Circus animals? Seriously?! I feel like a jerk as I am typing this but I did not understand that group’s presentation. Bingus, formerly known as Bingo Falafel, even got a mention in their presentation. Mistreatment of animals in general could have been a broader topic for them, in my opinion. It was an alright pitch for the spokesperson that did all the talking, but I have no place to judge. I don’t even live on res so I won’t even see these posters put up.
We discussed technology today and went up to the white board to write down what our group feels to be technology today. The alphabet and the printing press were a couple of my ideas, and since they were recognized by Mark Lipton, it just gives me a tad bit more confidence in the timeline project I did with my group, WHOO HOO!
So we talked about distractions in our daily lives and how our ideas get interrupted. I get distracted by the slightest things when I am working; food, movies, music, and the Internet. Though like most of my peers, I resist from these distractions and hope to get my work done. This is why my school is priority number one and I am willing to bust my butt for what I want to achieve. Mark told us, “Unless you are going to work for it, you will not get it.” This is why I am attending university...I want a stable job, I want to make something of myself, and I want to finish school so I can have a future.
I hope it is natural to feel this way, because I feel that assignments are getting thrown at me left, right, and center. My older sister tells me it is normal and the feeling will eventually pass...once winter break is here *raises eyebrow*.
I just handed in my essay, and I feel proud of myself. Who knew I could write so much on something I actually care about. I think I speak for the 120+ students in this class when I say high school was a joke. I felt like a clone; always told what to do and constantly keeping at a pace where they would poke at random flaws. I felt 'babied' in high school, but as I said earlier this year, I finally feel a sense of independence for once. I was always told what to write about, how I was able to approach it, and then explain. Mark Lipton was right when he said, "You are all so used to being conditioned that the freedom I give you will certainly scare you." Once again, he was right.
I hate that I was ‘sheltered’ in high school. I never had a choice, so when I did this essay it felt amazing. It was as if I broke curfew with my parents for the first time. Sure I chose to write about The Truman Show, but I actually feel I broke down the main pieces of it (and even the little things people don’t catch at first glimpse).
This week is going to fly by, but I want to catch every moment of it. I’m glad my classmates and I got up in front of the class today and presented our activist project on Burma. What makes me even more happy is that we are recognized for reaching a larger audience outside of Guelph Humber. It’s located on Reilly’s on Dundas and Yonge St. The location was important, and as Erin and I were trying to find an available venue, we thought this would be the best choice (who wouldn’t want to come to Toronto for a independent concert?) I hope a lot of people can make it. The current amount of audience members we are expecting so far stands at 74 (hooray for facebook events!)
Earlier this week, I had to reassure my essay was good enough as well as finish the final touches to this Friday’s Activist Project with my group members.
Major essay + Burma Activist Project = one hell of a week; feel the overwhelming atmosphere much? Of course I do.
My current classmates actually don't know this, but I am a virgin. Shocked much?
I turn 19 in less than a month and out of all my close friends from high school, I am the only one who has not engaged in sexual contact in any shape or form. Am I nun; of course not. That’s just pure ignorance speaking. I have morals, and I don’t want to make mistakes I will regret. I am not ready and don’t feel the need to be in a relationship with someone who is a ‘sex fiend’. That’s another thing I am staying away from, becoming a “sex demon”, as Jon Heder would mention it.
When the subject of AIDS was brought up in class today, it did not occur to me to ask my friends if they ever thought about getting tested. One of my guy friends has had numerous sexual partners, but he seems so confident and sure of himself that he is ‘clean’.
It’s the same with cigarettes and drugs; I am a virgin. I never lit up a cigarette or ‘smokes a spliff’ as people would call it today. There are a couple of reasons why I chose not to smoke, my health and a personal family-related matter.
