swift shtick punchline. 

  http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/weekend-update-101114-part-2-of-2/2818626?onid=148621#vc148621=2

In this critique of SNL on Splitsiders.com by Erik Voss, he writes about the many new cast members that have been added recently. His critiques are usually very fair as he is a fan of this seemingly dying art like me. His take on them is decent but he does bring up the fact that other shows are far more appealing to the modern audience. He quotes “Those low-hanging fruit gags, punchlines overwhelming the premise, the tendency for characters to randomly walk out of a scene without the sketch actually ending, etc. Also, the show has yet to reclaim its satirical edge, and with John Oliver so thoroughly setting us straight on Sunday nights, it's doubtful progressive America will look to SNL for its comedy any time soon.” I think he is right and with these other comedy outlets people do not have to rely solely on SNL as I once did but I am a cult follower and SNL is my Jones Town. Til death, baby

http://splitsider.com/2014/09/snl-review-a-new-hope-with-chris-pratt/

SNL is on Facebook and Twitter and trying to stay up with new mediums like everyone else but I don’t know how well that is actually working for them. First I don’t understand Twitter and I am not really sure how it would or would not work for them. Unless it can bring in younger viewers because as I pointed out, it seems to cater to an older crowd.

In conclusion I’d have to say there is more underlying stereotypical portrayal than I thought. I also have to be thankful for the DVR because I forgot how nauseating it can be to have to sit through all those commercials. As far as surprises go, I have watch SNL and shows like it since Carol Bernet, In Living Color and Mad TV. I have always sort of analyzed and critiqued the programs I watch in all kinds of ways from their Mise-en-scène to their deeper meanings, nothing really surprises me anymore. 

The MisFiTs

    The Misfits on Facebook. I am a huge fan of the Misfits. Or, what I should say is, I was a huge fan. These days I'd have to put them in the nostalgia category as far as where their music ranks on my desire to listen. I can still pull a lot out of my memory, though because the songs are still prominant in my long term memory. They have a lot of songs I like to refer to as cerebral cling on's. Frankly, I lost interest in The Misfits a few years after there original singer left the band.  The reason I picked the misfits for this blog is because of their re-branding they have done over the past decade or so. This Horror punk band would be as obscure as other punk bands from the 80's like Susie and the Banshees or the Dead Kennedy's, if not for their trademark skull that many of us have probably seen a million times now on campus. This is especially true of a punk band that's founder found God and changed a lot of the lyric style of the band.    

  Today there is a lawsuit brewing between the man who formed the band, Jerry Only and his original singer because Only figured out how to re-brand the bands name and logo and now he is making a lot of money off merchandising. Glenn Danzig who co-wrote many of their most infamous songs, now wants a portion of the profits. They never release anything new and yet I see people wearing the skull almost every day. Even people who had not been born yet when I stopped listening to them around 1986. I think the brand itself says more about the people wearing it than the band anymore. I felt like a misfit when I was a teenager and I think the a lot of people can just relate to that feeling. With their target audience, middle ager's and misfits everywhere, the Misfits, as a band is far less relevant. The Misfits as a brand on the other hand, seems to be doing just fine.

  I liked what Jarvis says about the five lesson for advertising. Focus on talent, Newness, Data, making money through the back door and focus on the user and all else will follow. These lessons stood out to me because they are really trying to do more than just make a product for people they want the consumer to feel as if they are a part of something not a mark. 

Topic 2 Campaign advertising. 

  The latest issue adds I have noticed are the ones for Yes on 91. This is the legalization of marijuana proposal. I have been a proponent for the legalization of marijuana for a long time. The reason I noticed them is that they are really trying to reach the average citizens. There are three that I have seen. One with a police officer, one with a mom and one with an attorney. I think they use hidden fear and the association principal. I like these adds because they are finally reaching out to the people that can actually end the prohibition of marijuana. The people who actually vote on a regular basis they are reaching out to the plain folks. It did not influence the way I will vote because I am anything but plain folk. I am glad to see a real campaign for this issue, finally.   

  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eBCRu_BYnw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV3nSlcXr7U

Treading Water Falls

Twitter

 I finally relented and started a new Twitter account because I had not used mine since I set it up years ago. I was also having trouble with them not sending me the link to change my password. Three entities that I am following are Ozzfest, The Blazers and The Onion. I followed Ozzfest because I figured it would be a good way to keep up on that particular event and new bands that may get their start there. I chose the Blazers because they are one of my favorite sports teams and I don't always have time to watch games so any quick info would help. I chose the Onion because I do like politics and comedy. In fact, it seems the line between the two is getting awful blurry.

 My favorite Tweet so far is one from The Onion, titled

Coworkers Each Putting In Herculean Effort To Sustain Conversation For Entire Commute

 I clicked on the link and the whole article is about two guys riding on a train commuting to work and trying desperately to carry on a conversation. They run short on small talk and spend the remainder of their ride opting to badmouth their coworkers.  