Not only is it a dirty habit, but I lost my great-grandfather (not my grandfather, my GREAT-grandfather) because of tobacco. He had a tumor in his lungs, and rather than follow through with an operation procedure my mother kept begging him to do, he asked her to let him be and move on. I cried a lot that month, and I think this is as close of an emotion I can get to Mark Lipton’s feelings on how he lost two of his partners to aids. My deepest condolences to you Mark, I’m sorry you had to live through a traumatic experience in a day where AIDS was not as controlled as it is today.
Blades of Glory. Dir. Josh Gordon and Will Speck. Perf. Will Ferrell, Jon Heder. DVD. Paramount, 2007.
Where Am I Going? Where Did I Come From? How Will I get There?
These are the three questions Mark Lipton says will be the most important ones that we want to know in life. As far as I am concerned, things aren't written in stone; Dorothy didn't know how to find Oz without being told to follow the yellow brick road. No offense to Dorothy, but she had it easy. The people of Munchkinland told her where to go, where as I have to follow my own path.
I know that my ancestors came from China, moved to the Philippines where my parents met, and then to Canada where I was born and raised. That covers where I came from.
The direction I would like to go is obviously a media dominated field. I am specializing in public relations, where I would hopefully like to promote companies to the public. I am comfortable with talking to strangers on just about anything, so I hope to achieve a career where my position has me socially interacting with people. That is as far as I hope to be going.
On the concept of how I will get there, I am currently taking the steps to achieving my goals by attending university. I stayed back a year at high school for a “victory lap” because I was unsure of whether or not I wanted to go into Theatre Arts (my previous choice one year ago). As I attended school, I realized I wanted to go into the media field to fulfill my need to be happy in life. I believe in order to get to a career I will be satisfied with, I have to receive an education and make my contacts as I go along. University was the giant leap I took in order to go into the direction of my choice. Although my journey has just begun, I am still having fun as I go. To be honest, my mother was not too happy with my choice of going to Guelph Humber rather than other popular school names. I told her in order for me to specify into what I like, I needed to go to Guelph Humber to obtain a better learning experience. A month and a half into the semester, my mother still believes I am ‘wasting my time’, but I decided in order to get to a destination I want, I have to follow my own yellow brick road.
I can also say I finally have a gist of semiotics! I don’t think I ever laughed so hard in class as I did yesterday with my classmate Erin. After Mark Lipton mentioned Missy Elliot “crawling out of a back door hole behind the scenes,” Erin and I burst with laughter at the very image. In all seriousness though, Mark Lipton did touch upon a serious topic on how the attractive, Anglo-Saxon female dominates the African-American female figure. I decided to do my own personal research and searched the GAP jeans commercial on YouTube. After watching and analyzing the points Mark Lipton told us to pay attention to, I typed in a new search in YouTube. This time, I searched ‘Madonna, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Missy Elliot performance’. I got 2 links on the famous Britney-Madonna kiss and 3 links on the actual performance as a whole. What I noticed in the performance is a mirror image of what was seen in the GAP jeans commercial, only with two additional Anglo-Saxon women to the performance. Madonna wore a chain on the side of her leg and dressed as the groom in this wedding-themed performance. As soon as they were done with Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” they then introduce Missy Elliot for her rap solo. What I carefully analyzed about this bit was Britney, Christina, and
Madonna each rose from the very top of the wedding cake respectively. As soon as the ladies were upfront on stage, the cake was gone and half a gazebo frame was placed in the center of the stage; Missy Elliot opened the door and crawled out just like it was rehearsed in the GAP commercial. Her clothes were also out of uniform and not in a traditional sense as they were a mixture of white, black, and sparkling glitter (definitely not what you wear to a traditional wedding). ANother similarity I found was when either Britney or Christina would dance separately with Missy Elliot, they danced as equals. Whenever they would dance with Madonna, Madonna would be the dominant dancer leading. The same situation occured in the GAP jeans commercial when Missy Elliot's dancers would dance as equals, whereas Madonna's dancers would have her as the dominant figure.
I was shocked that even on public television, the producers decided to have the white women appear on top as the superior and the African American woman appear beneath them with not her clothes not as decent and singing speech nowhere near an equivalent amount to the other three ladies.
It just goes to show that racism definitely exists today through subliminal messages in the media.
My perspective on voting has changed after an hour and a half discussion on rights.It began with how voting for our provincial election in the upcoming week has a massive impact, seeing that a small percentage [22%] of Ontario citizens participate.According to The Daily on Statistics Canada, “Four in ten high school graduates delay post-secondary studies by at least one year. By age 20, two in ten high school graduates have still not enrolled in a post-secondary program”.This was published in July 2003, so the number of students postponing enrolment has surely increased in the past four years. I find this statistic to be interesting as I was unaware of the amount of Ontarians who partake in elections. This matches with the analogy made in class that those who are 18 years old can vote; young adults with post secondary education are eligible to take part in our provincial election. The fact that very few individuals contribute to our elections and chose not to continue their election says a lot about their personal beliefs.
Mark Lipton spoke about the importance of voting as well as the significance of education. In every home, young adults have a certain perspective on education. We discussed how most families value education where others imagine education is not a necessity. As Mark Lipton repeated in class, for me “education was a responsibility”. It was set for me to go to school and get a good education, for my parents were not as fortunate to have as many opportunities. I appreciate the chances given to me because of my knowledge on how my worked hard to give me a better life. Most importantly my parents gave me choices, similar to how I have the choice to vote in next week’s provincial election. My choices are influenced from the environment I have been raised in as well as the values I grew up on. Education has taken a huge role in how I perceive the world, so when I voice my opinion, I know I can be grateful for speaking up for myself.
"Paths to Post-Secondary Education Among 20-Year-Olds." Statistics Canada (2003). 3 Oct. 2007 http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/030704/d030704a.htm.
So my writing sucks. I just got my assignment back and I am less than pleased. Thankfully, Mark Lipton gave us an opportunity to hand in a paper on why we feel we deserve a better mark.
My creativity grade is fine; my writing grade hurt my feelings. Seriously, I wanted to run out of class and cry today. 2.5?! SERIOUSLY?! Well I can’t do anything about it now except look over my paper tonight and start on my new one. Hopefully it will be an improvement and put me in the category of getting a better mark.
The student advisors came in to speak with us, and until today I was only previously familiar with the program advisor, Jael Richardson. The other advisors talked about our writing skills and how at the writing center, students learn how to further improve their writing on their own. Another step at independence, after receiving my paper back, I feel that maybe I should have taken the time to do just that.
Today, we discussed how humans are imperfect, infallible creatures. As humans we are unrealistic and always strive for perfection. I admit that I aim for the best and absolute perfection, but who doesn’t? We are human and this is how we react at a time where we feel we need to prove ourselves to be superior.
Number 3 on Postman’s 10 Theories states “We are not born perceiving. We learn to perceive and not to perceive.” I agree with this statement as our environment shapes how we think. We are told how to think and how to feel about the actions of our everyday lives. I believe that the friends we make, the material we read, the sitcoms we watch on TV, and the videogames we play make up the kind of perception we have. This is how we learn how to perceive certain messages and turn away others.
I also think our selective perception gives us selective hearing. It is sad that we only listen to what we want to hear such as entertainment gossip, and what we don’t want to listen to, such as the amount of garbage we are dumping into our Ontario waters.
We are a very self centered and conceited race (McCLoud, 32)
After reading this book, I totally worship Scott McCloud. I love comic books and I think that this was a brilliant piece to pickup. Not only did he talk about all aspects of comic books for those on unfamiliar ground with it, but he also taught us how to really understand the concept of comics. Now I have a better understanding of comics and how they’re not just simple illustrations, but images that grab our mind because of detail and colour choices.