 I realized something in class and that is that I am totally out of touch with a great deal of media on the internet. I found myself jotting down a few ideas that I might be interested in checking out, like linked up and Snapchat. Perspective is key on how we see things and I realize I have a very narrow perspective of the internet. I'm really OK with that, though because I really don't like being on the internet a lot. I do have a very real interest in politics and I definitely find it interesting how this new age of technology offers so many different platforms. It almost seems like politicians would have to have a tech savvy team that can keep up on popular media if they have any chance at being relevant to the younger generation. I like to read CNN and NY Times articles on Facebook but other than that I stick to fact based information and local news like C-SPAN, The Democrat Herold and my voters pamphlet. I find national and international politics to be depressing and most of what we get is repetitious hyperbole. In short, everything seems taken out of context and spun. It plays to emotions and not reason and that might be why we get politicians that spend more time scrambling to get reelected than they do, doing there jobs.

"WWGD"

 The concept that stood out to me in the book was "Elegant Organization." This is the concept that something good can be made better, faster if everyone is working together. This means the costumers opinions are as vital to the growth of the company as CEOs or investors.

 The most common thing these days, I could relate this to, would be group discussions and projects at school. Everybody has ideas and facts in their head and it's not always the people who are in charge that have the best ideas. We learn better when we are able to reconstruct outside information and understanding and formulate our own reasoning. If we learn better, then the teacher has also taught better and the whole class is better off. I think when students are able to get together they can make a stronger case or provide a better product. I realize this is contingent on whether or not everyone or most people in the group are productive.

 When it comes to Jarvis's answers, I'm gonna go with Freedom of Expression. Anybody can say anything on the internet sounds like cause for celebration to me. How many times in human history have so many people had so much power over self-expression? It is a glorious age in this regard. We should have the freedom to make junk and consume it if we want.

 








     

Dennis's media blog

   Hi, I'm Dennis. At 44 years old, I am one of the older students at LBCC. I lost my job in the auction business in 2010 and found myself unable to land any work during the economic free fall that began around '07, '08. I am old enough to understand that the economy will bounce back in time but I found myself going stir crazy being broke and unemployed. After about a year, my step son convinced me that I might actually enjoy going back to school, so I enrolled and came back in 2011 for the first time since 1996. Now I am a broke student. I am not a journalism major, I am taking this class because it is required for my degree. I started out on a computer science degree but switched to an Associates of Science with a liberal emphasis after taking a couple of social science classes and realizing how much I liked them and understood them. I hope to work in the addiction field one day since I am happily reaping the benefits of their help and blessings today. These days, I am just enjoying the process and trying not to lose focus. 

   I think what interest me the most about media is its holistic connections to all other aspects of social interactions like home life, community and government. I am one who tends to cringe whenever I hear people generalize and blame government or media for societal problems. At some point individuals need to accept some responsibility for the media they absorb and the decisions they make based on the information they chose to process. Be it 24 hour news or video games or social media there are so many choices that we have the power to make ourselves open targets to information we prefer. Constantly bombarded with our own confirmation bias and/or blissful ignorance. My favorite sources for information are C-SPAN, The Daily Show and my Facebook feed that I have carefully crafted so as not to tick me off anymore. I know I'm not getting the total picture but really, who does?  

Topic 2

   Outside of school I am fairly boring. I am a home body and a bit of a geek. I love technology and the things it allows us to do including access to so many forms of media. I have never shied away from the future. In fact I welcome it with open pocketbook when I can afford it. I am not an online gamer but I do like to play video games when I have time. I'm a slow reader with horrible study habits though so it's usually best if I stay away from gaming these days.


   I do agree to a point that gaming can create a better world. Much like sports has given many societies a platform to complete with former enemies in a peaceful way, video games seem like an ideal way to to be competitive without causing harm. I a video game battle there is no physical collateral damage. At the end of the day the battle is either won or lost but everyone lives to fight again.

   Second skin was an eye opener for me and I would like to show this movie to many of my family members. This subject is very personal to me. Twenty years ago my brother was made handicapped when he was shot in the head by one of his best friends. His injury has cause many physical, mental and social disorders. He is less mobile due to paralysis on the left side of his body. He has slowly isolated himself to the point that he has become agoraphobic and he plays video game obsessively. It has gotten to the point at times that I do not know if he is speaking about real events or something in the game. I do recognize his physical limitations and therefor I allow him some leeway as far as his obsession. I understand addiction and that and this is not addiction. This is something completely different to me. What my brother seems to be striving for is to be relevant. In the real world he can barely maneuver his own body. In the game he can be just as, if not wiser and stronger than anyone else.