I remember Mark Lipton telling us about the success of the show “The Simpsons”. I always thought the success came from Matt Groening’s simple detail in the basic skeletal drawings of each character as well as the script written by the show’s writers. Mark Lipton explained to us that it was because of the basic colour choices used in the show. Apparently, Matt Groening’s animators use the same consistent colours rather than having various shades of the rainbow. Mark told us this was because of our perception as humans; if we saw all the colours of the rainbow in the show, it wouldn’t be as successful because our attention would be all over the place. I never thought colours could play such a crucial part to a television show until I finished reading Understanding Comics.
Scott McCloud has a chapter about colours where he explains if he had used colours in his text; our attention to the context would have a different perception than it would if he left his book in black and white. There was also another portion McCloud talked about when he was explaining about detail. If he detailed so many features in his facial expression, he claims we probably wouldn’t take him seriously. Further speaking into detail, Scott also said we see ourselves in just about everything; cars, automobiles, electric sockets, and even in cartoon illustrations. He simply replied, “We see ourselves in everything...and we make the world over in our own image” (32, 33). McCloud was right when he said this; we are self absorbed. The way we see ourselves in everything shows we think of ourselves as a dominant outline for everything around us.
I’m currently researching some more of Scott McCloud’s other books and want to purchase Reinventing Comics, which apparently was published after Understanding Comics. This has got to be my favourite text so far as the visual context kept me interested and also because I love comic books.
McCloud, Scott. Reinventing Comics. New York: HarperCollins, 2000.
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York: HarperCollins, 1993.
Today’s presentations were an interesting experience. I presented a media mobile that displayed several aspects of the media that influence my everyday life. I volunteered to be one of the first people to present for the sake of getting it over with and not waiting around for my name to be called. I got up there and presented what was in my head and I tried not to think what was on my paper. Usually what happens in my presentations I remember what is written on paper rather. This time around I presented what was there and what I had planned rather then what was written in my essay. It turned out that maybe I was talking too much because Mark Lipton cut me off =S It’s not a big deal though because I understand we were under time constrictions and he was only trying to get everyone in the class the chance to present their media creations
I realized that more than one person had come up with a media mobile like mine, and I admit I was a bit discouraged for not being more creative. However, my project was different in the way that it did not center around a specific strand of media but rather several branches of the media.
I also found it ironic how I was slightly nervous when presenting but once I got into it, it was a piece of cake. The factor that it’s a new class and I don’t even know the neighbour sitting next to me played in to the part of whether or not what these students will think about me.
All in all, it was a rather interesting experience. I think that in order to improve my presentation skills, I should be strictly to the point rather than build up an explanation. Mark Lipton wanted it to be brief, and I tried to have an explanation for everything. Next time, rather than beating around the bush, to the point is best.
So we received our course outline and syllabus, and I must say I am excited. This is a new start and finally a chance for me to do something I am interested in. This is the second class to ask me to create a blog as a part of the course (the other class is my Internet Survey and Research course). This blog however is different. It is an account I get to make on my own with my own name whereas the one for my other class is somewhat of a forum-type of format.
I haven’t blogged since my early teen years and I am so excited to do it as a part of the course, mainly because I talk too much and it is what I do best? We also got a list of books we need to purchase, thank goodness my sister goes here or I would be lost without her. Even though she is graduating from the Business program, she showed me the book store in Humber and the Media section where I will be purchasing my books.
Mark Lipton is an interesting person, and I think he is a really funny guy who knows when to be serious; a Jack of All Trades. When I saw his syllabus, I saw the group tasks we have to do, the assignments throughout the semester, the books and online readings we have to read, and of course the neat blogs. I began reading Postman, and I like it so far. I've only bought it earlier today at the book store, but it's really good. I'm going to continue it in the car ride home today and hopefully have it done this weekend.
This rushing feeling is like adrenaline; I think it’s because I am now in a new environment and I’m ready to dive in with all the new possibilities. I don’t know what to expect, but I feel ready. Is this normal? Probably not, but only halfway into the week and I find this new experience interesting.
Whoo-hoo for the first blog post of the semester!!
